Lately the boy was acting a little bit unusual which shouldn't have concerned him, after all the boy was a terran so there were things he said and did that made no sense despite how well he was adjusting to the situation, yet it wouldn't leave his mind. He was hiding something from them, naturally Yondu didn't care that his crew of shortsighted idiots could be fooled by the boy, he simply didn't like when something was happening behind his back, so he went to investigate.
It surprised him that the boy, Peter, was growing up to be a better thief than most of his crew which made him the target for jealous words and pranks to which despite not getting his permission he almost always managed to return the favor, it was quite hilarious to be honest.
That's why when he saw one of his crew members holding the boy upside-down by his ankles, he whistled to get their attention.
“Horuz! Put the boy down and give him back his toy.”
Horuz grumbled, shook the kid just because he could and with a scowl on his face he released him.
“The boy has sticky fingers, captain, who knows what he's hiding from us? Little thief.”
“Aye, that's why I like him, because of his sticky fingers. I'll deal with him, you can go. There's preparation to be done.”
The other man’s scowl deepened, but he didn't disobey his order. He whispered something about eating the boy while he was still young before he left them alone.
“What have you done now? And don't try to lie to me Peter, you know I can tell.” the boy clutched his terran music toy in his hands, before he answered,
“I didn't do anything wrong. I'm a ravager too, I have the right to an equal share like the rest.” he tried to sound as confident as possible and it would have worked if there wasn't the subtle guilt in his eyes.
“Is that so? “ he smiled and whistled to bring forth his trusty arrow and guided it to pin Peter high on the wall of the ship.
Peter was hanging by his coat on the wall, trying and failing to look like he wasn't afraid.
“Now, as your captain I ask you to show me the things you nicked from the last operation and I might let you keep them.”
“I mean… I didn't take anything valuable, I didn't steal from the crew I swear…”
“Do I look stupid to you boy?” he added a bit of steel in his voice and just like that all of the fight went out of the kid.
“No.” he mumbled to which Yondu couldn't help but laugh at the kid’s expression which turned immediately into a glare when he heard his laughter.
“Okay, let's see your stolen treasure mr. I'm a ravager as well.” with a short whistle the arrow unpinned from the wall and Peter dropped to his feet.
They shuffled forward and pretty quickly ended up in a slightly hidden corner of the ship which Peter used for hiding things. He reluctantly pulled a box and it took only a couple of moments for Yondu to declare that there's nothing valuable there.
It was junk for lack of a better word.
“Will you take them from me?” all of a sudden, the boy turned shy and insecure, similar to the way he was the first months after they took him from his home planet.
“What were you planning to do with this junk anyway?” he asked, genuinely curious about his motivation.
When he got no answer, he crouched down so he could meet the boy’s eyes and his breath caught in his throat when he noticed the unshed tears in his eyes.
“Peter?”
“I… wanted to make a Christmas tree…” he took a shaky breath in before he continued,
“mom and I used to do that… but now…” his voice trembled and to Yondu’s horror tears started falling down his cheeks, still he managed to finish the sentence,
“I don't even know how much time has passed… I don't know whether Christmas has passed or not.” then he pressed his lips together, lowered his head down and continued to silently cry.
Yondu’s cold heart twitched in sympathy towards the boy's sorrow, being separated from home wasn't easy.
“Christmas? Is that something to eat? You terrans eat junk?” he tried to sound as confused as he felt, to which the boy lifted his head to pay attention to him.
“Come on Peter, tell Yondu about this Christmas tree, is it something worth stealing? Come on, don't hold back on me.” a smile cracked on Peter’s face like a firework before he started giggling.
“No… you can't eat a tree. This is not for eating… it's a decoration.”
“Is that some festive thing or something?”
“Yeah, and there are lights and everything is shiny and beautiful.”
“Got to say boy, you terrans are crazy. And you wanted to make this tree right? “
Peter nodded, his eyes lighting up with hope that Yondu couldn't resist but to give in to the silent plea.
“I think it's your lucky day boy, if someone convinces Kraglin to make this tree while we're all gone for the operation, I'm going to be very surprised, that if it looks good, I might let it stay.” he winked at the kid, who saw the opening for what it was and gave him a wide grin.
“Thanks Yondu.” he rushed forward and nearly tackled him to the ground in his rush to give him a hug.
Yondu stabilized both of them, before he returned the hug, when he finally pulled back he said,
“Not a word to anyone Peter. We can't have the others asking for favors. I'm going now, better not to find this ship blown to bits when I come back.” he got up and left with the boy's laughter stuck in his heart.