Pride

I wasn’t free to roam around the entirety of the ship, but the parts that were open to someone like me, I took advantage of.

I’d retrieved a new dress - the garment wasn’t anything special, just some stitched up, multicolor fabric that I’d been given. I no longer had to wear Thanos’ shirt, which left me with a problem.

How was I going to get it back to him?

I couldn’t just…go to his room and knock. Or, at least, that’s what I believed. I knew exactly where his quarters were, yet I’d never been allowed to venture near there on my own free will. I came when he requested me, left when he told me. We rarely conversed outside of sex, and I knew why - I was as valuable as the guard drones that roamed the halls. Disposable, reusable.

I was left with only one option, and it was an option that I dreaded. The Black Order, the children of Thanos, they, were here, spending whatever time they had not torturing or conquering roaming around the ship. They were far from kind, mimicking their “fathers” disdain for anyone that wasn’t, well, them. Whatever interest they had in others had to be superficial. Except for one.

Ebony Maw. He was the only one who spoke to me directly, making eye contact, casually placing his hands where he pleased, but never there. Never going against the direct orders of his father.  Don’t take what belongs to me.

He was my only option. He’d listen to me, at least. It wasn’t a comforting thought. Summoning him would be easy - I’d begun to think that the alien creature was stalking me. He always found me. Always.

“I can look inside your mind, you know.”

“Is that how?”

He was very nearly a foot taller than me, so when he walked, he was forced to hunch over a bit. His spindly arms were long, and clutched behind his back. His eyes were small, irises black and cold. He matched my pace, and I tried my best to respond politely, and keep the edge off my voice - no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t help but think that mouthing off to him wouldn’t be the smartest idea.

“It’s one of my many gifts,” Maw glanced at me. “A shame you were born as you are. I could have been your mentor.”

Closing my eyes, I nodded, letting out a sigh. In my sweetest voice, I said, “Maw, can you do me a favor?”

Maw looked at me, raising what I assumed to be his eyebrow - I didn’t see the eyebrow, but the motion was all to familiar, coupled with the look in his eyes. He hesitated, before saying lowly, “What does this favor entail?”

“I have to return something...Thanos let me borrow his shirt,” I ducked my head in embarrassment. “I’m not supposed to knock on his door unless called upon. If I’m with you, his son, he might be lenient.”

Maw tilted his head to the side, contemplating my words. I gave him my biggest, saddest doe eyes, swallowing my pride and cozying up to him, getting much closer than I was used to. “Please?”

“As you wish.”

That was how I ended up in front of Thanos’ door, Ebony Maw at my side. The shirt was neatly folded, the fabric crisp and clean. Maw’s gaze, for once, was no on me - it was on the door. His head was tilted, a curious look on his face. I was waiting for him to knock, and when he didn’t, I said, “What’s wrong?”
“He is...currently engaged in an activity you are all too familiar with. But no matter,” Maw raised his fist and knocked three times, smirking at the puzzled glance on my face. The door swung open, and he stepped forward. “Father - you have a guest.”

The first thing I noticed was the grunting - I recognized it immediately. It was the noises Thanos made when he was with me. Or, in this case, with another - two others, in fact. Sprawled across the bedding, gaze entirely focused on the green skinned, three-eyed alien woman vigorously riding his dick, was Thanos. The woman’s counterpart, a blue skinned humanoid woman that I’d never seen before, cradled Thanos’ head in her lap, stroking the rough skin on his face and chest. He noticed Maw first, teeth curling back into a growl, before his eyes landed on me. The expression softened, though the hardness did not disappear entirely.

“Leave it. On the floor,” Thanos kept a firm grip on the woman, voice strained. I obeyed, dropping the shirt where I stood. Then I turned and hurried past Maw without a word, back into the hallway, cheeks stained red. There was a tightness in me, right in the center of the chest. I attributed it to nerves but even then, in the back of my mind, I knew it was something else.

The door to Thanos’ room shut, and Ebony Maw appeared at my side.

I felt the sudden urge to smack him. Hard.

He knew.

He did it on purpose.

When Maw’s long, ringed finger ran from the back of my neck, down my spine, I did not flinch. His touch stopped right above my hip, and he hummed in contemplation. “The great Thanos chooses his toys with as much deliberation as one would use when choosing a weapon for battle. Unlike weapons, toys are meant to be shared.”

“There’s no toy to play with if it’s broken. Permanently,” I yanked myself away from his touch. When I faced him, he was smiling. “If you touch me, Thanos will hurt you.”

“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

I glared, but said nothing. Instead I turned and headed off, towards my room, towards some semblance of safety - aware that Maw was watching me go.

I hadn’t been sold into this weird, pseudo form of slavery. Thanos wanted women who were willing. There were so, so many of them. The galaxy was full of people searching for their version of power.

I’d been with the Ravagers for some time, before splitting - the rest of my days were spent employed by the Collector, spending a solitary life collecting whatever glowing space rocks I could find for his growing collection. I was paid with food, shelter. Safety. The Ravagers had given me that, but their ways of living were...brutal. Animalistic. Deadly. Death wasn’t something I enjoyed, and unlike most of the Ravagers, I wasn’t going to suck it up and get used to it.

And then Corvus had come along, bartered with the Collector and seen me. That was when he’d offered the Collector a price - a high, high price that the Collector, of course, didn’t refuse.

So I’d been “fired.” Offered a job as a bedmate. The pay was food, shelter, protection. A lifetime of it, along with designated freedoms. My only job would be to fuck occasionally. Maybe once a month (Corvus had stated that his ‘father’ had plenty of women of all different species, but not a human.)

I’d obliged. If all else failed, I could slip out, put in my resignation. Maybe slit the bastards throat in his sleep, if things got so bad. But then I’d arrived on the ship, and things became instantly more complicated.

And I mean instantly.

Thanos.

The most powerful creature in the galaxy, responsible for the deaths of billions.

This is why on Earth, you sign legal contracts before you take a job.

I’d been on this ship for a month. I’d been with Thanos almost a dozen times. It wasn’t until tonight that I was genuinely, actually nervous when he called me to his quarters. Less nervous than my first time with him, but still nervous.

The moment I entered, I began to undress - he stopped me.

“Not now. Go and sit.”

I obeyed, moving slowly. I avoided all eye contact, resting on the soft sheets. For a moment, the room was silent. Then, Thanos murmured, “Are you afraid of me?”

“No.”

He sighed. It was obvious that I was lying. There was no confidence in my voice. Nothing. Something big cradled my head - his palm. His touch was softer than it had ever been before, and he knelt before me. “Tell me what’s bothering you. Be truthful. I don’t want to have to ask you again.”

“You...I saw you with the other women,” I glanced away awkwardly, fiddling with the hem of my dress. One one of Thanos’ fingers reached up and guided my face back in his direction. “I asked Maw to bring me to you...so I could return your shirt-”

“You were welcome to stay. You always are - be mindful of that in the future.”

“I don’t like sharing.”

I wish I could have framed the look on Thanos’ face. Surprise, coupled with curiosity. And something else - pride, maybe? He took no offense to my words, yet I still cursed myself for saying them.

Jealous. You were jealous of those girls-

You’d never seen him with those girls before-

“So that’s what been bothering you? I never took you as the jealous type - it’s a dangerous thing,” Thanos’ big palm cupped the side of my face. He was smiling. “Am I not leaving you sufficiently satisfied? That can be remedied-”

“You haven’t been neglecting me-”

“Then what is it? Why are you concerning yourself with the others?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. The dam burst and was raising my voice. Something in the back of my mind was screaming at me to stop, but I ignored it. “I don’t know why I’m jealous. Maybe I’m selfish. We don’t do this type of stuff on Earth - harems. On Earth we don’t share.”

“You are not on Earth. If you cannot accept the customs here - my customs - then simply leave.”

I gnawed on my lower lip, before letting out a sigh of defeat. “Fine. Fine. Whatever. You’d miss me too much, anyway.”

The playful jab garnered a reaction from him that I hadn’t expected - a laugh. A genuine laugh. His thumb swept across my cheek and he stood, gesturing towards the door.

“I suppose I’d miss my little human. Now go and rest. I have something special planned for you tomorrow.”