Peter lay watched the steam rise from his mug of hot coffee, for a price he’d managed to trade some ammunition for three bags of whole ground beans. Outside the Milano, in the dark sky was filled with cosmic snow, aimless clouds of white that drifted around the galaxy dropping flakes wherever it went.
“Everyone else still asleep?” Gamora asked, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen. She was dressed in her work-out clothes, navy tank-top with matching shorts. Her hair was lopped on top of her head in a messy bun, face flush with sweat.
“Drax is practicing,” Peter said, as if on cue a loud proclamation of defeat sounded through the room. Gamora giggled at the sound and poured herself some coffee.
“Can I ask you something?” He asked, stepping close to her as the hopped up on the counter, she parted her legs enough for him to sand between them, batting his face away as he bent down to try blow bubbles into her mug.
“Sure,” she sipped.
“Remember when we stopped on Knowhere, you told me about your parents. Your actual father and mother?” Gamora nodded.
“That was the first time you opened up to me.” He kissed her nose as she lowered the mug, scent of rich coffee mixing with the scent of her.
“That was the first time I opened up to anyone,” she scolded but she gave him a kiss back and looked up at the skylight. Tiny flecks of white embellished the window in swirls and spirals.
“ I think I fell in love with you at that moment,” he said, his belly flipping inside him. She raised and brow disbelief,
“Peter we hardly knew each other. The only think you knew about me was what Thanos made me…” He kissed her again,
“I knew more than that. I knew you had the guts to go behind that monsters back, I knew you were compassionate enough to risk your life for millions in the galaxy. Open enough to listen to my music,” he smiled.
“Fooled Around and Fell In Love,” she remembered, taking another dreg of coffee. The whir of the ship droned on as the cosmic snow outside whipped in a whisper. Peter kissed her again.
“What was your question?”
“…What did you think of me?”
“I thought you were reckless,” she scoffed. “Impulsive, a danger to yourself and others.” It was Peter’s turn to raise a brow.
“Your not wrong,” he shrugged. Gamora gently set down her mug and took his face in her hands, pulling his gaze from the snow above.
“I also knew you were a man with integrity. I admired that recklessness, I admired your free spirit.”
“Your just saying that,” he laughed. Her thumb rhythmically stroked across his cheek,
“Well the music and that colorful sky probably had something to do with it,” she admitted. “You caught me off guard, what can I say.”
“It was the pelvic sorcery, wasn’t it?”
“It most definitely was not!” She laughed, kissing him once more. “It was the fact that…amid all that chaos…when I stood there with you….I felt I did not need to put up a front….did not need to be something I was not.” It warmed Peter’s heart to hear her say those words, he followed her to the table, waddling with his arms around her waist as she attempted to pry away. Falling into a heap of giggles on bench.
“Well, I’m glad,” he beamed. Gamora looked at him, words unspoken in her eyes.
“I didn’t love you just then,” she clarified. “But, I did begin to think about caring for you…deeply.”
“I’m glad you did,” Peter said. He knew they were different in that way. Peter had always been a lover, someone who threw their emotions into everything. For good or bad Peter Quill wore most feelings on his sleeve. But Gamora was different. She was guarded and did not show any emotion, it was a survival mechanism. Peter would never want to change her, he’d only ever wanted to love her and help her heal. To show her it was alright to open up. That night on Knowhere, with the music he cherished so much playing and the radiant vibrancy of star dust, standing on his ship with her, that healing had begun, the emotion which would eventually transform into love was sown.
“I’m glad too,” she said. Groot’s footsteps drew near and reluctantly Peter scooted off of her, walking back to the coffee pot.
“I’d go through it all again,” he rushed to say before the tree came into the room. “The battle, the crash…everything. Your worth it.” Gamora brushed the hair from her face as she sat up.
“So would I.”