Four Days
-One-
Drax was stalking Amelia but he was most certain that she had not noticed.
"Yet." said Gamora.
Drax looked at her.
"Amelia hasn't noticed yet." Gamora clarified.
Drax didn't reply.
"You don't need to peek in and watch her sleeping. She isn't going anywhere. If you wake her, she will just be upset that you broke into her room at two o'clock because you are obsessed."
Gamora waited. They were standing in the dark outside Amelia's room. Logic wasn't working. Time to try emotional manipulation. "You told her you would make sure the co sleeping continued. If you are going to spend the night staring at her door, there is no point of me sleeping on the floor instead of in my bed."
Drax glared at her in the darkness. But he went silently back to the common room.
-Two-
Amelia was making breakfast when the crew got up. There was a plate full of bread that had been dredged in egg and fried in butter. There was coffee and cut up fruit.
She patted Drax absentmindedly on her way to eat in her room.
Three and a half hours later, he was sparring with Gamora when Amelia came to run. She had her headphones on a resolutely ignored him. Her running was off. Today she was only at half speed. Normally, she ran at about half her top sprinting speed, today she was barely half that. Not much more than a fast walk. At this rate, he would be able to keep up if they were running together. Usually, he would have no chance.
After the third hit that Gamora landed because he wasn’t paying attention, she said, “Get out. If you aren't here to spar there is no reason for you to be here.”
He looked at her. She meant it. “I will pay closer attention.”
“No you won’t. Go mope someplace else.”
When he came to call them for lunch, Amelia had her med bag standing by and was fighting Gamora with a flat out rage he had never seen from her before. Sweat was pouring off her and he could see where she had already repaired a cut to her forehead.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
“I need you to stop asking me that.”
“Lunch?”
“I’m going to wash up first. I’ll be right there.”
At lunch Peter and Rocket were arguing about where to stop to refuel.
“I’m telling you, we can make it.”
“Look! I’ve been flying this ship for six years and I’m telling you her range isn’t that far!”
“No! The ship you have been flying for six years crashed on Xandar. This is a rebuild and based on the range we have been getting we can make it Klum before we need to refuel.”
“It’s still an M-class star ranger. They just don’t have that kind of range.”
“Excuse me? Which one of us actually knows how the engines work, Monkey boy? Maybe Xandar suped her up. We are still at 85% range capacity. We can totally make it to Klum and still have 15% capacity left.”
Amelia looked upset. She took her plate and left.
Everyone stopped talking for a moment.
Rocket said, “She likes to swim. There is water on Klum, but not on Ergon.”
“That’s why we stopped on Florana, where she and Peter got food poisoning.” Gamora pointed out.
“Not my fault! I didn’t know Terrans couldn’t eat rat! Besides, she liked the swim, the food poisoning turned up later.”
“Peter almost died!”
“He was fine! They just needed some electrolytes!”
“I had to learn how to start an IV!”
“Yeah, OK, so that part wasn’t so much fun, but…”
Drax sighed, “But that had nothing to do with swimming.”
“Yeah.” Rocket agreed.
“I think everyone is missing the point.” said Peter. “We don’t get to swim or get food poisoning round two if we run out of fuel before we get there!”
“I’m telling you, we can make it.”
Drax got up to leave.
“Sit down!” Gamora ordered. “She needs space, let her have some.”
“I need-“
“No! You don’t! You want! What you need is to learn the difference before you wreck what you have.”
Drax glared at Gamora but sat down.
“Good! Now, Peter, just check Rocket’s math. You can’t argue math with “no that can’t be right.” Find where he made a mistake. I don’t want to listen to this argument when neither of you is actually proving anything, you are just nattering at each other.”
Peter glared at Rocket, who looked smug.
Drax asked, “How was sparring?”
“She surprised me. She definitely picked up a few things while training with Nova. She will never be a fighter, but she should be able to get away.”
Amelia spent the afternoon sitting in the common room with Groot, who seemed to be telling her a long and complicated story about how he was Groot. She would reply in Terran. Drax just placed a snack on the couch next to her and left.
At supper she just looked tired. This was an improvement from the angry and hurting look from the day before.
“What’s chocolate?” Rocket asked.
Everyone turned to look at him. He was looking at Amelia. “You told Peter to ‘throw chocolate and run away.’ What is it?”
“It’s a Terra dessert. It is sweet and creamy and has a unique flavour and …. I don’t know if it would be safe for you to eat. It is poisonous to … um… some… beings.”
Drax looked very upset. “You were suggesting we poison you?”
“No! My species finds it delicious, it has a subtle but positive effect on our endorphins and serotonin levels. It isn't poisonous to us! Just….. other species.”
“You are trying not to say animals, aren't you?” Rocket demanded.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know about raccoons, but I know it is poisonous to dogs. On the off chance that you are as amazing at finding chocolate as you were at finding music…. I just don’t want you to get sick.”
That night Drax didn’t even make it out of the common room before Gamora told him to go back to sleep.
-Three-
Amelia actually ate breakfast with them that morning. She wasn’t saying very much, but at least she was there.
That set the tone for the day. She wasn’t her usual social self, but she wasn’t hiding in her room either. She spent time sparring with Gamora, but didn’t join them for cards after dinner.
When she was heading back to her room that night, Peter told her they would be stopping on Klum in two days to refuel and resupply. She just nodded.
----
Drax was still asleep when he wrapped his arms around the smaller Terran body next to him and rolled over.
Peter screamed and scrambled away. “What the fuck, dude?”
-Four-
From what Drax could see, Amelia was back to her usual self. Almost. He sat close to her at lunch and she scooted over so their thighs weren't touching. That night, she slept in the common room with them, but moved Drax’s hand when he cupped her breast.
That was OK. He could adjust to that.