open post;

[nostalgiabomb]

( x )

Comments

<3

[saxual]

If I'm being totally honest, I don't have one. But anywhere's better than there.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter's silent for a long moment, just watching him-- before he lets out a long breath. He's clearly still frustrated, but he's not as pissed as he was just a moment ago. ]

Alright, then. [ He gestures with a wave toward the narrow hallway to the side. ] Get yourself settled in the empty room. That'll be your bunk. I've gotta explain what the hell that was about to the others.

[saxual]

[ It's at that point that Midvalley finally steps away from the wall, letting out a small sign of relief. ]

Thanks. [ he nearly turns to go, but he pauses ] Name's Midvalley, by the way.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He pauses at the introduction, as well, and nods in return. ] Peter Quill. I'll introduce you to the rest of the guys as long as they don't tear my head off.

[ With that he heads up to the cockpit to explain the situation to Rocket and Gamora -- and thank God they're together, so he doesn't have to deal with having this argument twice. ]

[saxual]

[ "Peter Quill". What a surprisingly normal name. He half expected people from other planets to have bizarre spaceman names, whatever that meant.

Still, he heads to the empty room as directed, stowing his meager belongings. It's hard to make out most of it, thanks to the buzzing of the ship's systems, but he leans against the doorframe head tilted just so, to see if he can make out bits of the conversation taking place in the cockpit. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ The conversation is mostly a lot of outraged yelling, though it may be indistinct, and eventually Drax and Groot crowd into the space to find out just what everyone's pissed about.

And then Peter makes the very salient point that the five of them aren't exactly angels themselves, that they all had a chance to figure their shit out, so why would this guy be any different? (Sure, Peter is having second thoughts about letting this guy aboard, and while he might not believe 100% the shit he's saying, he realizes it'd be shitty of them to decide that a former criminal shouldn't get the chance to get the hell out of that life.)

Eventually they all begrudgingly agree to let the guy stay at least until their next stop for fuel; in the meanwhile, they'll all keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't try to liquefy their brains with his sax. (Oh, by the way, that's a thing he can do. Groot's probably safe, though. Rocket adds, Drax, too, to Gamora and Peter's reluctant snickers. Drax just assumes he means he is stronger than the musician's tricks and seems pleased.)

It's several minutes later before Peter shows up in the doorway of Midvalley's room, knocking on the frame. He pulls a hand through his hair. ]

So, uh. I'm pretty sure I convinced 'em not to jump you in your sleep and chuck you out the airlock.

[saxual]

[ From what he can gather, it's going about how he expected, given all that's happened. As long as they agree he can hitch a ride, he doesn't really care. He's not here to make friends, just to put as much distance between him and Gunsmoke No Man's Land as possible.

So by the time Peter makes his way back down, Midvalley's lounging on his bunk, idly whistling a little tune as he stares at the ceiling. ]

That's good to hear. I'll do my best to stay out of the way in case anybody changes their mind.

Interesting group of buddies you got.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter laughs at that. ]

Yeah, you've got a real gift for understatement, dude.

Drax is the big guy. Doesn't wear shirts -- don't let it bother you. The tree is Groot. He's-- not much of a conversationalist. Rocket's the little furry guy. Don't, uh, bring that up. He's just Rocket. And Gamora is the green lady. She knows a at least five hundred different ways to kill you with a pair of tweezers, so try not to piss her off.

[saxual]

Go back for a second-- you have a tree on your team?

[nostalgiabomb]

Uh-- yeah? Didn't you see him? Big, tall dude? Little leaves on his head? Body made of, like, ropey vines?

Don't tell me you missed him.

[saxual]

I saw him. I was trying to figure out what the hell he was.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ It takes a moment, but Peter has a realization. Give the man a prize. ]

Right. Desert planet. You've-- you've seriously never seen a tree before, have you?

[saxual]

Only in books.

And I'm pretty sure even then they didn't walk around and say "I am Groot."

[nostalgiabomb]

Well, like you said -- I've got a pretty interesting group, here. Groot's kind of a special case, though, so don't embarrass yourself and try to chat up any other trees while we're out and about.

[saxual]

Hah. Thanks for the tip.

[ there's a pause, then: ] You got a window around here I can look out of?

[nostalgiabomb]

Best view's up in the flight deck, but--

[ -- it'd probably best to steer the guy clear of Rocket and Gamora till they've calmed down some. He nods to one side, gesturing for Midvalley to follow. ]

-- There's a pretty good porthole in the common area.

[saxual]

[ He gets it. He's got no desire to poke his nose into the room where everyone was yelling at each other a moment ago.

He hauls himself off of his bunk, following after Peter ]

Any view is better than no view. I've never been to space before.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He leads them through the common area, where Groot is sitting beneath a little sunlamp Rocket rigged for him. The Flora colossus offers Midvalley a friendly little wave before he goes back to basking.

At the end of the ship is the porthole Peter mentioned -- more of a window than a proper porthole, but all the better, right? The metal bars reinforcing the window obscure some of the view, but it's still damn nice. The planet is growing smaller behind them. ]

Not leavin' any family behind, are you?

[saxual]

[ Groot gets a bit of a sideways glance. Midvalley isn't sure how he feels about the tree guy just yet, but just from looking he seems pretty different from the "plants" he's familiar with. ]

Not that I'm aware-- [ he sort of trails off as he looks out the window because... holy shit. His life has taken some... strange turns, but never in a million years did he ever think he'd be here, shooting through the stars and leaving that place behind him.

His nonchalant demeanor falls away for a moment and he just stares. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter gets it -- of course he does. His first time out in space (well, after they had let him out of the cargo hold, anyway) had been spent in much the same way, staring out in the black expanse spotted with white. He had missed out on saying goodbye to his planet, so he won't begrudge Midvalley his chance to say goodbye to his -- even if the guy doesn't seem to like it much.

So he stays silent, leaning against the frame and staring out with him. Let the guy break the quiet when he's good and ready. ]

[saxual]

[ He remains transfixed for a good while longer before finally asking, ] You ever get used to it? The fact that there's a whole universe out there.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter shrugs. ]

Not really? Most of the time you just kinda let it go on the backburner, otherwise you go kinda nuts thinkin' about how big the universe is, how tiny you are in comparison. Sometimes it's kinda comforting, thinkin' about how petty your problems are in comparison to the whole of existence.

Other times? Scary as fuck.

[ This, at least, Peter can talk about with ease, and he gives Midvalley a reassuring smile. ]

You'll figure out how to adapt. Or, you'll go crazy. Whatever works for you, dude.

[saxual]

[ That actually draws a smile out of the musician ]

You have really gotta work on that whole "reassuring" thing.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ The smile on Peter's face is what one might characterize as triumphant. ]

Kinda got you to laugh, though, didn't I?

[saxual]

Take a picture. It doesn't happen often.