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[nostalgiabomb]

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[nohalfway]

[ Now sounding smug as shit. ]

Wanna make a bet on that?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He hums thoughtfully. ]

Depends on the wager, kid. I've already got $10 riding on another bet.

[nohalfway]

Alright then.

A shot at one of your plasma blasters and a whole pizza on you that I don't even flinch.

[nostalgiabomb]

And if you do flinch--

[ He pauses, considering the consequences. ]

--I'm gonna make you suffer through the worst movie I can think of.

[ peter there is no downside to that. That is a treat. ]

[nohalfway]

[ Snort. ]

Highly doubt any kind of movie on a working television could make me suffer, buddy. But we'll see.

Besides, you're gonna lose this bet anyway.

By the way? I like the works on my pizza. Meat Lovers all the way.

[nostalgiabomb]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You talk a big game, Scout, but Alien is gonna send you scramblin' behind the couch, just you wait.

[nohalfway]

Oh man, you have no idea the kinda shit I've seen in real life, Pete.

I bet I'll probably even make a little chuckle a few times.

[ Lies. She'll probably flinch. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He sounds so unconvinced: ] Uh-huh. You say that, but you're totally gonna jump outta your skin, and I'll have the last laugh.

[nohalfway]

You're too fucking cocky for your own good, Star Lord.

[nostalgiabomb]

I might've heard that rumor once or twice.

[nohalfway]

[ She laughs. ]

It's alright, I'm not totally judging you.

[ Ellie pauses, still smiling a little bit. ]

I uh... Guess I should get going. Joel'll be home any minute and I should probably let him know where I'm gonna be. The dude's totally dependent on my being around, he cries and shit.

[ That's a lie. ]

What time should I meet you?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He laughs, even if he knows she's not entirely telling the truth. ]

You can give him my contact info, too, if you want. I'm sure that'll help smooth things over if you don't text him back within a second.

[ And Peter indicates a time, because the mun doesn't know, but apparently he does. ]

See you then?

[nohalfway]

Hey, thanks. I'm sure it won't come to that. I'll be pretty good at keeping in touch.

[ Honestly, she's more scared about losing contact with Joel than he may be of losing it with her. More than likely. This is for more her benefit than his. ]

Yeah, I'll be there.

And uh... Peter?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He's about to hang up, but he stops. ]

--Yeah, kid?

[nohalfway]

[ Things totally got personal during the beginning of the conversation, shit that she would expect any normal person to feel really uncomfortable with. At least Peter was patient with her, offering a shoulder and all that. There was that awkward apology, but there was still an effort to make the conversation easy. This guy convinced her to leave the house... ]

Thanks.

I mean, for not being totally weirded out and shit.

[ And, you know, for trying to be a friend even though she's a total mess. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He manages a small little smile, though obviously it's for his own benefit; rubbing the back of his neck a little awkwardly. ]

Believe me, dude. I'm pretty good with weird shit. [ His entire life, after all, is weird shit. ]

Pretty sure we had a deal, too. Whenever you feel like cashing it in, I owe you one personal history.

[nohalfway]

[ Ellie is quiet for a moment, a sentimental type of smile forming on her own features. Is this what it's like to make friends the natural way? Sure, Joel is definitely her closest friend, but their evolution into friendship was rocky and is only on a foundation solely built off of near-death experiences and harsh decision making. Before all of that happened? Riley was her only friend, and before Riley she had absolutely no friends to speak of. She was moved from military school to military school, kicked out for stealing, beating up other students, and sneaking out. It's safe to say that no one wanted to be her friend, and she never expected that to change. ]

[ The last time she was here? She'd made friends with so many people, Jesse included... And that guy still cares about her even after she can't remember shit and pulled a gun on him her first day back. Peter is legitimately the first friend she's made outside of her previous experience here. In the prolonged silence, she hugs her knees to her chest and briefly hides her face between them. ]

I'd uh...

I'd really like that. To know where you came from and all.

[ Her throat starts to burn a little, and she jolts back to an upright position. Sniffling a little, she rubs at her face to pull herself together. ]

You're a pretty cool dude, Star Lord.

I'll... I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ -- ah, crap, did he make her cry? Peter is so not good when people cry. When she seems to collect herself, he lets out a silent breath. ]

You too, kid. See you tomorrow.

[ TIME SKIP

When "tomorrow" rolls around, Peter's waiting outside his door, a lot earlier than he had originally told her, just in case. (He'd hate for her to show up early on accident and not see a familiar face waiting for her.) He has a box of hard apple ciders in hand. Glitch had asked him to bring booze, and Peter is nothing if not a man of his word -- as evidenced by the fact that his two blasters are holstered on either hip. And just to add to the wow factor, he's left the house with his jet attachments for his boots. There's almost no need for them, surely, but hey, the kid likes space stuff, right? Distract her from the crowd of strangers with cool tech -- that's the ticket.

He waits patiently, checking his communicator every so often; he's fully expecting a call from Ellie, saying she can't do it. If that's the case, he'll just send her the list of flicks he had already put together and let her know they can try again next time. ]

[nohalfway]

[ It's not the first time she's left the apartment-- Ellie has left a couple of times with Joel to run some errands at the grocery store, but with how many times she's gotten uncomfortable among a crowd of non-infected people, they were short-lived trips that had her coming home early and just letting Joel do his thing. After about the third or fourth attempt, she didn't feel as uncomfortable. Perhaps this would be the last kicker to make her unafraid of leaving her home. ]

[ She's outside within minutes, alone, gun tucked neatly in the waistband of her jeans and hidden under her baggy t-shirt and plaid button up over top. Ellie keeps her phone in her hand, just in case she'll need to call either Joel or Peter upon getting lost. But by the time she makes it down the street, she quickly sees a flash of red and what looks like-- Oh my god is that a set of jets? Ellie had previously hiked her shoulders up to her ears, breathing heavily out of pure nervousness, but the site of a fucking space man has her mouth dropping. ]

Holy fuck, is that you, Peter?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He looks up from his gajillionth time checking his phone at the familiar sound of cursing -- because, man, does she swear a lot -- and he has to suppress a grin at her surprised. ]

Um, yeah? [ And now he's wearing a look that says, "For real, kid?" ] You know any other smokin' hot dudes with blasters and red leather jackets? 'Cause you seriously need to tell me about them. Can't have any competition.

[nohalfway]

[ A smile tugs at her lips as she scans his whole getup from top to bottom. Holy shit, what an outfit! He looks like he came straight from one of her comic books, and she couldn't possibly be any giddier. There's so much temptation to jolt for him to get a closer look, but there's still that lingering fear of what the dude is capable of and what he would do to prove it. ]

[ Ellie takes a hesitating step forward, head tilting. ]

Are uh...

[ She shyly gestures at his hip. ]

Are those your plasma blasters there?

[nostalgiabomb]

Sure are.

[ He's careful about pocketing the comm device, movements deliberate, but not slow. He doesn't want her to notice, after all. He unholsters the gun at his right hip, laying it flat on his palms for her to see. ]

I know the temptation is probably killing you, but no touching. For Star-Lord's hands only, save for losing bets and emergencies.

[nohalfway]

Woah

[ She takes note of his slow gestures, pretty thankful for them too. When it's clear that he's not totally dangerous, she takes another step forward to get a closer look. Smile brightening, her eyes start to fucking glow at the sight of them. ]

Holy shit, and those are real? These better not be some fucking prop or something.

[ Her heart is pounding so fast. Both from the crippling agoraphobia and the excitement. It's a very weird feeling. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

Of course they're real. [ How dare you, tbh. ]

I could prove it, but then I'd have to explain why there are scorch marks on the sidewalk, and that's totally not something I wanna deal with. Shoots fire, remember? And lightning.

I can show you this, though -- just don't freak out, okay?

[ He holsters the gun -- again, with deliberate movements. No sudden, twitchy hands, here. He reaches up with his right hand and touches the trigger on the attachment behind his ear. Blue light wraps around his head, solidifies into metal with sharp, tinkling noise, and voila! One helmeted Star-Lord. ]

[nohalfway]

[ Even with the slow gestures and the warning, Ellie can't stop herself from taking a cautious step back. She looks up and watches as this strange mask begins to morph and piece itself together around Peter's face, and her mouth couldn't possibly open any wider. ]

No... fucking way!

[ Finally, she takes steps forward to get closer, head tilting as she looks up to the much taller Star Lord. ]

This is so awesome, you really are a space dude! You have to let me touch that. Just the parts without the buttons, I won't break it!

[ She's already on her tip toes and reaching up. ]