[ Her question makes him falter, makes him wince, and he busies himself with pouring a mug of coffee from the heated carafe. ]

I used to... I mean, before I do what I do now. I used to run with this...

[ Group? Team? Hell, just call it what it is, Quill: ]

I ran with this gang.

I left home when I was young and found my way here. I couldn’t make ends meet by flipping burgers, so a couple days before I was due to get kicked out of my apartment, I decided to drown my sorrows. I squirreled my way into a bar with a fake ID and conned someone into buying me a drink. This guy spotted me, said I had potential, and brought me in.

So I learned a lot about picking locks and picking pockets and hotwiring and dismantling cars, and...

[ Peter shrugs, methodically adding sugar and milk into his mug. ]

Spent a while doing that. Decided it wasn’t for me, and now—

[ He waves a free hand. ]

—here I am.