[closed] and i'll tell you all about it

[justlethal]

WHO: Gamora (justlethal) & Peter (nostalgiabomb)
WHAT: Meeting
WHERE: Near grocery store, District 1, north-west
WHEN: A few days after their arrivals
WARNINGS: Will update as required. Maybe some yelling.

[She does perhaps make a sight, for a number of reasons. The first is that her skin is green, even if she is humanoid in appearance. The bone structure of her face is slightly different mind, although it's not overly noticeable, but enough to draw a second look anyway. Her face is framed by strands of hair that are ombred, starting one colour and fading to another. Her expression is... less than impressed, although with Gamora, that tends to be a typical state of being. She's ignored the others around her, set off on her own, seeking answers.

Gamora does not like surprises. It doesn't matter whether it is a pleasant surprise or a not so pleasant one. She likes to be prepared, at least to some level of preparedness. Here? She's on edge. It is like someone prepared a city and then started dropping individuals in. For a brief moment, Gamora had thought it had had something to do with what had transpired just before her own arrival, but it makes no sense. Then again, little of this place does. She has been exploring, trying to find answers. They are severely lacking. She knows that she has just covered a small amount of the city, starting north and heading west, but so far, everything seems like it has been explained.

Trying to leave has proven to be true. You cannot. Not that Gamora is sure what she is trying to achieve by this. Go where? It's a day of walking, making marks and crossing parts off on the map that she has found. It's not until her stomach truly starts to grumble that Gamora calls it a day. Backtracking to one of the grocery stores that fall along her route, she tallies what she does know as she walks on silent feet. It's pitiful, although every little piece of information can help to build a bigger picture.

The sun is starting to drop by the time she approaches down the street of the store. She'll grab whatever and return to the hole she has found to rest, before another day of rinse and repeat. It's passing looks to anyone that she passes, although that leave me alone air remains. Her eyes pass over him once, not quite registering, before her head snaps back, even as she halts in place. She blinks, once, twice, as if expecting it to be some trick, before her voice breaks.]

... Peter?

Comments

[justlethal]

[No, she is not just eating bananas. It is fresher items she seeks out, as she has already stocked up on some non perishable products since her arrival. For all she knows, they may wake up one morning to find this place even more barren than it currently is. Better to prepare for that lest she find herself unprepared, which she would rather not be.

There is that small shrug of her shoulders.]

I’ve two hands and myself to feed.

[And she had been distracted, off her game. There’s that longing for that ease that had been there, those quiet moments in the ship before Drax had interrupted or Rocket had blown something up. She’d honestly take either, or even the touch of Mantis, if it meant she survived.

She could have managed just fine without a basket though.]

You have your own shopping.

[Although it is hard to tell if it is a statement or a question. Hard for her to figure it out as well. For all the unspoken thing between them, it had eased into a proper thing. Them. Until Knowhere, when everything went sideways and instead of days, weeks or months apart- Once more Gamora has no idea what to make of this place. But it doesn’t stop that soft gaze from resting on Peter.]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He worries, for a heartbeat, that she means to brush him off, and even for all the years that have passed for him, there's a large part of him that longs for them to fall back on old habits, to pretend that nothing had ever happened, and that the purple scrotum-faced whackjob had never crossed their path. ]

I can take care of it later. Or—

[ And his tone takes on something carefully nonchalant. ]

—or we could just. You know. Consolidate. Get enough for two. [ Since, at this point, he isn't aware that Nebula is here, as well. ]

[justlethal]

[It is like a dance. Gamora doesn't quite know the steps to this new song. She doesn't like to be in the dark, to not understand, and would rather have all the information at her disposable to form a plan of action. She isn't a fan of flying by the seat of her pants, prefers strategy, even if she knows that sometimes adjustments need to be made. Have to be made.

That gentle stillness that looms, seemingly for an eternity although it is perhaps two seconds before there is that slow nod of her head.]

The bananas are mine. For tomorrow. But... consolidate something, together.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He puts on a slightly tentative smile at that little offering. ]

Yeah?

[ And because Peter is the type of guy to be given an inch and run it for a mile— ]

Where have you been staying? 'Cause, you know. It might be smart if we joined up. Strength in numbers, kind of thing.

[justlethal]

[Has she claimed a space? In a manner of speaking. A spot to sleep, store some items for later use. Not that she stores them all in one place, and has a few caches here and there, hidden away in case. This place is a little too unbelievable after all.

Here, have some food! Here, have some place to sleep! Whether those here are actually all brought together or if some are masquerading to blend in, Gamora hasn't been able to figure out. Might not be able to regardless, depending on how well they hold their cards close. Some simply cannot keep a secret or have a tell, but tells require time to figure out.

Here, no longer be death and here, have your friends who have lived years beyond what you know or will ever know and enjoy digesting that...]

I just- give me some time?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He can't help the way his smile falters at that. For as good as a liar the Ravagers trained him to be, Peter can't help but wear his heart on his sleeve, at times.

But, yeah. Okay. He gets it. This— is a lot. He is a lot. The other Gamora hadn't said as much to him, not in so many words, but that was kind of the gist, right? He at least learned that he couldn't push his expectations on anyone else. People weren't puzzle pieces and couldn't just be fitted into the empty spaces, despite how much he wishes that were true.

And just like the alternate Gamora, this Gamora – even if she may be the one he fell in love with, even if she may be the one that fell in love with him, and it's only now that he realizes what a rare and beautiful thing that was – deserves some time and space to figure things out for herself.

So he nods. He swallows around the ugly lump in his throat. He forces himself to smile again, even if it's a tentative, barely there thing. Once he trusts his voice to stay even, ]

Yeah. Sure. Of course.

[ What are other ways to express your agreement, Quill? He realizes how redundant he must sound before he clears his throat a little. ]

Take all the time you need.

[justlethal]

[She knows what she asks, just as she had known what she had asked of him before Knowhere. It isn't that she doesn't love him any less than she had, but... But there's a gap, an unease with that knowledge. Arguably it's not something she is supposed to know, and really, she shouldn't know. Yet she does, just as she is still alive, despite not meaning to be.

He is trying, even if he might not actually mean that fully, and she appreciates it. It's tentative, her hand reaching out, to give a squeeze on his shoulder. He's real. She's real. Or as real as any of this reality is.]

Thank you.