dear_mun | (no subject)

[Damn it. damn it. Two Yondus.]

What no eating the mun?

Naw, that's something we're saving for later. You know how this works.

I'm sure we'll get along just fine before things have to get messy.

[And we didn't get along fine? Cold Yondu. cold.]

One day you'll find someone you care about. I live for that day. [So he can laugh at you]

[Look who's being sensitive all of a sudden. Feeling sad you aren't the one getting the death threats, Quill?]

Oh, I'm sure there's someone out there who can deliver a good load of credits. The kind of partner that knows the business. Funny, I always thought that it'd be you.

[Hey man. He was nine man.]

I had a lousy teacher.

[Okay. That was cold.]

And I was a terrible student I mean let's be honest.

[Oh boo hoo. He didn't let anyone eat him, did he? No. He was a nice guy about it.]

One hell of a lousy student. Never did learn to let go of all the sentimental shit, did you?

But you sure can get what you want when you have a mind to do it.

[There's a grin when he says that.]

Guess keeping you around wasn't such a bad idea.

[He shrugs, spreading his hands wide] It's a curse. I struggle with it daily, looking into forgetting about religion.

[he grins right back] And you're not so bad either. Oh you're bad and you can bet I'll be avoiding you but not that bad.

You do that and you'll have no one to pray to if I have to take back what you owe me in person. Get me, boy?

[He is the baddest pirate. Don't you forget it.]

You've got quite a debt, let's not forget that. Plus you went and stabbed me in the back, and you know that's not gonna treat you kindly later.

I AM GROOT!

Well, lookie here. So this is what the boy's hanging out with these days? Might be mighty slow work is all I have to say.

[Feh. He recognizes you. One of the ones that won away his errand boy, thanks.]

I AM GROOT!

You're certainly not my first choice of company that's for sure. But I guess that's just what I should've expected from good old Quill, eh? Thinks he's a regular hero too now.

Edited 2014-08-12 11:48 (UTC)

[Yondu always brings up his first time in the pilot's chair! Always. If he screws up, Yondu will be bringing it up years later. It's like the gift that keeps on giving except it got old real fast. Peter sometimes wonders if it's noting all the milestones, like Yondu's version of nostalgia]

In the cargo hold? I keep saying something must've died in there but no one listens to the "idiot Terran"

[Peter's convinced he's right...but even he doesn't want to crawl in there to clean it out, not even to prove a point]

[He grins when he sees Peter. That sly look of recognition that is both mocking and a bit fond if you dig really deep. True, he treats him like property half the time, but space pirates will be space pirates, eh?]

Now why do you have to go and ruin all the surprises? I'm just having a nice talk with your replacement and you have to go and spoil the fun.

I told you, if you think there's something worthwhile in it, you have to go digging. You can do that, can't you?

Replacement, uh huh.

[He snorts. Yeah, he's heard that one too. It's not trotted out anywhere as much as the "Peter Quill Buffet" line, but it's up there. Used to scare the crap out of him, lying awake at night thinking maybe he'll be replaced by a drone because he couldn't put his pistol together without help from Yondu]

Yeah, sure. But me, I like to practice that little thing called weighing risks. Cleaning your ship doesn't seem too high on the cost-benefit.

[In other words, what's in it for him? Peter's sure as hell not crawling into that hell hole Yondu calls his cargo hold without a nice fat bribe]

Edited 2014-08-12 12:31 (UTC)

Have to find someone to do work around the place. Maybe someone that won't betray his good friend. What do you think about that, Quill?

[It's his job as a good teacher. If Peter is going to be a tough space pirate, he has to give him a hard time. If he's not threatening him then he's not a good pirate.

The smart response makes him grin. See? That's how a space pirate does good business. Yondu laughs, patting Peter on the shoulder roughly.]

That's how I like to hear it. I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Not that I think you're afraid to get your hands a little dirty, mind, but the boys have been talking about you going soft on us. I don't like thinking about what happens when my friends start getting too delicate for hard work.

Don't act all surprised when I start thinkin' for myself.

[Monkey see, monkey do. Peter's seen Yondu turn on other pirates before, temporary allies. Busting the chops of two-bit bounty hunters who thought - mistakenly - that they were getting a cut by helping the Ravagers. Maybe he hadn't down that with his own men, but frankly, Peter didn't care too much about this fancy "Ravager Code" of Yondu's. He was a Terran first, Ravager second. Even if Yondu was the whole reason he didn't get killed his first trip on another planet. Or blow himself up with his first overloaded pistol.

Peter takes the shoulder pat, relieved that he's big enough that Yondu can't bowl him over anymore just by congratulating him]

Me? Soft? I just saved the galaxy! What'd they do recently, huh?

[Peter Quill. That kid always did pull off some crazy stunts, and maybe part of it was Yondu's questionable tactics. But space pirates so things their way, and if Yondu is proud that the squirmy little Terran brat grew up into a decent bounty hunter himself, well--just say the kid's a Ravager at heart. Even if he is playing heroic these days.

Or maybe he's just congratulating himself for keeping him alive.]

Now, there's a difference between thinkin' for yourself and turning on the one that brought you up. Who was it that kept you from being blown to little bitty pieces and fried when you hadn't even held a gun? When we found you, they wanted to eat you. I coulda let 'em. They ain't never had Terran before!

But I raised you. And that's the thanks I get.

[Peter rolls his eyes. It would've earned him a cuff in the head but he doesn't care - he finally got out of Yondu's shadow and he can't deny it feels good. Like stupidly good.]

You showed me some things, yeah. [Granted, he'd also put him in half of those...incidents. Peter has the vague feeling that normal people - normal Earth people - don't hand ten year-old boys loaded pistols and laugh "point it at the ground first, boy".] Why? You don't like the whole continued existence thing? If it wasn't for me and my buddies, you wouldn't even be here to ream me out again.

[Hey, he can get smart all he wants to. If he really wants to get a closer look at Yondu's go-to for dealing with the really bad stuff. One last trick, and it's all over, right?

But he can laugh now just as much as he did when Peter was first starting out. Sorry, Quill, Yondu is always going to be on your case.]

You wouldn't even have that little treasure if it wasn't for me. You think savin' the day makes us even? You still owe me for that botched deal, boy. Don't think I won't come collecting. We all gotta pay up some time.

Well...yeah! I did think it evened things out! [Peter's voice rises despite himself. He's gotten better about this but sometimes, and this has to be like a Yondu specialty, the man gets under his skin even though Peter knows he's in the right here]

And I figure I paid my dues by now. It's been years, Yondu!

[Peter can't help it - he butts back, he can't help it. Once he realized he (probably) wasn't gonna turned into breakfast, he started testing boundaries, seeing what he could get away with.]

[Peter's certainly gotten rougher over the years. The scared little boy was replaced by a sharp young man a while ago. He's still not hardened--not a complete criminal at heart--but he's tough. The challenge he throws at Yondu makes the Centaurian grin, his crooked smile edged in the hint of a threat.]

You think you paid your dues?

[He flips the side of his coat back, uncovering one hip as he keeps his eyes on Peter.]

You're paid up when I say you're paid up. We might be friends, but you still owe me for that botched job and your little stunt. That was good money we missed out on.

[He sounds like he's teasing. He could be teasing... He might not be. It's hard to tell.]

[Peter can't help himself - it's been ingrained to silently go "uh oh" if he sees Yondu do that little flip with his coat, deceptively casual up until he starts killing people. His eyes flick down unconsciously before darting back up to Yondu's face]

You think I didn't try to pawn it off? Our guy refused to pay up!

[He could also go on about their attempt with the Collector, but he figures Yondu isn't in a listening mood. Peter thinks back to all the years and the debts and he wonders if he'll ever get through them in his lifetime.]

[It's a good instinct. Not that Yondu seriously wants to kill Peter--probably--but making his point always does come first. The Ravagers didn't earn their reputation as dangerous space pirates by coddling or making exceptions, and he has been known to take payment in more than just credit.

Peter doesn't seem to have picked up the part where it's not a good idea to double cross a Centaurian willing to shoot you in the head for it. Life lessons to take notes on.]

And if he did, who'd have all the credits? Don't you play games with me, boy, or I'll cut your tongue out right here.

[Just making sure you're paying attention, Quill. Also, you cheated him. This is Yondu's polite way of making sure there's no repeat offense (or it's damn clever if there is).]

[It's life lessons that he's still pissed off he had to go through and yet there's that part of him, the part that refuses to admit it, that's glad he had them at all. If Yondu hadn't taught him how to survive...

Peter doesn't want to think about what his first trip on another planet would've been like. He suspects he wouldn't have made it to puberty.]

Hey, hey, hey! [Peter's holding his hands up in the classic I-Surrender gesture] Let's not do anything we'll regret, okay? Okay. I'm just...I was trying to be proactive. Ravager go-getter.

[He smiles, a little nervously, because there's always that line he's not 100% percent sure on between them. One of these days he'll push too hard and that's when Peter knows there'll be hell to pay]

[Being raised by space pirates isn't the best way to learn the ropes, maybe, but Peter picked it up as well as any pro. Not every kid from any planet could have come as far as he did.

Not that Yondu is going to tell him that. Brat has a big enough ego as it is. No, instead the captain goes with intimidation, letting that thin threat at his hip rest in view where Quill can see it. Sometimes when the kids get big enough, they need a reminder of where that line is. That's what keeps the Ravagers from falling into chaos. He waits, making his two-timing crewman sweat under his stare before he breaks into a grin.]

That's what I want to hear. I knew you still had good sense in you.

[He thumps Peter's back roughly, but at least it's no longer in a threatening way. The man's a pirate through and through, and Yondu does feel a little proud of that. He's a survivor.]

Just make sure you're not proactive with my property, or I might have to take it right out of your hide. Bet there's still a good market for that, huh?

[He laughs heartily. Sorry, Peter. It's most likely just a joke. Probably.]

[Peter takes the back-slap, too big now to stumble forward from them. He flashes Yondu a smile - the kind that convinces most people he's so got this, but he can't help the shades of unease from someone like Yondu. The Centurian knows him too well. Knows (most) of his tells. What gets him all "soft", as if being homesick is a character flaw]

Nice to know I'm not a lost cause.

[Peter shrugs and keeps on grinning. There's a time and place to get smart with Yondu and he's not sure if this is it. They're still working out who stands where after the whole saving the galaxy thing, he thinks. Maybe he's got some friends in the Nova Corp now - Peter still isn't sure how far that friendship goes. Yondu, at least they got all that history]

Probably is, yeah. Even more since I got the galactic savior rep thing goin' on.

[There's always an edge between them. Yondu knows that you don't train a kid to become a thieving pirate, a survivor first, without expecting challenges and backstabbing. That's all business, and if you don't give your crew a friendly reminder of who's captain now and again then you're eventually going to eat the bad end of a gun. Probably held by one of your so-called buddies.

He eyes Quill suspiciously through his jagged grin, holding him close by the shoulder for a long second as if he's sizing him up. Weighing the act to see if he's lying.]

Just so long as you remember who it was that got you there in the first place. Don't you go tryin' to cheat me out of what you owe. You wouldn't do that, now, would ya?

[When Yondu smiles and shows those crooked teeth, Peter remembers why he seriously believed him about the Terran buffet thing as a kid. Who wouldn't looking at teeth like those? They're borderline fangs!

He keeps his face schooled into something that he hopes is neutral but not dead-face, relaxed and not broadcasting how nervous he is]

'Course I wouldn't. We saw how well it turned out. You're the boss, boss.

[Not that he'd hook up with the Ravagers again. Not anytime soon. It's pretty awesome doing his own thing for a change and he knows that the only reason he'll get away with it is because of what happened on Xandar. Apparently it took an Infinity Stone for Yondu to finally treat him like an adult. Like he's really one of the crew for a change]

[There was a time when that twisted smile and a few loud threats were enough to intimidate Quill. Back when he was younger, dumber, and new to the reaches beyond his small scope of a planet. That he remains calm now just shows how much he's grown up. Not a full-fledged pirate--not yet--but he's gotten a lot more cunning and bold. Which works for and against Yondu, but that's always the risk. The thought of that makes his smile just a little bit wider.]

That's right. And you'd best not forget it, either. We wouldn't want anything nasty t' happen to ya.

[He pauses to look Peter right in the eyes. That's something he knows is still intimidating enough to make a lot of grown men of many species cower.]

Don't want to make a mess.

And that works for you, does it?

Got me where I am today. Which is higher up than a lot of the other unfortunates I see trying to claw their way to the surface around here.

Gotta have the right trick to keep 'em going, and I got that.

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