First Impressions: Are in this case entirely accurate. When Yondu is invited to dinner with Layla's family he is not impressed.

(Yondu)

Hell, let me tell you how today went.

I decided to start the morning off with a beer. It sounded like a good idea, so I did it. I was having a hard time fighting down thoughts and old memories so I had another, and another, and another… Eventually I hit my limit and puked it all up, an event I'm not particularly proud of, but no one saw so I really don't give a sh*t. After said events I was dehydrated and in need of some real food and water. Drunkenness be d*mned I was going to have some real food.

Since we were planet side it wasn't a big issue to get real food. The problem would be getting there without appearing completely wasted at 11am. We were on Xandar, a place with some pretty strict public indecency laws. Misdemeanors of any sort could get you a few nights in jail or fined a hell of a lot of units, or both. And with my sketchy criminal record it would probably be best to avoid the authorities at all costs. It was with that in mind that I emerged from my quarters on the M-ship and waltzed into the common area.

I had about eight Ravagers with me on this trip. A few of them had already left to reconnect with their families, or drink themselves to death. Somewhere in my foggy drunk mind I noticed that only four had remained behind, having business to attend to later on in the day. They sat around a table playing cards. Ownu was obviously losing, as his stack of units was incredibly small. Second to last loser, Garrek seemed to be having trouble keeping his attention on the game, as Layla (who was coming in at a grand second place) kept leaning forward with her elbows on the table, in an obvious attempt to distract him with her barely revealed cleavage. Poor girl, even in a tank top she didn't seem to have much in the area of bustiness. But, if the game was anything to go by, it seemed to be working for her. In first place was Kraglin, obviously, as he was a master of counting cards. Not that any of them knew that…

My eyes were drawn to a half-eaten sandwich that Layla had in front of her. Seeing a chance at avoiding going out at all, I swooped in behind her and relieved her of said sandwich. I heard her protest, and I smiled as I bit into it. "Shouldn't leave good food lying around if you don't want someone to eat it." I said with my mouth half full, giving her a smug look. She rolled her eyes and went back to her game.

"You owe me a sandwich…" she grumbled, folding her hand. "I'm done guys, and maybe next time Garrek you can keep your eyes on your cards." I raised an eyebrow as she started collecting her units. She wasn't distracting him with her boobs on purpose? Well, maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to assume she's like every other skank out there. Still seems odd that she'd be oblivious to something like that… As I was contemplating my own thoughts, I was completely unprepared to have her take another bite of the sandwich I had half devoured. She just ate it out of my hand! I must have given her a funny look, 'cause she just wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and pointed out. "What? It's my sandwich."

"Yer above flaunting yer goods to get money but ya ain't above sharin' food someone's already eaten? What kinda woman are ya?"

"A hungry one." She said pointedly, before crinkling her nose. "Why do you smell like booze? It's not even noon!"

"Best not to dig too far into that one Layla," Kraglin spoke up as he revealed his hand, causing the other two men to groan in defeat. "You probably shouldn't get on his bad side if you still want to ask that favor of him."

I glanced between the two of them, noticing Kraglin's smug face and Layla's look of embarrassment. "What favor?" I asked, finishing off the sandwich in two more bites, licking my fingers. Drunk me was in a much better mood than before. Drunk me could probably agree to just about anything at this point. And unfortunately, I did.

Some hours later I found myself on a sketchy train on my way with Layla to see her family. I was very sober at this point, if not just a tad hungover. I was irritable to say the least, not liking the way the other passengers were staring at us. Layla's parents lived in a classier part of Xandar, but even there, low life individuals were apparently a problem.

Layla moved closer to me, her arm brushing against mine as she tried not to look directly at anyone. I couldn't really figure how she was feeling at the moment. I overheard her talking to Kraglin once about how she hated being looked at like a piece of meat. She hated the idea that other people thought they could just take her if they wanted to, thinking she'd be too weak to resist because she was a woman. And she had admitted that they would be right. If anyone had out right attacked her, or heaven forbid try anything else on her, she would not be able to defend herself. She wasn't trained to fight. It was apparently one of her greatest fears. Being surrounded by Ravagers had not exactly helped matters, but she must've felt somewhat safer around me. She wouldn't have asked me to come if she didn't.

She was going to see her parents about a will that had been read. Apparently, she had been willed some items and a video message from her great Aunt who had recently passed away. Her parents had insisted that she pick them up in person, and so there we were going to her house for dinner. Terrific.

I didn't know much about her parents. A while back I had a conversation with her over dinner that had broached the topic, but she hadn't said much more than how controlling they were and how much they wanted her to abide by traditional social norms. I did a brief search on them before we left, looking for any information on them that I could use to my advantage, or at least my amusement, as the night was sure to be a long one. I had found quite a bit of information on her father, but nothing on her mother. Apparently, she hadn't been joking when she said that women in her family weren't allowed to do anything other than get married and have children.

The hour train ride was made in silence, and it wasn't until we came upon the front gates of a city house that Layla finally opened her mouth. "Sorry I roped you into this…" she said quietly, opening the gate slowly and stepping inside the front yard. "I asked Kraglin to come originally, but he said he was busy tonight. He was actually the one to suggest that I ask you…" she trailed off, possibly realizing she was about to start rambling.

"You really don't want to be here, do you?"

She stepped up to the front door, shaking her head. "No." she raised her hand to knock on the door, but paused to say. "Aunt Elise was always very kind to me though. It's only right that I hear what she had to say to me." She knocked, cringing at the sound of footsteps coming towards the door. "Even if it means spending an evening with my dad…"

I nodded, climbing the few stairs to stand by her side as the front door opened. I immediately noted the height difference between myself and the man that opened the door, who I presumed was her father. He was about a head taller than me. Now, I ain't very self conscious about stuff, but any time I see an a**hole that's taller than me I wish I had grown a couple more inches in my youth. Looking at him he didn't seem very intimidating, and I could hardly believe that people respected him for what he was. Politicians… I sighed quietly, seeing his look of irritation upon noticing two of us on his doorstep.

"Layla, I see you brought company." He just about sneered, looking down his fat nose at me. I smiled, making sure he could see my gold teeth. You can kiss my a**, you yellow bellied c*cksucker. Beside me I could see Layla physically tense. "Come in." He said it like he could command anything that breathed.

We moved towards what I guessed was their sitting room, where another two men were already sitting and discussing something I didn't care to hear. One I recognized as her brother, the doctor, and the other I could already tell was a pansy-a** rich boy. They were both done up in the most expensive Xandarian fashion, and sitting like they had poles shoved up their backsides. I could've laughed. But I didn't… I wish I had.

"Layla," her father spoke without looking at her. "You may go to the kitchen and assist your mother and the maids with dinner. We will tackle the matter of the will later in the evening. Go." I smirked, expecting on of Layla's sarcastic comebacks, but there was a distinct lack of sass in her departing footsteps.

I frowned, "Now wait just a d*mn second." Her father looked to me as if he couldn't believe I was still there. Layla paused in the hallway, looking torn between being mortified and relieved. "Your daughter comes home after over a year of being away and you just send her off to do the housework?"

"That is what she ought to do, I wouldn't expect an outsider such as yourself to understand. It is not a woman's place to take part in conversation with her betters." He sent a sharp look Layla's way and she looked back at me.

I raised an eyebrow at her father. "Betters?" I crossed my arms, puffing up my chest just a bit. As Layla's Captain (F*ck, as the person she chose as her backup for this mission into her personal hell) I felt a pull to be the steadfast figure she obviously couldn't be around her father. "Layla can keep up a conversation with any man out there, outsmart them too. But I wouldn't expect a misogynist politician such as yourself to understand that." I growled, motioning with a flick of my eyes for Layla to come stand by me. It might sound a bit hypocritical of me to order her around in her own house, but she didn't seem to mind at all. She actually smiled a bit.

Her father narrowed his eyes as she approached us, his tongue moving in distaste behind his tightly sealed lips. His gaze moved to me once again, cocking his head just a bit to the side as he sized me up for the first time. "I'm afraid my daughter has failed to introduce us." He bit out, casting a glance over his shoulder at the two men who were now listening in.

"You can call me Captain." I said, making an obvious stand as the alpha male in the room. These pansies could all go eat Terran bull sh*t. "And I do know you, Calvin, as well as your son, Richard, isn't it?" I cast the boy a smug look. Calvin bit his tongue.

"Well, won't you join us then as we wait for dinner?" He gestured with an open hand into the sitting room.

I nodded, allowing Layla to walk in before me. She cast me a look I couldn't quite identify, but she looked happy so that made me stand up a little taller with a sense of pride. Nobody dismissed one of my Ravagers, not if I had anything to say about it.

We sat in that d*mn sitting room for two hours. Two hours I had to listen to those three men prattle on about nothing important. As time progressed Layla started to speak up more and more. It started out with her commenting on something I would say, which earned distasteful looks from her father and her brother, but slowly she would comment on what other people had to say, flat out disagreeing with much of their conversation. It was good to see that she had grown a backbone, I knew she had, it had just taken a little bit of coaxing to show itself.

The man that had been talking to Richard I soon found out was the lawyer presiding over the case of Layla's aunt's will. His name was Tevvan. I took notice of him within minutes of sitting down, as his attention had zoomed in on my engineer. She seemed only slightly aware of his attention, but I watched his movements like a hawk from my peripherals. Whatever his thoughts were, they were not something Layla would want thought about her. The a**hole didn't even have the dignity to look ashamed about it when he noticed I had caught him staring. He had the audacity to smirk! At this point I didn't know how I was going to make it through the evening without breaking someone's nose.

I tried to focus on Layla. She was the reason I was here. I was here to support her. How I'd ended up in this position I'll never really know. Drunk me had agreed readily enough. I guess after all this time I had started to favor her over many of the other Ravagers. She was in my top twenty at least, even if she kneed me in the nuts that one time.

I felt her shift on the chair, moving closer to my side as she finally seemed to notice the attention she was getting from Tevvan. She got quiet again after that, remaining silent all the way until dinner.

I didn't see Layla's mother until she came in to announce that food was prepared and served. She was a smallish woman, her hair greying just a bit. Her eyes reflected years of servitude under her husband. Whether or not she felt that it was servitude, I wouldn't know.

The meal was good. Conversation was still painfully tense, perhaps even more so now than before. And I was stuck in the middle of it. To one side, Layla was speaking with her mother, and to my other side Richard, Calvin, and Tevvan were speaking. I stayed out of the conversations to the best of my ability, choosing to just eat in silence. Unfortunately, I was pulled into it eventually.

"So, Captain," Calvin paused, wiping his already clean face with a cloth napkin, "What exactly is it that you do?"

I chewed for a moment, noting that Layla had fallen silent next to me. She must have not told them she worked for a bunch of space outlaws… "I take people's things and sell them for a profit." I settled.

"What do you deal in?"

"Anything and everything that's not sentient being trafficking." I smirked as he nearly choked on his beverage. Not used to this kind of table talk I reckon... I smirked. Layla nudged my foot under the table, sending me a look. "What? He asked." I shook my head, returning to my plate of food.

Calvin, after regaining his composer a bit, continued. "And what exactly does my daughter have to do with any of this? Surely there are other, better suited people that could be working on ships in space?"

I sighed, "Again with that 'better' sh*t- Layla happens to be the best d*mn mechanic I've ever come across. I wouldn't trade her in for anyone." The man didn't seem convinced.

Over to my other side Layla's mother whispered under her breath. "Layla, you're not sleeping with this man, are you?" Layla proceeded to sputter, denying the suggestion with all she had. Her face did that thing where it goes red, and I had to hide a smile. Her mother's question didn't truly hit me for a few more moments, but when it did I had to pause to collect myself so I didn't turn into a sputtering mess too.

I took a drink of what I wished was some form of alcohol, clearing my throat. "No, I ain't f*cking yer daughter. She ain't a whore, she's a legitimate worker. And she happens to work her a** off on a daily basis." I growled, sending both Calvin and his wife a glare. "I need some f*cking air." I said, standing up.

Layla came outside to join me a few minutes later. She looked about ready to cry, but she didn't say anything. She just sat down next to me on the front door steps. The suns were setting by now, and all the street lights were turning on. The sky was turning bright orange, casting a glow over the tops of every building in the vicinity.

Layla sniffed, rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes. "This is actually going a lot better than I thought it would." She laughed quietly, continuing to wipe away her tears. I listened to her breathing in silence, wondering how she could keep so calm when her parents suggested that she was nothing but a quick f*ck, forget whatever they had said after I had left the room.

She sniffed again, "The-uh…" she hiccupped, her face turning red again. "They're about to crack open the will. After that we can get out of here…"

"Good." I nodded, feeling my heartrate finally go down a bit. I knew her parents were bad, she had told me that herself, but I guess I would have expected them to behave better in front of a stranger. I guess I'm not exactly one to talk though… I sighed, hearing Layla finally loose her battle against her tears.

I wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and pulled her snuggly against my side, letting her head rest on my shoulder as she cried. Her whole body trembled with the force of her anguish, but all I could do was hold her as she cried it out. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I've never been good at consoling people. But for Layla, I'd try at least. She was there for me when I traveled back to see my family, the least I could to was return the favor. As long as no one else found out about this, I'd be fine with it.

"They hate me…" She whispered. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

They don't deserve you. I thought.

After Layla had successfully dried her tears, we re-entered the house to finish what we came for. Layla sat through the legal talk without saying much, and signed every piece of paper they pushed at her. She seemed briefly surprised at how much she had been willed, but ultimately went through the process as quickly as she could until it was over. When all was said and done, she left me in the hallway while she went to pack a few things from her old room, leaving me with Tevvon.

The lawyer smirked, his purple eyes glancing up at me as he closed his briefcase. "So, you're the man who stole my bride away."

My eyelid twitched. "What?"

"-of course, you couldn't have known." He continued, leaning up against the doorframe to the sitting room. He glancing up the stairwell to where Layla had disappeared to. "She didn't even know. Still doesn't." He chuckled, a sound that sent a prickling feeling down my arms to my fingertips. I subconsciously clenched my hands into fists. "But she's mine." He sent me a sharp look. "And I'd like you to remember that. She is betrothed to me, and I don't appreciate her being around a person like yourself."

I frowned, "I'm pretty sure she'd disagree to the idea of belonging to anyone. And as her captain, I don't think I appreciate the claim either."

Tevvon shrugged. "It matters not to me what either of you think. By law I can force her to come home whenever I please to take her as my wife. She was promised to me by her parents, and I intend to make good on that very soon." He grinned, his crooked teeth flashing white behind his artificially colored lips. "I'd let her know not to get too comfortable on that spaceship if I were you-"

The cracking of bone was met instantly with a rush of blood and the tumbling of Tevvon's body to the floor. The lawyer shrieked, his pale hands covering his bloodied nose as he scrambled to find some footing to move away from me. I shook my hand of his blood, wiping what remained on the doorframe.

"Yondu…" I heard Layla as she appeared at the top of the stairs. "What did you-"

"Time to go." I said, opening the front door. She tossed down a backpack, which I caught and shouldered, and met me at the door in two seconds flat with another bag tucked under her arm.

I grabbed her by the arm and we ran. Not my most graceful, nor tactful moment, I'll admit. I acted without thinking, and there was a high chance that I'd have the authorities on my trail in an instant if I wasn't careful. I wasn't dressed in my normal Ravager garb, but if I was found by anyone who knew my face I was sure to be a dead man.

We didn't stop until we had reached the train station. By then were both sweaty and out of breath. We wove through the crowds until we were deep into the station, and then we sat down with our backs against the wall. I laughed, a short sound escaping with each heaving breath. "D*mn the f*cker straight to hell…" I chuckled, wiping away the sweat beading on my forehead.

"What did he do?" Layla asked, grabbing her two bags and sorting through them for something.

I shook my head, still chuckling. "Don't worry about it. Ain't even worth the breath." I sighed, finally regaining control over my beating heart and aching lungs. I glanced up at the train schedule, happy to see that ours would be arriving in the next few minutes. "I know you said your family life wasn't great, but that was ridiculous."

Layla huffed, pushing a strand of hair out of her face as she continued to rummage through her bag. "I wish I could say that first impressions aren't accurate, but in this case…" she trailed off with a laugh. "Thanks for coming with me, I don't know that I would have handled it very well on my own." She sat down more comfortably against the wall, her shoulder just lightly pressing against my own. "Here, I found something I think Jeje would like."

I looked down at the small bag that she placed in my hands, peaking through the opening at the small things inside.

"For your trouble." She smiled.

I poured out the objects into the palm of my hand, looking at their twisted and strange shapes. Some pieces were loose, and others were tight. They came in various colors and sizes. I wasn't quite sure what to make of them at first. They were of different materials and weights. There was nothing that I could identify that made sense for them to be put with each other.

"They're puzzles." Layla explained, probably sensing my confusion. "You have to find the way to take them apart and put them back together." I nodded, putting them back in the bag. "I used to collect them when I was younger. Jeje seems pretty bright for her age, I just thought maybe she'd like them."

"She will." I assured her, standing up as our train approached. "Not sure when I'll be seeing her again, but I'll make sure she gets them. She'll be excited to know they were from you."

The train ride back was uneventful. It was getting late, and the amount of questionable characters on the ride had increased, but they left us alone. Layla stayed clutching her bags in her arms where she stood next to me. I held onto one of the standing ropes, my other arm wrapped firmly around her shoulders, holding her close. Silently, I stewed, a firm frown pulling at my lips.

After this trip, I would do everything in my power to limit Layla's connections with Xandar.

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