She always liked blue. It reminded her of the stars, of deep oceans, and of the skies of her favourite planets, and she still remembers the first time she had seen her favourite colour on a person. Her family were trading on a small planet which was covered in trees and rained a lot, and a beautiful blue women came out. Bexley could only stare at the stunning vision and all she could think was; everyone should be blue. Why can't we all be blue?
She met many blue people in her travels, but only two really remain in her memory. One was the blue woman, and the other was Yondu Udonta, and the latter was not nearly as pleasant as the first meeting. Her parents docked their small ship on to the large grey loading bay, and her father and brother were out instantly. Her mother was giggling to herself in the corner, so Bexley could easily climb up the ladder and practically tumble out of the hatch. She fell out, but her fall was broken by a blue thing that made a noise. It was a young blue man, who was clearly not expecting to have a teenager fall on his head. He roars in response and she covers her head, turning herself into a ball. He eventually laughs and pokes her with his toe until she peaks up at him. That was her first meeting with the blue man, and she wonders what she would have done had she known she was staring at the face of the person who would change her life.
Bexley used to dream of meeting angels. Her mother, Remi, had told her about the people who lived in the stars, who would visit her planet sometimes bearing gifts from other worlds. Her mother's eyes would light up, whether that was from the fire on the screen in front of her or from excitement of her 'angels', Bexley never knew.
Bexley did not really know much of anything, to be honest. Her family traveled in their little spacecraft through the galaxy, trading and buying goods… sometimes stealing. They weren't an honest family, but she had not known any other way of life. Her brother Axl, was older than she was and was more than prepared to take over the family business, which often lead him to have vicious fights with their father, Cade. Her mother watched, shaking her head as they screamed, yelled, and started throwing punches. This is what is happening now, not moments after leaving the Ravager ship. Bexley left her seat behind the controls and made her way down the ladder, following the sound of shouting.
"I should have sent you back to Xandar long ago! Or sold you off. I could have made a meagre profit of of your pathetic ass!" Her father roared, but he is old now and his moves clumsy. He tries to reach forward and attack his son, but Axl quickly jumps out of the way, laughing as his old man tumbles to the ground. He shakes his head, causing his long brown braids to shake over his shoulders. Sometimes she forgets how similar she and Axl are, both identical with dark waves for hair and amber eyes, and bitter expressions. They inherited their mothers dark skin, but their father looks nothing like them. It has lead both of them to question their lineage, but they never bothered asking. Perhaps their real father is somewhere on Xandar.
Xandar… she has often heard her parents talk about that place, they both hail from there, but neither her nor Axl have ever seen their homeland. They're space people, and have no home. Her mother often said the reason she wanted to leave Xandar and travel the stars was in search of her angels, but she has yet to find them. Considering her mother will often wander off and talk to herself, or start laughing or grasping at thin air, Bexley wouldn't exactly call her a credible source of information. She jumps when she hears a crash, and sees her father has fallen over his feet and knocked over a crate. It crashes opens and out rolls…
Oh God.
"Where did you get those!?" She screams as her brother snarls and grabs his dad, hauling him up and slamming him against the wall. Several glittery jewels rolled out, as well as three glowing yellow cylinders. They were energy stores which were used in some ships engines to keep them powered, but the cylinders didn't belong to them, neither did the jewels, they belonged to the group they literally had done just trade with- not one hour prior- one of the hundred Ravager clans. They didn't trade with them often, and certainly never stole anything, for that reason. They're a fearsome group lead by a blue man with a flying arrow. Bexley grabbed the cylinder's and cringed, knowing the group will be after them for these.
"I didn't take nothing!" Her father yells in response, but her brother thinks he's lying.
"You stole from Udonta's clan? What the hell were you thinking?" Her brother roars at his father. He shakes his head and makes a futile attempt to push his son off before looking at his wife, who is on the floor cradling the glowing cylinders in her hands. Bexley shakes her head and covers her eyes as she realizes the truth; her mother had stolen the glowing objects because she had been drawn to them and her father had no idea. Before any more words can be exchanged, their ship comes to a sudden halt and all four of them go flying. Her mother starts screaming as the beam pulls them into the belly of the Eclector. Bexley crawls off the floor and to the window, feeling a sinking feeling as the glittering stars are swallowed out by the dark steel of the Ravager ship. Not moments later, the top hatch is ripped off and lights are on them, and screaming and roars fills the air. Their father is dragged out first, then Axl, and their screaming mother. Bexley has shoved herself into the corner, but then she hears Yondu yell. "Get that girl out, I done saw her before they left." The yell is follow by the sound she fears most, his stunning whistle. To anyone who does not know him, the whistle would be a beautiful noise, but she knows that only death can follow it.
She finally comes out of her hiding spot, only to be grabbed by some red faced man who is yelling unintelligible things as he hauls her out before tossing her on the metal floor. Her father is already begging.
"I didn't know she took them, it's not my fault!" He screams and points an accusing finger at his wife, who is crying as they rip the glowing cylinders out from her hands. "Look, look, I'll show you you don't have to worry, look, I'll prove it!" He yells before grabbing a small gun which had been concealed in the back of his belt and before his son or daughter could stop it, he aims and it and pulls the trigger, hitting his wife in the head execution style.
Neither Axl nor Bexley are often brought to complete silence, but in less than twenty seconds, their mother had been ripped from this world. Even the Ravager's go silent, and Yondu's mouth pops open but no words come out. Cade is quivering before pointing the gun at Axl, who has murder in his eyes after the shock subsides. He jumps forward, his hands wrapped around his father's neck and he easily overpowers him onto the floor. Bexley doesn't stop him, she feels frozen in her spot. Yondu glances at her whilst her brother continues strangling their father.
"You really com' from this shit pile?" He mutters. His brother then grabs a hatchet out of Kraglin's belt and begins swinging, again and again, until blood sprays over everyone - including her. She chokes and steps backwards, attempting to shield herself. Once Axl eventually stops and stands up, drenched in blue blood. He looks at Yondu, who chuckles before cracking a smile.
"Well boy, look at the fucking mess you made on my ship. Now, I got a question for ya, what should I do with ya now? Toss you out the airlock? Or do you have anything to offer to us? I know we've been doing business with of all y'all since you two kids were nothing more than lil' mites. Show me y'all are worth my time." He tests, poking the boy with his long blue finger.
His group start screaming, some yelling at the boy to prove himself whilst others yell to kill him now and be done with it. Axl doesn't even blink before tossing the hatchet back to Kraglin, who jumps out of the way as more blue blood splatters off the hatchet. Axl holds up his hand, grinning, and Bexley feels her throat tighten at the sight of her brother grinning like some madman murderer.
"C'mon, Yondu. You know I was getting ready to get rid of the old man, I did all of the work when we needed to get stuff or salvage. It was always me. You know I can do the same for you. I want out of that stupid fucking ship," he declares angrily, before pointing an accusing finger at their one time home.
Yondu is rubbing his chin with his hands and nods, but is staring at him sceptically. "Fine, boy. You're on probation, but I see some potential in ya. You did manage to find some things I liked," he agrees, but then turns to Bexley, who is still frozen in her spot. "I don't got no room for you, girl. You never don' find nothin I liked. You never did nothin at all." He says and his crew begin chanting, and Axl leaps in front of his sister, who is stupidly still staring at Yondu with no words to offer him. She looks at the leader and shakes her head, silently begging.
"Don't toss her out, Yondu. She's our navigator and engineer. I know you're in short supply of one since Tisley died last week. And c'mon, do you really want another Tisley who nearly made you guys explode seven times?" Axl points out, hoping that his words will get his sister hired and not have them killed. "Also, she is fantastic. Knows everything there is to know about engines." Bexley eyes opened wide because that is a lie. She knows it's a lie, Axl knows it's a lie. She could occasionally put some wires on or hit a control board for it to start working again, but she was in no way an expert. But Yondu is eyeing her up, then nods.
"Fine, you're on probation too. I ain't going easy on either of y'all, get 'em down to the tailors." He snaps before walking away leaving the two of them standing there, wondering what the hell they've gotten themselves into.
Three hours later, she is dressed in red leather and quietly made her way back to the hanger where the bodies over her father and mother lay. She managed to avoid most of the Ravager's. That was one word of advice the tailor gave her, avoid them and carry a weapon with you at all times just in case.
The bodies are wrapped in canvas, but her fathers blood has stained through. Her brother had no interest to see the bodies again, but she wanted to say goodbye to her mother. She lays her hand on her shoulder, giving it a final squeeze goodbye. She stands up and backs away slowly, until she bumps into something which nearly makes her jump out of her skin. For someone as loud as Yondu, he has remarkably quiet footsteps when he wants to. Yondu grabs her by the shoulders and holds her tightly, forcing her to turn back and stare at her dead parents.
"You're too soft, girl. Best grow up if you want to survive," he growls into her ear. She nods her head, before trying to pry herself lose off Yondu's grip, but he doesn't relent. "I don't wanna throw you out, so work hard and don't make me- got that, kid?" He snaps but she frowns before turning to him.
"You know I'm not much younger than you, right? I'm not a kid." She murmurs as her eyes drift back to her parents bodies.
"Huh, so she still speaks. Nah, you and your brother are still kids. Always will be. Now say bye to them parents of yours- they ain't your problem no more. Go be that big fancy engineer your brother said you are." He tells her, before letting her go and quietly walking out of the hanger, leaving her alone to say a final goodbye to the life she knew.
Man, she did get really good at hitting things with a hammer and putting wires together. It took her a few weeks, and a few yelling from both Yondu, Kraglin, and her brother to learn to move quickly and learn the engines inside and out. At first she was scared of the engine room, but then it became her home. Sometimes she even slept in it- she had a little bundle of blankets set up in front of the biggest engine, because it supplied so much heat, and it kept her away from the rest of the drunken crew. That's where she is now, lying on her bundle of blankets with a Xandarian book in her hands. It was some old folk stories, her mother had it for years and it was one of the only things she managed to take from their old ship before it wad dismantled for parts.
"You know, there are other places for you to sleep."
She jumps at the sound. him and his fucking silent footsteps, they drive her insane. She shakes her head, closing the book and looking up at the captain who, surprisingly, doesn't seem plastered. "I like it here. It's warm," she offers in response before reaching down and pulling up one of the blankets, making sure it covers her whole body. She has changed out of the red leather into loose black pants and a large black shirt, which swallows up her entire figure and makes her look unnoticeable, which is her goal. Yondu smirks before walking over and tossing something into her lap. She looks down to find yet another book, this one is from a plant called Terran. "What is a… Wuthering Height?" She asks him quizzically as she leafs through the pages.
"You're gonna have to read it to find out, how the fuck would I know? I don't got no time for that bullshit," He mutters before crossing his arms and looking at her, clearly waiting for something. When she doesn't answer within three minutes, he clears throat loudly and obviously. "Ain't you gonna say thank you?"
"I don't like heights… Sorry, yes, thank you." She tells him and nods her respect at her captain. He smirks again as she lies down, but he sees a shiver ripple through her body despite the huge engine in front of her and being buried under blankets and a thick shirt.
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head at her. "Girl, how are you even cold right now?" He asks her and she just shrugs. He doesn't say anything more before stomping out. She can warm herself up, she's a big girl.
The first time they were physically close, was in the middle of a snowstorm.
Within two days, Yondu was laughing to himself. If that girl was cold then, she is gonna freeze her ass off this time. They had landed on some ice planet to collect a shipment of illegal military grade weapons stolen from the Kree. They agreed to sell it to a group of mercenaries who are also running an illegal gambling ring, and need protection against some of their clients. However, neither him nor his clan anticipated the extremity of the weather of this planet. The landing had been so damaging to the engine that their main one had blown, nearly catching Bexley and her little makeshift bed on fire before she had completely drenched the engineer room in fire repellent foam. When Yondu finally walked in, he could barely see her amongst the white bubbles now covering nearly every crevice of the room. He finally sees movement and she pokes her head out, coughing and batting some of the foam out of her nose.
"We're gonna need more energy store cylinders when you go out!" She coughs out as she finally wades her way though the foam and to the bottom of the steps, and he has to stifle a laugh at the sight of her completely covered in white foam, and her eyes are barely even visible.
"Then get yourself dry and hurry up. I'm leaving in ten minutes," he answers.
She stiffens and begins shaking her head, making foam fly and he has to duck to avoid a splash right in his eyes. "No, you don't need me. And it's really cold out there-"
"Don't care. Dry off and hurry up." He demands before turning on his heel and returning to join Kraglin, who has assembled a group to join him on the outing. Ten minutes later Bexley joins them, scowling, and hair dripping wet. She has a huge parka- clearly stolen from Tisley's old possessions- and a bag for transporting the cylinders, if they get them. If they don't, they may have a longer stay than anticipated.
"Hoo-rah, let's go boys!" Blaze screams, shaking his wild brown hair and holding his tongue between his teeth, holding his gun high above his head. She notices her brother there too, who looks like nothing more than a stranger to her now. The ten men stream out, followed by Yondu and finally Bexley who is shuffling behind in her parka. The cold ice storm hits them almost instantly, and Blaze screams even more in excitement. Almost immediately they're all covered in snow and ice, Axl's long braids have turned into icicles.
"Shut up and hurry- the base is less than a mile away," Axl shouts and points to a tiny red dot which is barely visible. Bexley is still standing on the ramp and swivels around, making an attempt to run back up and hide on the nice warm ship, but Yondu had his eye on her and grabbed her by the hood before hauling her out and into the wild ice storm.
"Please don't make me go!" She begs but it falls on his selectively deaf ears. Yondu smirks before dropping the girl on the ice and waits for her to continue walking. They are a little distance behind the rest of his group, but she is walking quietly and with her face huddled into her jacket- barely visible.
"Girl, how are you able to see anything?" Yondu yells at her, trying to cover his nerves because his group are starting to look fainter and fainter in the distance. He can barley see anything besides white and grey. Within twenty seconds, the wind blows harder and with such force that Yondu felt like he was punched in the stomach. The ice and snow block his nose and he sees Bexley completely cover her face and start gasping for breath. All he can see is snow, and all he can hear is wind- until faint screams start filling the air. He recognizes them easily because it's the sound of his crew. He sees bright shots and the giant boom follows, he grabs his communicator before trying to run forward.
"BLAZE, AXL, what the fuck is happening!?" He shouts into the communicator, but no response comes and the a sudden wind knocks him off his feet and blows him back, and he lands on the ice with a hard, painful thud. He feels like he is choking and then there are the feeling of hands on his shoulder, and someone is dragging him up.
"We… Go… Cave!" He can barley understand what she is saying, but somehow Bexley has managed to haul him up and over a few feet to a barely visible white cave. It won't warm, but it will be protected from the wind and ice. It doesn't take them long to get there and they both fall inside, gasping ad shivering.
"What the fuck, girl, I need to get back to my men!" He roars as he tries to get up and run out of the cave, but Bexley grabs his ankle, and despite his strength, he is so weakened that he falls backwards. The cave is freezing, but surprisingly protected from the outside storm. Their ears are ringing and they're shaking viciously. All they can see outside is a wall of white and grey, nothing is visible. He looks outside and feels sick. He doesn't know why his men were screaming or firing guns, nor if they can even survive outside in this storm if they don't find shelter.
"Y-you can't leave, you'll die out there. What good would that do?" She gasps out, as she finally relinquishes hold of his ankle and rolls on to her back, shivering so violently. Yondu knows she is right and he also knows he is going to punch his navigator int he face when they get home for not doing proper research about the planets climate which lead them into this hellhole. He pushes himself down farther into the cave for even more protection, and propers himself against the wall, trying to use his communicators but the storm has destroyed all their communication lines. He is stuck here without knowing if his crew are dead or alive, nor how long they will be here.
"Fuck," he whispers furiously and rubs his forehead. Bexley is still lying on the floor by the entrance of the cave, shivering so violently that she can barely speak. He grumbles before rising to his feet, slumping over to her, grabbing her by the hood and dragging her back to his resting spot in the end of the cave. She pushes herself up and sits opposite him, before her eye train back to the entrance where the wall of white and grey still remain.
"You can-can't go out t-there. They'll be f-fine, and you killing yourself t-trying to get there won't help-p anyone," She insists through chattering teeth as she draws her knees closer to her chest. He shakes his head, still watching the entrance. She snaps her fingers at him and when he glances back, she gestures to the spot beside her.
He shrugs his shoulders and snaps, "What?"
"Body-heat." She mutters and he feels like yelling at her, but realizes it won't help anything and he is fucking freezing. He slides over to the spot and almost immediately she nestles into him, burying her face into his shoulder. He unzips his heavy jacket and then hers, before making a makeshift blanket over the two of them. She has her warms wrapped around his torso and his are wrapped around her shivering arms. She didn't have feelings for Yondu… No she didn't. But she also made a promise to herself to grow up, like he told her after her parents died. She wouldn't allow herself to have feelings for anyone on the Ravager ship, she knows it would only lead to bad things. But feeling close to Yondu is just comforting.
"You're useless in the cold," he complains and squeezes her tighter while she half-heartedly head-butts him in the chest.
"I wanted to stay on the ship." She retaliates and he just nods before resting his cheek on her head. She finds the beating of his heart strangely calming to listen to, and feeling close to him in the middle of the storm made her feel almost safe. His hand snakes up and he begins running his fingers through her long locks, before resting his hand on the nape of her neck and pushing her even closer to his body. He is cold now too, for fuck sake.
They stay like that for nearly four hours, until the storm finally relents. Yondu is out instantly and running through the snow piles and finally finds his men, miraculously alive as they found the base and got their shipment of weapons. He yells about how fucking stupid they were, but he was secretly thankful he didn't have to bury anyone.
Bexley managed to steal her cylinders and the group, very quickly, made their way back to the ship. Neither Bexley nor Yondu spoke of the time shared in the cave, and as soon as she was back she returned to the comfort and heat of her engine room and didn't leave for nearly a week.
The first time they kissed, it was rough and unexpected. She was in engineering room, sitting by the warmth of the engines. It had been two weeks after their time in the blizzard and the Eclector was back to running smoothly with the large engine having been fixed and returned to it's beautiful normal buzzing. They had made several more stops, but Bexley didn't care nor ask where they stopped as she refused to leave her engine room aside from maybe getting food. Surprisingly, Axl has been poking his head in every few days to check on her which he had never done before. It is almost like he had forgotten about her during his attempt to show off to the Ravager's, but now he checks on her every so often or brings in her favourite fruit if they get a fresh supply.
She is sitting down cross-legged on the floor, fiddling with some panel feed wires, in hopes she can connect them to a heat emitter and lowlight green light her brother had given her. She crinkles her forehead as she screws with the copper and silver wires with her pliers, but she makes a mistake with crossing two wires and a sudden, sharp, electric jolt shoots through her body.
"Agh!" She squeals before chucking the wires and pliers out of her hands and across the room, making them clatter on the grate floor with a loud bang. She shivers and stands up, attempting to get the tingly feeling out of her body and she gulps hard. She makes her way over to the bundle of wires, but then she hears loud stomping come down her stairs. She glances up and sees Yondu, clearly annoyed.
"I need ya to fix something for me," he says before gently holding out a small toy, which is nestled in his hands. It is a little green glass figurine of some sort of creature with paws and a long tail with pointed ears. One if its arms had been snapped off, which clearly is upsetting Yondu enough to venture in the belly of his ship in search of a quick fix. Bexley goes to her tool box which contains a hot adhesive she uses for quick fixes like this. She carefully applies a small amount on the surface before pressing the little broken arm on to it, making it stick together almost instantly. She rolls her eyes before pretending to toss the glass thing back at Yondu, making him flinch and instinctively reach out to save it. He grabs it out of her hand before returning to the stairs, walking so softly this time. She's learned over her eight months how to gauge his feelings off nothing more than his footsteps. When he is angry, they're heavy. When he is not, he walks so lightly like his feet are kissing the ground.
"You didn't say thank you," she interjects and stanza with her arms crossed, staring at him as he turns around, eyebrows raised. His blue lips crack into a smile and he returns down, pointing a finger at her.
"Sometimes I forget you ain't mute, girl. I do thank you- I keep ya alive, you're fed, what else do you want?" He questions as he raises his arms up, looking confused. She frowns but nods, returning to her usual silence before starting to walk away but he coughs, making her look back at him. He walks forward and raises his thumb, so he can push a piece of her long hair out of her eyes. "Ya know, it seems like you have been avoidin' me since the cave. Scared of me are ya?"
She shakes her head and bites her lip. "The only thing I'm scared of is falling," she answers and stares at him. He's wearing his smirk- like always. He steps closer, so close she can feel his breath on her face.
"Glad I don't. Tell me if I start to," he mutters before brushing his lips against hers. It wasn't innocent, it was demanding and questioning. Will she respond? He has always wondered what this half mute girl would do with him if he ever tired. He is curious today so he will test out his theory now. She seems almost in shock, with her eyes wide and staring at her captain. "Am I scaring ya yet?" He mumbles as he reaches forward, putting a hand on her hip and yanking her closer to him. His lips crashed on hers and for a second, she was as still as she was when her parents died. But then she came to her senses and kissed back. She hasn't been kissed in years… she had a one night stand during a trip to Knowhere but that was ages ago. His kisses aren't soft, they're aggressive and demanding and leaves one yearning for more. But then as quickly as it started it stops, he releases her and steps back, smirking at his engineer who is staring at him with wide amber eyes and an open mouth.
He chuckles before returning to walking up the stairs, waving at her. "Hope that was thanks enough, girl."
It's her turn to smile this time as she places her hands on her hips, watching him. He glances back one more time and when he sees her smirking he turns around, staring at her questioningly. "You'll want more. Then maybe I'll be the one to scare you." She laughs before turning and getting her wires, leaving Yondu to watch her and laugh. Huh, this girl is more fun than he thought; she'll be a fun pastime and toy for him, like everyone else is.