A/N: Some spoilers for Vol. 2 if you know where to look. Otherwise, they're vague enough that I don't believe you'll explicitly notice them.
Walking kind of becomes their thing.
Peter remembers, back on Terra, his grandfather starting his days off with walks around the neighborhood, sometimes stretching for miles at a time. His grandparents had walked together many times, in fact, giving him the impression that walks were some sort of old, married couple-type thing.
(And, if he's being honest with himself, he and Gamora reached that point in their friendship before even embarking on their currently budding romance.)
He walks much more closely beside her now, compared to their walk after they'd crashed on Berhert. Absentmindedly, instinctively, his hand finds hers as the Milano disappears from sight behind them and the bustle of the city completely surrounds them. She intertwines their fingers, a gentle smile on her face.
Not only had their walks increased in occurrence lately, their dialogue during these moments had shifted as well, ranging from a comfortable silence to a lively exchange of personal stories, feelings, and thoughts.
But Gamora sighs, her tell for when she has something she wants to discuss. She carefully squeezes Peter's hand. "Groot's getting big."
"Yeah." Peter briefly glances at her before refocusing his attention on the street before them, carefully leading Gamora away from oncoming pedestrian traffic. "I think he's turning into a teenager. Y'know, rebellious, moody, disinterested in everyone and everything else around him…"
Gamora's smile widens slightly, almost wistfully. "Do you speak from personal experience?"
"Says the one who rebelled against her evil dad, big time," Peter quips easily. She had stolen the Orb with the intent of betraying Ronan, thus betraying Thanos, when they'd first met, after all. That's a pretty epic act of resistance, in Peter's opinion.
"Says the one who did the exact same thing, from what I recall," Gamora returned, her voice dripping with the sarcasm Peter knows she picked up from him (or so she'd accused him and Rocket of over the year they'd all spent together). "Since, as you remember, I witnessed it."
"Alright, alright," Peter relents with a laugh. "So we're tied in that regard."
Gamora nods, looking across the street momentarily. A young child stops her father suddenly on the sidewalk, pointing at something in a store window, seemingly begging for the item. Gamora turns her attention back to Peter. "Fortunately, Groot hasn't acted out as dramatically as we have."
"Well, for one thing, he doesn't exactly have parents to act out against," Peter pointed out.
That's when Gamora's expression changes, from amusement to conflict to hurt to confusion all at once. Peter blinks, doing the mental math. He carries the one over in his head, counting the decimal places. "Unless Groot has secret parents we don't know about? Is that even physically possible between plants?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Gamora reassures him, her smile cautiously returning. She looks down momentarily, then back up at the sidewalk before them. "It's just something Rocket said, which I believe Groot echoed, but…"
Gamora's thick-skinned. She could handle insults and a fierce roasting from the team (which didn't happen often since, obviously, everyone wanted to live). From what Peter had found in the time he'd spent with her, it wasn't so much the others would hurt her, but quite the opposite; any signs of affection, especially in the familial sense, would confuse her, leaving her unsure of her place in their crew.
"What'd he do this time?" Peter asks with a sigh, walking even more closely to Gamora.
She accepts his increased physical contact without any reaction. "It was a comment he made, after I'd reminded Groot to clean his personal quarters while we're out." She rolls her eyes at that, because Groot is impossible when it comes to keeping his room clean. "I didn't think much of it until I then reminded Rocket to clean up his belongings after working on our weapons last night, since he was standing beside Groot, and Rocket replied, 'Sure, Mom.'"
Peter tries not to laugh at Rocket's words, since Gamora is clearly troubled by them, but he can't help the smile that takes over his face. "He called you 'Mom'?"
He can't help the humor in his voice, either, but Gamora chuckles along with him. "I know. It's strange."
"It makes sense," Peter says. They turn the corner, now walking on a less crowded street. "I mean, reminding someone to clean up after themselves kinda sounds like something a mom would tell her kid, y'know? Hell, my mom had to tell me to clean my room on, like, a daily basis, back on Terra."
"That is not surprising in the slightest," Gamora says, monotone. Peter bumps her shoulder in response. "Yes, I understand Rocket's joke. It just...made me feel an unfamiliar warmth inside, almost as if I really am a mother, I suppose." She sighs. "I'm not sure I'm making sense."
"No, no, I get it," Peter says, stopping them beside a tree and grasping her other hand. "I mean, you've basically raised Groot from a baby to whatever the hell he is now. You didn't do it alone, but you played a big part in it. Like, you have to admit that he basically looks at you like you're his actual mom sometimes."
"You believe so?" Gamora frowns.
He recalls her holding him in place during flights, scolding him to stay out of danger during fights, reassuring him whenever he cried...
Yeah, Gamora's pretty much adopted Groot as her own.
"Um, yes. And, honestly? You pretty much do treat him as if he's your kid, when Rocket isn't mother-henning him, I guess," Peter says.
Gamora doesn't bother wrestling with Peter's Terran reference, looking at him almost dangerously. Once, Peter feared that glint she'd occasionally get in her eyes, usually when she wanted to challenge an observation or comment he made about her, but now, he knew nothing that harmful would come of it (well, maybe nine times out of ten). "I treat Groot like my son?"
"Yes? Maybe?" Peter shakes his head. "The point is, I don't think you mean to, but Groot's smaller form definitely brought out a...let's say, different side to you, where you're not as scary or mysterious. I've always had a feeling you were compassionate and gentle, you just didn't show it much until Groot brought it out of you."
His words wash over her for a few moments. He can practically see the gears turning in her head, trying to comprehend everything he's said.
"So...I am maternal."
She doesn't sound very thrilled about the idea. Peter looks at her intently. "Do you see that as a bad thing?"
Gamora doesn't answer at first, then shakes her head after a moment. Her expression changes completely as she meets his eyes. "I always believed you to be the most maternal one on the team, Peter."
"Wait, what?" Peter looks at her like she's grown another head.
"You're our leader, so that already is a part of your duties," Gamora says, as if it's obvious. "But it's also your personality. You want to watch over everyone, protect the entire galaxy, especially the team."
"Why can't that be paternal?"
"Because mothers should always be feared when their children are threatened."
They kind of just stand there in silence for a few moments, looking at each other.
Then Peter breaks the silence with a laugh, followed by a snort, and now Gamora's laughing along with him. He shakes his head.
"You know what I think? I think you and me, we're the frickin' parents of the Guardians of the Galaxy. You're the mom, I'm the dad, or whatever the hell you think I am, trying to keep these lunatics under control."
"Or simply trying to persuade them to clean their rooms."
Gamora continues to laugh and Peter revels in the sound. It's so light, so free, Peter can't believe they've come this far, from two outlaws trying to wipe out each other to whatever this is.
Peter rests his forehead against Gamora's with a giggle. "We're parents."
"I don't think a couple at our stage in a relationship typically attempts parenthood," Gamora responds, meeting his eyes with a grin of her own.
"Since when have we been conventional?" Peter points out. "We raised a talking tree. Nothing makes sense."
Quickly, Gamora pecks his lips, then separates her forehead from his. "I guess you're right sometimes, Peter Quill."
"I think I'm right more than that, but I guess that's a start." Peter shrugs, releasing one of her hands so they can resume walking down the sidewalk. "So, who do you think will have cleaned their room up first by the time we get back? Rocket or Groot?"
"Something tells me neither will have started."
A/N: lmao did I die after that Christmas oneshot
real talk, I return to the land of fanfiction, this time bearing some starmora as a way of coping with my feels from guardians of the galaxy vol. 2, which I've seen twice and cried both times rip