Hey everyone. For ages I've been planning a Guardians of the Galaxy fic, and I finally figured out what I'd write about after re-watching GOTG 2. Ugh, it hit me right in the feels. Anyway, so this will be a three parter, and I hope you enjoy.
Peter could remember it clearly.
The first time Yondu threatened to let the crew eat him if he didn't do what he was supposed to.
"MOM!" Nine year old Peter screamed as white light enveloped his form and he blinked harshly against it, terror leaching the colour from his skin.
The dry grass beneath his feet was suddenly replaced by cold, hard metal and as his eyes adjusted he found himself staring at rough blue skin and cold hard eyes.
"AH! Get away from me!" Peter screeched, backpedaling until he hit a cold hard wall, breaths coming out in small pants, wide green eyes darting back and forth to take in e monstrous crowd of what could only be aliens.
The blue man was still crouched where he was previously but at the sound of his terrified voice stood with a flourish of his red coat, his new height causing another round of terrified whimpering to exit Peter's raw throat.
He said something in a deep, alien accent, the words making no sense but the tone even and unflinching as he took a step closer.
When he was in striking distance Peter let out a small growl of outrage and kicked out, sneakers stamping on the alien's hard soled boots in an effort to ward him off.
Raucous laughter assaulted his senses fro the rest of the room's occupants and the blue man let out what sounded like an alien curse.
Peter leaped upwards, darting between the alien's legs and making a break for the edge of the ring of bodies, heart thudding in his chest as he gained a closer view of mangled, scarred faces.
A rough hand grabbed his elbow as he dashed past, and a skinny, somewhat dirty humanoid looking teenager pushed him roughly back towards the blue skinned alien who awaited him with a look of condescending amusement on his weathered features.
Uttering a guttural sounding laugh the blue alien roughly grabbed Peter, producing a small silver device with spiderlike metal tendrils extending from it.
Before he could utter a noise of protest a scream of pain exploded from his throat as the device was placed against the side of his neck and silver tendrils burrowed in to his skin, ripping and tearing until the attached to their target within his body.
Suddenly the jeers and shouts sent his way made sense, and an accented tone startled him in to reality again.
" You understand me boy?" The blue alien inquired roughly.
Peter nodded shakily, wide green eyes meeting a face he would get to know quite well over the next few years of his life.
" My name's Yondu, and I'm the captain around here, you gonna mind me Petey?" Yondu growled roughly, grasping his arm tighter in his grip for effect.
"Y-Yes Yondu," Peter managed to stammer out amidst the grating sounds of the room.
"Good, cause if you don't I'll feed you to my crew, they ain't never tasted Terran before".
That was the first time he had been threatened as such, and Peter would never forget the terror it induced. He only wished he'd known at the time that Yondu had been joking.
A year later, Peter Quill had managed not to get himself eaten.
His job around the ship when mission were not in progress was to do whatever Yondu ordered him to do each day, usually cleaning ships, scrubbing floors and laundry duty. Apparently it was funny for the crew to see him doing what was considered 'women's work', but he found himself enjoying the menial tasks if only for their distractive ability, and the alone time he gained in undertaking them.
He woke up as usual, being thrown off of his bunk by Usala, his main adversary on board the Eclector. Tearing awake at the kiss of the hard ground, Peter found himself shakily gaining his feet, all the while being sneered at by the buff Xandarian recruit opposite him.
" Oh look, how disappointing, the terran scum still lives another day, you better watch yourself boy," Usala snarled, goaded on his the jeering of his companions in the crew's quarters.
Peter ducked his head, experience telling him that any eye contact would be seen as a challenge, and partly to disguise the tears threatening to spill from dark lashes. If only his mother had not died, then he wouldn't be in this mess, picked on, swore at and beaten for no reason.
The injustice of their actions lit a fire under his skin but he shook it away, choosing instead to silently gather his clothes and change, ignoring the whispers of his fellow crew at the sight of his pale terran flesh.
A chime at the door told him that Kraglin had finally arrived to fetch Peter for the day and he perked up a little. Kraglin was like an older brother to him, and while he could be mean sometimes he was always willing to look out for Peter when needed, whether out of obligation to his father figure of a captain or whether out of true affection for the child, it mattered not to Peter who was so desperate for a friend he'd take anyone.
"Quill, you better git out here kid, captain ain't in the best of moods this morning," Kraglin murmured as he stuck his head through the doorway, hair mussed from sleep and ravagers uniform half on.
Obviously he too had been rudely awakened, and the thought of Yondu's anger had Peter scurrying out to meet him, shoving though the sweaty, ripped bodies clustered by the door.
"Hey Kraggles, what's Yondu want me to do today?" Peter chirped, jogging to keep with the Xandarian teen's stride.
"I don't yet know, but he's asked to see both of us and I assume it's something important," Kraglin replied swiftly, ruffling Peter's hair good naturedly as the kid caught up.
It was nice for him to have another young person on board, even if it did mean he had to share Yondu's attention with another.
Palming open the flight deck Kraglin lead the way towards Yondu's dark captain's chair, gulping inwardly at the sight of the glimmering red Yaka arrow floating lazily around Yondu's chair. Whenever the captain was caught idly playing with his famous weapon it did not bode well for his crewmen.
"Boys. I got a job for you two, and I want it completed by nightfall, is that clear?" Yondu greeted, not even bothering to turn around.
"Yes sir," Peter replied in sync with Kraglin, the two of them casting each other wary glances.
" We've got boxes of supplies coming in from Nowhere, and I want you boys to have all those boxes stacked in the kitchens, not slacking off, understood?" Yondu informed tersely.
"Yes sir," Peter and Kraglin parroted steadily.
" Good, now get to it".
Of course bad luck managed to strike right when Yondu walked in.
Peter and Kraglin had been stacking boxes for hours upon hours and finally they were close to finishing. Peter was charged with the food crates, a high commodity on a ship full of hungry mouths to feed.
He squatted down, wrapping his arms around the wooden crate in time to lift it steadily, breath puffing slightly at the weight of the assorted meats inside.
Kraglin passed him on the way to fetch his next crate and smiled warmly.
"Good work kid, keep it up".
Glowing at the praise, Peter continued to the kitchens, his joy only sputtering out at the sight of Yondu and some of the other crew lounging at one of the tables, cards in hand as a gambling match began. He grimaced slightly at the sight of Usala sitting right in his path, dreading what may occur when he passed his enemy.
The distraction of his roaming eyes made it impossible to see Usala's leg as it struck out and with a startled cry Peter went tumbling down, meats spilling all over the dirty floors as his fall was arrested.
He lay stunned for a second as his brain caught up after his knock to the head upon contact with the floor but he snapped back to attention when Yondu roughly hauled him to his feet, eyes smoldering with anger.
"You little rat! Those meats are spoiled because of your incompetence, do you know how rowdy the crew will get without proper food until the next shipment arrives? I may as well let them eat you instead," Yondu groused before storming at out the room, followed by glaring crewmen.
Only Usala stayed, and as Peter dusted himself off and left to clean up the mess Usala licked his cracked lips hungrily, eyes flashing with delight.
Yondu had given permission, for months he had been waiting for this moment, complaining with his fellow crew about the wait.
Finally he would be satisfied, after all, he had never tasted Terran before.