This story contains my little headcanon that Yondu has to deal with racism in many places, due to his Centaurian origin.

I hope that you will like it.

Centaurian scum

The first time, when Peter had heard the words, was during his first stop with the Ravagers on some space station. They weren't spoken openly, rather whispered, when Yondu and his crew were passing few really ugly and really mean-looking guys. Peter could clearly hear the hissing contempt in their voices and he could see it in their reptilian eyes. And when the Ravagers were going deeper and deeper, the boy was noticing the same contempt in few other people, all of whom seemed to be some kind of criminals. Even when the crew entered the bar and started to relax, they couldn't escape the cold and intense stares of people there.

Back then Peter didn't know what the term meant, aside from that it was some kind of slur, describing Yondu and/or Ravagers. This suspicion has been eventually confirmed, when one of the thugs in the bar came to Yondu (who was silently drinking beer and minding his own business) and said:

"We've told you before, Centaurian scum, that you and your trash crew can't come here."

"Really?" Yondu rested his beer on the counter and turned to the guy. "I don't remember."

"Well then, it seems that we have to throw you out."

Kraglin told Peter to hide and the kid was happy to obliged. There was a big bar brawl, but lasted only few minutes before the thug, his pals and few other idiots, who decided that attacking the Ravagers was a good idea, were sent flying through the window and Yondu peacefully returned to his beer.

This event made Peter find new ways to be both amazed and scared of his captors (especially because Yondu was using his fists, not his arrow), but it also made him wonder what kind of guy was Yondu. When the situation was repeating itself on another planets and space stations, where Ravagers decided to stop, the questions were rising in kid's head. What Yondu did that people were reacting so coldly on his presence? Why everybody wanted him to leave? And why he was called a Centaurian scum?

But he couldn't ask Ravagers those questions. He was still scared of them, besides most of them already was shooing him away, whenever he was entering their little kingdoms. But the more time was passing, the more comfortable he was feeling around them, realizing that they were going to train him to be a Ravager. Also Yondu himself was acting nice from time to time. So Peter was getting more and more confident to ask them about people's reactions towards the Ravagers' captain.

After two years of his travels with Yondu, he got to know the meaning of "scum" part, because he started to be called "Terran scum". Not for any particular reason. Only because he was hanging with the Ravagers and wore a red coat. Oh, and because he was a Terran and Terra was considered by many races as some backward and savage planet. That was the little hint as to why people were mean to Yondu and the rest, nevertheless young Peter Quill didn't caught that hint.

He asked Horuz first. The guy was polishing his ship, so Peter thought that he wouldn't mind some company in this rather slow afternoon (evening? morning?), so he sneaked to him and sat on the metal floor. For a moment Horuz was ignoring him, glancing at the kid once or twice, but nothing much. Meanwhile Peter started to gather the courage to ask the Ravager a question that was making him nervous for quite some time.

After three minutes Horuz started to show signs of not liking Peter's presence.

"Okay, Quill." He stopped the polishing and finally looked at his guest. "What do you want?"

"Can I ask you something?" Peter almost exhaled those words.

Horuz's right eyebrow raised. He turned fully to the kid and said:

"I suppose so… But it doesn't mean I will answer!" He added, pointing the dirty rag, he was holding, towards the kid. Then he returned to work. "I'm busy right now, in case if you missed it."

Peter took a deep breath and finally asked the question:

"What's a Centaurian?"

Once again Horuz stopped what he was doing and gazed at the boy with surprise. For a moment he seemed to be thinking the response through, before he went back to polishing.

"Centaurian is someone from Centauri-IV." He replied, not looking at Peter, and after a moment of silence he added: "Yondu is a Centaurian. He was born and raised on Centauri-IV."

"Why everyone call him… you know…?"

The boy was kind of scared to say those words, in case that Horuz or other Ravagers would be offended by it. And he knew better than offend bunch of dudes, who's captain could kill him, while whistling. Besides, it seemed kind of wrong.

But Horuz only glanced at Peter, rising his eyebrows, before responding calmly:

"Some people just don't like him."

"Why? What did he do to them?"

Horuz stopped once again and once again returned to his work, not looking at Peter.

"Let's face it, kid. We are not nice guys. And some races in this big universe don't like Centaurians very much. Now go away!" He added with a bit annoyed voice.

Next, Peter decided to go to Kraglin. It so happened that Ravagers' second in command had a break in that moment and tried to relax, when the kid knocked to his door. Surprisingly for Peter, Kraglin let him in, although, the boy could see the expression of annoyance on his face and Kraglin gave a deep sigh, before saying:

"Quill, what do you want?"

"I have a question." Peter explained shyly. "It won't take long, really."

Kraglin rolled his eyes, then sat on the bed and tapped the place beside him. Peter got the hint and took a seat next to him.

"But keep it short." Said the second in command, rising his finger in warning manner.

Just like earlier with Horuz, Peter took a deep breath and only then proceeded with his question:

"Why some people call Yondu… names?"

"Come on, kid. You can say it. We're alone here and neither of us really think that way about boss, right?" Kraglin smiled, rising his eyebrows.

Encouraged a bit, Peter asked once again:

"Why sometimes people call Yondu a Centaurian scum?"

Even though he was the one, who told the kid to say these words out loud, Kraglin saddened. He hunched, resting his hands on knees, and gave a heavy sigh, before looking at Peter.

"You know, Yondu is good in what he's doing. He's considered one of the best, actually. When the Ravagers take the job, you can consider it done." He gave another sigh and continued: "But some people don't like that the Centaurian is doing so fine and steals their jobs. Especially, because the general idea about Centauri-IV is that its inhabitants are… inferior to other races."

"Inferior?" Peter's eyebrows raised.

"Not very smart." Kraglni explained. "Let just say that some people in the galaxy are racist."

"I see." Peter looked down, then his eyes returned to the second in command and the boy said with a sheepish smile: "Thanks, Kraglin. I will go now."

He kind of understood already what was going on. Still he was walking around the ship, asking other Ravagers too. Yondu was one scary guy, so maybe he did something really bad to receive such cold welcome in every stop he was making. Rest of the crew were either shooing Peter away, or saying the same thing as Horuz and Kraglin – that some guys just didn't like Centaurians. Frankly, Peter knew that the Ravagers weren't the most objective people to be asked about why everybody hated their captain, but what they were saying made sense, especially giving the treatment Quill himself was getting from time to time. For a short moment the boy was considering to ask the question Yondu personally, but he decided against that. He didn't want to piss off the Centaurian.

What was really interesting, however, was Yondu's reactions to those slurs. Sometimes he was threatening the offenders with his arrow, or punching them in the face, but sometimes he was just ignoring them, probably thinking that they weren't worth the trouble. And sometimes… sometimes Peter could see a flick of pain in those red eyes.

It was clear that hearing this slur all the time wasn't making Yondu happy, but Peter started to wonder if it was hurting his feelings. Well, Yondu was a tough guy and he was hardly showing any emotions, aside from wrath and amusement. But Peter still remembered how he didn't like to be called names in school and how the teacher told them once that words can hurt as much as stones and sticks, so maybe Yondu was sometimes thinking about how other perceived him; about the hostility he was facing each and every time, when he made a stop. And Peter felt a rare wave of true sympathy for his former kidnapper.

It happened once that Ravagers went to Garlog's Bar on Xandar and after some time of sitting in closed and muggy place, Peter decided to go out and listen some music. However, before he would put the headphones on, he heard someone's raspy voice saying:

"Is Centaurian scum still there?"

"Yes, he is." Said another, more smooth voice. "You know, sometimes I think that Garlog should do some segregation of his guests."

Peter started to walk towards the direction the voices were coming from. In the alley between Garlog's Bar and the building next to it, he found two Xandarians. Both of them looked human and didn't seem to be very muscular. They also didn't realize that they were observed, but that was because Peter cautiously hid himself behind the wall. They were busy standing few inches from the window and watching things going on there.

"Look at that bastard." Said the Xandarian with a smooth voice. "Look how he stands there, all smug and mighty… It makes me sick."

"I don't know why Garlog let him in." Added his companion. "The Centaurian could carry so many diseases…"

"I guess, Garlog really likes to wash the counter after every visit of this blue savage."

Peter felt rebelliousness rising inside him. He could say many things about Yondu, but not that he's dirty. Well… not more dirty than rest of the Ravagers, and probably less dirty, than many people they were encountering. As to diseases, he refused to steal some valuable jewel, when he found out that the planet it was on, was currently overwhelmed by some mutation of black plague.

"Centaurian scum should go back on his tree. He doesn't belong here."

"Yes, the savages shouldn't be let inside Xandar. He already stole few nice jobs from us."

"Why Nova Corps won't do anything about the Centaurian walking around?"

"Some of them are really superstitious. Maybe they are afraid that he will put a spell on them."

"Yeah." The Xandarian with the smooth voice chuckled. "He will make a fire and start to dance around with a tribal make-up on his face. Actually, I can see this Centaurian scum doing that."

They both burst into laughter.

The more Peter was listening to them, the more angry he was getting. How dared they call Yondu savage? How dared they assume that he's dirty? How dared they laugh at him? These two didn't even say all those things directly to Yondu. If they did, they would probably be receiving the well-deserved beating right now.

"I bet he has problems with counting to three." The raspy voice continued and Peter heard another burst of laughter.

That was enough. Peter's blood was boiling inside of him. He was going to teach them a lesson about disrespect towards his captain.

He moved from his hideout and stood in front of them. At first they didn't notice him, too busy with laughing, but then he whistled. When they stopped laughing and turned their attention on him, he finally spoke:

"Hey, take it back! All of it!"

"Take what back?" Asked the guy with raspy voice.

"You know," His companion rested his arms on the hips. "he must be this Terran kid that follows the Centaurian savage everywhere."

"Yeah, he must be. He wears that stupid red coat."

"Yondu is not a savage!" Peter barked. "Take it back, or…"

"Or what?" The guy with the smooth voice cut in.

Peter couldn't stand it anymore. He jumped on him, trying to hit him with his right hand, but the other guy kicked the boy and they both nailed him to the wall.

"Well, that was rather easy." The raspy-voiced Xandarian said, smirking. "Do you want to say anything else?"

"Take it back!" Peter wasn't going to give up.

"Wrong answer."

The "raspy voice" punched him in the stomach. Peter felt tears watering his eyes and he would crawl, if it wasn't for the tight grip of two Xandarians.

"Not so fierce now, are we?" His attacker said mockingly.

Peter raised his head and looked him in the eyes.

"You are both cowards."

Another punch, this time in the face and from the guy with smooth voice.

"Calling us names wasn't your best idea, Terran."

Peter lifted his head again, this time with some effort. He was feeling some wetness on his upper lip. It must have been a nosebleed.

"If you weren't cowards," He began. "you would go there and told all those things to Yondu personally. But you know he would kick your ass, so you just talk about him behind his back. Therefore you're cowards."

The guy with raspy voice was going to give Peter another punch, but then all three of them heard a whistle and suddenly Yondu's arrow was on guy's throat. Peter and his two attackers looked at their left and saw the Ravagers' captain himself, alongside with Kraglin and few other members of his crew.

"Put the kid down." Said Yondu, rising his chin. "Or do you want to get a hole in the neck?"

Both Xandarians did as they were told to. But Yondu didn't move the arrow away. He only looked at Peter with cold expression, before his eyes gazed back at the two guys, who paled and seemed to lose their bravado.

"You mess with one Ravager, you mess with all Ravagers." Yondu said.

"He started it!" Exclaimed the Xandarian with raspy voice.

"No, they did!" Peter cut in. "They were saying mean things about you!"

Yondu raised his eyebrows and looked once again at boy's attackers. For a moment he wasn't saying anything, probably musing about the situation.

"You must admit, Yondu," Kraglin leaned to his ear. "it's kind of cute."

Yondu was still silent. He lifted his chin and whistled. The guy with the raspy voice closed his eyes, ready for death, but then he realized that he's still alive and opened them with surprise. The arrow was hovering few inches before his head.

"You consider yourself lucky." Said the Centaurian. "But if I will see you again, you'll be in big trouble. Now get out of my sight!"

Both Xandarians ran away as soon as possible, meanwhile Yondu looked at Peter, turning his back on him. His arrow returned to his belt.

"Quill, come here. We need to patch you up."

In Garlog's Bar Peter has been cleaned. After further examination, it turned out that his nose wasn't broken (besides it didn't feel like broken to Peter, so the kid wasn't afraid of such injury) and he generally got only few bruises, which was good, considering what else these two could do to him in this short amount of time.

However, Yondu had a lecture for Peter. He leaned on the counter, where the kid has been settled during cleaning, and began:

"That was stupid and unnecessary, Quill."

"They were saying mean things about you." Peter repeated. "Like that you're a dirty savage and that you should go back on a tree."

For a moment Yondu wasn't saying anything. He was only observing Peter with serious expression. He gave a soft sigh and continued:

"I can fight my own battles, Quill. Next time just ignore the assholes." He leaned closer to Peter's face. "Especially, because they are cowards, as you said it yourself. There's no need to waste your energy on that kind of trash."

The rest of the evening was pleasant. The Ravagers were drinking and joking, and having a good time. Peter even got a chocolate (or chocolate-like) milk and few of his teammates were both praising his loyalty, and laughing at his stupidity. However, the boy could see that Yondu himself was silently sipping his beer and he seemed to be buried in his own thoughts. From time to time the Centaurian was gazing at Peter with some kind of sorrow in his eyes.

Many times Peter wondered what Yondu was thinking about the whole incident. Was he angry? Proud? He thought that Peter's actions were reckless? Or maybe it gave him some kind of comfort that even the youngest member of his crew wanted to fight for his honor? (Peter secretly hoped that it was the case. He really liked to think that he made Yondu feel better.)

Either way, it so happened that it wasn't the last time when Peter was defending Yondu's honor. The Terran was fighting with people who were calling Yondu Centaurian scum, when he couldn't take their bullshit anymore. He tried to remain reasonable and avoid the battle, but if someone didn't stop to call Yondu names, when the Ravagers' captain wasn't around, Peter just had to let it out of himself.

And he could swear that he saw once Yondu smiling at the sight of it.