The landing wasn't soft or gentle but he wasn't bleeding so Peter counted it as a win. Though, they were face-down in some hole or something. The planet looked almost entirely white from the brief flash he saw of it before he lost consciousness, and it didn't look all like cloud cover.
He'd climbed out from under the console just a few minutes before Gamora yanked him to his feet.
"What about this time? You said you knew them! We were to get a friendly greeting but they decided your ship was good for target practice!"
He had thought about answering but was pretty sure her turning to look at the darkness out the windows meant she didn't want to hear his voice right now. He looked around for everyone and found Drax pulling himself up with a concentrated frown which meant he was probably - no, never mind. That's what he always looks like. Rocket's in the back making a racket - heh, Rocket/racket - but Groot obviously broke any fall he had.
They came out to the main room, Rocket yelling about broken arms and stupid Groots, followed only by a deep "I am Groot?"
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the catch but next time maybe try not to break yourself and almost impale me!" he flipped over his shoulder before he rounded on Peter. "And you? What kind of flying was that? We were supposed to go down there, make nice with your friends, and get a cushy job or two. What was that kind of welcome wagon? And is that snow?" He pointed out the front windows into the darkness.
It did kind of look wet, like something's pushed up against the window rather than being in a hole like he thought. Some of it had started to melt and trickle down the outside with a little bit of light showing at the top where he saw that yes, it really was the white stuff. Snow!
Peter hadn't seen real snow in a long time. And not all white and fluffy looking like back on Terra when he was a kid. With a whoop he went for the door up top, pulling at the ladder and grabbing his coat at the same time. There wasn't much for wind, but the dry cold locked his lungs up for a minute before he threw himself full-tilt off the top of the Milano and landed face-first in the snow.
By the time everyone followed him up and out, he'd made a snow angel, fallen nearly hip-deep into a drift and had made a small army of snowballs which he started pelting at them as they stood there with looks ranging from shock (Gamora and Drax) to disgust (Rocket) all over their faces.
"I am Groot." Groot stared at him with his ever present smile.
"Yeah, buddy. He's lost it." Rocket said before reaching for his pistol and shooting holes where the rest of the little snow missiles had been.
"Aww, you melted them!" Peter said with a hang-dog expression before he dug down to make a fort. "C'mon guys, have some fun! Loosen up a little!"
Rocket shook his head in disgust again before he climbed back inside the ship to assess the damage.
Gamora stepped down off the side, carefully feeling for a solid point on which to stand but it was no use. She was going to rip that maniac to shreds if he didn't stop laughing, once she managed to pull herself out of the damn hole of wet, freezing, drippy, ice-whatever. This stuff was disgusting. How he could be playing in it was beyond her.
Drax jumped off, landing in a drift up to his knees and just barreled through until he reached Peter. "What is this barrier for? And why are you making more of those ice balls. Are we going to battle our friends?" he asked, copying Peter's movements in making more snowballs.
Peter whooped and ducked back up to check where everyone was from behind his fort wall. "Just try to knock them off the - hey! Where'd everyone go-oomph! Oomph!"
Gamora had caught on fast and was pelting Peter in the face faster than he could move. Groot was off the Milano and planting one foot firmly before lifting the next, swatting Drax's attack away with little effort.
"Alright, I don't think there's too much damage here. They fried the main radio board so there's no calling for someone, but I don't think it'll take too long to get us airborne on our own. How attached are you to those... What are you freaks doing?!" Rocket looked around.
Groot had lined up in front of Gamora, giving her an easily defensible spot while Drax had taken over throwing and Peter was down making more ammunition.
"Children. You're all CHILDREN!" he griped. Of course it would be down to him to fix everything, but then they'd only be in his way anyway. He growled and shook it out when he was hit in the back of the head with a snowball. Over his shoulder he saw three identical innocent (really not innocent at all) faces and Groot. "Just you see what happens when I fly this thing away on my own and leave you." An oddly girlish giggle followed him down into the ship. Could have been Gamora - but he thought it much more likely to be Peter.
It got dark before everyone was done messing around, but not before they were shivering and wet. With the cloud cover there was no way to tell when the sun, or whatever had lit up the atmosphere, was about to go down. Stiff limbs made it hard to climb back inside so they slip-slid their way up and in and tugged off their wet outer clothes as fast as they could. Everyone was still shivering as they came out of their bunks, dryer but still cold.
"Everyone get a mug, I'm going to make some hot cocoa. It's tradition." Peter announced, trying hard to remember how to make it with what he had. And even what it tasted like.
It'd been a long time, and honestly he's not sure what to use in place of chocolate. With some digging, he found a soft-solid bar that would melt. It wasn't brown but it was sweet and he thought it would go well with the milky alcohol he had hidden so Rocket didn't guzzle it down like a cheap malt. It was stuff for special times.
After heating it all and pouring into mugs he grasped for something that would make it brown or maybe marshmallows but there was nothing. The greenish-yellow with white swirls would have to do. Not that anyone else would know what it was supposed to look like.
"Everyone grab a mug. This stuff'll warm you up fast. And in the spirit of Christmas I even made one for you, Rocket. Ya 'ol Grinch!" Rocket looked ready to throw a wrench at him but after he got a whiff of what Peter had shoved under his nose, a huge, and frankly frightening, grin spread across his face.
"Now, Groot, buddy. Do you know what a Christmas tree looks like?"
"I am Groot?" Yeah, it was a long shot.
"Okay," Peter said, trying to think. "Do you think you can make leaves that are like small and pointy? Skinny? And, like, everywhere?" he asks with one raised eyebrow.
After a few tries, and some truly interesting scents, Peter decided it was close enough and started looking for things to hang around as ornaments. At first he was handing out little trinkets from around the ship but there really wasn't much that was loose. Except...
"Hey, give that back! I need it!" Rocket scrabbled to grab the small transformer he was sure he'd need. While his back was turned, Peter grabbed up nearly every small thing from outside Rocket's view and started handing them around for everyone to hang on Groot.
They still looked at him like they weren't quite sure what they were doing or why but the snow had been fun, if uncomfortable, and the drink was warming their bellies and minds so they went with it.
"Now, it's time for some Christmas Carols. Umm." Peter wracked his brain for this part, grasping for strings of old songs he could barely remember. Everyone sat as instructed, except for Rocket who was slurring but still managing to snatch things back off the tree, ehm - Groot, faster than Peter could explain what 'criss-cross applesauce' meant.
"Oh! Yes, this was my favorite!" Peter started to hum, trying to remember the tune right. Everyone stared at him a little glassy-eyed. The white stuff was pretty potent and the amount he'd put in was actually quite a lot, even if it didn't quite mix or taste great with the green bar he'd melted into it. It was warm, that was all that mattered.
With everyone sitting and staring at him, Peter started strong with "Jingle bells, Batman smells. Robin laid an egg! The-the Batmobile lost it's wheel and the J-Joker got away - HEY! Umm, hm-hm-hmm, hm-hm-hmm... yeah, that's it I think." He faded off a little embarrassed.
"There's another one. Mom used to sing it even when it wasn't Christmas sometimes. Let me think." Everyone stared at Peter; Drax in hard concentration, though his head was swaying just a little. Gamora had an intense look like she was trying to understand the meaning of the sounds but not quite there. Or more likely that she was trying to bring his face back in focus. Groot looked happy, at least Peter thought he looked happy. Mostly he just looked like a poofy Groot. Even Rocket had leaned against the console, staring down at his hands, fiddling with something with wires sticking out one side and a contemplative look.
"Okay - uh... S-silent night… Holy… night. All is well… all is dry - bright… Round and round… The table… Umm..." Peter went back to humming a not entirely bad version of Silent Night while leaning to the side as until he was slumped over. Stretching his legs out and pulling his blanket up, he noticed that everyone else seemed to have nodded off. Even Groot's eyes and arms were drooping and he swore he heard a grumble like a snore coming from the big guy.
"Merry Christmas to all, and to a-all, yeah, g'night."