The flight back is as tense as Kraglin feared. Tullk, who had been alerted to the situation by a hastily written text message, is piloting and Peter, who hadn't been threatened by the arrow since the last time he'd set something on fire, is sitting sullenly at the back of the M-ship.

As for the captain, well, he isn't exactly taking the latest information in stride. "I understand the words you're sayin', you idiot, but it don't make no sense! I get why we can't let the crew catch on to me not remembering things, but what you're sayin' about Stakar and the gang don't-"

"The lad's right, though, Yondu. There was a fallin' out," Tullk says in a measured tone.

"A fallin' out! The lot of us fight just about every time we're in the same room. It's always been that way! And you're trying to tell me that we haven't talked in six years?"

Kraglin grimaces. "Well, you've spoken a few times since then that I know of, but it weren't never friendly."

"I'm sayin', it don't make no sense. It also don't make sense that you don't know the reason why. I ain't buyin' that." Yondu sits back with a glower, arms crossed. "Maybe I should call 'im?"

"NO!" Tullk and Kraglin exclaim simultaneously and then exchange panicked looks. From the back there's the sound of what Kraglin is pretty sure is muffled giggles and for a moment he's tempted to take advantage of the fact that Yondu probably wouldn't stop him and go smack the kid around a bit. Then Yondu laughs too and it's so genuine that Kraglin can't help but feel like things might work out after all.

"All right, all right. But I'm still sayin' it don't make sense," the captain says.

"Look, boss-"

"We're nearly to the ship," Tullk interrupts, to Kraglin's immense relief.

"Right," Yondu says, pointing a finger at Kraglin. "Once we get there, how about you and me stay in here and have a little chat?"

"Of course, Cap'n," Kraglin says while trying to keep the apprehension out of his voice. "Um, Tullk, if you could maybe see that Quill's work schedule is all sorted for the next few weeks?" Peter had mostly been doing shifts on the bridge as of late, but that just doesn't seem like the best idea given current circumstances.

"You got it, Kraglin." Tullk says. "You two can comm if you, uh, need anything." The rest of the sentence ("such as medical attention or funeral arrangements") goes unsaid and he opens a channel with the Eclector to let them know of their arrival. Once they're docked, Kraglin watches as Tullk drags a troubled-looking Peter away and shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

The captain takes the pilot's chair and swivels it around so he's facing his first mate. "All right now, cut the bullshit. What're you hiding from me?"

"Cap'n, listen, I'm not-"

"Nah, you're hiding something," he says, pointing a finger at Kraglin. "There's something about this Stakar business you're not sayin'." Yondu leans forward so that red eyes lock with blue.

Kraglin nods. He thought it might come to this. "OK, yeah, there are a few things I'm not tellin' ya."

The captain lets out a sharp laugh at that. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." He leans back and hopes he looks confident.

Yondu grins, showing off his jagged teeth. "And you think I can't make you?" He flips open his leather coat as he speaks, revealing the arrow, quietly waiting in its holder.

"Oh, I know you can. There's no doubt in my mind, Cap'n." Kraglin manages, doing his best to hold on to his confidence. "And you know what? If you listen to what I'm gonna say next and you still want me to tell ya, I will. No arrow holes necessary."

"All right, then. Say it." The captain's tone is laced with annoyance, but he lets his coat fall back into place.

"I know you don't know much about me yet. I guess you look at me and still see good-for-nothing mining colony trash that'll probably end up bein' cannon fodder." Kraglin says, hoping his voice is staying even.

The captain's lips twist into something like a smile. "Well, you're still a skinny sonavabitch, so that doesn't help much."

"OK, yeah, fair enough. But what you don't know, Cap'n, is that I'd had a close call right before you and your crew ended up in that slum. I'd been stabbed a couple times by some other street kids and when I was recovering, I nearly starved. There wasn't anyone left who cared. And afterwards I knew it'd been a near thing, but I didn't know what to do make sure it wouldn't happen again. I was stuck." Kraglin pauses. He tries, but he can't begin to interpret his captain's expression. "Then you showed up and you insisted on takin' me along even though your first mate and most of the others laughed at the idea of it. I know it was probably just because you don't like bein' told what to do, but you know what? From that moment on, I've been loyal to you. I decided that if I gotta die young, it'll be for Cap'n Udonta. I know you might got no reason to believe me, Yondu, but I ain't never gonna betray you." As he finishes, Kraglin realizes that is most he's said to the captain about a non-work-related topic in, spending more alone well, a long time. Even when they work a night shift together on the bridge, they mostly just sit, comfortable in each other's silence. And they definitely don't talk much when they're alone in Yondu's quarters, unless they're fighting about something ("something" usually being Quill).

Yondu sits there, perfectly still like he does sometimes and his face is once again unreadable. Kraglin prides himself on his ability to read people. After all, it was a matter of survival in his early days. The captain is one of the few people on the ship who was a consistent challenge for him. Yondu's ability to shield his emotions probably has something to do with survival as well.

Just when Kraglin thinks the captain might be planning on staying quiet indefinitely, he speaks. "What exactly is your point with all this, boy?"

"Oh. Right. Uh, so my point is that even though you ain't sure if you can trust me, you can trust me. And, if I say it's better for you to not know some things until you can remember them yourself, then it's true. I swear it, Cap'n."

Yondu stands up but keeps his eyes glued to his first mate. "All right. Fine. I guess I must've promoted you for a reason, but if I find out you're playin' with me, you're done. Got it?"

"Of course, boss," Kraglin says, but the captain is already stomping off the M-ship. He resists the urge to follow because being even the slightest bit overbearing would be the fastest way to make Yondu change his mind about not investigating his past. Yondu might not remember the past seven years, but he sure as hell knows how to run a Ravager ship so Kraglin decides to leave him to it.

So, he's surprised when less than two hours later he gets a message from Yondu that reads: "Quarters. Now." As he rushes out of the canteen he'd been wasting time in, he tries to keep his expectations in check. He knows it's not like all the captain's memories will have flooded back instantaneously or anything. And yet, he can't help but feel a little hopeful when he unlocks the biolock for the captain's room and slides in… only to be hit with a balled-up piece of fabric.

"What the…" Kraglin begins as he picks up the faded gray t-shirt.

"That yours?" Yondu demands with a glower.

Kraglin sighs, there goes that little bit of hope. "Yeah, it sure is, Cap'n. Hey-" This time he manages to dodge the projectile, which proves to be a wrinkled pair of boxers. "Before you ask, those're mine too."

"You wanna explain what they were doin' in my bed?" The captain asks, red eyes narrowed. Kraglin may not be good at reading Yondu, but he's pretty sure his current expression doesn't bode well.

"Well, I'm first mate so it's normal-" He begins half-heartedly. He's not sure this is something he should lie about.

"You sayin' that's all this is?"

For the first time he can remember Kraglin would rather be anywhere than with his boss. "Uh, no, you're right… You and I sorta- I mean, we sometimes-" He's not sure of what exactly to expect, but Yondu turns his back to him and he goes back to scrolling through data on the holopad balanced on top of a pile of junk on his desk.

"Right. I want your shit outta here," he says, still not looking back at his first mate.

"OK, Cap'n. You got it." Kraglin takes a deep breath, unsure of whether to push his luck. "Er, but is all right if maybe I sleep here? On the floor, I mean. I am first mate and I used to stay in here even before… that is, the crew might notice…" Nothing. Somehow that's worse than a whistle.

"Sure. I Get it. I'll just take this stuff now and come back for the rest when-"

The captain finally turns around. "I say you should leave? Come over here. What the hell is this?" He does as he's told and takes a look at the data the captain's scowling at.

"That's the ship's accounts. What's the problem?"

"Whadya mean, "what's the problem?"" Yondu says, letting the holopad fall back onto to the desk. "We're barely breakin' even most month cycles!"

"Oh, yeah, but it's always like that unless we luck out with a big score," Kraglin says with a shrug.

Yondu shakes his head. "I guess this has something to with the other Ravagers-"

"Exiling us? Yeah, probably. Nobody was letting me look at accounts when I first came aboard, but I can tell ya that things sure got fixed a lot faster back then."

"What could possibly have been worth losing all that?" The captain asks and Kraglin has the feeling that Yondu is looking through him rather than at him.

Kraglin looks up. "I thought we agreed-"

"Yeah, yeah. We did," Yondu agrees. "Now you can leave." He says as he shrugs off his heavy leather greatcoat.

"Hey, Cap'n, I just wanna say-" He begins, taking a step closer.

"Obfonteri?" The captain says, turning back toward him.

"Yessir?"

"Get the fuck out."

"Yes, Cap'n. Going!" Outside in the corridor, the door shuts with a click and Kraglin stays leaning against the wall for a few minutes, wondering if he's even going about this the right way. He closes his eyes and for a second he's able to drown out the ship's many sounds.

Until his peace is interrupted. "Hey, what's goin' on? Does Yondu hate you now too?" Quill. Of course.

Kraglin's eyelids fly open. "I thought I told you to stay away from here?"

"Yeah, well, Yondu disappeared and then I couldn't find you either and Tullk's just sitting alone getting drunk. I dunno, everything's weird," the brat says, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"OK, since you're here, let's head over to your room and switch the bio-signature over to mine," he says as he grabs Peter's shoulder and starts pulling down the hallway.

"What?!" The dumbfounded look on the kid's face does a little to help his mood.

"And your M-ship too, while we're at it."

"What the hell?! Why-"

The first mate shrugs. "Cap'n thinks you're a rookie so we gotta keep that up. Remember what the doc said about maintaining calm and makin' sure he don't get too confused and such?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. Your room is right next to Yondu's and why would you even have a room? You need to do your best to avoid him and try 'n act normal. If that's even possible."

"I am normal! How am I not normal?!" Quill shouts, indignantly. "Jackass…" He adds, but at least the kid stops arguing.

The first cycle that Peter spent sleeping under a table and steering clear of Yondu, no one really paid any mind. The kid pissed off the captain on a fairly regular basis, after all. By the third day, there was some side-eye and quiet mutterings among the more observant crew members. By the beginning of the second week, it's clear there's been some kind of sea change.

If Kraglin and Tullk had been worried that the crew would start asking questions once they'd noticed, they needn't have been. Everyone down to a man came to the conclusion that a) Quill had finally done something so egregious that even the captain couldn't ignore it, b) Yondu had at last come to his senses and realized the Terran was no longer a child or c) some blessed combination of the above. Pretty much everyone agreed it was for the best, but no one in their right mind would even dream of breathing a word about the entire thing to Yondu. So, they all went on with their lives and pretended it was completely normal for the kid to be sleeping on the floor, eating in the farthest corner of the mess hall and, to everyone's amazement, calling Kraglin and the rest of the bridge crew "sir" if the captain happens to be in earshot.

By the end of two irritating purgatory-like weeks spent having Horuz gleefully task him with one tedious and/or disgusting cleaning or repair assignment after another, Peter needs a break. The Eclector is scheduled for a stop at Buraida, a grimy desert planet that's as boring and garish as Contraxia and doesn't even offer the chance of seeing snow, but even this shithole is preferable to spending another minute on the ship.

They'd landed the M-ships just outside a midsized town filled with neon signs and booming music. He walks down the town's main street, taking care to avoid the bars he notices Ravagers hanging around. No way in hell does he want to hang with any of them right now. He finally settles on an unassuming door leading to a basement bar. Inside it looks perfect, not particularly well-lit but with a decent crowd and no sign of red leathers anywhere. Well. Except…

"Hey, it's Quill, ain't it?" Yondu is alone at the bar, half-filled glass in his hand and a bottle on the countertop.

"Er, y-yeah." He meets the Centaurian's gaze briefly. "Cap'n," he adds, doing his best Kraglin impression. "Uh, enjoy. See you later. Bye."

"Where you goin'? You just got here."

"Um, well, I don't got a lot of units anyway so I should probably-"

"Nah, c'mon." the captain says, indicating the bottle of cheap Krylorian booze. "I got enough here to spare you a drink. Sit." It isn't exactly a request so he obediently climbs up on a barstool. Yondu signals for the barman who looks at the obviously-underage customer a bit dubiously, but fetches him a glass all the same. Peter decides he'll have to wait until Yondu is wasted enough to not notice when Peter slips out, but judging by the captain's relatively sober state, that might take awhile. It's going to be a long night.