Hey guys!
Happy New Year! I hope you all have an amazing year and everything you wish for comes true. I am here with another chapter for you and to let you know my busy period is now over so I will update as much as I can this week to make up for my absence then go to updating regularly once a week for you all. Enjoy this chapter and the following chapters to come - please let me know if you're enjoying the story!
- esgaroths
"What's that?"
"That's an umbrella." Cora replied whilst putting another packet of jaffa cakes in a cardboard box.
"Is it some sort of weapon?" Rocket asked as he observed it in his hands.
"Not everything is a weapon, Rocket."
"Well… if you think about it…" The raccoon shrugged thoughtfully.
She gave him a look and her eyes began quickly scanning the shelves to and fro. Rocket carried on fiddling with the umbrella until he found the button to open it, making Groot jump seeing the umbrella open.
"Don't open it indoors – it's bad luck." She lightly scolded, shaking her head.
"I am Groot."
"Don't be an idiot, Groot. This would make the worst shield." Rocket argued.
Cora carried on packing items into the box and when she was satisfied, she scooped it into her arms and proceeded to the back room of her shop with Groot and Rocket in tow.
"You won't break the doors down if I let you in this time, right?" She said with a cheeky smile.
"I am Groot."
Rocket simply nodded after a small grunt, causing Cora to give a small nod then enter the code to unlock the door. She switched on the light and walked to towards a shelf with stacked boxes, placing her box down and quickly observing them lightly dragging her finger across them until she found what she wanted. She fumbled through the right box and pulled out three boxes of batteries.
"Here Groot, catch!"
She chucked them over to Groot's direction and he caught them effortlessly in his hand. He smiled in thanks and held the batteries tightly.
"I stuck to my end of the bargain. I feel like we have nothing to owe each other anymore."
"I guess you're right for once, humie." Rocket spoke sheepishly.
"I am Groot."
Cora smiled at Groot then looked at Rocket for a translation.
"He says thanks."
"No problem." She nodded.
An awkward silence had spread across the room and her eyes drifted away from Rocket and Groot. The raccoon tapped his foot and folded his arms whilst his tall sidekick just stared blankly and remained still.
"I need to go do something." She announced awkwardly.
"Groot and I need to… find something to do." The animal replied with a shrug.
"Well you know where the door is." Cora said slowly with a forced smile.
Rocket did a brief hand gesture as a goodbye and began to exit the shop as Groot followed slowly behind. She let out a sigh of relief and watched them leave. She didn't know what to feel about that pair; all she could say was that she had a very interesting time with them. She knew they would be memorable to her for sure. She let out a small chuckle and proceeded to pack her purple, spiky tortoise shell bag with food, drink and various keepsakes she wanted to take with her; for a laugh, she then decided to put two small water pistols inside as well as her large water pistol. Once it was zipped up, she searched for her blaster and slid it under her belt. She was about to pick up her bag when she remembered her Terran alcohol back at the bar; Jasper's bar.
She knew he would not be happy if she was to take it; and she knew that she could easily grab some back at Earth, but she didn't want to make the trip or bring too much attention to herself. Although, stealing the alcohol would cause attention to her eventually but no for a while – she knew Jasper was currently caught up in his overly-ambitious plans. She decided that she would go ahead and take it.
Cora straightened up from crouching and exited her shop. Her feet automatically taking the route to the bar. The streets were rather quiet today but she knew it wasn't lunch time for most people, she made a left turn and continued to walk onwards until she noticed Jasper standing in the middle of the street facing her with an unsettling gleam in his eye.
"What brings you back to Xandar, Jasper?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I should be asking you that question." He said in a 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone to his voice.
"How is that a mystery? I just wanted to go back home."
"You left me." He stated, a hint of bitterness slithered into the sentence.
"Well you gave me the choice. Sorry it wasn't the one you wanted me to pick."
"But the way you spoke suggested you wanted to come with me."
"I know I'm sorry Jasper –"
"You're the only outsider that knows about my plan – I can't risk Yondu finding out about it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cora said dubiously, sensing Jasper's odd aura.
"It means you're going to come with me and help me find out what happened to us." He insisted.
"And what if I don't want to?"
Jasper heaved a deep breath and tightened his fists. "Think about this, Cora."
"I've already thought about it." She shot back adamantly. "So, what are you going to do? Are you really going to fight with me?"
"You're testing me, Cora." He replied through gritted teeth.
"Jasper." She spoke solemnly, growing worried about his reaction. "I really don't want to fight with you, get on with what you're doing and I'll get on with my life at the shop. Let's not make a fuss."
He stormed over to her, getting dangerously close to her personal space. She frowned at him and straightened her posture, trying to mask the fact she felt intimidated.
"I'm going to give you one last chance to decide."
Seeing the angry energy radiating from him made her realise that he was capable of causing harm if he wanted – it wasn't the side he let her see and now she had seen it, she felt wary of him. The friendship they shared was made numb by the aggression from Jasper and Cora knew for certain that she wanted no part in his plans. She stepped back to create a comfortable gap between them and shook her head.
Jasper rubbed his forehead with his hand and looked up at her with his jaw clenched. He slowly got out his blaster and aimed it at her.
"Of course you were the one who shot at me when I left the ship." Cora said dryly, unsurprised.
"I can't let these plans get to Yondu." He spoke with a stern expression, his armed hand unwavering.
"So, you're going to kill me for it – after what we went through together." She spat.
"I'm sorry." He said, his voice lacking any form of empathy that the word 'sorry' should have with it.
"No, fuck you Jasper." Cora spoke venomously.
Jasper's finger began to curl over the trigger and Cora threw herself out of the way onto the ground and she heard the shot miss. She took out her own blaster and observed her surroundings. She didn't want to fire at Jasper unless she absolutely had to, she needed a distraction to help her get away. She could see a small stand selling fruits that grew on Xandar, a bar, a shop that sold ship fuel – an idea clicked in her head.
She fired at the shelf that held the fuel canisters, the shelf broke apart instantly at the impact as the fuel spilled out in between Jasper and Cora. She got back on her feet and before Jasper could react, she braced herself and fired at the fuel spillage, causing it to burst into flames in an instant. Jasper backed away quickly and grunted in frustration, knowing Cora would have made a run for it.
She could feel the tears fill her eyes but she gritted her teeth, knowing now was not time to cry over something so petty. It was petty to her, and she couldn't understand why she was even on the verge of tears. Sure, she knew it hurt that Jasper proved that he was capable of harming her and had completely tossed away their friendship to chase after his reckless goals, but it was a good thing in an odd way. Cora forced down the tears as she ran towards Jasper's bar and slipped through the entrance.
It was a lot quieter as it was early afternoon, she walked towards the bar to a member of staff and improvised a story about how Jasper left something behind and she was collecting it on his behalf. Once she received the approval to enter the back room, she marched to Jasper's locker, entered the code and eyed the Terran alcohol – she took her favourites, the gin and the rum. The whiskey that she had shared with Jasper, she wasn't very keen on whiskey and she scrunched her nose at it in disgust. Nevertheless, she swiped it from the locker and kicked open the back door to exit to the alleyway.
She sat on the ground, realising she had barely stopped since she retreated from Jasper and stared at the bottles she had placed in front of her. She liked the way they glinted in the light and it helped to clear her mind. She picked up the whiskey, wondering why she took it. It wasn't as if she'd drink it after all but she found the colour interesting, all the different brown and bronze tones it depicted when exposed to the light; however, it still made her think of Jasper.
Feeling the betrayal simmer inside her chest, Cora gripped the neck of the bottle and with a grunt and all her strength, she hurled the bottle against the wall, gathering temporary satisfaction watching the glass shatter and the droplets of the golden liquid crawl down from the wall to the dirt.
