Peter Quill made a bee line for the end of the bar farthest from the door. His first drink was drowned in one go but the second he sipped more slowly.
"Rough day." A low, scratchy voice off his left elbow drawled.
Peter didn't turn around right away, smirking into the rim of his glass. It was no accident he'd chosen a seat next to the scantly dressed female with feline features. "The worst," he half turned his head toward her. "Though I've got a feeling it might be picking up."
She giggled in a throaty way only her race could. He introduced himself and bought her next round.
…
Across the room Rocket was perched on the bar nursing a tall glass of Askavarian whiskey. Groot sat in the seat in front of him, long twiggy legs folded in on themselves to fit under the bar. To their right Drax was drowning a drink so large both his hand couldn't span the glass.
The tree man had grown back nicely since Xandar, nearly doubling in size every week until he was back to his normal hight, albeit noticeably thinner. Rocket worried about that. No matter how much he denied it, Groot knew his friend too well and knew Rocket's unique way of showing his affection.
A corner of the cargo hold had been cleared and sun lamps had been set up with Drax's help. Philly and Peter hadn't been too thrilled to come home and find their cargo space cut down but they understood and let it be. Groot had tried to apologize and though the words themselves hadn't been understood, they got gist.
The idea caught on and next port Groot had watched an extra water tank be set up by Philly and Gamora. A few extra bags of fertilizer and plant food were wheeled over by Peter and Drax. Groot, barely bigger then Rocket at the time, grinned up at them to show his thanks. He'd have asked Rocket to translate but for just this once didn't want what he wanted to say be paraphrased or dripping in sarcasm. Not that he minded, but just that once when they were all working together, when no one was arguing or stepping on each other's toes, the tree man had wanted it to last as long as possible.
Groot had thought things were looking up but here he was, not even four weeks later listening to Rocket and Drax complain about the team to each other.
…
Gamora didn't drink. She had been taught the need for alcohol consumption was a weakness and never had the chance or guts to rebel against Thanos in this way before. And certainly not for something as trivial or useless like a glass of anything that would impair her ability to think and react.
Philly couldn't drink. Zeldonians had notoriously, tragically, even hilariously low alcohol tolerances. So seeing the other female who seemed dead set on standing stiffly in the door way, and that the boys had basically abandoned them, Philly decided to introduce Gamora to some of her favorite versions of booze from her planet of origin.
"It's bubbling." Gamora noted, eyeing the tall skinny glass critically. Philly nodded watching expectantly with her chin resting on the palm of her hand.
"Why is it bubbling?"
"It's fizzing. Try it, you might like it."
Gamora frowned suspiciously, it had not escaped Gamora's notice that Philly's drink remained untouched as well. But the day had been long and very disappointing and in the sprint of whatever was left of their camaraderie after today, Gamora took a sound gulp on the bubbling, tinted pink liquid. Philly took a much smaller sip of her own yellow colored drink.
Gamora's eyes widened and she had to force herself to swallow. Whatever this was it wasn't alcohol, at least from what she understood of the substance. It was sweet like syrup but worse. Like raw sugar poured into water and made to bubble. It was how Gamora imagined liquidated candy might taste.
Philly giggled at her expression, "Zeldonian's have an inherited sweet tooth."
"And a terrible taste in booze." A male voice said behind them.
The two women turned around on their barstools, one with a slightly annoyed look and the other with a slightly murderous expression. The speaker was a humanoid, haggard and bent over slightly with advancing age. His hair was curly and dark with large patches of grey starting to appear. He smiled at the two, the pronounced wrinkles around his eyes deepening.
When the women's faces remained hostile, his shoulders slumped and his near-white eyes zeroed in on Philly, "You know I went through a lot of trouble to track you down, kiddo. The least you can do is recognize me."
Philly's eyebrows furrowed searching the face that felt so familiar but couldn't be placed. The stranger stuffed one hand in his pocket and used the other to ruffle up his hair.
Philly's face lit up, "MAC!"
Mac had just enough time to brace for impact before the pint sized Zeldonian leaped from her barstool to his arms. Just like that he was sweeping her off her feet and swinging her around like she was seven years old again.
…
Down at the other end of the room, Peter's attention was jerked from the feline like beauty on his arm to his pilot's exclamation. With a wistful sideways glance he decided meeting someone who Philly was allowing to pick her up and spin her around like a youngling was an opportunity he couldn't miss. The Terran excused himself, almost sitting back down when her full, grey lips formed into a pout so perfect Peter wouldn't have been at all surprised if she practiced it in the mirror.
But the Star-Lord stayed strong, walking slightly faster then necessary over to the large booth Gamora, Philly, and the stranger had moved to. Philly was grinning ear to ear just like the time Peter agreed to devote an entire shelf in the pantry to sweets. She started waving madly for him to come over when she saw him hesitating.
As soon as he was within hearing range Philly yelled her introductions, "Peter! This is Mac. He was the communications guru on the Queen Mai. Mac, this is Peter Quill. We run a ship together."
"And save the galaxy on the side." Mac added, reached out to shake Peter's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mac. Call me Star-Lord." The Terran grinned, noting the strong, calloused grasp.
The older Human gave Peter a puzzled look that was nearly identical to the one Philly had given him when they had first met.
"Or Quill." He shrugged nonchalantly, "Quill works too."
"Anyway," Mac chuckled, "I heard Ronan was on Xandar along with some rumors Nova Core needed help from a bunch of escaped criminals, including a blue-haired Zeldonian. I had some down time so I thought I'd make an adventure out of it."
"And here you are." Philly chirped. She had not stopped grinning since they'd sat down, if anything her smile had grown.
"I was cleaning out my attic and found enough memorabilia of you to make a box. I brought it with me if you want it."
Philly tore her eyes away from what had to be her tenth once over of her friend, "Of course! Wow, Mac it's…just so surreal to see you."
"It's nice to meet an old friend of Philly's that actually wants to talk to her and isn't her mom." Peter teased, flicking at the pilot's pig-tail buns.
"Same people skills I see." Mac clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "That's sad, kiddo."
"No," She answered, "the sad part is I've got some of the best people skills on the team."
Mac's laugh was as ready and genuine as Philly remembered, if a bit hoarser. Peter and Philly joined in and Gamora gave her best attempt at a smile for the sake of politeness.
Philly stood up, "You still drinking the same thing?"
"How else 'll I know I'll like it?" The old spacer chuckled, nodding.
She rolled her eyes and said she would be right back before disappearing into the crowd.
"Kiddo has changed quite a bit." Mac mused.
Peter nodded in agreement as best as he could taking a sip of his drink, "So, Mac…do you have any stories about 'kiddo' you want to tell?"
…
Philly flounced to the bar; right towards the other half of her team. The tiny Zeldonian squeezed in between Groot's rough, bark covered shoulders and Drax's broad, muscled ones, looping her arms around their elbows.
"How's a goin'?"
Groot grinned down at her in greeting. "I am Groot."
"We are getting better with every glass we consume." Drax informed her with tipsy revelry.
Rocket didn't even look up, though his ears flicked towards her direction. Philly didn't blame him in the slightest after the chewing out she had given his on the ride over, but then she'd done that to everyone. Maybe Rocket just shouldn't take things so personally, she mused flagging down the bartender and placing her drink order.
"So listen, fellas" Philly said turning her attention back to the boys. "An old friend of mine tracked me down and we're all over in a booth in that corner catching up. If you boys want to get over our stupid and pointless fight and join us, I would really appreciate it."
When no one responded and the drinks came she threw in an extra incentive, "If you come over and quit holding grudges on you own teammates I'll buy your next round."
That was all Drax really needed. He wasn't specifically mad with Philly so he stood, his hulking form towering over his smaller friend as they left. Rocket snorted in disgust as the so called destroyer trotted after Philly like a puppy looking for a treat. It was an analogy that got more twisted the more Rocket thought about it.
So he took another drink and didn't.
Or tried not to.
"I am Groot." The tree man beckoned, half standing. One of his hands was out stretched so his companion had a direct route to his bark covered shoulders.
"I don't wan' ta." Rocket snapped back.
Groot sat back down slowly. The hopeful smile was gone and his head and posture, for lack of a better word, wilted ever so slightly.
"Go over with out me." The smaller bounty hunter dismissed with a wave of his clawed hand. Groot didn't move except to rest his head on a hand. He sat still, watching Rocket with his deep brown eyes.
Rocket tried to resist, he really did. But unfortunately for him they had known each other for to long. Rocket found himself giving in and a few minutes later sitting down at the booth. Still upset, Gamora gave the two a frosty welcome but Peter, more then slightly intoxicated at this point, seemed to have forgiven them.
Philly was sitting as close as she could to the old human male called Mac. She explained that the freighter Mac worked on when he was young had bought a six year old Philly to be a cabin girl of sorts from a back world planet.
"That grouchy old cook was losing his eye sight and needed someone competent to order around and do chores." Philly grumbled at the thought.
"Too bad he got stuck with you," Mac teased. "Instead of someone who could actually cook."
"I was miserable." Philly went on, "then one day it became my job to take food up to the pilot, a huge lizard we called Tuppie. It means small in some language. Hey…you hear about him?"
Mac sighed, rubbing his hand down his face and fingered the rim of his glass, "Yeah. Died in his sleep. I always thought he'd go out in a fiery ship crash or something dramatic."
Philly gave a short laugh, "Yeah, the way he flew, that sounds more like him."
The was a moment of silence that was broken by Mac raising his glass in a toast, "To Tuppie."
"Clear skies and welcoming ports." Philly answered taking a gulp of her drink along with the rest of her team.
…
As Gamora listened curiously to the story she realized just how little they all really knew about each other. And how completely they had trusted each other on Xandar. It was nothing other than shocking how comfortable she had become to nearly complete strangers in such a short amount of time. It was a scary notion and a puzzling one.
She pondered it as she inspected the new drink Philly had set before her. Out of respect and custom and the fact it was the only nearby drink, this was what she toasted to the Zeldonian's dearly departed. Gamora was pleasantly surprised to find she liked this new drink. It was not sweet but not quite sour and gave a light, warm feeling from her toes to the tips of her ears.
She caught Philly's raised eye brow expression and gave a nod of approval. Philly grinned and went on telling them about Tuppie and how the pilot would leave the doors open while he ate.
"I remember the first time I passed by when you were waiting for him to finish." Mac cut in to the pilot's story. "Your face was…you were in awe of that view screen. Looked like you'd found the fountain of all wealth and knowledge."
"It felt like I did." Philly admitted. "From that first glimpse of the galaxy all I ever wanted to do was be a pilot. Tuppie taught me just about everything I know about flying and taking care of my ship. I really owe him."
Mac chuckled and dug something out of his pocket, "Speaking of nostalgia. Here's what made me come track you down." He tossed it slightly toward her face and Philly caught it easily. It was a data stick about the size of her thumb, the kind you plug into a system to view.
"Remember when I went through my photography phase?"
"No." Philly looked puzzled.
The old spacer rolled his eyes, "Well I went through a photography phase and you, being so adorable back then, were one of my favorite subjects. Found a data base in my attic and made a copy of the best ones." Mac said, "This one's yours but take care of it 'cause it's the only one you're getting."
"Your trust is overwhelming." Philly deadpanned, "But I just so happen to keep very good track of my things, thank you very much."
"Well I should hope you learned you lesson after you somehow misplaced an entire escape pod." Mac laughed at his friend's plummeting expression. "So you do remember that."
Peter snickered at the pilot who's ears had turned red. It clashed horribly with her blue hair. "How did you lose an entire escape pod?"
"It was not my fault!" she exclaimed, a little too quickly.
"You are denying what seems to be fact," Drax stated slamming his ninth drink onto the table and swaying slightly.
…
A half an hour later Drax was officially cut off. Philly had started giving him soda mixed with water and a shot of fruit flavor. She told him it was from her home planet where booze this strong was illegal just about everywhere else in the galaxy and he was none the wiser. Peter had a little more self restraint and was just sober enough to witness the result of Philly giving Gamora her first real alcoholic drink. The green skinned woman was a wobbly drunk and blinked way more then anyone needed to. Her words were getting more and more slurred and her head kept lolling to one side or the other. Peter climbed out of his seat and scooted her further into the booth so she didn't fall out and hurt herself, he claimed.
Rocket had relaxed enough to crack a smile and a few jokes. Philly stuck with her Zeldonian non-alcoholic stuff and made sure everyone had enough. Groot was on his fifth glass of water.
"Careful, big guy." Peter laughed, "you don't want to get a hangover!"
Philly rolled her eyes and said to Groot, "don't worry, we'll be the ones laughing tomorrow." The tree man nodded in agreement watching Gamora mimic Peter and drowned the rest of her drink, Rocket did the same and when all three, four including Drax, slammed their empty glasses down on the table. Gamora looked around almost fearfully at the rest of her team.
"I'm sorry I am so bossy," She slurred. Philly's jaw dropped and she was hit with a powerful urge to recored whatever this was…so she did. It was always helpful to have a recording devise on hand in her line of work.
"You are bossy," Rocket agreed. "And unreasonable, and controlling…" He trailed off and was leaning on the napkin holder for support. "but you weren't wrong and I was a jackass."
"No I was a jackass." Peter interrupted in a slur. He nodded like he was a bobble head set off in zero gravity, "I think I should say sorry."
"…Well?" Rocket asked after a moment, breaking the expectation that was being directed towards Peter.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"Aren't you going to say it?"
"say what?" Peter asked Rocket.
"Say sorry!"
"Didn't I just say it?"
…
About twelve hours later Groot and Philly sat in the cockpit. One was chatting and the other nodded along with her words to show he understood. Philly was complaining how the smuggler hidey hole hadn't been installed by Nova Core when they rebuilt the ship when she was interrupted by a ruckus from downstairs.
"Let's go see if they remember forgiving each other last night," Philly said putting the Milano on auto-pilot and grabbing her recording devise.
Groot followed her down the stairs to find the kittion in complete darkness. A moan Philly recognized as Peter's erupted from somewhere on the floor.
"Do not make noise." Gamora's voice groaned back from leaning against the oven or some bit of wall close to it.
Drax's low rumble sounded from the general direction of the table, "it might have been unwise to drink so much."
"Ya think?" Rocket snapped back from the counter or in that general direction.
"Are you guys friends again?" Philly asked, a little louder then she really needed to.
Her response was a collective groan and Peter begging for a pain reliever. She repeated the question but louder.
"Yes! Fine you win." Rocket yelled, "we all love each other and are all the bestist of friends again, no power in the galaxy could tear us apart as long as we have the power of friendship. Now for the love of all that is dark and quiet will you please with shut up or get us some pain reliever?!
Philly, not put off by the bounty hunter's out burst asked into the darkness, "Drax, do you agree?"
"I agree." He said in surrender.
"Peter?"
"You did this on purpose." He practically growled in answer to her very cheerful tone, hastily adding, "agreed."
"Gamora?"
"I am never drinking again." She moaned, "but, yes, I agree."
"Fantastic!" the pilot chirped and clapped her hands together invoking more sounds of complaint and misery from the dark room. "Groot you give our poor friends some water and I'll go find the hangover kit."
"I am Groot." He rumbled, clapping his hands to copy his friend.
"Come on you two," Peter wined. "We're all dying over here so the least you could do is not act so damn cheerful about it."
