A/N: So, this is the last chapter I'm going to post for the next couple of days - finals are heating up and I have to study as much as possible. This chapter is another slightly longer one, though, so hopefully you won't be too mad at me.

This chspter is going to be the only one to feature any of the Guardians, so if you want, you can assume this is in an alternate universe; it really doesn't matter that much (and hopefully I don't make any of you cringe at the characterization).

Pairing: Gamora/Peter. Prompt: "Person A spills hot chocolate all over Person B"

Gamora stared at the mug Peter had placed in front of her. She had managed to get used to the fact that humans apparently not only consumed caffeine but enjoyed it, but this was something else altogether.

"What is this?" she asked.

Peter took a seat across from her and took a sip from his own mug, decorated with what she now knew were snowmen wearing red and blue scarves. "Hot chocolate," he answered. "It's my mom's recipe."

"Hot chocolate," Gamora repeated. She knew what chocolate was, she even enjoyed it occasionally, but this didn't share anything in common with the dark bars she sometimes liked eating. This had a sharp, almost cold smell to it. "What exactly is in this?"

"Let's see," Peter said, thoughtfully. "Hot chocolate mix, water, cocoa powder, a tiny bit of vanilla, and mint."

Mint. Gamora stared at Peter. Caffeine had taken some getting used to – the fact that Terrans regularly consumed and enjoyed something the vast amount of the galaxy considered poison had been a bit jarring initially, but it wasn't that shocking considering some of the things the rest of the crew of the Milano got up to – but this had to be some sort of misunderstanding on Peter's part.

"What?" Peter asked, taking another sip. "What's wrong?"

She never knew how she moved so quickly, only that she managed to lunge across the table and wrest Peter's mug away from him with most of it spilling onto his leather jacket and not his skin. "Peter, you put mint in this," she breathed.

"Yeah," Peter agreed readily, leaning away from her slightly.

Gamora kept staring at him. "Do you know how dangerous that is?" she asked. "There are innumerable assassins who use this poison in their work."

They held eye contact for a long minute and then Peter did the last thing Gamora expected. He started laughing.

"I'm sorry, 'Mora," he said with a chuckle. "It's just that – well, you remember coffee?"

Gamora sighed, already guessing what he was going to say next. "Yes," she said shortly, sitting back in her own chair. "Is mint not dangerous to Terrans?"

"Not exactly," Peter said with a sheepish smile. He looked at the puddle of hot chocolate on the table and floor where his mug was overturned and then back to Gamora. "Are you going to drink that?"

Gamora could feel the heat in her face. "No," she answered sharply, hating being humiliated yet again by a Terran custom she knew nothing about.

"Hey, it's okay," Peter said, taking the mug she shoved at him. "Terrans are all pretty much insane, anyway. What other species would deliberately eat poison?"

Gamora rolled her eyes in agreement, smiling thinly. "You aren't wrong," she admitted.

"Do you want to try some?" Peter asked, offering her the mug again.

Gamora accepted it gingerly. The smell was still sharp and cold, but she took a small sip anyways. t would take a significant amount of poison to harm her anyway, because of her modifications. It burned her throat, and she shook her head, pushing the mug back across the table to Peter.

"I might love you, Peter, but don't ever give me mint again," she said firmly.

Peter stared at her silently and the full impact of her words hit her like an explosion. Oh, no. Those words had only been said a few times before between them and never this casually. She stood up to leave.

Peter stood up with her. "It's okay," he said. He was smiling, but it wasn't the usual smirk he wore – brash and unafraid of danger. It was the smile he reserved for her – shy and open, almost afraid of being vulnerable. "Do you mean it?"

"Of course I meant it," Gamora replied, her heart beating faster as she closed the distance between them. "Why would I say something I don't mean?" Grabbing Peter's jacket, she pulled him in for a kiss.

He still tasted faintly of mint, but Gamora ignored it, pressing her tongue lightly into his mouth. Peter turned his head, slotting their mouths together, and wrapped his arms around her. Pulling back slightly, he murmured, "I love you, too," against her mouth, his breath warm against her face.

For something started with what she had assumed to be an attempted poisoning, this wasn't a bad ending, Gamora figured as she pulled Peter close again.