You sat next to Peter, in the cockpit. Both of you had your eyes focused on the stars that lay before you. There hadn’t been many other ships for awhile and you didn’t have an exact location in mind, so there wasn’t much hands on piloting to do. As much as you loved the excitement of battles and chases, it was nice to have a moment to yourselves. Just you, Peter, and the stars. Well, it wasn’t technically just the two of you, but as long Groot kept Rocket calm, it seemed like it was just the two of you.
“Space is truly incredible, isn’t it?” Peter mused beside you.
“Yeah.” You were quiet for a moment, as your mind began to wander, before you spoke up again, “You ever miss Earth though?”
He quickly looked over at you, like he was shocked anyone would want to be anywhere but here.
“Not really, no.” He hesitated. “Do… you?”
“Yeah. I love it out here, don’t get me wrong. The adventures, the fights, you, the other guardians. It’s all great. But sometimes,” You sighed. “I miss movie theaters and going to get a burger with my friends and Netflix and zoos, I mean normal zoos with lions and elephants and shit, and,” You took a sharp breath in. “I miss my family.”
“Can’t relate.” He looked back out the window, his jaw set. You had momentarily forgotten everything his father had done.
“Come on, Pete. There must be something you miss.”
He was silent, but you could tell from the look on his face that he was thinking, searching his mind for something he missed about his home.
“I’d sell my soul for a cheesy snack,” he said in all seriousness.
“You’d sell your soul?” you laughed.
He looked back at you, a smile forming across his face. “Yeah, man. I’d sell my soul.” When you didn’t stop laughing, he added, “I’m serious! I’ve been craving a cheesy snack for forever!”
“I can tell you’re serious,” you choked out before even more laughter came tumbling out. You couldn’t quite put a finger on why his answer was so funny to you. After all you had said you missed burgers and zoos. Was cheesy snacks really that different? Maybe it was his solemn delivery. Maybe it was that you had been doing nothing but staring at the vast emptiness of space for hours and simply needed to laugh. It didn’t really matter. You were laughing and Peter was giving you a stern look, that threatened to break at any second.
When it did break, which took a few seconds longer than you expected, the sound of your combined laughter echoed through the room, and probably filled most of the ship. Peter tried to hush you, but it came out uneven as his giggles came through.
“Come on, you don’t want the rest of the gang to come up here to see what the hubbub is all about do you?”
“Hubbub?” You raised an eyebrow, before covering your mouth as you divulged into even more laughter.
He reached over, smacking you lightly on the arm.
“Ok, ok.” You took a deep breath, to even your tone. “Next time we stop off on Earth, we get you some cheesy snacks and then we go see some elephants.”
Toad's Cave 