Sorry I Almost Killed Your Girlfriend - Pete and Pete

[st_arlord]

Quill felt terrible for yesterday. He had argued it wasn't his fault, but he knew Peter had been right. Quill was the adult and he needed to be responsible. I pushed her and I knew she wasn't ready...

He sighed as he hung out by the pool bar and tried to figure out the best way to approach Peter and talk about it. He hated talking about things. He liked ignoring stuff. If something like this happened between him and Rocket, they'd ignore it and move on until Quill apologized by taking a bullet or something for Rocket and they'd officially move on and things would be forgiven. Peter Parker seemed more like the talking type.

He twirled around a mimosa thoughtfully. It was 11am, so mimosas were classy.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

When Peter arrived at the pool that morning, he hadn't expected to see Quill inside the pool bar nursing what looked to be some kinda alcoholic beverage.

Or anybody.

Sure, the inn was pretty well-occupied, but people generally didn't go swimming until the afternoon. A few people hung out there, or in the adjacent hot tub, well into the night. That made the morning the perfect time to swim laps. No distractions and no one he needed to avoid.

And maybe Quill was something he needed to avoid yesterday, but he didn't need to today.

Peter sets his bag down on one of the pool chairs outside, then pushes open the door to the bar, a bell chiming his entrance. He casually reaches for a water from the open beverage fridge, then sits down across from Quill.

"Hey," he says as he cracks open the seal to his bottled water.

[st_arlord]

If he had wanted to avoid Peter, it was too late now. He straighten in his seat as Peter entered.

"Hey Pete," He said, trying to sound casual.

Quill was tense like he was ready for a punch be in physical or verbal.

[st_arkintern]

Peter has to bite back the knee-jerk reaction to say hey again, but he somehow manages it.

But he's not exactly sure where to go from here, either.

"You all right?" he asks, tentatively, as if he's still trying to figure out where the line's drawn.

[st_arlord]

"Me?" He asked, confused. "Pete, I'm pretty sure that's the line I'm supposed to give to you."

He turned his torso so he could address Peter better and took a big sip of Mimosa.

"How's, you know, Liz?" He asked tentatively.

[st_arkintern]

Peter did kinda leave Quill back there after chewing him a new one. It probably wasn't Peter's finest moment, but once he cooled down, he did feel a tinge of guilt.

"Um," Peter begins tentatively. "She's going to be okay. Kash is healing her, but it might take a couple of days before she's back to normal."

Peter presses his lips together.

"I don't know everything that happened back there," he says, gesturing vaguely in the direction of where they were, very far away from where they sat inside the pool bar. "But you're stronger than Liz, and older, so you have to look after her."

[st_arlord]

Quill was old enough to know there was more to being okay than the physical, but if Peter didn't want to share than Quill would grant him that freedom.

"I know," He said, looking at his drink.

His mimosa seemed to be empty. He looked at the bar. Getting up now to make another one would be awkward. He sighed.

"The truth is, I should have ended it when she didn't want to shoot anything," He explained. "She wasn't ready, and it showed when she asked me not to kill the bird-bear thing."

Quill did the math and understood it had been a mother and a child. He didn't think it mattered.

"I hesitated and mistakes were made," He added. "It won't happen again."

[st_arkintern]

For a second, Peter doesn't say anything.

"I screwed up really big once. Probably worse than you. I didn't think it was entirely my fault at the time, either."

This is true. Even now, there's still a part of him who wants to shrug off responsibility there because of how big of a screwup it was.

"I was fighting the Vulture because I thought no one else was doing anything about it. I could have waited until later, when the ferry was on the other side, but I didn't. I got his weapon out of his hands, but the gun kept firing off and it split the ferry in half. I tried really, really hard to pull everything together with my web-fluid, but... I couldn't fix it and someone else --"

Iron Man.

"-- had to fix it for me."

Peter takes a breath. He knows he's been talking for awhile.

"I think about that sometimes when I do things now -- about how everything I do as Spider-Man is going to impact someone else. It's not easy. It's really not. But I always have to think about that, especially when there's people involved who -- who can't do the things I can do."

[st_arlord]

Quill listened to Peter intently. He wondered who helped to fix Peter's problem. He knew there were a whole bunch of people back home on Earth who were superheroes even though Quill had only met Thor, Strange, and Stark.

He felt the urge to protest. This is entirely different. Quill took a breath and redirected himself.

"What to you want me to do?" He asked, then pretended to be Peter, "'From now on, Quill, I'd like you to....'. Be specific."

[st_arkintern]

Peter thinks about it for a minute. Even he's not entirely sure what he wants Quill to do.

"I don't have problem with you teaching Liz," he says. That much is true. "I think it's good that she knows how to defend herself." Also true. "I don't even have a problem with you messing up sometimes."

Peter messes up more than just "sometimes".

"I just want you to acknowledge that there's things you can't do solo," he says, "and ask for help when you need it."

[st_arlord]

Quill nodded after taking in Peter's words. Kid's wiser than his age

"I got to be honest, Pete," He said, looking at Peter. "I'm not sure she can defend herself. At least from people like us. She's too nice. I'm I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but nice and weak means she's not going to use things to her advantage and play dirty if she needs to. It might just be better to work on her cardio."

Quill remembered Rocket's words to him. If she wants to ‘keep up’ with Spider-Kid she’s gonna hafta get her hands dirty somehow. She doesn’t get to be a civilian and not one. Pick one, stick with it, take your fuckin’ consequences

"I get what you're saying, I really do." He continued. "But help wasn't what I needed for that training. What I needed was a fighter."

[st_arkintern]

Peter presses his lips together. He's not really sure what to say. He'd supported her deciding to go this route up until now because he didn't want to stop her from doing anything she wanted to do. He didn't want to be controlling. He didn't want to be the sort of boyfriend who would tell her what she could and couldn't do.

And he did want her to be able to protect herself. Because truthfully, he was scared that someday he might not be there to protect her and she'd be hurt because of it. But that was exactly what happened yesterday because she tried to learn how to protect herself.

"Okay," he says finally. "I'll talk to Liz."

[st_arlord]

"Really?" He said, then shook his head. "Sorry. I'm used to people arguing with everything I say."

Peter is way more mature than I was at that age...

Quill went quiet for a second and took in the teenager before him.

"Just out of curiosity, between you and me," He said. "Would you date someone like her back home on Earth?"

[st_arkintern]

"What, like Liz?"

Peter looks at the door as if he suddenly expects Liz to walk in. There's no one nearby. He turns and looks back at Quill.

"I've only asked one girl out in my life and that turned out to be a disaster."

That was probably an understatement of the year.

"Yeah, I'd date her," Peter says. "I just probably wouldn't be able to ask her out."

[st_arlord]

"Hold up." He said, putting a hand out. "Are you not confident in your game? Pete, come on. You're a catch!"

[st_arkintern]

"It's not that I'm not confident," Peter protests, though that was definitely a big part of it. "It's just that it's usually really hard for me to talk to girls that I like."

He thinks back to other-Liz, who said that it was pretty obvious that she liked her.

"I just started stammering and then I stop making sense." At least it felt that way.

[st_arlord]

"Ah, but some girls find that really endearing," He said with a grin. "Trust me. Not every girl likes the bad-ass macho thing. Besides, you got great hair and brains. If girls in high school don't see it, the ones in university will. You'll be set for life, my friend."

[st_arkintern]

Peter can find his face reddening at the compliment. He's used to people calling him smart, but no one outside of his family's ever called his hair great before.

"Do you know that from experience?" he asks. Quill seems bad-ass and macho.

[st_arlord]

"I never went to college," He answered. "Sort of busy with the whole space thing. But, yeah. I mean, look at this:"

Quill ran his fingers through his hair. He took great pride in both his hair and facial hair.

"And while I might not be as smart as some people, I'm not afraid to kick ass and take names," He continued. "Chicks love that kind of thing too."

He leaned forward, beckoning Peter to listen to his sage advice.

"The key is confidence. They're like animals," He explained. "But instead of fear, they can smell confidence and they drink that right up... and if you don't believe me, test it out."

Quill vaguely gestured with his hand.

"Try... I don't know," He said, "Try taking the lead in something you know Liz normally likes. Or start a make out sessions, but like, you know, super confidentially. See how she responds. I bet you anything it works like a charm. I mean, I know she's already crazy about you, but there's something about making your girlfriend go weak at the knees that's pretty awesome, am I right?"

Quill's thoughts moved briefly to Gamora, but he stopped himself before he could think too much on it. He pushed his smile wider instead.

[st_arkintern]

Peter leans forward when Quill motions for him to move closer. He's not sure if he agrees with his assessment about women being aliens, but... maybe he was right about needing to take the lead sometimes. Usually, it was Liz who was taking initiative, not him.

"Yeah," Peter agrees quickly. He really does like seeing Liz react when she's clearly enjoying herself, but somehow, thinking about it or acknowledging it is enough to make him feel a tad embarrassed. Like maybe it was wrong to take pride in it.

"Was that what you did with Gamora?"

[st_arlord]

If Quill could be a mind reader, he would have told Peter there was nothing wrong with being prideful with how well he handled his girlfriend.

"You mean how we started dating?" He asked. "Well, the one thing you need to know about Gamora, is that she's stubborn. She's a tough nut to crack."

Sometimes I don't even know if I've cracked it at all

"I think she started to realize how awesome I was when I got her to dance with me," He said, smiling at the memory. "Drax told me she wasn't a dancer, but I knew she was."

[st_arkintern]

"Did you kiss her then?" Peter asks.

It sounded like the sort of situation where you'd kiss a woman. At least in the movies. There's some small part of him that looks back on the day he first kissed Liz up in the hammock in the ceiling of his room and wonders if that was the sort of moment that'd be in the Spider-Man movie.

Not that there'd ever be a Spider-Man movie. Not when they still hadn't made an Iron Man one.

[st_arlord]

"While dancing?" He asked. "...No. But I wanted to. Gamora... it's a hard woman to explain. Thanos took her as a kid and 'raised' her however much a giantic douche-nozzle can raise a kid so she's rough around the edges."

And will so kill me if she finds out I was talking about her like this to anyone

"But I knew she loved me." He said, "and that was enough until we were alone, after other things happened. And then I got the kiss. Totally worth waiting for."

Quill smiled happily and for once he didn't fight away the thought of Gamora.

"What about you?" He asked. "I know you've gone to the kissing stage. How'd your first one go?"

[st_arkintern]

"It was with Liz, here," he says. "Right after my friend Sora and I made the fireworks outside. We ended up in a web hammock in my room and it just kinda happened."

Peter smiles to himself. He doesn't feel embarrassed talking about his first kiss with Liz; he feels embarrassed taking such obvious pleasure in even just that one memory.

"And it was great, really great."

It really was.

"It's got to be uncomfortable fighting your girlfriend's dad, though," Peter says. "It was for me, anyway."

[st_arlord]

He's obviously head over heels. Quill smiled. He liked to think he saw some of himself in Peter. Peter was the best of most people.

"What, with Thanos?" He asked. "No... no. Gamora wanted him dead just as much. Maybe more. I think there's a difference. Your guy probably wasn't trying to destroy planets or half the population, right?"

[st_arkintern]

"No, he was just trying to steal and modify alien tech," Peter says easily, as if that were Perfectly Normal.

[st_arlord]

"See, stealing probably means 'selling' which probably means for money." He said. "That's definitely different than some weird Nazi-like ideology that the universe just needs less people in it to fix everything. Like, what if you take all the good people away and leave at the a-holes?"

Quill shook his head.

"Anyways, I guess that's a benefit of being here, huh?" He continued. "No worries about dealing with another parentals from who you date. No need to worry if they're crazy or not."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says. "I guess so." He dampens his lips. "I still wish that Liz could meet May and Mr. Stark." Mr. Stark's obviously not his father, but he'd already admitted his feelings to Quill, so he felt comfortable including his name alongside May's. "Even though she's not really close to her family --" Few people had the sort of relationship he had with May. "-- I really want to meet them, too."

Not really something he'll get to do while he's here. Not unless Liz's parents or May or Mr. Stark suddenly showed up. And after a year of being here, Peter was starting to doubt that was going to happen.

[st_arlord]

"I think you might be one of the first boyfriends in history to say they want to meet a girlfriend's parents so easily." He said, amused. "But good on you. Means you're serious about her. Or you're just a masochist. Maybe both."

Quill winked. This was an easier line of conversation for him to have.

"You think May and Stark would like her?" He asked, then shook his head. "Never mind, of course they would. She's likable and basically screams 'take her home to your family' material. The real test is, do you think your friends would like her?"

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says quickly. "I don't really have a lot of close friends back home, though." Ned was about it. Maybe MJ, too, but she always seemed to hold people at arm's length. Peter didn't really take that personally, though, because she did that with everyone.

"Flash'd probably make fun of me for having an imaginary girlfriend," he says. "And then when I actually showed up with her, he'd probably find another way to give me a hard time."

That much, Peter was sure of. It'd probably be more mortifying to have him mock him in front of his girlfriend. Liz'd seen part of it and he'd really been embarrassed. In person, that embarrassment would almost certainly be multiplied.

[st_arlord]

"Wait, wait, wait," he said, hands up. "Is this Flash guy giving you a hard time? Dude, you're freaking Spider-Man. Just one punch to the face and trust me, that guy will back off. People like that are cowards."

[st_arkintern]

Quill's might be right, but...

"I'm not going to punch him," Peter says. "It's just... it's not me, you know?"

It's true; it wasn't him. Spider-Man might not have problems throwing punches, but Peter Parker?

Peter Parker didn't.

"Besides, he might just double down and it'd just get worse."

[st_arlord]

"I could always come and punch him for you, but he's probably like 12, right?" He said. "Probably best not to hit a kid."

Quill put his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Really all you need is confidence, my friend." He explained. "Trust me. Confidence = like honey to women and like kyrptonite to bullies."

[st_arkintern]

"He's 16," Peter corrects, even though it probably doesn't really matter.

It's not until Quill puts his hand on his shoulder and he relaxes that Peter realizes how tense he was. Maybe talking about Flash stressed him out...

"It's really a lot easier to be confident when you're wearing a mask," he says, though it's embarrassing to admit it.

[st_arlord]

"That's true." He agreed. "That's why people like that guy are jerks. That's their mask for whatever they think is wrong with them. Trust me. Growing up a Ravager, I learned that quickly."

[st_arkintern]

"What happened?" Peter's genuinely curious. He has a hard time imagining Quill being bullied, but maybe Quill had to do the same thing he was suggesting Peter did before he got there.

[st_arlord]

"With the Ravagers?" He asked, surprised. "Oh. Nothing really."

Quill shrugged. He tried not to think about some of those times.

"I was just given a hard time, you know?" He said. "Being a human and basically a kidnapped kid. Got called names a lot. Was pants'ed a few times. Woke up with a shaved head."

Why am I sharing these things?

"Anyways, the point is, they stopped after I stopped letting it bother me," He said. "And, well, also played a few pranks of my own. But still."

[st_arkintern]

Even if it’s not true… it really does feel like Quill is being vulnerable around him. And somehow, Peter feels some sort of obligation to be vulnerable in turn. Logically, he knows that it doesn’t make any sense, but emotionally, it’s exactly how he feels.

“They call me Penis Parker,” he says. “I really do try to not let it bother me, but…”

It’s not easy.

“How’d you get it to stop bothering you?"

[st_arlord]

"You're probably not going to like my answer," he said honestly. "I picked a fight with the biggest a-hole and caused him to lose a few teeth."

He sat back.

"But we all have our own way of fighting," he said. "You said Peter Parker isn't a puncher. So how does Peter Parker fight? I imagine it might be the same way Liz fights. Liz, who doesn't have an alternate ego to go to when she needs to."

[st_arkintern]

Peter thinks about it.

"I really don't," he says, though he still thinks, hoping he can pull together something. "I mean, I argue sometimes. Mostly with Mr. Stark."

But was that really his way of fighting?

[st_arlord]

Quill doesn't appear to be buying it.

"Okay, Pete," He said, "You're stuck in a room. Let's say your bedroom. Window's been barred, door's been locked. All your powers are gone and you're hungry and need to pee. How do you, Peter Parker, get out?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter considers this.

"I'd probably knock on the door until May let me out."

Not a particularly exciting method of escape. He's not even sure if it's the kind of escape Quill wanted. But it was the first solution that popped in his mind.

[st_arlord]

"Alright, my bad." He said. "No one else is around. You're in some Madonna Inn stuff. A room in some other dimension so the only person you can rely on is you."

[st_arkintern]

"I'd probably look around first," he says. "Make sure I knew my surroundings. And once I did that, I'd find what tools I could use to get out of there based on what I knew from looking around."

That might not be specific enough.

"I'd probably build something to help," he says. "Or look for weaknesses."

[st_arlord]

"See? There you go," He said with a hand gesture. "You'd use your smart brain to solve the problem. Nothing wrong with that either. That's Peter Parker's super power, fyi."

[st_arkintern]

"I don't feel like I'm really smart when it comes to know how to deal with Flash, though," Peter admits, thinking about the time where he was almost going to show up as Spider-Man to the party just to prove Flash wrong.

But that leads Peter to his next question:

"What's Peter Quill's superpower?"

[st_arlord]

Huh...

"Peter Quill and Star-Lord are pretty much one and the same," He said. "Just for some weird reason not a lot of people like to call me Star-Lord. Pretty sure it's because they're too impressed with the name. But I'm me, dude. You get what you get."

He gestured to himself to demonstrate he was an 'open book.'

[st_arkintern]

Peter has to admit, Quill is pretty much exactly what you see is exactly what you got. There really wasn't ever a time when he wasn't sure what he was thinking.

"Liz's probably going to be getting out soon," he says. "I should probably go pick her up."

[st_arlord]

"Yeah, sure, of course." He said, nodding. "Tell her I hope she's feeling better. Or, well, only tell her if you think she'd want to hear it."

[st_arkintern]

"I will," Peter says, rising to his feet. "Thanks, Mr. Star-Lord."

Peter stands awkwardly at the table for the moment, deliberating whether or not this is a hugging moment, then finally decides that maybe it'd be weird. Instead he shoots Quill a smile and makes his way to the door.