riverviewlogs | ( closed ) surprise! you're a dad!

Entry tags:

( closed ) surprise! you're a dad!

who: Gamora & Peter Quill
what: The portal chucks out baby Groot, and they discover they get to take care of the little menace again.
when: Mid-January
where: Community housing: floor 13, room 4
warnings: A tiny angry tree.

[ Things haven't been tense, per se, but since Peter's powers manifested, they've both been stressed.

Trying to dig up any trace of Ego doesn't yield any results, and for all intents and purposes, it seems that Peter's powers are just a fact now, a reality they're learning to tackle head-on. Gamora is insistent that he practice with the Light, so that his emotional responses don't lead to a wild outburst of energy that could be potentially dangerous. A controlled environment is safer, better, as much as Peter might not want to admit the Light exists in the first place – and Gamora won't budge on their training.

She believes in him – in his capacity to manage his abilities.

But that means they both tend to leave training a little frustrated, and she understands if he's tired, aggravated by how little progress it might seem he's made, but she keeps reminding him that it's a process. Control won't come easily, but it will be worth it – because she does not want to see him wearing one of those suppression collars out of fear.

Tonight, however, is an off night. No work, no training, and they've had a quiet day, much needed as it was. Returning from a walk in the gardens, she leads Peter from the elevator with a bag of food in one hand, his fingers curled in her other. She's ready to settle in for an episode of Pals or some movie, their takeout, then cuddling on the couch, before they both crawl into one of their beds to fall asleep curled up with each other.

(Gamora has suggested they may want to look into a queen bed, rather than the two twins they've had since arrival. She tried to be completely nonchalant about it, too, mentioned over coffee and a bowl of cereal, but it had still been a Big Thing.)

Once inside the apartment, she starts pulling out their food, poking through the boxes. ]

Pick what we're going to watch.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Gamora is completely ready to grab or block whatever thing comes bouncing out of the crate—

But nothing moves.

And then Peter is laughing.

She doesn't need any ushering, and instead, steps closer to get a good look at the newly-delivered crate. Her brows lift, her eyes widening just slightly, and something that's nearly a bemused hint of a smile curls at her lips. ]

... Are you kidding me?

[ Their tiny twiggy terror is snoring softly inside of the kennel, looking no different from the last time she'd seen him before tumbling through the portal. He looks fine, and like himself, and she supposes that this at least explains why he was delivered to their apartment. ]

Should we wake him?

[ It all starts to make sense, if he’s honest. Why the Perimeter Guard sounded like it was under attack, why the poor employees sounded so pissed and distressed. Groot could be a handful if you weren’t already on his good side, and if the little dude found himself surrounded by strangers, away from his family and friends —

... Yeah. Okay. Peter quietly resolves to send a pack of booze or something as apology for Groot’s... all of him.

At Gamora’s question, Peter glances up, still not quite able to suppress his grin. ]

I dunno. He looks kinda peaceful.

[ And given how rarely that happens, Peter’s almost loathe to interrupt it.

He does, at least, start to quietly undo the latches holding the top and bottom halves of the kennel together – easily done, given how simple and cheap the thing seems to be. If Groot wakes up on his own, he’d hate for the guy to feel like he’s trapped or something. Peter sets the lid and the little metal grate acting as the door beside the bottom half on the table. Groot only slightly stirs with the sound, letting out a small, discontent sound. ]

[ The little menace probably should rest – at least as much as he's willing to. It won't be long before he's up and about, asking questions, running rampant and trying to understand what's going on. He's going to be a handful, that much is guaranteed.

She reaches out to run her finger lightly over the sleeping sapling's cheek, and he mumbles faintly, turning towards her hand and curling up more in his makeshift bed. ]

Of all the things the portal could have produced.

[ She shakes her head, bemused as she pulls her hand back. ]

[ In case you're checking in: yeah, Peter's still grinning.

It's— nice, seeing one of their teammates from home. Like, obviously it sucks that any of them are stuck here, but at least they can all head back together, when the time comes.

(He thinks briefly of Mantis, and that smile falters for a second; he wonders why she left and why he and Gamora hadn't.)

He hums out his agreement, huffing out a quick, almost disbelieving laugh. It's not as though the Portal had any apparent rhyme or reason to who or what it pulled through, aside from the whole— displacement thing? But Peter thinks Groot is probably too young to feel that, so maybe he just— jumped through something he shouldn't have? Touched something he shouldn't have?

Who knows?

And then Peter's smile fades entirely as he lifts his gaze. ]

What if Groot's not the only one that showed up?

[ And the trepidation in his voice means that, for once, Peter isn't thinking about the other members of the team. ]

[ — Ah.

Gamora's fond expression dips, something serious taking its place. She nods towards his laptop, though she doesn't leave Groot just yet. ]

Check the recent arrivals.

[ That's probably their best bet, without actively scouring the Quarantine. Or they can ask around the Guard, see if something else strange hopped through the portal, someone... concerning. ]

[ Peter hesitates, torn between want to know and wanting to put off knowing for as long as possible.

But he forces himself away, moving across the room to his laptop. It takes forever for it to boot up, but when it does, he quickly logs in and pulls up the appropriate files.

He recognizes Groot's name among the listings, but otherwise, nothing seems familiar. None of the names stick out, none of the bioscans seem out of the ordinary.

Peter's not sure if that's reassuring, or if that just means Ego's gotten really good at going incognito.

He lets out a breath, catching Gamora's gaze across the room. A quick shake of his head.

Still nothing.

It should probably be a relief, but it doesn't feel like one. ]

[ Gamora stays by the sleeping sapling, though she watches Peter go through the motions, log into the computer, flip through files. She's patient and quiet, but tense, concern still seeping into her the longer he searches for any trace of his father.

He shakes his head, and she sighs, stepping away from Groot to approach Peter, winding her arms around him. ]

We'll keep our eyes open.

[ But if there's no sign of Ego, she's willing to consider that they may still be safe in the Quarantine. ]

Yeah...

[ And his voice is barely there, though he wraps his arms around her shoulders, resting his cheek against her head. He takes a deep, steadying breath before pulling back a little – enough to catch her gaze. He glances back at Groot, still dozing on the kitchen table. ]

I didn’t see any of the others, either. Looks like it was just Groot, this time.

[ She nods, following his gaze back to Groot. ]

At least we know that much.

[ Not that it's a bad thing, honestly. She would be glad to see the others, but the less of them that are displaced, the better, she's sure.

And Groot is enough of a handful on his own that she's not entirely sure having more Guardians around to juggle is the best idea. ]

We should still be on the lookout for them, too. Maybe this means the others will begin to show up.

[ He lets out a noncommittal sort of hum; he’s not entirely sure if having the rest of the team here would be better or worse, honestly, considering that’d mean they’d be stuck here, too. And, like, this place isn’t awful by any means, but the freedom of being able to wander from planet to planet, station to station, is something that Peter still sorely misses.

He’s quiet for a second. Then, because Peter sometimes lacks a brain to mouth filter, ]

... This is gonna put a serious crimp on our alone time.

[ And things have just started getting good, too... ]

[ Gamora doesn't laugh, but she huffs out a short, amused breath, shaking her head at him. ]

Maybe someone can babysit.

[ But this does sort of remove their otherwise uninterrupted time together. As much as she misses the team, she does like the peace and quiet that comes without having them all practically climbing on top of each other. ]

[ Peter frowns uncertainly. ]

... I guess we could find someone. As long as, you know. We lie about a lot of things.

[ Like about Groot’s anger management problems. And his uncanny ability to get into anything. And his capacity for cruelty to small animals. ]

[ Gamora looks like she's thinking that over for a moment. ]

Aren't most children difficult?

[ And people babysit willingly in those cases, so... ]

Most kids can’t stretch out their arms, like, fifteen feet and use them as whips or grappling hooks.

[ A pause for emphasis. Then, ]

Or at least, I couldn’t.

[ ... Maybe he has a little bit of a point. ]

I am certain someone here could handle him.

That or we have to ensure he's asleep before we have any time to ourselves.

[ And they both know how finicky Groot can be about getting to sleep. ]

[ He hums out an agreement, even if there’s an edge of uncertainty, there – not for having to wait for Groot to fall asleep, which did eventually happen, but for the idea that anyone aside from the Guardians could handle Groot.

... Hell, the Guardians could barely handle Groot, and there were four of them. ]

We should probably wake him up, huh? Just so he doesn’t lose his shit if he wakes up in the middle of the night.

Mm, it would probably alarm him if he woke up on his own in the dark.

[ And then he might break things and disturb their neighbors, and... it wouldn’t go well.

She pulls away from him finally, wandering back to where Groot lies sleeping on their table. She crouches down to eye level, reaching out to rest her hand on Groot’s little body. ]

Groot?

[ A gentle little shake.

The sapling whines and tries to roll over on the towel, rubbing his face against the fabric. ]

[ He follows after her, watches as he tries to wake the little guy, and—

Yeah. He kind of saw that coming. Peter frowned down at the kid, trying to think of other ways to wake him. If the picked him up, he’d probably just try to snuggle against one of them. If they tried to rouse him physically, if they kept trying to persuade him awake, they’d probably be met with a similar result.

Peter straightened, leaning over the table. ]

Groot?

[ A disgruntled noise, like the kid is trying to tell him to be quiet. ]

Groot, I have candy for you.

[ And the sapling visibly stills from where he was trying to curl into the towel. Even with his eyes shut, Peter can practically see the way Groot is mentally calculating his options. Then, slowly, reluctantly, Groot yawns, shoving himself up to sit and rubbing at his eyes.

A little smugly, ]

Bribery. Works every time.

[ Gamora sighs at them both, shaking her head. ]

Don't give him too much.

[ They don't need him bouncing off the walls, after all.

But she smiles softly at Groot, rubbing her thumb over the top of his head. ]

Hi there.

[ Groot mumbles under his breath (surely a sleepy "I am Groot") and reaches up to curl his little fingers around Gamora's. ]

[ To his credit, Peter does wander off to one of the cabinets, plucking up one of the bars of chocolate in his stash before returning. He tears off the wrapper and takes a bite, waiting for Groot to wake up a little more.

The little guy seems alright, on closer examination. Bleary-eyed and drowsy, sure, though Peter attributes that to whatever sedative the used to knock the kid out. Peter wonders briefly what they must've used to knock out a tree; whatever it was, it's left Groot sleepy rather than punchy, which is a good thing.

Groot mumbles something again, this time extending his arms to ask to be picked up. ]

[ Gamora scoops up the little sapling with little prompting needed, settling him against her shoulder. ]

There's chocolate for you when you wake a little more.

[ He makes an inquisitive little noise (correctly assuming chocolate is candy), and he blinks at Peter from Gamora's shoulder, reaching a tiny hand out for the bar of chocolate. ]

I am Groot?

Edited 2018-01-19 14:42 (UTC)

[ Peter huffs out a laugh, snapping a small piece from his bar. ]

Once I give you this, you’ve gotta promise not to go nuts and wreck the place. Got it?

[ It’s worrying how Groot seems to give this serious thought, but at length he nods in agreement, offers an I am Groot, which Peter takes as a solemn oath. Peter offers the little piece, and Groot takes it in hand, popping it into his mouth.

After a second, the little sapling’s eyes light up, and he extends his hand for another piece. Peter shakes his head. ]

Maybe if you’re good.

[ Groot makes an annoyed noise, and Peter glances over at Gamora. ]

He seems alright.

It seems he hasn't changed at all.

[ Still the same fussy toddler.

She rubs his back gently, nudging him to take a look at the apartment. ]

This is where we are staying now.

[ He's momentarily distracted from the chocolate, glancing at their surroundings with wide eyes. ]

They're working on getting us back home.

[ Groot frowns, considering what Gamora is telling him – though she understands why that would be harder for him to swallow.

... But also, Peter still has chocolate, so Groot reaches out to him again in a clear demand for more. ]

[ Peter tuts disapprovingly. Groot may not be close enough to grab the bar – not without extending his arms, anyway, which Peter doubts he has the mind or energy for right no – but Peter still pointedly pulls it back, like a game of keep-away. ]

Hey. No. Pay attention, dude. This is important.

Did you hear what Gamora said? We’re staying here for a while. Like, a long while.

[ Like, “the next four or five years,” but Groot probably doesn’t have a good sense of time just yet. ]

And it’s just us three right now. Rocket and Drax and them are back home, okay? Just you and me and Gamora. Got it?

[ Groot blinks at him owlishly, then nods.

Then extends out his hand for another piece, and Peter’s expression sours. ]

... You’re not listening, are you.

[ More blinking with big eyes, a drawn-out pause...

And then Groot reaches for the chocolate again.

Gamora sighs. ]

He isn’t going to listen until you put it away or give it to him.

[ He’s too easily distracted to focus on two things at once. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject