There you go, then. [ Quietly, trying to keep judgment from his voice. ] You did what you had to so you could survive.
[ And god knows Peter had done the same, growing up. Yondu had trained him to steal when he knew it was wrong, and the Ravagers had shown him how to hurt people to keep himself from getting caught or killed. It had filled him with guilt when he was younger, but as he grew older, as he got better at what he did, he learned to take it all in stride. Everything he had done was wrong, and he knows that on an intellectual level. But these days, the sting isn’t nearly so bad.
But his situation is different from Mantis’s. Only in hindsight does Peter realize Yondu actually cared about him, even if he rarely showed it and never said it. Yondu hadn’t been the best dad in the world, and Peter would hesitate to call him even an okay dad, but Yondu had been there, at least. And Peter turned out alright, in spite of everything.
Peter glances up, sees the tears gathering in her eyes, and he lets out a quiet, dismayed, ]
Oh, shit.
[ He flinches at the sight, leaning forward and ducking to catch her sight again. ]
Think about it, Mantis. It’s like you said, right? If you had tried to stop him, he would’ve just— hurt you. Or worse.
[ Ego had admitted to killing his own children, after all. His own flesh and blood. He had told Peter as much while stars and dust and galaxies flew through Peter’s eyes, while his mind was filled with perfection and images of a universe unified under Ego’s image. If Ego could do that, then what would have stopped him from killing Mantis? ]
It’s— important. That you know it was wrong. [ And a small part of him had recognized a piece of the quiet guilt that had run through her for it. Because if Mantis didn’t understand that, then Peter wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t have been weirdly relieved to run into Mantis at the carnivale. ]
Listen. You’re not the only one on the team that’s done some messed up shit to survive. You know that, right?
no subject
[ And god knows Peter had done the same, growing up. Yondu had trained him to steal when he knew it was wrong, and the Ravagers had shown him how to hurt people to keep himself from getting caught or killed. It had filled him with guilt when he was younger, but as he grew older, as he got better at what he did, he learned to take it all in stride. Everything he had done was wrong, and he knows that on an intellectual level. But these days, the sting isn’t nearly so bad.
But his situation is different from Mantis’s. Only in hindsight does Peter realize Yondu actually cared about him, even if he rarely showed it and never said it. Yondu hadn’t been the best dad in the world, and Peter would hesitate to call him even an okay dad, but Yondu had been there, at least. And Peter turned out alright, in spite of everything.
Peter glances up, sees the tears gathering in her eyes, and he lets out a quiet, dismayed, ]
Oh, shit.
[ He flinches at the sight, leaning forward and ducking to catch her sight again. ]
Think about it, Mantis. It’s like you said, right? If you had tried to stop him, he would’ve just— hurt you. Or worse.
[ Ego had admitted to killing his own children, after all. His own flesh and blood. He had told Peter as much while stars and dust and galaxies flew through Peter’s eyes, while his mind was filled with perfection and images of a universe unified under Ego’s image. If Ego could do that, then what would have stopped him from killing Mantis? ]
It’s— important. That you know it was wrong. [ And a small part of him had recognized a piece of the quiet guilt that had run through her for it. Because if Mantis didn’t understand that, then Peter wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t have been weirdly relieved to run into Mantis at the carnivale. ]
Listen. You’re not the only one on the team that’s done some messed up shit to survive. You know that, right?