#since they were very decidedly only talking to nova about things in person and over text

[uuuvas]

The way I had like 3 mini altercations w roomie today, mostly boiling down to me saying "you were our friend and decided your comfort mattered more than your word to us. Stop talking to me and text me from your mommy's like you decided"

and at the very end, grabbing THE VERY LAST item, she takes her sweet time clearing out her shit from my organizer (i wasnt allowed to touch her stuff, i tried asking). Apparently, pointing at shit that belongs to me is hitting, and she hit me, making sure to yell into her recording phone and pointed at me that I put hands on her when I didn't.

I just don't get why, suddenly, today, all the conversation had to happen. When they left me on read since telling us to leave at an impossible time and told us we were so scary to talk to. Why did you have so much so say today when you avoided all fucking contact until I was exhausted with your bullshit.

[swanqueeneverafter]

After The Sunset, Pt.16

Enchanted Forest. Before The Dark Curse. A Tavern. (The dwarves are drinking and enjoying themselves after a long day's work. Although sitting with them, Dreamy sits quietly thinking to himself when the Foreman of the Dwarf Mines joins him.) Foreman: "What's the matter? You've barely touched your food.” Dreamy: “I don't know. I can't eat. I can't sleep. I don't feel at all like myself. Maybe I should have Doc take a look at me.” Foreman: “You're gonna trust a dwarf that got his medical degree from a pickax? I wouldn't worry about it. Dwarves don't get sick. It must be in your head.” Belle: (From another table:) “It's not in his head, it's in his heart. (The dwarves turn to look at her:) You're in love.” Foreman: “Oh, that's impossible. Dwarves can't fall in love.” Belle: “Trust me. I know love, and - You're in it.” (The Foreman dismisses this and gets up to join the other dwarves while Dreamy joins Belle at her table.) Dreamy: “What's it like?” Belle: “It's the most wonderful and amazing thing in the world. Love is hope. It fuels our dreams. And if you're in it, you need to enjoy it. Because love doesn't always last forever.” Dreamy: “But if love's so great, then why do I feel so bad right now?” Belle: “You need to be with the person you love.” Dreamy: “Yeah, but how do I know she feels the same way? All she talked about was going to see some fireflies, not loving me.” Belle: “What- what did she tell you about these fireflies?” Dreamy: “Uh, that she was gonna go see them on the hilltop tonight, that she heard they were the most beautiful sight in all the land. (Belle giggles:) What?” Belle: “She wasn't telling you about the fireflies. She was inviting you to go be with her.” Dreamy: “You think so?” Belle: “I've had my heart broken enough to know when somebody's reaching out. Now go, find your love. Find your hope. Find your dreams.” Storybrooke. Outside Granny's Diner. After The Black Fairy's Curse. (Rumplestiltskin takes a picture of his family with his new camera.) Belle: “Rumple! I said no pictures. I'm not even ready for the party yet. I'm a mess.” Rumplestiltskin: “You look beautiful.” (Takes a seat beside his son.) Belle: (Sighs:) “You are gonna make me regret giving you that camera. Okay. (Checking her list:) Uh, Zelena got balloons. Emma and Regina cake. Oh, Snow and David are bringing bubble wands. (At Rumple’s look:) I don't know, I guess Baby Neal is obsessed with them.” Rumplestiltskin: “Belle?” Belle: “Yes.” Rumplestiltskin: “Relax. It's a children's birthday party. As long as everyone turns up and Gideon ends up with birthday cake all over his face, it's a success.” Belle: “Oh, I know. You're right. It's just after all these years, I guess I'm used to the chaos. (Gideon whines:) Maybe I should get, uh, un-used to it.” Rumplestiltskin: “Well, Storybrooke's certainly been quiet this past year. I can't even remember the last time I used magic. Hey, that reminds me. (Picking up a present from the table:) I got something for you. It's for all of us, a family thing.” Belle: (Opens the box to reveal a photo album. Flicking through the blank pages:) “Rumple, it's beautiful. I love it.” Rumplestiltskin: “It's for our travels. (Taking the album and putting it aside:) Belle, you have been so patient with me. Too patient. (Stands:) You've seen the man behind the beast when no one else could.” Belle: “Oh, Rumple. That beast is a distant memory now.” Rumplestiltskin: “So, let me do this for you. You deserve to finally get what you've always wanted. To see the world.” (They kiss.)

Storybrooke. Recent Past. New Years Eve. (With only a few hours left until the annual Storybrooke New Year’s Eve party, things are a little quiet at Roni’s. So much so that Alice and Robin are spending the afternoon looking for apartments rather than helping behind the bar.) Robin: (Scrolling through her phone:) “Oh, look. There's a one-bedroom right here in Storybrooke. Oh, it looks pretty good in the pictures. See?” Alice: “I don't need to see it. I love it. If it comes with a built-in Robin, that's all I need.” Robin: “Aw.” (After the merging of realms, the number of quests skyrocketed, so after a particularly heated town meeting, it was decided that the Dark Palace would be a much more suitable place for hosting the party than Granny’s. Probably for the first time ever, the palace was filled with fairies and dwarves who volunteered as a decorating squad.) Regina: (Glaring at Leroy:) “You just know that Grumpy signed all his brothers up in the hope of spending some time with Nova.” Zelena: (Glancing back to see Leroy and Nova leaving the bar together:) “Well, whatever the reason, the main ballroom is glistening, and the atmosphere is buzzing over there. The palace is so full of light, colourful decorations, countless flying candles and several beautiful crystal chandeliers...” Regina: (Arms folded:) “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Zelena: (Smiles:) “Yes, I am rather. Oh come on, it can’t possibly be as bad as you think it is.” Regina: (Scoffs:) “What I think, is that I could simply use my magic to decorate the ballroom and it would have been finished hours ago.” Henry: (Arriving from the store room:) “Yeah, but not everyone thinks black is a festive colour, Mom.” (Putting an arm around her son’s shoulders, Regina ruffles Henry’s hair while Zelena chuckles.) Regina: “Very funny, young man. Shouldn’t you be at the farm watching over your uncle?” Henry: (Checking his watch:) “Ah, you’re right! And I’m supposed to meet Violet there ten minutes from now.” (Watching the teenager scurry off to meet his girlfriend, Regina can’t help but smile as Henry rushes from the bar.) Regina: “He gets his time management skills from his mother.” Zelena: “Hm. Speaking of, where is my delightful sister-in-law?” Regina: “At the station. She wanted to make sure all her paperwork was finished before the new year starts.” Zelena: “Mmhmm sure she did…” Regina: “Alright, maybe I suggested it, so I could prepare my costume. (Smiling devilishly:) I’m aiming for ‘speechless amazement’ this year. What are you wearing, anyway?” Zelena: (With a smirk of her own, whispers:) “Ah. That would be telling. (Downs her drink, then stands:) But don’t worry, all shall be revealed. (Winks:) Almost literally. (To Alice and Robin:) Come on, you two.” (The trio prepare to depart, leaving Regina with a slightly concerned expression upon her face.) The Charmings’ House. (Decidedly not doing her paperwork, Emma Swan-Mills finds herself going through her mother’s closet.) Emma: (To herself:) “Ugh, there has to be something in here I can use.” David: (Entering the room:) “Anything I can help you with?” Emma: “Oh, hey, Dad. (Sighs:) I’m looking for ideas for a costume for tonight.” David: “You don’t have a costume yet?” Emma: “I haven’t had time! Not since my deputy left me with piles of paperwork to complete.” David: (Chuckles:) “I finished all of my paperwork before I resigned and you know it. How much more could there possibly be?” Emma: (Sighs, avoiding the question:) “This is hopeless. What are you two going as tonight?” David: “Snow White and Prince Charming, who else?” Emma: “Right, how silly of me.” David: “Boy, I’ll tell ya, I’m sure glad Henry and Violet will take care of your brother tonight, it’s been a while since Snow and I went to a party as just the two of us, and-“ Emma: “Yeah, let me stop you there, Don Juan, before you say anything that’ll make us both uncomfortable. Besides, I’m sure the kid wants some time alone with Violet without his mom spying on him. (They both laugh at this, imagining Regina watching the young couple like a hawk:) Well, I better get going.” David: “What about your costume?” Emma: “Oh, I’ll think of something. I do have one idea but... well, we’ll see.” David: (Smiles:) “I’m sure it’ll be great.” Emma: “Yeah. See you in a couple of hours.” (With that, Emma hugs her father and leaves the room just as the sound of screeching tyres can be heard outside.)

Granny's Diner. Present. (Ruby is clearing plates when Billy, the mechanic, surprises her.) Billy: “A mouse.” Ruby: (Startled:) “What? Where?” Billy: “No. I meant me. (Approaching:) I was a mouse. My name was Gus. I lived in Cinderella's pantry, I ate cheese, I gnawed on wood, but I preferred the cheese.” Ruby: “And, why are you telling me this?” Billy: “Uh, we haven't had a chance to talk since you left for the Enchanted Forest. I swore to myself that if I ever saw you again, I’d ask you out. And I guess I just wanted you to know who I was… back home.” Ruby: “Uh, can I, um, still call you Billy?” Billy: “You can call me whatever you want, as long as you let me buy you a drink after your shift.” Ruby: (Eyes the clock:) “Um, tonight's actually not great. Because...” Snow White: (Coming to her rescue:) “Uh, we... we have plans.” Ruby: “That's right, um... It's girls night.” Snow White: “Because we haven’t seen each other in so long.” Ruby: “Right, and I'm bringing the cheese. (Gasps:) Which has nothing to do with you being a mouse. It has to do with the... wine.” Billy: “Okay. Um... Maybe next time.” (He leaves.) Ruby: (They hug:) “Thank you.” Snow White: “I can spot a girl in trouble. You know you could have told him about you and Mulan. Billy must be the only one who doesn’t know.” Ruby: “Yeah, can’t say I’ve really missed all the gossip that goes on around here.” Snow White: “Oh, you don’t know the half of it. Ooh, that reminds me, did you know that Mrs...” (Snow continues talking as we see David giving Ruby a sympathetic smile. Suddenly, King George, also known as Storybrooke’s disgraced former district attorney Albert Spencer, joins him in the booth.) David: “What are you doing here?” Spencer: “You may have taken care of me in the old world, and kept me locked away in this one for years, but, with a new sheriff in town, we get another go at each other.” David: “Lily let you go?” Spencer: “I’ve served my time.” David: “You tortured Regina and almost blew up the entire town. You should be locked away for the rest of your life.” Spencer: (Laughs:) “So righteous, so sure of yourself. But I know the truth. You're still just a shepherd pretending to be a prince. You weren't fit to run the kingdom, and now even your daughter knows you sure as hell aren't fit to run this town.“ David: “The people of this town know who I really am. And they've seen me defeat you before. So, now that you’re free, if you want to try and take me down, they'll see it again.” Spencer: (Chuckles:) “By the time I'm done here, you'll wish you'd killed me when you had the chance.”

Kitchens. (Granny and Ruby are working on the walk-in refrigerator in the back room while Snow watches.) Granny: (Lifting her welders mask:) “Almost done. Let's finish clearing out those perishables.” Snow White: “I’m sorry, what’s going on here?” Ruby: “We're making a cage. Know anybody who might want thirty-eight frozen lasagnas?” Snow White: “What?” Granny: “I know. Nobody would believe it if you told them my lasagnas was frozen.” Snow White: “No. Why are you building a cage?” Ruby: “Tonight's the full moon. It's the first night of Wolfstime.” Snow White: “Ruby, you learned how to control the wolf in you ages ago.” Ruby: “Yeah. But, (Sighs:) since Mulan’s been gone, I haven’t been sleeping real well.” Snow White: “Oh, Ruby, Mulan knows how to handle herself.” Ruby: “I know that, but she doesn’t even know for sure what’s out there. All she’s going by is rumours. I worry, okay? And if I’m not sleeping, my mind isn’t focused...” Snow White: “Hm. Okay I can see that. But what about your red hood? That could keep you from turning.” Ruby: “If I had it. I've looked everywhere. I know I brought it back to Storybrooke because I was wearing it.” Snow White: “Ruby, I know you. I trust you. Wolfstime or not, you won't hurt anyone tonight.” Ruby: “Maybe. But I can't afford to take any chances.” Storybrooke Sheriff's Department. (David confronts Lily about Spencer's release.) David: "Do you have any idea what you've done? Spencer is a maniac." Lily: "Oh, I see. So all that talk about how everyone deserves a second chance, really only applies to people within your family? Or perhaps just to those you approve of?" David: "This is not about me, it's about the safety of the people of this town." Lily: (Scoffs:) "One old man who doesn't even have magic doesn't sound like much of a threat to me." David: "Do you even know what he did? Spencer conspired to have my grandson kidnapped and taken to Neverland." Lily: "So it is personal with you two after all." David: "Look-" Lily: (Interrupting:) "By the way, kidnapping a child and sending it to another world is exactly what you and your wife did to me. If you two are allowed to walk around free, then so is Spencer. (David has no reply to this:) Look, I have no idea why Emma left me in charge, but the fact is she did and I'm grateful for this opportunity. Like it or not, I am the sheriff around here and what I decide is final." David: (Putting his hands up placatingly:) "I'm not trying to challenge your authority. All I'm asking is that you take me on as your deputy, just as another pair of eyes. I know these people, I've lived with them for years. What I know could be useful to you day to day." Lily: (Considers:) "Do you know how to fix the copier?" David: (Nods:) "I think I could figure it out." Lily: "Good, you can start there. (As David starts to say something:) But, we're gonna take this arrangement day by day. If you do something I don't like, you're gone." David: "I can live with that." Lily: "We'll see." Enchanted Forest. Past. (Belle sits in a tavern, listening to a speech being given across the room.) Alistair: (Addressing a group of people:) “There's a fearsome beast ravaging a faraway kingdom. Its eyes burn with fire. They call it the Yaoguai. No man has been able to kill it, but we will! There's room on our wagon. Who's going to join us?” Dreamy: (Approaches Belle's table:) “Looking for an adventure?” Belle: “Dreamy, right?” Dreamy: “Yes. I came to thank you. That advice you gave me last night... (Sits at her table:) it worked. Nova and I are running away together.” Belle: (Smiles, squeezing his hand:) “That's wonderful.” (They both look towards Alistair and his group.) Dreamy: “Why don't you sign up?” Belle: (Scoffs:) “Yeah, I've always dreamt of heroics, but I think it's safer I stick to my books. They're the only adventures I know that have happy endings.” Dreamy: “Well, maybe this one will have one, too.” Belle: “Yeah, I doubt it. Last time I faced a beast, it didn't end well.” Dreamy: “What are you talking about?” Alistair: “Men! Follow me! Yaoguai awaits.” Dreamy: “Get on that wagon. Go! Take a chance.” Belle: (Thinks:) “Thank you.” (She starts to leave.) Dreamy: “Wait! Belle! Wait. (Hands her a pouch of dust:) It's fairy dust. It might come in handy.” Belle: “Uh, no, thank you... I've seen what magic does to people.” Dreamy: “You've seen what dark magic does. Fairies use this for good. Now go be a hero.” (Belle smiles and runs off.)

Enchanted Forest. Recent Past. New Years Eve. The Dark Palace. (The enormous ballroom is slowly filling up with people arriving from across the realms. Arriving late but trying to appear casual about it, Emma searches the room for her wife. They haven’t seen each other all day because they agreed to meet at the palace and surprise each other with their costumes. Not finding the Mayor anywhere, the Sheriff makes a beeline to the bar, which, in fact, is more a table covered with liquor and various other beverages. Scanning the table, Emma smiles in delight upon finding her favourite brand of root beer. Opening one and drinking from the bottle, she turns to greet whoever just stood next to her, only to nearly spit the beer all over her sister-in-law.) Emma: (Wiping the beverage from her chin:) “Jesus, Zelena! This is a costume party, not a nudist convention.” Zelena: (Mock offended:) “Excuse me? I HAVE a costume!” Emma: “So who the hell are you supposed to be?” Zelena: (Rolling her eyes:) “The little mermaid, of course! Why do think I’m wearing these bloody sea shells or these seaweed knickers? (Zelena points at the three pieces of clothing truly not doing much to cover her body, then adds more calmly:) Besides, Robin has Alice, Regina has you, it’s time Mummy had some fun, too.” Emma: (Groans:) “Oh god, too much information.” Zelena: (Winks:) “At least it rhymed. Plus, I enchanted a few dozen sprigs of mistletoe to appear whenever two people are standing close enough to each other. (Emma takes a step away from her sister-in-law and checks the space above her head for any trace of the enchanted plant:) Oh get over yourself. Who are you dressed like, anyway?” Emma: “Hermione from Harry Potter.” Zelena: “Bollocks, she has brown hair. Although, it’s a pretty simple charm if you want me to…” Emma: “Some prefer it blonde, you know. Your sister for example.” Zelena: “Ugh, lovebirds. Well, my goal for tonight is much simpler than finding true love.” Emma: “Yeah, and what’s that?” Zelena: (In a tone suggesting it should have been obvious:) “Why, finding a decent shag of course.” Emma: (Winces:) “Well, good luck with that.” Zelena: (Scoffs:) “Who needs luck when you have- Ooh, I guess my little sis knows this as well…” Emma: “What do you mean? (Once Emma turns around however, all becomes clear. Across the room, standing with one hand on her hip and a confident smile adorning her face, is Regina:) Wow.” (Regina makes her approach, not unlike a lioness stalking her prey.) Zelena: “Have fun, kittens.” (Zelena makes herself scarce as the Mayor and the Sheriff are reunited.) Regina: “So, like what you see, Miss Granger?” (Regina asks seductively, looking Emma up and down.) Emma: “Uh…” Regina: (Chuckles:) “Eloquent as always, I see.” Emma: “Gina, you look…wow, you know what the Evil Queen’s attire does to me... but holy hell, woman…” Regina: (Laughs and circles Emma with an appreciative hum, purring into the Sheriff’s ear:) “You look utterly edible yourself, dear.” (The sound of a glass shattering distracts them from their flirtation momentarily as they look over to see Snow White standing with her hand still mid-air and paler than usual.) Snow White: (Noticing that several other people are staring at her:) “Everything’s alright here!” (Everyone resumes their previous activities. Finally snapped out of her haze, Emma turns to face Regina who immediately snakes her arms around her wife’s neck, letting herself be pulled even closer by her hips. Foreheads resting against each other, the couple start to sway to the rhythm of the music.) Emma: “You’re positively ravishing, babe.” Regina: “Mm. Promises, promises. (Suddenly, something above them catches her attention:) Really? Mistletoe?” (Emma also looks up to find a sprig of Zelena’s enchanted mistletoe hanging in the air.) Emma: “Um, yeah, that’s your sister’s doing, she’s determi- wait, that’s it - mistletoe. A kiss under the mistletoe!” Regina: “Yes, Emma, I know what-” Emma: (Placing a finger on blood red lips, recites slowly:) “Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it…” (There’s a gleam in the sheriff’s eyes and the faintest shadow of a smile on her lips as she waits for Regina to get the hint. After a moment of deep concentration, the mayor replies with a victorious smirk.) Regina: “But a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it.” (After that, it was hard to tell who dived in first, not that either of them care as they kiss each other with such passion.) Snow White: “Oh my god, will you two stop that? (When the kissing continues undeterred, her eyes widen with horror as they begin pulling at each others clothes:) You’re not in some porno movie!” (Unfortunately for Snow, her high-pitched cry resonates throughout the entire ballroom. Every single person is frozen to their spot to catch a glimpse of what seems to be a juicy scandal. Emma hides her face in her hands.) Regina: (With a growl through gritted teeth:) ”Excuse me, but this happens to be a very private conversation! Can you finally take your drink and go? (Emma grabs Regina’s hand and ushers her quickly to a quiet corner, as far from everyone, including a crimson red Snow White as possible. Regina laughs heartily the whole way and, once they’re alone teases:) For what it’s worth, I find that shade of pink on your mother’s face appealing.” Emma: (Smiles, shaking her head:) “You’re evil.” Regina: “You love it.” Emma: “I do.” Regina: “Then kiss me.” Emma: “With pleasure.” (Whatever reply Regina wanted to say is silenced by Emma’s lips and turned into a small appreciative moan, accompanied soon by one from the sheriff herself as the mayor tugs gently at her hair.)

Enchanted Forest. Present. (Having left Alice's tower, Regina and Emma make their way through the forest.) Regina: (Catching Emma looking at her outfit:) "What?" Emma: "A cape, really?" Regina: "Hey, I learned my lesson after what happened at DunBroch. I can't very well wear a pantsuit when walking through a forest. It was either this or one of the queen's outfits, and judging by the frosty looks I received from those peasants yesterday, this seemed the safer option." Emma: "Maybe it'd help if you stopped calling them peasants. (Looking her up and down again:) I like the look, I just think the cape is a bit much." Regina: "We're on the search for an adventure aren't we? If I've learned anything from reading Henry's comic books, it's that freedom of movement is essential if your suspecting a surprise attack." Emma: "Woah, okay well there's a lot to unpack in that sentence. First, if you're expecting to be attacked, it's not a surprise. Second, not all heroes wear capes. And third, who is going to be dumb enough to attack us?" (Just then, three men approach them from the trees.) Man 1: "There you are lads, just like I told you. The Evil Queen as I live and breathe." (Regina tenses but Emma calmly tries to warn the men.) Emma: "Hey guys, don't you know who we are? Emma Swan, the Savior? (Glancing back at her wife:) And, er, Regina: Warrior Princess?" Regina: (Scoffs:) "If anything, I'm a warrior queen." Man 1: "You'll be royally dead once we're done with you." Regina: "You've got to be kidding me." Emma: "Yeah, guys, seriously? This is not cool." Man 2: "No, what's not cool is the likes of her (Pointing his sword at Regina:) living it up in her castle while the rest of us starve." Man 1: "And the so-called heroes do nothing about it. You see, you may have found your redemption, Your Majesty, but the people are still hungry." Man 2: "Families were ripped apart under your rule and those actions deserve answers." Regina: (Smiles malevolently:) "Oh I guarantee you won't enjoy the answers I give you." (When Regina conjures a fireball in her hand, Emma steps between her and the bandits.) Emma: "Look! I get that your lives back then sucked, but that was years ago and Regina has changed." Man 1: "Time doesn't heal all wounds, Savior. Now step aside." Emma: "If you think I'm gonna let you lay one finger on my wife, you're far stupider than I gave you credit for." Man 1: "Your wife? (To his friends:) Well I guess what they say about blondes is true, boys. Only an idiot would marry that murderer. (To Regina over Emma's shoulder:) So come on, Your Majesty, show her what kind of person you really are and throw that fireball. 'Cause the way I see it, this ends one of two ways: Us killing you or you killing us." (Emma looks back to Regina who extinguishes the fireball.) Emma: (To the men:) "You know what? I think I've found a third way." (Emma turns and head butts the lead bandit, sending him down and out as Regina uses her magic to send the other two flying back against two trees.)

Emma: (Checking to make sure the men are unconscious, looks to Regina:) "I think my way was better. (Regina smiles then looks down at the men without saying a word. Softly, returning to her:) Hey, are you all right?" Regina: (Sighs:) "They aren't wrong about me, Emma. I did those terrible things in my past." Emma: "Yeah, and a lot of other people have done stuff they regret too. Look, I'm not trying to diminish or excuse what you did back then, but you have changed. You've saved far more people in these last few years than-" Regina: (Holding up her hand:) "Shh. (Uses her magic to heal the reddish bump that was beginning to form on Emma's forehead:) I hurt a lot of people in my past. And, although I may not allow the guilt of it to weigh me down, I still carry that with me, every day." Emma: "So you're okay?" Regina: (Smiles, reassuringly:) "I've learned to live with who I was for a while now. (Stroking Emma's face:) Thanks to you." (They lean in for a kiss, but are interrupted.) Rumplestiltskin: (From behind them:) "Don't forget about me, Dearie." (Rolling her eyes, Emma turns toward the sound of the voice.) Regina: (Stunned:) "Rumple?"

[bevioletskies]

signed, sealed, delivered (i’m yours) [2/3]

summary: “Did you know Mister Peter has a big crush on you?”

“That’s not - that’s hardly appropriate conversation for the classroom, Clementine,” Gamora scolded. She paused. “When did you hear that?”

“Yesterday in his music class, when he told us,” Clementine said cheerfully.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it like - ”

“He said, ‘I think Miss Gamora is real smart and cool and pretty and I like her a whole lot. Do you think she likes me, too?’. We said we weren’t sure,” Clementine continued, oblivious to Gamora’s incredulous expression. “I mean, you yelled at him real loud last week when he accidentally broke your pencil sharpener. But I think he did it ‘cos he wanted to talk to you.”

word count: 8k

a/n: Fic title is from the song Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) by Stevie Wonder.

ao3 | tag

Mantis quirked an eyebrow at the sights and sounds of her brother practically skipping into the kitchen, whistling cheerfully. “You seem to be in a very good mood this morning. Does it have anything to do with last night’s party?”

“You know I like to entertain,” Peter grinned, pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee and leaning against the kitchen counter. “You enjoy yourself?”

“Of course. But I want to talk more about you,” Mantis said slyly. “You spent over an hour with Gamora on the balcony. I saw you go upstairs with her, you know. At first, I thought it was for something else, but I did not think she would - ”

“Mantis!” Peter exclaimed, mildly scandalized. “I would never - ” she made a face “ - yeah, okay, you have a point. But no, it’s not like that.”

“Except I have never seen you grow so attached to someone so quickly before,” Mantis shrugged. “And you feel...excited. Like you are anticipating something.”

“She offered to look over my lesson plan when we go back to work on Monday,” Peter replied innocently. “C’mon now, I don’t got ulterior motives.”

“But you do like her,” Mantis insisted, tapping her finger against her temple. “You can’t lie to me, Peter.”

“We just...we talked about a lot of stuff. Felt like we both really needed a new perspective.” He smiled, shaking himself. “Anyways, what’re we doing today, other than cleaning all the crap people left around here?”

Come Monday morning, Peter was practically vibrating with nervous excitement as he approached Gamora’s classroom during his free period. He couldn’t help himself; there was something so inexplicably magnetic about her that made him crave her approval, her attention, not to mention the very strange and morbid thing they had in common, something that made him feel closer to her than he otherwise would. He could only hope that, in some small way, she reciprocated.

He knocked on her doorframe, peering inside the room where the kids were currently working quietly at their desks, poring over their textbooks. Many heads immediately shot up at the sound, and they all perked up at the sight of him. “Mister Peter!” several of them chorused happily.

“You’re bein’ nice to Miss Gamora, I hope,” Peter said half-sternly, wagging his finger at them. They burst into mischievous giggles.

“I’ve already given three detentions today,” Gamora said without looking up from her desk.

“It’s not even noon,” Peter said incredulously. “What’ve you kids been doing?”

Before any of them could respond, though, Gamora quickly stood and grabbed Peter by the wrist, yanking him out of the room. “Can we talk outside? Please?” A chorus of “ooh”s followed them out the door like they were doing something particularly scandalous.

Once they were in the hall, Peter furrowed his brow at her in worry. “You said I could drop by, right? I didn’t imagine that?”

“They have detention for asking me about the party. Did you say something about me being at your house this weekend?” Gamora demanded, folding her arms across her chest.

“I - well, yeah, I passed some of ‘em in the hall, they asked me what I did this weekend and I told ‘em. All I said was that I had a housewarming thing and I invited the other teachers,” he protested.

“We still need to keep our distance professionally, Peter, we can’t just let these children know every intimate detail of our lives,” she said, groaning.

“I didn’t think telling a couple of kids that having the faculty over for dinner at our place was a big deal,” he replied. “It’s not like I told them about anything we talked about. I didn’t even mention you specifically!”

“Just...be careful, okay?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “There are still people out there, looking for me and Nebula. If the wrong person heard about us, puts the pieces together...the consequences could affect far more than just us.” She straightened up, brushing away nonexistent lint from her pants. “Besides, I’m fine with them thinking we’re friends, for the most part. But I don’t want them to get the wrong idea.”

“The wrong idea being…?” Peter smirked.

“Don’t bait me, Peter, it doesn’t work,” Gamora said cooly, though she gestured for him to follow her back inside. “Pull up a chair and I’ll look at your lesson plan.”

“You got it, Miss Gamora,” he said with a wink.

From then on, they had an amicable, if a little unpredictable friendship in the works as the semester progressed. Gamora was wholly unemotional at times, especially when they were at work. They would chat at a polite distance in the teacher’s lounge, have professional back-and-forths during meetings, and she was definitely most reserved whenever students were around, though for good reason. Peter could tell underneath her acerbic demeanor, she was still looking over her shoulder for someone or something that could hurt her or her sister. At least Peter knew that he and Mantis, for the most part, were unambiguously safe.

When they were alone outside of work, which admittedly wasn’t very often, she seemed more relaxed, more prone to witticisms and biting remarks that made Peter laugh. Mantis helped, too, often inviting Gamora and Nebula over for dinner every now and then, preparing a hearty meal and indulgent dessert in contrast to their otherwise strict maintenance diets. Nebula would say practically nothing, even managed to wiggle her way out of joining them sometimes, but from what Peter could tell, it was real progress for her.

“Man, it’s really comin’ down hard out there,” Peter said one December morning as he trudged into the teacher’s lounge, shaking snow out of every crease in his coat and pants. “Surprised we still have to come into work. I bet half the school’s gonna be empty this week.”

“I’m sure most have already left on vacation,” Gamora replied, briefly glancing at him in greeting. “Mantis tells me you have plans for the students before we’re out for the year.”

“Yeah, I was thinkin’ of incorporating some Terran holidays around here, maybe see if there’s traditions from other cultures we could add to the school calendar.” He plucked the year-at-a-glance calendar from the bulletin board by the door and sat across from her, his eyes scanning over it intently. His feet went up on the table; she promptly swatted him away. “I mean, we don’t got much here other than sports games and career day. We gotta get these kids more involved.”

“They already detest the idea of being in school, we don’t need to prolong the experience,” she countered.

“Which is why we need to make it more fun,” he insisted. “Events, games, contests, whatever it takes. Something real memorable.”

She looked at him curiously. “Was your mother a teacher?”

He paused, lowering the calendar away from his face to look at her. “No, she was a nurse, why?”

“You’re just very...passionate about all this. Making school not just a place, but an experience,” she commented. “I just thought it might have come from her influence since you speak so fondly of her.”

“I guess she sorta does, in her own way. She used to invent all sorts of games to keep patients from thinkin’ about their problems, even for just a little while,” he smiled. “My mom was - or, still is - the most important person in my life. I wanna honor the planet we lived on together, the place that I came from. And we’ve got such a diverse student body here, all walks of life. It’d be a waste not to at least give ‘em a shot at feeling like they’re home, too.” He brightened. “What about yours?”

Gamora inhaled sharply. “Thanos...he didn’t just kill my parents. He destroyed the entire planet. Whatever is left of my culture remains in the records. I have no recollection of our traditions, personally. I was too young to hold on to them, too vulnerable and impressionable to remember.”

“Oh...geez, Gamora, I’m so sorry,” Peter said sadly, his shoulders slumping. “Mantis is sorta like that, too. She knows way more about Ravager culture than anything about her home planet. Hell, it always takes her a second just to remember its name. Me, I’m kind of a blend of both. Not the Celestial crap, but I got some of that Ravager blood at heart, y’know?”

“Roguish, unrefined, arrogant? I see it.” She smirked weakly over the rim of her coffee mug, still affected by her memories.

“Hey,” he chuckled. “Also, that reminds me - I never asked you about what happened after you got picked up by the Nova Corps.”

“This isn’t the time or place for that kind of discussion, Peter.” She got to her feet, moving to leave the room. He inwardly cursed himself for asking - though he’d mostly gotten used to conversations with her, it sometimes still felt like he was feeling around for an explosive, and didn’t have the foresight to know he’d gotten there until it was too late.

“Will you help me plan something, though?” he called after her, relieved to see her pause in the doorway. “Don’t have to be big, just somethin’ special. For the kids.”

She did a quarter-turn, her expression decidedly neutral. “Fine, as long as it doesn’t take too much of my time. I’m assuming you’ve recruited Mantis as well?”

“Gotta get the dream team together!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in celebration. “This is gonna be great, you’ll see.” ______

As expected, Mantis immediately went into a high-energy frenzy the moment Gamora mentioned Peter’s idea offhand during their lunch break, her eyes bugging out of her head almost comically at the word ‘party’. Gamora was mildly concerned she was about to burst a vein. “We will give them a winter break send-off they will never forget!” she had declared.

Gamora didn’t return home until late into the evening since Peter and Mantis managed to convince her to stay behind to talk about their ideas (and they were certainly full of them). She set the take-out bag on the kitchen table, glancing around curiously at the utter silence. “Nebula?” she called. “I brought dinner.”

“You’re late.” Nebula emerged from a shadowy corner in the sitting room, her head bowed.

Gamora frowned. “I texted you, didn’t I?”

“It was just an observation,” Nebula said defensively, plopping down into a chair without much grace. “You spend nearly every waking hour in their presence instead of leaving that place the moment you can. You seem to actually like them.”

“They seem like honest people. We don’t get much of that, being who we are.” Gamora began pulling out cutlery from the kitchen drawer, pausing in realization of what Nebula was actually trying to get at. “Is there a problem?”

“You trust people far too easily, sister,” Nebula said, slouching back. “Someday, it will be too late.”

“And they say I’m dramatic,” Gamora snorted, moving to join her sister at the table. “Do you feel I’ve been avoiding you in favor of their company? Is that what this is about?”

“Don’t bother psychoanalyzing me, you won’t find anything of interest,” Nebula drawled. “You know I’m content to be home by myself. I prefer it.”

“So you’d rather live a life of complacency? That doesn’t sound like the sister I grew up with.” Gamora absentmindedly stirred her food, staring down at her plate without really wanting to eat; her appetite had rapidly declined. “I can tell you worry about me, about us. I worry about you, too.”

“Really? That’s a surprise to me,” Nebula said bitterly, stabbing her fork downwards, making an awful scre-e-ech across the surface of her plate. “You either shadow my every move or leave me behind when it’s convenient. It’s about time you pick one.”

“Then I choose to be a good sister...maybe even a friend,” Gamora murmured. “I just want you to be happy, Nebula, and I don’t think you can be truly content until you’ve found your purpose.”

“My purpose was to kill for him. Then we killed him. There is nothing left for me. No purpose to fulfill, no master to serve. So just drop it,” Nebula hissed.

“I don’t believe that,” Gamora said, vehemently shaking her head. “I’m not saying you need to work, the Nova Corps compensate us generously for our troubles. But there has to be more than you just sitting in your room, day and night.”

“Just because you’ve decided to become a social creature, it doesn’t mean I have to.” Nebula stood abruptly, snatching up her plate. “If you insist on continuing this inane conversation, I’m leaving.”

“Nebula - ” But she was already gone, stomping up the stairs with all the attitude and dramatics of a teenager who didn’t get her way. Gamora sighed, running her fingers agitatedly through her hair as she took her first bite of her now-cold dinner. It was an awful train of thought, but she couldn’t help but think that this - this back-and-forth, this animosity - was exactly why she spent more time away from home. No, not home. Just a house that they happened to live in.

She kept quiet about her issues with Nebula over the rest of the week while she, Peter, and Mantis continued to work on planning the festivities for the last school day before winter break. Then came Thursday night, and Gamora found herself sprawled across Peter and Mantis’s living room floor, a soft song crooning in the background while she painted some banners despite her lack of artistic ability. “How do I let you two keep talking me into these things?” she muttered, mostly to herself.

“We were just too charming and you couldn’t help yourself,” Peter said with a wink, walking in with a bowl of snacks. “Too bad Nebula didn’t wanna join in, we could use an extra set of hands.”

“Nebula doesn’t exactly...help.” Gamora hastily straightened up.

“You said she does not do much of anything.” Mantis entered the room next, also hauling an entire tray of food that made Gamora’s stomach hurt just thinking about it. “How does she not get bored all the time?”

“Boredom is a comfort for us. Boredom is far more preferable compared to what we’d suffered before,” Gamora said. She had told Mantis the story she’d told Peter not too long after their housewarming party. “You must have felt the same way after...your incident.”

“I suppose,” Mantis said quietly, sinking down beside her. “But I like to distract myself after bad things happen. Then I do not have to think about the bad thing as much. Then, eventually, I do not think about it at all.”

Gamora glanced at Peter, who merely shrugged. “Music does that for me,” he added. “It’s all I had when my mom was in the hospital, and it’s all I got left of her.”

“You have your memories,” Gamora suggested before she could stop herself. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” She gestured around the room at the multitude of decorations, activities, and the like they had prepared in anticipation of the following day.

“Yeah, but...I dunno. It’s not like it’s gonna bring her back.” Peter smiled tightly, getting to his feet. “I’m gonna go grab more stuff from my room.” Mantis’s gaze followed him worriedly up the stairs, turning back to Gamora with a melancholic smile on her face.

“It is so nice to have you here with us,” she said. “When we first met, I did not think we would come this far.”

“Neither did I.” Gamora picked at the lettering on the paintbrush, thinking back to her conversation with Nebula. “You were so persistent about it, I was...suspicious, almost. But now...I appreciate that about you both. Your tenacity.”

“We enjoy having you around,” Mantis said simply, though she smirked as she said it. “I think Peter is especially glad for it.”

“You’re both insinuating something that isn’t happening,” Gamora frowned, curling her legs up underneath her. “I know nothing of his history, but I don’t care to. Not when mine isn’t exactly...happy.”

“Oh,” Mantis said, brow furrowing. “What happened?”

Gamora turned away fully to dip her brush into the clear glass of water, watching intently as the colors swirled about, washing out of the bristles. “Let’s get back to work.” ______

The kids whispered excitedly to one another as they filed into their respective classrooms after the first bell, the chattering growing increasingly louder and louder until Gamora had to scold them into respectful silence. It was hard to get too mad at their enthusiasm, though, since the school had been transformed into something unlike anything they’d seen before - there was a banner hung across the front doors proclaiming the building to be a winter wonderland, paper-cut snowflakes taped up in every windows and illuminated with string lights, the red-and-gold ribbons twisting their way along the walls and pinned to the perimeters of every bulletin board. There was garland framing every doorway, jazzy music crooning through the building’s audio system, and fake snow artfully placed on the floor of every hallway (something that Yondu wasn’t fond of, given the startled shout and subsequent undeserved lecture he gave the janitor upon his arrival that morning). Last but not least, every student was given a name tag sticker of a holly branch and a small candy packet, with a promise that there were even more surprises inside.

“What’s going on, Miss Gamora?” one of the students asked, bouncing up and down in his chair. “Are we havin’ a party?”

“Of a kind. Now sit down,” Gamora ordered.

Then Peter’s voice crackled in through the speakers, startling the children. “Can we have everyone come down to the gym right now? We’ve got an awesome surprise for you!” Almost immediately, the entire class jumped out of their seats and went sprinting for the door, Gamora’s shouts of protest falling on deaf ears. She silently cursed Peter - and herself for enabling him - before following her students, trying her best to keep the chaos to a minimum as everyone poured out of their classrooms and into the hallway.

When she entered the gymnasium, she spotted him at the far end from the entrance, her heart drumming a little faster in her chest. She was oddly nervous about the ordeal, having never done something so...involved before. By contrast, Peter looked like he was in his element, waving his arms enthusiastically, urging everyone to come closer.

The students oohed and ahhed over the sight before them - tables covered in spreads of breakfast foods from all kinds of cultures, ranging from Terran classics like eggs in a variety of styles and generously thick slabs of toast, to hearty stews, cold noodles, and everything else in between. By Peter, there were tall stacks of plates and trays of cutlery, waiting for everyone to dig in.

Gamora joined him to help supervise, knowing he wouldn’t reprimand children who cut or shoved in line the way she did. “How early did you get here?”

“You could say I haven’t slept,” Peter admitted with a far too casual laugh. “Go grab a plate, I got this.” She frowned at his dismissal, moving quickly to get herself some food before returning with a defiant glare. “Man, now you’re temptin’ me.”

“What?”

“The food. Why, what’d you think I was talking about?” She wanted to wipe the smug look off his face, but her hands were too full.

“Communal eating isn’t common in all cultures,” she commented instead, her gaze traveling across the gymnasium, watching students point out dishes they’d recognized to their classmates, sitting together in large groups to socialize. “But looking at this...you would never know it.”

“Was that something your family did?” he asked.

She smiled sadly. “Hunger was commonplace on my planet. It was considered impolite to gather around a table if only one person could eat that day. In my family, that person was usually me.”

“Oh.” Peter bowed his head, unsure of what to say. It always seemed to happen whenever Gamora became oddly self-reflective for someone who claimed to keep her cards close to her chest. “So your parents…”

“I was their only child. We didn’t have much of an extended family, so if we only had enough food for one person, it went to me. Sometimes I could still feel my belly ache afterward, my head spin, but there was no use in complaining. I was grateful that they did such a thing, regardless.” She swallowed. “There are some students who still experience that now, you know. Maybe...we could make communal breakfast a permanent installation here.”

“We should,” Peter nodded, his eyes following one particularly gaunt-looking boy who was stuffing pieces of bread into the pockets of his bookbag. “And hey, this whole thing, all the stuff we got planned for today, it wouldn’t’ve happened without you. So...thanks, Gamora.”

“These ideas were yours and Mantis’s, I was just a helping hand,” Gamora protested, though her face warmed somewhat with pride.

“I just mean...look, I know what everyone thinks when they see me. That I’m just a kid who don’t got much ambition, just kinda goes around doing whatever he feels like. Right?” Gamora nodded slowly, albeit guiltily. “It’s sorta...true. I wasn’t great at studying, ‘applying’ myself, all that crap they tell you to do in college. I dicked around for a while, I was kind of an asshole when I was a teenager. But I’d like to think I’ve moved past that stuff ‘cos of the good influences I had in my life. My mom, Mantis...and you’ve been a big help, too.”

“With what?”

“With giving a shit.” He laughed. “I know, it sounds dumb. We’ve only known each other for four months, but I learned a lot about how to be a teacher...maybe even how to be a friend. I dunno, I guess I just wanted to say that I’m glad to have you around.”

She could feel her throat stick, though she suspected it wasn’t because of the food. “You really shouldn’t be.”

“Gamora, wait - ” And just like that, she vanished into the crowd.

The rest of the day’s activities went by relatively smoothly, though Peter could feel discomfort brewing in his stomach from his conversation with Gamora. He led a holiday sing-along in all sorts of languages (most of which he was admittedly terrible at) in his classroom, went into the art studio to watch Mantis show students how to make paper-cut snowflakes and douse them in unhealthy amounts of paint and glitter, and even swung by to see Rocket and Groot, two teachers he hadn’t spent much time with until relatively recently, attempting to teach the children how to make cookies.

“This is undignified. We teach science and math, for god’s sake,” Rocket complained once they had sent the kids on their way, Groot watching them carefully to make sure they didn’t burn or cut themselves in the process. “I got years of engineerin’ experience and here I am, doin’ a baking tutorial for a buncha ten-year-olds!”

“You never know, these guys could be future engineers,” Peter pointed out. “You could have a whole room full of geniuses!”

Rocket side-eyed him. “These idiots can barely tell the difference between a gas and a liquid.”

“They’re kids,” Peter exclaimed. “C’mon, Rocket, give ‘em a break. How’d you end up here, anyways?”

“Started off as community service for some of the bad shit me and Groot did when was younger,” Rocket said. “We were TAs at first. Then Groot got too attached to the kids, and, well...where he goes, I go. So we both got certified, and bam - been stuck here ever since.”

They watched in amicable silence while Groot gently patted the heads of every student who managed to roll their cookie dough into decent-sized balls, ready to be placed on the baking sheet. Peter smiled. “I can’t imagine Groot doing anything wrong in his entire life.”

“Decided to be friends with me. That’s when it all went sideways,” Rocket snorted, though something about his tone told Peter it wasn’t entirely a joke. “But you’re right. He’s good. He’s right where he belongs.” Groot looked over at them like he’d heard his name, smiling and waving cheerfully like they hadn’t seen in each other in ages. Peter and Rocket automatically waved back, Rocket scoffing with unmistakable fondness. “Anyways, how’s it goin’ for you, Quill? Did the brats break you in yet?”

“Not exactly the life I pictured living when I was a kid, but I’m liking how it’s going so far,” Peter shrugged. “I got my family, I got my music, I got enough money to live the life I wanna live...what else do I need?”

“More ambition, for one thing,” Rocket said, shaking his head. “You gotta think bigger, Quill! You don’t at least want more cash?”

“I’m good where I am. Aren’t you?” Peter countered.

Rocket sighed, his ears drooping as he did. “Yeah, who am I kiddin’. Who else is gonna hire me n’ Groot, anyways? We’re not exactly model employees. We ain’t model anything.”

“You’re decent teachers,” Peter offered. He smirked. “Or at least Groot is.”

“You’re an asshole, Quill, y’know that?” Rocket laughed without any real heat to it. A few students nearby gasped at his language. “Yeah, yeah, don’t tell the admin I said that, kids. I already got Kraglin on my tail for tinkerin’ with Ol’ Blue’s ship last month.”

Peter paused. “That was you? Yondu thought it was one of the older students!”

“Oh, man, what was the look on his face when he saw what I did to the engine?” Rocket was genuinely elated in a way Peter had never seen before, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. “Did he start screamin’, like when his voice gets all hoarse and that vein in his neck starts pulsing - ”

“I think you might be the real asshole around here,” Peter said, shaking his head.

“You’re not gonna tell ‘im, right?”

Peter looked down at Rocket then, an honest, earnest expression on his face that betrayed his usual crass demeanor. “Nah. You owe me, though.”

“Thanks, Quill,” Rocket said, relieved. “Hey, so what’s up with you and Gamora? You seemed okay until this morning. Saw her run off like you told her you were diseased or somethin’.”

“She gets weird about feelings, I guess. All I said was that I was glad to know her,” Peter sighed. “Didn’t think it’d be a big deal. Guess I was wrong.”

“Aw, you’re such a sap,” Rocket teased. “Gamora ain’t the type to get touchy-feely, never was. The fact you and your sister managed to get her to say more than ‘don’t do that’ and ‘listen to me’ is a damn miracle.”

“I don’t wanna make her uncomfortable or nothin’.” Peter glanced briefly at the door, wondering if it would be too late to drop by and apologize before the day was over. “I was just hoping...I dunno.”

“Go talk to her, then,” Rocket insisted. “Though if you manage to piss her off even more…” He trailed off with a horrified shudder.

“Yeah, I…I should do that.”

Peter left for her classroom a few minutes later - he had briefly stayed behind to help out with a student who had almost set Groot on fire somehow, resulting in the usual panicked chaos that was commonplace for Rocket and Groot’s joint classes - wondering what he could even say that wouldn’t make everything worse. He was so lost in thought he barely noticed her standing in the doorway when he walked right into it, or more accurately, walked into her.

“Peter,” she growled.

“Hey, fancy meeting you here,” he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. The kids pointed and giggled. It was then that Gamora felt a cold sweat of dread break out across her forehead, her head slowly tilting upwards to see the mistletoe hanging above them.

“What is its purpose?” she had asked him last night as they were organizing the decorations.

“It encourages the people under it to kiss,” he had replied with a salacious smile.

“That sounds like a horribly antiquated tradition. We aren’t going to have it, especially when they’re just children,” she had protested.

“I don’t have time for your nonsense, Peter, especially not now,” Gamora hissed under her breath, glancing warily over her shoulder at the wide-eyed children.

“Wait, can we at least talk about earlier? Before we don’t see each other for two weeks?”

“There is nothing to talk about,” she said coolly. “And I heard Rocket was having troubles in his lab, so if you’ll let me by - ”

“I just came from there, he’s fine, Groot only got a little burnt,” Peter said, waving it off. “Come by my room before you leave, okay? I’d hate for you to be mad at me.” Behind her, the class crooned with delighted approval.

“This is exactly what I was talking about, Peter,” Gamora whispered, taking a step back so he would do the same. “And no.” With that, she firmly shut the door in his face. ______

Peter took what felt like his tenth lap around his empty classroom, hooking his fingers through the cabinet door handles along the way and rattling them to make sure they were locked, even though he’d done it three times already. His eyes roamed the rest of the room - clean whiteboard, chairs stacked neatly by the door, his bag sitting underneath the window, waiting for him to pick it up and go home.

“Mister Peter?” A timid voice came from the doorway. He turned on his heel to see Clementine, one of his fifth-graders, worrying at the shoulder strap of her bag fretfully.

“Hey, Clementine. You alright?” He gestured for her to come in. She took a few tentative steps toward him, her smile shy.

“I wanted to say thank you for the food,” she mumbled. “I know me n’ some of the others don’t have much where we’re from.”

“Where are you from?” He settled down on the raised steps, patting the spot beside him for her to sit. She complied, her head lowered so he couldn’t see her face.

“Foster home,” she said. “They treat me well and try to get me new clothes and toys, but they haven’t been doing so good at work lately, so there’s not a lot of money for anything.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Peter said gently. “If you need food, or if your shoes start to feel too tight, or you don’t have new pencils, you come to me, okay?”

“I’m not asking for help,” she insisted. “I just think...maybe we can have breakfast at school be a regular thing. For kids like me.”

“Yeah?” He smiled. “You know what, I was thinking the same thing. This might not be the best school on Xandar, but we still have some money set aside for situations just like this. I bet I can convince Principal Yondu to make it happen.”

“Thank you,” Clementine breathed, her large ice-blue eyes, unsettling at times, now softening with warmth. “I’m so glad you’re here, Mister Peter. I never thought much about music until you told us all those stories about your mom. And now, it’s sort of my favorite class.”

“That’s amazing, Clementine,” Peter grinned. “Glad I could change your mind. You remember your break assignment, right?”

“Find a song that makes me happy,” she recited, smiling brightly. She got to her feet, standing straighter than she had been before. “I’ll see you after break, Mister Peter!”

“You got it!” He waved as she skipped off with an invigorated bunce in her step. It was then that he noticed Gamora leaning in the doorway. “You always like to creep outside my room, don’t you?”

“Only when I’ve wronged you...when I need to apologize for what I’ve said and done. It’s not something I expected to happen so often,” she admitted, walking over to take Clementine’s spot beside him. “I shouldn’t let my impulse take precedence over my rationale. You were trying to be kind, and all I could think of was all the false niceties I’d been fed before. I suppose that’s where we differ the most.”

“What d’you mean?” He stared down at his hands, unsure of where to look.

“There are certain...concepts, I think, that we take to very differently.” Gamora smiled tightly. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to fight against what those six years had done to me, had expected of me. That I would become cold, distrustful, full of vitriol and spite. Then...it happened anyway. Those expectations, they dictated everything about me.”

“And me?”

“You defied your tragedies, recovered from them. You think yourself charming, romantic, sentimental - the hero of whatever story you’re trying to tell. And you have your issues, too, but they don’t exist in the forefront of your being. Not like mine. This...this isn’t me trying to say you haven’t suffered, or that my suffering justifies my behavior, but that this isn’t some magical moment in which we both find whatever it is we’re looking for. We aren’t going to be able to solve each other’s problems, just like that.”

Peter swallowed, sinking a little into himself. “You’re perceptive, y’know that?”

“I prefer ‘analytical’,” she said, straightening up. “Do you understand what I’m trying to get at, Peter?”

“The way I see it, you like to over-complicate things. And I like to over-simplify ‘em,” he shrugged, turning to look at her. “You find a million reasons why something won’t work. I just need one reason that it will.”

“There was a...language teacher here before. He had a talent for all sorts of topics - grammar, poetry, short stories, the like. But he had a particular affinity for analytical reading,” Gamora murmured. “We were...involved. He loved to tell me how I would read as a character in a story - the tragic heroine who overcame her past. But he was wrong. I never did. I still relive it, over and over again. It was his misunderstanding of me that ultimately ended our relationship.”

“Okay, I get it, I won’t try to put labels on you,” Peter muttered. “I mean, what do I know?”

“You’re more accurate than he ever was, actually.” Gamora shot him a small smile. “I like being friends with you and Mantis. It’s a comfort compared to every other relationship I’ve had in my life. But that doesn’t mean we need to fundamentally change each other’s lives to be...important.”

“Important, hey?” He cracked a smile of his own. “All that to say that I’m important to you?”

“Peter - ”

“I got it,” he nodded, the knot in his stomach slowly untwisting. If anything, he could appreciate her bluntness, though he was a little disheartened. “For what it’s worth, sorry if it felt like I was pressurin’ you to be anything, really. Holidays make me weirdly sentimental.”

“Speaking of…” Gamora got to her feet, gesturing towards the door. “If you’re ready to go, I have a few ideas for some events we could have in the new year that I could leave you with on the way out.”

He grinned, standing as well. “Walk with me.” ______

“You’re wearing holes in the carpet.”

Gamora turned away from the window, half-glancing over her shoulder across the room at Nebula, who was sprawled across the couch, her feet kicked up on the coffee table like the furniture was theirs. They were in a hotel in the heart of the city, surrounded by nothing but towering skyscrapers and the rush of life and sound bustling below. “They don’t usually take this long. What’s keeping them?”

“You ask as if they care to keep us informed,” Nebula said, rolling her eyes. “We are nothing more than a footnote in their agenda. I doubt they even remembered they were supposed to come back for us.”

Then, a knock on the door. Gamora smiled triumphantly, crossing the room to open it and greet the two Nova officers stood on the other side. “We’re ready for you,” one of them said, gesturing for her and Nebula to follow.

They went down the hallway into the largest suite on the floor, a room they’d never entered before, with high-vaulted ceilings and plush furniture, a contrast to the decent, but sparse-looking room they had been set up in. The most interesting thing in the room, however, was Nova Prime, sat on the fainting couch, with a spread of documents and files across the table before her, flanked by blank-faced officers. She barely glanced up when they entered.

“Sit,” she ordered kindly, but firmly. Gamora and Nebula sat opposite her in narrow armchairs, exchanging confused glances. “You’re wondering why I’m here, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Gamora said cautiously. “We haven’t seen you since we were children.”

“We’ve done these evaluations every year since we first found you. Every single time, we see improvements, setbacks, some drastic, some minor. All normal, all healthy. You’ve adjusted remarkably well compared to some others we’ve met with similar stories. So I thought I would go over your results and talk to you myself, and maybe...this could be the last time.” Nova Prime smiled.

“Okay,” Gamora nodded, swallowing. She could feel her heart beating in her throat.

“I’ll be blunt since I don’t think the three of us are the type to tiptoe around the subject. You two almost seem wasted in civilian life. You’ve got a lot of skills and knowledge that would guarantee excellent results in far more ambitious career paths. Teaching is an admirable job, of course, but I can’t imagine they appreciate your talents as they are, Gamora.”

“That’s...kind of you to say, but I have no desire to become an officer, or a spy, or whatever it is you think would suit me better. When I decided to become a teacher, it was because I wanted to be as far away from my old life as possible. I wanted to be a positive influence on children when I had none myself,” Gamora said.

“And I understand that. Your trauma has made those kinds of occupations and lifestyles unpalatable for you both. I thought I would just mention it, but we can move right along,” Nova Prime replied, her expression softening. “There haven’t been any incidents of any sort, violent or otherwise. You’ve been seeing your therapists when needed. It also says here you’ve made friends this past year, correct?”

“Yes,” Gamora repeated. “They’re mostly work friends, but Nebula and I have been spending time with them outside of my work hours.”

“That’s good to hear,” Nova Prime smiled. “You work, you socialize, you engage in self-care...and your transcripts, especially Gamora’s, they’re insightful. Your reflections are the kind of thing we like to see, though I hope you’re not getting too lost in your own thoughts.” Gamora thought back to two weeks ago, sitting beside Peter in his classroom, lying to him about how much he already meant to her in the last few months. She wondered if she should - or even could - keep up such pretenses forever. Then Nova Prime turned to Nebula, who was fixing her with a steely-eyed glare. “Do you feel that you’re unfit to work, Nebula?”

“I feel...that I am unfit to do anything other than what I was built for.” Gamora looked at Nebula in shock.

“You weren’t built, Nebula, you were made,” Nova Prime said quietly. “I’m not saying you have to live your life the way Gamora does or anyone does. But your sister has expressed concern over your wellbeing many times, especially during the last few evaluations, and I just - ”

“I would like to go one day without hearing about what my sister wants for me,” Nebula growled.

Nova Prime sat back, glancing over at one of the other officers, who wordlessly began to write something down. “Then I only have one more question for you both, and then we can finish up here. Are you...happy?”

“No,” Nebula said shortly. She stood and promptly stormed out. One officer moved to grab her, but Nova Prime silently held up her hand to stop him.

Gamora could feel pressure building in her chest, her breath coming in short. “Happiness isn’t as simple as you make it sound, Nova Prime. But if we’re speaking in general terms...I think I am. And that’s the best I can do for myself right now.”

“Okay.” Nova Prime’s smile seemed a little sadder now. “You’re free to go.”

“Is this the last one?” Gamora was almost afraid to ask.

“No, I...I don’t think so.”

Gamora returned to an empty hotel room, though she had a sneaking suspicion Nebula had gone downstairs to the hotel bar. She sat at the foot of her bed, ruminating over everything that had happened over the last few hours. The year’s end, while a time of celebration for most people, was a whirlwind of anxiety and emphasized loneliness for Gamora, knowing that their psychological evaluations were to be done. Between Gamora’s need for order and Nebula’s tendency for chaos, it usually took weeks for them to return to some semblance of peaceful co-existence. For now, it was like their childhood all over again - right at each other’s throats.

Then, she remembered what Nova Prime had said about her specifically, about letting herself get caught up in her own doubts. It sounded like someone else she knew. “Million reasons or one,” she whispered to herself, reaching for her phone.

“Gamora? Are you actually calling me, or did you mean to call Mantis?”

“I mean no offense to her and her abilities, but I’ve already had enough people telling me how I feel today,” Gamora said wryly.

“So then...what’s up?” She could hear the vague shuffling of Peter moving around, likely so he could sit. For a brief moment, she imagined him getting comfortable in the living room among the scraps of supplies she hadn’t managed to clean up before leaving his place a week ago. “And wait, what people?”

“Nebula and I are evaluated on a yearly basis for our psychological health, after everything that had happened to us. We speak to experts, let them poke and prod us like lab experiments. They asked about motivation...intention. Wanting to know that we think the way other people do, that we can still be a part of society like everyone else. I mentioned how I had a...friend, who said I tend to overcomplicate everything.”

“Sounds like someone important,” Peter teased. There was a pause. Somehow, it was like he could sense her glaring through the phone. “Sorry, yeah, go on.”

“You talked about how you’ve been learning a lot from me, but I haven’t put in the effort to do the same for you. So...I’m going to try and learn when I don’t have to think about every last detail, every single outcome. I don’t need to worry about what our students think is going on between us, or what people think when they see me and my sister in the store, or what my parents would think of me if they saw me now.” Ironically, she hesitated. “I decided I didn’t need a reason to call you. Other than the fact that I wanted to.” Gamora hugged her knees into her chest, feeling as if she’d said something extraordinarily intimate.

His breath hitched. “Okay. I like the sound of that. What did you wanna talk about?”

“Anything that will help me forget that my sister is fifteen floors below me, drowning in alcohol and self-hatred. That, if I go and try to talk to her, it will do nothing but make everything worse.” She sighed. “Tell me about your time with the Ravagers. Or maybe your time with your mother. Something...happy.”

“Oh, I got stories,” Peter chuckled. “You got time?” ______

The first day back felt strange, to say the least. A new year always implied new beginnings, and yet, Peter felt like nothing had changed. The weather was still bitterly cold, the door handles still squeaked, his boots still needed to be replaced, and his room smelled vaguely of cleaning supplies, just barely masking the smell of stale, poorly maintained instruments.

Stranger still, he found thirty sets of eyes following him across the room while he set his bag down. “Hey, guys, how was your break?” he asked, turning to look at them.

“Good,” they chorused.

“Mister Peter, did you have a good break?”

“Yeah, I did. Miss Mantis and I went on a little vacation together to a resort planet. Got myself a nice tan.” He held out his arm to show them, though he suspected they had something else on their mind. “So what’s with the funny looks? Did I forget to wear pants today?” Peter glanced downward, hopping exaggeratedly back and forth on his feet. The class laughed, but they were clearly still distracted.

“Some of the other kids said they saw you and Miss Gamora underneath the mis’letoe on the last day of school,” one of them exclaimed. “Is that true?”

Peter abruptly came to a stop, his feet slamming against the floor. “I wanted to talk to her, we just happened to be standing under it. That’s not...we aren’t...c’mon, guys, we got better things to be doin’. Grab your stuff and let’s start the lesson, okay?”

“Do you like her, Mister Peter?”

He ducked to start rifling through his bag for the handouts he was looking for, his back turned towards them so they couldn’t see the way his face was burning with more than mild embarrassment. “I said, let’s start the lesson.”

“So you do like her,” another student concluded.

“No, no I don’t,” Peter said far too quickly, straightening up. He sighed, rubbing at his temples. He was starting to see why Gamora was so against the idea of a publicly-known friendship. “I mean, I like her, she’s my friend and all...let’s not do this today, guys, c’mon. Take a handout, pass ‘em around, and let’s start with our break assignment. Anyone wanna share their song with the class?” The children looked disgruntledly at him, dead silence filling the room. “Anyone?”

“Did you find a song, Mister Peter?”

Peter threw his hands up in the air in defeat, settling down in his chair. “Fine, fine, I’ll start.” He reached for his Walkman and pressed play, keeping the volume low so they could still hear him. “So, while I was on vacation, Miss Mantis and I were talking about family. You know how we were both adopted by Principal Yondu, right?” They nodded, sitting forward eagerly. “So we thought of all the good times we had with him, and I also thought about my mom. All the fun and cool and wonderful things we got to experience together...and some of the things that we never will.”

Where were you when I was just seventeen?...searching for you in each and every dream...

I needed you those wasted years between...where were you all of my life?...

It wasn’t until Clementine approached him with a tissue that Peter realized he’d started to cry, his eyes burning hot with tears as they threatened to roll down his face. “Don’t cry, Mister Peter,” she said sadly. “Your song was s’posed to make you happy.”

“I am happy,” Peter promised, accepting the tissue with a grateful smile. “I just miss her, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry we asked you about Miss Gamora,” she continued. Clementine glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the class, who nodded in agreement. “We just saw you spending lots of time together and talking and stuff, and...we just always wanted Miss Gamora to have a friend. And now you’re here.”

“That’s okay. It’s good to be curious. Just not too curious, alright?” Peter squeezed Clementine’s shoulder before sending her back to her seat, wiping his eyes and nose in haste. “We all know Miss Gamora likes her privacy, so don’t go askin’ her, either.”

“Okay,” they said reluctantly, though their faces were brighter than before. Hopeful, almost.

Peter smiled. “Good. Okay, so who wants to go next?”

a/n: As I've said before, it's not a long-ish Peter/Gamora fic from me until I've taken a detour into Gamora and Nebula's relationship, too. This also somehow turned into my first Christmas-themed fic of the year, whoops! The next part will be focused on the spring semester and a certain end-of-the-year school dance ;)

Speaking of, the last part of this fic will be posted on the last Friday of November! The song at the end of this chapter was Where Were You All Of My Life by Bobby Vinton, which, pointless fun fact, I've been trying to fit into a fic since I was writing the second chapter of everybody wants to rule the world. Thank you so much for reading, comments and kudos would be much appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed :)

[blackthornroot]

Haven’t Done One of These in About a Year Let’s See How it Goes...

So while I’ve been away in college I’ve been on a secret mission in an underground laboratory with the Metalborgs, known across the world as over-zealous, justice-obsessed maniacs who would always use their full force, even when, and I quote, “hunting small fry” and clearly valued power above all else.

But now I’ve found a way to reform the Metalborgs into the Kind Borgs.  Robots that are considerate of people and the environment.

With these new Friends at my side, I set out for a large gathering of fellow nerds with one objective in mind, “convert everyone to the side of justice.”  The side objective was to brutally murder anyone who was not in line with these ideals, but let’s not talk about that...

So anyway, the mission was simple enough:  Win 5/7 Games of Cardfight Vanguard in order to make enough friends to be allowed to make it to Day #2, where I could make more friends and get to the Top 8/16/whatever.  Sounds easy, right?  Well let’s see how the Kind Borgs held up against the very mean-spirited forces that live in New Jersey:

But first, a word on Metalborgs (since not only is the deck old as fuck and nowhere near tier 1/1.5, but I’m not exactly running a standard strategy either):

Metalborgs rely on an outdated gimmick, “Guard Restrict.”  Their bosses make it so the enemy can’t guard with G1 or higher cards from their hand when said bosses attack (so basically, no PGs, but guarding with triggers, intercepts, and special cases like guarding from soul/deck are still allowed).  This sounds cool and possibly menacing when combined with Commander Laurel and a crit trigger or two, but keep in mind that these days the better G-Guards let players no-pass 30K columns for 1CB.  G-Guards are also unaffected by the Guard Restrict (since they technically come out of the Extra Deck).

So what I’ve done is make a rush deck that can sit on G2 against the meta (every meta deck sans Blasters was GB reliant to a fault at the time of writing this), but also can reach the late game against less threatening opponents (Even though the opponent can G-Guard, they can only do it 4 times max in a game.  So theoretically if I can punch through all 4 I can win pretty easily after that).

Anyway, I’ll post the decklist first with brief explanations of cards in case you care:

Starter: Metalborg, Locobattler (into soul -> +6K to VG if in legion, +3K otherwise).

Triggers: 5X Crit (4 of which have the same effect as the starter). 7X Draw 4X Heal

G1: 16: 4X Commander Laurel (if VG hits rest 4 RGs to restand VG) 4X Metalborg, X-Blaise (10K attacker) 4X Dimensional Robo, Daishield (Old PG (the kind that can guard RGs).  Some of my RGs need protection and I don’t use CB that much.) 2X Metalborg, Death Blade (SB1 -> +5K to VG). 2X Cosmic Hero, Grand Police (Vanilla 8K).

G2: 13: 4X Metalborg, Ur Buster (Legion Mate to main boss, RG Skill: on-legion -> +4K to VG + “When VG attack hits a VG, kill 1 RG.”  The effect stacks if I have multiple Ur Busters on the field.) 3X Metalborg, Diggerion (Vanilla 10K) 3X Metalborg, Lionetter (12K attacker) 3X Metalborg, Blacking Barrow (Is an 11K body permanently if my VG is in legion.  CB1 + Move into Soul -> When Legion VG attacks, give +11K to VG). The G1+G2 lineup is the way it is for early aggression.  Triggers are to maintain survive-ability and help draw into Laurel/PGs/the G3s.

G3: 4: 4X Metalborg, Sin Buster (Legion: If it’s power is >= 20K (after boost) and attack hits a VG, draw 1.  It it’s in Legion and it’s power is >= 30K (after boost), opponent can’t guard with G1s or higher from hand.  He’s the win condition/finishing blow, obviously.  The G2 rush is to force the opponent to drop all their triggers to guard.)

Strides: 2X Hyper Metalborg, Guilt Digger (No I’m not making that name up.  Effect = “Persona Flip -> search your deck for up to one card that legions with your heart and perform legion in your heart.  Then draw 1.“  Saves me the trouble of wasting a turn legion-ing if I don’t want to).

4X Hyper Metalborg, Heavy Duke (CB2 -> On-Attack, pay the cost.  Opponent can’t guard with G1s or higher from hand.  If the attack hits, draw 1 (draw 2 if heart is in legion).).

2X Super Cosmic Hero, X-tiger (+4K for each face-up card in G-Zone.  Gains a crit if power >= 45K).

G Guards: I run more than 4 G-Guards because Metalborgs have no good strides and the entire point of the deck is invalidating the opponent’s PGs so the regular D-Police strides aren’t worth running. 4X Enigman Patriot (+5K if opponent’s attack is >= 20K) 2X Super Cosmic Hero, X-carivou (+10K if opponent’s attack is >= 30K) 2X Dizmel

ROUND 1: Kind Borgs Vs. Fanservice Mermaids (Bermuda Triangle: Harmony):

Opponent was a kind/polite yet slightly disinterested girl (I chalked it up to either being dragged along by her SO or being tired from a potentially long car ride (some people drive like 5+ hours to come to these things on the day of the competition)).  She had no idea about the overwhelming power of friendship and love that the Metalborgs had in store for her, so she guarded early.

Needless to say when I explained how Sin Buster worked she knew she was toast.  GG.

WIN!  Record: 1-0

ROUND 2: Kind Borgs Vs. Dino DNA (Tachikaze: Dogma):

Opponent was a jovial fat man.  Very loudly proclaimed his moves for all to hear.  I might sound like I was annoyed by this, but I found it hilarious.  I rushed the shit out of him by giving him all of the justice he could handle, pushing him to 5 by turn 3.  He responded by denouncing my kindness by striding and triple driving 3 Heal Triggers.  Of course.  My death was long and agonizing after that point.  Dogma is strong when you’re actually able to live long enough to use it.

LOSE! Record: 1-1

ROUND 3: Kind Borgs Vs. Nova Grappler (Victor):

This opponent, along with the girl I played Round 1, were the only “normal” people I played all day.  The guy decided to have a G2 duel with me.  Little did he know I was slowly but surely sniping his G2s and taking the triggers out of his hand.  I was eating a lot of pain too though, since he knew enough to dive on my RGs constantly.  Eventually, I was backed into enough of a corner that I had to ride to G3 and Stride.  I explained what Hyper Metalborg, Heavy Duke (read effect above) did to him at least 4 times, and he clearly read the card, but he didn’t understand that, on my second attack, he was allowed to guard with whatever he wanted (since I couldn’t pay CB2 a second time).  So he ended up dead with 9 cards still in his hand.  Serves the guy right for casually disregarding my deck I guess.

WIN! Record: 2-1

ROUND 4: Kind Borgs Vs. DINO DNA 2: Electric Boogaloo (Tachikaze: Dogma):

Opponent was 100% neckbeard.  Probably left his fedora at home.  The Kind Borgs began to become frustrated that they had yet to face a meta deck so far today (i.e. Blasters, Luard, Gears, Messiahs, etc.).  So frustrated in fact, that they decided to be decidedly unkind, giving me a trigger-heavy hand and damage check two of my G3s in a row on turn 2.

My opponent was able to capitalize on my being grade stuck by throwing his whole hand down on turn 3 and murdering me.  Ow...

LOSE! Record: 2-2

ROUND 5: Kind Borgs Vs. Murakumo (No clue what this deck was supposed to be, honestly):

Well shit, there were still 3 round to go and I couldn’t afford to lose a single one...  Hopefully love and justice won’t die just yet...

Opponent was another jovial fat man who wouldn’t stop talking about Sailor Moon with the girls that were playing in the game next to ours.  Slightly unsettling behavior but whatever, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was just getting his weeb on.  I have no idea what his Murakumo deck was supposed to do, but the basic strategy revolved around effects that went off if I guarded his attacks.

How do I beat a deck that does things if I guard?  Humm...  Well, I no-guarded his attacks, got to 4 damage, and used Heavy Duke to murder his face (like my round 1 opponent, he early guarded, clearly not being acquainted with the power of justice).  Justice Prevails.

Win! Record: 3-2

ROUND 6: Kind Borgs Vs. Luard:

2 rounds to go...  Come on cards I blew money on a two-night hotel stay don’t let me down yet...

Opponent was a overly extroverted girl who piloted the deck as if it was borrowed.  She was friendly though, if not uncomfortably so...

This is honestly the only game where I made an actual mistake/misplay all day (guess it was late).  After getting pushed to 5 by nothing but enemy crit triggers (she called no RGs for the entire early game), I noticed that:

A:  She was at 4, since my rush had been going pretty well. B:  Out of the 6 cards in her hand, I knew 5 (Crit, Crit, Abyssal Owl, PG, Macha, Mystery Card). C:  She’d damage checked a heal and a crit already, so there were only 3 heals and 9 crits not yet revealed. D:  If I went all-in and G-Assisted out a Sin Buster, I had the resources to pump it to 37K, so the absolute best she’d be able to guard for would be 31K as long as the last mystery card wasn’t a heal trigger (if it was another crit it’d be a 41K guard, a 1-to-pass).

So, thinking the odds were decently in my favor (and since I couldn’t ride another G2 over my current Vanguard to prevent myself from being Sea-Breezed), I went all-in, betting basically the entire tournament on my opponent not having a heal/crit in hand.

Let me just say that this was a mistake not because of the gambling aspect.  It’s because historically I personally have absolutely terrible luck in RNG scenarios like this. 85% chance to hit in Fire Emblem?  Miss; 6 triggers in an 8 card deck?  Twin Drive -> G3, G3; Etc.

So I went all-in but her mystery card was a conveniently placed G-Guard.  At that moment I realized I was dead.  Spectral Diablo was happy to introduce my face to the pavement.

LOSE!  Record 3-3!

MISSION FAILURE!  UNACCEPTABLE LOSS COUNT!

And so ends another episode in the saga of me playing card games.  Reviewing my notes from previous years attendance was decently down this year:

Reference (I missed singles regionals in Fall 2016 because I was too busy with school):

2015 Singles: At least 498 Players (I was badge #498 and we got to the event pretty close to the end of registration) 2016 Teams: At least 210 Teams (I was on team #210.  Again my team was basically the last one to sign up.  We get to these things a bit last-minute...).  210 Teams X 3 Players/Team = 630 Players.  A bit unreliable since people always drag along their SOs to fill slots of teams.

2017 Singles: We got there with 5 minutes before registration closed.  I was player #451.

So a slight downturn in attendance from 2 years ago but nothing suggesting the game is dying.  Luck and Logic, a dead game, had a whopping 16 players competing, for comparison.

@dragonstoneplus had a much better go of things than I, she made it to Round 7 before losing her 3rd game.

Some random kid from our shop who plays Novas (Victor) cleared Day 1.  He’s probably wrapping up his performance as I write this.  I wonder if he actually managed to top... (He’s pretty good, but can’t really put up a fight against my teammates and I when we’re actually trying)