Girly

Chapter 12

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Copyright © 2017 Girly
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Chapter 12

“How long are we going to drift?” you ask, lying on the metal grated floor while Kraglin tinkers with some valves and wire.

“Cap’ didn’t say. Why? You bored already?”

It’s been two days since the ship has left the traders planet and you’re already bored. Usually, you pester Kraglin or Yondu when bored, but with Yondu locked away in his room mostly, you’re stuck with your only other choice: the skinny – yet lovable – Xandarian.  

When you only grunt, Kraglin mutters, “Why don’t you go annoy Tulk? Or Wretch? For galaxy’s sake, even Taserface?”

Groaning, you slam your hand down on the floor. “Are you kidding me? Taserface? That ugly … creature?”

Quirking a smile, Kraglin says, “Don’t let him hear that; unlike some of the others, he won’t hesitate to float you.”

You roll your eyes, “He can try, but Yondu won’t let him.”

“You relying on him now?” his tone is light, but you can tell he’s judging you.

Am I? The thought worries you.  

Faking a smile and cocky tone, you tell him, “Nope. Just know I’m useful to him. It’s not like anyone of you guys can lure in wealthy aliens and rob them for some quick units.”

The Ravager pauses, wipes his sweaty brow and looks down at you. “Trust me when I say this: at the end of the day, we are all expendable. Even Yondu.”

Sitting up, you rub your temple slowly with your back turned to him. “I know that all too well. Seen it enough while I was a slave.” More than I care to remember.

Poking you with the toe of his shoe, Kraglin gives you a small smile as you meet his eyes. “Hey, do you want to annoy Yondu?”

You blink, processing his words before grabbing his waist and hoisting yourself up. The man stumbles back, hitting a pipe as he does so. You pretend not to notice the slight blush that tints his cheeks as you look up at him expectantly. “Yes.”

“Well, there’s some orloni on the ship you can catch and throw into Yondu’s room. He’ll be mad, but it’ll be you getting into trouble and not me.”

“Keeping your hands clean this time?” you ask, smirking.

The Ravager’s lips twitch as he points down the corridor, “Just go in the storage room and find some orloni.”

Giving the man a mock salute, you march off, ready to catch some of those little rat dinosaurs.

“You’ll need a box too!”

~~~

After about an hour of trying to bait and catch the little dinosaur bastards, you’ve got four in a small box. They’re screeching as you make your way through the corridors and to Yondu’s room. Without knocking, you walk in to see the blue prick sitting at a desk with papers strewn about. He’s holding a datapad and scowling at the light blue writing on it.

When he doesn’t look up to acknowledge you, you frown, still holding the box.

“Don’t you dare, girly,” the man warns you, his voice gruff.

“Don’t what?”

“That box of space rats. You let them go and I’ll punish ya.”

Smirking, you walk over to him and sit on the desk, the box resting on your lap. “Kraglin gave me the idea. Going to punish him too?”

Ignoring the question, Yondu mutters as he scratches his greying scruff, “That Terran boy is coming here, and he’ll take you for a bit.”

You frown at him. “What?” ‘Take me for a bit?’ Like some dog you don’t want anymore?

Feeling hurt and frustrated, you clench your jaw as he continues, “It’ll be good for you; they have a trash panda for you to play with.”

“Trash panda?”

“Little animal with a black mask, bushy tail.”

“Racoon,” you mumble to yourself. “They’re racoons, not trash pandas.”

“That’s what Quill called him,” Yondu grumbles, only half paying attention to you as he taps away on the datapad. You glance at the glass sheet briefly but can’t read any of the characters on it.

“He’s the Terran you raised, right?”

“Hhmmm.”

He’s not listening to you. He’s done this before, and it never ceases to get on your nerves. Narrowing your eyes at him, you watch his face carefully as you tell him, “I killed Taserface.”

“Hhmmm.”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Hhmmm.”

“It’s Kraglin’s.”

“Hhmmm.”

“And we’re keeping it.”

“Hhmmm.”

Gaping at his behaviour, you snatch the datapad from his hands and throw it across the room. It lands on his bed as the Ravager captain snaps his attention to you and growls, “You should know your place, girl.”

Setting the box down, you stand up and jab a finger in his face. It seems as though you two can never stop fighting; both of your tempers are too easy to ignite. “Know my place, huh? What? The fact that I’m being treated like a fucking dog still? If I wanted to be treated like this, I should have stayed with the slavers! At least there I didn’t have to look at your fucking blue face!”

Rising to his full height, Yondu’s eyes light up as he glares at you. His lips curl back in a sneer as he jabs you in the chest, forcing you to take a step backwards with the force. “Do you want to go back? I can drop your ungrateful ass back on Hala and see how they chain you back up and whip you. Do you want that? Or should I take you to Knowhere and auction you off to the highest bidder? Well then girly?”

Biting the inside of your cheek, you try to hold yourself together. The last few months have been hectic and confusing as you try to figure out the Ravager. Figure him out? The thought makes you pause. Why? Why am I even bothering? Why … why do I care about him? Enough to try and make sense of his life? One minute he’s protecting me and the next he’s treating me like I’m nothing more than his own personal slave.

Pushing the train of thought to the back of your mind, you swallow, forcing down the lump in your throat. “I want to go home.”

“Home?” he echoes, giving you a cold, sharp toothed grin. “There’s no home for someone like you. You’re not a Terran anymore – you’re not a Ravager – and you’re not an alien. So where is ‘home’ then?”

You falter in your response. You’ve never considered yourself a Ravager, but hearing it come from him, hurts you for some reason. You hide it though, slipping on a mask and hardening your mental barriers as you spit with false venom, “Go fuck yourself, old man.”

Not waiting for his retaliation, you knock over the box full of orloni and storm out of the room.

You can hear him yelling at you as the doors slam closed.