chapter i.
SOUR LOSER
THE NIGHT SKY and street signs gleamed through the dirty windows and bathed them in pale moonlight and vibrant neons as the six strangers sitting at the table eyed each other with deciphering stares. Each of them held a set of cards, a pile of credits stacked up in the center of the table, the amount enough to make even a rich man sweat. The air held a thick tension as Astrea Voss eyed her cards with an expressionless face.
Straight flush.
She was sure to win.
Taking a handful of her credits, Astrea placed them in the center of the table, accepting the bet made by one of the other players.
The man across from her who reeked of the strongest liquors stared her down, his red eyes narrowing as he tried to decipher her expression. But Astrea was smart. She has been hustling people in card games since she learned to walk and would never dare show emotion while playing a game. Especially not as profitable a match as this one. But poor ole Jered Harnin never could learn to pick up on how she played, no matter how many games she played with the drunken fool. She winked in the Xandarian's direction before flicking her gaze elsewhere and waiting for the host to announce the end of the game.
A few moments passed before the host spoke up and each player took turn laying out their cards for everyone to see and when Astrea's cards were revealed, the room filled with a series of groans and curses.
"Yes!" cheered Peter Quill from over her shoulder. He let out a victorious laugh and leaned down to place a sloppy kiss on her cheek, which caused her to grin. He loved watching her win. It filled him with pride to watch her show the world that his girlfriend wasn't just another pretty face they could hustle.
Jered glared at her, yellow cheeks burning red with frustration from losing to the woman once more. Astrea tossed him a wink as she rose from her chair.
"Well, it's been a pleasure winning, gentlemen," she grinned, rising to her feet and sliding the pile of credits across the table and into her money pouch. "But I'm afraid that will be all for me tonight. A lady must get her beauty sleep."
Astrea grabbed her glass and took a long swig while leaning into Peter's side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed a kiss to her temple as they approached the bar where a few of the Ravagers were seated, some flirting, some laughing, some so drunk they could barely balance themselves on their barstools.
"That never gets old," Peter sighed.
"What doesn't?"
"Seeing the looks on their faces when a woman shows them up," Peter glanced over his shoulder when they reached the bar to see their expressions again. He couldn't help the laugh that fell from his lips. "Look at how pissed they are."
Astrea took a seat on a barstool and held her glass out toward the barkeep for a refill, before she turned and looked toward the table she just left. A few of the men were talking in hushed whispers and Jered had disappeared, no doubt to drink the night away like he was known to do. She grinned at their sour expressions.
She dismissed him with a wave of her hand, "Ah, let them be pissed." Astrea lifted her glass in a toast, clinking it with Peter's before downing it quickly and grimacing as it burned her throat on the way down. "Maybe they shouldn't assume that women can't play games. Then they won't feel like I have hurt their pride when they've lost."
"I don't think any of them will make the same mistake twice."
Astrea snorted. "I beg to differ." She thanked the barkeep as he refilled their glasses. "I've lost count of how many times I've played with Jered Harnin now, and yet, he still hasn't learned that he will never beat me."
"Suppose you're right."
"I'm always right, Quill, you should know this by now," she replied, downing her glass in seconds with a grimace.
A soft smiled curved on Peter Quill's face as he watched her use the back of her hand to wipe away the alcohol that lingered on her lips, and even the simple action was enough to make his heart flutter. "You're amazing, you know that?"
"I do," nodded Astrea. She leaned her cheek against her fist and met his gaze. "But you can tell me again, if you'd like."
They held each other's gaze for the longest moment, their stares turning from soft to lustful in a matter of seconds and it was like no one else was in the bar and it was just the two of them. Peter felt all the air leave his lungs as her free hand reached out to pull him closer by the loop of his pants.
"You are . . . "
Peter leaned down, placing a delicate kiss upon her lips.
" . . . the most . . . "
Another kiss.
" . . . amazing woman . . . "
Another kiss.
" . . . in the entire galaxy."
"Mm, I like the way you say that," Astrea grinned against his mouth. She grasped the front of his maroon jacket and went to pull him in for an even deeper kiss, tired of the small pecks and craving something more, when he was suddenly pulled away and she was left to kiss the air. A frustrated sigh fell from her lips as she eyed the blue hand that had interrupted their intimate moment.
"Quill, I need to have a talk with ya, boy," slurred Yondu, not even acknowledging what he had interrupted as he wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulders and stumbled away with him.
"Guess I'll be right back," she heard Peter mutter under his breath as Yondu whisked him away.
Astrea frowned and turned back to face the barkeep, lifting her hand to signal for another refill. She had time to finish two more glasses before Peter returned, and by then she felt all the alcohol she had consumed tonight taking effect. Suddenly, the loud music was too loud, and the temperature had risen. She rubbed at her temples and pushed away her glass, deciding that she was done drinking for the night.
"So, what did Yondu want?" She asked, turning to face him.
"Apparently, Yondu wants to collect that orb he never shuts up about tomorrow. He finally found someone called the Broker that is willing to pay a pretty penny for it," Peter explained. "Yondu wants me to leave first thing in the morning to retrieve it."
A pout formed on Astrea's face. "Just you?"
"Just me," he confirmed. "The rest of you will finish our deal with Kedrin in the morning and meet up with me on Morag after."
"And I suppose this means you'll be turning in for the night then?"
"Well, the thought had crossed my mind, to be honest. Then I figured─"
"Just shut up and kiss me, Quill," she interrupted, grasping the front of his maroon jacket and pulling him close. Astrea felt him exhale against her mouth, his words becoming lost on her lips as the liquor fueled her passion and she wrapped her arms around his neck, curling her fingertips into his copper hair.
A few moments passed before Peter pulled away and met her gaze. With a lustful gaze, he left some credits for the barkeep before taking his girlfriend's hand and leading her out of the bar. They stumbled through the streets like two teenagers, stealing kisses and tugging each other close as they made their way toward the Milano, breathless laughs falling from their lips and their eyes crinkling as they grinned at each other.
And then her boyfriend collapsed.
"Peter!" She gasped, watching with wide eyes as he fell at her feet.
Peter groaned and stared up at her through blurred vision, a throbbing pain stabbing at the back of his skull.
"Move an inch and I kill him," threatened Jered as the barrel of a blaster gun was trained on her boyfriend's head.
Astrea narrowed her eyes in his direction, feeling her heart ram against her chest. Suddenly, she was dead sober. "What, tired of losing so you've come to rob me, Jered? Are you that much of a sour loser?"
"Sore loser," Peter groaned.
"What?"
"You said 'sour loser' . . . it's sore loser."
She shook her head in disbelief. "Are you seriously correcting my vocabulary right now?"
"I'm just saying─"
"Enough!" Jered shouted, stopping what he knew was bound to be an argument. He stared between them in exhaustion, fed up with the entire nights events. "Now, hand over the credits, Voss, unless you want to say goodbye to your boyfriend."
"I have a better idea."
In the blink of an eye, Astrea pulled her dagger out from her jacket and hurled it in his direction. It embedded itself in Jered's foot and the man screamed in pain while hobbling on one foot, giving Astrea time to charge. She tackled him to the ground, which caused Jered to pull the trigger and shoot at the ground near her boyfriend's head. She was quick to roll off his body and reclaim her dagger before rising to her feet. By now, Peter had regained his bearings and claimed Jered's weapon.
They both towered over him, dagger and blaster aimed for the kill.
"Don't move," Peter ordered.
"So, how shall this end, Jered?" said Astrea.
A long moment passed before the man realized his defeat and laid back against the ground with a sigh. "I think I'd like to go home now."
"I think that's for the best."
"And don't even think about trying to come after her again, do you hear me? You'll be dead before you lay a hand on her. Got it?"
Astrea felt her stomach flutter, and she flicked her gaze from Jered to Peter as she watched her boyfriend's finger curl around the trigger, waiting for the Xandarian to give him a reason to pull the trigger for even attempting to rob her and kill him. She always loved it when Peter swept in to play her hero, even if she did most of the work this time.
When Jered remained silent, Peter repeated his words even louder to show how angry he was. "Got it?"
"Got it," Jered was quick to echo.
"Good," Peter said. He turned and threw Jered's blaster down a dark alley, "now get out of here and don't ever let me see your face again."
Without another glance toward the yellow-skinned Xandarian, Peter took his girlfriend's hand and led her toward the Milano. When they were on board, he switched on the power and closed the hatch before turning to face her with concern.
"You okay?"
Astrea raised a brow. "Me? I'm not the one who was knocked over the head with a blaster." She forced Peter to sit down as she examined the back of his head. "Well, it's not bleeding. That's a good sign."
"Are you sure there isn't any blood?" Peter asked, lifting a hand to touch the bad of his head. "Hurts like hell."
"Postive," Astrea replied, running her fingers through his cooper hair as she moved to sit on his lap. "If anything, there'll be a bump by morning. Still, it isn't as worse than the time you needed stitches from our deal gone wrong at the Kharrulian market. Maybe this time someone will have finally knocked some sense into you."
"Haha."
Astrea bit her to keep her laughter in but it soon came bursting out anyway, her nose crinkling up in the way Peter Quill always thought was adorable and made her resemble something called a chipmunk.
He tried to keep his composer and glare up at her, but her laughter was too adorable that Peter couldn't help but crack a smile. "Shut up."
"Never," she grinned.
a/n: oof they're so soft it kills me 🥺 anyways, i hoped you liked the first chapter and it wasn't too boring for you! also, i'm not sure if people in space know what poker is but for the sake of this fic they at least know some form the card game 🤷🏼♀️ btw jered harnin and kedrin odair aren't important characters at all. jered is just some lousy drunk who wanted to rob astrea and kedrin is someone the ravagers were hired by the day before. (you'll find out about what they were hired to do by kedrin in the next chapter.) i've decided to create this kedrin person that way yondu has a better reason to send peter to morag alone before they're supposed to join him and leave together. but, obviously, that won't happen because when they arrive on morag to meet up with peter he is gone and so is the orb. ✨ as always please let me know what you think of this story! i love to hear your guys' thoughts 💕
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