Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Good morning.” Her voice made you look up with a start. How did she do that? Nebula was so damn quiet on her feet when she wanted to be.

“Hey, good morning. You scared me.” You laughed, smiling at Nebula.

“I did not mean to scare you.” Nebula said, looking at you intently. She was hard for you to read. You knew she was an assassin who had been tortured by her father and pitted against her sister, always made to feel second best. You imagine that to have left some emotional scars, but ever since she joined the Guardians on this ship, she had been growing kinder.

You remembered being afraid of her the first time you met her. You had heard about her from Peter and Gamora and were shocked when they agreed to let her on the ship. Gamora, as hurt as she was, agreed that her sister deserved a second chance. It had taken time for Nebula to adjust to the idea of having people around her that wanted her there for reasons other than her training.

You sat with Nebula in the small kitchen on the ship for a few minutes, unsure of what to say. You were on this ship often, hired to fit various broken engine parts, and pipes, and anything else the Guardians broke on the regular. This time it was to try to repair the evacuation pods as Peter and Rocket got a bit loaded last week and fired them all off at once, causing havoc to the electrical system. You looked at Nebula as she looked at you, neither of you saying anything. She made you nervous for an entirely different set of reasons now. You thought she was beautiful. Her blue tinted skin and dark eyes. Her long thin frame and the way she carried herself - upright and sure. She was intimidating to be around, but you couldn’t help but be gravitated towards her. You were by no means shy, but you cursed yourself for being unable to speak to pretty girls.

“So, uhm, what are you up to today?” You asked, sticking with an old reliable line to get someone to talk.

“I have my usual duties,” Nebula started, referring to her jobs to report to Peter to do anything he may need, “And then I must speak to Quill and Drax about…something.”

The way she said “something” made the hairs on your arms stand up. Her eyes darkened when she said it.

“Oh, that sounds, very important.” You said, feeling stupid. Why couldn’t you just have a conversation with her?

“Yes. It is.” Nebula said, turning to leave. “I need to go speak to them immediately.”

Nebula left the kitchen quickly, leaving you standing there with your head in your hands wondering why you couldn’t just flirt like a normal person.

The tall, blue and purple skinned woman walked quickly down the hall of the ship, her long legs making little to no noise as she walked with purpose. She made it to the end of the hall and walked into the common area, finding the two men she was looking for. She looked at the two men and tilted her head, studying them. After a moment she approached them and sat down at their table. Both men stopped what they were doing and looked up at her.

“Hello, boys.” Nebula said, repeating a line she had heard her sister use more than once.

“Whoa, what’s up Nebula?” Peter asked, setting down the gun he was cleaning.

Drax continued to eat noisily, but at least looked up and acknowledged her existence.

“I am in need of your assistance.” Nebula said, her voice more robotic than human.

“What do you want, woman who has conspired with Ronan?” Drax asked setting his now empty bowl and turning towards Nebula. His face completely expressionless.

“I need help speaking to someone.” She said.

“If you’re trying to get us to help you steal from someone or start another interplanetary war, forget it. We’re not doing it.” Peter said, putting his gun back together and getting up to move.

Drax nodded and went to stand as well. “I will not help those who killed my family.”

Nebula scowled, looking down at the table and took a deep breath.

“I need to know how to ask a person out.” Nebula said, not looking at either man. “Drax, you were married and Peter you seem to be around different women constantly. You two seemed the best option to approach.”

“You like people?” Peter asked incredulously. “I didn’t know you had feelings!”

“I do Quil. That is one thing my father was unable to remove from me as he tore me apart day by day.” Nebula said, her tone dark.

“Okay, okay. Geez. Calm down. I was joking.” Peter walked back to the table and sat down. “So who do you, ya know, wanna ask out?”

“Y/N. She is most pleasant.” Peter could have sworn he almost saw Nebula smile.

“She is a small and weak Terran woman. Disgusting.” Drax said in a plain tone. “I do not see the appeal. But I suppose that means you really do care for her, if you want to be with someone so ugly.”

“Dude, she’s not ugly.” Peter said, dismissing Drax. “Ignore him. If you really want to ask her out, you gotta learn how to say things that aren’t so…robotic.”

“Ignore Peter, he is only able to keep a woman around for a short amount of time. Clearly his skills with females arelacking.” Drax said. “You must impress her by making a gesture of love.”

“Like?” Nebula asked, looking from Drax to Peter, clearly trying to soak up any information she could.

“Try bringing her a token of your love - a dead animal or a large jewel.” Drax said. “I remember whenever I would need to impress my love, I would kill the largest boar I could find and drag it back to her, dropping it at her sleeping feet. Oh, how she laughed!”

“I don’t think Y/N is into having dead shit dropped on her while she sleeps,” Peter said. “Ignore him. You need to say something smooth to her. Compliment her. Make her know you like how she looks and want to get to know her better.” Peter raised his eyebrows and nodded.

“How does one do this?” Nebula asked, looking intently at Peter as if she was being told the secrets to the universe.

“Just mention things you know about her. Let’s her know you’ve been listening when she’s been talking, chicks like that.” Peter said.

“I remember everything she’s ever said to me. Every word has been a gift.” Nebula said, nodding at Peter.

“Ohhhh-kay.” Peter said, looking at Drax. “Just, maybe don’t be so intense around her, or you’ll scare her off.”

“Your lover fearing you at first can be good.” Drax interrupted. “When I first met my wife she terrified me. She was a vicious warrior who commanded respect. It was amazing. My nether regions became engorged whenever I saw her.”

“Thanks for that, dude.” Peter said “Listen, Nebula, Drax is an idiot. Y/N is from Earth, she isn’t going to want to eat a raw dead animal or do some type of ritual sacrifice. Just ask her if she wants to do something with just the two of you sometime.”

“That seems impossible.” Nebula said. “How can you speak to a woman when you are afraid they will reject you? What do I do if she says no?”

“Ya just gotta accept it.” Peter said, shrugging. “Believe it or not, even I get rejected. Happens.”

Nebula took a deep breath and stood to leave.

“I shall take your words into consideration, thank you boys.” She turned on her heel and left the room abruptly, leaving Drax and Peter to look at each other and shrug.

Nebula left Peter and Drax feeling slightly better and began to formulate a plan. She headed towards Rocket’s room instead of back to the kitchen. When she got there she entered the room without knocking, finding Rocket and Groot leaning over some type of device with wires and gears all over it.

“What the hell is this?” Rocket yelled, clearly annoyed at the intrusion. “Oh great, blue bitch has decided to grace us with her presence.”

Nebula took a step towards Rocket, making him recoil slightly, and peered down at him. “Hand me that soft object you took from the last job you went on, and I won’t break your head in for what you just said to me.”

“Damn, fine, take it. It’s just a stuffed animal.” Rocket said, shaking his head. He reached into the box behind Groot and brought out a small stuffed bear, and handed it to Nebula with a strange expression on his face.

“Thank you. This is perfect.” Nebula said, talking more to herself, before turning to leave.

“I am Groot.” Came a small voice from beside the strange box.

“I know. I didn’t know it could say thanks either.” Rocket said, shrugging before going back to working on his latest invention.

Nebula rushed from Rocket’s room and headed back to the kitchen, but you were not there. She let out a low growl and turned, quickly heading towards the area where the escape pods used to be.

When she found you, she let out a sigh, slowing her strides before approaching you. You noticed her out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at her, and noticed what she was holding in her hands.

“Why do you have that?” You said, gesturing towards the teddy bear in Nebula’s hands. You couldn’t help but laugh at a woman like her holding a stuffed animal.

“It is a gift.” She said quickly. Thrusting her arms out to hand you the bear.

“Thanks? Why?” You said, completely confused. You were happy to take the bear from her, but had no idea what to say or do. So you just held the bear in your hands awkwardly.

“I think you are very attractive. You are also pleasant to be around.” Nebula said, staring you up and down, making you feel self conscious.

“Thank you,” you said laughing nervously. You looked up at her and smiled. God she’s tall. You thought as you met her black eyes. “You’re really pretty too.”

“I know you like food.” Nebula said, the sudden way she spoke making you jump. “I’ve seen you eat.”

“Uhh, okay.” You said unsure as to what was going on. You stood up from your crouching position and took a step towards her.

Nebula didn’t speak for a minute, making you uneasy.

“You’re being weird.” You told her, laughing. You reached out and touched her on the arm, shocked at how soft it was despite how it looked. The coldness of her skin didn’t shock you at all though.

“I also know you like to watch films.” Nebula said, looking down at your hand touching her arm and smirking.

“Yeah, I do.” You were slowly starting to understand what Nebula was trying to do, but you were too afraid to ask her in case she wasn’t. Even though you enjoyed all of the moments you spend with Nebula, you still found her hard to read sometimes.

“Sometimes people eat food and then watch films, so I am told.” Nebula continued, studying your face as if she was looking for confirmation.

“Nebula…” you started, now almost sure what she was trying to do. “Are you trying to ask me on a date?”

“Yes.” Nebula said, she straightened up, and you could tell she was slightly embarrassed. “I was told dates are what you do when you like a person.”

“You like me?” You asked her, you moved your hand on her arm to grab her hand, making Nebula tighten up.

“Yes, I told you. You are pleasant to be around. You are kind to me. And you do not seem to find me grotesque.” Nebula said, her last sentence almost breaking your heart.

“You’re beautiful.” You said, reaching up to take her face in your hands. “And I would love to eat something then watch a movie with you.”

You stood on your toes to plant a soft kiss on her lips, cold yet yielding. Nebula moved forward slightly to return to kiss, but broke it off quickly after, turning her head and smiling.

“I didn’t know assassins blushed.” you said, giggling.

Nebula smiled again and this time it was her who took your hand.

“Are you hungry now?” She asked.

“Yeah, I could eat.” you said, honestly.

“Good. We can start the date immediately.” Nebula started walking down the hall of the ship, leading you outside to find a place to eat.