Chapter Text
The major issue with so many races trading and travelling was, unsurprisingly, trying to work out what food was safe for which race to eat. These days, unless you were on your homeworld or a major colony, every kitchen came equipped with a food analyzer to prevent accidental poisoning.
The Milano was no different. Considering the sheer differences in physiology, it was a wonder that their food was as comparable as it was.
Gamora and Rocket, due to their extensive modifications, could safely consume most standard foods from the major population centres, such as Xandar or the Kree homeworld and if they did happen to eat anything indigestible their cybernetics would work to purge it from their system. Not a pleasant activity for either of them, but it was certainly better than Drax's reaction.
The last time the Destroyer ate something that didn't agree with him, he had laid on his bunk for a few days, his teammates straining their engines to get him to the nearest hospital. Since then there was a wordless agreement between the four remaining Guardians that they would run any new food through the analyzer before allowing Drax anywhere near it.
Groot, unsurprisingly, was the least amount of hassle to feed. All he needed was clean water, the occasional chance to root himself planetside and on special occasions a few fruits. (Peter once asked Rocket what was so special about fruits. The explanation about Tree reproductive habits made him slightly green for a few days.) But even his resilience only went so far and once or twice the team had to aggressively remove a parasitic plant that had taken root somewhere around their friend's body.
But Peter was, in the eyes of his team, unstoppable. He would be barely on the surface of a new planet before he was tossing strange fruits and cured meats in his mouth without a care. Even foods that the rest of the civilized portions of the Galaxy would have considered unpalatable at best and downright toxic at worst.
The most memorable example being the time they had to "borrow" a slavers escape pod when their infiltration was discovered, leading to an all out fire fight and the guidance system shot to hell. The pod was well stocked... For one person. Rationing would see them through two, maybe three weeks during the time it would take Groot and the Milano to pick them up.
Peter had already shoved his share back into the storage compartment before wandering off, reassuring his team he would be back later with something to boost their supplies. While this was strictly true, it didn't have the reaction he had hoped for.
- - - - - - - - -
Rocket, Gamora and Drax stared wordlessly as their captain lifted one of the... One of the morsels' he had gathered in the wilderness of the current uncharted world they had found themselves stuck on, visibly wincing at the loud cracks and crunches as he bit down.
"Quill. What. The Flark. Are you eating?" The shortest member of their team recoiled as Peter held out the broad leaf plate/basket he had constructed, giving a low chuckle.
"Relax Ranger Rick, its all good, solid protein... Pretty much no fat too." Rocket scowled and wordlessly lifted his portion of the Ration Brick to his mouth, roughly biting off a chunk.
"But friend Quill... Surely... The threat of toxins did not give you pause" Drax avoided looking at the pile the Terran had gathered, tubbing a damp finger along the interior of his now empty ration container, gathering loose crumbs. Peter just gave a good natured chuckle.
"Actually, I found out in the Ravagers that hardly anything considered toxic that didn't come from Earth affects me. They treated it as some sorta game... "what can't the kid eat?". Turns out, next to nothing, so long as its not raw meat." He tossed another into his mouth and crunched before grinning.
"Hey, that one tasted of Pecans!"
Gamora turned her face aside, looking more green than usual, if that were possible. Meals were usually processed, bland slop or flavourless, texture less cubes and It was only after her recent emancipation that she was able to start enjoying food with flavour and colour. However, she would happily go back to the slop if the only choice were between that and Peter's... Meal.
"That, is one of the most disgusting things I have ever had the misfortune to see. And I witnessed Ronan naked."
The human grinned good naturedly as he lifted one of the longer items, trying to slip the end into his mouth.
"Got a lively one here..."
Gamora shuddered and turned away, almost holding her hands to her ears childishly at the loud slurping from the Terran.
"Hehe. Slimy, yet satisfying..."
Peter didn't see what the big deal was. His team was far more sensitive when it came to their food. He could live off the land here, they couldn't. It made sense to avoid eating the rations they could eat when he had a whole smorgasbord of a planet in front of him.
When it came to supplying the Milano for his new team, he made it a habit to buy whatever he could from their homeworlds if possible, or bulk buy Xandarian nutrient packs when reporting in to the Npva Corp. Turns out saving an entire planet came with some rather generous discounts.
But when it came to feeding himself, he usually went with the cheapest he could find, recognisable or not.
His team deserves it after all. And what didn't kill him...
Peter lifted another bug from the squirming pile he had collected, rolling his eyes a little at his squeamish friends. After this, they had best never make fun of his cheese ( "Rotted bovine lactation? Seriously Quill, ye got issues.. ) ever again.
"Hey, think I could breed these in the ship? They're kinda... More-ish..."
"No!"