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Peter Quill, quite frankly, had no idea what was going on.
He’d collected vague threads about the mission and vampires and before sunrise, but all the details in between went over his head.
There was a lot going on in all sorts of different timelines. Peter could not for the life of him tell why he was needed here , on Earth and in New York of all places to fight vampires .
Peter let out a sigh that turned into more of a groan as he spun his office chair away from the red light that streamed in through the window. He raked a hand through his short blond hair in a self-soothing motion, attempting to regain his composure.
He’d been through all kinds of hijinks throughout the various galaxies he’d traveled to. This mission would totally be fiiiiine…
…Such self-reassuring platitudes did nothing to calm the thrumming of anxiety in the Star Lord’s veins.
And the Star Lord doesn’t do anxiety— not in front of other people, if he could help it. (Mantis would always know his feelings, but there were times she could not be around. Like now.)
Staying cooped up in a little room in the Baxter Building wasn’t doing him any favors. Far too antsy to sit still, he donned his visor and slung on his coat before he fiddled with the stupid window for a few minutes before he finally managed to open it without breaking anything, and simply jumped out.
He let himself free fall for a little bit, hoping the thrill would wash away the feeling of apprehension that clung onto him.
It didn’t.
He activated his jet boots quickly before he turned into a paste on the New York streets and glided downward at a leisurely pace until his boots collided with pavement.
As he took a deep breath in, the scent of exhaust from his boots filled his lungs. It did little to ground him as he took in the eerie scene of a cityscape bathed in a sinister crimson curtain.
He’d been to planets with all kinds of different skies. They normally made sense, as a sky is a sort of window that connects a planet to all the rest of the stars and worlds that exist just a voyage away.
But this particular sky was… unnatural. It obscured the familiar pinpricks of light Quill knew he should be able to see.
It boxed him into this world. He felt trapped.
But all he had to do was complete the mission…right?
Then it would all be normal again. The timeline would be saved , or whatever…
He stood at the base of a lone streetlight, spinning his blasters in a repetitive motion. It was normally something he’d do to look cool, but at the moment it was more of a habitual fidget.
“Practicing how to show off in a gunfight or something?” A cold voice asked with a sharp hint of humor.
That wasn’t just any sarcastic tone. It was a vaguely familiar one.
Peter turned around, finding himself face-to-face with glowing blue eyes that glinted out from under a white cloak.
“Oh, if it isn’t Moon Knight!” Peter exclaimed, despite not really knowing the guy all that well. “Came out to see how weird the sky looks tonight?”
“Not exactly. I’m just on patrol.” Moon Knight deadpanned in response.
“Oh. Well you can just carry on with that, or whatever. Not trying to hold you up or anything.”
Anyone who knew Peter Quill would know that such dodgy behavior from him would be a major red flag. But Moon Knight had no way of knowing that or really anything at all about one particular Guardian of the Galaxy—unless the Star Lord name could actually get some decent gossip around.
And there was no way for Quill to tell what the case was, as Moon Knight wordlessly paused in front of him. Shifty under the Fist of Khonshu’s piercing gaze, Peter turned himself away to stare at a particularly interesting crack in the pavement.
Moon Knight spoke up again only after a few moments of uncomfortable silence that made Peter’s skin crawl. “It is simply my duty to watch out for the travelers in the night,” he explained, as if it were the most natural truth in the world. “You’re the only one I’ve encountered thus far this night, as most people aren’t terribly interested in throwing themselves out into vampire-infested streets.”
“ You’re interested in throwing yourself into vampire-infested streets though, aren’t you?” Peter shot back, returning his gaze to the figure who…surprisingly hadn’t left yet.
“That’s different. I’m attending to my duties, I don’t know what the fuck you’re out for. The mission you’re assigned to is in an hour or so from now.”
“Maybe I’m just out to, y’know—” Peter shrugged. “Survey the risks. Get a lay of the land, or something. It’s not every day a man finds himself in the midst of a vampire invasion.”
“Of course. I’m sure that’s very on brand for you, Star-Lord,” Moon Knight sneered.
“Well shit, I guess you do know a little bit about me! You a fan, or something?” Peter joked.
He didn’t know where he’d be without his humor coping mechanism. Probably somewhere better.
“No,” Moon Knight answered earnestly. “You’re just obnoxious and a bit too out-there. Easy to read a guy who doesn’t try to hide anything.”
“Have you ever said anything kind in your life?” Peter asked.
“Not really.”
“…And that’s on brand for you, I guess.”
Moon knight stepped forward, invading Peter’s personal space. “What would you happen to know about me, Star Lord ?”
Peter tried to stand strong, but not even the visor could hide the fact that he was clearly feeling a bit intimidated. Moon Knight’s masked face was entirely too close—
“I dunno man, you’re just kind of a more secretive type with some sort of, uhh, je ne sais quoi about you that kind of piques my interest, I guess?”
Peter honestly wasn’t quite sure where that had came from within him, but to say that he wasn’t interested in whatever Moon Knight had going on would be a lie.
Moon Knight froze. “ Piques your interest , you say… does that mean you found out about— Ah .”
“…Dude, what are you talking about?”
“Do you know about my… disorder?” Moon Knight asked gravely.
Peter was stunned into silence for a short moment following such a reveal. “Your… what ? No, I can’t say that’s what I was referring to at all…”
“Oh.”
“Um, yeaahh, can’t say I put the pieces together on that one, but I did kind of pick up on your mysterious, edgy sort of vibe?”
“Yeah. That one would probably be more obvious.”
“Look man,” Peter started, “I don’t know all that much about you so you can relax, okay? As a matter of fact, if you left right now, no one would know this even happened because I wouldn’t tell anyone!”
“Not even your fellow Guardians in that fancy ship?”
“…Touché. But seriously, if you think I’m some sort of like, informant or blackmailer then you’d be wrong. You can keep fisting Khonshu or whatever it is that you do and I’d be none the wiser.”
“…There is no way you just said that.” The Moon Knight balked at that particular set of words.
“So are we done with this little interrogation? Or would you like to linger in the presence of the one and only Star Lord for just a bit longer—“
Moon Knight hissed out a strangled sort of laugh, finally backing away from Peter.
“You are one fucked up individual, Peter Quill. Accompany me back to base, so that I can continue the rest of my patrol in blissful silence.”
Peter turned away from the outstretched hand that Moon Knight had offered him. “I can take myself back to base in one piece, thank you very much. ”
“…I suppose that after some of your comments, Khonshu wouldn’t mind if I left you to be eviscerated in the night. But, I simply will not leave you here as vampire bait. It would ruin our mission later.”
Peter finally relented, flopping his hand dramatically on top of Moon Knight’s and lacing their fingers together.
“Ughh, fine, if you insist. Take good care of me, now.”
“But of course, your highness.”
They weren’t actually too far from the Baxter building— it was a fact that made Moon Knight’s insistence on accompanying him back to base a little bit humorous in Quill’s eyes. But over the course of their banter, Peter had found that he had become distracted from his worries all the while.
The whoosh of the electronic sliding doors at the Baxter building welcomed the two back inside from their walk. Peter was about to remove his hand from his companion’s, but instead he held onto it tighter.
“…Stay with me for a while?” Peter asked in a small voice. This sort of vulnerability with anyone who wasn’t in his crew was always a bit awkward. There was the teeny tiny fear of an actual rejection.
“You’ve been uncharacteristically skittish all night until now. Why the sudden change?” Moon Knight asked, lightly teasing, but still genuinely curious.
“You’ve made a pretty decent distraction so far. Maybe with you around for longer, I’ll be closer to my normal self before the mission.”
Moon Knight sighed heavily. “…Fine. For the sake of the mission.”