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Peter stepped outside the bar on Knowhere, leaving Drax and Rocket to whatever they were doing which was probably getting drunk. Richard had already stepped out when Peter was engaged in talking to Gamora, asking her how long they had to wait before they saw this ‘Collector’.
“This is the first time I’ve been to Knowhere,” Rich leant on the rails, looking up into the sky at a ship flying past above them with a faint hovering noise.
Pete raised an eyebrow at him, “wait, so you’ve never been outside Xandar?”
Richard shook his head, “I’m not even a centurion yet, my posts are on Xandar. I’m not allowed off planet…”
They both stood there, looking into the galaxy, at the space surrounding them on Knowhere. Rich didn’t know why Worldmind had told him to go after Quill and his crew and join them; he guessed Nova Prime had something to do with it and Worldmind obliged her. Well, being able to see the galaxy outside of Xandar and Earth… It was like a dream. His gaze fell on Peter who was watching him. A tingling feeling started in Rich’s stomach and he didn’t have Worldmind on to tell him what his mental status was, the now fabric version of the helmet tucked safely in Rich’s back pocket. Rich’s eyes fell down to the small Walkman secured on his belt.
Rich tilted his head to the side, his eyes not trying to linger too much down near Pete's crotch, “is that a Walkman? I haven’t seen one of those in years!”
“Yeah, it is. It’s the only thing I have from Earth. Well that and the tape in it,” Pete replied.
“What music have you got on there?” Rich pushed himself off the rail to face Peter, gently taking the music device from Peter’s belt and pausing, realising where his hands were.
Pete pulled off the headphones from around his neck, “Pop music. My mom made the tape for me…”
“Do I get the honour of listening to it?” Rich stepped forward.
Peter nodded and moved closer to Rich, standing close but just not close enough. Pete placed the small headphones gingerly on Rich’s head, over his ears. Rich grinned at Peter as he pushed the play button down on the Walkman, placing his hand over Rich’s who held the Walkman securely.
Pete could hear the music from the headphones. As Rich’s hips started to gently sway, Peter snaked an arm around Rich’s waist, swaying with him. Nova looked down at Pete who was now standing flush against him. Their faces inched closer as they swayed with Rich’s arms around Pete’s neck. Rich laughed as Peter grabbed his hand from around his neck and spun him around. Quill pulled him back in close again, the tips of their noses touching as they both smiled.
There was a loud crash of glass scattering everywhere, a loud roar saying “I will crush you, rodent!” and a faint “I am Groot!” from inside the bar. Pete looked over Rich’s shoulder to see the commotion going on.
“Oh flark…” Peter muttered into Rich’s shoulder. He pulled the headphones off Nova’s head which caused Rich to turn around to also see Drax lunging for Rocket and Rocket retorting by hitting Drax with his gun.
“You owe me a dance, Quill.” And before Peter could reply with a sarcastic comment, Rich had grabbed the collar of Peter’s jacket and crushed his mouth against Pete’s. Rich ran back inside, taking out Worldmind and putting the helmet on without saying another word to Pete.
Peter smiled to himself, “at least I know he likes me.”