ximilia | text | un: m.cabrera

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text | un: m.cabrera

[ turns out? space doesn't give a single fuck about your circadian rhythm. or maybe insomnia is just that attached to her that even the absence of a sun dictating her internal clock doesn't faze it, like an old friend you wish would just forget you already.

one night (?) late into the early hours (???) marta finds herself drifting out of the room she's come to assume will be hers for the indefinite future, passing through stark white walls with all the sterility of a hospital, but none of its familiar chaos.

she's still getting used to the earpiece. still getting used to hearing other people's voices in her head. she doesn't mean to add another in the void, but one of her own thoughts blares out too vividly as she stares out into an actual void: ]

—but where are the stars?

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[ Normal sleeping hours? I don't know her.

Peter's a night owl, anyway, the hard part is getting him to wake up in the mornings. He also likes audio more than text, sorry, Marta. You're now welcome to a rather cheerful voice, considering the hour of the night. ]

Try looking to the right and then straight on 'til morning...?

Jokes aside, the station isn't located near any discernible star. But even if it were, the stars here wouldn't be the same you're used to see in your home world. We're in a parallel dimension, or a pocket one of some sort.

Firs time in space, I take it?

[ marta doesn't mind the voice option. in fact, compared to the riskier thought-to-text option, she kind of prefers it. sure, there's always that instinctive self-consciousness about her accent... but it's currently better than accidentally letting too much of her thoughts spill out. ]

First time in space, first time in another dimension.
Back home, I barely got out of Massachusetts.

[ The network can be a bit complicated at first, god knows Peter basically broadcasted all his thoughts at once before he managed to figure out how to use it properly. And he finds her accent nice, nothing to be worried about. ]

It's a lot, uh? I've been traveling the galaxy for 30 years, and some things still take me by surprise. The first days are the most stressful, but it will get better sooner than you imagine.

Name's Peter Quill, Guardian of the Galaxy now turned orb hunter. Nice to meet you, miss...?

[ right. it's all about settling. this, too, will seem normal after a while. ]

—Cabrera. Marta. I don't think I've ever heard of a Guardian of the Galaxy. Is... that like the galactic police?

[ Stockholm syndrome does wonders, sometimes. ]

Hi, Marta. Ehhh...not quite. We do work with the Galactic Police sometimes, when they need extra help or when their own bureaucracy gets in the way of doing what needs to be done.

We're more like an independent hero group. The Guardians answer to distress calls, help protect places or people from attacks, we occasionally deal with assassins or slavers....these sorts of things. We have saved the Galaxy a couple of times, hence the name.

What about you? What do you do back home?

[ just toss another into the bag of ol' issues! ]

Like... vigilantes? [ like b*tman and s*perman and m[redacted]l and all that— ] Heroes working outside the law, because the law doesn't always protect everyone?

[ she sounds pretty impressed, tbh. ]

I was just a nurse. [ a pause. ] Am, just a nurse. Still. [ another pause. ] It's a little complicated.

[ What's one more, amirite? ]

Yes, sort of like that! Vigilantes or like...the A- Team! [ If you get that reference, Marta, you'll become his favorite person ever. ] But we do try to not break the laws unless it's impossible not to.

[ Things end exploding often during missions, for some reason or another, but the Guardians do try. A little. Maybe. Sometimes. ]

A nurse, that's great! We could use more medical professionals around here, we don't have a lot of those. I've been trying to learn more about medical aid. I knwo how to perform the basics, like how to stitch wounds and stop people from bleeding out, but it's not nearly as much as I'd like to know.

Complicated? How so?

[ there's a small, tired smile in her voice. ]

That's already a lot more than most know. I'm not much of a teacher, but if there's something specific you want to learn, I can at least tell you about it.

[ but ah, yes. complicated... it takes her a moment to respond, as it always does when marta doesn't want to lie, but doesn't necessarily want to tell the whole truth either. ]

I was a home nurse. But my employer... he passed away some time before this.

Let's just say that I used to get into situations that ended requiring medical treatment since I was pretty young. [ Being raised by space pirates wasn't kindly. ]

I don't want to abuse your kindness. Just learning a bit more about how to handle people in shock or maybe how to react if they had been poisoned, or they're having an allergic reaction...these sorts of things.

[ There's a pause coming from Peter after her last words and when he does speak again, his voice is softer, understanding. He's lost plenty of people in his life, but never stops being easy. ]

Oh...I'm sorry, I know those sorts of things are really hard. We're you very close?

You wouldn't be, [ she reassures him. ] It's not like I can offer much else. You'd be doing me the favor of letting me feel useful.

[ barely a day in and sh3e's already antsy for a purpose. half afraid where an idle mind may take her. ]

...He was a good friend. [ a great friend. meaning so much more to marta than she can fully articulate, even now, perhaps maybe even ever. ] One of the most selfless people I know.

Oh, don't sell yourself short. Your skills will be plenty helpful here, but even if you didn't have any, you shouldn't worry too much. We're all in this, so we do what we can.

[ Peter doesn't put people's values on what they can or can not do. One can't always be useful, either, and that's also all right. But he understands the need to keep busy, as to not let the mind wander too far towards unpleasant memories and thoughts. ]

Those are rare. [ He wonders if her employee is what her regret is about, but that's a too personal thing to ask in a first time conversation. So he offers his own vulnerable confesion instead. ] I also lost someone who was very dear to me right before I ended in his station, my girlfriend. I've been around for four months, and she suddenly showed up a few weeks ago. Time, and even death, doesn't seem to be a limitation to whatever force brings us here.

[ She might see him again, is what Peter's trying to say. ]

...She came back?

[ everything else just falls away at that. nothing else seems to matter save for that piece of information, a glimmer of a confirmation that the hope that'd brought her here isn't entirely unfounded.

no limitations. no time, no death.

could it really be possible to undo what she'd been selfish enough to let happen? ]

That's — I'm happy for you. For you both.

She did, I wouldn't joke about that. [ It's a huge thing, and it gave Peter hope. Even if the rest of things in this station turn out to be less than great, at least Gamora is safe and well. ] Before her, another person from my world who died after a battle also arrived at the station. Injured, but alive.

Thanks, Marta. I know I'm very lucky, I don't take these things for granted.

I hope you don't.

[ marta can feel her palms start to get sweaty, her hands shake. hoping for it had been one thing. to hear it could actually happen in some way is another thing entirely. ]

In my world, death... death is such a final thing. Maybe it's unnatural to reverse it but. But life is always a gift, no matter how it comes, right?

Never. You might see Gamora around, she's not hard to stop. She has black to red ombre hair, and her skin is green. [ See? Easy to spot. Peter really hopes that this brings Marta some hope, it sure helped him a lot. ]

Usually, that's the case in mind as well. And you are right. But, uhm...I did die once, for five years at that, and I was later brought back to life. But to do so they needed to use magical space rocks, It's a long story. I don't want to bore you.

[ Peter's life is just so goddamn weird. Sorry, Marta. ]

Magical... space rocks.

[ she makes a faintly helpless sound, almost a laugh. ]

I don't think that counts as boring. But I wouldn't want to make you relive something like that either.

However it happened, I'm glad you're back. I'm here because... I'd like to bring someone back too.

Yeah. [ The corner of his mouth tugs up, as if he's trying to suppress a laugh himself. ] Sounds crazy, so I'll remind you that we're here to retrieve magical space balls. The Infinity Stones are powerful in a similar way but they're not sentient.

[ The orbs seem even more powerful, in fact, and it scares Peter a little. the things they could do in the wrong hands...he doesn't want to think about it. Bad thought, those, but he gives her a smile. ]

Thanks, Marta. It happened very recently for me. It's really weird to lose five years of your life in a blink. I hope you manage to accomplish that too. We will work all together to do that.

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text | un: m.cabrera

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