“Beauty you say? Dude your uglier then a bilgsnipes ass.” Grins and hands over the pink glittery dragon.
Yondu rolls his eyes at his boys and takes the little thing and
grins. “Aww look at it. This ones a cute little thing here. Hehe. Got
some shimmer too.”“This one’s mine,” Kraglin said, handing over the little green lizard thing he picked out.
Yondu takes that one grinning at it and bobs there little heads. “Hehe. These are cute..well I just might have to collect some more Huh…”
“Well, you’ve got one more,” Carlos said. He pulled out the little pale horse and offered it to Yondu. “This one’s called a horse – people use them to ride around on.”
Yondu takes it and grins looking it over like the others and holds all three bobbling there heads. “Hehe. Front row seats on my shelf. Special treatment for these cute critters.”
Half smiles then burrows back down into the fluffy warmth looking up at Tullk with content halflidded eyes.
Tullk looked at Half-nut and smiled at him. He rubbed the younger Ravager’s shoulders. “We should be getting back… get some sleep before the day shift on the Eclector.”
Kraglin snorted softly. Right… ‘sleep’.
Yondu nods. “You boys head on back to the ship. Carlos and I have icecream to go get them I’ll be back on the ship.”
Kraglin made a little face at the mention of ice cream but he nodded and stood up. “Aye, Captain… Pete, let’s get them Cheetos and stuff that we got.”
“Oh! Let me send you home with something else too!” Edwardo said as he stood up. He took his cane and slowly walked out of the room toward the garage where he kept a large freezer.
“Ooh, you guys are going to like this,” Carlos said with a wide and excited grin.
Peter blinks at the signal for them to leave. He really didn’t want to. He was on earth with othercterrsns who understood him and where he cane from. But he stood anyway standing next to Kraglin and waits.
Half hand folded up the blanket waiting still nice and toasty warm.
Yondu blinks. “What’s he got?”
Edwardo returned from the garage carrying a package about the size of a small toddler wrapped in paper and plastic. Scribbled on it was a date and the word ‘pork’. He smiled as he offered the package to Kraglin.
Kraglin was a little bit skeptical, and as he took the package he was confused to find that it seemed frozen.
“These are some tamales that I had stored away,” Edwardo said. “I make them often.”
“Dad makes some of the best tamales ever,” Mikey told everyone proudly.
Yondu grins. “Well now more home made terran food. Never heard of tamales but I have a feeling well enjoy them all the same. Hehe.”
Peter looks at the bag then whines. “I…. I don’t want to go…… I…. I feel like… I’m home… I…” looking down not able to meet there eyes.
Carlos looked at Peter with a frown. He stood up and walked over to him. “Hey, Pete… it’s okay,” he said softly. “Yondu and Kraglin… they’re your family. Tullk and Half-nut are your family too. They’re all taking care of you. If you want… You’re welcome to still come and visit if you wanna. And… and I’ll have a communicator – you can call and talk to me or Dad or Mikey any time you want. Okay?”
Peter looks up at him and nods. “Yeah…..don’t think I’ll be able to visit whenever but….yeah…wish you would stay but…. you have your own family…so….” still doesn’t look up afraid the others would be mad at him for wanting to stay.
Carlos just smiled gently at him. He pulled the boy into a hug. “We can still talk, Pete. And when you visit, maybe we could go out to a theme park or a museum or something… you know, make a fun day out of it. And I’ll talk to you about Earth as much as you want.”
Kraglin just watched Carlos silently, no emotion on his face. Carlos was so good with the kid… it was a shame that he couldn’t stay. Peter could always use one more person on his team.
Peter clings to him not wanting to let go. “Just with you on the ship…. I… didn’t feel so alone anymore….. being the only terran……. the mascot… the freak… the pet…….. it’s gonna be like that again….terrans arnt meant for space…. if we were we would have our own ships…….” sighs and let’s him go. He was prepared to have the crew go right back to there bullshit with him.
Carlos took Peter’s face in his hands and he tilted the boy’s head down to press a kiss there. “Terrans just aren’t ready for it… but that makes you lucky, Pete. You get to see whole worlds that other humans don’t. You aren’t a pet – you’re a forerunner. Don’t forget it, okay? You get to make an impression on the rest of the galaxy for us.”
Peter blinks looking at him and nods looking up when Yondu puts his arm around his shoulders. “Go on petey.. back with your brother, Tullk and half. I’ll be home soon ok. Krags…… you know what to do.”
Peter let’s Yondu lightly push him to Kraglin.
Kraglin shifted the frozen bundle that Mr Ramon gave him to one arm and he put his other around Peter’s shoulders.
“Oh, before you go – cooking instructions for the tamales,” Mr Ramon interjected. “You’re supposed to steam them until it’s thoroughly hot. They’re already cooked and there’s no need to defrost them before steaming. There’s a paper-like husk around the tamales – you don’t eat that part. Just the breading and the meet inside. Sorry… I wanted to make sure you all knew before leaving.”
Yondu nods. “Hslf Tullk.. be sure to write that down. Put my name on it. Tell Oblo he can have a few. For a job well done tonight.”
Half nods and waves to the Ramon family before walking out with the others.
Yondu sighs looking to carlos. “Well ready for that icecream?”
Carlos nodded at him and smiled. “Sure,” he said. He went to go get his hoodie for Yondu to wear. “Mikey, can I borrow your card? I don’t wanna ping mine before we announce that I’ve been ‘found’.”
“Sure,” Mikey said and he went to get his wallet. “I paid for everything else today already…” he added with a laugh.
“Oh, Mikey don’t worry – I’ll get it!” Mr Ramon said and he went to get his own wallet. “It’s just ice cream, right boys?”
Yondu nods. “As far as I’m aware…. unless carlos has another plan but I’ll convince him to stay with icecream. Don’t want to over charge your credit chit..” goes to the window to watch his boys head off down the road. “Thanks with peter….. he’s… a really emotional kid….. ..”
Carlos nodded to Yondu as he brought over his hoodie. “Yeah he is… I think I’ve asked this, but have you had him tested? He might need some help with his anxiety and depression… medicinally, I mean.”
Takes the hoodie and slips it on pulling the hood up. “Oh he has it. Don’t need a doctor to tell you that….. but… we can’t stay in one place to get the meds every cycle… half has it… kids just manage it. Find something to…. help….”
Carlos made a low humming noise. He didn’t agree so much. “Well, perhaps therapy, maybe… just so he’s working on it mentally.”
The Perfect Scientist 