And you could have it all - My empire of dirt.

[letmetakeaselfie]

Rhodey is distracting the government types long enough for Tony to hack into the airspace and make sure none of this is being recorded. He loops the moments before the Milano pierces the atmosphere and plays them back, knowing by the time he's out of the system and they figure it out they won't be able to prove it was anything but a technical malfunction. He does all of this from his phone as he stands near the landing pad with Steve flanking his side. He's trying to do things right this time -- no more lone gunslinger act, as Pepper had phrased it.

He looks over his sunglasses at the spaceship as it decompresses, wondering who he's just invited over for dinner. Hopefully they're friendly... When the platform descends it really is just like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He can't help but geek out a little. He'd technically met space aliens before, and Asgardians, etc. but somehow this is way cooler. "Welcome to Earth and please watch your step, we don't have liability insurance yet."

Comments

[letmetakeaselfie]

Everything follows a natural progression from there as the Avengers who are around come out to meet their new arrivals. Everyone moves through HQ, exploring and showing their new friends around respectively. Mantis and Kraglin even eventually come out of the ship to join the party and people flit in and out of the Milano to check it out and to see to Groot. It's all pretty smooth, things being what they are, and Tony finds himself relaxing into his familiar host role. He has fun showing Rocket the arc reactor technology and everything is about as peaceful as it can be -- considering there's still a member of the Guardians who has yet to make herself known. Oh yeah, Steve whispered that to him on one of their many pass-bys.

When things seemed to have calmed down a bit, he goes to single out Gamora. She is unquestionably fascinating and what little she's said about herself only intrigues him more. She also seems to mostly keep to herself while her partner flits around like the proverbial social butterfly. It's a dynamic he recognizes, but doesn't make it any less interesting for him.

"Hey," he greets softly, finding her in a corner by herself. "Penny for your thoughts?" It's an old line, but there's a lot riding on it. He knows she's the true hurdle they have to getting this all to work out.

[favoredone]

Gamora watches over these affairs like a true guardian. She measures every threat carefully and only moves on when it's clear bonds are being forged. It is something to see how well they mix together. While it's true her family and these people are likely to die in the days ahead, she's heartened by the fact she'll bury less of them than she expected to. She really thinks they can win with these people.

She wonders if Nebula has realized it too. She has no doubt her sister is carefully measuring the strength and resources of these people right now.

Gamora doesn't stop her watch when Tony approaches. She does him the courtesy of responding. "I was thinking if you're not careful, Drax will declare himself that girl's guardian when this is over." She watches the way they interact with some pride. She knows it's hard for him to be reminded of his beloved Kamaria. He still talks eagerly with Wanda all the same. "Now I am thinking I don't know what a penny is."

[letmetakeaselfie]

He sits down next to her at a (hopefully???) safe distance, not wanting to pause her watch honestly when he's been doing the same. Though he runs his mouth a lot more than she does, he gets this feeling like she has a similar role with the Guardians that he does for the Avengers. They both take everything in, damage control, assess every outcome. Sacrifice themselves when needed. Maybe that's why she intrigues him so much, or maybe it's simply that he has a hunch about her origin and the other woman still hidden from sight and he's rarely wrong.

"That was his... daughter, right?" Tony can't even imagine how it would be to have his own children, let alone lose one. It must be the most lonely feeling one can have, especially when coupled with the loss of his wife. Tony knows he couldn't smile as much as Drax does if he ever lost Pepper. Pulling a tiny coin from his pocket, he deposits it into Gamora's hand. That's a penny, he says without saying it. And now that one is hers.

[favoredone]

She nods in response. Drax never did waste time explaining his motivations. Despite how difficult it must be, he never hesitates to talk about his wife and daughter. She admires him for that. "His people were fearsome warriors with the exception of his child as he tells it. Someone that innocent could never stand a chance against a pawn of Thanos." She informs him before accepting the penny. Gamora pauses her watch to study it curiously.

She pockets it and meets Tony's eyes. She's still sticking to business despite knowing eventually she will have to explain herself and Nebula. "If any member of the Quill family is alive, I trust you will tell me before we begin."

[letmetakeaselfie]

Tony nods, his face set in grim lines for a moment. It makes him all the more determined to keep Peter Parker out of this. But her statement draws him out of his own thoughts in a turnabout.

"Do you? Trust me." That's an important question, isn't it? He doesn't fully expect her to, not yet. But he nods after a moment before she's responded. "Because I will." Tell her. He has to spend some time on it first, but he doesn't mind taking a break. He actually needs it, truthfully.

[favoredone]

Gamora doesn't answer right away. She can't really. She doesn't know how to stop calculating and assessing everything. Now really isn't the exception to that. "I have brought the only home I know to your planet. I have allowed you access to what I hold dear. I have also asked you to do this favor for my captain. What do you think?"

She trusts him enough to do all this. They'll see if she can trust him on the battlefield when it counts.

[letmetakeaselfie]

He smiles softly at that, understanding better than she realizes. "I think he's a lucky man." To put it mildly.

[favoredone]

"It was obvious." Gamora notes with some irritation. She doesn't like that this man can see it. She knows it can't be helped. Even if she could conceal her feelings, Peter will give them away to Thanos. He'd hate for just the suffering he caused so many. How could he bear to look at the person who tortured the woman he loved for years and be calm?

"And your partner is simply your partner?" She only asks because they make eye contact for an uncomfortable amount of time. Seriously #relationshipgoals.

[letmetakeaselfie]

"Only if you know what to look for," he assures her, though it's probably for nought. It had been hard to miss, but he doesn't let many things like that pass him by. Her question gets a laugh from him -- not a cruel laugh by any means. He can see where people would get that impression.

"We're not romantic partners, but we are family." So not just his partner, no. "I'm engaged. To a woman." A clarification for clarification's sake. He's too old to get defensive about this stuff.

[favoredone]

She nods in approval. Drax is living proof of the risk that kind of commitment can have. She respects he got engaged even knowing what's ahead.

"Congratulations. Will you be marrying her before or after?" She wouldn't blame him for the first.

[letmetakeaselfie]

He almost asks what she means before it catches up. They're about to enter into the most epic battle of any of their lives, it's a legitimate question even if Pepper would be horrified to hear it. "Before. But not because... It's been a long time coming." Tony looks around before catching Gamora's eyes again. "Looks like I'll have to expand the guest list."

[favoredone]

"It takes time." Gamora remarks cryptically. She knows her and Peter took long enough. The hint of an invitation wins the first real smile from her since she arrived. "I apologize in advance." If he thinks he's getting a reprieve from hearing in graphic detail how Drax conceived his daughter, he's got another thing coming to say nothing of how drunk everyone, but her will get.

[letmetakeaselfie]

"Seventeen years." Is that long enough? He smiles wider, piggybacking off of hers. "Don't. This is great." He gestures to the way everyone is interacting. It's heartening, really. He could watch and listen to it all day. He can tell just by sitting here that she feels the same.

After a pause, he has to ask. He hates breaking up the fun moment to be serious, but here goes nothing. "Is Nebula shy?" He had met everyone else, so why is there a holdout for the last member of their group? Is it some sort of insurance or was it the individual's choice not to show themselves. It's important he know now.

[favoredone]

She's sure it began as insurance. Now Nebula is too uncomfortable to show herself. She knows she won't be able to mingle or rather believes that. It will take more time for her to adjust.

Gamora looks down, not knowing or really desiring to explain. She doesn't asking how he knows about her. She's positive any member of the team would have brought up her disappearing act at this point. There's no need to point fingers.

"In these situations." She takes a breath and forces herself to explain the situation as calmly as she can. "Nebula and I are sisters. We were held together as prisoners for most of our lives so it's difficult for us to trust anyone. It's especially hard for her. She endured far worse than me during our captivity." So he can get why she doesn't feel up to this.

[letmetakeaselfie]

Sometimes he really hates being right. He's happy to have the information directly from the source, though. That goes a long way towards him trusting her in return. "Is there anything we can do to help her feel welcome?" He lifts his eyebrows, if it wasn't clear already he'll turn this whole place upside down just for their benefit.

[favoredone]

She sees that drive to be helpful to them. Gamora knows she can't just accept it without clearing one last problem out of the way. "There is something else that may be holding her back as well."

Gamora forces herself to maintain eye contact while she calmly explains. She needs to catalogue every reaction to what she's saying for her sake and Tony's. Depending on what he does, her sister may just appear out of thin air to protect her.

"You didn't look surprised to hear I lived most of my life as a prisoner. I imagine you're smart enough to guess who our captor was, but I will tell you anyways. Thanos has a habit of eradicating races and taking one child from them to be his own afterward. Most don't survive the initial torture and modifications, but Nebula and I were among the few who did. He raised us as his daughters until the day he finally miscalculated enough to allow us to escape him. The things we did in his name before then are unspeakable. If you cannot handle what we did to survive, you should say so now. I promise you the Asgardians will waste no time informing you of every evil we committed especially if they need to distract you from how easily their prince bended to Thanos' will." She smiles ruefully. She already knows they'll do anything to protect one of their own even if he betrayed them gleefully.

[letmetakeaselfie]

He listens carefully, nodding to signify to her that he's absorbing the information she offers him. It isn't unreasonable, but they've glossed over some significant things to impress the Guardians on their end as well.

"First of all, Thor is the only Asgardian we listen to around here. And that's only if we catch him on a sober day." Just to get that done because Loki is pretty small potatoes when compared to Thanos. He just wants attention and Tony refuses to give in if he can help it. "Before I became Iron Man, I made weapons. I didn't know it at the time -- or maybe I did, just not consciously -- but those weapons weren't staying with the soldiers on our side. A lot of them ended up in our enemy's hands. Countless innocent people died. Sergeant Barnes, like you, was taken and made to do unspeakable things. Scarlet Witch tortured us and killed her own people to prove a point once. Hulk has leveled entire cities. No one here is perfect, Gamora. But we all want the same thing." He hopes that rings truer than any platitudes he could give her about how her past transgressions don't matter.

[favoredone]

She lets out a slow sigh when he finishes. That makes her feel much better. If they're all on a level playing field instead of playing games over who was the most pure, she has a lot less to worry about.

"She enjoys sweet roots. We used to dig them up on missions we were allowed to go on with only each other as company. If you have anything like that on Terra, she will come out to accept those."

[letmetakeaselfie]

Tony smiles softly at that. Food was the way in for a lot of people here so he should have known. "I'll see what we can scare up for her. I think Steve made a rhubarb pie." And who can say no to one of those??? "But if she just wants the plant, I think we have some left over. Pepper says they're good raw, but I've never tried it myself."

[favoredone]

Gamora nods in approval. She's actually making herself hungry now with all this talk of food. She's certainly curious about the food Peter grew up with. "We'll take both." She informs him since there's no way she isn't going to try that pie. Well she supposes it can't hurt to ask about it while reenergizing herself.

"...I am also interested in food from Terra. Peter talks about it often since he's responsible for cooking our meals."

[letmetakeaselfie]

He chuckles and nods. "I think that can be arranged." Even if it's only making him more curious about her sister. Somehow he didn't picture Peter as the cooking type, but he supposes it would follow. "Well... every place has its own food, for the most part. But America is a beautiful combination of all of them. In New York there are vegan taco trucks parked outside of Italian pasta/meatball buffets. And anything in between. But first, you have to try pizza." She's going to love pizza.

[favoredone]

She isn't following any of this. Gamora has mastered the art of nodding while wondering what any of that actually means. "Peter mentioned pizza before. I will try it." And probably fall madly in love with it.

[letmetakeaselfie]

"Good call." His expression softens a little even as he poses what would usually be a casual ask. Given her history, he knows it's anything but thus the weight he adds to the inquiry. "Where are you from?"

[favoredone]

Gamora visibly stiffens. She knows he means nothing wrong by it. It is clearly a sore subject for her. "The planet Zen-Whoberi. It is nowhere near Terra."

[letmetakeaselfie]

He nods, filing the information away. "I could have guessed that," he points out gently, a tiny wan smile spreading his lips. He commiserates more with her than she could ever know. Or maybe she will, she's proving easier to talk to than he'd initially thought. "You must miss it." Tony feels homesick for Manhattan sometimes, but at least he can go there easily even if he doesn't own property there anymore. Her situation is far more grim; he doesn't know how to express empathy for something like that, though he certainly feels it anyway.

"I lost my parents, too. The bad guys that took Bucky killed them. I guess because my father knew too much." He supposes he'll never fully know the real reason, but it hurts more than it ought to to know the truth.