The Prettiest Star || Wattys 2018

Chapter 4 Strange little girl

  Back on the Milano
Peter and Gamora were in the Milano's small kitchen, they were currently watering Groot who was happily shaking back and forth to O-O-H Child by The Five Stairsteps with a huge smile on his face.
Gamora poured some water down on Groot. "He seems to enjoy the melody very much."
Peter laughed. "Yeah, it has that effect on people." He turned towards Groot who was smiling brightly up at them waving his little twig arms.
"I am Groot."
Peter pointed down to Groot. "Let me just say that you, little buddy, have got to be the second greatest dancer in the whole universe."
Gamora raised an eyebrow. "Second."
"Yes, because I'm the number one dancer in the entire universe."
Gamora just rolled her eyes at his comment. "Your cockiness will be the death of you one day."
"I highly doubt that. If I ever died it would be because of Rocket's cooking or a misunderstanding with Drax about metaphors."
They both laughed at his comment and looked at each other. Peter slid his hand on her hand. She suddenly stopped laughing and turned away from him.
Peter frowned. "Hey what's wrong?" He asked concerned.
"It's just, I'm not used to this." she said sadly.
"What." he asked concerned.
She put her head down. "Affection and friends, it's all so foreign to me. I've never felt anything like this, not even with my own siblings."
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I know how you feel. I'm still adjusting to this too and I bet the others are having a hard time as well."
Groot nodded his head and crossed his arms. "I am Groot."
All of a sudden, the song changed to "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" and Peter got an idea. He got up and started to dance slowly in front of Gamora and Groot.
Groot tilted his head. "I am Groot?"
They both looked at him confused. "Peter what are you doing?" she asked, still very confused.
He started shaking his hips and moving his arms. "I'm just dancing to our song, remember?"
"Yes I remember. I threatened to castrate you because you were trying to use your pelvic sorcery on me, like I was some starry eyed waif."
He put his hand out to her. "You still owe me a dance. Come on, it will be fun! Whenever I'm feeling sad, I just dance my problems away."
She rolled her eyes. "I am a warrior, I do not dance."
"But it doesn't hurt to try. Come on, pretty please?" he begged.
She let out a deep sigh and took his hand. "Ugh fine, but if you tell anyone this happened I'll break your neck."
He put his hand on her back and slowly started dancing. "That's good enough for me."
They danced to the rhythm, moving their hips and feet slowly, and stared at one another, blocking out everything else. Peter looked at her eyes and his throat suddenly felt very dry and he had a weird feeling in his chest. He had never felt anything like this before. For another person, it was so weird to him and he kind of liked this new feeling.
Gamora smiled at him. "Is this the reason why you made Drax and Rocket leave the ship? Because you wanted to dance with me?"
He smirked. "Maybe I did, but hey now you're smiling. Don't you just feel better?"
"A little bit. It is quite soothing and relaxing." she said.
He looked over to his shoulder at Groot, "Even Groot's joining in on the fun. Right Groot?"
Groot was shaking his body and moving his arms. "I am Groot." He said happily.
She put her head on his shoulder. "We are just like the Kevin Bacon from your planet are we not."
He chuckled, "Yeah, I guess we are."
The music stopped, but they were still holding to one another. They looked into each other's eyes and both started to slowly lean towards each other for a kiss. They were mere inches away from each other's lips when Drax came running in the kitchen with Rocket holding a pink girl in his massive arms.
"Drax, why is there a little girl in your hands?" Peter asked, concerned.
"Furry companion, quickly retrieve the first aid kit," Drax shouted, completely ignoring Peter.
He put her down on the kitchen table next to Groot, got a rag from the sink,and started to clean her wound before it got infected. Groot tilted his head in confusion and pointed at her. "I am Groot."
Gamora and Peter broke from their embrace and got a closer look at the girl. She was totally unconscious and had a huge wound on her left leg that was bleeding out.
Rocket came back with the first aid kit and gave it to Drax. He looked down at her wound and saw that it required stitches.
Peter looked down at Rocket, "Rocket, what happened? You and Drax were just supposed to get fertilizer."
Rocket put both his hands up defensively. "Hey, we got the fertilizer, we just got a little sidetracked in the end, that's all."
"How did you get sidetracked Ranger Rick?" Peter asked suspiciously.
Rocket just rolled his eyes. "I don't have to tell you anything."
Gamora just shook her head at Rocket and turned to Drax. "How did you and Rocket meet her?"
Drax looked down at her sadly, "We met her in a small dirty tavern. She was all by herself. She was so polite and showed no fear towards us at all, she was just so innocent." He stroked his hands through her purple hair, sneering down at the ground, "Four men walked in attempting to take her. They called her rude names and hurt her. We managed to scare them off and after that, I promised that I would protect her from whoever's trying to get her."
He looked through the first aid kit for a needle and string. "I need to stitch her wound before it bleeds out any more."
Peter saw how angry Drax was. "Drax, maybe you should let Gamora stitch her wound. You look very tense."
"I am not tense. I am perfectly capable of stitching her wound." He spat.
Peter grabbed his hand. "Dude, just stop. You don't want her to be in anymore pain, do you? Just give the needle to Gamora."
Drax turned his head and gave the needle and thread to Gamora.
"Please be gentle with her. She is so tiny and frail."
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Cain pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "So let me get this straight." he seethed out.
"Not only do you come back to me empty handed, but you also have the NERVE
to demand payment FROM ME as well."
Cain got up from his throne. "Tell me, gentlemen, why should I even consider giving you one unit when you come back to me with no girl?"
"Are you blind? Look at what happened to us!" one of them shouted angrily.
"That is not my concern, nor do I care. It was your own faults you underestimated the little nuisance."
"But we alm-...."
"Silence." Cain bellowed out.
They all stared up in shock at their employer and started to shake nervously.
His eyes started to glow purple and his body began to rise up in the air. "YOU REPULSIVE MORTALS HAVE NOT ONLY FAILED ME, BUT YOU HAVE WASTED MY PRECIOUS TIME."
He pointed his glowing hands towards them, "Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't kill you."
"We a-almost ha-had her b-but we were st-stopped."
"By who." Cain seethed out.
"He w-was a big-g man s-said his-s name was-as Drax the Destroyer and he had-d a t-talking rat w-with him."
"A talking rat stopped you pathetic mortals from retrieving the girl? YOU IDIOTS."
He blasted them with a beam of purple light energy from his hand, killing them where they stood. Cain's eyes quickly turned back to normal and he floated back to the floor and sneered down at the bounty hunters.
"Pathetic meat sacks can't even get anything done right."
"RAHSAAN." Cain shouted.
He pointed to the bounty hunters. "Get someone to clean this mess up."
"They told me something very interesting, Rahsaan, before I disposed of them."
"Apparently, she had help from a talking rat and a man calling himself Drax the Destroyer."
"Drax the Destroyer, I have heard of this name." Rahsaan stated.
Cain raised his eyebrow, "You have?"
"He's part of a group that call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy they were the ones who defeated ronan."
"Well it seems that these so called Guardians are helping the little nuisance."
Cain laughed and grabbed a rose from a nearby vase. "If they choose to get in my way, then they are problems."
"Problems that must be corrected." He crushed the flower in his now glowing hand and disintegrated it.
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After Gamora stitched her wound up she drew her a bath and cleaned off any blood or dirt on her skin. Drax and Peter managed to find her some clothes to wear because the one's she was wearing were all torn and dirty, so they dressed her in one of Peter's black shirts, a pair of green boxers, and white socks. They hooked her up to an IV and drax insisted that they let her rest in his bed so that he could watch over her. That had been three days ago, and she still was unconscious and Drax still hadn't left his room, making the other Guardians very concerned.
"He hasn't left his room in three days, it's not healthy." Gamora said.
"I say we should sneak up to him from behind and drug him."
"What is wrong with you? We are not drugging him."
"Well Quill, do you have a better plan that's not twelve percent?"
Peter smirked. "Yes actually, I do Ranger Rick. I'm just going to talk to him. That's better than your plan."
"Your plan is to talk to Drax when he hasn't slept or ate in three days and is in a very protective state right now."
Rocket winked at him. "Right Quill, your plan sounds way better."
Peter started walking towards Drax's room. "You seriously need to work on your sarcasm, trash panda." Peter shouted.
He entered Drax's room and saw that Groot's pot was on a small table next to the bed and Drax was sitting on a chair close to the bed. He was polishing his weapons and just staring at the girl.
"Hey Drax, just came by to see how you're doing."
"I am fine."
"I am Groot."
"We're just getting a little concerned about you, because you haven't left your room for three days."
"I don't want to her to be all alone when she wakes up."
"She's really special to you, isn't she?"
"She makes me very confused."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "Wait, how does she make you confused?"
"She was actually concerned about me, and wasn't afraid of me at all. She hugged me."
Groot looked down at her and smiled sadly.
"She does sound pretty nice."
"Yes she is very nice and very strong; I could also sense that she had a warrior's spirit in her when she threw one of the hunters through the wall."
Peter's eyes widened. "Wait, did you just say she threw someone through a wall?"
"Yes I did. Is there something wrong with your ears?"
Peter stared at Zonia. "How is that possible? She's so tiny and small."
"I don't know, but all I know is that she needs me."
Drax put a fist to his chest. "I promised I would protect her from anything or anyone that tries to hurt her, that I would personally gut them for her."
Peter smirked. He got a brilliant idea in his head. "Wow, okay. You promised to protect her, I get that.But how can you protect her when you're not at your full strength?
"What do mean?"
"You need to get back to your full strength if you want to protect her. So why don't you go eat something and go take a nap?"
"You do make a good point, but I don't want her to be alone."
"Hey don't worry about it. I'll babysit her for you."
Drax gave him a confused look. "Why would you sit on her?"
"Okay, wrong choice of words. I meant I'll watch over her, keep her company."
"You would do that?"
"I'm not really doing anything right now, so why not? And Groot can watch with me too."
Groot made a thumbs up. "I am Groot."
Drax got up from the chair and stroked Zonia's face. "Small pink child, I shall return. I must get back to my full strength."
Drax smiled at Groot, and put his hand on Peter's back. "Thank you Quill, you are a good friend."
"Yep that's me. Humanitarian and hero all in one package."
Before drax left he gave peter a slap on the back and a huge grin. "I hope that you will not die alone and that you will find someone equally as pathetic as you one day."
"Nice talking to you too buddy." Peter shouted as he went to sit down on the chair next to the bed.
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Cain was sitting on his throne eating berries while the chamber maids brushed out his hair and gave him a pedicure. "Rahsaan, tell me how many bounty hunters have we sent out so far?
"Forty-five bounty hunters so far."
"Yet each hunter came back to me empty han- OW."
The chamber maid that was brushing his hair out had accidently brushed too hard and had tugged on his hair by mistake.
"I-I'm so-o s-s-sorry plea-ase forgive-e me."
He threw the brush on the ground and glared at her, making her shake nervously.
"YOU STUPID GIRL! Pick that up and don't brush so hard! I don't want my hair to be frizzy. Start over."
"Also if I find one split end you'll be working in the mines. Understood."
"Yes my Lord."
He put a berry in his mouth and chewed it. "It's so hard to get good help nowadays, Rahsaan. I'm just so tired of these mortals. They are so weak and slow, it's making me shudder in disgust."
"They are so lucky to be blessed by my presence. Right ladies?"
"Yes, of course sir."
"You're the best."
"You are such a great leader."
They all nervously smiled at him as he let out a hearty laugh.
He clapped his hands. "That will be all ladies, you are excused."
He then turned his head toward Rahsaan, "Now then, where did I leave off?"
"Forty-five bounty hunters so far, that haven't even come close to bringing you the brat."
Cain snapped his fingers. "Oh that's right."
"I have come up with a new plan. One that will surely bring me the girl."
"Does it involve more bounty hunters?"
Cain chuckled as he tossed a berry in his mouth. "Oh the men I'm hiring aren't your ordinary everyday bounty hunters."
"These men are ruthless and mean, cutthroat mercenaries who have never failed to deliver. They'll get the job done."
Rahsaan crossed his arms,."How are you so sure that they will get the job done?"
"I'm prepared to offer them double the original bounty which is five billion units."
Rahsaan's eyes widened. "FIVE BILLION UNITS? Are you sure about this?"
Cain just rolled his eyes and examined his freshly pedicured nails. "Positive, besides it's just money, Rahsaan. It practically grows on trees."
"Now enough small talk go and fetch me my halo pad. I have a very important transmission to make."
Rahsaan exited the room while a huge grin on Cain's face formed as he looked up at the portrait of Zonia.
"Soon princess, we shall be reunited. Just you wait." He let out an evil laugh of triumph and clasped his fingers together.
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"Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier, Ooh-oo child things'll get brighter.
Ooh-oo child things are gonna get easier, Ooh-oo child things'll get brighter."
Peter sang along to his Walkman while snapping his fingers to the beat. He had been watching over Zonia for thirty minutes now and everything had been going great.
"Someday, yeah, we'll get it together and we'll get it all done."
He stopped singing and left his Walkman on and examined the girl more closely now. He was still in denial that she threw someone through a wall. She looked completely harmless. The one thing that was confusing him was the strange tattoo on the middle of her forehead. It was in the shape of a six sided star.
"Someday, when your head is much lighter. Someday, yeah."
Peter just shook his head. "That is one weird tattoo you got, kid. I wonder why your parents would even let you get."
Groot just shrugged his shoulders, "I am Groot."
He laughed, "It looks like something that David Bowie would wear. You probably don't know who he is, he's from Earth."
"That's where I'm from. It's full of all sorts of cool stuff that you wouldn't believe. I mean sure it doesn't have the most advanced technology, but it still has some cool stuff."
"We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun. Some day."
He put a hand to his forehead and groaned. "You probably can't hear a thing I'm saying right now, and I'm just talking to myself like a crazy person."
Groot crossed his tiny arms. "I am Groot." he stated angrily.
"I didn't forget about you buddy, don't worry."
He pushed a strand of her hair back and pat her hand, "But hey don't worry. When you wake up we'll figure what's going on with you and try to help you out."
"When the world is much brighter."
He closed his eyes trying to relax when groot started shouting.
"IAMGROOTIAMGROOTIAMGROOTIAMGROOTIAMGROOTIAMGROOT."
Peter turned around to Groot, "Hey buddy what's the mat- OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL."
Peter's eyes bulged out and his mouth hanged open when he saw her the weird mark on her head was glowing.
It was getting brighter by the second, and then her whole body started to glow and peter had no idea what to do or how to stop.
He ran to the doorway and shouted for the others for help, "GUYS COME QUICK SHE'S STARTING TO GLOW AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS NORMAL OR NOT."
When he turned around he noticed that the glowing started to fade and went over to her.
Groot bent over to try and poke her head when peter stopped him.
He bent down to check her pulse when her eyes suddenly popped wide opened and she started to clutch his shirt gasping for air.
"Hey calm down, calm down. Breathe, okay, just breathe, I'm right here." He held her hand and was trying to help her breathe.
She was breathing heavily and looking around the room in confusion and she just stared wide eyed at Peter, scooting back from him.
He gently grabbed her shoulders. "Hey don't do that. I'm not going to hurt you."
"I am Groot."
She pushed his shoulders off of her and just looked down at the bed and tried to regulate her breathing back to normal.
Peter noticed that she wasn't hyperventilating anymore and he was about to help her lay back down so that she could relax.
"Here let me he- ACK." Peter was trying to gasp for air. She had put her hand on his throat and began to choke him.
"Who are you?" she snarled.
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Peter was starting to see stars at this point because her grip on him started to get tighter.
She glared at him, "Don't make me repeat myself. Who are you?"
He started making gurgling sounds and was about to lose consciousness, when Gamora and Rocket walked in.
"Hey what's with all shout- HEY STOP THAT."
Rocket pointed at her, "Put the humie down, Pinkie." he said in a scolding tone.
Gamora started to approach the bed, "Let go of Peter,you are just very startled and confused, you do not want to hurt him."
She released peter from her tight grip and ripped out the IV in her arm and tried to get up.
Rocket helped peter out while Gamora tried to reason with her. "Stop that, you will hurt yourself."
She started to limp towards the wall and tried to balance herself out, when Peter shouted towards her in protest.
Peter rubbed his throat and pointed towards Zonia, "Hey wait, don't move. We just want to help you."
"NO." she shouted and she pushed Gamora out of her way as she ran out the door into the hallway.
Gamora helped Peter up."Shit, that's not good. Come on, after her."
They all went down further down the hallway and found her next to the bathroom door clutching her head in pain.
"Hey wait, stop. Ee just want to talk to you."
She just shook her head and ran into the bathroom and slammed the door on them and locked it shut.
Gamora knocked on the door and tried to get her out of the bathroom.
"We are not going to hurt you, just come out."
''STAY AWAY FROM ME." she shouted through the door.
Gamora pinched the bridge of her nose, "Oh great, that's just fantastic. She locked herself in the bathroom."
Rocket tried knocking on the door but she still wouldn't open it.
"Hey Pinkie, open this door, this isn't funny. Come on."
"NO JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ROCKET."
"Well I tried."
"Does anyone else have any ideas?"
"I could always blow up the door." Rocket said in a sing song voice.
"NO." Peter and Gamora shouted.
Rocket grumbled to himself. "Take all the fun out of life, buzz kills."
Peter got next to the door. "Let me try."
Peter knocked on the door gently and waited for her response.
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She was sitting in the far corner of the bathroom with her hands on her head trying to calm herself. She had no idea where she was and who those strange people were outside. They were probably bounty hunters that were going to take her to that narcissistic tyrant Cain.
She got up from the ground and glared at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't stand looking at herself anymore. It had been her fault that he died. It was all her fault. She angrily grunted as she punched the mirror, cracking it in seven places.
She groaned into her arms over the bathroom sink and looked up at her cracked image, sneering in disgust.
Her purple hair was all over the place, she was in really baggy clothes, and there was a huge patch on her left leg from where she got hurt.
She spotted a hair tie and a brush on the opposite counter and reached for them. She then started to brush out her wavy hair out of her face and she put it up in a high ponytail.
She gave herself a small smile. "At least I don't look that bad anymore."
Her smile soon vanished when she heard another knock on the door again and she just clenched her fists and glared at the door.
"Hey, it's okay, we're not mad at you, we just want to talk."
"My name's Peter, what's yours?"
"None of your business." she spat.
"She said her name was Zonia back at the bar."
"Zonia. That's a very pretty name. It's very unique, it fits you well."
"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY."
"Hey, no need to be angry I was just making a statement."
"YOU SHAMELESS BOUNTY HUNTERS ARE TOYING WITH ME."
"Bounty hunters?" Peter said in a confused tone.
"Zonia, we're not bounty hunters, we're heroes."
Zonia just rolled her eyes, "HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK I AM?" she shouted through the door.
"We don't think you're stupid. You're just really confused right now." Gamora stated.
Zonia crossed her arms. "Oh please, I'm not confused about anything. You guys are just trying to trick me so you can collect the bounty from Cain."
"Who the hell's Cain?" Rocket shouted.
"We're not bounty hunters, we're the Guardians of the Galaxy."
Zonia raised an eyebrow, "Guardians of the Galaxy?"
"We were the ones who protected Xandar and defeated Ronan."
"You guys defeated Ronan the Accuser?" Zonia asked in a skeptical tone.
"Zonia, think about this for a second. If we were bounty hunters,
why would we stitch up your wounds, give you fresh clothes, and let you rest?
Zonia stayed quiet. She was completely speechless. Maybe they weren't bounty hunters after all, maybe they were heroes.
"Just come out already, Pinkie. It's gonna be fine."
They waited in silence and just stared at the door when they finally heard the door unlock. Zonia slowly walked out of the bathroom with her head down. She was clutching her hand that she punched the mirror with.
Peter went over to Zonia and looked at her hand, "Hey what happened to your hand, Zonia?"
She laughed nervously, "I sort of punched your mirror and shattered it on accident. I apologize for that."
"That's okay, it's fine. We're just a little concerned and have some questions." Gamora stated.
"Like why the hell did you start glowing all of a sudden?"
Zonias eyes widened. "Glowing?"
"Yeah, your tattoo started to glow and you woke up gasping for air."
Zonia pointed to her forehead. "This is not a tattoo, it's a birthmark."
"In the shape of a star." Peter asked skeptically.
Zonia crossed her arms over her chest, "It's a weird birthmark okay."
"Besides that's not important right now. My question is how long was I out for."
"Three days."
"THREE DAYS." Zonia shouted.
"I've wasted far too much time already, I have to go." She walked past the trio and was about to exit the hallways door when Rocket shouted at her.
"Hey Pinkie, where the hell are you going you're in the middle of space."
"Just drop me off at the nearest planet and I'll be out of your hair."
"Hey Zonia, slow down. You're still recovering."
Zonia just rolled her eyes and laughed. "I've recovered enough and I thank you all for helping me. Now I need to get ready because I have a long trip ahead of me."
Gamora narrowed her eyes at Zonia. "That is not an option. You are still not well enough."
Zonia looked at Gamora as she was about to exit, "I feel perfectly fine, so if you would please excus-.."
Zonia had accidently bumped into Drax who was blocking the exit with his arms crossed looking down at her.
"Oh Drax, what a lovely surprise. It's so good to see you again."
He looked down at her while crossing his massive arms, "I was resting when I heard screaming coming from the bathroom."
Zonia pointed to herself and laughed, "Oh well, that was me. I was just having a little mental break down in the bathroom but it's fine now."
"It is not fine. You shouldn't be out of bed, you might hurt yourself." he stated firmly.
"Well as I told the others I feel perfectly recovered so if you would kindly mo- HEY DRAX PUT ME DOWN."
Before zonia could even finish her sentence, Drax had scooped her up and put her over his shoulders and started walking back towards his room.
Zonia was pounding her fists against Drax and trying to get out of his grasp. "DRAX THIS ISN'T FUNNY. PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW."
He just ignored her and continued walking back to his room where he gently placed her back in his bed and wrapped his blankets around her squirming form.
Drax looked down at her and scolded her, "You are in no position to argue, you need to rest."
"I'm fine."
"You need rest."
He sat down on the chair next to the bed, "I will be sitting right here with you protecting you while you rest."
"That's really not necessary."
The rest of the Guardians soon came into Drax's room and Peter laughed at the site before him.
"This is just too cute."
"No it is not. I'm being held against my will." Zonia stated, annoyed at her current predicament.
Groot waved at Zonia happily from the nightstand. "I am Groot."
Zonia nervously laughed. "Uh, hi there."
She noticed Gamora starting to approach her leaning down to her level, while Rocket investigated zonias bounty on his holopad.
"We are just curious why you want to leave so badly." Gamora asked.
"So I can kill Cain before he finds me."
"Which is who exactly?" Peter asked.
"An evil tyrant of a man who's trying to hunt me down." Zonia stated firmly.
"Do not fear. I shall protect you from anyone." Drax shouted.
"You don't understand, not even you can protect me from him." she said sadly.
"Oh come on how bad does he want you." Peter asked
Rockets eyes widened when he saw Cain's price for Zonia, "HOLY SHIT HE PUT A BOUNTY ON HER FOR FIVE BILLION UNITS."
"FIVE BILLION." Zonia shouted.
She put her head in her hands and was groaning, "That's not good. He doubled the bounty. He must be getting really desperate."
"But five billion units. Think of all that mon- OW."
Peter punched Rocket hard on his arm.
"Dude, not cool."
"What? I'm just saying it's a lot of money." he growled defensively.
Gamora just glared at Rocket, while Groot shook his head back and forth.
"Why does he want you so badly?" Peter asked.
"That's the thing, I don't know why he wants me."
"How did you meet this man?" Gamora asked skeptically.
Zonia looked down and gulped nervously, "If I tell you all how I met him, will you promise not to think that I'm crazy?"
Peter put his hands on her shoulders. "We promise."
Zonia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright then I'll tell you how I met Cain."