WORLD ALONE 一 PETER QUILL

CHAPTER ONE

WORLD ALONE
BOOZE, BOOZE, AND BOOZE

     Rocket was going to kill her. The large bruise circling Oribella's eye had darkened and worsened since the brawl. Red, whose name turned out to be Antilles, was escorted out of the bar and banned.

"Stars, Ori, your eye looks terrible!" Oribella rolled her eyes and set the mug she was cleaning, down. She threw the dirty rag down on the even nastier counter and turned to face the green girl with antennas.

"Thanks, Semaj," she groaned. Semaj took a bag of cold rocks and tossed them to Oribella.

"Those should help with the swelling," she mentioned. Bella leaned against the counter and held the back of cold rocks to her face. 

"Hey! Get back to work!" 

Oribella quickly stepped away from the counter and continued to clean mugs. 

"What did that guy do anyway?" Semaj asked over her shoulder as she continued to slice the citrus fruits.

"He threw a Xandarian man into one of our tables and broke it. I just didn't want the damage taken out of our paycheck. Then I hit him in the dick with the end of my broom."

Semaj laughed and shook her head. She truly thought her friend was fucking crazy and had a death wish. Besides the fight she had just involved herself in the other day, she had been in countless other ones that were normally initiated by drunk assholes.

One time, a few years ago, she had refused to serve an already wasted man more alcohol. A shelf of shattered glasses and a few opened wounds later, Semaj had found her death-wishing friend looking like she had just stepped out of a war.

"You're gonna die here if you keep that up, Ori. With your short-fuse temper and your witty mouth, someone's gonna stab you."

"Comforting words, thanks," Oribella muttered sarcastically. She placed the last dirty, now clean, mug down and picked up the bag of cold rocks.

"He's gonna kill you, you know-"

"Ziro? Oh I know, this is so coming out of my-"

"No, Rocket." Semaj placed down the knife and turned around. She gave a knowing look, one that Oribella has familiarized herself with. It was the famous "Semaj Scold" as she liked to call it.

"Aw fuck," she grumbled and sunk her head. Rocket hadn't come to visit her in the last two months, but word travels fast and she expected a call from him soon. 

"Good luck, you're gonna actually die" she chuckled. Oribella sent her a glare and scoffed obnoxiously loud.

"I hate you, I hope you know that." 

"I do," Semaj said cheekily. She grinned before disappearing around the corner to grab more of a liquor they needed restocking.

 Oribella took over Semaj's job of cutting fruits while she went to check the back for more booze. Not more than five seconds passed when a rowdy group of people entered the establishment.

Looking up from what she was doing, Oribella dropped her knife clumsily as she spotted her friend she hadn't seen in months. Oribella quickly whipped up Rocket's favorite drink, and while she was at it, a few rounds of drinks for his companions.

Unsurprisingly, she had found him at the Orloni betting table, ready for another drink.

"Rocket!" She called out. The raccoon-like creature turned around, a smile forming on his lips once he saw the girl.

"Oh my god, Ori, how have ya been girl- what the hell happened to your face?" He asked as he took the drink from her tray. 

"Heh, about that-"

"Did you get into another fight?" 

"Maybe?"

"Again? Really Ori? I thought you learned your lesson after that yellow dude with the black spikes who probably gave you a disease when he stuck you," Rocket scolded as she handed out a round of drinks to his blue friend and Groot.

"You're obviously not alone, so who are your friends?" She asked while taking Rocket's empty mug and handing him another glass of alcohol. 

"Number one, they're not my friends, I'm just sticking around for the money. Number two, the blue guy's Drax, the human with a leather jacket and annoyingly large blonde hair is Peter, and the green chick is Gamora," he listed. He took another swig just at the thought of the people he associated himself with.

"Well, you better buy me somethin' nice with the money you get. You haven't come to visit in months, what's your excuse?" She asked, arching her eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Business has been booming baby, can't do a damn thing about it when I'm gettin' paid as much as I was. I really did wanna stop by, just couldn't catch a break even if I tried, ya know?"

Oribella hummed in agreement. She picked up an empty cup from Drax and handed him a new, full glass.

"Ah, so you must be the Rocket's girl!" Drax bellowed as he raised his glass. "Rocket told us about you when we were in Kyln!"

"You were in prison?" Oribella snapped in a reprimanding manner. Her jaw remained slack and her shoulders were tensed. "Rocket, really? Again?"

"The idiot Peter's at fault!" He quickly jumped to defend himself.

"I don't care who's at fault, Rocket, you went to jail? For what? The twentieth time?"

"Twenty-third," he corrected.

"I don't care what time it was, really?" Drax chuckled at Oribella's sudden outburst. His laugh was deep and it resonated throughout the entire bar.

"You've been bested, vermin!" He cackled. Oribella's jaw tightened at the derogatory use of the animal-related word. She knew how Rocket felt and how sensitive he was to being called such things.

"Drax, I'd watch your mouth," Ori warned. Though in his drunken state, he wouldn't catch the warning in her tone. 

"Yeah? Well, at least my family isn't dead!" Rocket insensitively spat. Oribella jerked her head and sent him a scold.

"Rocket!"

"You know nothing about what you speak, vermin!" 

"Drax!"

"I am not a vermin!"