video ==> text | @gamora

[godslay]

[ Hey, you know who hasn't graced the network in a while?

This tiny monster.

You know who understands how the network works and thinks it's neat?

That same tiny monster.

When the camera clicks on, Groot is standing way too close to the screen, and all that can be seen are his gigantic, black eyes. There's a muffled, "I am Groot?" and then he's setting the communicator down and taking a few steps back until he's mostly visible from the waist up. He waves cheerfully at the camera, and then reaches offscreen to produce...

This bad boy.

He waves it around effortlessly; even if it's already extended, it's clearly near weightless. An excellent blade, all around.

Not excellent for children, however.

Offscreen, Gamora's voice sounds distant:

"Peter, have you seen my—"

Her feet appear in the camera's view, followed by a sharp, reprimanding, ]

Groot! Give that back! You're going to hurt yourself!

[ And she's stomping over to snatch away her sword.

Groot whines when Gamora takes Godslayer, and after a brief pause, the sapling is bursting into immediate, earsplitting bawling.

Sorry to anyone next door or on the adjacent floors. ]

Ugh.

[ She scoops up her communicator, too. It takes a second for her to notice that Groot turned it on, but then she clicks off the feed. ]



[ Following after that disaster: ]

Who has experience dealing with tantrums?

Comments

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter looks up at her for a second or two, wordlessly.

... but that's mostly because the expression on his face screams, How the hell should I know?!

He heaves out another sigh. ]

Groot, c'mon, you—

[ But the kid just starts throwing his limbs around again, slamming them against the floor and screaming. ]

... How the hell does someone so little scream that loud?

[godslay]

I have no idea.

[ Sharp and aggravated, but Gamora finally moves forward to scoop Groot off the ground. ]

Hey.

[ She raises her voice over his again, but instead of being intimidated into stopping, his flailing arms almost whack Gamora in the face. She catches his little hand, looks him right in the eye. ]

... Absolutely not.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Welp. Groot goes deadly silent, apparently realizing he'd definitely almost hit Gamora. It's different when he's smacking Drax or Peter, both of whom he's definitely punched or kicked in the shins.

But Gamora is definitely off-limits.

And now that the kid is silent (and Peter too, honestly, because holy shit that was close to being really fucking bad), it gives Peter a chance to think back on his own childhood, beyond the uneven application of Ravager discipline.

And he asks himself, What Would Meredith Quill Do? ]

We should— probably put him in time out.

[ This isn't new, at least. "Time out" is definitely a thing they've done. ]

[godslay]

[ She's still dead-eyeing Groot, and she only releases the sapling's fist when Peter speaks up. ]

We should.

[ Because he's definitely earned a time out, and even though Gamora isn't entirely sure what that does for him, he at least doesn't like it.

She pulls a chair over to the corner of the room, facing the wall, and plops Groot down on the seat. ]

Sit there.

[ Sulkily, but also somewhat meekly, he plunks onto his little butt to wait out his punishment. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter heaves out a sigh, and while Groot is far from settled, he's at least quiet, for now.

He falls back heavily against the couch, still seated on the floor as he is, and drags both hands down his face. ]

... We need to figure out how to childproof this place.

[ You know. Almost half a year after Groot first popped through the portal.

It hadn't been much of an issue before, but lately... ]

Or, you know. Groot-proof it.

[ Which will surely be more work than simply childproofing it. ]

[godslay]

[ Gamora stands there, watching Groot for a second longer to make sure he stays put, and then goes to join Peter on the couch. ]

Does that mean we need to start putting locks in place?

[ ... she has no idea what childproofing entails. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

Maybe?

[ Peter doesn't remember much of what Mom had to do to keep him from messing with shit, for obvious reasons. ]

I dunno. On Earth, we pretty much just put dangerous things in high places, which obviously isn't gonna work on him.

[ And he nods toward Groot, who's taken to sprawling out on the seat of the chair, rather than sitting on it properly. ]

[godslay]

We would need to lock them up instead.

[ Since Peter's right: heights won't help. ]

That's going to mean all of our knives.

[nostalgiabomb]

And guns.

[ Offered up with a little exasperation. Peter, apparently, really doesn't like this idea.

Like, he's not the "sleep with a weapon under his pillow" kind of guy, but he still likes knowing his guns are only a few seconds away from being in his hands in an emergency. Maybe a few months ago it would've been less of a concern, but after getting jumped in the street and shoved in an ancient underground chamber and beaten to goddamn hell?

Yeah. He's a little paranoid. ]

Maybe we can get biometric locks or some—

[ And called out from Time Out Corner, ] I am Groot?

No, you're not done yet.

[godslay]

That would work for your blasters. Godslayer is always sharp.

[ She also doesn't sound pleased with this situation. Groot isn't an ordinary toddler, but... in so many ways, he's absolutely a child, and they need to be more careful with him than they were with older Groot. ]

There should be people we can ask for suggestions on security measures. Parents of children with powers must deal with something similar, right?

[nostalgiabomb]

I guess?

[ He scrubs at his eye with the heel of his palm for a second.

Parenting. What the fuck even is it? ]

I guess you can ask the network or something? [ Because Peter's comm is all the way over there. ]

But I can't imagine we're gonna get anything better than, like, "Set firmer boundaries," or the kinda shit you'd get in What to Expect When You're Expecting, or whatever.

[godslay]

[ She looks down at the comm in her hand with a sigh. She might as well. ]

But he will grow out of it eventually, won't he?

[ All children do.

Mostly. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter is silent for a second.

Then, with all too obvious uncertainty, ]

Y...es?

[ Out of all of them, Rocket was the only one with a pretty solid handle on how Groot would probably progress.

Not for the first time, he wishes the guy was here. ]

[godslay]

[ ... That's the least reassuring answer ever.

What if he's like this for years? Decades? What if they grow at different developmental rates?

A little noise of frustration rumbles in Gamora's throat (though it's clearly not directed at Peter) as she sinks down against the cushions. She fires off a quick text to the network (rather than voice or video), and then sets her comm on the couch. ]

He's learning, like most children. But our circumstances are so different that it's impossible to predict how he's going to progress.

[ From the corner: ] I am Groot!

Yes, we're talking about you.

I am Groot?

No. Stay there.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He pulls himself up off the ground to settle on the couch beside her, an arm stretched over the back of it. ]

I mean, he'll probably grow out of it? He basically jumped from being a little baby to a toddler in, like, just a couple months. So if we go by that scale, we're... probably good?

[godslay]

[ Almost out of habit, Gamora shifts to lean against Peter's side. ]

He has been a toddler for a long time, comparatively. Have you noticed him growing yet?

[ Because Gamora doesn't think she has, not at the rate that he went from potted twig to walking, talking sapling. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He opens his mouth to respond.

Then closes it, as he thinks it over more. Then, ]

... He might have grown a centimeter or two?

[godslay]

[ She gives him the same flat look she usually does when he says something unhelpful. ]

Maybe we should find some way of keeping track of any changes.

[ If Gamora was Terran, she might think to suggest tic marks on a doorframe. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter, who is Terran, huffs out a laugh and suggests, ]

What, like marks on a doorframe?

[godslay]

[ As with most things that are outside of Gamora's cultural existence, this earns a wrinkle of her nose in confusion. ]

Why would you mark a doorframe?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Yeah, he was expecting the question, which means his answer is offered up easily: ]

I dunno. Sentimental reasons?

Basically a kid would stand against a door frame, probably like every couple of months? And their parent would, like, either mark their height in pen or by carving a little notch in the frame.

[godslay]

[ She seems to be considering this option, her head cocked. ]

Maybe that would be better when we aren't in the community housing.

[ Like... when they can have a real place of their own (for whatever remaining time they have in the Quarantine). ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He lets out a quiet hum of agreement. Then, ]

Maybe we should look into a new place for ourselves, huh? Now that Mantis is back.

[godslay]

[ She nods in easy agreement. ]

Groot could use more room, too.

[ He could be acting out more out of boredom, really. ]

We should look for somewhere with extra bedrooms, just... in case.

[ In case Rocket or Drax or... maybe even Nebula show up in the Quarantine. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He pauses for a second, then, ]

Yeah. That's not a bad idea.

[ Like, okay, it's weird, because while they've been stuck here for a year (a fucking year), it hasn't been wholly terrible, a few pretty big hiccups aside. And while he wouldn't want any of their teammates to end up stranded here, like they have, he also wouldn't exactly mind it? ]

So, what, we're looking at... four bedrooms? Five?