(As always: not mine, don't sue)

Four days from Xandar

"Look." Peter said exasperated. "Why don't we all go to separate areas of the ship and just calm down?"

It has been only four days since leaving Xandar and it seemed that now that there was no longer a clear goal to keep them distracted, and not a lot of space, everyone was starting to get on each others last nerve.

Between Rockets insistence on leaving parts everywhere, Gamora's calm but increasingly biting comments on the others' habits and Drax's clear and often loud descriptions of what was irritating him and what he wished to do about it, Peter was about ready to tear his hair out. Even Groot's incessant cheerfulness was becoming annoying.

"And why the hell should we listen to you Star-bore." Rocket's confrontational tone, clearly spoiling for a fight, was the last straw.

"That's it!" Peter stood up, grabbing his jacket and his walkman.

"You want to go kill each other? Fine!" He stomped off

"Where are you going, Quill?" Gamora asked disapprovingly. She always looked disapproving, it was like she didn't have any other expressions.

"I'm going for a walk!" He shouted over his shoulder, refusing to slow down. He ignored Rockets dismissive snort and "Not going to get very far on this ship then are you?" as he moved into the cargo hold.

The best thing about walking along the outside of a spaceship when you were in a temper was the fact that getting the magnetic couplings to activate properly meant you had to stamp your feet. In fact, being out in the hard vacuum was probably the best place to be when you were angry. Having no atmosphere means no one would hear Peter list all the things he hated about his new team-mates. (After triple checking his com was off. He wasn't an idiot.) Space didn't care if he shouted ever single insult he knew about them. It certainly didn't care if he just screamed at the top of his lungs.

He knew why they were all angry. Everyone finally had a chance to breath and now were pushing boundaries. Add a healthy dose of cabin fever and it was no wonder they were all at each others throats. He could understand it.

It didn't change the fact that it was royally pissing. him. off!

He finished yelling and kicking at the hull (it wasn't like he'd make a dent in it after all) and stomped over to the exhaust. He was feeling calmer now but he wasn't going to go back inside for another hour at least. Let the others get everything out of their systems, he was sick of being the mediator. They weren't really going to kill each other. Probably. And their med kits were fully stacked thanks to the Nova Core. It'd be fine.

That decided, Peter wedged himself under one of the wings near the engine. Close enough that you could feel the heat but not close enough to get radiation burns (he hoped). Settling back he put on his headphones, started Awesome Mix Vol. 2, and watched the stars fly by.

Walking back into the main area of the ship Peter deactivated his mask and ran his hands though his hair. Dislodging the frozen carbon particles that accumulated around engines like his (that some pilots poetically referred to as stardust) he noticed how quiet it was. He really hoped no one was actually dead.

Stepping into the main room he saw everyone else was there and no one looked they were even bleeding. Bonus.

"Where were you?" The demand was out of Gamora's mouth before he even had a chance to say hi.

"Um, I told you. I went for a walk." Great, Peter thought, it seemed that everyone had managed to get over that fact that they were mad at each other by being mad at him instead.

"We could not find you anywhere on the ship" Drax said.

Now Peter was getting confused. What was the fuss about? "That's because I went out for a walk."

"Are you insane?" Rocket yelled. "You went for a space walk when we're moving?!"

Having them look at him like he was crazy was a step up from them looking like they wanted to rip him apart, but he still didn't know what the big deal was.

"We're moving in a straight line in the middle of empty space. I've been doing this for years, it's not like I was going to fall off."

It suddenly hit him what the problem was. They weren't Spacers. They probably only used ships to get them from A to B. Had any of them ever really lived in one? Peter had barely been a day away from a ship since he'd been picked up by the Ravagers. He was used to the culture clash for being a Terran but now he felt like he was coming at it from the other end. It was weird.

"Guys, thanks for being worried but it's fine." Peter ignored Rockets murmur of "Who said anything about being worried." He double tapped his mask and it flickered momentarily over his face "This isn't just a fashion statement you know, I'm used to being out there. Come on Rocket, you're a good pilot, you must know it's not that bad."

"Yeah well, I never had a ship of my own, I've only ever borrowed them. I've always had to give them back pretty quick."

"I am Groot"

"Not always in pieces!"

At least everyone was looking calmer now.

"I have been trained to fight in zero-g conditions but I have never thought of other reasons to go outside a ship whilst it is moving." Gamora said thoughtfully.

"You can't beat the view" Peter smiled.

"I have not had and opportunity to fight without gravity before" Drax stated, "Is it difficult?"

"It is different," Gamora replied, "There is no weight but momentum still exists. I would be happy to give you some tips."

"Forget fighting," Peter said happily, "We can turn off the grav generators in the cargo hold and I can teach you all to play tackle-ball. It's a bit small for the four of us -"

"I am Groot"

"-five of us, but I sure we can manage."

As Peter tried to talk everyone into going down to the cargo hold he couldn't help but be glad for his team, even if they sometimes drove him nuts.