Lines | Guardians of the Galaxy |

Chapter Seventeen

Avenna was not happy with this arrangement whatsoever. The three boys went off to go and do their own thing with each other, and the fox was left with a cranky green woman who hated her.

Wonderful.

The feeling was totally mutual, though. Avenna harbored an immense amount of dislike for her, too.

She grumbled as she ignored the burning in her feet as she walked behind Gamora, who was looking from side to side. "What are we getting first?"

"Clothes," she says shortly. "For both of us. As soon as we find a—"

"Right there." Avenna points towards a store with dirty windows where ugly fake white people are posing in the doorways. "What the crap are those?" she asks. "They're... hideous. That is cruel. Did someone pour paint over them and force them to stand like that for hours?"

Gamora laughs, much to the fox's surprise. "No, those are mannequins," she grins. "They're plastic people."

"I don't like it," the fox says, eyeing one of them as they push open the door to this shop.

"Welcome, welcome!" The man behind the counter looks absolutely thrilled to have customers as a small metal bell rings above their head. He politely ignores the way it scares Avenna. "If you need any help finding something, let me know!"

"Oh my gosh!" A little voice speaks and Avenna glances over to where a young girl with pale blue skin is standing, her deep green eyes wide at the sight of the fox. She looks to be no more than ten. "You're so pretty! What's your name?"

Her instinct is to back away behind Gamora and snarl at the girl as she approaches, but the vixen holds her tongue and poise as she allows the girl to kneel down in front of her. "Avenna," she says shortly.

"You're beautiful," the girl says reverently. "Where are you from?"

She feels some sort of strange sensation at the girl's words. There was no disgust whatsoever in her face or tone, and she looked like she genuinely meant those words, which Avenna had rarely, rarely been told before. Oh, and the girl was talking directly to her, not to Gamora. She didn't look at her like a pet or a mindless child. "I... I'm not really sure."

"Are you looking for clothes?" The blue-skinned girl stands up, immediately scanning the room. "If you are, I've got perfect ideas for you that'll compliment you wonderfully! Even if you're trying to find things that are of more practical use."

"I think we're okay, thank you," Gamora turns the child down, but Avenna shakes her head.

"That's alright, I'd appreciate that." Normally, the fox would loathe having someone lead her through a store. She'd hate having to get help in this way, from a child, of all people, even if they were taller than her. But this girl was so startlingly different from literally everyone else she'd met.

"Thank you, Kenzie." The storeowner smiles down at what looks to be his daughter, now that Avenna thinks about it.

The girl smiles up cheerfully at him and steps over to one of the sections of the store.

"Go find the things you need," Avenna tells Gamora.

"Yes, do that!" Kenzie calls from across the room. "And I'll help if you need it! Or Daddy can."

The fox really can't help the smile that splits across her face as she goes over to the child. Gamora is smiling, too, and she turns to go and find some things for herself.

"Thank you, Kenzie," Avenna says to the girl.

"Of course! I like helping. Here, what are you looking for, exactly?" She looks over her shoulder, pausing her sorting through the shirts hanging from the racks, that are within Avenna's reach—a pleasant thing to note.