EasilyAmused Member

His bandage comment made her giggle, something she hadn’t done in a while. Leaning to the side, she allowed her hands to follow his as he wrapped his arms gently around her and placed his hands on her stomach. “I’m sorry you have experience in it but I appreciate it none-the-less.” She said softly, her cheeks were still hot. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Someone was making her blush and she felt comfortable with him. Someone she had hated no more than a day ago. Could she…be wrong about this? Wrong about everything? Could she really go to the police and instead of being treated like a royal and under all the responsibilities of one, could she just try to live a normal life… if she was wrong about Quill, maybe she could be wrong about other things. His lips against her soft neck made her tingle, her whole body shivered at the sensation. Again, it was something she wasn’t used to but she was welcoming it all the same… even though she should probably take it very _very_ slowly. She shook her head slightly at his comment. “That _rodent_ is something I consider important so please; humor me and don’t call him that.” She said softly doing her best to not come across as offended but just making him aware of how she felt about the situation. “But he’s not quite that as important as he likes to think he is. At least when he tries to get me to bring a bottle of wine to see a computer system I’ve been using for the past two years; he’s not really my type…” She said dragging out the word, her eyes closing softly yet again.

When he stated that he was thinking the same thing, she couldn’t help but beam at him. The charming young man who was a bit blunt but at the same time nice was interesting to her and, well; she hadn’t met that many interesting people lately. The blonde followed him out onto the dance floor and placed her hand on his shoulder and her other in his large one. While he spoke, she listened closely; as if his story meant everything to her. The more she spoke, the more she realized that he really didn’t want to be here and be around these people, much like how she felt. But upon his mention of being able to meet her, she felt her face flush red and even behind her mask, it could still be visible. “Well I’m flattered Mister Smith but I’m just a normal person.” She said in a simple matter giving him a gentle shrug. The sudden arrival of someone made her eyes expand in shock as well. The tall blonde made seemed to stare down at her dance partner and between their conversations her blue eyes flicked between the two men. Her partner did not miss a beat when it came to the dance and even was able to give her a spin before pulling her back into the waltz. Before she could comment about not ever seeing her again, the large man started to state what sounded like a different name instead of ‘John’. The blonde flicked her blue gaze back to her dance partner and raised her eyebrows from behind her silver mask. It wasn’t until he stepped back from her and pulled out keys that obviously weren’t his. Her eyes expanded as he clicked the button and spoke to her. The keys dropped into her hand and she was left speechless on the dance floor, literally; her mouth was open and she stood there unable to move as he and, what looked like his giant body guard ran off. Oh my god… that’s… that’s… She didn’t know how to react, her body finally snapped into action after they had disappeared into the crowd and she attempted to follow them without drawing attention to herself. She moved through the crowd, clutching her hand to her chest as she walked; hoping she could find Robin Hood before anyone else did. Her search throughout the night was a complete fail before the security came in to announce exactly what had happened and that they had gotten away. Marian cleaned her prints off of the keys (and Robin Hood’s) and dropped the keys into the lost and found. She was face to face with Robin Hood and missed her chance to talk to him! She ate food like a complete fool and hardly said much to him. Oh she was kicking herself now. It took some convincing but she allowed Edward to walk her back to her apartment instead of taking one of the cars home. Sighing softly her high heels clipped and clopped down the street as she kept a comfortable distance between Edward and herself. Her small body shivered slightly under her small shall and she held her purse against her side. “…and that’s what’s new with my life. What’s new with yours?” Edward said finally giving her the ability to talk as they walked. Twenty minutes worth of walking and he finally gave her some attention. The man was arrogant much like his father but he wasn’t necessarily a bad guy; just arrogant. “Well… Aside from being cold there’s nothing else really new with me…” Edward muttered something about her bringing a heavier jacket but she had intended on taking a car home not walking. Marian just rolled her intense blue eyes at the comment and continued onward as she pulled her mask off of her face and put it in her purse. “The courthouse has been buzzing with not only news of your father running for Governor but Robin Hood being out and about more often than normal…” “Robin Hood….” Edward said darkly under his breath as his hands curled into fists in the pockets of his jacket. “Yes Robin Hood, my dad is all about catching him and has been staying late attempting to track him down. I think he’s getting just a little bit obsessed…” “And you?” “Me?” “What about you?” “Well…” She said, shifting slightly as she walked. “Do you have a thing for him?” “What… what makes you think that?!” She said quickly attempting to look anywhere else but him. “Marian, he’s dangerous and you’re just as much of a target as anyone else. Don’t let the fantasy get to you, you really could get hurt.” “The only thing that could hurt me right now is the cold.” “Well you should have brought a thicker jacket.” Edward retorted in a semi-harsh tone that caused her to glare at him; he obviously wasn’t happy that she didn’t agree with his dislike about Robin Hood and she, well she wasn’t happy that he convinced her to walk home and is now watching her shake slightly in the cold. The jerk.

Ever sense the slaughter of her people, Nikki had never felt ‘safe’ or ‘protected’, so to look up at the Terran she was very surprised to hear something like that coming from him. As a matter of fact, she never thought she’d hear something like that from him; since she was still under the impression that he wanted to sell her to The Collector and that’s what started the whole ‘on the run’ thing for most of her life. But here he was, telling her he wanted to protect her. Her chocolate brown eyes blinked gently up at him as he spoke, listening to his every word and wanting to believe it all. Upon the inching closer and closer of his face, her heart thumped with intensity. She didn’t understand the feeling as her heart wanted to explode from her chest. Was he just playing a game with her? Was she under some kind of spell? Did he really mean what he said? What was going on? She felt like she was going to faint, that she was buying into every word that came out of his mouth. Was it safe for her to do so? Could she really believe him and all of his blabberings? Or was she just getting lost in the moment and allowing him to take advantage of her? His lips hit hers and she found herself turning into a puddle right there on the floor. Her knees nearly began to shake, and, although the kiss only lasted moments, it felt like hours; her first kiss was making her head spin. “Well…” She began softly, in almost a whisper, “You sure know how to make a girl feel like she’s never felt before Star-Lord.” A smile moved across her full lips as she looked up at him, her eyes twinkling and behind her tan skin, her cheeks turned pink. Her gaze moved forward as she spoke softly under her breathe, “That was nice.”

When he said that the woman he had been talking to might be off talking to someone else, Marian’s eyes soften as she looked up at him from behind her mask. That was sad because he seemed like a decent guy. “Well it’s her loss.” She said in a reassuring fashion with a charming white smile before she covered her mouth to not laugh with her mouth full about his comment of not wanting to come in between a woman and her food. Every man should now that lesson. She listened closely to him talk about what he does for a job and nodded a few times as he explained. His comment about the lawyers made her smile and the mention of the overconfident cocky ones mad her laugh. “Oh I knew one of those but… well sometimes bad things happen to those types and no matter how annoying they are… they don’t deserve it.” Her eyes softened and dropped. Even though she didn’t like Robert Locksley, she knew what happened to him wasn’t far and shouldn’t have happened at all. Then he touched on her favorite topic and her entire outlook changed, a bright smile came across her face and her bright blue eyes twinkled up to him. She opened her mouth to respond to him before she was cut off by the sound of a voice showing up and her attention turned. Jason and Edward Taylor approached them. The young man looked like a spitting image of his father but younger. The same large charming smile and the same oozing confidence that got his father very far in life, “Robin is not a fun man; he attacks people and deserves to be behind bars. But fear not, the police force are out chasing him and his merry men down.” “Actually.” The curly haired blonde responded, pulling the father and son’s attention to her instead of the young man. “He only goes after the bad people; be a good person and you’ll be fine.” “On the contrary Marian,” Edward said in a gentle correcting state. “He goes after rich people; higher class people and Marian, you do fall under that category. But fear not…” He said softly with a smile to her. “I’ll protect you.” Somehow, she felt like his words were true and to that, she gave him a small smile, only to have the masked man she was talking to before step in to talk to the men. This was the distraction she needed in order to stuff her face, so she turned and snagged a couple sandwiches and placed her empty cup on the now empty tray. Marian turned back around to find the young man talking to her again. His response of asking her for a dance as met with a closed mouth smile and nod since her mouth was full of food. While the young man walked away, Edward slid next to her. “Do you know who he is?” “I just know his name’s John Smith, he seems nice.” “I don’t think he knows the town well enough to speak so positively about Robin Hood. I hope he’s careful.” It was surprising to hear that Edward would worry about someone but at least he was showing a caring side. Marian found an excuse to walk away from the two men before it could turn into something awkward like attempting to set up yet another date with Edward that she would have to dodge yet again. After wondering for a bit and getting her fill of food she noticed the dance floor was finally picking up. The waltz being a favorite dance of the older generation so hers had to learn it to. While she enjoyed these events she really avoided ones that Robert would be attending because she couldn’t stand him, so it was unknown to her if he’d be a good dancer and able to keep up with her. But as she felt the stares growing from Edward she knew she needed an escape. So she found her masked from and tapped him on the shoulder. “I’m going to be leaving soon so if you want to cash in that dance you better so it now.”

When it comes to people that Nikki had ‘been with’ the number itself was Zero. But she led people on until she got what she wanted/needed than fled before anything weird could happen. Would this qualify as ‘weird’? Maybe… maybe not; she did get something out of him. She got his word that they would stop Zero… not to mention the bounty on him was rather impressive anyway. Actually, maybe she should have mentioned that. They probably would have jumped at the idea a lot faster. The group seemed rather keen on two things. A] Helping people, and B] Making money; neither of which Nikki could really argue with. She’d be in it for the same thing too; especially if her life was at a lot less of a risk. A smile curled her full lips as she rolled her head back, resting it against his shoulder; giving him a full view of her smiling calm face with her eyes closed. “Animals wooing a girl into bed can be pathetic but sometimes, their intentions can change… at least something could overtake the importance of getting a girl into bed.” Her chocolate brown eyes opened and she flicked her gaze to look up at him. “Am I right?” She hoped there would be more than just a goal of sleeping with her; he’d be hard to avoid on a small ship, especially when the only person who would talk to her is one of the highly praised animals of her culture who somehow could talk, but… well attempted to get into her pants. It was a weird mix of feelings, some ‘wow’ and others ‘NO!’. You be the judge on what goes where.

**Name:** Marian Anderson. **Alias:** None. **Age:** 24. **Appearance:**  **Faction:** Civilian. **Occupation:** Court Stenographer. **Bio:** I was born and raised in Manhattan so it’s no surprise that I’m as knowledgeable about the streets as any of the other law enforcers out there. The only problem is that my dad won’t let me join the police force. ‘It’s too dangerous’ he’d say, ‘I don’t want to see you die’ he’d insist even though he allowed me to go through the academy; maybe in hopes that it would scare me away from the idea, but this valedictorian was far from scared. Though it seems like no one’s righting the wrongs in the city; the only place he’d let me even get _close_ to any action is as a Court Stenographer, type type type, type and more type, is all I ever do and while I’m not allowed to talk about the things I learn while I’m typing away on the funny looking keyboard… I learn a lot about the city, its people and just how corrupt the, so called, ‘ideals’ are. If my mom was alive, she’d be very disappointed at the things my father’s allowing this city, and it’s people to get away with. Sure I enjoy the higher end of life and the finer things that come with it; fancy parties, big apartment flats and smoking hot cars. But knowing it comes from, well blood money, doesn’t exactly make one feel nice. I will share with you a little information. Something that I know that most people don’t… Robert Locksley is a pain in the a**. Whenever he was in court, it felt like he’d purposefully talk faster just to see if I could keep up, and smart too. I’d watch defense attorneys’ knees buckle in fear when he’d enter the room. It’s sad to see he’s not practicing law anymore (don’t ask me what happened, I don’t know), but it’s nice not to see his arrogant personality anymore. I have noticed an increase in homeless people lately, which is sad in its own right. So I’ve made it a point to try to give whatever spare change I have to someone who I pass. I do see one however, that seemed to be pretty mobile as I run into him in quite a few places, one of my favorites was I was coming out of the donut shop and he held out his cup and instead of asking for change he asked for a donut. I laughed so hard that I gave him half of mine. I think he knows my route though, because every day when I go in for work, he’s begging by the courthouse so every day I drop off a donut to my beggar friend. It’s not money but it’s food right? **Personality:** Rather hard headed and diplomatically argumentative, it’s not her way or the highway but she’s not afraid to point out flaws and the negatives. Has a certain charm about her that helps her get what she wants and plays the innocent/dumb blonde card really well. All and all, she’s a nice girl, just rough around the edges. **Skills/abilities:** ~A ridiculously fast typer, obviously because of her job. ~Memory based around vocabulary, either written or spoken; a photographic memory only for words if you will. ~Hand-to-Hand combat training thanks to the academy. ~Gun usage, prefers a hand-held pistol but for obvious reasons (thanks dad) it doesn’t happen often. **Family/Loves Ones:** One father (Chief of Manhattan), mother’s dead. Siblings? Possibly… Someone wanna play a brother who joins the Merry Men?! I think that would be fun! Maybe friends with one of the female merry men? They went to school together or something?! **Other:** Loves to gossip about the Merry Men and their actions with her friends outside of work. In work they’d get rather butt-hurt that their employees were happy with what the Merry Men were doing but it’s about time there is some justice out there! And she never misses church and confession with Tryone Tuck.

The Taylor family was never afraid of spending a lot of money, but always found a cheap way to spend a lot of money. So Mister Adam Taylor was going to spend his money on the proper food and catering for the event but only used the law office. Which was a good and bad thing= at the same, since the office had enough room to throw such a party, “Hello Marian.” One of the bouncers said as he let in the blonde whose hair was curled. “Man, even with the mask; people still know it’s me.” Marian replied with a laugh, her bright blue eyes twinkling through the open view on her [silver mask](http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/carlodapino/carlodapino1211/carlodapino121100036/16289752-pretty-blonde-girl-with-curly-hair-takes-one-silver-mask-her-body-is-turned-of-three-quarters-at-lef.jpg) the floor length fitting silver dress hugged her shapely body in a beautiful fashion as she ventured inside towards the party. Waiters and waitresses walked around with trays of food and drinks. Before she could grab one to enjoy she was pulled by her father to say high to the Taylor family. A family of very rich power and with her father being the chief of police, they were very close. “Hello Mister and Misses Taylor.” She said with a smile giving both of them a good firm hand shake. “Have you seen Edward? He’s been looking for you.” Mister Taylor said with a smile behind his rather cheesy looking store bought mask. At least Marian had the creativity to make her own. “He was very much hoping to see you tonight.” Mrs. Taylor made a point to say behind her overly dramatic mask of feathers and jewels. There was no hidden surprises around the police office and courthouse that Edward Taylor had the hots for her and with him being part of a very rich family line, not to mention a successful lawyer in his own right, that the police chief’s daughter should be with him. Unfortunately for anyone else; it wasn’t something Marian had in mind. “Oh I’m sure I’ll run into him sooner or later.” Marian said with a nod, “but for now, I really need to track down some food; I’m starving.” As she walked away, the group picked up her favorite topic ‘Robin Hood’, but she didn’t wish to stick around to talk about it just yet. Her desperate such for food and something to drink became a priority before she was stopped by someone. A tall lean man in a steel gray suite which contrasted with her silver one nicely began to speak to her. His question he stopped her to ask made her smile gently; at first she was worried he was telling the truth. What a way to want to meet someone and her eyebrow quirked slightly at him. Her mind was racing on how to respond, she didn’t want to come across insulting to a tall rather handsome looking masked figure but his complement about her eyes caught her off guard, causing a charming white smile to move across her glossy pink lips. “Oh you’re too kind, thank you.” Her attention moved down to the glass he was handing her, mentally shrugging she took it with her soft small hand. “And thank you again. I’m Marian, Marian Anderson. It’s a pleasure to meet you Mister Smith. Don’t worry about you’re date, I’m sure she’s just lost in the shuffle of people. You’ll find her soon enough. Unless you’re looking for a blind date then… well you’re description of her is rather limited so I hope you do find her.” A nod of confidence left her as a young woman went walking by; the curly hair blonde grabbed a small sandwich from the tray and gave her a very polite thank you. Though the young woman seemed to give Mister Smith an odd look that could almost come across as warning, a warning that Marian didn’t understand but John Smith would ‘Be careful with her’ the look said before the young lady continued on. “Excuse me while I stuff my face.” Marian said with an innocent smile, “I haven’t ate most of the day so I’m very hungry. What do you do for a living Mister Smith?” She said as she bit delicately into her sandwich.

Sharon was completely disappointed that she missed most of the contest, in fact by the time she got back to the table, they were just finishing up. Steve, again, victorious over the mighty Thunder God; leaving both of them red faced and breathing heavily. A smile moved across her face as she watched the men look at each other with a mix of understanding between the two men. This is why Thor respected Steve so much and knew he was more than just a human, he was a true man! Her gaze exchanged with Steve as he walked passed her, and smiled softly to him before she turned her attention back to the men. Natasha’s attention was stern on Steve as he arrived. “We need to talk.” She said a small intensity to her voice. “With everything that is going on… and all the situations that have happened; I’ve been putting this open for a while and it needs to get fixed now. 1 hour; the diner across the street; be there and dress nice.” With that she nodded and left the room. Within minutes Sharon had excused herself to help get some paperwork stuff done. “Sharon.” Natasha seemed to magically show up as Sharon was signing some paperwork and finishing things up. “Come with me.” “Fine.” She said in annoyance and followed the redhead to their rooms; Natasha pushed open the door and went to her closet. Pulling out a dress she tossed it at her friend. “Natasha…” She asked questioningly. “You have a blind date tonight. I expect you to attend. You have…” She looked over at a nearby clock. “Half an hour to get ready and get across the street.” Sharon opened her mouth to protest only to have the redhead hold up her hand, “You don’t have a say in this. You either go or I make you go. Now change, freshen up and go. I’m done playing nice with you.” The blonde knew better than to argue with Natasha and left with the dress. Sighing she pulled herself into it and fixed her hair, dressing herself up. She attempted to write a note to slide under Steve’s door explaining the situation. Placating Natasha until she finally backs off. She only had moments before she had to run across the street, especially since she knew Natasha well enough to know that the redhead would be in disguise hidden in the restaurant she wouldn’t have a chance. Sliding the note under the door the blonde looked down at her cell phone; she was a few minutes late. Shit, Natasha wasn’t going to let her live this down. Sighing, she took off down the stairs and elevator before venturing outside and across the street in her borrowed [red dress](http://oi60.tinypic.com/sw74ll.jpg) and small red purchase. The bell to the small burger joint dinged as she open the door and looked around at the nearly empty location. Wonderful, just plan wonderful, she pulled her sunglasses from her eyes and placed them on top of her head as she continued to look; half wondering who Natasha’s idea was for her to meet up with and the other half was wondering exactly who Natasha was dressed up as… Natasha was there and had been for a while dressed up and blending in with the small amount of people who were in the diner. As Steve arrived before Sharon did, she shot him a text; “Look for the first blonde in the red dress. You’re on a blind date… you’re welcome.” Oh she’d stop anyone who was in a red dress aside from Sharon. She had this all too well planned out and it was about time they finally realized just how nice they would be together and talking outside of work is the best way to do that. You’re welcome Sharon and Steve, you’re very welcome.

“Haven’t met very many so it’s not a common situation.” She said in a playful tone. “But I suppose there’s a first time for everything.” Nikki’s body began to tingle as he traced his fingertips along her back to the top of her bandage. She could feel goose bumps forming as he did so. It had been a long time since she had been touched… okay so maybe not that long. She had been touched by other people before but it was always to distract them so she could get what she needed. This time was different; this is in a tender way, a careful way and something she had never experienced before. It was especially strong for a woman who had never experienced her first kiss. The air from the removing of the bandage made her shiver slightly and the exposing of the cut made her feel even shyer. Her cheeks inflamed red behind her dark colored skin as she noted how long it took him to replace the bandage. He wasn’t refusing to do it, nor was he running away from the sight. Maybe he was making sure it was okay. That it wasn’t infected or healing in a weird fashion. A small sigh left her as he began to cover the nasty cut back up with the bandage and the feeling of the air stopping from hitting her cut was nice. What was even nicer was the feelings of his hands traveling down her back, the tingling goose bump feeling sensation rushed through her body. Her eyes closed and her head rolled slightly to one side. His words were touching; it even made her heart skip to hear him say that. It almost felt like he meant it. As if what Zero had done to her was a personal attack on something Quill found important. So you can imagine, as he stepped closer to her, her hand dropped her shirt while the other let loose her blue hair and she leaned back slightly; resting her back against his upper body. She didn’t really know what to say at first, it just felt nice to be… well there. Then she was finally able to put some words together. “Thank you.” She said softly, which was followed by a small sigh as she leaned herself against his frame, her hands resting gently on his that sat at her hips. Her eyes closed and a smile on her face she felt… comfortable. For the first time in a very very long time.

As the group dispersed, Gamora stopped Nikki in mid-stand from her seat. “When was the last time you encountered Zero?” “I was doing a routine drop off on Yammia two weeks ago, and felt like I was getting followed. I hid myself in a back ally and waited. After waiting for a good twenty minutes he finally showed himself; he knew I was there, so there was no place to run…” She let out a long shaky sigh. She had faced armies of people and creatures with vast amount of weaponry but nothing made her more nervous and… dare she admit it; scared, than Zero. “So we fought. It wasn’t pretty and I was able to get away by the skin of my teeth…” She stopped her story from there, not wanting to continue go into too much detail. “I haven’t seen him since then; nor have I had that feeling of being followed.” “Well…” Gamora said, her eyebrows pushing together slightly, “It’s a start.” With that she left, only to have her voice replaced by Rockets. “Toots, you should come with me to see the Nova. I doubt you’ve ever seen a more advanced computer data base for tracking people.” A ‘charming’ smile moved across his muzzle as he shot her a wink. “I appreciate the offer Sir Rocket, but there is something I need to do before I engage with anything else.” Nikki said politely leaving Rocket with a very disappointed look on his face as she walked down the hallway towards the rooms. “Well when you’re ready I’ll be in the computer room looking up the data, you really should come. Oh and grab a bottle of wine from the pantry, I’m sure Quill won’t mind.” Again Nikki felt herself getting watched, but it was more of a stare and it was focused at her butt. In her room, she reached into her bag and pulled out a large bandage. Sighing softly she reached behind her back, feeling the pad of the square bandage covering the part of her back. Zero got her good. It was a foot long diagonal gash on her back from just under her right shoulder blade and ended almost curling onto her left side. Her body shivered slightly as she attempted to pull off the bandage but failed. Sighing softly she gripped onto her bandage and ventured out to find help. She knew she couldn’t ask Rocket; that was not something you ask of a creature you are supposed to praise. She stopped out on front of the room that held Gamora… this didn’t not seem like a good idea either, considering she doesn’t really seem to like Nikki all that much. Walking through the ship, she found Drax doing the dishes in such a stern and intense manner that she just continued on her walk. There was only one more person she could ask for help… sigh, more and more help. “Quill?” She asked softly as she arrived in the cockpit. When she got closer to him, she realized he had his headphones on; he was in his own world bouncing his head to the rhythm. She let him bounce for a few extra moments before tapping him on the shoulder. Once he removed the headphones, she gave him a small almost embarrassed smile, with a bit of bashfulness in her chocolate brown eyes. She was asking so much from him and now, well she needed one more thing. “Can you do me a favor? I’ll do one for you in return…” With that she preceded to hand him the rather large square bandage. “Can you replace my bandage with this one? I know it’s weird but… I can’t reach it myself.” With that, and rather sheepishly she turned around, facing her back to him, her hands trailed behind her head, pulling up the tank top to reveal her bare tan back; using her left hand to hold the shirt up, she used her right hand to pull her blue hair from being on her back, the large gash hidden under the large currently placed bandage… boy was he in for a surprise when he pulled that off.