Chapter Text
Peter Quill was special and (almost) everyone who met him knew it.
Of course in Peter's case the word was rarely used positively.
No, the Quill boy was an odd one. He didn't have friends, always sat alone, never showed signs of smarts unless he needed to talk himself out of trouble, and for his age, his unfailing politeness towards his elders was strange too. And of course always the presence of his walkman.
And Peter was perfectly aware of it.
It was hard not to, when he could easily hear the whispers, see the looks, first of disdain (unknown dad, teenaged mom), then the constant pity.
And it was impossible not to realise your strangeness, when you can make your hands glow.
Mutants weren't unknown to Peter growing up, but he'd always been sure that he wasn't one. It wasn't something he would have been able to explain.
That said, the prejudice against mutants was something five, six, seven year old Peter had been painfully aware of, and the largest reason he didn't tell anyone, not even his mom about the strange light.
The light was just that. Light. It was easy to call on and a bright blue-ish white. Sometimes, if he was really trying a little bit of colour appeared like little flecks.
Then his Mom got sick, and sicker, and sicker.
And Peter had no one left to really talk to. He could talk to Mom about anything and everything, except for how worried he was about her, and his teachers never actually listened, just smiled and nodded (or frowned and nodded). Grandpa was there, but even eight year old Peter knew the man hadn't been goid at dealing with or expressing his emotions, let alone the ones of a child.
His only solace was his little nightlight, and it was in those last few months on earth that he learned he could do more than just make his hands glow.
First a small ball cradled in his hands, soft light defending him from the dark. Then it became bigger, brighter and easier to control, until after months of secretly practising, he just needed to flick his wrist and his whole room was filled with light.
(And then his Mom died.
And the aliens took him.)