[ when pressed, gamora might thoroughly deny any sentimentality or (dare we say it?) enjoyment out of toting the sprout around. but where others get a short temper, groot gets a wellspring of patience. he's someone to be protected; he's earned that care and protection in no small part for the sacrifice he'd made for the remaining guardians.

and for that reason alone, she takes the stairs at a jaunty clip -- two at a time. let it be fun for the little creature.

in the meantime, she muses aloud: ] If the others were here, Groot, surely we would have heard some proof before we ever saw them. Explosions. Screams. Sirens.

[ faithless, this one. ]