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Two months after defeating Ronnan, two months after becoming a team and two months of contracts and jobs that offer good amounts of money. Rocket would be thankfull for all of the money, the company and good times he has had with his newfound team if it weren't for the fact that each mission kept getting harder and harder. As word got out of the Guardians Of The Galaxy more important folk with more complicated assigments contacted them, some people wanted them as escorts for some interplanetary event, some as executioners (of some criminals of course), some wanted hunters, to chase down someone and deliver them... most of them wanted someone to protect them from something.It was not the fact that the missions were hard just in and on itself, when they had the medium of transportation and mobility everything went smothly... and that was the problem, the only medium of transportation or mobility they had was the Milano, and the Milano couldn't be used for every situation, nor could it fit inside normal sized building or be taken everywhere or easy to carry, apart from Peter, none of the Guardians had anything that helped them quickly move across the battlefield or chase... or escape, scratch that, even Peter's rocket boots sometimes weren't enough, they did the task of helping Peter manuver himself in battle, yet they were clumsy and hard to use, most often than not Peter only used them to get the higher ground in fight for a good shot or to move himself acroos the floor, sliding to get away from danger.But Rocket was a genius, you could have any trouble, any kind of puzzle, you just gave him some spare parts, a warm place, free time, a couple of Peter's tunes (which he took a liking to after hearing them about 800 times a day) and then Rocket was gonna have a solution coming right up... along with one or two prototypes of bombs. So with the things he needed Rocket set out to solve their mobility problem, he took some inspiration from Pete's boots and mask, why?, Peter's mask when not in use was retracted in small pocket dimension that was contained in smal piece of metal, that thing could be carried around ANYWHERE and worn anywhere and no one would realize unless the mask was actually on use. The reason why the boots or (at least the propulsors strapped to them) were inspiration to Rocket was obvious, they moved people quick."Rocket have you seem my earpiece?, you know the one that has my mask?, haven't seen since yesterday and i feel kinda naked without it." Rocket heard Peter call out to him, he was currently sitting on the floor, blue sweede on a little speaker he made with copies of Awesome mix vol.1 and 2, legs crossed and parts of (what used to be) the propulsors of Peter's boots in front of him while he held the very thing Peter was looking for in his paws. There were also some other pieces similar to it, but bigger in Rocket's proximity."Yeah, i have it, needed it for something i'm working on... a little something that will make our life a lot easier... well, not exactly 'life' easier per say but it will make us get hurt less when we're working." Rocket called back to Peter as the Terran got closer to see what his furry friend was up to."You're not tearing it up... or making a bomb out of it, right?." Peter sounded worried, he sat on the ground next to Rocket to make sure the procyon didn't screw over his stuff.
"Oh, come on Quill, do ya really think i would make a bomb out of your precious personal belongings?." Rocket flashed a grin at the Stardork besides him."You know what?, on second though, don't answer that. I'm done with it anyway." Rocket gave the earpiece to Peter, stood up and walked over a table that had on it his newest inventions... well at least the prototypes. "Rocket are those the propulsors of my jet boots?... and what's that you got there?." Peter sounded worried and curious at the same time. Pff. As if Rocket would make somethimg that could pottentially kill all of them on board... again."Huh, no?, that's not the point dude you are not gonna need them anymore either way!, this right here is the solution to our incapacity to moving quickly in short distances or flying without the ship!, with these on we could be dodging stuff left and right, quickly chase someone down, hover in the air to get heigh advantage or in your case not fall flat on your face beacuse your jet boots don't work as they should." Rocket said excited, waving two little pieces of metal in front of Peter along with exagerated gestures each time he described what the team could do with these things.Peter raised an eyebrow not really seeing how could two tiny pieces of metal could help them achieve all of that. "So how do you exactly expect those little metal legos to help us with all of that?, i mean don't me wrong it all sound awesome and all buuuut how will it exactly work out?, also... is that blue sweede?." Peter asked, truly confused on the matter at hand. Rocket chuckled at his companion's stupidity and prepared to explain (totally ignoring the comment about the music)."Aha!, and that, my dumb, failure-at-almost-everything friend is where you are wrong... as usual."
"What?, no, i'm not a failure at almost everything... and i am certanly not dumb.!" Rocket ignored Peter's comment and carried on his explanation."You see your mask is kept secured inside a pocket dimesion that is made by your earpiece, keeping it safe, easy to carry, discreet, ocupying much less space and with the press of the touchpad it deploys the mask. You use it. Press it again. It goes back in. That's why i needed it to design this!." Rocket placed one of the metal 'legos' on his back, pressed one of it sides and a harness seemed to come out of it and wrap around Rocket's chest, he turned around to show Peter that at the back was a Jetpack."Wow Rocket, that is awesome dude!." Peter said impressed, Rocket was crearly excited to finally show someone his invention, he was grinning from ear to ear, and bouncing a little bit."I know it is awesome, this is not the final version, here, try this one on, i designed them to acomodate to it's wearer measurements, since Groot will maybe use them when he grows up and Drax keeps getting fatter." He passed the piece to Peter who quickly did the same thing Rocket did, soon enough he had his new jetpack strapped to his back."This is awesome, can we try it out?." Peter was already filled with excitement, his jetboots never made him actually fly, this would be the first time he flew. He didn't wait for Rocket and headed to the back of the ship, the Milano was currently soaring the skies of one those planets that was meant mainly for tourism, they were good couple of thousand miles above the city."What do you mean?, of course they work, i made this stuff.!" Rocket followed, he was glad the terran approved of his invention and that he apreciated Rocket's work, Rocket didn't know why but everytime Peter approved something Rocket made, he would get this warm feeling all over his muzzle, it was a pleasant sensation, maybe it was one of the reasons why he started hearing Quill's music more often.The pair arrived at the back of the ship and sealed the rest of it with a field to avoid a vacuum effect, Gamora's voice sounded over the comm system."Peter?, Rocket?, what are you doing?, why did you seal yourselves in there?." She sounded worried, maybe because she knew that whenever Rocket got Peter to do something it usually ended bad for them, all of them."Don't worry Gams, Rocket and i are trying out some new toys he made... and we can fly with them!." Peter said excited, like a kid with a new toy, pumped up with adrenaline, he had never taken a skydive out of a flying ship before." these things, function in a similar way tl your jetboots, you want them to activate or change direction and it will sense the signal coursing trough your spine and it will obey." Rocket explained getting ready."Cool." Peter made the move to press the button that would open the latch and let them take the jump."Peter no!. Thats a bad idea." Gamora sounded once trough the comms."Oh Gamora, why do want to take the joy out of everything?, i made these they will work just fine, relax." Rocket said kinda fed up with Gamora, she sometimes acted as if she was their mother. He knew what he was doing.... at least he was 89% sure of what he was doing."It's not about the fact that whatever you made works or not, if you open the latch at this speed the vacuum effect will be so strong that it will launch you at high speeds, whatever you made is not strong enough to cancel the momentum, you maybe en up plummeting to the ground.... Guys?." Gamora voiced her worries too late, as Peter already had opened the latch and just like she said the vacuum effect violently launched the raccoon and half-human across the sky while screaming bloody murder.----------------------------Rocker was falling... Fast, he was spinning out of control trying to get his jetpack to work, now would not be the time for one of his inventions to not work, not while Quill was watching, even though he didn't know why that was important... wait a minute..."QUILL!!." Rocket screamed, looking for Peter, he was sure Peter couldn't hear over the roaring wind and his own screams, he looked around desperate, looking for his friend, he saw Peter a couple meters below him.Rocket's heart was beating furiously in his chest, he couldn't loose one of his friends so soon, not after what they all went through together, by some miracle his jetpack started working, instead of slowing down his fall, he used it to get to Peter quickly, arms at his sides Rocket dove down like an arrow quickly speeding up, each second he was getting closer, by the time Peter noticed him, he had already calmed down and was trying to get his Jetpack on."QUILL, YOU JUST HAVE TO ACT AS IF YOU HAVE WINGS!!." Rocket yelled over the roaring winds."WHAAAT?!." And Peter couldn't hear... Terrific... stupid humies with their dumb weak hearing.Rocket started flapping his arms wildly as if he were a bird, if he knew Peter well enough (he hoped he did or Peter would die) this should make Peter think of wings, Peter must have got the idea because soon after his jetpack turned on. Now with that out of the way Rocket showed Peter to angle himself to slow down his fall, Peter did as Rocket showed him seconds later they were both hovering mid air, the wind no longer deafening, since they weren't falling any longer. Peter let out ragged breaths from all the adrenaline just like Rocket."THAT WAS AWESOME!!." Peter yelled after a while, honestly he should be worried the he was about to die mere seconds ago, but the thrill of coming alive out of that was impresive.Rocket started laughing at that, a deep, rich, real laugh. After a while Peter joined him, they were laughing like maniacs, mid air, hundreds of kilometers above ground level... They were crazy if they enjoyed that... Eventually the laughter died down, Rocket's heart still beating non stop, a couple of chuckles still escaped out of him now and then. After Peter sent Gamora a mesagge that they were alright via his earpiece, he told her they were gonna test the jetpack some more."Alright Rocket, i'm impressed by this." Peter admited to Rocket. The Raccoon didn't know what to say. Rare were the times when someone apreciated something he made.Just when he was about to say something he was pushed by Peter and then he flyed away while saying "Tag you're in.!", Rocket remenbered hearing about something like it, some kinda game terrans play... but he was completly sure they didn't play it mid air almost at cloud level. With a look of determination and his heart still pummeling his chest Rocket chased after Peter, he told himself he was only doing this because the jet packs needed more testing, not because he enjoyed this.Not because he couldn't spend five minutes without laughing while 'testing' the jetpacks and certanly not because whenever he flew at highs speed besides Peter, his companion would look at him with a face of pure joy and looking as good as he ever did....And totally not because his heart rate increased even further in a good way when looking at Peter like that.------------------------It was nighttime on that planet by the time Gamora found them.They were both sitting near a water fountain looking soaked wet, while nursing on some kind of blue smoothie. Gamora pinched the bridge of her nose, this team would be the death of her, between baby Groot's crying over not seeing Rocket or Quill, Drax not being helpfull but to distress their little companion further and these two idiots that keep on doing stupid things and making her worry, she wasn't sure she wouldn't die out of stress in 24 hours."Oh hey Gamora." Peter said casually, while Rocket just waved."Can any of you explain to me why you are soaking wet, have not returned to the ship 3 hours ago AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WHERE YOU WHERE SO I WOULDN'T SPEND ONE HOUR LOOKING FOR YOU GUYS.!!!" She yelled at the end, obvously fed up with all of this."Hey ya big party pooper, relax we are fine, we ran out of fuel on my little toys, we crashed on someone's pool, thank god it was a deep one, a very very deep one, then we got here and Peter got us these things called 'smoothies' which by the way are not disgusting, go figure.!" Rocket said off handedly while sipping more from the straw of his drink."Yeah Gamora Relax, the fuel ran out gradually so we didn't land too hard on the pool, we were just having fun." Peter continued on. Gamora made a typical 'how-dare-you' face"Having fun?, while you two were on your date HAVING FUN, i was trying to fly the ship, get baby Groot to eat and to stop crying, because he was worried about you two at the same time AND DRAX WAS NOT BEING HELPFULL!." She was fuming after that outburst."Ok fine maybe we spend a little more time than necesary away from you, so, sorry about that, now look at the bright side you... you had more time to bond with Groot?, and you practiced your piloting skill... besides gamora if this is a date, let me tell you this is the best date. Like. EVER!." Peter streched the 'E's at the end for dramatic effect, then stood up and made his way to the ship, not wanting Gamora to take her anger out on him any longer
Gamora signalls Rocket to come with them but she stopped when she witnessed the Raccoon choking on his drink, coughing up the smoothie, some of it was dribling out of his nose, she noticed Rocket did this just as Peter said it was the best date ever. She crossed her arms and raised and eyebrow, not believing her own conclutions."You ok Rocket?." She asked sarcastically, in his state Rocket didn't notice the tone, still having a little bit of trouble breathing."Huh?, yeah *cough* i'm fine, i'll be joining ya guys in a bit." Rocket replied, regaining some dignity. Gamora rolled her eyes and went her way to the ship while muttering under her breath.For the other part Rocket was having a mental meltdown, a date?, A DATE?!. After putting some though into it he guessed it was kind of a date, he and Peter went out for a long time alone, he showed off something he made to Peter, Peter also got them both something to drink and they ended up drinking their smoothies while waiting for someone to pick them up. Oh Fuck. It was a date!, in it's own twisted way.Rocket glanced at Peter waiting at the ramp that lead inside the ship, waiting for him, Gamora had already went inside, Peter was waiting for him, Rocket's heart ran a mile per minute, while walking towards the ship, smoothie on his paws he decided he rather liked the feeling. Rocket didn't meant to or even realized it, but that was actually the first time he courted Starlord.

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After their little accident with the jetpacks, Rocket gave himself the mission to get Peter's attention no matter what, Rocket didn't care the kind of attention he got from Peter, he just NEEDED the attention.It Started with Peter's music.Rocket made a copy of all of Quill's music, he heard the tune almost all the time, if he was working, he played Peter's music. if he was taking care of Groot, he played Peter's music. If he was bored, he played Peter's music over the com system of the ship. no matter what he was doing, he just played Peter's music, Rocket actually loved the tunes, they put him at ease, made him focus more, but most of all thy made him feel a little closer to Peter."God, i'm getting a frigging obssesion." Rocket muttered to himself while he was on the floor working on some new tech for the ship, 'cherry bomb' by the raspberries sounding on the background."I am Groot?." Groot said besides Rocket, the little flora colossus was about the size of Peter's hand."Of course not!, i'm not doing this for Quill!, i just like his music". Rocket replied to his friend. "Don't tell him that though.""I am Groot. I am Groot!." Groot acussed the Raccoon while pointing a little finger at him."Courting?!, Groot where did you even learn that word?!, what has Drax been teaching you?!." Rocket said, angry, he was gonna give Drax an earfull for teaching Groot those kind of things."I am Groot!. I. Am. Groot. I am Groot.!" The little Tree explained while making exagerated hand gestures and kiss faces."So ya basically saying that i'm on the first step of courting Peter because i'm trying to get him to notice me and that i can share his interest?." Rocket asked with an unimpressed face."I am Groot." The little flark gave an excited jump and a nod. He then got distracted by a bug that was skittering arround the floor and he went after it.Rocket kept looking at Groot, lost in thought, was he really trying that hard to get Quill's attention?, sure he insulted the Terran just to get him to pay attention to Rocket, since Peter was almost always distracted with Gamora, also whenever Rocket made something new the first person to see and test it was Peter... "Pfft, i'm not courting Peter that's ridiculous." He resumed his working, there was no way he was courting Peter.---------------------------------Ok so maybe he had been trying too hard to get Peter to realize that he liked his music, setting up a couple of speakers in the middle of the battlefield so they could listen to some music while dealing with a monster from another dimension was kinda overkill.Also stealing really valuable batteries from the really delicate douchebags they were working for to try and gift them to Peter later was not a great idea either, nor was the fact that he tried to show off in front of Peter about his piloting skills while Peter was currently flying the ship in the middle of a space battle... even worse than that was that he was so insistent on flying the ship and showing off that he argued with Peter about it... a lot, then they crashed because of their fight... and then Peter called him a Raccoon.He hated being called a raccoon.Then he learned that trash panda was actually worse than being called a Raccoon. Rocket was so furious that he tried to bite Peter, then Peter's dad appears... hurray, Rocket was feeling a little guilty about his outburst from earlier when he heard about Peter's past with Yondu, he hadn't heard the whole story ever, Peter's dad, Ego then tells them to come to his planet which causes Rocket to have an internal battle.If Peter leaves with his dad... he won't want to come back, he would stay with him most likely. Rocket thought that he couldn't let that happen... but after all Peter went through, after how much time he passed wishing to get to know his father... Rocket couln't take that away from Peter and that angered him. He couln't take that away from him, because deep down he cared so much for Peter that it was impossible for Rocket to deprive him of the joy he would feel.But that meant giving Peter away.----------------------------------------------The next day when Peter was leaving with Gamora and Drax to 'check if what Ego was saying was thruth and that he would be back' Rocket knew that only Gamora and Drax would comeback.Rocket doesn't care what Peter replies when he mocks Peter for being an orphan, it was better to push him away than to cling to him if he was going to go either way.But. Why did it hurt so much?.---------------------------------Rockets life becomes a mess way too quickly after that.He goes from moping around, feeling sad, watching over the murderous bitch and repairing the ship while listening to Quill's music to fighting the ravagers, almost getting killed by Yondu, getting captured by Ravagers and helping Yondu (who almost murdered him mere hours ago).What he didn't expect was to learn that Peter's dad was a grade one A-hole and that Peter was in danger. Rocket just needed that little detail to make him forget about everything else but to rescue Peter. In all the ruckus and adrenaline he then forgot that he had to take 700 spacial jumps to get to Ego's planet from their position.Oops.------------------------------------------When they arrive Rocket is desperate to get to his team, to get to Peter."Boy what are you doing this for?!, for friends, for love!?." Yondu asks him, he denies it of courseBut his hesitation is there, deep down he wonders: why is he doing this?...Yondu knows, he reminds Rocket why he is doing this, harshly, pulling out the big guns like the fact that he knew the people that made Rocket, in the end he makes Rocket realise that the both of them are not so different from each other, that they have something in common... Also they care about Peter very much.Rocket comes to the realization that he is doing this is because he loves Peter, he cant imagine his life now without the stupid terran.Rocket quickly makes a plan on how to blow up the planet just in case, he manages to contact Gamora, she just tells him what he knows already, Peter's dad is crazy, he wants to take over the galaxy, blah, blah, blah. He grows worried when he learns that planet-dad wants Peter as a battery.Oh flark.---------------------------- While coming down to the planet with Yondu to save the day Rocket can't help to grow even more worried."He'll be fine, we are coming to get him." Rocket heard Yondu say. The Procyon doesn't reply."I do have something to ask of you, boy." Yondu says with a serious tone in his voice, Rocket looks at him waiting for him to go on."What we are going to do is a dangerous thing, since i don't trust that green daugther of Thanos, much less that musclehead with a fixation for revenge... what ah' wan to say is... if something were to happen to me, give me yer word that you will take care o' mah boy." Yondu sounded as if he was giving an order and begging at the same time.It takes Rocket a while to realize the implications of this request, however with his realization of his feelings for Peter it doesn't take long to decide after that"I'll give my life for him if i have to." Rocket said dead serious, he doesn't want to live in a world where there is no music and no stupid Terran to dance to it with his warms smiles or goofy actitude-----------------------------------Shit went down fast after that, almost everything that could go wrong went wrong, Rocket thought that they were all going to die... But Peter saved the day, Peter saved them.But saving them was actually just buying them time so they could all get out of the planet before it blew up, everyone but Peter.Rocket would not leave without Peter, not after he realized what he could have, the problem was he couldn't find Peter, the whole planet was going to shit and they had less than two minutes to leave, with dread on his chest Rocket also realized something, if he kept looking for Peter, they would not have time to get to the ship, they would have to go to space via the jetpacks...  But Rocket only had one space suit.All of them were in the ship safe and sound waiting for extraction, except for Peter Yondu and himself, one of them had to die if they did not hurry. Rocket didn't care, he said he would give his life for Peter and he wasn't lying. Rocket found Yondu, Rocket told him that he should leave now or it would be too late for him, Yondu told him instead to leave for the ship.Rocket was having none of that."I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT QUILL!!." Rocket yelled over all the disaster going on."Boy, i have done a lot o' bad in my life, at least grant me this chance." Rocket didn't understand what Yondu meant at first, then it dawned on him.Yondu would be the one to sacrifice himself for Peter...With heavy dread Rocket delivered the news to yondu, he only had one jetpack and one space suit left, Yondu took them, no doubt on him, sealing his fate.With a heavy heart, Rocket took Groot to the ship, knowing he would be losing one friend today.---------------------------------- A week after Yondu's funeral Rocket was heading towards Peter's new room on what was left of Yondu's ship, the Quadrant, Yondu called it that way, since the Milano pretty much blew up along with Ego's planet, the Guardians had to take what they could find. But the new ship wasn't the reason why Rocket wanted to talk to Peter, with his eyes directed to the floor Rocket knocked on Peter's door. After a couple of second the metallic door slip open to reveal Peter, not wearing his jacket."Oh, hi Rocket what going on?" Peter questioned, with a slightly worried face, the terran knew Rocket well enough to recognize that the face Rocket had meant that something was troubling his friend."Quill... can we, hum... can we talk for a second?." Rocket sounded sad, Peter stood aside to let Rocket in, after he entered entered the Room Peter sat on his bed."What's troubling you buddy?." Peter asked, Rocket stood in front of him, his eyes showed a mixture of sadness and and shame."I just... i just wanted to say... oh god this is hard." Rocket seemed to have trouble getting out what he came here for, he ran his paws over his face and let out a long tired sigh. When he got his bearing he found Peter looking at him patiently."Ok... i just wanted to say i'm sorry... for everything... I-i know you are not used to me saying this like... ever... but i am sorry, really." Rocket said, looking at everthing but Peter, his right paw was holding his left arm to his side, he wasn't used to doing things like this."Ok?." Peter answered, extending the o's, he looked for Rocket's eyes." But what are you apologizing about?"."Well, for starters, i'm sorry for calling you an orphan." Rocket sounded just sad now." I'm sorry for crashing the ship... for being mean to you... and for... causing... you know... Yondu... Or Ego...""Yondu?, caused?, the other stuff i can understand, but what do you mean exactly?, you had nothing to do with what happened with Yondu or Ego." What Rocket was saying sounded ridiculous to Peter." You know what i mean by that!." Rocket replied angry at the situation now, he bared his teeth. " if it hadn't stole those fucking batteries we wouldn't have ended up on getting chased down by the sovereign, whom now are added to our list of 'people-that-want-to-kill-us-list', if i hadn't crashed the ship then you wouln't have been suffering so much on Ego's planet and had i not been so much of a STUPID WORTHLESS BAG OF SHIT THEN YONDU WOULD NOT HAVE DIED!!." Rocket was breathing heavily by the end of his outburst. Some tears were running down his face but he ignored them. "All the suffering we experienced that day was because of me." He continued trough gritted teeth.Peter watched his friend for a long time... he let out a long tired sigh when he heard Rocket sniffing, he patted the place on his bed next to him, Rocket refused the first two times, looking away, but at the third he sighed and hopped on the bed next to Peter. He Peered into the Terrans eyes finding only warmth and a little bit of sadness."Rocket... i am now going to hug you... so please don't bite. Or scratch me. Or shoot me. Or do any harm to me. Ok?" Rocket refused, but after a while he nodded.Peter slowly closed the gap between the both of them, Rocket flinched when Peter touched him. Slowly. Really slowly he started squeezing the Procyon onto his chest, after Rocket's head was safely secured under his chin did rocket encircle Peter with his own arms, the Raccoon was squeezing so hard, almost like his life depended on it, Peter just imagined how much time Rocket must have passed without any kind of physical comfort like this, he started whispering sweet nothings when Rocket began sobbing, the raccoon thightened his arms even more around Peter, there was sooo much build up tension on Rocket and he was letting it all out."Shhh, Rocket it's ok, none of what happened is your fault." Peter whispered to the sobbing raccon."But the batteries!.""If you hadn't stole them we would not have anything to have killed Ego.""But-but it was because of me that we-.""He was going to find me either way and he would have gathered more of his 'children' and killed them.""I'm worthless.""You have saved our asses more times than what i can count."For everything Rocket said Peter had a reply to comfort his friend, stroking his fur softly, after a while Rocket calmed down, he relunctanly let go of Peter, he was still sniffing but his distress was gone."Don't tell the others about this." Rocket was not looking at Peter, ashamed about how he lost his compusture." But thanks... i huh... feel much better now... thanks Pete.""Anytime Rocket, whenever you need anyone, just tell me." Peter chuckled.Rocket got down from Peter's bed and walked to get outside, he stopped when he got to the door though, there were so many things he wanted to say to Peter."One more thing." Rocket said."Go ahead, shoot." Rocket turned around, a smirk displayed on his face."Have dinner with me." Rocket said seriously. Peter raised an eyebrow at the change in attitude."You said we're going to that planet called Asterall, heard they served the best grilled Orloni one could taste in the galaxy. So have dinner with me when we get there and have a taste of it?." Rocket was back to being his old self, the request was kinda strange to Peter but it seemed harmless enough."Yeah sure, why not?." Why did Peter feel like he just made a deal with the devil?.With no other word, Rocket left the room, feeling much better, that hug back there semented his thoughts about what he was going to do with what he felt for Peter, Groot said Rocket looked like he was courting the Starlord, so a proper courtship was due, dinner would be the first step, then he would make a plan as things developed.Rocket smirked when he got to his new room (Kraglin told him this was Peter's old room), before laying down on the bed that somehow still smelled like the Terran, he thought this whole ordeal with Ego and the Sovereign where kind of a failed attempt at courting Peter. He was totally going to step up his game properly. Cuz when Rocket wanted something, he made sure to get it.

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So the dinner idea didn't work out as intended.Rocket thought it would only be him and Peter, a nice place, nice grilled Orloni with steamed vegetables. What Rocket wasn't counting on was the fact that he didn't tell Peter that it was going to be just the 2 of them... Peter ended up inviting the whole crew... Even Kraglin. It was disastrous, Rocket had already contacted the restaurant and made reservations for himself and Peter before he knew that they would be having company, a really annoying company.Well, Gamora and Peter were trying to behave themselves, Drax was loudly demanding food, Groot thought that was funny so the little traitor was aiding the maniac in yelling for the food, though all the people that heard the pitched 'i am Groot!' Melted in delight for the little twig, Mantis just made everyone around them akward because she kept laughing and smiling in that weird way she did, poor girl still haven't figured out how to properly do facial expressions. Rocket spend most of the night either quiet or yelling, he didn't even enjoy the food at all. By the end of it all, he realized that almost everyone expected him to pay... thank god Peter offered himself to help pay the tab (Starchuck also payed most of the tab actually.)To sums things up Rocket, did not enjoy that night at all, most of all that he couldn't show Peter that he could provide nice things when he set his mind to it.Rocket would have to prove it in another way then.-----------------------------------------"Peter would you explain to me why is there a bunch of grass from Clorida in front of your door?!" Gamora yelled."What?." Peter replied from somewhere on the Quadrant, their new ship."Grass!, Peter, the acidic grass that is present only on clorida the planet we landed on yesterday.!!!" Gamora yelled again, Peter was coming and he could see that she was not amused, the purple grass was indeed arranged methodically along Peter's bedroom door, the color from the door was bleeding out thanks to the acid properties the grass had... as well as some steam.Peter let out a sigh, he slapped his hand onto his face. "I huh, i'll fix this, just for the record i did not do this.!" Peter said, if he was honest he was geting kind of tired with this."If you did not do this then who did?, because to me this doesn't look like something Drax would do, you know that none of us can pick up that stuff without protection, let alone arrange it like that." Gamora pointed to the face designed onto the door, though it was already melting onto the door it appeared to be one of those face's that represented a gesture, kind of like a wink with a smile."I know, i'm kinda suprised how he even got to bring the stuff to the ship on the first place." Peter said actually amazed."Who, Peter?" Gamora asked she was now curious, she knew all her friends were stupid in some kind of way but none of them would do something so reckless for apparently no reason.Peter led his hand to his waist thinking how he would clean up this mess without getting burned or losing his door."Rocket... he's been doing this since a month ago." Peter said, by this point he just thought he needed some booze... ok, A LOT of booze."Rocket?." Gamora was confused, Rocket had his moments of stupidity but never something so dangerous... unless it was a bomb. "Why would he put an acidic plant on your door and arranged it like a face?." Maybe their furry teammate had finally gone nuts?."I dont know!, the other night he brought me some mismatched burned shoes he bought to some merchant on Calvitrax!!" Peter raised his arms in exasperation. "Do you remenber that guy that threathened me on Xandar, the Kree fanatic that said that he would made me bleed and yada, yada, yada.?, the one that i said 'oh gee, i wouldn't mind if some douche like him disapeared'." Gamora nodded slower this time worried where this was going. "Well, Remember how Rocket said he had something to take care of, then he went away for a day or two?!". Gamora nodded again, she noticed Peter was getting more hysteric by the second. "Well, and hear this out, after two days, Rocket appeared. In front of my door. With a jar... with all of the guy's fingers on it." Peter was pulling his hair by the end of it."What?, that-... are you sure?." Gamora was at a loss for words."YES!, i'm sure and after that he put the jar on the floor and then walked away calmly saying 'you're welcome StarDuck'." Peter made a rather exaggerated simulation of how Rocket walked and what he said, with arm movement and everything."I don't understand, why would Rocket do such things like that." She looked at the poor door. "Or that"."I KNOW RIGHT?!" Peter pulled on his hair, remembering all the things Rocket had been bringing him, to be honest the raccoon was a menace, the other day he brought Peter a SKULL filled with feathers from dead birds, Peter didn't even know how Rocket lifted up a skull that big or where he got a skull that big, the thing was about Rocket's size.Gamora passed her hand over her face, trying to calm her headache. "Peter, clean up this mess, i'll go find Rocket and talk to him." Gamora said calmly, she didn't wait for Peter's reply and just left.She was going to be really mad at Rocket if he was doing what she thought he was doing, she just hoped Rocket had a perfect rational reason for doing all of this.------------------------------------------"Rocket, can you explain to me why there is an acidic plant eating away at Peter's bedroom door.?" Gamora tried to sound casual but she ended up sounding more like how a mother that was about to scold her children would.Rocket was on the engine room, sitting in front of Groot who was wrapping up some bandages over Rocket's right paw, the little tree was about the size of Rocket's waist, he still retained his childlike behaviour. Rocket was sporting a smug face when he looked at Gamora."Impressive right?, i picked them all up myself, i used gloves of course, though one of the cheap-ass things was melting when i was finishing up with Quill's door, burned my hand a little, we should get new and appropiate equipment now that we're two times galaxy savers." Rocket said, getting distracted, already listing all the reason why they should all get more expensive stuff since they could afford it."That explains how you did it, i asked you why Rocket." Gamora sounded angry now, she had no patience for this, with her arms crossed she leveled a glare to the raccoon."I am Groot.!" Groot said from the side."Yeah, what he said.!" Rocket said."What. Did. Groot. Say.?" Rocket sometimes forgot that most of the team could not understand Groot yet, that was something that only he, Peter and Mantis could do for now."'That's what Terrans give each other for courting'." Rocket said matter of fact, he kept working on his bandaged hand ignoring Gamora."Rocket you-...what?". Gamora had a hard time processing the information. "Courting?.... Rocket are you courting Peter?." Gamora was stunned, Rocket spoke of it like it was no big deal."Well, more like trying to, he is kinda hard to impress, i already showed my distinctive set of skills, now i'm on phase two, which is providing Peter with nice stuff, food and gifts." Rocket said like he was explaining an evil plan, Gamora just listened with her mouth open almost to the floor. "But since you all are a bunch of hungry bastards i can't have nice food be brought to him without you guys tagging along and making me pay for your fat butts!." Gamora silently passed her hand over her behind, she didn't have a fat behind, did she?. "So i'm wondering, what does one give a Terran to court if not food?, the remains of his enemies?, the prove of the succefull hunt of a giant beast?, so i had Groot investigate for me." Rocket was passing around the engine room explaining, he pointed at Groot for dramatic effect, whom jumped happily at being payed attention."... how would plastering grass that could pottentially be deadly on someone's door be any gift of courtship.?" Gamora regained some use of her brain after Rocket gave her time to process the information."Because duh!, Terrans give each other plants to signal their affection." Rocket made a dramatic effect where he let his toungue hang and made a stupid face, clearly mocking Gamora for her stupidity."Rocket...""Yeah, my not so cool companion?" He was still grinning at her like he had bested her at something."They give each other flowers...""... what?...""The Terrans, they give eachother Terran flowers to show affection... not acidic plants from other planets that could pottentialy kill them..." Gamora pinched the bridge of her nose amd closed her eyes, she felt the headache coming up again.Rocket stared at her some akward seconds, he flicked his ears every couple of seconds. "So you mean to tell me that Terrans give each other measly flowers to show courtship and affection?.""Yes." Rocket whirled around at Groot after Gamora's reply."Groot, you told me thats what terrans gave each other on the movies Quill got you.!" Rocket scolded the floora colossus."I am Groot!." Groot looked a little sad. He was clearly saying 'i'm sorry' with that."So what i'm suposed to give Quill?, there is no way in hell that i will get a Terran plant on this side of the galaxy.!" Rocket asked Gamora, he was angry now, teeth bared, this was more like the Rocket she knew, angry and easily stressed."It doesn't have to be a flower all the time, just somethimg that has a lot of emotional meaning behind it will sufice." Gamora wasn't so bothered that Rocket liked Peter in that way, in fact she kinda saw it coming, but for Rocket to like Peter to this extent, to get his hand burned by an acid plant, hunt down a beast with a head the size of his own body to deliver it to Peter?... to show he cared for him?. Gamora thought that it was pretty sweet, their angry friend, whom didn't let anyone close to his heart except for Groot, had a thing for Peter."Emotional meaning?, like what?." Rocket dropped his hostility, curious now."I do not know, that is for you to figure it out, it can be something as simple as a gift, like a necklace or making food for the person you care about... this can work if you don't want to oay for our 'fat buts'" Gamora left after that with a smile on her face, daring to think that this whole sittuation was rather cute.Rocket was deep in thought considering his options, on one hand it would be really hard to get terran flowers on this part of the galaxy, on the other hand Rocket had absolutely no frigging idea how to cook or make something that could be considered eadible."Either way no more acidic plants on the ship ok?." Gamora returned quickly to say that."Yeah, yeah, you go back to whatever you were doing." Rocket dissmised her waving his uninjured paw signaling her to go away. After Gamora left, Rocket was left wondering what to do, the more he thought about the more appealing learning how to cook became, it couldn't possibly be that hard right?. Right? ----------------------------"Agh!, frigging krutaking sun of a bitch!." Peter heard that as he was making his way to the kitchen, he was feeling kind of hungry when he heard more loud cursing along with some grunts and meaningless yelling coming from there."Rocket are you trying to curse the kitchen into making you food?." Peter called sarcastically coming inside the kitchen.Rocket let out a rather undignified yelp as he fell unceremonously from the chair he was standing on to reach the stove.Peter raised an eyebrow at his friend recovering on the floor, the kitchen smelled like rancid burning meat. The stove was on, a pan on it had what looked to Peter like some kinda bird."Quill!, at least give a guy a warning before ya trying to make him get a heart attack.!" Rocket glared a Peter after he recovered from his fall, clutching one of his hands while wincing a little."What happened to your hand? And that bird you are trying to cook looks like is going to be set ablaze." Peter pointed out, before turning the stove off."Shit!, this is my third try, the frigging stove lets out to much heat and i can't reach the frigging thing without getting burned." Rocket protested, Peter noted that his companion looked like some parts of his fur had been burned, the scowl that was plastered on his face inducated his frustation."Well that's because you had it on high flame Rocket you need to set it to low if you want to cook slowly, also the spices get burned really fast if they cook way to fast.""But if i put it on low flame then the thing takes to long to cook and i'm getting hungry.""Rocket, cooking takes patience, am not an expert but even i know that some things cook faster than others... and what you're trying to cook obviously needed low flame." Peter pointed out. "Also why all of the sudden you trying to cook buddy.?""Gams told me this is something that you do for people you care about." Rocket threw his failed attempt at cooking to the thrash, he unpacked one of the skinned bird creatures from a bag that he got out of their fridge. "Sides' this be the first time i'm cooking." He set the flame to low and quickly went to work on his next try."That so?, so you want to prepare food for when the others arrive?." The other guardians went out to restock on their suplies, Peter stayed to watch over the ship, Rocket actually had said that he would be staying because 'he had something to do'."Huh, actually this is for you..." Rocket said not daring to look at Peter, blood was rushing to his cheeks, suddenly he was very gratefull for his fur."For me?.""Yeah, i huh... been trying to gift you something for a while, i kinda don't know what terrans gift each to show affection, so i kind of got the gift wrong... Gamora told me this is something you guys do for eachother to show that though." Rocket explained embarrased while he worked on the food, this one smelled a lot nicer.Peter was shocked, Rocket wanting to show affection?. "Ok who are you and what did you do with my thrash panda.?""Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny dickhead." Rocket said annoyed. After a short silence he felt like explaining. "You know, after what happened with... um, Yondu. I understood that i can't keep pushing you guys away, that is not bad to show you that i care about you from time to time, that i'm gratefull for you staying with me and that ya mean something me." Rocket explained while looking at Peter, maybe for some seconds too long, quickly adverting his gaze and clearing his throat.Peter was lost in thought, he was flattered by the gesture, it was really sweet of Rocket to want to do this, he watched his friend with a warm smile, he was happy that Rocket was willing to open up to him, that he was trying so hard to show that he wasn't actually heartless and that he cared for them. A warm feeling began to grow in Peter, he was really touched by the gesture. It took Rocket 3 more tries to get the dinner right, but when he got it right he finally had the dinner he wanted with Peter, they talked, laughed and enjoyed their time together, Rocket thought why he didn't do this sooner. He remembered how many burns he got and how he didn't feel like cooking again... Though, looking at Peter, at his smile, at how he liked the food Rocket made with so much effort, at the way he looked at Rocket with those warm eyes...  With a racing heart Rocket realized he wouln'd mind getting a few more burns for this.

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"No!." Rocket disagreed strongly from where he was standing."Rocket, none of us but Peter is capable of keeping the attention of the Mantodea priestess long enough for either one to find the evidence on the slave trades she is dealing with." Gamora tried to reason with the raccoon.The team was currently on Xandar, they were asked by the Nova to investigate Shir'Tar a high priestess from the Mantodea empire, she was suspected of lending money, supplies and people to some known Kree slave traders, the problem was that according to the guardians investigations she was indeed guilty of all charges but they had no evidence for that, the Guardians had heard her talk with the slavers as well as witnessed some shady 'Money deliveries' done by her, unfortunately no accusations could be done unless there was solid evidence on the table. Thats when Gamora thought of a plan, Shir'Tar never left the apartment that was designated to her by the Nova corps, they couldn't risk violating her privacy and getting caught doing it, that would cause to much of a political issue, so the Guardians were called, it was safe to assume that she must have a personal Holo-terminal to be able to comunicate with her homeplanet, most likely she must have left some evidence there as well, the apartment was always being guarded by her personal bodyguards, only easing the security when she left and that was only because some guards needed to follow her.It would be to dificult to make a move, since she only left for minutes, an hour tops, but Gamora idealized the plan based around the fact that Shir'Tar loved to visit the local club, she loved one of the drinks they served on there, went only to buy the stuff, then returned back to her place. So they only had to keep her out of the aparment for a while using the club she frecuented so much, thats where Peter comes in, using his charming abilities he would keep the priestess attention, the guards that would be sure to follow her will be distracted by Kraglin and Mantis, while Gamora and Drax go to her apartment, Drax would make a riot on the outsides of the apartment to catch the guards attention, he would then lead them away from the apartment while Gamora sneaks in and gathers the evidence, Rocket would be the comunication she has with her teammates on the club informing her of what it's happening."I know what Quill's capable of, i meant how can you order him to seduce someone when their species is known for eating their partner during sex!" Rocket yelled, fur standing on end."Rocket, Peter is not going to have sex with Shir'Tar, he is just going to use his pelvic sorcery on her to keep her distracted, if she wants to take it a step further then we abort the mission and rescue him." Gamora crossed her arms, she knew Rocket wasn't throwing a fit only for this."Oh!, Peter, i didn't know you were a sorcerer." Mantis said from Peter's side, a hopefull look on her face."Well, not exactly, my good looks are obviously supernatural, but am no sorcerer." Peter exclaimed with a smug face, he then faced the angry raccoon. "Rocket, calm down, everything will be fine, side's i know some people that knows some people, so i arranged that you'll be serving the drinks, in other words you will be the barman watching over everything, you also will have a gun under the counter to use only. And i mean. ONLY if something bad happens.""What ah wouln' giv' to have that job." Kraglin said leaning on a wall."Serving the drinks is no respectable job, but it is an entertaining one." Drax said besides Kraglin.Rocket growled low, he still didn't like the idea of some ugly insect with superiority complex getting her appendages all over Peter."As soon as i see her trying to kiss you i shoot her!" Rocket warned Peter."Well since if she tries to kiss me that would actually mean that she's trying to eat my face then i have no problem." Peter smiled at his friend, that calmed Rocket down."But wait... what about Groot?" Rocket asked, his adolescent friend was not with them."Groot is staying on the ship, he is grounded." Gamora said sternly, she had taken the role of surrogate mother for Groot. "I told him to clean up his room and he ignored me, told him to stop leaving branches everywhere and he told me acording to Peter: "to stop bothering him", can you believe that?!" Gamora ranted, most likely she would not stay angry with Groot for long, she had a soft spot for the rebelious not-quite-teen-yet.Rocket grumbled, Groot would have his back on this, though Gamora was right, almost-teen Groot was sometimes a little too much for them to handle. Rocket visibly deflated, he wasn't going to win this argument. "Fine... Lets do the thing, i gave ya a warning Quill, if i see ya face geting eaten not only will i shoot her, i'll shoot ya aswell!." And Rocket 100% meant that.Because no fucking overgrown insect will take Peter away from him... Even if Peter likes that insect.-----------------------------------"Rocket I'm nearing the apartment, Drax will be distracting the guards soon, how is everything looking over there?" Rocket heard Gamora on the small hidden earpiece he had."Quill is already sitting with Shir'Tar, having drinks and laughing... WAIT FOR YA TURN!" Rocket snarled at a guy that was getting impatient for his drink. He looked everywhere to confirm how everything went, he struggled a little, the club's millions of lights made it hard to see in detail.Kraglin was nicely dressed, black leather jacket and matching pants, he was curently entertaining a couple women included some of the female bodyguards that acompanied Shir'Tar, he was wearing Yondu's fin and Rocket could see the arrow hidden under his jacket, he was the back up should anything occur.Rocket looked for Mantis and saw a miriad of men pouring over her, throwing praises at her and buying her stuff, with the way Gamora adviser to dress it was no surprise, she was wearing a long green dress that had glitter, one leg exposed by the way the dress was designed. Poor girl didn't know what to do with so much attention, Rocket was sure because part of it was because Gamora told her to make most of the guards interested in her so they left Peter and Shir'Tar alone.Speaking of which.Rocket saw her enthralled by Peter, the Terran went to her side as soon as she ordered a drink from Rocket... Right in his fucking face, Peter came in and talked her into buying more drinks and staying. Rocket saw her sneaking little touches at Peter, one hand of the four she had on his shoulder every now and then, Rocket figured the way her jaws moved meant she was smiling in a seductive manner... or she was hungry, either way he felt his blood boiling, if looks could kill the frigging insectoid would be burning, shot multiple time, electrocuted and a ton of horrible things... If someone were to cut Rocket now it would not be blood what comes out the wound.It would be fucking flames.A glass cracked in his hands, he was apparently holding the cup way too hard. Once again he looked over at Peter. "Ugh!, she is fucking disgusting, don't know how Quill stands being around her." Her face looked humanoid, skin green in color, LARGE pupilless yellow eyes and a pair of mandibles over what would be humanoid lips."Vermin!, where is my fucking drink!" Rocket was about two seconds away for grabbing the gun under the counter and shoothing the guy's fucking brains out. Gamora saved him though, sounding over the earpiece."Rocket... why haven't you spoken with Peter about your feelings?" She asked with a caring tone. Rocket served the guy his frigging drink (Rocket secretly spit on it) before replying to Gamora."I will when he stops being an idiot and i learn how to properly make a Terran like me." Rocket kept serving more drinks, not noticing Kraglin coming near him."What makes ya think that Pete don' like ya?" Kraglin asked from behind Rocket, Rocket would never admit to anyone he jumped a little when the former Ravager spoke so suddenly. The team had taken kraglin in when they realized he had nowhere to go, he became part of the family so to speak, the guy also trained enough with the Yaka arrow to be considered deadly with it, not Yondu level of deadliness but close to it. Rocket thought te guy was ok, good drinking partner and he knew all of Peter's past which gave him an advantage when it came to teasing the Terran.Rocket pointed a claw at the pair sitting together, having a wonderfull time, Kraglin laughed, he clearly knew something Rocket didn't."He don' like er'." He nodded at Rocket when the raccoon served him another drink."ah known Pete fer most his life, ah know when he likes someone, he ain't 100% there with ya yet, but he likes ya enough that ah woul' say ye got a chance."Well if i have a chance then that means that i need to work on it, problem is that i don't catch his attention no matter what i do, tried cooking for him, giving him gifst, showing off how cool i am." Rocket spoke to the Xandarian while he served more drinks."Ya just need ta try harder, all ya've done till now is fer starters, rokkie stuff, ya need to step up yer game... Call im' nice nice things, ya know, flirt with im'." Kraglin advised."Why you care anyways?" Rocket asked, sure they didn't have a bad relationship, but they weren't exactly friends either. "Ah like ye', the captain liked ye, so ah guess ah do too..." A sad look crossed his eyes for a moment, Rocket felt a little bad for saying what he did. "Sides' ah like Pete too, he be like family to me, ya don' seen like the type o' bloke to fuck him over... Not in the fun way ah mean." He joked, back in good spirits, Rocket felt blood rushing to his face.Having fur was indeed a blessing.Kraglin left after that, the women he was with dragging him back to their clutches. Rocket was left wondering what to do, how did he make Peter interested in him, he knew Peter at least was aware that he meant so much to Rocket, he made sure of that, he cooked for Peter every once in a while, brought nice stuff to him and every nice functional thing Rocket made he would show Peter first and show off to him and only him, he didn't care what the others thought of his inventions."Creature!, pour one last shot, i need to get home, sadly." Rocket heard to his left, he closed his eyes, sighed and counted to ten to calm himself like Peter thaught him."Oh come on sweet stuff, have you gotten enough of me already?, i have not gotten enough of you." That seductive voice made Rocket turn around imediately."Look hot stuff, i enjoy my time with you, but i already stayed way too much, i need to get back to my apartment, though i will enjoy seeing you again Owen." Owen?!, Rocket's mind came to a stop when Shir'Tar called Peter 'Owen', none of them were supposed to know each other, they were not here as the Guardians of the galaxy, they were here as no one, just another face in the crowd."Rocket if she leaves I'm gonna have trouble, I'm still looking through her files!" Rocket heard Gamora on his ear, what she said next gave him a perfect idea to figure out if he had a chance with Peter. "Do anything you have to do to keep her there!"Kraglin told him to flirt with Peter but Rocket was to preocupied about what would Peter think of that.But this is not Peter, this is Owen... And Gamora told Rocket to do anything to keep Shir'Tar there... And nothing made people stand their ground more than a challenge. Rocket smiled wickedly, time for some courting then.Rocket looked smugly at the scene before him, Peter was losing some of his cool, nervous, because their target would be leaving and he would not be able to change her mind. Rocket approached the pair from his side of the counter."Hey there handsome, tell me, do i finally get a chance now that this Lovebot is leaving?" Rocket said in the most suave tone he could pull out, he was calmly cleaning a cup to keep the appearence.Peter froze completly, staring wide eyed at his friend, he didn't have a fucking idea of what was Rocket doing, they were supposed to keep her there, not make her angry and leave."Excuse me!!?" She threw a glare at the smug raccoon. Peter was habing a pamic attack, this would not be the first time that one of their plans go wrong, but this time Gamora's safetu was on the line, they needed to keep Shir'Tar there a couple mimites longer, he was on the verge of interrupting when Rocket spoke."Well, I'm a lonely guy and i like me some eye candy... And ya were keeping him all to yourself, since you're levaing, i guess that means that he's free!" Rocket smiled at her, the smug look on his face was daring her to prove him wrong, he winked at Peter seductively (though it was the wrong eye once again, the one closest to her, Peter noted) and Peter understood now what Rocket was doing."Yeah, guess that you will be taking care of me tonight pal, since my date doesn't want me around anymore," he shighed dramatically, ignoring Shir'Tar. "What's your name?" Peter played along, he faked a sad smile as he heard Shi'Tar's indignant gasp.Rocket made an internal celebratory dance. "Name's Reyes, pretty boy." he winked and jumped over the counter and sat right besides Peter, exactly between him and the bug faced bitch. "So tell me, what does someone as good looking as you ends up in a place like this." Rocket used his tail to caress Peter's back, the Terran shivered at the intimate contact, he was also blushing like crazy, never had he expected that Rocket would be able to get this reactions out of him. Peter also never expected Rocket to be such a good actor, he was staring at Peter with half-lided eyes, showing just enough of the red of his eyes to draw Peter's attention to them, the one sided smile only helped him even more."I huh... You... have pretty eyes?" Peter was at a loss so he said the first thing that came to his mind."So I've been told, let me say that yo-" "I'll have none of this, no lowly creature will keep your attention." She interrupted by roughly grabbing Peter's hand and dragging him to do some angry dancing. Rocket watched with a smile, he was little annoyed by Shir'Tar but his experiment was a succes.So... He had a chance with Peter, Kraglin was right... thought he was still bothered by that bug faced bitch."Rocket we got a problem." Rocket went to serving drinks once again."What is it Gamora?, can i finally shoot the bitch?""The good news is that i found the evidence, the bad news is that the guards found out and they are chasing me and Drax, they are headed your way too... as for your question, yes you can shoot her... but use stunning rounds, she needs to be breathing if we want to deliver her to the Novar corps." Gamora souned calm, even though their plan fell apart... Maybe because she was used to their plans always falling apart.Rocket couln't contain the smile adorning his face, he pulled the gun from under the counter, set it to stun mode, Shir'tar's guards already coming inside the club guns blazing, Rocket heard Kraglin's whistle and saw the arrow flying towards some, he saw mantis fending off some guards in hand-to-hand... Rocket didn't care about any of that.With a smile still on his face he calmy walked forwards, he heard people screaming, saw glass shaterring and flying all over the place, some guy was vomiting non stop near him... Rocket didn't care, he arrived at where he wanted to be, pleased smile (a psyco smile too) looking at Peter lying on the floor, blasters in his hands, Shir'Tar on top of him, trying to bite his face off, she must not have liked realizing that she was being played all along.Rocket raised the gun and aimed it at her. "Hey! You fucking overgrown insect!" She stopped trying to get her Terran snack to hiss at Rocket. Oh, Rocket was waiting for this all night long.  "GET YOUR FUCKING APPENDAGES OFF MY FUCKING HUMIE!!!" Rocket shouted and pulled the trigger.-------------------------------------------- "That went well." Peter said. Coming to lay down besides Rocket on the floor, the whole club had been torn to pieces in the fight, broken tables, glass, chairs, even pieces of the walls lay scattered across the floor."Peter if you want to be sarcastic you gotta use the sarcastic voice." Rocket said as he calmly took a sip of his drink, he stood up went to the bar counter (or what was left of it) and retrieved another dring for him and one for Peter. "Though i have to admit that shit went south faster than a i thought it would." Rocket took another sip."Yeah well, lucky for us..." Peter paused to drink. "We are awesome. We all played our part right... I didn't know you were also an expert in the art of charming, Rocket." Peter praised the raccoon. "I mean if i didn't know better I'd say that you were actually flirting with me." Peter chuckled, he meant that as a joke but Rocket's silence worried him.Rocket took what was remaining of his drink and cleared his troath. "Who says i wasn't?" Peter looked at him with wide eyes, Rocket winked at Peter, this time with the correct eye.Rocket stood up dusted his pants and headed for the exit. "Come on Starprince!" He called back to the Terran whom was having a mental failure."I huh, yeah!, coming..." Peter hurried up after his companion. He was lost in thought, surely Rocket was playing a trick on him, there was no way Rocket meant that. Even though Peter secretly hoped he did.

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Peter realized Rocket was acting weird.Well, he wasn't exactly normal... or any of the Guardians for that matter, but still, Rocket was acting a little weird, the idea came to Peter when one night after a caotic job which involved killing a creature that could change gravity pressure around itself, so taking it out was extra hard, it was understandable to say the Guardians were exhausted and wanted to rest. Peter was in front of his room about to enter it when suddenly the door opened up from the inside and out of the room came out Rocket with a pleased smile on his face. The Procyon didn't pay much attention to Peter, muttering "hey Quill how is it going?", not waiting for a reply and walking past Peter with that same smile and hummimg to himself what sounded like "Ain't no mountain high enough". Peter's eyes followed the raccoon until he disappeared around a corner, he had to admit that he was a tinsy, tiny bit attracted to Rocket after that mission with the Montadea high priestess a week ago. But it was just a little bit.When Peter entered his room he found all his bedsheets and pillows a mess, like someone had tried to roll themselves into a cocoon, then unrolled, then tried again multiple times, Peter also noted the pressence of Rocket's dark brown fur on his bed. Peter grumbled to himself, he was too tired to argue with Rocket about this or to wash his sheets, he just shook the fur out of them and laid down on his bed, the bed smelled like Rocket, Peter realized, it wasn't a bad smell, he kinda liked the smell, it was a little musky with a combination of a metalic stuff... also earthy, Peter nosed the pillow his head was resting on, the smell was actually comforting, so comforting that just after a while he fell soundly asleep... Dreaming about angry raccoons.--------------------------------------------------Things got wierder from then on, Peter found out that some of his clothes went missing every once in a while. Shirts, pants, socks, multiple accesories like scarfs or gloves... Luckily his underwear remained untouched and exactly where he left it. The clothes appeared after a while, they were sometimes on the engine room, the kitchen, Rocket's room and even Groot's room... All places frequented by Rocket, the raccoon after a while even handed Peter his clothes, saying "Found them lying around the place, you really should be carefull where you leave this stuff." Along with his devilish smile, the one he wore when he was up to no good... Most of the time that meant stealing something.Peter already knew the raccoon was taking his clothes, it actually didn't bother him that much, his clothes weren't harmed in any way, he didn't know what Rocket was using them for but as long as the clothes were fine then Peter thought he had no reason to complain, besides they were only clothes, Rocket wasn't taking anything else, he had a lot of clothes, so no harm done right?.After a while Peter caught Rocket sometimes wearing his clothes or using them in some way, the first time he did, it was an early morning, so much so that the other Guardians were asleep, Peter was awake because he got hungry, he walked to the kitchen wearing some loose cotton pants, a tank top and a pair of socks, he yawned as he searched for something to eat inside their fridge when he heard the sound of claws clicking againts the floor, Rocket was obviously awake, Peter decided to keep looking inside the fridge while he waited for Rocket to enter the kitchen, he found a bag of Xandarian chips, he smiled, the stuff was tasty."Morning Peter." Rocket said with a yawn."Good morning Rocke-" Peter's words were cut off as he took in the sight before him.Rocket was stretching as far up as he could, wearing some shorts and one of Peter's T-shirts, Rocket's face showed the bliss he was feeling as some of his bones popped, the raccoon scratched behind his ear when he finished."Rocket, is that the shirt i bought on knowhere?" Peter asked, opening his bag of chips."Yup." Was Rocket's only reply, he walked to a spot on the floor where a bunch of parts of his designs were forming a pile, he kicked around some of them until he found something that interested him and sat down to tinker with it."You're not hungry?" Peter asked, he figured that if Rocket wanted to tell him why he was wearing one of his shirts then the little thief would have, so he droped the subject."Nah, gotta finish this stuff up before the others get up, then i can eat." Rocket said not looking at Peter as he was too focused assembling and taking apart whatever he was working on."Why?, Fash dat?" Peter asked while stuffing his mouth with some chips, he meant 'What's that?'."Cuz you gotta test it first, you idiot, here take a look at it." Rocket patted the spot on the floor next to him, Peter's curiosity led him to the spot right away.As soon as Peter sat cross legged by Rocket's right side, the raccon's tail moved and rested on Peter's left leg, the tail moved lazily side to side, as if to caress Peter, the Terran's face went deep red, Rocket had trouble when people touched him, but when touching others he didn't seem to mind... Well, that's what Peter thought, since the mission with Shir'Tar, Rocket had started sneaking touches at Peter, just small things, a brush of the tail, a pat on Peter's waist (Rocket couldn't reach higher than that), a touch of hands that remained for a second too long when he asked Peter to pass him something... Though Peter can't remember Rocket doing that to the others (he still tried to bite Mantis everytime she tried to touch him)."See this thing?" Rocket showed Peter what he was working on like what he was doing with his tail was perfectly natural, he was holding what looked to Peter like a black metalic cylinder and it had some red buttons. "I don't have a name for this stuff yet, it's like a speaker, just smaller and less heavy... And way more pratical to use when we're working so we can put some good tunes!" Rocket explained as he gave the thing to Peter.Sure enough, when Peter pressed the button he assumed was to turn the thing on, one of his songs started sounding, "Mr. Blue sky" was making Peter smile, the tail resting on his leg pressed itself harder against Peter. "Wow Rocket, it's amazing, can i change the track also?" Rocket nodded and Peter tried it out as "Southern nights" replaced the previous song."Are those Xandarian chips?" Rocket asked, distracting Peter from the song."Huh, yeah, you want one?" Peter took a couple and held them between his thumb and index finger, he presented the ships to Rocket so he could take them.But Rocket didn't take them with his hands...He used his mouth...The raccoon leaned down and scooped the chips from between Peter's fingers using his tounge, gently licking Peter's fingers along the way, the Terran thought that if he got any more red he would become a tomato, Rocket's eyes stayed glued to Peter's as he retrieved his treat, the look on his eyes told Peter that the raccoon knew of his attraction to him... Great, just what Peter needed, Rocket would never let him live down the fact that he was attracted to the gunslinging raccoon."They taste great." Rocket replied with a smug face, Peter didn't know if he meant the chips or his fingers, Peter knew that this would be how his next weeks will play out, Rocket will endlessly tease Peter for his personal amussment and nothing more."Oh!, this is my favorite part, 'feels so good, feels so good it's frightening, wish I could stop this world from fighting. La-da-da-da-da, da-la-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da'." Peter watched as Rocket closed his eyes and sang along to the song, bobing his head to the music. To Peter, in this moment Rocket looked so at ease with the world, he looked like he was truly content on where he was right now in the universe, Peter's heart was racing, he never thought that his little attraction to Rocket would turn to this... Good thing Rocket didn't know Peter's feelings went much deeper than that... Or at least thats what Peter hoped. Peter thought that his chrush on Rocket may not be so bad after all. As long as Rocket doesn't give him hell about it.--------------------------------------------------Rocket's weird behaviour got worse after that.Rocket was like Peter's shadow, he appeared out of nowhere, sometimes when Peter was talking with Gamora on the kitchen, the procyon would get in the middle of them and change the subject of the conversation. When Peter was teaching Mantis how to fly, he would intervene and say Peter is no good teacher and that he should do the teaching. When Peter drank with Kraglin, remembering the old days, there was Rocket sitting between them and grabing a drink.Hell, even when Peter spend time with Groot, Rocket materialized and distracted Groot with something.The worse of all happened when the Guardians were on Knowhere, they were retrieving a payment from a small job they did, Gamora and Kraglin stayed on the ship to watch over Groot, while Rocket and Peter took Mantis and Drax to a bar, they were going to give Mantis her first taste of alcohol.Not the best idea. ------------------------------------Loud people, loud music, even louder than that were Drax's laughs as Peter won another round of the card game that was the center of attention on the bar, obviously Peter's friends layed their bets on him and he had to make sure they don't make a bad investment.The cards under his sleeves prove his point.Mantis was loudly screaming with the emotion of the place, the problem was not that she didn't tolerate alcohol very much... The problem was that she loved the stuff as soon as she tasted it. Gone was the shy, sweet, socially akward girl, she was replaced by this mosntruosity that loudly cheered everytime Peter won, laughed as loud as Drax did and chugged drinks like there was no tomorrow.It almost made Peter wonder what did they just create?. Luckily the hangover that she would sure to get the next morning will solve things out.Rocket was siting by Peters side, also drinking and having a good time, tipsy, his tail never leaving Peter's back, lightly stroking. Drax on the other hand was standing next to Rocket, there wasn't as much alcohol on his blood as Mantis and Rocket had, only god knows what kind of disaster he would make if he gets drunk and Peter looses. "Yes!!, my friend Quill has singlehandedly won us an unbelievable amount of money thanks to this illegal game!!" Drax loudly exclaimed, Peter's friend loudly cheered. "Let us drink in celebration of this amazing feat!!" Drax yelled once again, this time a lot more people cheered at the mention of drinks."My, my, is that the great hero of the galaxy, Starlord?" A Toralean said coming to Peter's other side, to Peter, this guy's species looked like humanized tigers, standing on two paws and having the body structure of a humanoid species, only bigger. Peter felt Rocket's tailfur stand on end along his back, the Procyon bared his teeth at the newcomer as the Toralean offered a drink to Peter and sat by him. "Well, not sure about the greatest hero but I'm positive, I'm the most fan-friendly one." Peter replied with his trademark smirk.The Toralean scrunched up his nose as if smelling something foul. The tiger-like alien turned to Peter, confusion on his face. "Is he with you?" He said while pointing one claw at Rocket.Peter snorted, "Of course I'm with him, i came here with all my friends, I'm with all of them." Why would the guy make such a question?, Peter kept playing, sneaking more cards from under his sleeve."HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, MY FRIEND HAS BEATEN YOU ONCE AGAIN!" Drax, who was always loud got even louder when you mixed him with alcohol."YAYYY, we will be rich, woooo!" Peter heard drunk-Mantis from somewhere behind him, she tried to be loud like Drax but she didn't have the vocal chords for it.Peter was going to play another round when he felt a hard tug on his jacket. "Quill, we're leaving." Rocket ordered."Man, we're having a good time, why would we leave?" Peter asked. Drax and Mantis agreed."Yeah, we are all having fun." A soon as the Toralean placed his paw on Peter's shoulder, Rocket tugged so hard on Peter's jacket he almost fell to the floor."Rocket what the hell, man?!, not cool" Peter was standing now, looking down at Rocket, the snarling raccoon didn't look so happy."WE ARE LEAVING, QUILL!" "No!""YES WE ARE!""No we don't, dude.""QUILL!""Rocket!"Peter swore Rocket was about to shoot someone, his paws were trembling out of anger, he kept squeezing the air in front of his face like someone's neck was between his paws. Then Toralean guy slung his arm over Peter's shoulder in a friendly manner."Look, let the amazing Starlord have his fun, if your not having fun, then you can leave... More Starlord for us." The tiger mocked Rocket."HEY!, HANDS OFF!" Rocket angrily ordered pointing at the guy with a claw."Why?, i don't see your name on him, rat." The feline challenged Rocket with angry predatory eyes, slitted pupils glaring at the raccoon.Peter was about to tell the guy to back off, despite Rocket's behaviour, Peter still cared for guy, this douchebag did not have the right to talk to Rocket like that, the words died on his mouth when Rocket spoke."WHAT?, HE'S MINE YOU ASSHOLE." The raccoon then pulled out his blaster and aimed at the guy's face.Peter's body moved on it's own, he has dealt many times with drunk-Rocket and he knew that the furry mammal was prone to shooting people out of anger. Peter moved fast and got himself between the Toralean and Rocket's blaster, the gun's charging noise came to a stop, once Peter raised his hand on Rocket's direction."QUILL GET OUT OF THE WAY SO I CAN SHOW THIS DOUCHE HOW TO RESPECT OTHER'S PROPERTY!.""No, no, no, no, Rocket!" Peter waited for Rocket's aim to stop moving, searching for a chance to shoot the idiot behind Peter, before continuing. "Fine!, we're leaving... We're leaving, calm down!" Peter stared into Rocket's red eyes, god how he liked those eyes... Now was not the time for that, after some tense seconds, Rocket lowered his gun."Drax!, Mantis!, let's move it." Rocket returned his blaster to his back, he walked towards Peter and pulled him by his sleeve. That's when the cards on Peter's sleeve fell...A dead silence filled the bar that was thriving with loud noise mere seconds ago, the Guardians were all frozen on their spots, realizing on how much of a predicament they were in."Rocket, i just want you to know that i blame you 100% for this." Peter said quietly to his friend as he prepared to run, Rocket was also walking slowly towards the nearest exit, Drax and Mantis doing the same.In a moment, when the othe people on the bar realized they had been loosing their money to a cheater, they pulled out various types of weaponry, from guns to blades, almost everyone was armed and ready for the Guardians hide."I suppose it would not be wise to fight these people on our inebriate state." Drax said as he grabbed Mantis's arm, just in case the girl had drank too much to run properly."You suppose right, baldy." Rocket replied to his friend, even tipsy, Rocket would not face an angry mob of thugs from Knowhere... Without the proper equipment... And he only brought his blaster."Yayy, I always wanted to be part of chase!, you guys have made it sound so fun!" Normally Mantis would have cowered at the sight, but the alcohol made her overly cheerfull towards any situation. In just two seconds the Guardians bolted out of the bar, gunshots and blades following them along with a an angry, drunk mob of about 40 people, their screams echoing through the streets. ----------------------------------------------------Gamora and Kraglin had been playing a nice quiet tabletop game, Groot was locked up in his room, probably playing video games, the quiet on the ship was a peacefull one.Until the other Guardians boarded the ship..."JUST WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?!" That was Peter's voice, he sounded unusually angry."WHAT WAS I THINKING?!, WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?!, THAT GUY WAS ALL OVER YOU-" Rocket's voice sounded as usually angry as he was most of the time."THE HELL YOU MEAN BY THAT?, THE GUY WAS JUST A FAN, WHAT IS IT TO YOU ANYWAY?!""HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THAT BY THIS POINT, YOU IDIOT!""YOU CALL ME AN IDIOT WHEN YOU PRACTICALLY GAVE ME AWAY BACK THERE?""I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD THE CARDS UNDER YOUR SLEEVES!""YES, YOU DID!""FINE!, I KNEW THEY WERE THERE, I JUST FORGOT ABOUT IT."Gamora pinched the bridge of her nose, she was having a good, quiet, peacefull time. Drax entered the room she and Kraglin where in carrying a passed out Mantis over his shoulder."Hey guys." Drax greeted as he set Mantis gently on a comfortable spot on a near couch. The big guy had bruises and small cuts on his body, same could be said for Mantis."Drax, what happened?" Gamora asked calmly, she knew something like this would likely happen when her friends said they were going to the bar."Our friend Quill was winning us an unthinkable cuantity of units by shady means when the rodent unveiled his trickery to Quill's contestants on the game." He explained to Gamora, "Then we got chased by all the people on the bar, even i could no possibly be able to fight so many people while inebriated.""Why would the rat... Well, rat Pete out?... no pun intended." Kraglin asked."It was an accident, i believe he went mad with his possesive behaviour over Quill when some kind of feline person started touching him." Gamora facepalmed, Kraglin doubled over laughing."Seriously i don't know who is more stupid, Rocket or Peter." Most of the pair's yells had become background noise, yet Gamora could more or less identify what they were saying."I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" That was Rocket."OK, THATS IT ROCKET, GO TO MY ROOM!, WE'LL TALK THERE!" Peter ordered. Everyone heard Rocket growling in protest before agreeing."FINE!""FINE!" Peter replied to Rocket for the sake of replying and having the final word on the argument."I bet 250 units, to them screwing their problems away." Kraglin said as silence was back on the ship, now that Rocket and Peter went to yell at eachother in a closed space."I bet 300, to them just finally coming to terms with their relationship and not having sex." Gamora replied. Kraglin looked unsure of that, thinking about his options."K', It's a deal."-----------------------------------------------------Peter entered his room, where Rocket angrily was passing around it, the raccoon was missing parts of his fur and his clothes seemed to be torn on some places. Peter was in no better shape, his jacket was missing the entire left sleeve, his clothing had tears, there were burn marks on his body and his hair was a total mess."Can you explain to me what the hell was that on the bar?" Peter asked crossing his arms and looking down at the angry procyon, Peter tried not to sound angry but his annoyance clearly showed."How can you ask me that?" Rocket looked at Peter like the Terran was the one to blame in this. "I just tried to defend what's mine, i told you that i didn't mean to drop the cards from your sleeve!" Rocket continued, baring his fangs."Ok, fine, i understand the thing about the cards, you forgot i was cheating, ok, well then, that's settled." Peter said quickly, exasperated, this wasn't what he was refering to when he asked Rocket the question. "Now what i meant actually was, why did you do it in the first place and what the hell do you mean 'defend what's yours'?". Rocket made a fusion of a confused face and an angry one."What i mean?... I meant you, you idiot, that's obvious!""Me?!" Peter's shocked face suprised Rocket, had the Terran not known that he belonged to Rocket since he accepted his courtship?."Yeah, you, what do you think all the courting i did was for?!" Rocket opened his arms for effect."Courting?!" Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yes idiot, i know you know about that, you like me, I've seen how you stare at me and i know, you know i like you!" Rocket said pointing an accusing claw at the Terran."I-I'm no- I don't- Ok fine, I like you and you know it, but that doesn't have anything to do with this courting thing, when did this happen?" Peter pulled at his hair, his theory about Rocket was right, the raccoon had known about Peter's attraction to him and had been teasing him about it... But it was just teasing right?."You... You didn't know?" Rocket looked sad now, gone was the anger that was on his face seconds ago. "When i-... Me showing off to you... The cooking... The gifts... Me fighting other people seeking your attention... Putting my scent on you... All of that... And you never knew?" Rocket looked heartbroken, his ears were down and he was desperately looking for an indication on Peter's face that told him that he at least noticed Rocket's efforts.Peter sadly shaked his head, he didn't have a single clue about what was Rocket talking about, now he could connect some dots and realize the conection on some events to Rocket's 'courting', like the fighing the rivals and the mission on Xandar with Shi'Tar, still nothing made sense to Peter. Rocket stumbled backwards, the raccoon's gaze was showing deep sadness, his legs gave away under him, he fell on his butt feeling defeated, he stared at the ground, lost in thought, how could he be so stupid?."All this time..." Rocket muttered to himself, Peter felt bad for Rocket, he didn't want Rocket to feel this way, even worse, he didn't want to be the cause of Rocket's distress."Rocket I-" Peter tried to comfort Rocket. "He was asking if you were with me because you smell of me." Rocket said suddenly, all bravado gone from his voice."...""I rolled around your bed, your clothes and some of your stuff, i wore your clothes so... You could have my scent." Rocket kept talking not looking at Peter, the Terran was listening to everyword Rocket said, not saying a one himself."...""That mission on Xandar, with the bug lady... I tested the waters... I flirted with you to see if you liked me, i thought that until then that you knew i was courting you but you just didn't like me back... That night i realized that you liked me, or i thought so.""Rocket i do like you, in fact i think that I-" Rocket interrupted Peter by talking once more."I burned myself, got shot in a club fight and a bar fight, fell of a flying ship that was really high in the air, blew up a planet... I did all of this for you... You know why?" Rocket lifted his eyes from the floor, setting them on Peter's, they were filled with emotion as he spoke to the Terran."Because i love you...""..."Rocket looked down once again feeling defeated and exhausted, he felt tears on his eyes, though, he was not going to cry in front of Peter... Rocket closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling hard, trying to get his composture back.Rocket heard Peter moving, walking towards him, the Terran kneeled in front of him, Rocket felt Peter's hand grab his own, he flinched at the touch, still not used to being on the receiving end of physical contact. Peter's hand squeezed Rocket's paw, the procyon finally lifted his head and opened his eyes to look at Peter, the only thing he could see on Peter was a loving smile."I do like you, you know... In fact, i think it maybe more than that... I think i may love you too." Peter said, at least that was what Rocket thought Peter was saying, there was no way Peter was saying that, not after how Rocket fucked up.In a moment, a small moment, Rocket's breath was stolen from him, all lights seemed to be a little brighter and his brain tried to make him move but he couldn't, because he loved every second of what was happening.Because in that moment, Rocket felt Peter's lips touch his own, Peter stealing his breath right from his mouth, Peter's warmth closer than any other time before... Peter, Peter, Peter. Peter Quill was kissing him. And he was loving every second of it.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Of all the places we could be at, it had to be Contraxia!" Rocket said, tightening his jacket."Well you were the one that wanted the courtship to be 'right', even though i told you that there was no need for it." Peter chuckled walking next to the raccoon on the snow covered street of Contraxia, Starlord gave his scarf another loop around his neck."Well if it weren't for my failed attemps at courtship we would have never started this to begin with." Rocket signaled the space between the both of them. "Besides we could have gone somewhere else, not this frigging ice sphere of a planet!" Rocket had no care about the other people walking that could possibly hear them."Groot suggested it, i think he just wanted a new game, i heard there's one big videogame market here... Along with Contraxia's signature entertaiments." Peter added as they passed a brothel that offered lovebots."Don't even think about it Quill." Rocket warned, Peter raised his hands in a peace signal and chuckled."Hey take it easy, wasn't thinkin about doing it, am with you remember?... never used them, never liked em' actually... Though Yondu did." Peter had a nostalgic smile on his face, remembering old times. "He used to pay for the lovebots, yet he was adamant about not letting me near places like this, he would left Kraglin in charge of me or just let me do my own business, just as long as i didn't set foot in there..." There was no sadness in those words, just a fondness of times gone. "He used to say: 'Boy, this ain't no place for kids, and ah be danmed if ah get acussed of getting ya in a place like this, if ya wanna get yer rocks off go learn how to use yer hands till' your older', crude ol' Yondu right?" Peter chuckled, looking at Rocket.Rocket snorted, it sure sounded like something the Centaurian would say, he had poor abilities when it came to being subtle, he preferred to be blunt... Overly so."What would he say about us right now?" The question escaped his lips before he realized, it had been bothering him a little bit since he and Peter had come to terms with their feelings.Peter smiled a you're-being-silly-Rocket smile. "He was fond of you, i could tell that, he would have never admit it but he wouldn't care who i dated as long as i was happy... So i don't think he would even care." Rocket relaxed after that. "Though he would have aimed his arrow at you as soon as i turned my back and tell you not to fuck it up because he would fuck over your life worse than anything on this galaxy." Peter admitted to himself, more to himself than to Rocket.Rocket actually laughed at that. "Did he actually do that?"Peter's laughed too. "Yeah he did, some of my exes told me about it." Peter frowned realizing what he was doing. "I'm sorry, i'm kinda killing the mood, talking about Yondu and exes.""I ain't no stupid chick you just picked up, Peter, Yondu is not a subject that makes me feel bad and you just mentioned your exes, i ain't gonna throw a fit." Rocket explained as they kept walking, he noted that Peter's nose got really red with the cold... Cute."Oh, ok... we're here." Peter said when he noticed they both arrived at the restaurant."Mmmhhh, it's so good to be in a warm place after all that freaking cold." Rocket shudered, getting inside the establishment."This place does seem fancy for our standards, for two times galaxy savers we don't get paid as much as i like to." Peter comented.The restaurant they were in was one of Contraxia's best, the place had a nice heating system, the place wasn't exactly perfect temperature but it was a lot warmer compared to the planet's weather. Rocket and Peter went to a seat righ beside the window, they sat one in front of the other."Ask for whatever ya want, my treat." Rocket winked at his companion, Peter just raised an eyebrow."I rather not, there is no need for more of this courting thing, i can pay for my food, besides this is expensive." Peter said."What?!, no!, i said i will be paying Starprince, don't argue with me.""Rocket i can pay for my stuff.""I know you can, but i have to pay for it, so let me pay for it damnit!" Rocket kept arguing, drawing stares from near tables."Who says you have to?" Peter asked, though he already knew the answer."I read that when Terrans 'date', one of them pays for both of them to show-" Peter cut him off."Rocket!...Look, remember when i kissed you?" Peter asked, the raccoon got red under his fur, he was still not over the fact that that even happened."Huh, yeah, we spend like 20 minutes in it." Rocket had denied another kiss after that, demanding that if they were gonna do this then it was going to be done right, hence this date of sorts."I wasn't reffering to that especifically... Thought that was nice, what i meant was what i told you... i told you that if you wanted to do it right then ok, but no more of that courting stuff, there is no need for that, i said i love you, that's not going to change anytime soon, you don't have to act weird or do crazy stuff to get my attention... Neither spending all your money." Peter told Rocket.Rocket was embarrased, remembering all the crazy shit he did to get Peter to notice him in a romantical way, "Can't believe i did all of that... Though can't complain with the results."Peter laughed, "Yeah, i don't even know how you even did some of things, some seemed phisically impossible to do." Peter laughed some more. "Like how the hell did you even get that acid grass from Clorida on my door, dude that was crazy!"Rocket laughed too, telling Peter how he manage to do almost the impossible, from the acid plant to the Mission on Xandar.Some time later they ordered their food and spend their time talking, eating and enjoyin eachother's company, they decided to split the bill, since they ordered a main dish for each, plus a shared one and some drinks.----------------------------------------------"Heard a storm is coming." Peter told Rocket as they got out of the restaurant.Rocket scratched his ear while in thought. "How far is the ship?" He asked, he didn't remember it's exact location but if the ship wasn't far they could get there before the storm hits them."Don't know, let me ask Gamora, she was getting fuel for the ship last time i checked." After that Peter tried contacting the ship with his earpiece. "Gamora?. Gamora?... Gamora this is Peter, over... Are you there?" "Try calling the others, i'm freezing my tail out here!" Rocket shivered. "If we get no answer from them we'll have to rent a room... Don't you even dare!!" Rocket warned Peter when he saw the dirty look Peter threw at him."Ok, fine... Draaaaax?. Big guy, you there?... Krag?... Mantis?... guess we'll have to rent." Rocket raised an eyebrow."Did you ask Groot yet?" Rocket knew Peter was trying to mask the fact that he wanted to rent a room with Rocket."Huh... Yeah?""Really?""Well he must have heard, if i asked everyone he must have heard something... or he's too busy with his game.""Quill, call Groot!" To be honest, Rocket wasn't against sharing a room with Peter, he just wanted to mess with the Terran.Peter groaned, "Ok fine... Groot?.... Groot?... GROOT YOU HEAR ME?!" Peter yelled at the end in case Groot had his comunicator near him but couldn't hear it. Peter smiled and dropped his efforts. "None of them picks up... which means..." Peter's smile spoke the rest for him, Rocket rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless... ---------------------------------------------------Rocket thought that the room they rented was going to save them from the cold, turns out that while the Room shielded them from the massive storm outside, it did not make the cold go away, the procyon shivered."Well at least it has a bed." Peter was trying to be optimistic."I would demand a frigging refund if it didn't... Along with shooting the guy that gave us the key to this room." Peter went to bed right away, stripping his shirt and his boots right away, Rocket just stared at him, enthralled by Peter's body, to be honest he had denied physical affection from Peter since the kiss not because he didn't like it, the thing was that he loved it, he just didn't know what to do if Peter gave him the affection or how to ask for it, was he supposed to do something to get the phisical contact?, where they supposed to have sex so early on?, was he supposed to initiate the affection?."You know, it's ok to feel flustered around me, happens alot actually." Peter said with a seductive smile, looking at the raccoon with half lided eyes."Pfft, as if that were true, not even when i was having a life crisis over how to court did i become flustered once." Rocket said, he wanted to add 'not all the time at least' but that would boost Pete's ego, no one needs Peter with a bigger ego than what he currently has."Oh right then, you liar, mind telling me why you haven't gotten yourself under the covers since you are so cold then?" Peter could read Rocket's distress like a book.Rocket was indeed very cold, there was nothing he wanted to do more than to crawl under the sheets and wrap himself into a cocoon alongside the Terran, but he was afraid he would make a fool of himself. After thinking it over for a long time (about a minute) Rocket decided the best would be to ask Peter."Huh, are we supposed to like... have sex now?" Rocket used his index finger and thumb to make a circle and with his other hand he ran a finger through the circle, wiggling it.Peter stared at Rocket for what felt like years, mouth open and eyes wide.Then he started laughingLike a oh-my-god-i-will-die-laughing kind of laugh, tears were forming on his eyes, Rocket thought he could not be more embarrased than at that moment, if he didn't have fur he would be red all over his body."What's is so frigging funny?!" Rocket asked showing his fangs. Peter took a few breaths calming himself down before answering."Haha... I'm sorry. Haha. It's just that it is so cute and funny how you still think you have something to do to get my aproval. Like you looked so funny all flusttered and the thing you did with your fingers was priceless. Hahaha." Peter said chuckling, he looked at rocket with soft, loving eyes. "Didn't i tell you that there was no courting needed?, we don't have to do what your not comfortable in doing. Sorry that i laughed, by the way." Rocket still felt ashamed, not knowing what to do. "Then what do we do now?." He asked, looking at the floor, hiding his face, like Peter would be able to see the blush under his fur."How about what you want to do?, you told me you were cold so get under the covers with me." Peter said, a gentle smile adorning his face as he lifted the covers and made space for Rocket.Rocket remained in place for a few seconds, after a moment he got rid of his jacket and the clothes on his torso, he went under the covers besides Peter looking nerveously at Peter as the Terra got closer to him."There, now isn't this better?" Peter asked, Rocket nodded, feeling wamth once again, not only on his cold body but in his heart as well. Rocket then moved his mouth as if to say something but decided to shut it, not sure of what he was going to say."Ask away Rocket if there is something you want to say just say it, i won't mind." Peter said, softly passing his fingers over Rocket's arm, the raccoon shivered under his thouch."Remember when we, huh... Kissed on the ship?.... And how we haven't done it again since that time?... Well i, huh...." Rocket felt like he was making a fool of himself, he was never one to ask for affection, and to sudddenly be craving affection from someone... He was not comfortable asking for it.Peter understood what he meant anyway, Rocket was melting on the bed when Peter closed the space between them and placed his lips upon Rocket's, the raccoon guessed the Terran was craving the affection as much as he was, the way he was caressing Rocket's chest and face, the way his lips moved, it only proved Rocket theory even further.Rocket separated from Peter when he was running out of air, he looked into the Terran's eyes and found only love in them, reflecting his own feelings towards Peter."I love you Pete." "I love you Rocket." Peter wrapped Rocket on to his arms, taking the cold away and being mindfull of the implants on his back, Rocket rubbed his nose under Peter's chin, taking in the Terran's scent.Rocket realized he had never felt so happy on his life.