Chapter Text
The shuttle settled in with a loud clonk, and Rocket began waiting for the air lock to open. 10 seconds. He smacked his lips. 9 seconds. The raccoon shifted uneasily in his seat. 8 seconds. He was so close now, and here he was, sitting and waiting. 7 seconds. He rubbed his nose angrily and huffed. 6 seconds. This was taking forever. 5 seconds. He got on his knees. 4 seconds. Rocket sat down again. 3 seconds. His stomach tightened. 2 seconds. Staring at the airlock slide open soundlessly, he hurled himself into the hallway. Finally, after a week away, he'd get to see G... Everyone. He'd finally get to see everyone on his team again. All of them. No individual standing out particularly. He saw strangers in the hallway as he jogged (not really, why would he jog, he was just walking fast) towards the rec area. They turned to look at him with surprised expressions, one of them green, the other one purple. Or was it orange? Something in that general direction. Rocket shoved the door open and stepped inside, taking one second to glance over the room as Tony, Gamora, Drax and Peter along with two strangers turned to look at him. No Groot anywhere to be seen.
"Where is everyone?!" Rocket snapped. Peter frowned in confusion. Gamora smiled, looking away. Tony grinned.
"We did not expect you back until tomorrow night," Drax said. "It is good to see you." Rocket's eyes tore over the room again, his whiskers twitching indignantly.
"Yeah, yeah, great seeing all of you," he muttered. Clearing his throat, he straightened his coat, glancing at his teammates.
"Who are all these people?" he asked flatly, nudging towards the two strangers. Peter and Tony winced slightly at his social blunder. Stark smiled broadly, putting his hand on the shoulder of one of the guests.
"Just a few friends we're giving a lift. They're heading in our direction," he said jovially, giving the man a squeeze and gaining a small smile from him. Rocket groaned, shuffling towards the bar and hopping onto a stool. He grabbed a bottle and poured himself a large drink. Where was everyone? What kind of welcome was this? Granted, he had returned earlier than expected, but it still would've been nice for the big dumb... for everyone to be there. Insensitive. Nobody ever thought about his feelings. He sniffed, downing half the glass about the size of his own torso. Hurtful.
"So," Tony said, sitting next to Rocket. "How'd it go?" The raccoon sighed and started talking mechanically; he had repeated it 4 times today. Tony watched him, making the usual sounds, glancing up and saying "Hey big guy." before looking at Rocket again. Rocket frowned. That was unusual. He inhaled tiredly, his head filling with forest and sweetness and earth. His neck fur stood up.
"I am Groot," came the low rumbling voice. Rocket hurled around, his eyes tearing up the large expanse of bark into dark, familiar eyes. The skin around Groot's eyes crinkled, and Rocket had to push his gaze down quickly, settling it safely on Groot's collarbone. His fur stood all over; he felt Groot's gaze on him, felt it right in his scalp, spreading warmth all over his body. Rocket leaned forward instinctively, his hands reaching out to the body. He looked up at the shoulder. His spot. Seeing what his hands were doing, he felt his face flush and pulled them back, slapping them on his thighs. Rubbing the fabric of the pants once, they snuck into his pockets.
"Hey, dumb stump," he said weakly. He trembled as Groot's low, tender rumble replied wordlessly. Rocket's nose and ears twitched self-consciously, and he glanced around, trying to swallow.
"So, what've you losers been up to without me? Except becoming a hostel for half the galaxy," he snorted. "You better tell me none of those people have slept in my bed. That'd make me seriously pissed." Groot's voice was full of soft joy and contentment.
"I am Groot," he murmured.
"Groot!" one of the women thrilled, nearing them. She halted next to the Flora Colossus, beaming up at him. She had powder teal skin, tattoos all over her arms and thighs, and a short robe of some kind cinched at the waist. She grabbed Groot's hand and tilted her head.
"You were going to teach me your language," she cooed. Rocket's eyes were nailed on the hand holding Groot's. His brain was trying to process what was happening. Why was she holding Groot's hand? What was this? What was going on? Not that he cared, obviously. He just couldn't figure out what he was actually seeing. Was her hand literally holding Groot's? Was he letting her? Why!? She started pulling the Colossus towards the table. Groot looked at Rocket and Tony in surprise, but followed her. Rocket felt his spine twinging uncomfortably, watching the large frame of his friend and the much smaller one of the female move away from him.
"I don't get it," Tony said. "Why did she go for him when I'm standing right here, completely free?" He spread his arms. Rocket didn't hear him; he was downing the rest of his drink blindly. What exactly had been going on here? He turned towards the human.
"Who is she, and why's she talking about learning his language? How long has she been here? I've only been gone a week!" he snarled. Tony raised his brows.
"Oh, they've been here for two days. She seems to think she can learn his language really fast for some reason. I don't know why, we told her how it works," he said. "I mean, if someone like me can't understand what he's saying after this time, she's not likely to..." Rocket frowned in irritation, glancing at the table. She was sitting on Groot's lap.
WHAT THE FLARK!?
Rocket spazzed, flying off the chair. He stomped towards them quickly, tail swishing around angrily. Surely there had to be an explanation for this. Some logical reason why Groot was letting her do this. He couldn't possibly want this! Rocket had to save Groot. She was leaning her head against Groot's chest, running a finger over the bark. Rocket felt sparks in his eyes. That bark was not to be touched by her. It was h... Groot's. Not hers. The raccoon slammed his empty glass on the table loudly, catching their attention. Groot blinked, looking as confused as always when in a new situation. If he was getting some kind of kick out of this, it certainly didn't show on his open face. She looked at Rocket curiously. He stepped forward, bumping into a stool on purpose. He looked at it, poking it with his hind paw.
"Oh, look," he said. "A seat. A perfectly good, available seat." He glared straight at her. She looked at the stool, then at the raccoon. Grinning, she leaned back.
"I'm good. I need to be close to Groot so I can really hear him, you know?" she cooed, rubbing her hand over the chest of the Colossus. Rocket was going blind with rage. If she didn't stop rubbing Groot's bark like that soon, somebody would pay. Something would explode. His entire body shaking, fists balled, Rocket turned to look at his friend's face carefully. The Colossus observed him with wonder. He didn't seem to see what was going on. As far as Rocket knew, nobody had ever sat on Groot's lap. Well, ok, maybe Rocket, but that was one time, and he'd been drunk so that didn't really count. Once or thrice. Seven times, tops. Definitely not more than that. That would be weird. But clearly she was using and abusing his innocence, sitting on his lap like this when he was obviously unaware of what her intentions were. Someone had to protect Groot. He was basically a child. A big, tall, strong, towering child with a deep, booming voice and the ability to execute dozens of people within seconds.
"Ya don't need to hear him. You need to be with him for at least 4 months before you start understanding what he's saying," he snarled. Groot looked at Rocket, and the raccoon felt his ears flatten. It wasn't literal truth; he had learned to understand the Flora Colossus in 5 weeks. But it seemed to take people on average 4 months.
"And since you're leaving tomorrow, there's no point," he added. She looked confused by his attitude. She looked up at Groot who seemed to observe the conversation with interest. Her hand landed on his chest again.
"Does me sitting here make you uncomfortable?" she asked, and he shook his head truthfully. Smiling, she leaned her weight against him, wrapping her arm around Groot's neck.
"Well, then, no harm in trying?" she said. Rocket's foot flew into the table leg involuntarily, and he let out a yell, bending over. The pain made his vision go red; he wobbled around, cursing under his breath, squeezing his throbbing toes.
"I am Groot?" the tree asked with a concerned voice, his expression turning worried. The raccoon huffed indignantly. He had to keep his composure. His toes still burning, he straightened up deliberately, patting his coat.
"No biggie," he said lightly, his voice a bit shaky. Groot still looked concerned. Ridiculously concerned for a stupid little toe bump. What a giant baby. What a sap. What a big, hopeless moron. Rocket felt his throat tighten up, and turned around.
"Hope ya don't get splinters," he muttered very quietly, heading back to the bar.
****
Groot watched his friend in confusion. He had been waiting so eagerly to see him again. The seven days he had walked, without the warm little weight right where it belonged on his shoulder, had been long and strange. He had felt almost lopsided. The nights had been longer yet, sitting alone in the dark for hours on end, no beautiful little light to guard. No purpose, nothing tying him into the world. And now Rocket was back, finally, but he was acting so strange. All had been well, and then he had come to them by the table, all green. He spoke about peculiar things with the female, his aura a bright, angry green, sparking and pulsing. Rocket only ever got green when he saw an individual with a considerable amount of units, or a very large handheld weapon of sophisticated technology. Groot had looked around; it had been only him and the female. She had no weapon, and no units that he was aware of. It was very odd indeed. And then Rocket had left so quickly. Groot had wanted to be next to him for as long as possible.
He always did.