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His eyes shot open as he suddenly lunged his upper torso forward, his breath shallow and ragged while his palm felt clammy as it clutched the fabric of his oversized shirt closest to his heart.
Fuck, Rocket hadn't had a nightmare like that in a while. His eyes started watering, although he shoved those feelings back down in case an unnamed someone were to walk into the room at any moment. Not like anyone would. Zuka was asleep, Sword wasn't sleeping over tonight, he was by technicality alone right now.
But fuck, he sure as hell wasn't going back to sleep in this state.
He slowly adjusted his position to the side of his bed, his leg now hanging off of the edge of the bed as he sleepily grabbed for his prosthetics, carefully and quietly putting them on the best he could in the darkness. It was only barely lit up by the fairy lights he'd kept on overnight, he needed to replace the batteries for them soon…
In a half-asleep daze, he walked out of his room and into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Rocket tried his hardest to be as quiet as he possibly could, not wanting to wake his father up at this hour.
Everything made a noise, and he was becoming painfully aware of this when trying to grab everything he needed. The clinking of the cups against each other as he grabbed for the one front-most of the cabinet. The soft sounds of running water as he just stared at the faucet, nearly letting the cup overflow as he had zoned out. Even the floor creaked underneath his feet as he tried stepping carefully around the furniture.
With a full glass of water now, Rocket just looked outside past the curtained windows, just thin enough to see how dark the sky was right now despite the shining brightness of the moon gleaming past the cracks of the curtain. He just sipped carefully at his cup as he listened to the ambient noises of the night. He was barely awake, although the adrenaline from the poisonous thoughts that woke him up was keeping him awake.
He couldn't stop thinking about that nightmare. Everything about it felt too real, the smiles of his friends as they laughed at him for things of his past. His friends leaving him once they found out he participated in illegal phights when he was younger. Zuka leaving him, kicking him out without any chance to explain himself. His own cries echoed in his mind as his blank stare just looked beyond what a person could assume.
In a fuzzy daze, he nearly dropped his cup, although spilling most of his water in the process of catching the glass that once sat perfectly in his hands. Despite his attempts to be as quiet as he could, Rocket couldn't help but swear at his own clumsiness in the moment, although he followed with a whispered, strained swear after realizing how loud he was. If Zuka wasn't already awake, he sure was now. Hell the entirety of the town was probably awake by now with how suddenly loud he was.
He grabbed a microfiber cloth from the counter next to him with his now shaking hand, although promptly having to put that cloth down and grabbing something softer. With the objectively better cloth in hand, Rocket leaned down to quickly clean up the water that spilled underneath him as he just whispered curses directed at himself, not paying attention to his surroundings.
After the floor was now as dry as he could get it, he held the cloth above the sink that sat next to the counter he had just been leaning on not a moment before, now wringing the cloth dry. As the last drip of water fell from the soft feeling of the freshly-moist cloth, he softly slapped it back onto the counter to dry.
Rocket's mind was racing at this point. He didn't want to get in trouble for being awake this early into the day yet this late into the night. The moon had barely hit the horizon, or it had barely risen from it. As he just scrunched up the fabrics of the short sleeves on his arms, panicking as his breathing intensified and quickened, he carefully stumbled to the couch that he had been standing close to this entire time.
Fuck, Zuka was going to hate him. He did something wrong and everything was going to be ruined. He was awake too early, too late, Zuka was going to hate him for waking him up.
None of these thoughts were rational, but that didn't stop Rocket's overactive mind from thinking them. His breathing sped up even more, unable to ground himself, to stop them from coming.
He hated him he hated him he hated him he hated everything about him-
"Kid?"
The soft yet grumbly sleep-filled voice startled him out of his own thoughts, making him quickly turn behind him to see the origin of the voice.
Zuka stood behind him, scratching the back of his head as he just yawned trying to process the situation. His brow furrowed as he struggled to keep his eyes open, adjusting his eyesight to the darkness of the entire house although the dim lighting from the moon helped him see a little.
Rocket stiffened, not wanting his father to see him in this state as he tried his hardest to mask everything before weakly responding. "..Y-yeah?" His shaky voice betrayed him, along with a quiet barely noticeable sniffle that followed.
That alone was enough to concern Zuka at this hour, although he tried not to show it knowing it would overwhelm Rocket if he prodded too much. Rocket wasn't an emotional person, or at least he tried not to be. It concerned Zuka how often he kept everything to himself, but he had no real say in it so he was just there when he could be.
Fuck, this was it, Zuka was going to scold him for being too loud.
To his surprise, Zuka just comforted the boy by lightly patting his left shoulder, limping over in a sleepy daze to that side of the couch to sit by Rocket. Rocket jumped slightly at the suddenness of it compared to the intrusive thoughts he'd been having all night, although the softness wasn't unwelcomed.
The silence strained through the tense nature of the air between them, Rocket's leg bouncing up and down as he fidgeted with his thumbs, leaning over resting his arms on both of his legs. Although this caused practically his entire body to lightly shake due to his leg, he didn't pay it much mind.
Zuka just stared at him, opening his mouth multiple times although none of those times had caused any words to leave, causing him to close his mouth every time in a silent disappointment in himself for being unable to comfort him very efficiently at this moment.
"…Sorry." Rocket whispered in a barely audible decibel, not once looking up at Zuka in a disappointment, as he hung his head low just staring at the wooden flooring.
The word took Zuka by surprise, not quite sure what the kid was apologizing for, or why.
"What'cha sorry for? You don't need to apologize." His carefully placed words seemed to affect Rocket, as he started tearing up although he hid his face the best he could.
"..Everything." His voice cracked.
This conversation had appeared maybe three times before since Zuka took the kid in, although it had come less frequently since Rocket started managing his anger better. Zuka was familiar with the script, and every time tried his best to comfort Rocket.
He let out a sob before chuckling at his own sadness, almost seemingly amused by the fact that he couldn't "stay strong" in front of Zuka. Zuka never cared, but Rocket always was worried that he had to stay strong for him, to not let down the mask. "This is so stupid.."
"Kid, you don't need to apologize for anythin', alright?" With his one arm, he reached over behind Rocket to push him closer in a comforting manner, rubbing Rocket's arm that was still flesh and blood in circles. "Everyone makes mistakes. I've made my share. You were a kid when all that happened."
Rocket just kept his gaze down, leaning into the warm comforting touch. He let out another sob before trying to apologize again, although the words barely could be heard past his tear-filled voice. In a mess of words, he apologized over and over again, each one messier than the last as he sniffled each word out, scared to look Zuka in the eyes in fear that the moment he sees him like this, he'd do exactly what his nightmares did.
"Kid, look at me, okay?" He urged, careful not to sound too stern as to not scare his son, knowing how easily startled he was in this state. "I'm not goin' anywhere. You're safe. I'm right here, Rocket."
Rocket finally looked up, although hesitantly. His lip quivered, still terrified of everything his nightmares had ever been coming true. Another quiet sob came as he just hid his face in Zuka's hug, wrapping his arms around Zuka as he grasped the back of his sleeveless-shirt tightly, not wanting to let go. Not wanting his dad to go.
Zuka adjusted himself to make the position more comfortable for Rocket, as he was practically squishing everything into the side of the couch. He hugged Rocket tightly with his one arm, rubbing his back in circles in a comforting manner. "I'm not going anywhere, kiddo."
No sounds came from Rocket's sobs anymore, his voice strained as he just stayed in the warm gesture from his father. He didn't want to move, he was terrified of moving. He didn't want to let go. He couldn't let go.
Every comforting word Zuka spoke resonated in Rocket's head, calming him down bit by bit, although it took a while, probably an hour or so.
His voice croaked one last silent apology before he fell silent, his eyes fluttering shut as he promptly fell asleep, almost startling Zuka with how sudden it was. But he didn't let go of the hug for fear of waking the blue inphernal up. He just softly whispered in a low grumbly tone what he'd been repeating for the past hour.
"You're safe here, I'm not going anywhere."
With about 10 more minutes of Zuka making sure Rocket stayed asleep, him getting the much-needed rest he deserved, he softly tried to adjust the boy in such a way where he could carry him back to his room. He threw an arm across his shoulder, another arm on his other shoulder, and held his single arm in such a way that it would carry the weight of Rocket all the way up the stairs that he had led himself down just earlier.
After a few minutes of struggling, he finally reached Rocket's room, which was heavily yet cleanly decorated with posters from his favourite phighters and random trinkets he'd acquired from phight merch stands. The now-dim fairy lights that were strung across his entire ceiling were on, Rocket being unable to sleep without a little glimmer of light. He must've forgotten to turn them off when he startled awake earlier.
Zuka just sighed as he set the boy down in his bed, the mattress's foam sinking underneath him as he carefully and gently fell into the bed. Zuka adjusted the blankets that were stuck underneath Rocket now, making sure that he was all tucked in in a way that was comfortable for him.
The boy's eyes were red from the tears earlier, a sight that made Zuka feel bad for the kid, always being unsure of what he truly was going through in that head of his. With a soft sigh, he just rested his hand on Rocket's shoulder once more, gently rubbing it before slowly standing back up and making his way to his own room, making sure both of their doors were wide open tonight as to not make Rocket freak out upon his awakening.
"Sleep tight, son."