Chapter Text
Now if this didn’t suck .
Here Rocket was , unpacking and going through random shipment boxes ordered for
‘ Da Shop ‘ , what a wonderful name . Seriously , ‘ Da Shop ‘ ??? Kind of a weird name . So ,, generic ! Gives no surprise ! No , I don’t know ,, maybe information on the shop ?? Would’ve been nice . Oh well , not Rocket’s choice or decision . That would be his dad’s choice , Zuka . Also , the owner of the shop . The owner who is not here , why ? The Swords know . Doesn’t matter . Rocket swore and promised up and down he’d work this weekend . A stupid promise because , of course , just his luck , this unfortunate weekend a pretty large and important Phight was going on . Okay , yeah . He says that about every single Phight in the history of ,, ever . But still ! This one really is important ,, definitely . Super duper awesome and important . Crucial to his career and life as he knows it ! ,, okay ,, No , no not really ,, but that sounded cool ,, didn’t it ?
No ?
Okay , sorry . My bad .
,, Doesn’t change the fact it’d be better to go than do this .
And , on top of getting to miss out on a Phight , he’d felt sick first thing this morning .
His throat felt like he’d swallowed barb wire , his head was aching like hell , and his stomach was churning fast enough to rival a 1950 ‘s butter - making house wife .
Whole shabang .
Doesn’t matter , it’s probably just allergies ,, in the dead of summer ,,
If we ignore the logistics , it’s an un - flawed excuse .
Anyways , Rocket continued to go through various boxes and packages , opening them , taking the stuff out , adding it to a shelf , walking back , rinse , recycle , repeat . Riveting stuff , I know . But it did eventually stop ,, no it didn’t . I’m lying to you . Ha ! Take that ! That was mean , I’m sorry . But it was interrupted ,
The sun at this point had long since sunk into the downing horizon , dipping its warm roots into the slick surface of the ocean , spreading a warm glow onto the water’s cool face .
The bolded and neon red ‘ CLOSED ‘ sign hung from the front window like a menacing presence , judging harshly anyone who even dared glance at the shop . A great deterrence ! Seriously , working wonders ! But , at the same time , it was dipping into seven o ‘ clock at night so , maybe thank the time for lack of customers . (and the CLOSED sign , we love you too bud)
At this rate Rocket was completely indulged in the mundane task assigned to him , his brain going and locking into auto - pilot at this point so , without even really thinking , he immediately got ready to verbally berate whatever dumbass had wandered into the shop past hours , especially when the ‘ CLOSED ‘ sign was still there , and had been doing such a great job up til this point .
“ Aye , dumbass , can’t you see the sig– , “ Rocket stopped in his tracks as he whipped his head around to scowl at this idiot , only to find no idiot (fat lie) but instead his friend , Sword .
“ Woah ! Uhm ,, hello to you too ! “ A very long pause . “ Did I come at a bad time ? “ Sword stammered out the last bit awkwardly late , added onto the preexisting sentence like a fish caught on a hook , flopping around to attempt to get off it as if it doesn’t know how horribly it had fucked up .
“ Oh ,, it’s just you . “ Rocket let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in .
“ Well , who else was it going to be ? “
A good question . I mean , he knows the answer , I think most do . I mean ,, it could’ve been a random jerk coming in after hours like he thought , or his dad . And he wasn’t really scared of either . I mean ,, okay , maybe a random person coming in after hours was kind of scary – not that he’d ever in a billion years admit that . And his dad was a fairly chill dude , so , what's to be scared of there ? It’s his dad for cry it out loud ! Not some random strapped homeless dude . So , instead of giving a long explanation he just simply shrugged and responded ,
“ ‘Dunno . “ Real descriptive and heart - felt , I know .
“ Ah . “ Sword nodded slowly , taking in the awkward tension of the room as its own carbon monoxide . He fidgeted slightly , shifting foot to foot , grabbing a small piece of his cape and tugging at it , his wings fluttered anxiously behind him , folding in and out . The whole shop felt so heavy and tense . Rocket had since gone back to unpacking box contents though it felt different , not a large change by any means . Not like the tension had loosened its grip , no . But it just felt ,, tighter ? Maybe that's the word .
And Rocket seemed ,, smaller ? Not a significant difference , but it was definitely noticeable . He kept himself more huddled together , his head hung lower than it had before , maybe just to ignore sparking a longer conversation with Sword , but who knew ? I mean ,, Rocket usually enjoyed talking to Sword , they talked a lot , he kind of needed to get used to it .
Sword’s thoughts ricocheted from tense and zoned out to ‘what was that ?!’ in record time , I’d say . (did anyone count that on a stopwatch ??? this could be in the book of world records !)
Why ? Amazing question ! Rocket uh ,, ate shit , to say the least . Everything was going mildly fine until Rocket attempted to carry three boxes stacked on top of each other to make the trip quicker , completely unaware and too out of it to realize that there was a power cable on the ground and ended up tripping over it onto the nice (and totally soft) concrete floor . (youch)
“ Fuuuuuuuck . “ Rocket groaned , pushing himself off the ground and wiping his face with the back of his hand , sitting back on his heel to look down at the boxes scattered in front of him. Two of the boxes with a lazier taping job had opened , spilling their contents onto the floor . And , by the looks of it , quite a few things didn’t survive the landing .
“ Damnit ,, “ He mumbled , staring down at the now broken artificial hyperlaser railgun . Oh , his dad was going to kill him .
The gun wasn’t too , too damaged but it’d definitely seen much better days . The paint job on it was pretty scuffed up and scratched , and the handle - esc bit had lost a pretty decent chunk . I mean , you’d think these things would be strong , considering how expensive they are ! But nooooo ! Just one little fall and it broke ! Waste of bux , I’ll tell you that much .
Not the point .
“ Do you uhm ,, do you want help with that ,,? “ Sword asked , walking over to him slowly and cautiously , like he was a random stray cat in an alleyway .
“ No it’s ,, ugh . No , it’s fine . “ Rocket huffed out , grabbing the broken gear and putting it back in the box , he’d deal with it later .
The tight tension came as quickly as it’d left , returning as soon as Rocket started walking away sluggishly from Sword . The shop felt so empty now , not because it actually was (there were many more boxes to be unpacked) but because the tension filled in the space so perfectly . Not in a good way , it shouldn’t be there , but it did fit and fill every corner and crevice like it was here all along , made just for this exact moment . Which doesn't make a lot of sense . But with the given situation , it sort of did .
Sword continued to watch Rocket as he walked off at a slow , lethargic pace , his head low and his tail dragging against the ground , almost completely limp as opposed to well - held like it usually was . It was unusual for the Rocketeer but with the current events it slid right out of concern for Sword . He was probably just tired and overwhelmed .
Normal enough .
Sword probably would’ve done a similar thing in that situation .
Swords , Rocket felt disgusting .
Instead of unpacking neatly like he was supposed to be doing , like his dad asked , he was fumbling over boxes and power cords . And all in front of Sword , sure . He’d done way worse in front of Sword , but still . He didn’t need embarrassment stacked on top of his cacophony of emotions .
Not like he was physically feeling any better .
His throat and lungs felt like they were in a life - or - death situation and the answers were being forcefully squeezed out of them .
His dull headache at this rate had spread to full on pounding up to the base of his horns .
His stomach was now shifting uncomfortably and emitting quiet but painful gurgles and blrps .
He still held himself as huddled together as he could , his tail being the only expectation as it dragged sluggishly behind him . At this point he just wanted the job to be finished , even the guilt of embarrassing himself in front of Sword felt small .
He felt so gross .
He just wanted to leave and hide underneath his bed covers .
Just to lay in that haunted bed , draped with a blanket of guilt and shame .
And he knows he shouldn’t feel guilty .
It’s not his fault .
It’s not his fault at all .
And he knows he’d be so mad at Sword if he was beating himself up like how he currently was for something as stupid as messing up or feeling un - well .
He’d want Sword to know it’s okay to not feel okay sometimes , that he’s here if he wants to talk , if he has something on his chest he needs to let off .
He gives Sword so much leisure and understandest but leaves none for himself .
It feels too self - absorbed and selfish .
And , maybe when he was younger he would’ve been okay with that ,
Would’ve been okay with letting himself take the pity .
Would’ve been okay with him being the only one .
But it just feels so wrong now .
Rocket’s reeling spiral was cut short as a sharp and rocky cramp slammed into his gut , causing his tail to apprehensively tighten up as a sharp exhale escaped him .
Unfortunately , it wasn’t exactly hidden (it was pretty goddamn noticeable) and Sword’s head shot up like a surprised cat from behind a shelf as he looked over towards Rocket’s direction .
“ You good , man ? “ Sword asked , his tone leaning onto concern as he started to pad towards the other inphernal .
Rocket tries to bring himself back down to earth from that whole ordeal .
Fuck .
That wasn't as composed as he thought it was .
Now he’s making a scene .
He feels like he’s being turned inside out .
This isn’t going well .
This isn’t going well at all .
“ ,, Yeah I’m d – “ A decently loud gurgle rippled through him , causing his cheeks to turn a dark gray . His shoulder slumped as he wrapped his arms around his midriff , avoiding eye contact like it was the plague itself .
“ Rocket ,, ? “ Sword inched closer towards the other demon , worry drowning his face .
Swords , Rocket hated the way Sword was looking at him .
He hated that look of pity on his face .
It irritated him way more than it should’ve .
“ Rocket ?– “ Sword reached out for Rocket’s striped arm held closely to his middle , causing him to spook and step back quickly before snapping out ,
“ Don’t you dare fucking touch me ! “ He spat the words out like they were bitter poison on his tongue he wanted gone , they came involuntarily , like his brain was on autopilot and spewing anything it felt needed to be said . Whether Rocket wanted it to or not .
Poison still burns when it comes out , even if it's stored like venom .
The room went completely still , the only sound being Rocket’s hard and labored breath .
It took a long , uncomfortable moment for Rocket to realize what he’d just said .
It hit him like a truck , the guilt reopening as he registered what he’d just done .
He’d already begun apologizing in his head before his mouth even opened .
But here's the thing ,
He wasn’t even attempting to , he was too tired .
He didn’t want to .
Well , he did .
He wanted Sword to know how awful and tired he felt .
How he really didn’t mean to say that and how it’ll never happen again .
How he’s better now .
But he didn’t .
He just stood there , like an idiot .
Rocket stood backed away from Sword , still staring down at the floor with his shoulders slumped and tail hung low . It was so unlike him . Usually the Rocketeer would be doing something stupid and loud or competitive . But right now he just looked downright pathetic . Lashing out at Sword like he would’ve done to anyone in the past . And it doesn’t feel good . It never did . He just did it because he was scared .
And sure , he’s not scared of Sword or anything .
Sword would never do anything to hurt him .
But it didn’t erase the fact that he said what he said .
It still left his mouth , the words still ceased existence .
He could hardly even focus on that .
He was so selfish .
He was tired and hot .
His throat , head and stomach all hurt .
It felt like the depths of hell had opened up to swallow him whole in shame and embarrassment .
“ Rocket ,, are you alright ,, ? “
There it was again .
Sword’s stupid , stupid sympathetic expression .
The way he sounded so genuine .
It made Rocket feel more sick just hearing his worry .
He didn’t want him to worry .
He really didn’t .
He didn’t want this attention .
He wanted Sword to yell at him , to tell him to man up .
But he didn’t .
Why ?
“ N- no . “ Rocket mumbled out quietly , stuttering over that one word .
It wasn’t even that hard .
And he messed up one word .
Oh , how wretched he was .
Sword’s expression softened as he heard Rocket finally answer . It was so un - Rocket - like , usually he’d be bouncing off the walls , bringing mayhem to just about every room he stepped into . Not that it was ever a bad thing , no . I mean , I’d bet some found it annoying but Sword never did . He found it downright endearing . It was just his personality after all . A good one , at that .
It hurt to see Rocket look so small as opposed to his usual demeanor .
He knew Rocket would hate him calling him ‘ small ‘ . He never liked that word , especially if it was used on him .
Understandable , most don’t or wouldn’t .
But , still ,
Rocket looked absolutely wrecked . He was sweaty and clammy despite the fact the sun had now gone down and AC was blasting the whole store , hell , Sword had started getting cold at this rate .
Even though Rocket looked and felt hot he was still shivering ever so slightly . Not dramatically or anything but just small jerks that happen every now and then .
His face at this rate is fairly pale for the color he’s usually sporting , along with having a slight green tint to his face which definitely isn’t always there .
“ Is there anything I can do ,, ? “
Again , Sword sounded way too nice .
He was being too nice .
He shouldn’t be this sympathetic , Rocket didn’t do anything to deserve it in the slightest .
If anything , Sword should’ve yelled at him .
Told him he was being overdramatic and that he was making a fuss .
Seriously .
Why wasn’t he ?
And , as much as he didn’t want to, it felt too impolite and rude to not answer his friend .
“ Can you just ,, I — I wanna go home ,, “
“ Okay ,, alright ,, we can do that , if you want . “ Sword nodded to the blue inphernal before lacing his fingers with the others , starting towards the door at whatever pace Rocket led with .
“ Wait — wait , man i gotta — hic — i gotta call my dad . “
“ Oh ,, okay , go for it . “
Rocket felt so so miserable , he was twenty two for cry it out loud .
He was an adult .
A tax paying adult .
And he was calling his dad to tell him felt sick like he was a whiny newspawn .
The phone rung once ,,
Twice ,,
Click .
“ What’s up , kid ? “
The call connected after a couple of seconds , the older demon picking up the phone .
“ Uh ,, hey - hey , dad — “
As Rocket began to speak he heard a particular voice from the other side of the phone , it was muffled , sure , but it was definitely recognizable to Rocket .
“ Ooooo ~ the little brat’s callin’ ya ? “
That was just about the only line he could fully make out and it set in stone his suspicions .
It was Broker .
The freak his dad always hung out with .
Just the sound of his voice made Rocket want to punch a wall .
Seriously , all the inphernals in crossroads and his dad chose that bastard ?
It made no sense .
“ Broker — Get the hell back , Swords ,, Rocket , what’d you need again ? “
“ Dad , can you just uhm ,, I can’t - y’know ,, the uh ,, I just uhm ,, hic — could you just uh ,, pick me up ,, “
Now if this wasn’t just downright humiliating .
“ Kid , I can’t . I’m hanging out with a friend , I’ll be home soon , just drive yourself . “
Great , now Rocket had to explain his current situation to his dad just so that he might even get a shot at going home ?
“ Dad , please ,, it's like ,, serious . “
“ You say that all the time , I’m not buying it again . “
“ Dad , please ? “
Zuka let out a long sigh before he set down his phone , hanging up on Rocket and going back to whatever he and his ‘friend’ were doing before .
Rocket stood there for a long while , just staring at the blank screen .
Woah .
Just amazing luck he has .
Sword was still awkwardly lingering next to Rocket , he’d heard the whole conversation , saw hope die from Rocket’s face as his dad hung up on him . It was kind of a dick move .
Not that he’d ever say that outloud , let alone to his face . “ Hey , uhm ,, I mean , you could just ,, ? “ The Swordsman gestured vaguely but Rocket knew all too well what he was implying , and , yeah .
It was probably his last resort at this rate .
Which sounds really dramatic for the only bad thing that happened besides being hung up on by your dad . Probably because it was . Anyways , Rocket picked up the phone again . Pulled up the contact and pressed the call button .
I don’t even think the first ring was finished .
Click .
“ Well if it isn’t the little brat himself ! “
One sentence in and Rocket already regretted every decision that led him to this moment .
“ ,, Let me talk to my dad . “
“ Oh ! Why , that’s not very polite ! Gee , woulda thought Zuke taught ya at least some manners ! Oh , who am I kiddin’ , I don’t expect anything more from you ! “
“ Just let me talk to my dad ,, “
A pause .
“ ,, Please ? “
Swords , that hurt to say .
“ See ? Now was that so hard ? “
Broker chided . Rocket could hear his smirk .
“ ,, now let me talk to my dad . “
“ Huh ,, how about ; nah . “
Rocket froze .
No ? That was it ??? End of conversation ???
“ But I need to — “
“ Ah , no buts ! Just talk to me instead ! “
Absolutely not .
“ No , I want to talk to my dad . Not a sadistic creep like you . “
“ Oh , you break my heart , Rocket . You really do . And if you’re so desperate to talk to your ‘ dad ‘ , I’ve got great news , son ! Hehe ! “
Rocket did not like in the slightest where this was going .
The way he sounded so high and mighty , so pleased with himself .
Again ,
Rocket could practically hear that freaks imp - tip - bladed tail swaying back and forth in delight at Rocket's obvious uneasy . Just hearing his tone made him more nauseous than he already was , this wasn’t going how he wanted it to .
“ I mean , I am officially your non - official secondary dad ~ “
Yeah , right .
I mean , yeah .
Technically , Broker was his second dad now .
,, Sort of .
Not like him and Zuka were married or anything , inphernals didn’t really do weddings , or romantic relationships , for that matter . But he and his adoptive dad had been attached at the hip (whether one of them liked it or not) as of recent . It’d gotten to a point where it felt like Rocket couldn’t really find time to hang out with his dad if he wanted to , not that he ever really did in the past , but now that opportunity was completely swept away .
“ Fine then , “
It wasn’t as embarrassing or humiliating with Broker involved , but he was honestly scared of him ( not that he’d admit that ) , not by a whole lot but still quite a bit .
The dude is a criminal , afterall .
“ I think I’m sick . “
Plain , simple .
Gets the point across .
“ Nevermind i’m not your dad anymore — ZUKA !!! “
The Rocketeer rolled his eyes , he wasn’t shocked at all by Broker’s response . Pray he never has kids of his own . I’d give those kids ,, three days before they die ?
Seems like a high enough number .
Poor Sword was just standing nearby Rocket listening to the whole thing whether he wanted to or not . Saying it was awkward is an understatement .
Here he was , just lingering around Rocket like an idiot .
It felt so invasive .
This really wasn’t his place to invade their privacy . Not like he really got a choice , though . If he left ? It’d be rude , and he wasn’t risking that . But staying ? It was awkward and uncomfortable , but his discomfort is probably next to nothing compared to Rockets . I mean , Rocket never admits to anything like being sick or hurt or anything even remotely similar where he would come off as weak or vulnerable , so it definitely worried Sword to his easy admission .
“ Christ , kid . What do you need ??? “
Finally Zuka called Rocket back .
This was like some weird messed up game of telephone .
Except for actual telephones are involved and everyone is calling each other and hanging up and calling back .
It’s weird .
“ Uhm ,, heya , dad . “
An uncomfortably long pause .
Rocket fidgeted .
“ What ?? Spit it out , I’m busy . “
“ I uhh ,, I’m pretty sure I'm sick — probably not ! It’s probably nothing ! “
Another long silence followed , this time filled with an unspoken mutual understanding .
“ Again ? “ Was all the Rocketeer's caregiver responded with , that gruff monotone voice laying off more than usual , a barely noticeable change but important and significant nonetheless .
Rocket didn’t respond . He really did not want to . He would’ve rather his dad yell at him than go , “ Again ? “ . Swords , it made him feel so pathetic , so small . So meaningless . Like a dog that won’t stop puking on the carpet for fucks sake and no one is scolding it , but is instead giving it pity . No matter how bad that dog feels for doing something out of its control . No one scolds it . But it still feels bad . It still feels like a burden . And no one can really explain why , no one can truly give reason . And to that dog it feels like it is because no one cares about it enough , even though deep down it does know that people care about it , that people want it around . It can’t take that to heart . And it never will be able to . Not now , at least .
“ Yeah . “ Rocket inevitably responds , he doesn’t sound thrilled about it . But he doesn’t sound reluctant . He sounds ,, sad . Matter of fact , he sounds like he might start crying right then and there .
His dad lets out a long sigh from the other side of the phone . Everything feels so still right now . Like time itself has stopped to take a breath , like something or someone is finally able to feel relief . But it isn’t either of them . Whoever has paused time , whoever is able to feel relief is not them .
“ You gonna make it ? “ He couldn’t help but ask , it was a painfully stupid ‘ joke ‘ on the same level of ‘ hey hungry , I’m dad ‘ . And he knew that damn well .
“ Dad ,, “
“ It’s an important question . “
“ Seriously ,, “
“ I am serious . “
Rocket in probably any other situation would’ve laughed at his dads stubbornness on not letting off a joke but right now he really didn’t need it . It just made his clammy skin prick hot underneath . Like a bunch of bugs crawling and squirming underneath his flesh and bones , way too deep to remove or flick off .
The call remained silent for some time , maybe a few seconds , not that they felt like seconds . More like hours . Mundane , grueling hours . The sun had almost fully set at this point , the moon and night hungrily devoured the warm summer glow the sun had left . The soft hum of street lights carried up the surprisingly empty lot , fireflies buzzing as crickets chirped . For a minute there everything seemed alright , everything seemed at ease . Everything was ,, still . Life itself had taken a breather , and you could truly feel it this time . It was nice .
After that pause Zuka spoke once more ,
“ You good , kid ? “
“ Mhm . “ Rocket lied , of course he did . He hadn’t planned on it , not earlier , no . But now ? Yeah , yeah it felt right . He was bothering his dad anyway .
“ Hm , alright . C’ya when I get home . Bye , kid . “
“ Bye . “
Click .
Rocket stood there for a long while , just staring down at the blank , black screen of his phone , looking down at his own reflection . He didn’t look great , that’s for sure . His hair was messy and mildly tangled , his eyes were slightly red and puffy , and most of all , he just looked absolutely exhausted . Awfully so . Internally he didn’t feel much better , same as before , just much worse . He felt like he’d puke . Although he really , really did not want to . That thought did not amuse him in the slightest .
He nearly jumped as Sword set a hand on his shoulder , though the movement was sluggish and not near enough to get a similar reaction out of the red inphernal .
“ You ‘right ? “ The Swordsman asked , tilting his head to the side .
“ Yeah , yeah ,, I’m good . “ The Rocketeer nodded , not helping his dizziness in the slightest .
“ You su– “
“ Yeah . I’m sure . “ Rocket cut him off , walking past him and towards the front of the store , his tail dragging behind him , swaying ever so slightly back and forward , hitting one of the shelves on his way .
Sword quickly gave chase after him (not that it was hard) before falling into slow fall beside him . His wings flapped nervously as he fell into a slow , quiet rhythm next to him . His gloved hands fidgeted as he kept glancing over to Rocket every now and then .
“ Stop looking at me like that ,, “ Rocket mumbled indolently , giving a half - hearted glare up at Sword .
“ Oh ,, right . Sorry . “ Sword stammered , his wings folding inwards as he stared down at his hands .
“ So ,, you drivin’ ? “
“ Huh ? “
Rocket huffed , his tail lashed once before laying back limp .
“ Well , unless you want to stay here ? “
“ Oh ,, gotchu . “
The duo padded down the street for a couple minutes , Sword pausing to glance back and wait for Rocket to catch up every few seconds . Eventually , the pair arrived at Rocket’s car , parked right next to the curb . Sword was the first to climb in , taking the driver's seat as Rocket suggested . The Rocketeer took longer than his companion , drowsily crawling into the passenger seat before leaning his head against the headrest , his tail tightly coiling around his abdomen as he pulled his knees up to his chest . The car started up after Sword took a few glances of Rocket , pulling away from the curb and off into the night - lit streets .