It was just another day in the galaxy within the early hours of morning. Now of course there wasn’t a normal cycle like you’d expect but there was a schedule everyone would try to fix themselves to for the coming days, some of the crew aboard the Quadrant still asleep in the wee hours of waking up early at seven’ in the morning.
As his normal routine schedule played out Rocket would always get another hour or so of shut eye after his partner would be up and about for the day ahead, usually attracted out of his makeshift blanket fort in the bed shared by two by the smells of pancakes and other scrumptious delicacies he’d never known before joining the Guardians.
For years alone with Groot trying to make ends meet as a bounty hunter, the raccoon would always be living off protein bars. They were easy to transport when living on the run and didn’t break his bank since his other option was rummaging through the trash for scraps.
They didn’t taste great but he managed and didn’t care, they were all he knew of when it came to feeding himself. These days he couldn’t stomach them since the bars tasted like cardboard compared to the simple pleasures he’d indulge in almost every morning, guess you could say he was pretty happy and easy to please.
The raccoon was curled up in the bed, always shifting his body into this little ball under the beige covers with nothing but his nose sticking outside to be seen. He would always shift his sleeping position throughout the night with the warm inviting body beside him, sometimes clung to it like a child to their favorite stuffed animal during the late hours but his favorite pose was to be held by those arms from his lover.
For the most part he still hated being touched, prodded, or anything else involving his personal space but he was better about affection from others after he learned it didn’t have to be bad.
One night during their first week sleeping together Quill absently while dreaming wrapped his arm around the raccoon. Rocket’s first instinct was danger, his small body tensing and the rational side of his mind telling him he needed to get out of there.
His tired copper-colored eyes darted around the dark bedroom nestled under the blankets and like a deer in headlights, he was completely frozen in place and unsure of what to do right there.
He’s never done anything to hurt me, so why am I afraid?
If I wanted him to stop I could just say so right?
Rocket had never been given a single reason to be scared of the Star-Lord in their history together. Your average betting man would’ve known if he didn’t like what was being done right here, being cuddled with a loose arm, he could’ve easily gotten away from it and left everything there where it stood.
But he didn’t, he liked it that way...
That night he learned two important things, the first one was that being touched and comforted like this was something he secretly always wanted but never knew how to ask for.
Secondly if this was going to become a routine thing for them, Peter needed to get himself some better soap or Rocket was going to take over the bedroom and kick him out into the hallway.
Rocket’s nose twitched under the thick covers when he woke up to the familiar scents of pancakes being served with his favorite marmalade, yawning with a high drag and crawling out from the sloppy mess of the large bed and onto the floor.
His feet clicked across the metal floor, the raccoon wearing some casual cloths consisting of a grey shirt and black shorts he had tossed on when entering the hallway being further drawn in by the scents of pancakes and other side dishes to come.
When rounding the corner into the common room he heard a couple mixed laughs among the crew talking amongst themselves, still not having noticed him walking in yet until he yawned again catching the attention of them all with his presence. Everyone aside from Gamora and Kraglin were there for breakfast, the other two off still in slumber for the early morning today.
“Morning, Rock’.” A voice greeted him from the room’s worn out couch, the body laying on it with a single knuckle resting under his chin watching everyone go about their business and occasionally throwing in a few chats with them.
Rocket tensed up from hearing the voice, part of him wishing he was still waking up and misheard it coming from within his reach. The first thing to catch his eye after noticing Quill over in the ship’s kitchen still in his blue pajamas and preparing a delicious banquet for the group was their guest sprawled out like a stereotypical feline would be sitting here among the group.
Rocket turned his head to where it came from and sure enough the guy was still here today, his face tensing up slightly. “Go home Taiko…”
“Rocket?” Peter voiced over to him from the stovetop, the man’s informal tone sounding almost parental telling him to behave.
“Well good morning to you too, grouchy head.” Their feline guest peeped back to the raccoon, sounding even more enthused if his grinning face wasn’t already a give away.
In a short answer Taiko was a humanoid cat and a guest staying with the Guardians for the time being, the black and white spotted feline had a similar skeletal structure to Rocket’s but weirdly enough without the need for cybernetics or any other enhancements.
His overall character was much more upbeat compared to the ringtail he’d often playfully tease when around him noting here that in some instances Taiko was a polar opposite with his behavior.
Rocket paused where he stood before he spoke up lowly to the cat idly staring back at him. “Look, about last night-“
“Last night? Last night was a blast…” The cat replied back to him, those eyes watching Drax as the muscular man walked back into the room not paying much attention to their conversation.
Rocket was cautious with his words mentioning the discreet topic he was talking about since nobody besides his fiance knew about their new trials as a couple, having an undisclosed third partner in the action as something they both agreed to have for the week.
That image of them all was the last thing he wanted any of their friends knowing was going on aboard the ship beyond the next room.
It was Quill’s idea first and foremost and it all was about trying new things to keep his and Rocket’s relationship together exciting, though maybe having a threesome with another guy in the basket was a mistake looking back but there was a first for everything with him.
“Yeah, ya’ can knock it with the jokes…” The groggy ringtail turned away still unsure of the whole thing. Anytime you introduce someone new into the fold there’s bound to be questions asked, many of them that couldn’t be answered without spilling the whole picture to everyone.
Rocket climbed up the steel counter and reached up to one of the cabinets containing his fruit spread, standing on his toes to grab the circular glass jar containing the marmalade and trotting back over to the table already set up.
He never asked for help with anything because yes almost everything in the ship wasn’t accustomed for his stature but he still held quite the ego when it came down to what he was physically capable of doing.
Unless on rare instances like when he was injured, Rocket would often feel insulted if something out of his reach was handed to him as if he couldn’t retrieve it himself without assistance. Instead Peter among some of the others in the group would leave things within his reach, which he always appreciated of them.
“Coming in hot, who’s hungry?” Peter announced putting dishes down for every seat at the table, a couple stacks of flapjacks on each plate with a side of vyloo eggs, which the man claimed had a sweet aftertaste compared to what he grew up on at home with but nobody else would’ve known to compare.
Everyone was busy eating and casually chatting while Rocket was fiddling with his marmalade jar, trying to get the damn thing open after he could’ve sworn it’d been popped already.
“Ok ok- I’ve got a good one for you.” Peter took a drink of his coffee, trying to recall the events of last night when him and Rocket were having their usual date of shared drinks. “So we went out last night and Rocket over there tries to wave down the tender to get our drinks. Only thing was that the guy serving everyone was this old guy, grey haired and wearing an eyepatch over his left side and he didn’t hear us so we were getting tired of waiting around…”
The small crowd at the table were listening onto the words while Rocket still continued to struggle with the tightly sealed jar, cursing the item a few times as the man went on with the joke.
“So anyway, Rocket climbed on the countertop after that and yelled at the server from the top of his lungs…‘ay’ does a guy gotta wait till’ his friggin’ bar mitzvah to get a drink around here?”
Peter took another bite of the flapjacks, thinking he’d done a pretty good job on them today. “After that the bartender looked over at him from across the room and with the most serious face I’ve ever seen, asked Rocket how old he was.”
“I loved that story very much.” Mantis chirped, though it was questionable if she understood everything. She wasn’t dumb, quite intelligent for sure but there were certainly things that’d fly right over her head at times.
“Good joke, Quill.” Rocket muttered sarcastically while everyone else laughed off the story, it sounded like something that would’ve happened. “Guy was being a real dick holding back like he did.”
“I still thought it was funny how he backhanded you like that.” Peter laughed thinking about it. In all seriousness he wanted to believe the elderly man serving them their drinks was that slick, maybe he wasn’t but it was funny to think so.
“I did not know you were one of holding beliefs such as that.” Drax stated when he looked down at his furred companion in the seat next to him at the table. “I am interested in knowing more…”
“I don’t have any beliefs ok?!” Rocket retorted to the comment.
“Hey if he does it’s fine.” Taiko had to give his two cents across the table finishing a glass of milk, knowing already Rocket wasn’t into that stuff or believed in it but he liked teasing him nonetheless. “We can have a party right here, though we might be a little old for that sort of thing yeah?”
“Can you people just shut up?! I haven’t even had my coffee yet and everyone’s on my ass already.” Rocket pointed his ears back to all of them ganging up on him.
Drax looked down at the jar, the raccoon still fiddling with it. “I think our friend here is feeling insecure…”
“Drax you’re going to feeling something too if ya’ don’t shut that trap of yours on the topic, I ain’t like that.” Rocket argued back to which the muscular brute didn’t answer and continued staring at the glass.
“Do you require assistance opening that?”
“No Drax I don’t, I can open my own jar of fruit so thanks.” Rocket didn’t look him in the eyes telling him so, he’d never had this much trouble opening it before. It was as if someone deliberately tampered with it beforehand without his knowledge.
“Got it!!” The raccoon exclaimed when the jar clicked and he was finally able to slide it open, hoping to get some food in him. His excitement was short lived however, the mashed fruity contents bubbling up from the exposed air within a matter of seconds.
“What the-“ He slowly gawked peering into the container when the homemade concoction overlapped and exploded in his face with all the sticky and sweet residue.
“What the flarg’ was in that?!” He hollered aloud at everyone, hearing someone giggle while he was trying to wipe the sticky residue off himself to little avail with his hands.
“Got you again Rocky’, that’s two in a row.” Peter told him, unable to hold back his laughter any longer from being known as the one responsible for this.
“I’m going to kill you Pete, you know how hard it is to get this stuff out of ma’ fur?! Thought that was a ground rule?”
“I thought we agreed that rule wasn’t in play anymore.” Peter grinned widely leaning back in his seat, taking another tally for himself.
This little game between the couple was an ongoing thing and it came to the point these days it was like a competition between teenagers, seeing who could prank the other the most and there never was a truce because the moment it’d be called someone who hit the other again.
The only rules of the prank war were that you couldn’t physically hurt the other or at least not too bad, tamper with that person’s gear on a job since it could very well end badly for them and finally there was always a grace period during mealtimes for them both.
Simple enough rules to follow but it seemed the Star-Lord had either forgotten or disregarded that last one when compromising the raccoon’s fruit preserves right here.
“You’re an asshole.” Rocket told the man, his brows lowered and expression seethed when hopping out of his chair at the table, the raccoon stalking his way into the cockpit.
“Ah come on, it wasn’t that bad….Rocket-“
“I can’t hear ya’ I’m already gone, enjoy staring at my backside.” Rocket hollered aloud climbing up the stairs into the helm. “Hope ya’ll enjoy the rest of breakfast.”
“Rocket- “ The metal door into the cockpit slid shut leaving them out as Peter tried to talk to him, knowing if it was a real hinged door it would’ve been slammed for them all to hear downstairs.
“Shit…” Peter breathed with a sigh, looking at everyone’s reactions around the table. “Was it really that bad?”
“I Am Groot.” The teenage tree shrugged at him, still not understood by the bunch around him but his body language was uncertain.
“I believe you gave the mammal a false hope…” Drax noted from his table, having already finished his food before everyone else had.
Peter cocked his head at the brute’s words. “What’s that supposed to mean, you saying I did something wrong?”
“Yes.” Drax told him as bluntly as he always would, looking up at the man resting his palms on the table. “In this game you both play, there are rules and from I have learned watching this so called game is you broke one of those rules here at our meal here.”
“On my planet, we would hold ceremonies for the coming of age for our children to be tested in ritual combat, to know who’d eventually become the next Destroyer. It was seen as disgraceful to attack an opponent after the fight was over, when that person had lost.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” Peter lowered his head at the table before lifting back up to the face the brute. “He’s done way worse to me with his schemes right?”
“I mean- I’ve only known you folks for a month but isn’t the point of the game to do exactly just that?” Taiko concerned with a raised fork making his point, a mouthful of spongy hotcake gargling his speech.
“May I ask who this other mammal is again, he is shaped like our furred friend but is different...” Drax leaned across the table, his arms crossed when the cat’s emerald colored eyes darted up to the brute’s nose hovering over him from his plate. “He smells different too.”
“Please don’t do that-“ Taiko paused looking up at the brute.
“He’s an exchange student Drax.” Peter couldn’t believe that was the first thing he thought of, it sounded so stereotypical to say but maybe Drax wouldn’t understand and thus wouldn’t question it. ”The guy’s been tagging around with us to get some experience from the best advisers those people can give him.”
“Very well…” Drax sat back down in his seat, the man breathing a sigh after feeling like he dodged a bullet with nobody still knowing. “I do not know what he expects to learn from you though?”
“I’ve been learning plenty, from him and Rocket.” Taiko chucked finishing up his plate and pushing it to the side.
“Yeah…” Peter mumbled looking not talking much either, partly because he did feel like he went a little overboard in that Rocket didn’t even get to eat before storming off in a heap.
“Hey Taiko?” Peter called out to the cat about to stroll off from the table with an outreached hand. “You mind talking to Rocket, maybe get him to come down and eat something?”
“Yeah sure thing.” Taiko replied turning on his heel and walking the short distance up the stairs into the cockpit.
“Asshole…” Rocket was in his pilot’s seat looking over the galaxy, his orange ball in hand and tossing in against the ship’s windshield.
cur-clink
cur-clink
He was beyond pissed, still pissed at Quill for being the stupid idiot he was sometimes just like when they met back all those nights ago.
I mean- I know I’m crazy but he’s supposed to be better then that.
I’m so friggin’ hungry right now, damn it Quill.
His tension on the stress ball tightened, a few holes from his claws in the worn-out object he’d been given for these situations chucking it off the glass for his waiting hand to catch again.
cur-clink
cur-clink
Before he could toss the ball again his ears perked to the sound of someone knocking on the locked door from behind, the raccoon leaning his head past his seat to the noise and clicking his teeth.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, I wanted to talk to you.” Taiko stared at the metal wall for a few seconds, fingers crossed that Rocket liked him enough in their short time together to even let him through the doorway. Couldn't exactly have an entire conversation through a doorway.
The locked door buzzed and swooshed open, the cat quickly making his way inside when it closed behind him. He noticed Rocket was down the few steps leading to the helm in his usual seat, the chair swiveling to meet Taiko's stare.
“Let me guess, you’re supposed to be the negotiation party that wants me back down there?” Rocket looked at him as the cat walked up beside him in the quiet cockpit.
“I just wanted to check in, that’s all.” He meant it staring out the window with the ringtail but wondered if Rocket would believe it.
“Don’t you have somewhere else to go?” Rocket questioned him with a raised eyebrow, the cat turning his own head to his attention. “Or are you just out of the bag and into the bunch with the rest of us?”
“Well my ship still isn’t fixed.” Taiko replied, leaning an arm on the pilot’s seat. “I’ve been trying to see about that.”
“Don’t tell me that’s the excuse ur’ going with right?” Rocket cracked a smile at him, catching that there wasn’t much truth in it. “I could’ve fixed it right up and sent your hide off and away from here.”
His dimple grew further into a smirk looking at the cat leaning over him on the chair. “Don’t tell me you stick around and put up with all this just to check in on little ol’ me up here all day?”
“Ah come on…” Taiko nudged him playfully with a small jab. “yeah I like everyone else but I’ve got favorites, those I like more then others around here too.”
“You know what?” Rocket reached under the ship's dashboard for a brown box containing his usual bunch of trinkets and gadgets he’d mess with when up here for long periods of time. “Since you want ta’ stick around so badly, maybe it’s about time you help me out with something on Quill.”
“Ok…what do you need?” From the look on Rocket’s cunning face and the atmosphere of the room, the cat couldn’t help but be hesitant since he didn’t know what he was agreeing to here with the raccoon.
“Someone here tainted my shampoo, shouldn’t need to remind you what I looked like when you came here.” He didn’t want to go in detail on that when meeting Taiko for the first time, the conversation turning into one of those awkward introductions where the infuriated pink trash panda was scrubbing for days after his shampoo was filled with pink hair dye as a prank.
“Anyway, I don’t got any doubt it was Quill, guy couldn’t keep from snickering whenever my back was to him so I thought I’d do the same.” He pulled a small homemade device wrapped in black tape that could be hidden in the palm of his hand, giving it to Taiko to take.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Taiko curiously looked over the crude device. Whatever it was, it didn’t look very impressive compared to everything else he’d seen made by the raccoon’s hands.
There was a short black fuse tied in and it smelled of fresh gunpowder, it’s appearance looking more like a small makeshift firecracker if he knew any better.
“That’s a dye bomb.” Rocket said, still holding the orange ball in his lap. “Never made one before but thought it’d be kind of funny ya’ know, for what I’ve got planned for him.”
“So…what do you want me to do with this?”
“How about you shove it up somewhere for starters for asking that.” Rocket swished his mouth and his ear twitched for a moment. “Next time he’s in the bathroom, go ahead and toss that thing in there with him in there. Think it’s about time he gets his fair share of color, idiot should be grateful I didn’t choose a worse color then pink.”
Taiko nodded in response. “You share what you get right?”
“Dang right I do.” Rocket replied, sounding enthused with this plan of his he had put together over the last couple days. “It’s part of eh- what’s that thing called again? Personal growth yeah, that’s it!!"
“Ok I’ll do it on one condition.” Taiko couldn’t help but have this idea of why the raccoon had these type products around the ship it wasn’t for him personally to use. “If you tell me why someone like you would have hair products and dye just sitting around here.”
Rocket stared blankly at the cat for his words. “Dun’ know what you’re implying, I just told you it’s for-“
“You know what I’m talking about Rocket, the ride might be cheap with me for but it’s not free and you know that.” He hoped bartering like this would get an answer either it be with booze, a favor, or anything else he learned was the only way to get a confession from the raccoon.
Rocket growled lowly before lowering himself in the seat. “Fine, I was thinking of dying my tail purple a while back, is that what you wanted ta’ hear from me? Now get out of here…”
“That’s rich.” Taiko laughed it up, not in a mocking manner but he couldn’t imagine getting himself dyed ever crossed Rocket’s mind. It sounded so offbeat for someone of his character to care much about his appearance. “You should let me do it sometime, I’ve done it to myself before so you’d get a good job back there.”
“You ain’t gonna be doing much of nothin’ if you don’t get out of here and handle that thing first.” Rocket tried to sound threatening but it fell on deaf ears to the humored cat, nothing but hot air coming from the raccoon's muzzle.
Taiko chuckled at him, Rocket and Quill were certainly one of the craziest and dysfunctional couples he’d ever seen but it was sweet how those two guys would reconcile over these pranks. Sibling style rivalry between lovers at its very finest.
“Anyway imma’ go take a shower in the meantime, I feel gamey right now and it’s making me sick.” The raccoon huffed from his slouched position in the seat, picking a piece of black hair off himself.
“So I guess I’ll get to it…” Taiko tossed the device in the air, catching it back in his palm when leaving the cockpit before turning back. “Hey I’ve been meaning to ask you where you get those awesome jumpsuits made, do you have a personal tailor for those things or what?”
“Why do you ask?”
“No particular reason, just when I tried it on last night I loved how it felt on me.” He grinned widely when Rocket crooked his head over the chair, his face frozen there. “I might get one for myself in green.”
“You tried on my suit?!”
“Yep and I’ve got to say, I think I wear it better then you do.” Taiko winked at him flirtatiously and strolled out of there before the other could properly respond to his comment.
So while Rocket was off washing himself down Taiko was tasked with delivering the package to its rightful place but needed to wait until it was a good time. The calico cat decided to go back to go back to his earlier place on the common room’s couch and wait, lazily sprawled and looking over a few things on his own holo-tablet.
He was wondering why Rocket didn’t just go ahead and do this himself but the truth he didn’t need too and he wanted to see if Taiko would actually go through with this request of his.
It wasn’t too long before he was approached by the Star-Lord strolling through the ship, his face looking rather mixed of guilt.
“Hey Taiko…” Peter gestured with a waved hand when walking by, the man kneeling down to speak to at the cat’s level. “How’d your talk with Rocket go up there?”
“It went fine, a bit crabby but yeah.” Taiko said passively. He didn’t want it sounding like things went exceptionally well or anything, even that was in question still but he didn’t want to ramble too much out of fear of what he might say here.
Peter nodded. “That’s good. So where’d he head off too, I went into the cockpit earlier and he wasn’t in there anymore.”
“Think he said he was going to take a shower or something, maybe that’ll help him cool off from happened…”
“Yeah.” Peter rubbed a hand over his chin with a drag. “Can’t help but feel like I was a bit of a dick back there right, like more than twelve’ percent and the usual bit.”
“It happens and yeah you were kind of a dick to him.” Taiko typed in a few things on the tablet and scrolled across a few pictures. “He’ll be fine though, just needs to chill in his own time."
“Well when you see him again can you let him know I wanted to talk? Maybe I need to make him something to eat since that’s my fault too...”
“Yeah sure, I’ll tell him…” Taiko perked to which Peter smiled and walked off to his own things again to attend too, the cat watching his backside like a hawk with those green eyes from afar.
Meanwhile away in the captain’s room away from everyone, Rocket was showering and getting all the sticky jam and grime of yesterday and today out of his fur under the steamy water, reaching for his usual shampoo and lathering it everywhere he could reach.
He hoped nobody could hear him through the thick walls when singing along to an old tune he had heard before once, a timeless classic he had fallen for and would've argued he had the swagger to pull off if he wanted too.
Part of his mind, the really cynical part that is, was snickering at whatever awaited his partner when he’d be finishing up here. Somewhere deep down he felt kind of bad about doing this because it was that the cute kind of romance with them where’d he’d sometimes do something outlandish and act like he didn’t care if it hurt them when that couldn’t been have been further from the truth.
He trusted Taiko, well as much as anyone you’d trust enough bedding together with someone else but it went further than just that, it was always going to be awkward because his commitment wasn’t to this new guy and it was repressing when they were alone.
Still when thinking about it, maybe when everything settled and the steamy adventures under the stars shared by three came to an end whether it be sooner or later, there’d still be a place for Taiko around here.
It didn’t mean they’d stop being a thing but just maybe something a bit more of themselves from here on out, their own special thing that didn’t have to result in just being here for each other’s pleasure and company.
It was complicated when he rested his head under the rushing water, letting it drown him out into his thoughts. They’d taken in so many people over the past and came across many more in their adventures of helping those abroad and far, most coming and going without a second glance but something stuck out with that black feline back there.
It’s something Rocket never believed he’d be having to think about, something with how this tugged at his heart in a way that was sweet and endearing to have around. It wasn’t even about sexual tension, just how he felt here about going forward.
I still can’t believe that hairball’ was in my clothes.
Can feel myself choking on his hair here!!
Eventually the man did come back into the hallways, his footsteps heard across the grated floor as the cat listened with a raised ear to a metal door being opened and closed again when captain entered it.
Being very subtle, he crawled off the couch and slinked to the corner of the room that lead into the ships corridor and sure enough, he was in the bathroom and right where this needed to take place.
“Ok well here goes nothing…” Taiko breathed seeing there was nobody around to see what he was doing when, striking the small fuse and opening the bathroom door just enough to chuck the explosive into the room with the man sitting on the toilet.
“Hey Taiko.” Rocket came down the hallway with a white towel wrapped around his waist, his fur still damp and spiked in places on his head with water from his shower.“You get that thing taken care of we talked about?”
“Just one second alright…” Taiko raised his hand to the raccoon.
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One…”
With that the tiny explosive went off, covering the entire bathroom and the Star-Lord in a flurry of bright pink dye that’s be in his hair for the weeks to come.
“OH MY GOD- WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS CRAP?!”
“ROCKET!!”
“And see…” Rocket grinned holding back his laughter, leaning over Taiko’s shoulder and whispering into his ear. “that’s why I like ya’.”