Caught in the act 2
Part 2 of caught in the act. Rocket and Peter have a talk.
Rocket had so many mixed feelings. He felt bad about laying into Peter. He was angry with himself for being so careless and embarrassed that he had been seen like that by the captain of all people. And instead of letting it go like he should have done he had to go and make a scene. He knew he couldn't hide away forever. He would have to face Peter and the others sooner or later. He wasn't sure how much of their fight they had heard. He just hoped they all didn't know about what he had been caught doing. It was embarrassing enough that Peter knew without the rest of them knowing. He decided to go and look for him.
Rocket headed to the main area of the ship but he was not there. So he went to the training area hoping he would be there but there was no sign of him. Where the hell is he, Rocket wondered.
"Feeling better now furry beast?" Rocket turned around and saw Drax.
"I'm fine," he replied.
"What was tantrum about?"
"None of your damn business."
"Calm down furry beast. Don't take your problems out on the rest of us."
"Don't piss me off man."
"Are you going to throw another tantrum?"
Rocket snarled. He could feel the anger returning. "Last goddamn warning."
Peter was in his own room. He knew he had been harsh but he was angry at Rocket for bringing the subject up and not letting it drop. If he had just kept his mouth shut then the whole fight could have been avoided. Things would have been awkward for a while but they would have got over it. A few hours had passed since their fight. He decided to try talking to Rocket again. He heard a voice outside the door. It was Gamora and she sounded urgent.
"Starlord! Are you in there? You need to come quick. Rocket and Drax are fighting."
Peter followed Gamora down to the training area. Rocket was snarling and pointing a gun at Drax.
"Goddamn it Rocket! What now?"
"He called me a frickin' crybaby! He doesn't know what I went through! Nobody does! He's askin' for it!"
Drax just stood there unfazed by the whole situation. "Stop your whining furry baby. You are boring us all."
"Oh that does it! I'm gonna blow your frickin' brains out!"
"Rocket! Put the gun down."
Rocket ignored Peter and kept his eyes on Drax. He squeezed the trigger slightly, his eyes wide and teeth bared. Drax stared back vacantly.
"Rocket!"
Peter's voice brought him to his senses. He looked at Peter then back at Drax.
"Ah fuck you meathead! You're not worth it. I'm outta here." He threw the gun down and stormed off.
Peter shook his head. "You just had to wind him up didn't you?"
Drax just shrugged.
Rocket headed to the main area of the ship. He was angry and he needed to take it out on something. He looked around and saw the captain's chair. He walked over and pounded the chair with his fists until his arms ached. Feeling a little better he sat in his own chair and stared into space. The anger slowly faded leaving him sad again. As soon as we touch down I'm outta here he thought to himself. I don't wanna be here anymore. He heard footsteps behind him and he had a good idea who it was.
"What the hell Rocket?"
"That son of a bitch knows how to get to me."
"And you just had to rise to it didn't you? What were you gonna do huh? Blow his brains out? Blow a hole through my goddamn ship?"
Rocket shrugged and didn't bother replying.
Shouting didn't seem to be getting him anywhere so he decided on a different approach. He sat in his chair and faced Rocket. "Talk to me."
"I am in no mood to talk right now," he growled.
"Look I know you're angry but that doesn't give you the right to point weapons at crew members and threaten to blast them into oblivion. However annoying they may be. So will you please just talk to me?"
Rocket stared at the floor wondering what the hell he was going to say. He was not good at expressing feelings that weren't anger and rage. It was times like this he missed Groot. With Groot he always found the right words. He kept his eyes on the floor as he spoke. "I'm sorry Peter."
Peter's mood softened.
"Yeah I know. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said what I said earlier. You're a good guy. A good friend too."
"Thanks. I appreciate that." He looked up. "About last night. I... I don't do that very often. No really I don't." He could feel his face burning up as he spoke. "I was bored, I couldn't sleep, I had nothing else to do, I...
"Hey It's nothing to be ashamed of buddy. Perfectly natural. I still do it sometimes. It's a great stress reliever. It doesn't beat the real thing though. This one time I...
Rocket raised a paw to silence him. "Alright man, keep that crap to yourself. I got enough mental scars." He sighed. "It's not just that. It gets lonely here. I still miss Groot. I know I have you guys but it was different with him. We had a connection. We understood each other."
"Yeah I know buddy. But you'll always have us. I know I give you a hard time sometimes but I couldn't do this without you. You're part of the team. Part of the family."
"Thanks Peter. That means a lot."
"Don't mention it. You need to save all that anger for when it's really needed. I have a feeling we'll be saving the galaxy again soon. Which means we all need to stay focused. So you need to get your ass down there with the others and train okay?"
"You got it captain."
Peter did his best impression of Drax. "Are we okay now furry beast?"
Rocket smiled. He felt a lot better now. "Yeah. Yeah we're fine. Starlord."