Rocket Raccoon Comforted III
#12 of Bits and Pieces
David looks after two now.
Through the miracle of the Forge, she had been restored to life. She'd met her raccoon's human and Rocket had tried to explain the relationship they had; Lylla thought she understood it - the strange, non-sexual, yet incredibly intimate form of love that David and Rocket shared - and yet she sort of didn't. This odd agape - universal love - was strange... but it was definitely good for her raccoon! Rocket was, well, nicer than he used to be; he was less angry, his wit and snark less harsh and biting; and he was open to being petted, touched, picked up, hugged--and he shared this all freely with her, his beloved otter, most often during the downtime between missions, when they rested with their human, little heads on his chest as he stroked their headfur, then down their backs (and, oh sky, the human's touch was bliss...!).
The human, David, in his role as Butler-Bodyguard, served both of the uplifted animals, now. Rocket had shown Lylla his Office - where he kept a small Library, and Workbench with tools all neatly organized to assist Rocket in his duties - along with his weapons; a small, silenced pistol and rapier with monomolecular edge. Most notable and fascinating to Lylla was the Butler Book that the human kept. At first, Lylla had frowned at her raccoon when Rocket had tried to explain; then he'd gently lifted the Book from the Office and had let her see inside as their human had sat with them. The Butler Book contained a wealth of knowledge and information, though nothing intimate or compromising, which made the female Otter sigh with relief; David served his Principals well indeed!
What was in the book, however, was incredible. Lylla beheld Crew Dossiers on all the Guardians that listed their favourite foods, drinks, entertainment, clothing styles they liked to wear. There were crew schedules, copious notes on the day-to-day operations of the Milano; detailed inventory lists for everything she could think of, lists of immediate repairs to be conducted on the ship in the event of attacks or accident, parts needed for said repairs, where they might be found and the unit cost to buy, or - if no inventory was available - how to jury-rig and effect temporary repairs. Notes on their enemies, in particular the High Asshole, the Otter shivering at how accurate much of their human's guesswork was regarding the man. When Rocket had shown her the artwork and doodles drawn by their human, the overwhelmed otter had had to supress a squeal at her and Rocket wearing the Iron Man and War Machine Armor whilst Rocket giggled with glee!
The section on her in the Book was scant, but growing day by day; her favourite foods, drinks, entertainment, jotted notes on medical issues that could occur, how best to wash, groom, and pet her into bliss. Then there were the utterly haunting sketches, the cutaway anatomical works, the theories on how and why she had been made, inventory of her cybernetic parts, and even more. Much of the artwork had made the otter laugh, and yet one powerful image had made her sob gently against her beloved's side. The drawing was of Her, Rocket, Teefs, and Floor; they all were physically dead, yet their spirits were made of stars, and they were united together as they soared through the forever sky... "The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff. May you fly forever, free, through the sea of stars." Now both Lylla and Rocket were in tears as their human petted and stroked their heads, and down their backs.
Their human was odd. David wasn't clingy or hovering when he served them; on the contrary, he was discrete and efficient; in the background such that the other Guardians started to think he was part of the works of the Milano--but he always seemed to be there with impeccable timing. Whenever Rocket or Lylla needed something, be it food, drink, a tool, assistance with anything, or... just when they wanted to talk, their human was there. What David and Rocket had together... it didn't get in the way of their relationship; in fact, David added to it, the human doing everything he could to softly, gently, discreetly encourage romance between her and Rocket; that private time between her and her beloved raccoon was private, and they were undisturbed. And yet... David adored her and she grew to love the human, too, along with her beloved raccoon.
When she'd tried to work it all out in her head and had talked softly to Rocket whilst they all lay together in bed - their heads on David's chest, covered by the duvet as he petted and stroked them both - Rocket had smiled, and replied, "That's what my humie does, Lady. He... he fills the gaps you didn't know you had in ya, ones beyond you and me. Makes ya... more." And then Lylla's thoughts had become a jumbled mess as David had softly petted and stroked their furred bodies into sleep. As far as Lylla was aware, their human was just that - an ordinary Terran human from Earth, albeit trained as a Butler-Bodyguard - and yet... his Butler Book seemed to have things in it that were written ahead; as if he could predict the future; potential upcoming repairs, ship parts and tools to purchase, potential future enemies they might face--as if he could see far ahead of where they currently were! Her raccoon, however, snorted and brushed off talk of potential clairvoyance immediately.
"Dat's his job, Princess", Rocket said. "It's his work as a Butler; he has to try and anticipate what we might need at any time, so of course the Book's got stuff on potential future scenarios, enemies, plans, missions..." It put her mind at ease. David was usually discrete... but when he needed to intervene and come out of the background, he could be terribly intimidating! Lylla grinned as she remembered when her beloved had sassed a high-ranking Nova Corps member - said Nova Corps member had made to strike her beloved Rocket - and then their human in his sharp black suit had smoothly stepped between the two, black silenced pistol drawn and pointed at the Corpsman's forehead, right between his eyes.
The look in their human's eyes had been that of a stone-cold monster, as if the Nova Corpsman were nothing more than an insect to be crushed; the Nova Corps thug had backed the hell off! There'd also been that mission where - between himself and Mantis - they'd roughed and dirtied up his fur, had used incredible makeup and effect, to make it look like Rocket had been seriously roughed up before being captured, in order to infiltrate a prison to get intel about a bounty. The mission after that had gone off without fail; hugging the stuffing out of their human outright nuzzling him over and over and over, Rocket had half-sobbed, and half-screamed with sheer glee as the units - so many units! - had filled their bank accounts for months when the murdering bastard had been dragged off by Nova Corps!