got a problem?

          INSTANTANEOUSLY, the raccoon’s lip curls upward in mild DISGUST at peter’s explanation. three million ? that was just so.. UNNECESSARY. he extends a paw expectantly, claws flexing with palm turned upwards, 

               “ i mean, if you ain’t gonna USE it ------ ”

     ❝ HOW WAS YOUR TRIP WITH THOR ? ❞ she always wondered how the two was doing while they were separated. the battle with thanons on titan was… well, it was interesting. she wondered how it would have gone if rocket was there. maybe they might have had a chance ? especially if thor was there.

    ❝ you must share your stories sometime ! ❞

                     ►► @subj89p13​ / sc

          he’s JUST about to strap in to the pilot’s seat of the benatar, making sure the controls are within paw’s REACH, when he nearly JUMPS at the sound of mantis’ voice. he hated it. not her voice. well, maybe a LITTLE. but he hated not expecting her to BE THERE. not being used to ANY of them being on board anymore. not anticipating the sound of his family BICKERING in the background. lip curls upwards in a MASK of annoyance, yanking the controls a little closer.

               “ y’know ---- you’re LUCKY we didn’t take off, yet! ” 

          it’s HALF a snarl of exposed teeth, looking over his shoulder at the empath with BRISTLING fur. but, just as QUICKLY as anger surfaces, it washes away, tension RELEASING as he turns forward again. what was the POINT of keeping them at arm’s length. that purple PSYCHOPATH was done, dealt with. it wasn’t POSSIBLE for him to come back and snatch them all away again. maybe the WOUND was just too fresh, even after FIVE LONG YEARS.

               “ ------ i’ve seen it before, happens all the time. ” 

|| starter for @subj89p13

★        ❝ You said you can make explosives that can DESTROY moons? How in this Galaxy did you learn how to make things like that? ❞

         the TRUTH is much more inconvenient than he’d like to admit. his intelligence, after all was not quite a GIFT as some might assume. it was an INFLICTION, the result of years of FINE-TUNING his genetics in the interest of the greater good, of EVOLUTION.

                 FOR   ONE   HEARTBREAKING   MOMENT   ,   PETER   THOUGHT    rocket might deny him. he nearly expected it ————- rocket’s exterior was FORGED by steel, his anger a shield in which he never lowered. peter could not even begin to imagine what rocket had gone through, while the entirety of his family had been turned to naught but blood & dust. peter firmly believed that rocket was the one who drew the short end of the stick, for while peter was living a fantasy life with his TERRAN mother, rocket had been so utterly alone … 

                       ———————————————————- and then rocket SURPRISED him.

   rocket relented and peter was so shocked it took him a moment to REACT, his fingers drawing to pull rocket closer. this is the FIRST time they had had any sort of physical interaction, and peter’s eyes SQUEEZED shut and for the first time in FIVE years, he finally allowed himself to breathe. a small chuckle breached parted lips, for it hadn’t even been two seconds before rocket had RUINED the moment.

                      ❛  don’t worry —– jeez. I won’t tell anyone.  ❜ he was so full of shit, but did ROCKET need to know that? no. he just knew that he now had the GREATEST blackmail in the history of blackmails to use to his advantage, and that realization in and within itself brought a GRIN to peter’s lips. his relief was so immense he found himself collapsing slightly into rocket, a soft sigh escaping his lips.

        ❛   just SHUT UP and enjoy the moment will you? —————- i’m sorry, man. ❜ i’m sorry for leaving.  

          it’s only a few SECONDS before contact becomes unbearable, before his own paranoid self-loathing wins out over relief. he wasn’t allowed to have things like this. like a restrained animal, he SCRAMBLES out from peter’s arms in time with the other’s apology, dignifying himself and straightening out still damp tunic, crimson scarf feeling suddenly tight around his neck. too much, too soon ---- a THOUSAND thoughts were rattling around his skull, buzzing under his fur. he needed to find GROOT, get his paws on drax, the chick with the antenna, figure out if GAMORA had even....  nose wrinkles at the thought, irritation bristling, the mask of detachment falling back into place.

               “ i KNOW where you sleep. just saying. ”

          one more COMPLETELY blatant threat solidifies his persona in place, starting to rifle through scattered bits of shorn metal and other remains of the complex around them. he wasn’t going to get into apologies, even rocket knew how DANGEROUS that road could be. sorry just meant shouldering the blame, and that’d mean there’s blame to shift AROUND. the sad sack that had turned his UNIVERSE to dust was gone, the one responsible for an immeasurable amount of pain not only on the battlefield around them but an entire galaxy of families torn to PIECES. thanos had paid, and rocket still wasn’t totally SATISFIED with his suffering. all too easily, he slips into a familiar SNICKER, an amused exposure of teeth as paws brush dust and dirt off of what LOOKS like a giant metal spider’s leg.

               “ is that ---- were we having a moment ? last MOMENT i saw you have ended up with the DEADLIEST WOMAN IN THE GALAXY introducing your nutsack to her kneecap ! now THAT’S a moment. ”

               “ -------- ? ”

          rocket tilts his head, lip curled back slightly to expose sharpened teeth.

           WEARY   BONES   &   TIRED   EYES   ;   he was swathed in exhaustion and relief, for they had won. thanos was DEFEATED —— those who had been dusted returned. he refused to think of her ( I thought i’d lost you ——————— oh silly boy , you have ), instead focusing on who he had RECLAIMED, and rocket’s words sobered his emotional state, if slightly.  ❛ thanks man. really missed you too.  ❜ but he had, and desperately. despite the aversion, the cool exterior, peter knew rocket had missed him too. still, brow furrowed in defense, his mouth twitching in suppressed emotion. everyone around them was gathering themselves, finding solace in the loved ones they had lost. peter wished nothing more now, than to find his family, his ship, and leave ( but it was not time for that, for they had someone to MOURN first ; their savior forged in iron ). still, his heart weighed HEAVY when he realized he was on earth, and truly on it —– not on one crafted in deceit in the heart of the soul dimension.

             ❛  for once in your life, can you just —– stop being an asshole and tell me you missed me?  ❜ IRE still managed to find a home in his tone, though it was slight, bitten away by peter’s bitter relief. he had not found the other guardians yet, separated by the bloodshed. peter knelt, held his hand out for rocket to shake, asking for little in the art of affection.  ❛  I won’t even tell anyone if you wanna give me a hug. ❜ 

               “YEAH, well -------- ”

          he wants to bite back again, lips curling in a slight sneer, sharpened teeth locked as words fail. why was he DOING this ? had he really learned NOTHING from yondu ---- or maybe he’d learned the wrong thing ? maybe if he keeps pushing people away they’ll still come back to him. quill was breathing PROOF of that ---- the raccoon feels his throat constrict, breath hiccuping in his chest. he lived. he MOVED ON. five years of accepting his only family was GONE, turned to DUST, with no hope of coming back. never mind the nightmares, the ISOLATION, the sleepless nights where claws were poised to rip APART the benatar, and instead threatened to TEAR into fur and flesh. he lived. he SURVIVED. 

          he hadn’t deserved to.

          there is the dull, distant sound of voices, and when rocket finally BLINKS, dark eyes glossy with the threat of TEARS, a harsh inhale wrinkles his muzzle, the back of his wrist smearing escaped SORROW and dirt into his fur. it feels as though if the pilot were to step CLOSER, every reinforced bone in his body would collapse, and he would move no more, too overcome with relief. even despite this, padded feet drag forward, rifle hefted to the side just long enough to take peter’s forearm in his own, clawed grip clinging maybe a little too tightly. TENSION crawls up rocket’s shoulders and neck, strangling his words for an instant, before ears twitch backward and he dives forward, practically headbutting the terran with the ferocity of his brief embrace. 

         ❛   ROCKET   ?    ❜ quiet disbelief laced his tone —– combatant with relief so HARSH against tongue that it nearly took his breath away. it had been so long he had nearly FORGOTTEN. it mattered no longer, what had transpired during his time in the SOUL WORLD —– what he had lost again ( the ghost of his mother’s fingers still brushed his cheeks —— and oh, how he missed her FIERCELY once more ), because his found family had been given back to him, and he felt so grateful he could WEEP.

                                  ❛  —————————————————————-  you’re alive. you’re alright. ❜

// @subj89p13​ liked for a starter. not accepting.

          five years. five years of isolation. abandonment. anger washing over the hurt, pushing it down, because acknowledging that loneliness meant acknowledging the reason, so he worked. he THREW himself into fixing it, because doing nothing would drive him INSANE. well. more insane. and now that the battlefield’s settled, that the dust is drifting off amid the crater of his temporary home, he finally has a moment to set down his gun, to quiet trembling paws. it was OVER. they won. he’d only had the chance to see groot, had clung to him amid the bombardment. if he was back, then ------------

          ears twitch upward as his chest heaves for fresh air, whipping whiskered snout around to find the source of the voice RINGING out over the quiet of the aftermath. the tension in his face disappears, seeing quill staggering forward ---- his hands tense around the grip of his weapon, hefts it up onto his shoulder as ringed tail twitches in restraint. he will not cry. he will NOT cry.