Wow! So, I've already seen Guardians of the Galaxy twice, and it was totally amazing. I loved it! And then my sister, I'vebeenLOKI'Dyetagain, challenged me to write a one shot for it, so here it is.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. I won't even try to own them because they are so awesome.

Rocket was used to stares. He got them all the time and usually shrugged them off or, if the starer was particularly annoying, growled at the offender. Somehow, though, he figured that growling wouldn't be enough to deter Drax the Destroyer, who watched him with an unreadable expression.

So he ignored it. He worked on another gun, deftly connected wires and scraps, and pretended his fur wasn't on end. Finally, though, he snapped.

"Would you stop staring at me?!" he demanded, whirling around and hissing angrily, teeth bared. Drax shifted his eyes away to some nondescript point. "Thank you." Rocket went back to his work.

Hardly a minute later, he felt the stare again. "Okay, enough of this!" he said, grabbing his gun and stalking to the other side of the room, where he plopped down and picked up where he left off. The stare followed him.

"Man, what is your problem?!" Rocket demanded, dropping all pretenses of being busy. "Knock it off already!"

"...Your ears are soft," Drax said at last. "I would like to pet them again. May I?"

Rocket blinked. "Why the hell would you wanna pet my ears?"

"Please?"

Rocket blinked again. "...Fine," he agreed, "but you better not mess up my work."

Drax nodded and walked over to him, crouching down with his hand raised hesitantly. Rocket picked up his gun again, but his muscles were tight and his tail stiff. After a moment, the hand descended lightly and pet his head. The touch was soothing, and Rocket relaxed almost against his will. The gun dropped back to the ground and he stared at his paws, just feeling the repetitive, hypnotizing strokes.

"Hey, Drax and Rocket, I—" Peter started as he entered the room, cutting himself off at the scene before him. "Whoa, is everything okay?"

"His ears are the softest things I have ever felt," Drax marveled aloud. He continued petting.

Peter stared. "Wow. Okay. Rocket's letting you pet him?"

Drax didn't answer, only kept stroking. Peter hesitantly edged his way over to them, giving in to his curiosity, and rubbed one of Rocket's furry ears. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "They really are super soft!"

Rocket seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had been in. "What, you too?!" he asked, crossing his arms and huffing. "This is embarrassing." But he didn't move away.

A few moments later, Gamora also descended into the room. "Quill, what's taking you so long?" she asked, then stopped. "...What are you doing?"

"They're being idiots," Rocket grumbled.

"Come pet his ears," Peter said, "they're really soft!"

Gamora joined them next to the raccoon and touched the ear that Peter wasn't rubbing. Her eyes widened and she continued to pet it.

"You're an idiot too," Rocket told her.

She shushed him by running her hands on the tufts of his cheeks. "Oh, great," he groaned. "First the ears, now my whole face?!"

"I am Groot!"

They turned to see Groot, a little smaller than Rocket himself, lowering himself down the ladder on newly regrown legs. Once he was on the ground, he walked over to them and started scratching Rocket's chin.

"Aargh!" Rocket said, frustrated. "You too, Groot?! What is with you people?! You're all crazy!" He tried to get up, but found that he couldn't move. "Lemme go!"

"This makes me feel happy," Drax observed. He hadn't broken his rhythmic stroking of Rocket's head.

Rocket growled halfheartedly and snapped at Gamora's fingers. "Stupid. You're all stupid."

"Soft..." Peter said.

That scene towards the end when Drax pet Rocket's head was my inspiration, pretty obviously. And Rocket's so fun to write! :)