Running

Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football and I make no money from this fanfiction.

He slipped into Rocket's room unannounced, they never make an arrangement, and they never plan these illicit meetings- they definitely aren't marked out in red on any calendar or diary page. They don't talk about it either.

It didn't look like anything was happening at all and D'jok was all about appearances.

Rocket doesn't have to force D'jok to do anything, he comes un-summoned and completely irregularly. Sometimes he doesn't come for weeks at a time; sometimes he's there almost every night.

What D'jok couldn't work out was why Rocket always seemed to be expecting him, why the midfielder never seemed surprised when D'jok turned up in his room at the Academy, or at a hotel, or (in an even riskier move) at the house that he lived in with his parents.

"You're a little late," Rocket often said, raising an eyebrow, sardonically. Sometimes he'd even look down at an imaginary watch on his wrist, shaking his head at D'jok's nonexistent tardiness; one of the many things he had learnt from being King of the Sphere was that sometimes it was worth putting on a good show.

It's not an affair (they are both, technically, single), but it feels like one. Tia's moved on, she was dating Micro-ice of all people, but that's different. It had been Rocket's fault that they had broken up, he'd put her through so much, he'd pushed her away and to the limit. He knew that he deserved to be happy; he wasn't sure that he could say the same thing about himself.

After it became clear that D'jok wasn't going to get Mei back, he'd sworn of girls altogether- not that Rocket was a girl (the idea that he might have wanted to date a boy had never crossed his mind before- he dreamed great destinies up for himself but his vision was surprisingly limited), but what he had meant to say was he was done with relationships.

He liked to think that nothing that Rocket (or anyone) could do to him could ever hurt him the way Mei hurt him.

The first few times they didn't talk afterwards. Wouldn't talk. Couldn't talk.

That wasn't the case now; they tended to talk strategy, putting their heads together to solve any problems the team might be having, arguing about what they thought was best- it was just like any ordinary meeting but for the setting.

They try to keep it strictly business, shop talk, so to speak.

It doesn't always end up that way and in the aftermath of such physical intimacy, D'jok sometimes ends up blurting out things about himself that Rocket really didn't want to know- like the fact that he worries about his adoptive-mother being all alone or the fact of still not being used to having a father after all the years of living without one.

The flare of recognition is so hateful that sometimes Rocket just leaves in the middle of the night, when D'jok is sound asleep and dreaming of all his future successes.

(D'jok always slept well; after all he wasn't guilty of anything too serious beyond having an overinflated sense of self and acting like a jerk because of it. Rocket could hardly say the same- he'd left a wake of carnage behind him when he'd finally come back from the Sphere.)

D'jok was never that surprised to find himself alone in Rocket's bed. Rocket was the boy who ran away, after all, the boy who stumbled into bad situations in his desperation to flee whatever situation was just too difficult to deal with.

D'jok never ran away, he ran towards things, he chased the promise of everything glittering prize- the result was often the same anyway.

He often looked back on how it had all begun- he'd come in anger, ranting about some 'suggestion' that Rocket had made to him in practice, incensed by how Rocket was lording his Captainship over him, by Rocket's smug, self-satisfied attitude.

"It's my job to give you feedback, D'jok," Rocket had said, in a flat, bored tone, as if he'd heard it all before (which of course he had, many times).

"I…you…" D'jok had spluttered, unable to verbalise coherently in the face of such rank arrogance. The frustration had boiled in his blood until it became impossible to suppress any longer.

On impulse and pure instinct, he'd propelled himself forcefully into Rocket's personal space and savaged pushed his lips against Rocket's.

He had certainly not planned it, nor ever thought about it before; perhaps he had intended to go for a punch, but his brain lagging a few steps behind his body had decided to go for a kiss instead.

Most other boys would have pushed D'jok away, would have thought about it first, but Rocket responded without missing a beat, almost like he had been expecting it. Truth was, neither had cared enough to stop it from happening, sex was just stress relief at this point, nothing that implied a deeper emotional connection.

D'jok had been a mess after though; regret had hit him almost as soon as he had woken up again, what had just happened and why? He'd walked out of there in a daze of confusion and spent the next few days in a similar state. Rocket acting completely normally just made it all the worse.

He'd found himself drawn back to Rocket, though, somehow- he'd gone round to ask for answers but found himself unable to speak, instead he just set himself up for even more nagging questions by making yet another move.

Once was an accident but for it to happen twice was too strange for it to be purely a coincidence.

By the third time a pattern had been established. He learned not to question it, just to accept things the way they were- he was good at that. He'd learnt to go with the flux, not resisting (at least not beyond a token effort) the strange magnetism that kept bringing him back to Rocket.

Rocket in turn, had stopped baiting D'jok so much, restrained himself from making criticisms he knew would fall on deaf ears- not out of any sentiment, but to avoid the trap of falling into one of those relationships. He'd seen it with Aarch and his perpetual friendship/feud with Artegor- love-hate relationships never ended well…or ended at all for that matter. (Sometimes he wished he didn't quite so much about his Uncle's personal life). In fact, not only did he not want that sort of relationship, he didn't want a relationship at all and certainly not with D'jok.

You only had to ask anyone; D'jok and Rocket weren't compatible in the slightest, not even as friends.

(He still found himself arguing with D'jok, despite his efforts not to, that boy just rubbed him the wrong way and his self-control wasn't what it used to be.)

Tia also doesn't knock, that night she walked into Rocket's room, needing a shoulder to cry on (they've managed to stay friends, best friends in fact, despite everything) and instead finding herself confronted with the sight of her ex-boyfriend and her teammate engaged in carnal relations.

She stopped for a moment and just stared, before quickly dashing out, waiting outside the door for Rocket to come out and speak to her (as she knew that he would).

She tapped her fingers softly against her leg as she waited for him, trying to think of what it was she should say, fighting the urge to laugh at how ridiculous this situation seemed to her.

Rocket skulked out a few minutes, messily dressed and looking none too happy.

"I'm sorry," she said, determined not to allow any awkward silence to creep between them. "I should have knocked."

"Why didn't you?" Rocket asked, just to keep the conversation going.

"You did say I could come by at any time and I guess, over the years, I've become used to just walking into your room without needing an invitation."

She paused for a minute, before a thought occurred to her. "Not that I'm excusing myself for barging in, but why didn't you lock your door?"

Rocket considered it for a while; truth was he'd grown arrogant, over-confident in his abilities to keep things a secret- he hadn't thought that he'd needed to lock the door.

"Doesn't matter, what did you want to talk to me about? It must have been pretty important for you to rush in here."

Tia raised an eyebrow. "If you think you can pull a subject change on me like that, Rocket, then you have severely under-estimated me."

"It was worth giving it a go," Rocket mumbled.

"So, how long has this thing with D'jok been going on?" Tia asked, definitely sounding more curious than angry. "And why didn't you tell me about it?"

"A few months," Rocket eventually admitted. "And I didn't want to hurt you."

Tia gave Rocket a very funny look. "We're not dating anymore; I would have been happy for you, you know that. Please, don't use me as an excuse."

She was far too clear-sighted, she knew him all too well, that was the problem.

"I'm not dating him," Rocket insisted, obstinately. "It's just an arrangement."

See, this was the problem with people knowing- it made the whole thing far too real.

"I see," Tia replied, although she sounded sceptical. "Well, I won't tell anyone, if you're worried."

"Thanks," Rocket said, nodding awkwardly.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Tia's voice was mischievous. Rocket exhaled loudly as he watched her walk away.

He marched back into his room.

"Get out," he said for the first time since this had begun.

Had it not been dark, Rocket might have seen a brief flash of hurt cross over D'jok's face, nevertheless, D'jok hastily exited.

Rocket didn't show up to practice the next morning. Nor was he in his room. He didn't show up to practice in the afternoon either.

After practice, D'jok drew Tia off into a corner to speak to her privately. "You don't suppose he's run away again?"

Tia noted the not-quite concealed anxiety in D'jok's voice and facial expression.

"He didn't say anything to me about it, but…it's likely," Tia admitted, not getting too worried- he always came back, he'd probably just gone back to his cave or something. She doubted he'd get back into a mess like Netherball just over this.

"Aren't you going to go look for him?" D'jok asked, looking not at Tia but at his shoes.

"I think the one going to look for him should be you," Tia replied, gently.

D'jok nodded, looking less then convinced- still he had to, for the good of the team.

Right, he was just going for the good of the team, there was no reason other than that.

Technically, he should have notified Aarch that he was leaving the academy- but he wasn't about to do that. He was going to find Rocket, bring him back and then…

He paused- what was he going to do when he saw Rocket again?

He'd have to break things off- it was surely the only answer. Besides, as he reminded himself, they weren't even really dating in the first place- he shouldn't miss it one bit.

He made his way to Rocket's cave (the weather was actually not that bad by Akillian standards), a painful knot in his stomach the entire time.

He could hear the sound of a football bouncing off the walls before he even saw Rocket.

He didn't announce his presence immediately, just watched Rocket kick the ball violently at the wall- D'jok couldn't help but notice that Rocket's usually surgeon-precise aim was slightly off; it was more like the way that D'jok played- power being favoured over accuracy.

"Sloppy," D'jok couldn't help but comment, as Rocket narrowly missed his next target.

Rocket spun around, his face like thunder. "What are you doing here?"

"Coming to get you," D'jok said, his manner instantly slipping into argumentative mode. "You are the Captain of this team Rocket; you can't just go running off whenever you feel like it! Take some responsibility!"

"I would have thought that you would have been pleased, been to Aarch to ask for the Captain's armband yet?" Rocket shot back.

"I'm trying to do the right thing for the team!" D'jok exclaimed, frustrated that his self-restraint wasn't being recognised.

"Of course you were, you're all about doing what's best for others, with no thought for yourself, oh how selfless you are." Rocket's voice was positively oozing with sarcasm.

"Fine! The team will be fine without you anyway!" D'jok shouted, his meagre patience breaking, quickly, giving way to anger. He intended to walk away but instead he found himself glued to the spot, waiting for Rocket's next retort.

"A minute ago you said I needed to come back for the good of the team," Rocket pointed out. "You're contradicting yourself again- does the team need me or don't they? It's one or the other."

D'jok's brow furrowed in confusion- what should he say next? Either answer felt like an own goal- kind of like when teacher's asked "do you behave like this in all your classes?"

He stood there, speechless, as he tried to regain rationality after his outburst.

"Come back," he said, quietly, after what seemed like a lifetime of deliberation.

"Because the team needs me?"

"Yes," D'jok answered curtly, not brave enough to talk speak for himself rather than for the team. Not brave enough to say that he needed the challenge that Rocket provided, that he needed the competition to keep his ego in check, that he needed the tension to make life interesting.

He wasn't brave enough to say that he need Rocket.

Rocket tilted his head to one side in pretend consideration of D'jok's plea, honestly, he'd just needed to get away for while, he'd always intended to come back.

"Okay, I'll come back. But this," he pointed to himself, then D'jok, then back to himself. "This is over."

"Fine, let's just go," D'jok ignored the urge to reach for Rocket's hand as they walked out of the cave back to D'jok's transport.

He wasn't disheartened though; if there was one thing D'jok loved, it was a challenge, a quest to win something.

He'd win Rocket back somehow.

That's it for now- I might end up writing a second chapter to this though. This was originally meant to be a drabble, but it spiralled out of control and this happened, I just didn't really know where to stop. I'm really loving these two right now, I have something else with them planned as well- as usual, partial credit for inspiration has to go to indecisive-ays for filling the last prompt I gave her so beautifully (it's called 'Replacement', check it out if you haven't already)! Review please!