This is basically just filler and fluff. Enjoy!
After Lylla had muttered that godawful nickname, Rocket quickly shooed Gamora and Peter out of the medbay; muttering excuses as to why they had to leave under his breath.
Quill said goodbye in a singsong voice, before practically skipping to the cockpit. The terran was thrilled to say the least; the reasoning why a mix between new teasing material, and pure joy at seeing Rocket so hopeful about something. Lylla, or whatever her name is, better not have a stick up her ass.
Gamora followed silently, curious how this will all playout.
The pair was left alone in the medbay for the rest of the evening; the raccoon not even emerging to eat. Mantis left a small plate outside of the room from him, which was promptly taken inside as soon as she left.
Lylla was still asleep, but her vitals looked good, so Rocket decided not to worry about her long slumber. What he couldn't help though, was the stew of emotions finally beginning to brew inside of him. It was a weird feeling, a mix of excitement and fear with a hint of impatience.
C'mon, wake up already! Rocket kept on finding himself thinking as he worked on his bomb, continuing to glance up at her every now and again. Well actually, if you're mad at me, then you can take your time. I don't think I'm ready to deal with that just yet.
His eyes lifted from the device he was mindlessly working on once more, his gaze focusing on her sleeping face. Lylla's nose wrinkled in her sleep, causing the raccoon to wonder what she was dreaming about. Rocket sighed. If she's mad at me, I don't even know what I'll do! Yell back? Tell her 'I told you so!' Apologize? He cursed, letting his tools fall from his hands and onto the bed.
"Dammit…" C'mon Rocket, you're a genius. Figure it out!
A sudden sharp intake of air brought Rocket out of his thoughts; the sound immediately making his fur stand up straight. Before he had even registered what was happening, he had hopped off the bed and crossed the small space in between their cots; now standing beside Lylla's.
The otter's eyes were open, but cloudy; clearly still dazed from her long slumber. She groaned, bringing her arms shakily from under the covers, to rest on the thin medical blanket they previously laid under.
"Lylla?" Rocket whispered, hesitant to touch her while she was still dazed.
Her ears twitched at his voice, nose wrinkling as she smelled the air. Lylla sat up in her bed much to Rocket's surprise, and leaned against the back wall. She blinked her eyes a couple times to clear them, before slowly opening them.
"Ugh… what the hell happe…." Her voice died off at the sight of the medical devices around her; the IV attached to her furry arm, and a x-ray hanging over top of her from the ceiling. Lylla's eyes widened, and her ears immediately fell back against her head.
"No no no!" She stuttered, kicking the blanket off of the cot before pressing her back against the cool steel wall of the ship; her chest rising and falling at an extremely pace.
"Lylla, it's okay!"
"N-N-Not again-"
"-Lylla, it's me! It's Rocket." He blurted out, his hands reaching out to grab her forearm.
She quickly turned to look at him, the panicked look in her eyes turning into confusion. The otter was silent for a few moments, clearly trying to catch her breath.
"...W-what? Rocket? W-W-Why are you here?"
"Don't 'cha remember?" The raccoon asked, his brows furrowed in concern. I mean, I guess it would make sense if she didn't remember the thing with the Ravagers, she was pretty out of it.
She paused, still panting heavily from her panic attack, "Uh, I-I-I don't..." Lylla's voice trailed off, her grip on the wall behind her slowly loosening. As if something in her brain suddenly turned on, her eyes widened and she turned to meet his worried gaze once more.
"ROCKET!" Lylla yelped, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, bringing him into a tight hug. Rocket yelped, nearly falling onto the bed because of the swift motion. He fought the animalistic urge to snap at her and growl, instead becoming frozen in her grasp. The otter buried her muzzle into his shoulder, a wide grin on her face.
"It's you! It's really you!" She mumbled gleefully into his fur. "This has to be a dream, o-or a nightmare, or something!' Lylla pulled away, immediately inspecting him in a slightly crazed manner, "You haven't changed a bit! I mean, other than the jumpsuit."
"I could say the same to you." Rocket managed to choke out, his body still on lockdown from the hug. "Green looks nice on 'ya."
Lylla laughed, glancing down the ravager jumpsuit she wore, before looking at his rose coloured suit, "Well, you always did say your favorite colour was pink. Although, I'm starting to think you only said that 'cause that's what I liked."
Rocket chuckled, nodding in agreement, his words uncharacteristically failing him. Why the hell isn't she mad a me? Why the hell am I not mad at her?!
They fell into an awkward silence, not that Lylla noticed. She looked at the medbay around them, her nose wrinkling at the odd smell of the place, "Where are we exactly?"
"I could hardly call it a ship, it's more of a rust bucket," He snorted, "Called the Quadrant, was part of a bigger cooler Ravager ship named the Excelor."
"Oh," She glanced at the IV in her arm, her ears immediately falling back, "And I'm guessing were in the medical room of said ship?"
"Yep."
"And why am I in here? I'm not sick."
"You fainted after Aleta and her gang left. Dehydration, malnutrition, the whole deal."
Lylla sighed with a nod, "Yes, I suppose that's what happens when you don't get food or water for a little while."
"How long is a little while?"
Lylla shrugged, "I didn't count. Maybe a week or two? It's not that big of a deal Rocky, takes a lot more than that to kill me."
Rocket rolled his eyes, "Yeah, speaking of which, how the hell did you make it out of-"
"Let's not talk about that now, okay? Why don't we go meet your friends." Lylla pleaded, before ripping the IV out with a growl, and throwing her legs over the side of the bed.
Rocket frowned, "How do you know anybody else is here?"
It was now Lylla's turn to roll her eyes; and she tapped her nose with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, right." He sighed, "Yeah, we can go and check to see if anybody else is up. Although, we gotta talk about it sooner or later, alright?"
The otter jumped off her bed, letting out a soft groan as she wobbled on her feet. Rocket reached out to help her stand, but she put her hand out to stop him; her gaze determined.
"Yeah yeah, sure, whatever." She muttered, focusing on not falling over. Rocket let out a soft huff. I'll take what I can get I guess.
After a few moments of silence, other than the otter's concentrated grunts, Lylla nodded.
"Okay, lets go."
Rocket was surprised to see everybody up and gathered in the rec room; even Kraglin, who practically lived in the cockpit.
He was even more surprised to find they were having a meeting about him.
"Peter, all we are saying is how do we know for sure she is an alley?" Gamora asked. "This otter, or whatever you called it, could be angry about the past. Who knows how she will react when she wakes?"
"Rocket's story made her sound like a good-"
"Seven years can change a person." Gamora continued. "We should stay wary, that's all I ask."
"I am Groot."
Peter turned to look at the adolescent, a frown on his face. Despite being able to understand a few words of Groot speak, he didn't quite understand him fully yet.
"Sorry bud, all I got outta that was something something door."
"He said Rocket is at the doorway." The raccoon translated for the tree, Lylla standing at his side.
Quill cursed, jumping at Rocket's sudden input, before slowly turning to face the pair. The Terran's eyes widened at the sight of the otter beside him. "Oh, uh, hey guys," He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Um, we didn't see you there."
"I did." Drax interjected smugly. "I just did not say anything."
"Dude…" Peter sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"So, you're what's all the fuss is about, eh?" Kraglin suddenly asked, walking a couple steps forward towards the otter. "'Names Kraglin, what's yours?"
"Lylla."
"Pretty name."
"Thanks, Kraglin ain't bad either," She smiles politely, her paws clasped together behind her back.
"I am Groot." The teen muttered, causing Rocket to snicker. It was clearly a snarky remark, one that none of the Guardians could yet understand.
Lylla jumped, turning to face where the voice came from. At the sight of the tree, her green eyes widened. Groot glanced up, his wooden brow furrowing at the sight of the otter's intense gaze.
"Woah! You're a Flora Colossus, aren't you? I thought you guys were extinct!" She grinned, immediately taking a few eager steps towards him. Groot glanced around at the others, clearly confused at the whole situation.
"I am Groot?"
"Yes, you have to be a Flora Colossus! Their language is difficult to learn, and takes awhile to pick up." She takes another step forward, until she's looking up brightly at the tree, only a foot away. "You're even more beautiful up close."
Clearly flustered, the teenager huffed and turned his attention back to his games; although, every few seconds, he would glance away from his screen and back at her.
Peter cleared his throat again, "I'm Peter Quill, most people call me Starlord-"
"-Nobody does." Rocket interrupted, causing the Terran to groan.
Starting again, Peter crossed his arms over his chest, "As I was saying, my name is Peter Quill, and I am the leader of this group of losers."
Gamora rolled her eyes, yet remained silent.
"And you're a Terran, right?" Lylla pointed at him. Peter nodded.
"Half Terran, but yeah, we don't talk about the other part."
The otter nodded, as if she already knew this, before continuing, "Y'know, I'm a Terran too!" Everyone fell silent, many of them raising an eyebrow as they looked at her. She sighed, before continuing, "Well, I mean, not technically. But, I am from Terra."
Peter's expression lit up, "Wait a second, you know that you're an-"
"-otter? I mean, my species is actually an Aonyx cinereus, but yes, I know."
Quill's jaw dropped in shock, before a large grin spread across his face, "Holy shit, this is a first. I mean, how did you even found out?"
She shrugs, before walking away from Groot, going back to her position beside Rocket, "Mostly research. The hypernet helped. I've always been interested in learning about this type of stuff."
"Wait wait wait...," He points at Rocket, a mischievous smirk on his face, "What's his species?"
"You don't have to answer that, Lylla." Rocket interupts her thoughts, rolling his eyes. Lylla snickered, but kept silent for his sake. Peter pouted, but quickly got over himself; a content smile making its way back over his face.
"Are you Rocket's friend?" Mantis asks, causing the otter to jump; she had failed to even notice the empath.
Rocket opened his mouth to answer for her, "N-"
"Yep." Lylla smiles, seemingly not noticing the raccoon's denial. Mantis gave her a slightly awkward smile, clearly happy.
"I am glad!" She says excitedly. "It is good to have friends."
"I thought the creature was Rocket's sister?" Drax asked, clearly confused.
"What? When did we ever establish that?" Peter frowned, turning to face the other man.
"I had figured since their origin is much like Gamora and Nebula's, that they too would be siblings."
"Yeah, were definitely not siblings. That'd be…," Lylla turned to face Rocket, who was looking away, his lip rising slightly to show his sharp canines. "Wrong."
"What, did you two fuck or somethin?" Kraglin suddenly asked nonchalantly.
"WHAT?!" Rocket jumped at the sudden accusation, feeling suddenly too hot under his fur.
"Dude, c'mon, where did that even come from?" Peter sighed, shaking his head at Kraglin, before turning to face the raccoon. "But I mean… did you?"
"That's enough." Gamora glared at the two men, causing them to grimace awkwardly. She turned back to face Lylla. "It is getting late."
"How can space be late?" Drax asked, confused.
"We keep an Xandarian clock in the cockpit, we go off on that." Peter explained to him, probably for the fifteenth time. "It's almost twelve am."
"I'm not really tired," Lylla smiled politely, "Figuring I just slept away most of the day already."
"I will show you to the room you will be using anyway," Gamora turned to look at Quill, "Rocket and Peter need to discuss something."
"Wait...discuss wha- ow!" Peter was interrupted by Gamora's elbow. "Oh, uh, right."
Rocket rolled his eyes, "Fine."
Gamora nodded, before looking down at the otter, "Let's go then."
The group dissipated as everybody went to bed, leaving Rocket and Quill alone.
"What is it, Dicklord?"
"...is that a compliment or-"
"What were you guys talking about before Ly and I came in here?"
"I'm about to get to that, ok?" He huffed. "Look, Gamora is just a bit… concerned about Lylla."
"What the hell does that mean?!" Rocket glared up at him, his paws itching to point his hydron blaster at the Terran's face.
"Just think about it. How do we know she isn't still pissed off about what happened seven years ago?"
"She isn't. I've known her for my whole life, Lylla ain't one to hold a grudge."
"People change, for better or for worse. Do you really wanna take that chance? I mean, what is stopping her from castrating you in the middle of the night?!" From personal experience, trust me when I say that isn't fun.
Rocket continued to glare at Peter, but it was clear he was thinking deeply about what his fellow Guardian had said.
"Look," Quill continued, "Just talk to her about it, okay? Maybe then we can think about letting her join."
Rocket hesitated, confused, "...Talk about her castrating me?"
"What! No, talk about what happened back then, clear the air!" The Terran groaned, shaking his head in disbelief.
The raccoon rolled his eyes with a sigh, nodding, "Fine, I'll chat with her about it tomorrow. I'm tired from playing nurse all day."
Peter gave him a sympathetic smile, "Yeah, I can tell, you got some crazy dark circles."
Rocket glared at him, before rolling his eyes with a huff. The Terran snickered, placing his hands on his hips. He knew that was the closest thing to a laugh he could get out of his friend at the moment, so he was pleased.
"Anyway, sleep tight Rocket."
"Yeah yeah, go flark yourself Quill."
Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. I really wanted to get this chapter out before I leave for a trip I'm going on, which I did! So yay! Between other fandoms I'm in starting to ramp up thanks to new content, and me being a cry baby about Endgame, I'm not exactly sure when I'll upload next. I guess it sorta depends if something terrible happens to Rocket in Endgame, cause I swear to god if he dies, even looking at this fanfic will make me sad! After Infinity War, I had to leave the Marvel fandom for awhile because the thought of my favorite rag team group being dusted was awful! I probably would've been grieving for daaaayyys if Rocket got dusted; but lucky for us, he didn't!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave a review/comment if you liked it. They really do keep me going, and honestly, the reviews I got for the first few chapters is the only reason I'm posting now!
Thanks for reading! :)