Author's Note: Grammarly Premium edits all chapters.
Nicholette Gold reached her hand towards the unopen Alterian beer in the middle of the table.
Hoping to be quick enough so that none of the adults spotted where she sat on the couch as she successfully picked up the alcohol and merely placed her fingers on the stay tab before she heard a familiar throat clear behind her and winced.
"Come on, we just saved the entire galaxy, not only from me but also from the remarkably evil snake shadow. Is one beer going to hurt in the long run with everything we've been through? Besides, it's a party." She groaned, attempting to plead her case to Peter as he sighed loudly.
"I mean...I don't know. It's just that you're underaged. I feel like you've earned it, though, honestly." Peter shrugged half-heartily as Nikki physically fist pumped into the air, cracking open the beer, and took a sip before Peter changed his mind.
Immediately she hissed in disgust at the vile, bitter taste, which caused Drax to laugh his ass off from where he sat across from her before he stood and walked toward Adam.
"Great parenting skills there, Pete. You're doing a great job." Rocket slowly clapped sarcastically from his workbench, reaching forward from where he sat to take a long sip of his beer as Mantis giggled beside him, already opening a second beer.
Rocket felt his fur bristle a bit with how close in proximity the bug girl relaxed next to him, having half a mind to tell her to fuck off somewhere else in the ship but deciding against his better judgment that she couldn't do anything to harm him at the moment.
Besides, she was his friend, right?
Glancing over to observe the others in their team of misfits, he spotted Groot playing with Kammy, the space llama, as Peter had called her, who was eager to attempt to wrestle away something from Groot that Rocket couldn't see from his position.
Still, the two seemed to be having fun, if nothing else.
Adam Warlock was now in a rather intense arm wrestle with Drax, which wasn't too surprising given their fondness for sparring; the golden god was starting to come around to the team, but Rocket couldn't blame him if Adam wanted to do more with his newfound power and freedom.
Gamora casually watched Adam and Drax as the two used their strength to their advantage to gain victory, judging the contest with a long sip of her drink, perhaps wanting to challenge the winner herself.
Rocket yawned with a smack of his lips before his eyes traveled back to Mantis, a question no bigger than a pebble on the very edge of his mind that he wanted to ask her before he scoffed with a shake of his head.
What fucking good was a hypothetical question anyway?
More importantly, where had the damn thought come from that he was beginning to notice her in a new light?
Sure, she saved their asses more than he expected, and he'll give her props for piloting the Malino far better than he even thought she was capable of, considering she was born in a weird-as-hell non-violence planet of monks.
Ironically, she knew how to fight herself with her spring-loaded arm blades.
He'd have to ask her about her weapons one day.
Maybe she'd even allow him to look at them and upgrade them if she was so inclined.
Even so, as far he knew, they didn't share much in common, and it wasn't like he was interested in her cult; one passionate group of people who wanted answers to questions they were never getting was more than enough for him.
No, something about her demeanor, personality, and attitude was alluring to Rocket in a way he had never felt before they had saved the galaxy.
It was starting to make him uncomfortable.
Taking another sip of his beer, Rocket shook his head, trying to shake away the tightness in his chest, the nervousness in his paws, and the unconscious sway of his tail at the mere thought of her.
Even if, for some batshit insane reason, he had attempted to pursue something more than friendship with the priestess, how would he even know if she was even attracted to him similarly?
With another sip of his beer, he pushed the thought away and focused on spending time with his friends.
It was six hours later when things were finally beginning to settle down; Drax lost the arm wrestle contest and had angrily gotten wasted as he was currently sprawled out on the couch, black-out drunk while Gamora had gone to bed, not feeling any shame to losing her arm wrestling with Adam.
Adam and Peter had left the ship, saying they would return sometime later as Peter wanted to help the dramatic warrior get laid and probably wanted some action himself.
Nikki had about five cans and had fallen asleep in one of the chairs in the front of the ship; Rocket wouldn't be surprised if someone brought her to Gamora's room later to sleep.
Groot was sitting in one of the chairs, focused on something with the ship's computer that Rocket didn't care to ask about as Rocket cracked open his fourth beer and glanced towards Mantis, who was calmly petting Kammy, who had fallen asleep on the couch across from Rocket.
Mindful not to disturb Drax, who slept on her left.
Mantis looked content as she stroked the space llama, having a fourth beer herself in her other hand, from which she slowly took a sip and met Rocket's eyes once she placed it down.
"Having fun, Little Fuzzy?" She giggled towards the raccoon, who rolled his eyes and bit his bottom lip, wanting to suddenly ask the question that he had thrown in the deepest part of his mind.
Damn, this alcohol must have hit harder than he expected.
"Yeah, it's been a great fucking night, Bug." He responded with a grin as she chuckled with a nod, taking another sip of her drink.
"Yo Mantis? I've been wondering something." He spoke softly as she stopped her slow, gentle petting of Kammy and brought her hand to her lap, giving the drunken, furry mechanic her full attention before taking another sip.
Rocket had never actually called her by her real name.
Depending on his mood, he usually gave her different nicknames, so whatever he had to ask must have been rather serious.
Rocket licked his lips before taking a bigger drink, his tail flowing relatively quickly behind him before he removed the ice-cold beer and looked up to meet her eyes.
"Are there any...I don't know timelines; I guess you can call them where we, you know, hook up?" His voice was so quiet she almost didn't hear him, almost as if he was ashamed for just voicing the question out loud.
Mantis blinked her large pure green eyes, slowly rubbing the can in her hands as she thought long and hard about what she had been asked.
After a full minute of looking into different realities, if only because she was curious if they had ever gotten together, she slowly shook her head and sighed loudly.
"No, I'm afraid not, Rocket. We have been terrific friends at different points, and there have been versions of me that have wondered about maybe having a roll in the sheets with you, if I'm being honest, but nothing had ever come of it." She answered with a frown.
She could visibly see his body sag at the response, his tail slowing to a stop, and his face had an unreadable expression that disappointed her at how he took the news.
Rocket took another large drink and didn't bother to meet her eyes; it was clear he had hoped at least one version of her had seen something romantic in him.
He cleared his throat, obviously attempting to save face and go back to the personality she had known from the Guardian as he drained the last of his beer, placed the empty can on the table before him, and gave an enormous stretch.
"Yeah, well. It was just something I wondered, is all." He muttered with a shake of his head.
Mantis reached out a hand to stop him, knowing they would never speak of this again if he left now.
"However...I'm open to the idea of us hooking up." She whispered, seeing Rocket's ears perk up as he turned his head back to look her in the eyes.
"You serious?" He questioned.
It was a rather severe train of thought for both of them. Mantis didn't know if he wanted a roll in the sheets or something more concrete.
In truth, she didn't know what she wanted from the genetically altered engineered raccoon either, but just wanting to give it a shot was more than any of the other versions of her had accomplished.
She could feel that in her bones.
With a gentle, slightly hesitant nod at Rocket, she smiled and watched as his tail waved slowly behind him as he grinned.
"You wanna get out here? Maybe go somewhere else to relax?" He asked, rubbing his right paw over his neck as he waited nervously for her response, his braided beard swaying lightly underneath his chin.
Mantis couldn't help but chuckle at his pickup game; if this were the best he had to get her into his bed, he was doing a rather poor job.
Still, she had to give him credit for attempting to leap. It was bold in a way that no other version of him had done, which was admirable, she supposed.
With a roll of her eyes, she finished the rest of her beer and copied Rocket, putting it on the table before she stood from the couch.
She was giving a long, satisfied stretch with her arms over her head, making damn sure to provide a small show of her breast to the rodent in front of her.
Rocket swallowed the saliva in his throat with a shaky breath as his eyes traced the curves of her body, a concealed part of him rising faster than he had hoped as he watched her boobs slightly bounce once she put her arms down and deliberately swayed her hips as she walked towards his room.
Rocket couldn't keep his eyes off her ass which was covered by her skin-tight jumpsuit if he tried.
They were really going to do this, weren't they?
Quickly Rocket jumped down from the couch and raced toward the fridge, grabbing two more beers and two bottles of water in his arms as he strolled to his room.
He was surprised to see Mantis looking around his area with genuine curiosity once the door opened.
After setting the sealed liquids on the table to the left of him, Rocket eagerly locked the door once it closed and leaned up against it with his arms folded over his chest as his heart raced with nerves and excitement.
Mantis didn't ask any questions, and Rocket didn't provide any answers as he watched her take in everything his small living space had to offer with a smirk.
He winced as she looked towards the slightly fur-covered bed.
Rocket couldn't help the creature he was, after all.
But had he known, he would have washed the sheets.
Briskly walking over to make the final destination for the night much more presentable, he heard her snicker softly as he shook his head with a grin, and once Rocket felt satisfied with the results, he glanced over to gaze at her reaction.
She nodded with a small smile before reaching over towards the table and grabbing the beers, tossing him one, which he caught with a laugh as they cracked them open simultaneously and sat down.
They looked at each other with a deep breath and released a nervous exhale before Mantis chuckled to herself, shaking her head with a smile as Rocket looked at her in confusion.
"To having a wild ride tonight, in more ways than one." She toasted, bringing her beer close to Rocket's as he gave a genuine laugh and softly tapped the cans together before they took a large sip.
Afterward, Mantis reached a hand forward to remove her boots; carefully and with a snort to herself in her drunken haze, she let the footwear drop to the metal floor.
Placing her bare feet on the ground as she shivered from the cold, and with another sip of her alcohol, she put a free hand on the zipper of her green and black jumpsuit.
Rocket's brain finally caught up to what his eyes were seeing and truly understood what was happening.
Yes, they were really about to do this.
