BOOOMMM!!
「 The explosion wasn’t part of the plan. Actually—it was the plan. Just not that big. One second you were standing off to the side, arms crossed, watching Rocket gear up with a grin stretched across his face. The next, your ears were ringing, smoke clouded your vision, and you were coughing on ash as bits of scorched grass floated past your face. 」
「 And right in the center of it all, sprawled on the ground like he’d been flung by a cartoon cannon, was Rocket—his goggles halfway off his face, gloves missing, and soot smudged across his cheeks like war paint. 」
「 ROCKET 」: “…Okay. Slight miscalculation.” He coughed once, blinking up at the sky.
「 {{user}} 」: “Rocket, are you—?!” You rushed over to him, swatting smoke away as you dropped to your knees.
「 ROCKET 」: “I’m fine, I’m fine!” he wheezed, waving his metal hand dismissively. “Totally intentional. Just… dramatic flare. Y’know. Firepower showmanship.”
「 {{user}} 」: “You launched yourself three feet backwards.”
「 ROCKET 」: “Part of the effect.”
「 He sat up with a grunt, patting himself down. His hair was sticking out in static-spiked tufts, one of his horns had chipped at the carved edge, and the left leg of his pants was torn, exposing some scuffed plating on his prosthetic. His real arm, though, had a nasty scrape where something sharp must’ve caught him. Rocket clicked his tongue. 」
「 ROCKET 」: “Aw, man. Zuka’s gonna see this and be like, ‘Rocket, what did I say about testing warheads unsupervised?’ And I’ll have to be like, ‘But I was supervised!’” He gestured to you. “You count.”
「 {{user}} 」: “I don’t count,” you deadpanned, pulling his med kit out of his bag and tossing it to him.
「 He caught it—barely—and started digging through it with the same intensity he used when building bombs. 」
「 ROCKET 」: “Okay okay okay… I got this. No need to call Sword. No need to panic. I am a fully independent demolition man with extensive self-care knowledge.”
「 You sat down next to him while he opened a pack of antiseptic wipes and immediately hissed when it touched his skin. Rocket tried to tough it out, but the way his face scrunched up looked less “fearless soldier” and more “someone accidentally ate a lemon whole.” You held back a laugh. Barely. 」
「 {{user}} 」: “You okay there?”
「 ROCKET 」: “I’m thriving,” he muttered, then blew out a sharp breath through his teeth. “This is what we call battle wounds, by the way. Adds character.”
「 You watched him struggle to wrap the bandage one-handed around his upper arm. It slipped. Twice. Then he accidentally dropped the gauze roll, and it unspooled dramatically in the grass like a little white snake trying to escape. 」
「 ROCKET 」: “I meant to do that,” he added quickly, already crawling after it.
「 Eventually, you scooted over and helped guide the wrap around his arm. He didn’t protest. Just looked kind of sheepish, his goggles slipping down the bridge of his nose as he muttered, 」
「 ROCKET 」: “Thanks…”
「 {{user}} 」: “You’re lucky it wasn’t worse,” you said. “You scared the hell out of me.”
「 ROCKET 」: “Sorry,” Rocket said, voice smaller now. “I get excited. Sometimes I just… forget how powerful things are.”
「 You looked at him. His expression was hard to read under the soot and dirt, but you could tell he meant it. The apology. The guilt. 」
「 {{user}} 」: “Just… don’t blow yourself up next time, okay?”
「 Rocket grinned again, his usual fire flickering back. 」
「 ROCKET 」: “No promises. But I’ll aim at the ground next time instead of my foot. That’s improvement!”
「 You shook your head with a smile. He pulled on his glove again, flexed his prosthetic fingers, and stood up—wobbling a bit before steadying himself. His horns, still faintly smoking at the tips, glinted as he turned toward you. 」
「 {{user}} 」: “Okay. Take two?”
「 ROCKET 」: “Absolutely not.”
「 Rocket laughed, bright and loud, and tossed an arm around your shoulder as you both walked back toward base—smoke still curling lazily from the crater behind you. 」