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Rocket and The Imp

[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]

Chapter Three - Close

Somewhere in space, a few light years outside of Knowhere, a massive, outlandish spacecraft waited.

It was the kind of craft capable of containing an army of decent size. The type of ship that could both start and end conflicts, battles and wars. It was certainly not the type of ship one would want pursuing them.

For having so many passengers, the ship was horrifically quiet, as usual. This was a result of the captain's orders. He had an overt sense of hearing, stressing to all of his servants that silence is mandatory. The hare sat on the large, velvet captain's chair, staring at the screen in front of him with his full attention. The screen displayed a radar of sorts, that once tracked a certain raccoon and his female counterpart. They've since gone off the grid.

He felt a presence next to him. He actually heard him scamper up to him, too. It was his assistant, a nameless rabbit of many. As always, he would kneel before him, requesting permission from the captain to speak.

"What?" The captain uttered.

"W-well, Captain O'Hare, th-they've been off the radar for a while..."

"I know. We will wait, then."

"But...C-captain, that could take-"

"We've waited for days, we could wait for MORE!"

The assistant grew silent, bowing his head in shame.

Then he spoke up, in a hushed a trembling voice.

"I just don't understand why-"

O'Hare grabbed the bothersome rabbit by the throat, lifting him up off the ground to meet him at eye level. The poor rabbit was scratching and kicking, but O'Hare's grip only grew stronger. Slowly and menacingly, he lowered his tinted goggles, letting the pest stare into his bloodshot, furious crimson eyes.

"Because..." He growled, bringing a finger to the terrified rabbit's neck, pushing up his head to keep him from looking away, "It is imperative to the survival of the entire observable universe, that I keep my employer happy. To keep my employer happy, I must find and kill these two targets. Now it would be in your best interests to keep your employer happy as well, wouldn't it?"

The choking rabbit tried to nod his head.

Blackjack O'Hare released his grip on the assistant, his armored body hitting the floor with a loud, resounding clang! This echoed throughout the ship, and many workers stopped to look up at the commotion. Blackjack rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair - it was obvious that he'd need to address this.

"Nothing to see. Continue with the tracking. We have three days until we're all dead, remember that."

He sat back down in his chair and pulled the screen to his face once more. As he stared at the blank screen, his corrupted mind couldn't help but just count the seconds down until his inevitable demise - frustrated with his mistakes and failures. He was growing impatient, excited, and thirsty for the blood of his targets.

"Anything to please the master." He thought to himself, a smirk spreading across his face.

Rocket awoke grimacing, feeling a sharp pain in his neck.

Slowly and painfully sitting up, the raccoon stirred from his long and arduous slumber. He scooted to the edge of his cot, staring at the plain metal ground and trying to grasp his bearings - to distinct reality from dreams again. With a deep exhale, he stood up, grabbed his black tank top that had been carelessly tossed on the floor, and ungracefully pulled it over his head. Yawning, he stretched his legs and stepped out of the room, noting his repulsive morning breath.

"Fuck." Rocket thought to himself, dryly chuckling, "Gross breath doesn't really leave a good impression..." Reaching into one of his baggy pockets, he pulled out his trusted Pocket-Dimension Storage Vial, recalling he'd stored some breath mints in there for just such an occasion.

"And what occasion is this exactly?" He wondered, materializing a handful of minty capsules and tossing them in his mouth, "Because I'm pretty sure still wants to kill me. Bad breath should be the least of my concern right now."

With a laugh, Rocket shoved the thought aside, stepping out of his room, down the narrow hallway and into the ship's quaint kitchen. Immediately he'd recognized the scent of cooking and soon saw Sale fiddling with some alien ingredients and an electric stove. Rocket soon noticed Sale was sporting different clothes today, a dark gray jumpsuit of sorts. The thought occupied his mind for mere moments, as the raccoon soon found himself at a loss for words at admiring the view of Sale's backside, how the snug cloth material hugged her curves in all the right places...

"Fuck."

"Hmm?" Sale said, turning to see a slack-jawed Rocket.

Rocket realized he'd accidentally said that out loud.

"What? Huh? I didn't say anythin'," he stammered.

"Really? I thought I-"

"So ya makin' some breakfast?" Rocket interrupted, quickly having a seat at the small table. He was focused on actively avoiding eye contact with the woman before him. An awkward silence lingered for a while before a confused Sale turned back around, continuing to grill some sort of alien meat. He had tried his best to keep his gaze at the table, and not drool over Sale's body.

"Keep it together you fucking perverted piece of shit," Rocket cursed to himself, doing his best to control his breaths and suppress a rising stiffness, "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-"

"Here," Sale huffed, aggressively sliding a plate in front of Rocket. "It's some sort of meat and it doesn't taste very good. Enjoy, perv."

"Perv? What're you-"

"You're staring. I can fuckin' feel your eyes on me. It's not a good feeling."

"I wasn't staring!" He barked.

Sale ignored him and sat down across the table, chewing a bite of the crisp gray meat and glaring at Rocket with those murderous violet eyes.

Rocket sighed, and began to get frustrated.

"Well what do you expect, struttin' around in your skin-tight yoga pants? You're leaving almost nothing to the imagination!"

Another prolonged silence. Sale initially looked offended, but her glare and frown eventually turned to a lighthearted smirk. Rocket grew uncomfortable as her eyes changed from angry and piercing to... sensual and inviting? The warmness below his belt grew again. Rocket quickly scooted in closer to the table, to hide it. Sale began to chew the meat in a much more slower fashion, maintaining eye contact with Rocket. He felt his heart begin to race and a bead of sweat run down the side of his head. He looked in nearly every corner of the kitchen to distract himself, rubbing his neck with his spare paw, not even touching his food.

Soon he heard the light, soft, melodic laugh of Sale.

Looking at her, his discomfort melted away. Watching her smile and laugh gave Rocket an internal warmness he'd never felt before. Soon he began to giggle as well, not fully knowing why. After a few minutes of this lightheartedness, silence enveloped them both once more.

"_Really? A fucking Guardian of the Galaxy chokes up like a fucking lovesick teenager that easily?"_Sale speculated, further allowing herself to let loose, laugh, and be happy.

"She's fucking doing this on purpose. She likes seeing me squirm," Rocket thought.

He looked down at his plate - realizing he had ignored his meal. Grabbing the small slab of cooked meat, he pulled apart a small chunk, bringing to his mouth. As he did so, he heard a faint sound across the table.

Sale was loudly sniffing the air, suspicious.

"Are you-...did-...fucking breath mints?" Sale chuckled.

"And what do ya got against oral hygiene?" Rocked quipped.

"You clearly swallowed a handful of that shit. What, you got a first date to go to?"

"Maybe I do," Rocket gambled, trying to get under her skin just as she did him. However, he'd regretted the words almost immediately after they escaped his lips, as not only did she appear to grow slightly uncomfortable, but so did he.

And the awkward silence was unbearable.

"Not interested, by the way," Sale scoffed.

Rocket nearly choked on a bit of the cooked meat, bursting into a violent cough. He looked up to meet her eyes, noticing she appeared very neutral and careless.

"Yeah me neither," Rocket replied.

Sale smiled slightly.

"I doubt that...," she teased, her voice reaching sensually low levels. Rocket looked up at her, finding her eyes had resumed that previous look - the one that sent his heart rate through the roof and grabbed him by the crotch. He quickly stood up, his chair making a loud noise as he scooted back. He stood at an awkward angle and began to quickly walk out the kitchen. In doing so, he alarmed and confused Sale.

"I'm just gonna check on our navigation and trajectory and shit," Rocket mumbled, quickly escaping from the colossal cloud of sexual tension that had been created within the past few minutes. The panicked raccoon scampered off to the front of the ship, where the captain's chair and control bay was.

Sale had burst into light laughter as soon as he left.

Soon after, She had met up with Rocket, and the two sitting in silence as they watched the stars fly past the ship's main windshield. Within a very short hour, they had finally reached the planet of interest - Othinn. As soon as the tan, desert planet appeared within view, Rocket stood up and began to enter specific coordinates to the ship's navigational GPS. This had alerted Sale, who had been drifting off into her own mind, consumed by a wave of irrational, romantic thoughts.

"What're you doing?" Sale inquired.

"Landing coordinates," Rocket answered, finishing the input and turning to face her, "Should let you know though, it's quite a ways off from the hideout. Oh, and the planet's surface temperature rarely drops below a hundred degrees."

It wasn't exactly good news, but Rocket smiled as he told it.

"Are you serious?" Sale asked, irritated.

"Yup. It's a desert planet, what did you expect?"

"Nothing. It's fine. No problem."

"I mean, you say no problem, but have you ever been in extreme temperatures in that leather catsuit, Sale?"

"It's not leather."

"That was a joke."

"I don't get it."

The two stared at each other in silence.

"It's- never mind."

Rocket turned his attention back to the front of the ship, staring out into the field of space, mentally chastising himself for the missed joke. However, such thoughts were interrupted as Sale spoke up again.

"God, you're so easy to fuck with." He heard Sale chuckle behind him, "No effort at all." Sale began to laugh once more.

Rocket found himself in a different circumstance upon hearing her laugh - not once of genuine enjoyment but one of extreme embarrassment and anger.

"Fucking kill me...," Rocket muttered to himself.

"Lead me to the Half-World Book first," Sale managed to say in-between laughs.

Surely it was a comedic remark, and that Sale wasn't actually planning to murder Rocket once he had shown her the book, but the seed of doubt had already been planted in the raccoon's head.

"Holy shit, what if she is planning on killing me? She has been acting awfully different lately. Is she more comfortable around me? No. Not possible. She was holding a gun to my fucking head yesterday. She needs me to translate the book with her, though. She needs me. I'll use that." Rocket contemplated his options while eventually coming back to some feelings he struggled with earlier. "Now why, of all things, does the fact that she might kill me make her more fucking sexy to me? Also that and she's obviously got a sense of humor. Sure it's at my expense, but-"

Rocket was pulled from his mental debate as the ship violently jolted, and vibrated heavily, before eventually settling. He looked up to see that the ship was now surrounded by red-tinted sand dunes as far as the eye can see, and had landed on a large, foreign sheet of metal. He had been lost in his head for so long that seemingly, a matter of seconds, they had already made it to Othinn and had landed.

He turned to look at Sale, who had just stepped away from the controls, having performed a less-than-ideal landing, and began to walk into the direction of the hallway that led to the kitchen. Rocket slowly stepped up from the co-pilot's chair and began to walk over to her. By the time he had reached the doorway, she had already opened a door down the hall to room unknown to him.

He wanted to speak up and say something like 'What're you doin'?' or 'What's up?' but found his feet had stopped working. He watched Sale through the half open door down the hall, as she began to unzip her jumpsuit, surely to change into something more fitting for the extreme temperatures ahead. Rocket found time had slowed down, that seconds had turned to hours as more and more of Sale's chestnut fur was revealed. _"This is wrong. This is so wrong. Her bra is fucking red I'm going to die-"_Rocket quickly and quietly walked backwards a few steps, ending back up in the cockpit. He then proceeded to continue forward, making his footsteps loud and exaggerated. By the time he'd reached the hallway, Sale had already changed. Her dark gray jumpsuit had now been traded for a plain white tanktop, which heavily complimented the bright brown tones of her fur. Sale had begun to walk towards Rocket, throwing a large and heavy backpack over her shoulder. Rocket forgot why he'd followed her into the hallway. Before he had time to remember, she had stopped in front of him. He was blocking the way, and she crossed her arms and gave him an inquisitive look.

"Quick, just fucking say something, don't just stand there. Make conversation! A-Ask her what's in the bag!" Rocket contemplated.

Rocket cleared his throat and spoke.

"You look really nice."

He realized something was wrong when her eyes had seemed to drift away from his, pupils increasing in size as she looked away, obviously caught off guard by his compliment. As she moved her paw up to brush some stray furs past her ear and slowly bring her gaze up, Rocket felt his heart skip a beat. Before another awkward silence could ensue, Rocket stepped aside and put his arm out, motioning Sale to pass him through the hallway. Sale quickly did so. And though the backpack was large, Rocket's view of Sale's backside was unobstructed.

"Fffuck..."

Sale had been having this emotional dispute nearly all day, and Rocket's latest comment had just added more fuel to the fire. "What's his endgame here? He can't be genuine with shit like that, right? Right. He's a goddamn Guardian of the Galaxy he probably sleeps with a new girl every other day. Fucker just wants to try raccoon for a change or some shit." As her mental dialogue continued, Sale's thoughts began to spiral past the point of general suspicion, to full-blown anger towards Rocket.

She pushed the button to the airlock, and the door opened, leading into a smaller room. Sale stepped inside, and Rocket followed suit. The room was incredibly small, due to the overall small and sleek design of the ship. Rocket and Sale stood about a foot apart from one another, as the depressurization took place and the other end of the room opened up.

Immediately, the heat was noticeable. Sale was quick to jump out, rather burning in the sun than being in close contact with Rocket. The metal that the landing pad was composed of was hot enough to give them third degree burns, had they not taken precaution and leaped onto the sand nearby. The sand was warm and somewhat pleasant underneath Sale's paws. She heard a thud, grunt, and turned to see Rocket struggle to get up. He brushed sand from his black tanktop and turned to smile a toothy grin at her.

Against her will, Sale found that very charming. Rocket came up to stand by her, looking in all directions as he did so. Then the realization hit her.

"So which way now?" She questioned.

"My PDA is broken, but I could type the coordinates into yours to show us the way." Rocket replied, placing his hands on his hips. Sale pulled up her wrist-mounted computer and opened up the GPS program. She brought up the "Input Location" dialogue box as Rocket approached her even closer, invading her circle of comfort. Instantly she flinched and stepped back, shooting him a cold, questioning glare.

"What?" She stated.

"Calm down, I was just gunna put it in-"

"Just tell me the coordinates."

"It'll be faster if I do it."

Sale thought about it for a second, and decided she honestly didn't care enough to argue about it any further. She held up her wrist to Rocket as he moved over and began to type in the coordinates. It had been sweltering hot where she was, but the feeling of Rocket's fingers occasionally brushing against her wrist felt pleasurably burning in comparison.

Once finished, Rocket stepped back, smiling at her again with that dumb, stupid, attractive smile. Sale quickly diverted her gaze to her watch, which now displayed directions in the form of a large blue arrow pointing north.

The two began their journey to Rocket's abandoned hideout, walking up and over multiple sand dunes and enduring the harsh heat of the Othinn desert. Rocket ran his tongue against the roof of his mouth, finding himself parched and become dehydrated. Apparently Sale had noticed this, as she pulled a water container from her bag and offered it to him. He looked at her for a few seconds before taking it from her - her face displayed boredom, and coldness. As always.

Rocket made sure to only sip, and not gulp the liquid. The last thing he'd want would to be to waste it and further piss Sale off. Once quenched, he handed it back to her.

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

The two continued in silence for a longer period of time before, surprisingly, Sale broke the silence for once.

"Why the fuck," she said in-between long, heavy breaths, "Did you hide shit here?"

Rocket took a moment to form a response.

"The place I found was abandoned, empty, and perfect for safekeeping shit. Also, it's pretty close to Knowhere, all things considered."

Sale seemed to be satisfied with that answer, as she didn't question him further. The two walked for a bit before a large, rusted, warehouse came into view. It was half buried in sand, giving the appearance of the remains of an ancient civilization. Sale gradually increased her speed, rushing to take shelter within the confines of the hideout.

"Also..." Rocket added, "Everyone hates deserts. Perfect place to hide-"

"Not species that were adapted for this climate...They don't hate deserts."

Rocket grew silent.

"Oh." He muttered, "I guess you're right."

Sale began to laugh, albeit softly. It was a laugh at his expense again, but Rocket felt pleasant this time around, once again finding enjoyment in improving her mood.

It was only a matter of minutes before the two had reached the door of the tall, rusty structure. Rocket stepped in front of Sale and gripped the large wheel on the front door. It was much like a wheel found on a large safe of some sort. As he pulled on the wheel, fighting against the rust and the weight of the metal, Sale found herself infatuated with the sight before her. Rocket's arm muscles seemed to bulge out in a very impressive manner, and his tanktop, now drenched in sweat, was nearly skin-tight. She found it incredibly provocative. Before she could even mentally scold herself for the thoughts, Rocket had opened the door with a loud, metal creek. Once more turning to Sale with that handsome, stupid, dumb smile, he motioned for her to enter first.

Sale was an incredibly smart raccoon, and yet she hadn't figured out the real reason why Rocket had always let her walk in front of him.

He shut the door behind him, and flicked on a nearby switch. Inexplicably, several flickering fluorescent lights had powered on. However, most of the hideout was lit by several holes in the ceiling, the strong rays of the sun coming down and illuminating dust particles as they floated through the air.

The hideout was a warehouse, filled with boxes and piles of what appeared to be a wide array of junk from the galaxy's worst garage sale. While the main room was big and cavernous, there was a small office room to the far right, which Rocket made a beeline to. Sale began to follow, their collective footsteps echoing out throughout the entire building. Once there, Rocket opened the door and pulled the string on a light bulb, miraculously turning it on. Sale entered to the room to find it to be a fully-furnished, small living space, much like a dorm room or a small apartment. There was a bed, a desk, a vault, a dining area that consisted of a small table and one chair, a door that seemed to lead into a bathroom, and a messy pile of technology and guns.

"Welcome home, Rocket," he mumbled to himself, just barely audible to Sale.

The room was small, musty, dusty and warm. Sale took a seat on the bed as Rocket continued to marvel and reminisce on his old belongings. She looked around the room, finding that it had offered a lot of insight to Rocket's true character. And from she was seeing, she felt it comfortable to assume that the two must have had a lot of similarities. Posters of famous space outlaws adorned the wall, held in place by several knifes and darts. A shelf that seemed to be completely devoted to displaying a wide array of guns and such. A most of all, there was pretty much garbage just all over the place. She wasn't really a clean freak either.

Sale felt the bed jostle as Rocket sat down next to her. She turned to notice that he was sitting pretty much as far away from her as he could without falling off the edge of the mattress. He was staring straight ahead, looking somewhat content. She followed his line of sight to discover a mirror on the opposite wall, a large, cracked, rectangular mirror that displayed two sweaty raccoons staring back at it, sitting an almost humorously abnormal distance from each other. The two caught eyes in their reflection, but Rocket didn't look away, beginning to lightly smile. Sale felt a warm sense of happiness upon seeing this, inexplicably.

"Scoot closer, idiot" She heard herself think. The thought seemed to come from the same place as the others of the similar nature - a part of her she'd never even knew existed.

Rocket spoke up before she could freak out again.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, standing up from the bed, "It's in my safe!"

"A safe? Isn't this whole building supposed to be like a safe?"

"My safe keeps it safer. I keep only the really important stuff in there!"

"Uh huh..."

Rocket located the safe in the corner of the room, on a small table, underneath a pile of an assortment of tools and wires. He picked up the heavy safe with one arm, and with the other, shoved everything off the table with a loud, resounding clatter that echoed throughout the building.

He cringed in response to the brash sound, and turned to look at Sale in embarrassment.

"Was that really necessary?" She deadpanned.

"It's more dramatic," He said, slamming the safe down onto the table, pulling up a chair. Rocket heard Sale laugh, and once again felt that same feeling of warmness and joy. By now, it was becoming not such a novel thing, but an amazing feeling nonetheless. He then heard the springs of the mattress contract, and light footsteps as she approached him. He looked around the room for a chair for her, but there was none. Rocket quickly stood up and offered his chair to her, motioning for her to sit down.

Sale stared at him with confusion. Rocket felt himself crumble once again, overthinking this small action and becoming unsure of himself once again. Finally, Sale simply rolled her eyes and sat down.

"Such a gentleman." She said sarcastically. Rocket felt his nervousness dissipate.

He tried to think of some witty repartee, but couldn't. Instead, he went to the keypad on the Safe, typing in his most commonly used code. The screen lit up as Rocket typed in 1-2-3-4, with a beep accompanying his press of every button. Once finished, he hit 'Enter', only to have the screen light up red for a second with a displeasing short buzz.

"Wait, what?"

"One, two, three, four. Are you kidding me, Rocket?" Sale teased.

"Oh no wait, I got it!"

Rocket typed in 4-3-2-1.

The safe lit red and buzzed.

Rocket exhaled in frustration, stopping to think for a few minutes. With each passing second, Sale grew more concerned, beginning to grow angry as well. "Wait, has this fucking idiot really forgotten the pass code?" She wondered.

"Let's just fucking break it open." Sale suggested.

"Can't," Rocket said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "It's uh, indestructible."

"What?" She growled.

"Well you see it's made of this rare alloy I got-"

"FUCK!" Sale exclaimed. She lifted the safe from the table and began viciously spamming random numbers into the keypad. Rocket looked at her in genuine concern, her beautiful light brown fur being illuminated with red every few seconds. Beeps and buzzes seemingly grew louder with every attempt. Several minutes of this went by,Rocket slowly working up the nerve to approach her. He moved his hand up to place it on her shoulder, albeit very slowly and cautiously. However, Sale flinched when Rocket made contact, and threw the safe down onto the table.

She slumped down into the chair and buried her head into her arms.

Rocket felt terrible. Sure his past had never been a huge concern of his, but that's only because he knew what he needed to know. Sale knew nothing. Rocket saw how much she cared, and that he was her only hope to get answers.

And he let her down.

Rocket crouched down beside her, nervously enjoying the close proximity.

"H-hey," he started.

Sale quickly shot up, staring at him with those murderous, alluring, beautiful purple eyes. She was pissed beyond belief and Rocket was scared beyond belief - but at the same time, he felt his heart skip a beat once more.

"I...we were so close." She muttered.

Rocket gently placed his paw on her shoulder. This time she didn't flinch.

"Her fucking fur is like, silky soft! Is she even Raccoon? Or...shit, should my fur be this soft? I should shower more-"

Sale's back began to straighten, as she sat up and looked ahead with revelation in her eyes. Slowly, she turned to Rocket. His worried gaze was one she'd seen all too often.

"He cares an awful lot about me, it seems. Fucker looks like he's ready to cry. Does he-...? Never mind, not important right now."

Sale smiled and pulled the safe to her. Confidently, she entered a new code.

"Eight, Nine, One, Three." She said aloud.

The safe's screen lit up green, and a soft click was heard. Sale pulled the safe's door open. The Half-World Book was in there. It was the only thing in there. She retrieved it and placed it on an empty part of the table.

"This book the only thing that's really that important to you?" Sale asked.

"How did- what?"

"Huh?"

"The...code."

"It's you."

"I-, what?"

"89P13."

Rocket was speechless.

"You remembered that?" he said, voice cracking nervously and a genuine smile once again spreading across his face. He was taken aback by this._"Sure, she could've just had really good memory - or perhaps it could be...she cared?"_Even the possibility of that took Rocket off guard.

Sale looked at him, pondering his behavior. "Okay so maybe he's not a deceiving bastard like I thought he was. Actually, now he's pretty much a nervous wreck - and pretty fun to fuck with." Sale considered. "Fun? Now that's a word I don't use too often. Stalking and killing murderers - that's fun. Stealth and assassinations - that's fun. Spending time with another person? Fuck, maybe I'm the one that's gone soft."

"Dude, don't be a pussy. We got a lot of work to do."

Rocket thought he knew before, but know he absolutely, without a doubt, certain of it.

He loved her.

Papers were spread across the floor, broken pencils and empty water bottles cluttered around the two as they worked. Without a secondary chair, the decision was made that they would translate the book on the concrete floor. Lying on their stomachs, Rocket and Sale both took turns writing down the deciphered symbols and characters onto new pieces of paper. They both read aloud the scriptures, and one took them down. Over the next several hours, the two did just that - alternating and translating efficiently, like a well-oiled machine.

The close proximity didn't bother Sale as much as it should have. As a matter of fact, she found herself quite comfortable being this close to him. It was a foreign, warm, exciting feeling. While her mind was mostly preoccupied focusing on the work of translating the book, she did have brief moments where some other things came to mind.

For instance, Sale realized soon after the two had begun working, that Rocket had a certain musky fragrance to him. Against every one of her predetermined notions about him, she found herself thoroughly enjoying it.

Another moment of significance occurred a bit later in the day. Rocket and Sale were working as usual, when Rocket had briefly gone silent. Turning to look at him, she noticed he was yawning, and moving into a different position. At the time, it wasn't that notable of an event, but Sale found that the sight before her - Rocket leaning his head on his arm, one hand on the book, and glancing at her with those tired, humble orange eyes - seemed to resonate with her. The mental snapshot of Rocket casually staring at her flickered in her mind every so often, as time went by. The image of Rocket, unencumbered by anything else on his mind but her, in his natural state. It was another sign that he may be genuine, and not the deceiving rat she made him out to be. And his eyes...they displayed something then.

"Fondness, comfort...admiration...Love?"

But even so, Sale wouldn't let herself trust him just yet. She'd never trusted anyone before, and was hesitant to trust someone for the first time, especially with something as fragile as her romantic side - something that she'd buried for several decades, and up until recently, forgot existed.

But it was here now.

Initially a whisper, now a yell, a voice inside her screamed to indulge herself for once - to be happy. To let Rocket in. But her voice of reason was hesitant to agree. So there she was - acting cold to him, somewhat friendly, but nothing more.

Several hours had passed by, and the various papers scattered around the floor soon transitioned into a neat, foot-high stack of pages. The Half-World book was gigantic, not only in thickness but the pages themselves were about three times the size of an average book. The two had gotten to what seemed like the middle of the book when Sale had realized just how much time had gone by. As Rocket turned the page, Sale turned her head to look out the open door of the office. The open doorway gave a view of the large, open area of the hideout. What had previously been brightly lit by the glow of the sun, was now dimly illuminated by the blue-white glow of the moonlight.

Sale slowly stood up, stretching to and fro, hearing the satisfying bone 'cracks' and adjusting her shirt.

"What is it?" Rocket asked, his voice dry and rough.

Sale paid no attention to him, and walked out of the small room, into the open area of the warehouse. She continued on her path until she was directly underneath the openings in the ceiling - what appeared to be claw marks of some ancient giant or a terrifying beast. But that wasn't on her mind right now. She was exhausted, and for once, nearly nothing was on her mind. Nothing but how beautiful she thought the sky looked tonight.

Footsteps approached her. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Rocket. Nothing needed to be said at this point in time. The two were tired, and had been staring at the white and black pages of the scriptures for the entire day. Naturally, a time of rest should come.

Rocket looked at her, the chestnut, white and black fur on her face brilliantly lit up by the mystical light of the stars. He debated putting a paw on her shoulder once more, to show his affection, to feel her silky fur once more, but decided against it. This was a perfect moment all by itself, and he didn't dare ruining it.

Minutes passed, with nothing but the soft breaths of the two echoing throughout the building.

Then Rocket remembered something.

Sale heard his feet scamper away, sounding frenzied, as he ran back into the office. She was curious, but not enough to follow him. The sounds of objects being thrown around and glass shattering emerged from the small room, as well as a few Earth swears. She smiled mentally. Rocket soon emerged from the office, clutching a large, slender bottle with one hand. Now she was very curious. Approaching him, she noticed he was looking around for something else. He then seemed to spot it in a large pile of scrapped cars.

"Here, hold this," he said, handing her the bottle and running away once more. She looked at the object in question. It was covered with alien text - none of which she could decipher. What she did understand, however, was the international symbol for alcohol displayed proudly across the front. She scoffed. "Is this dude trying to get me drunk?" She mused. Sale then rotated the bottle to its back. She let out a small gasp as she spotted something else that she could understand - a price tag, stating that this bottle in question was valued at three hundred thousand credits.

Before she could begin to contemplate the reasoning behind Rocket obtaining such an expensive drink, the loud, brash sounds of metal grinding against concrete loudly interrupted her. Looking up, she saw Rocket pulling a couch from behind a pile of metal. She approached to offer help, but once again, the brawny raccoon displayed an impressive amount of strength in pulling the couch from the pile of debris, pushing it towards Sale with one arm. With the other, giving a thumbs up. Sale grinned uncontrollably in response to his stupid, dumb, attractive smile.

Once in position, Sale took a seat beside Rocket on the couch, the stained blue cushions offering an incredible feeling of bliss after multiple hours of working on the hard floor. None of them noticed at this point, but they had been sitting much closer together now than they had previously in the day.

"Who's stupid enough to blow three hundred grand on a bottle of booze?" She asked, handing the bottle back to Rocket.

He laughed and began to unscrew the durable metal cap from the bottle. "Who said I bought it?" Rocket said, smirking.

"Yup, why should I be surprised..." Sale quipped, rolling her eyes.

"I traded for it! Some merchant on Knowhere said he'd pay be three hundred thousand for a particle dissipator, but instead this fucker gives me this shit, claims its the best tasting stuff in the whole galaxy."

"Well is it?"

"I guess we're about to find out."

"We? You trying to fuckin' get me drunk, is that it?" Sale laughed.

"Not everything is about you, Sale."

Rocket took a swig from the bottle, swished around the liquid and considered the taste heavily. Sale found humor in how seriously he appeared to look when tasting the drink.

"So how is it?" Sale said.

Rocket appeared stumped, at a loss for words, confused by the drink's taste. It was like nothing he'd ever tasted before - bitter and sweet, gentle and rough, spicy and refreshing.

"It's..." Rocket zoned out, trying to put it into words. Instead he turned to Sale and offered her the bottle.

Sale grabbed it by it's neck, and brought it to her own lips. After a couple gulps of the drink, she found herself incredibly hydrated, and a slight burning sensation as well.

She looked at Rocket with a gaze, and saw her own emotion reflected in his eyes.

"Right?" Rocket said.

"I kinda like it but I kinda hate it."

"I know, it's awesome!" Rocket exclaimed, grabbing the bottle from her and taking three full gulps of the drink.

"Hey what the fuck! I wasn't done!" Sale laughed, stealing the bottle from Rocket's grasp and drinking even more of the mysterious alcohol. Gulp after gulp, the drink seemed to taste better with every drop. Sale saw Rocket leaning in to take the bottle once again. She countered with a swift kick to his chest, sending him to the opposite end of the couch.

Rocket was taken aback by her sudden act of physical violence, but not at all deterred from grabbing the bottle. He approached her again, rapidly crawling across the couch, only to be met with a kick to the side of his face, knocking him off the couch before he could do anything.

"How did you-," he started, rubbing his muzzle.

"I'm flexible. And faster than you." She said, briefly removing the bottle from her muzzle, only to bring it to her lips again.

"Flexibility ain't everything. Don't underestimate the power of brute strength!" Rocket exclaimed, ramming into the front of the couch, effectively tipping it backwards. Sale reacted quickly, hopping off of the sofa before it fell over, landing a few feet away from Rocket

She glared at him with competition in her eyes.

"Hey look, I don't want this to escalate, and get to a point where I hurt you and make you sad and stuff-"

"Oh you don't gotta worry about that."

Rocket sighed, and quickly flipped the couch to the upright position. He exhaled and took a seat, leaning back on the futon.

"Can we spar later, Sale?"

Sale smiled and sat down beside him. Not close enough for them to touch sides, but close enough that it could be considered somewhat romantic. She gently offered him the bottle, to which he graciously took it from her hands.

"Thanks." He said, slowly sipping away at the drink.

Sale exhaled.

Then a thought came to her. And instead of debating whether or not it was the right thing to say for hours on end, she went right out and said it.

"Thank you too."

Rocket looked at her in confusion.

"For what-the drink? Oh it's really no problem-"

"No, not the drink."

"...then what?"

"For...pretty much everything."

Rocket looked at her, seemingly trying to decipher the meaning of the vague statement by studying her face closer. Sale spoke up once again.

"For taking me here. For...helping me."

Rocket chuckled.

"Well it was either that or die on Knowhere, heh."

Sale grew silent.

Rocket felt like he had just made a huge mistake, so he had spoke up again.

"I mean...I would've helped you anyway."

"Why?" Sale asked, coldly.

"What?"

"Why? Rocket, why would you?"

Rocket looked away from her, lowering his gaze to the bottle, watching the purple liquid swish around. Again, that same silence coming over the both of them, adding to the fire of tension. He looked up to her, a look of worry on his face.

Sale could tell he was contemplating how to phrase his next statement.

"It's just- I don't really...care about a lot of shit. I don't...have a lot of respect for pretty much anything. But, when I met you, you were just this strong, independent gal. Someone who stood for good - in one of the worst places in the galaxy."

Rocket cleared his throat, and slowly lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"I have a lot of respect for you, Sale."

Sale smiled for a second, and soon felt a cold chill again.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked, turning away from him, regretting her choice of words almost immediately.

She heard the rustling of the cushion beside her as he approached, and the soft glass clink as Rocket quickly set down the bottle on the floor. She prepared and gritted her teeth, anticipating his paw on her shoulder. The burning sensation of touch never came, and she opened her eyes and looked at him. He was sitting at a very close proximity to her, his hands crossed and in his lap, looking at her with worry.

"He respects me enough to not make me uncomfortable." Sale contemplated, "He looks like he cares-"

"Sale, I- I've never met anyone like you before. You- You're smart, incredibly talented, you show no fear, and um, more importantly - you happen to have an exceptional sense of humor, which is a very rare thing."

Sale was, in fact touched by his words. She felt an intense warmness grow within her heart with every word he said, to a point where she was fighting the urge to smile stupidly.

But she was still hesitant.

And then she relapsed.

"Ok, I get it. You got a fuckin' crush on me. But why should I trust you?" She deadpanned. Her stone-cold face gazing into his, betraying her inner emotions.

Sale watched as Rocket grew frustrated and stood up from the couch. He began pacing in small circles in front of her, all the while ranting,

"Why should you trust me? I got on your ship, I showed you to the book. I told the truth. At any point in time you could've killed me! And no one would ever know! We're out here, in the middle of nowhere."

"Rocket-"

"I did everything I could to help you, Sale!"

"But why?" She asked

"WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKIN ME THAT?"

Silence enveloped the two.

"This is something I've never experienced before. It's...I don't know what to- I uh..." Sale's voice trailed off. Rocket stared at her, watching her eyes tremble, feeling the heavy weight of sympathy crushing his chest. Slowly and extremely cautiously, he walked over to her and sat down beside her again.

Sale quit the train of thought, grabbing the bottle from the ground and bringing it to her lips once more. The liquor bottle was less than halfway empty, Sale taking the initiative to finish the rest of it.

Rocket watched her as she did so, a slight nervousness brewing within him.

"That stuff's pretty strong..."

Sale ignored him, and continued the drinking.

"Sale, are you sure-"

He was interrupted with the loud shattering of the glass bottle against the concrete ground. The glass shards scattered across a ten meter radius, each piece sparkling in the moonlight. Rocket followed the line of sight from the bottle's impact, to Sale's toned arms, to Sale's face - gazing into his.

"She looks so fucking amazingly hot right now," Rocket thought to himself.

Sale started laughing again.

"Forget the whole thing. I mean, what was I fuckin' worrying about? Haha..." Sale said.

"What do ya mean?" Rocket giggled.

"I mean," Sale said between laughs, "I don't think you're actually a threat."

"Is that so?"

"I could obviously kick your ass if you tried anything!"

The two shared an extended laugh.

"Alright," He began, standing up, "Let's settle th-FUCK!"

Rocket exclaimed in pain and leapt back onto the couch, having stepped on a large shard of glass. As he cradled his injured foot, Sale's laugh increased in volume.

"You fuckin' dumbass! Are you okay?"

Rocket winced in pain.

"Y-yeah, totally. I could still beat you up."

Sale stood up, being careful and sidestepping the pieces of glass. She continued walking until she ended up the most well-lit area of the warehouse. The beams of moonlight were strongest in this area, illuminating the particles of dust with a white-blue tint.

Rocket stared at her as she turned to look at him, her fur glistening in the luminous cobalt lighting. Her purple eyes were vivid and striking, her white, black, and chestnut furred face displaying one of genuine enjoyment. Rocket quickly stood up, stepping carefully around the glass and making his way to her.

The two stood across from each other, each glaring at one another with glaring, playful competition. Sale had a playful smirk across her face, one that Rocket had seen twice before - the one that drove him crazy. Rocket had a predatory grin on his, appearing hungry and cannibalistic, in some way. Sale found it incredibly arousing.

"Ready?" Rocket growled.

"Do something, idiot." Sale teased.

Rocket charged at her, extending his arms and aiming directly at her torso. Sale saw the intent in his eyes, and prepared a block and a counter attack. As soon as he had come within a foot of her, she brought her foot up and swiftly kicked him in the face.

Two loud, painfully-sounding impacts echoed throughout the hideout - Rocket getting kicked in the face and Rocket falling onto his back.

For the first time ever, Sale felt just a little bit bad about causing physical harm to someone. But before she knew it, she felt her balance thrown off - Rocket had swept her legs with his foot, causing her to fall onto her side. Sale caught herself, planting two solid paws on the concrete, and quickly and swiftly pushing herself back onto her feet.

Once upright, she immediately went in for another swift and powerful kick to Rocket's chest. Unexpectedly, he had caught her leg in his paws, and pulled her to him. In an impressive display of skill and balance, Sale had leapt into the air, using her other free leg to kick Rocket in the neck.

Rocket jumped back, just in time to dodge the blow. He then threw a punch, which she caught. She then threw a few of her own, which he had also blocked. The two eventually exchanged several blows, both evenly matched, combat-wise.

Minutes passed, and the two become more tired and exhausted. They were also frustrated as a result of neither of them taking the upper hand in the fight - them being locked in a stalemate for what seemed like an incredibly long amount of time. Hit after hit, dodge rolls, blocking, shoving, and kicks. Rocket's vision had become blurred and foggy. Sale saw this and took advantage of the situation, landing a blow onto his muzzle.

Rocket's head shot backwards, grunting in pain as his tooth cut into his inner lip.

"F-fuck..." He started, shuddering out a breath.

"So when...is this...over?" Sale said.

"Wh-when...one of us...is on the fucking gr-"

Sale cut him off, charging Rocket as he blinked and forcing him onto the ground. She had knocked the wind out of him, Rocket exhaling harshly into her face - Sale subconsciously enjoying the earthly aroma. With either paw on each side of his head, Sale straddled him, starring at his face as he slowly opened his eyes. Those exhausted hazel brown eyes staring into hers, a trail of blood seeping out of his mouth and onto the side of his head.

"That's that," she said.

"I slipped. L-Let's call it a draw."

Sale laughed.

Rocket looked up at her.

She was backlit by the moon, the night sky surrounding her.

Rocket's reflected smile soon faded, as more serious and romantic thoughts floated into his mind. He redirected his gaze onto her mouth, imagining how soft and delicate her lips must feel, and how perfectly her muzzle would fuse and meld with his. Sale noticed this, and her slight grin began to falter as well.

She grew uncomfortable, and broke eye contact with Rocket. She sat up and scooted away from him, having abandoned her pinning and intimate position. He followed suit, leaning up. He saw it in her eyes that she'd had some very heavy thoughts on her mind as well - she appeared contemplative, and moderately...afraid?

"Hey. Sale?"

No response.

He leaned closer to her, placing his paw on top of hers. He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of his rough paw pads on her silky soft fur. He watched her head slowly and adorably rise to look at his paw on hers, and then at him - vibrant purple orbs peering into nervous brown ones.

"Let's get some shut-eye." Rocket said.

Sale thought for a moment.

Reason and logic had gotten her nowhere. She made the decision based on passion alone. Flipping her paw, she gripped his forcefully, and lifted it to his eye line.

"Do you think we should talk about this?"

Rocket felt his heart sink.

"About what? I don't-"

She scoffed.

"About what? You're really gonna ask that?" Sale had burst out laughing.

Rocket felt instant regret.

"About what...Okay...," Sale began to list out, grabbing one of her fingers with an opposite paw, "There was that time on Knowhere where were hiding behind that dumpster and you were smelling my neck, I felt that!"

"Yeah, I was-"

"And last night where I gave you that cock-hungry look and made you all nervous and shit!"

"I fuckin' knew you did that on purpose! That's so not cool-"

"You were starin' at me like, nonstop while we transcribed the Half-World book..."

"Yeah, okay. I get it."

"And this morning! All that about how my jumpsuit left 'little to the imagination' ?"

"Okay! You're fucking hot! Is that it? You want me to confess? I'm sure you already knew that."

"So is that it?"

"What?"

She leaned in closer to him, setting a paw on his knee.

"Is that it?

Rocket looked away, avoiding her eyes. He would require no time at all to put into words the feelings he had for her, and could just as easily tell them to her. But even given the perfect opportunity, he fought every urge and instinct to finally let her know. There was this small thing stopping him, this one component that didn't sit well with him. Throughout the course of their time together, Sale had never shown any romantic, genuine, intimate interest at all. It made him think that his deep confession would be pointless. That these feelings of his were not mutual, and could damage or possibly ruin their friendship.

Rocket looked at her, meeting her eyes. He started to think about her, as a person. From the beginning, it was clear to him that she wasn't someone that was given an easy life. Her strength had to have originated from pain, as it usually does. Then he started to see things from her perspective. She'd lived her whole life with a 'kill or be killed' mentality, casting aside any capacity for trust she may have had.

Now Rocket was confused.

"Does she still not trust me? She trusts me to lead her to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of fucking Knowhere...she can clearly best me in a fight, why doesn't she-..." his thoughts trailed off for a few seconds.

"She's hesitant to trust me with her heart," he realized.

While Rocket had been going through this inner monologue, Sale had watched him. "If he had any feelings for you, he'd require no time to put them into words. Scumbag's probably upset you aren't up for a loveless fuck."_She contemplated, _"He's exhibited zero scumbag behaviors thus far. Maybe he's just nervous? Trying to think of just the right words? But...he...he is taking a long time."

Sale sighed.

"Never mind," She she said, voice slightly cracking. "It's-"

Rocket had once again placed his paw on hers. He'd scooted closer to her and looked her directly in the eyes. He'd cleared his throat, and begun to speak.

"That isn't it. It's not just that. Like I said before, you're one of the only people in this shitty fucking galaxy that I respect. I really think it's cool how you stand up for justice, even when it may seem impossible. I like how you're knowledgeable about engineering-It's really nice to talk to someone who actually knows what the fuck they're talking about."

The two shared a concise and nervous laugh.

"And another thing! A lotta chicks don't got a damn sense of humor! It's fuckin ridiculous. I, uh...I actually feel...not... like a freak or like vermin when I'm with you. I like listening to your voice. I like looking at you. You make me feel warm...and, I have this stupid thought running around my head...that like, you happen to be the only other female bipedal raccoon in existence, and you also happen to be most hardcore chick in existence, and I somehow managed to get lucky enough to meet you, to get to know you, and to spend time with you."

Rocket took a breath.

"I don't know if this will sound cute or cheesy or creepy, but I...I feel like..., I feel like you were made for me."

The two shared a silence.

"So, that's what I think."

Sale kept her gaze on the ground.

Rocket cleared his throat.

"W-What do you think?"

"I think you're dumb."

"What?"

"I think you're dumb, and stupid, and handsome, and cute, hot, smart, funny, and you make me feel happier than I've ever felt before. Like...in my entire life. Honestly...I feel like you were made for me too. T-that we're made for each other."

After her dialogue, Sale continued to stare at the floor. She felt Rocket's paw on top of hers now begin to burn wonderfully on her own.

"So where does that leave us?," Rocket stammered.

Sale chuckled.

"I don't know, but I don't think I can act all flirty and get you to choke up like I used to."

They both shared a laugh.

"I dunno..."

"Oh? What're you suggesting?"

"I'm not suggestin' anything. All I'm saying is... it might have a different effect."

"Like?"

Rocket shrugged.

Sale giggled, moving her paw up to brush some stray furs past her ear and slowly brought her gaze up. With a playful and somewhat hungry smile, she leaned over to him. This time around, Rocket was not fazed as she approached. Sale tested this, crawling closer and closer. Her face was inches from his.

They felt each others breath.

"Yeah this is not as much fun without you getting all worked up."

"Hard to get worked up knowing that you wouldn't kill me if I...reciprocated."

"You don't know that."

Rocket chuckled, the low, bassy rhythm sending chills down Sale's spine.

"So you're saying that you don't want me, a quote-unquote 'handsome, cute and hot' guy just all over ya?"

Sale giggled, and her eyes began to wander from his eyes, down to the cybernetic implants on his neck, then down to his muscled torso.

"Fffuck..."

Rocket noticed this, and brought one of his arms up to her chin, gently nudging it upwards, to meet his eyes.

"Eyes up here, mister." Rocket purred.

Their mouths were now inches apart. The two stared into each others eyes.

"Do something, idiot." Sale growled.

Rocket leaned his head forward, gently pressing his lips onto hers. He'd felt time stop, that any useless information that had been in his head had instantly vanished - where they were, why they were there...none of that was important. All that mattered to him at this point was how incredibly soft and tender and moist her lips were. It wasn't his first kiss, but it was the only passionate one he'd ever had. One wherein he'd actually cared about the person he was kissing. It felt much different this time around. It had actually felt somewhat electrically charged, much like delectable sparks extending across their obsidian lips.

As for Sale, her first kiss couldn't have gone better. She'd had nothing to compare it to, but the heated, intimate, wet kiss was a sensation unlike any she'd ever had. Being the inexperienced one she'd, for once, decided to let go, and give control to another.

Rocket tilted his head slightly, allowing his muzzle to fully enter hers, every inch of their lips connecting. After a few moments of this, he quickly retracted from her, gently gasping for air.

"That was- I forgot to breathe...," He whispered between breaths.

Sale gazed at the raccoon before her, nervously breathing and looking up at her for validation. Every second of the kiss was incredible, and she desperately wanted it to continue. The voice of reason in her head was nonexistent at this point, all rationality was gone. There was nothing else in the world but her and him.

And she wanted him.

Alas, the few seconds Sale took to realize how happy she was at this point, Rocket mistook her prolonged silence as that of shock or anger.

"Oh..Sorry. I shouldn't-"

Sale had interrupted him with a swift and forceful shove, knocking him to his back. She then wrapped both her arms around his neck, running her fingers through the fur on the back of his head. Sale looked at him for a brief moment, admiring his cute, confused, and somewhat nervous expression before smashing her muzzle into his.

Rocket exhaled through his nose in surprise and arousal. He found her lips were much more eager this time around, passionately and vigorously pressing onto his. With their muzzles fully connected, Sale moaned quietly into Rocket's mouth. Soon after, she felt his burning paws gently plant themselves on her hips, his digits gently exploring and massaging the small of her back.

The sensation of romantic touch was unfamiliar to Sale, but she found she thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. She felt it to be enticing, comforting, and incredibly arousing.

Gently digging his claws into her tank top's cotton fabric, Rocket pressed his lips against hers even harder, and slowly brought forth his tongue, delicately tasting her lower lip. The flavor was sweet, and knowing that it was Sale's made it all the more delectable.

Sale's heartbeat increased exponentially with each action that Rocket took, and she found herself feeling like she'd never felt before. His coarse and wet tongue traced across her lip slowly, alternating between her bottom lip and her mouth's surrounding stray furs. It was exciting, exhilarating, and hot. She had slowly and sensually migrated her paws from his upper neck to his lower jaw, then finally gripped the sides of his head tightly.

Her tongue began to crave his taste as well, She'd extended it slightly, parting her lips and touching her tongue with his. She merely rested her tongue atop of his, but Rocket exhaled loudly as they had made contact. His grip on her curvaceous sides tightened, his claws threatening to tear into her shirt. Once her tongue had entered his mouth, they had begun to spiral out of control.

Any amount of restraint or composure was now a distant memory.

Rocket pulled down on Sale's hips, tightly pressing her body to his as they kissed. He'd found the friction to be incredibly arousing, and within minutes, his member had reached it's complete firmness. Sale had felt his manhood press against her, and a wave of blood had rushed to her cheeks. She'd removed her paws from his face and had positioned them on his broad, toned chest, excitedly exploring his muscled torso, or at least, what his black tanktop had covered.

Restraint was gone, and she wanted to feel him. Not the texture of his clothes, but his warm, coarse fur. She cared not for composure, and proceeded to use her sharpened claws to tear into Rocket's tanktop. Within one swift motion, four large openings in the fabric were made, and Sale dug both her paws into them. Taking no effort, she'd pulled apart in separate directions, effectively ripping the shirt in half, and presenting Rocket's bare torso to her.

With no hesitation, she'd passionately planted her paws on him. They moved about him, hungry for the sensation of touch, to caress his build, to feel him. To feel Rocket.

He broke the kiss, much to the dismay of Sale.

"You know, ya could've just asked me to take it off," He teased, whispering into her ear.

Sale, however, was not in a cute, flirty mood anymore. She removed one hand from his chest and tightly gripped his head, positioning it back in front of hers, and crashing her lips once again into his. Their kisses were wet, sloppy, and aggressive. Time after time, Sale pushed her head harder against his, dragging her tongue from the roof of his mouth to the back of his throat. Their noses were constantly exhaling onto each others cheeks, their breaths rapid, frantic, and loud.

As Rocket continued to run his paws all over Sale's lower back, the idea crossed his mind to forcibly tear her garments as she did his. But he wouldn't be sure where it would escalate from there, and the concrete floor was now starting to become uncomfortable.

He broke the kiss once more. Sale's eyes shot open, and she was pissed off.

"Stop. Fucking. Doing that," She demanded.

"Sale, I-...I'd think we'd both be more comfortable, if we both took this somewhere else?"

"Fine, carry me, whatever. Don't fucking stop kissing me, dumbass."

Sale angrily pressed her lips to his, her thirst for his saliva never ceasing, her hunger for the taste of his lips seemingly growing by the second. For a brief moment, Rocket was confused as to how he'd go about transporting her to the bed in his room. But within a few moments, an idea popped in his head, and dastardly grin emerged on his lips.

Rocket sat up slowly, tightly gripping her curves. Sale wrapped her arms around his neck once again, interlocking them. He'd taken a knee, creating leverage for him to rise up and stand. She'd wrapped her legs around his waist. For 'support', Rocket migrated his paws from above her waist to slowly and tightly gripping her tight, round ass.

She exhaled rather loudly into his face as he did this, increasing her ferocity in the kiss, desperately and passionately exploring every inch of his mouth with her tongue.

Within a few minutes, Rocket had managed to carry her to his old bedroom. Lacking any subtlety, he threw her onto the bed, excitedly climbing on top of her. Straddling her now, their wet mouths never broke connection, and Sale's moans continuing to grow in volume. This time, she'd broken the kiss.

"You didn't carry me here just to feel me up, did ya?" She teased, wiping some sweat from her face with the back of her paw.

"I mean, the concrete was pretty uncomfortable..." Rocket replied, leaning in and tenderly kissing the side of her muzzle, softly caressing her cheek.

"But I don't need to devise schemes to feel you up, do I?" He whispered, his hot breath sending shivers through her spine.

She'd tried to tease back, but felt her heart nearly beat out of her chest, finding it hard to catch a full breath. He then slowly turned her head towards his, guiding it with his paw. He gazed at her, his chestnut eyes lovingly admiring her violet orbs. His expression was one she'd seen earlier that day - a hungry and predatory grin. She'd felt his opposite paw glide across her hip, before working it's way under her shirt, gripping it with his thumb. Before she could break eye contact, he'd moved even closer, dragging his muzzle across her face, exhaling into her ear.

"...because I know you want it too," Rocket breathed.

Sale whimpered.

Rocket brought both hands to her curves, slowly working their way up, taking her shirt off with them. He'd leaned back a bit - just enough distance to see her...all of her. She'd grown distressed, they hadn't kissed for about a minute now. With a huff, she'd soon realized that he purposely running his hands across her at an excruciatingly slow pace, withholding kisses, whispering in a sultry tone, all to get her riled up, much like she did him. However, just knowing this didn't make it any easier for her to resist him.

She'd contracted her shoulders, lifting her arms and neck slightly, allowing Rocket to fully remove that one piece of clothing. Rocket had carelessly tossed it to the side. He'd leaned back into a kneel, a leg on either side of her. Rather humorously, Rocket struggled to pull the ripped tank top of his own body. Making short work of it, he'd threw it aside in a similar manner, slowly lowering himself back over Sale.

Their nearly bare bodied connected with the sensation of a pleasing wildfire. Paws ran along her sides once more, before migrating to her back. One teased her lower waist, while the other pushed her chest harder against his. Rocket leaned in for a kiss, but stopped just a few inches away. He watched her as she closed her eyes in anticipation, before slowly opening confusedly. Rocket smiled at her with a toothy grin. Sale, however was pissed off beyond belief. Gritting her teeth, she'd dug her claws into his back and neck.

"Oh you think teasin' me is so fun, yeah?" She'd growled, her voice reaching bassy tones that Rocket had never heard from her before.

Rocket nervously chuckled, wincing in pain.

Sale contracted her left leg, bringing it between her and Rocket's lower stomach. In an incredible display of flexibility, she'd teased his abdomen with her feet paws, claws gently dragging across his fur. She'd relished in seeing is smug expression wither away, into one that she'd imagined that she had just moments earlier - a heated mess.

She'd caught the both waistline of his pants and the hem of his boxers with the tip of her foot, and grinned wickedly as she began to slowly, and excruciatingly bring them down.

"S-Sale, we don't have to-," Rocket started.

She silenced him with a gentle, restrained kiss. Once broken, she lidded her eyes as she gazed at his nervous face.

"You were right," She said softly.

Rocket's hard, throbbing cock was now free of its confines, slapping against her loins, dampening her furs with his abundance of precum. Sale ran her muzzle against the side of his face, mirroring his previous actions. She licked her lips before sending him over the edge.

"I do want this..." She exhaled.

She'd brought his pants past his feet, effectively removing them completely. Slowly and sensually, she angled her head back, meeting his quivering gaze. She decided against waiting for him to regain composure, and instead moved forward to kiss him. Unbeknownst to her, Rocket had, at that point, lost all control. He'd crashed her lips into hers, both of their heads colliding with powerful force. Their muzzles were now accustomed to one another, fitting together perfectly. The sensations felt as great as they had with each continued kiss, if not yielding an increased amount of pleasure. She threw her paws around him, massaging and gripping his muscled back.

Rocket pulled her harder and closer to him, their sweaty bodies seemingly melding together. He moaned deeply as his erect member was compressed against her crotch. Without daring to break the wet kiss, Rocket arched his back and moved his hands to her own tight pants. Aggressively and desperately, he'd nearly ripped them off her legs, pulling them back as far as he could without leaving her mouth. Sale had broke the kiss, allowing him to do so. Excitedly, Rocket completed removing her pants, then panties. Finally, he began to position himself to enter her.

Holding his throbbing, hard, crimson cock in his hand, Rocket aimed the tip towards her moist, hungry, pink entrance. He placed it in the correct position, drawing out a brief gasp from Sale, then proceeded to lower himself back down, pressing his body against hers and passionately kissing her cheek.

"Are you ready?" He'd asked.

"Y-yeah," She exhaled.

Rocket detected a brief amount of nervousness from her.

"I-I'll be gentle," Rocket assured her.

Sale scoffed.

"Fuck that."

She wrapped her athletic legs around Rocket's pelvis, and forced him completely inside of her. The both of them let out a surprised gasp. Sale underestimated the overall length and girth of Rocket's dick, as it seemed to painfully stretch her inner walls apart. Rocket had never felt his shaft be embedded in something so tight before, shuddering and shivering into her neck.

The two took the time to catch their breaths, and eventually caught eyes. Rocket gazed down at Sale, her expression reading one of pain, anxiety, and pleasure.

"There's that cock-hungry look again," he teased, his breath shuddering.

"Shut up and fuck me," Sale deadpanned.

Rocket did as requested, slowly moving his member outwards, and then gently thrusting forwards. The two resumed their cannibalistic kissing, their paws traveling all across one another. Sale contracted her legs against his pelvis, thrusting him against her harder, indicating she wanted a faster pace. He obliged, sliding in and out of her slightly quicker.

The squeaking of the old mattress grew louder with each thrust. Curious paws eventually found their way over to Sale's chest. He eagerly and vigorously caressed the bright red material covering her plump, sizable breasts. She'd giggled into his mouth, momentarily breaking the kiss.

"Can't unhook a bra, can ya? Shame... it'd probably feel better," She teased.

"I can think of something."

Rocket unsheathed his claws, tearing into the middle of the bra, then pulling it apart. Rocket silenced her with a kiss and a faster thrust pace before she could protest. Both of his paws found their way to each of her breasts, both fervently kneading and clutching them tightly. Sale had moaned into his mouth once more, her voice's pitch seemingly increasing with every thrust. He found her fur was much softer on this part of her body, allowing his paws to glide across them with ease. His grip hardened on them with each thrust, extracting a small moan from Sale in response.

He'd begun to pump her faster, his cock shoving deeper into her. Sale had threw her head to the side, letting out a broken gasp. Acting on pure instinct, Rocket removed his hands from her breasts and wrapped around her back, holding her closer to him. She'd begun to arch her back, her staggered breaths and frantic moans being a symphony to his ears. Rocket opened his eyes after having them closed after sheer concentration, to view the incredible sight before him. Sale had her eyes tightly shut, her jaw hanging slightly agape as she heavily panted. Her breasts bounced with every trust, much to Rocket's delight.

He then realized he'd been incredibly selfish, not taking part in an incredibly important part of intercourse. He'd put two fingers together, gently nudging them into Sale's mouth. She'd instinctively accepted them, eagerly sucking and coating them in her saliva. After a few minutes of this, he removed them from her mouth, dragging them from her chin, down her neck, and across her curvaceous body. Sale's mind was no longer with her, she quivered and moaned in response to his touch. Rocket increased his pace once more as his fingers reached their desired target. Both fingers had teasingly traced the area around her clitoris, before going fourth and gently massaging it. Sale's panicked breaths grew louder, and her moans had reached arousingly loud volume. Rocket knew he couldn't last for much longer, but decided bite down on his tongue and hold on. Sale was in extreme and utter bliss at this point, and he'd be damned if he took that away from her.

He pumped faster, his cock banging against the wall of her cervix and leaving her pussy lips repeatedly, all within intense one-second intervals. He moved like a blur, squeezing her against him, viciously rubbing her clit, and pounding her powerfully.

The initial pain was a distant memory, and the pleasure was overwhelming. Within a few more seconds, Sale knew she would climax. Wrapping her legs tighter around him, and digging her claws into his back, Sale began to prepare herself.

"Rocket...I t-think I..." She barely managed to say, her voice beginning to give out.

"Yeah, me too."

"H-hold...hold...m-me...t-t-tighter,"

Rocket buried his muzzle into her neck, removing his paw from her clit to wrap around her back, using both arms to hold onto her tightly. He'd reached thrusting speeds that threatened to break the bed's sturdy supports.

Sale's moans grew louder, and Rocket began to rhythmically grunt into her neck. This was it, they were both past the point of no return. Sale's inner walls began to tighten around Rocket, as he thrusted deeper and faster that he'd ever had.

Then, in unison, they climaxed. Sale shrieked as she'd felt a flood of sensation unlike anything she'd felt before. Her pussy gripped Rocket's cock as he'd ejaculated load after load of hot, milky cum inside of her. Rocket cursed loudly into her neck, overrun with sensation, emotion, and energy. It was as if they'd both been approaching this cliff all night, and the sensation of jumping off was more than emotionally comprehensible. Sale's body shook and shuddered, her nails sinking deeper into the flesh of Rocket's back, drawing slight amounts of blood. Rocket's grip around her was strong, and she was nearly crushed as he came inside her.

Minutes passed where nothing occurred but breathing. Then slowly, Rocket removed his head from being buried in Sale's shoulder and brought it in front of her. They both stared at each other, each finding some satisfaction in the exhausted and blissful look on the other's face.

Rocket leaned in and kissed her.

It was brief, but it was lovingly.

He then slowly pulled out of her, and rolled over onto his side.

"Fuck..." She exhaled.

Rocket nodded in agreement.

Both being exhausted out of their minds, naturally slumber was what would come after. Rocket picked up two pillows and a blanket off the ground, both which had fallen off as a result of their frantic fucking. He'd gently and carefully slipped one under Sale's head, and placed one down for him. Sale playfully took the blanket from him, and rolled over.

"Night," She said.

Rocket felt a grin grow across his face. He'd pulled the same blanket over his own body, as well, pressing up against her backside and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'm the big spoon," He joked.

"I can feel your wet cock on my ass, dude."

Rocket blushed, as he realized that he was, in fact, pressing his flaccid penis up against her rear end. A few moments passed, and without thinking, Rocket brought his hands to her butt, feeling and kneading her plump ass. Then he realized something else. He became fully erect in a matter of seconds, and an idea came to mind.

"Round Two?"

She laughed, a wicked smile finding it's way on her face as well.

"Shut up and fuck me," Sale deadpanned.

And so they did.

And again.

And again.

The two found it incredibly hard to sleep within each others proximity without losing control and having frantic, passionate sex. They both agreed that they needed sleep, so Rocket retreated to the couch in the warehouse, but ending up waking up to find Sale lustfully grinding on his lap. So they fucked again.

It was nearly morning when they'd climaxed for the fifth time, both gazing lovingly into each others eyes and exchanging wet, loving, tired kisses. Sale's eyes began to flutter, and Rocket's followed suit. They snuggled together on the couch, interlocking paws and sharing gentle kisses. She yawned before burying her head into his strong chest. Rocket comfortably rested his head atop hers, enjoying her fruity, musky, sweaty aroma.

They were both moments from falling asleep, before Rocket spoke up.

"Sale?"

"I'm too tired for round six, Rocket..." Sale groaned.

"No that's not-...I just wanted to say that,"

Rocket cleared his throat.

Sale looked up at him.

Vibrant purple orbs peering into nervous hazel eyes.

"I love you," Rocket said.

His voice cracked not only due to his severe exhaustion, but because of the sincerity of his words. Sale felt a sense of tranquility wash over her. Delicately, her fingers gently traced circles on his back. She slowly arched her head up to tenderly kiss his muzzle. There were several moments wherein she'd suspected he loved her. The way he'd looked at her while they were transcribing the book, gazing at her like she was an equal, a best friend, and the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The way he'd joked with her, laughed with her, respected her. The way he'd caressed her softly, and the way he kissed her. She'd never been more sure of anything in her life.

"I love you too."

Rocket smiled.

"Now shut up, I'm tired," She muttered.

The two awoke earlier that day borderline enemies, but would fall asleep together, as lovers.

As Rocket felt consciousness begin to leave him, he had a level of happiness that he'd never had before. His heart beat stronger, with more purpose, filled to the brim with love. As he gently stroked her fur, he couldn't help but stupidly grin in retrospect of the days events. Sure, after a few dozen drinks and on a particularly lonely night, the raccoon couldn't help but fantasize about his 'perfect woman.' Up until now, he hadn't realized how much he wanted someone. Within a few seconds, he fell asleep filled with hope. Hope that tomorrow morning, Rocket would wake up smiling for the first time.