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Stupid. Explosive. A ticking time bomb. That’s what Rocket is. Love-struck. Flustered. That’s what Rocket ISN’T. Except, that’s what he was right this moment. A flustered, excited mess desperately trying to pull himself together as he and his totally-platonic-not-at-all-lowkey-gay-lover best friend shared a bed, watching some stupid movie. His totally-platonic-not-at-all-lowkey-gay-lover best friend Sword had fallen asleep on his shoulder, his in-tact one, not the prosthetic. He could feel the other man’s soft breathing on his skin, and he felt every shift of the other man as he slept. Man, Rocket was so cooked!! He found his totally-platonic-not-at-all-lowkey-gay-lover best friend adorable, his own face red. He contemplated waking Sword up and telling him to fuck off, but he’d feel terrible if he did so. Sword was his best friend, his other half! He couldn’t just tell him to, like, go die in a ditch for falling asleep!
Of course, the guilt would also kill the explosive man if he were to even as much as jostle Sword. Rocket did his best to look away, even managing to grab his TV remote AND controller; a futile attempt at distraction. He lowered his TV’s volume as low as it went, and booted up some stupid game. He couldn’t even focus on it, his eyes kept getting drawn to the stupid, golden retriever of an inphernal sleeping on his shoulder. Gods, he had no right being this adorable.
“NO! Rocket, you are NOT a homo!! This is totally ‘no homo’ territory, dude!” He couldn’t help but whisper-yell at himself, slapping his face with his hands a few times for good measure
Sword stirred with Rocket’s little outburst, blinking up at him groggily and rubbing at his eyes. Rocket was caught in place, eyes wide, face red, hands on his face, and he couldn’t really tear his gaze away from the other. The bird-like inphernal looked so tired, yet he tried to make sense of Rocket anyways. He hadn’t heard his outburst from before, but he could sense something was off. Sure, he’d seen Rocket red-faced and upset more than enough times - he was nothing but a sore loser after all, but this really looked different. He didn’t know why, but something just.. Felt different. Rocket wasn’t running to destroy anything, no, he didn’t even have that murderous glint in his eye that most Playgrounders did.
The bird-like man reached up to cup Rocket’s cheek, tilting his head and chirping in confusion. “Whuh happened?”
If Rocket could, he’d erupt into steam on the spot. Gods, that did nothing to help his totally-platonic-not-at-all-gay-panic. His tail flailed and he opened and closed his mouth, words coming out of Sword’s rather than the bumbling shark’s, “You alright?”
“Y-yeah,,,, haha!!!!! All o-okay!” Rocket finally let some words escape his mouth, sharp teeth nearly biting at his own tongue.
Now, Sword was much more awake, and he smiled softly, trying to be assuring to Rocket, “Are ya sure bud? You seem.. awfully red. And, well man, pretty rude of you to take my thing... I’m supposed to be the red one.”
This was NOT helping!! If Rocket could, he’d go even redder in the face, but alas it was not possible. He simply stared at Sword for longer than necessary, before bringing the blanket the two of them were under up to his face. He was hiding himself before he did anything embarrassing, despite how exposed he felt now. He let out a shriek into the blanket, before letting something out.
“DUDE!! You are NOT helping!!!” He shouted, his shout muffled through the blanket.
Sword kept a laugh to himself, instead leaning further into Rocket, cooing again, “I can’t help if I don’t know what’s wrong buddy, tell me?”
Rocket shouted again, before looking up at Sword pathetically. He looked like a sopping wet cat placed before him, his eyes wide and teary. Sword couldn’t keep a smile off his face, he found his friend so much more than adorable. He brushed some hair off of Rocket’s face, smiling so softly at him. Oh how infuriated it made Rocket. Stupid swordsman, god. Rocket couldn’t handle it anymore, and impulsively grabbed Sword’s face with his hands, and pulled him in for a rather quick kiss. Impulsivity is what he was known for, so this was a nice thing to see - even if it caused Rocket to hide his face again.
“Rocket?” Sword asked, stupid grin plastered on his face as Rocket mumbled something unintelligible, “You have something to tell me?”
“SFOTH if you DO NOT SHUT UP I will start calling you hateful things.” Rocket growled, and Sword let out a chuckle at that, trying to pull Rocket’s face up.
Sword’s hands gently cradled Rocket’s face, and he stared so lovingly at Rocket that he wanted to go back to hiding, but he was stuck in place as that stupid swordsman held him so lovingly, “Hey, no need to go all prickly on me - I’m just asking.”
“A-ask my ass on that one you disgusting bird.” Rocket growled, averting his gaze, no true bite in his voice.
“Oh, no thanks, no offense but I don’t think you’ve showered well enough to do that.” Sword easily replied, causing Rocket to stare in confusion at him.
The joke took a minute to land, cogs visibly turning in the shark’s head before his jaw dropped, “I DID NOT MEAN IT LIKE THAT YOU. YOU- YOU INFURIATE ME!!!!! GAYBO.” Rocket shouted, although earlier actions contradicted such a statement.
Sword raised an eyebrow, squishing Rocket’s face still in his hands before pressing a light kiss to his lips, a mimicry of Rocket’s own earlier actions. Steam practically rose from the man’s ears, as again he was left to do nothing but open and close his mouth in shock. His tail twitched repeatedly, and he averted his eyes from Sword for the umpteenth time. SFOTH, he was embarrassed. His face still hadn’t calmed down from its crimson state, making him look all the dumber.
Sheepishly, Rocket placed his palms on either sides of Sword’s face and gave him another peck on his lips, his actions much more timid than usual for the explosive rocketeer. He had a small and shaky smile on his face, and Sword couldn’t help but reciprocate.
“So.. means ya like me, right?” Rocket whispered out into the world, his voice quiet and unsteady, “You’re not just playing for shits and giggles?”
Sword held Rocket’s face gently and repeatedly kissed it, grin only growing bigger, “Of course not.. A little hurt you’d think that dude, but, no! I love you, Rocket.”
Oh. Rocket pried himself away from Sword again and hid himself within his blankets, letting out another shriek. Albeit, this time he moved closer to Sword, his weight on top of the other man, who reacted with a small chuckle. Rocket was going to be the death of him, really. Sword pet the distinctly head-shaped lump on the Rocket-shaped blanket lump, purring and cooing a soft bit as Rocket did his best to calm himself. Now was not the time to fumble such a great man. Sword’s purring helped calm down, and Rocket felt himself dozing off a bit as he purred to match Sword, a loud thing.
Rocket mumbled something from under his protective layer of covers, causing Sword to hum out a question, “Hm? Everything alright under there?”
The shark popped his head out from the covers, staring at Sword, “Ya know, this was different in my head. I pictured myself tryna confess over, I don’t know, some gay shit like a fancy dinner.” He repeated himself, coughing from some slight embarrassment.
“If it were up to me, I’d have taken you out to some scenic place to confess, but I feel safe here. It’s nice.” Sword replied, petting Rocket’s now uncovered head.
Rocket hummed in reply, his tail twitching again as he settled into Sword’s calloused hands. He was somewhat glad he ended up accidentally “confessing” to Sword here of all places. It felt safe sitting in his room, it felt right. He went right back to purring, a yawn escaping him. He was like an odd cat, getting tired with who he felt safe with. The shark grabbed Sword’s face gently and tugged him down for another kiss, giddy smile on his face as he did so. Oh, he was so, so happy. His purring practically made his whole body vibrate with its intensity, as he peppered kiss after kiss on the bird’s face. SFOTH, he was one lucky guy.
“Love, you’re so cute.” Sword mumbled against the repeated kisses, his own purring starting to match Rocket’s intensity.
He’d stopped caring for words a while ago, instead replying with a peck to Sword’s lips to shut him up. His face reddened again, albeit this time he wasn’t a bumbling fool, just a fool. Rocket made himself more comfortable by curling up against Sword, most of his body touching the bird’s. He felt so at ease, even moreso when Sword decided to enact his revenge. Now Rocket was on the receiving end of endless short, sweet kisses, a giddy smile and a red tint both making their way onto his face.
“Oh SFOTH above, I love you Sword.” Rocket mumbled sheepishly against the kisses, causing a soft, sweet chuckle to break out of him.
“I love you too, dearly. Have loved you, do love you, and will love you, darling.” Sword replied sweetly in between his assault of affection, “All the money in the world couldn’t replace you. I love to breathe the same air as you, walk the same dirt as you, and live under the same stars as you. SFOTH do I love you, Rocket.”
Rocket batted at Sword, turning a bit away, “Jeez dude- homo as fuck.. B-but, whatever you said goes right back at you, you cheesy fuck.”
A breezy chuckle filled the air, and Sword went right back to peppering Rocket with all his declarations of love. A peck to his cheek, under his nose, on his lips, just under his eyes. No part of the shark’s face went without loving, the swordsman cooing as the rocketeer felt his eyes drift shut. Oh, he was so happy to be with the love of his life.