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Rocket doesn’t know the extent of Groot’s hidey-holes until one day when they can’t afford two tickets for the shuttle. They don’t realize it until they’re halfway through the line, and the clock is ticking. They’ve got about two hours before the dealer’s due at the meeting point, and if they don’t make this sale they’re BEYOND broke.
"We’re thirty short," Rocket says, pawing through the bags Groot's carrying and muttering to himself. "Shit. Shit!"
"I am Groot."
"No, I won’t fit in there. Besides, they SCAN THE BAGS, nimrod, they make SURE there’s no life signs in your luggage so people don’t do EXACTLY TH- hey!"
Rocket struggles against the weird barky grasp, but nothing doing. Groot holds him gently but firmly around the middle, pressing him to Groot’s chest. Rocket thinks maybe this is Groot’s dumb idea of a calming hug or something until he notices that his nose isn’t getting squished - there’s a funny little opening, like Groot’s got a hollow rib cage and it’s just about big enough in there that… OH.
Rocket scrambles in, too invested in this sale to be indignant about the situation. He checks the little cracks and entry points of the crevice, angling himself so the orange of the clothes isn’t visible from the outside. When Groot rumbles, pleased with his success, Rocket feels it below him, behind him, everywhere. It’s like a gentle smug earthquake.
"Just play it cool," Rocket hisses.
Four more people in front of them in line. He can’t see anything, but he feels Groot take careful steps, then tilt to the side. Rocket hears the gun bag clank on the scanner. Several beeps.
"We’re gonna have to stow that," someone says boredly.
"I am Groot."
"Is that consent to have your belongings stowed?"
"I am Groot."
In the darkness, Rocket quietly claws at his own face.
"… please nod if you consent."
Rocket hears the little leaves in Groot’s head shake as he nods. The man mutters something and Groot starts loping toward the shuttle.
"Okay," Rocket whispers. "We got lucky. But try to act normal for the trip, okay? Don’t - don’t pet your chest or talk to me or nothin’."
"I am Groot."
"No!"
Groot rumbles a little sigh and bends over, ducking down to fit through the doorway. Groot takes a seat at first, but then a humanoid family hustles in, and Groot gets up and offers it to the lady. Rocket mutters under his breath and stretches his legs out in every direction to keep himself from rolling as Groot moves.
**
The shuttle takes an hour. Rocket ends up falling asleep in there.
**
They use the hidey-hole again a few weeks later, when Rocket’s spotted grabbing the keycard they need and two guards are after him in the market.
"LEMME IN!" He whispers, scrabbling at Groot’s chest cavity. Groot tilts his head and opens up accommodatingly, making a concerned thrum when Rocket gets in and starts pulling on the bark panels like he’s trying to shut a sliding door.
"Security saw me," Rocket pants, relief slumping his shoulders as his nose fills up with the weird chlorophyll-and-moss smell. The guards start jostling people, making them open up their bags and open their coats, and Groot gets through the inspection with little trouble since he’s not wearing or carrying anything. Groot doesn’t walk back to the ship, though, just ambles in a seemingly random direction as Rocket finally gathers up the courage to peek through the little opening between two barky plates.
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, thanks, I know." Rocket sighs and lines up one eye with the crack, looking around. "Where we goin’?"
"I am Groot."
Groot walks to the little fountain in the town square, sitting on a bench and watching the kids play for a while. When the ball they’re playing with rolls over, Groot bends down slowly to grab it, rolling it back. A little girl spots him and looks scared at first, finally smiling.
"Five more minutes," Rocket negotiates, peering out the crack, "then we go back to the ship."
"I am Groot."
"Eight minutes."
"I am Groot."
"It’s stuffy in here! Ten minutes."
"I am Groot."
"Deal."
**
Several weeks later, the flophouse bed they get is infested with spacebugs. Rocket sleeps in Groot’s chest instead and it turns out to be the best sleep he’s had in months.
**
Sometimes Rocket wonders if the little cupboard space is just big enough for him because that’s how big Groot is, or because that’s how big Rocket is.
**
They get locked up after a job goes way beyond south. It takes a while to gather up all the bits they need to get out. In the meanwhile, Rocket sleeps in Groot and bites a guy in the cheek when he makes fun him for it.
(The guy tastes awful. It’s worth it.)
**
The implants hurt sometimes. If he gets hit just right, and he gets a nasty bruise next to the spot where fur turns to metal, the skin gets tender and inflamed and won't calm down for a few days. Nobody can tell, underneath the jacket, but Rocket knows that Groot notices when he leans forward instead of back in the pilot's chair, and tries to sleep on his stomach instead of his back.
Thing is, Rocket just can't sleep on his stomach. He's not one of those people who can sleep however. It's either curled up in a little circle, which would currently stretch and strain at his spine in a way he doesn't wanna do, or on his back, like a regular person, and that would put pressure on EVERYTHING. He tries his side. No go. He even takes off the damn jacket. No. The mattress might as well be a plank.
Groot rumbles and there's a soft sound, like leaves brushing against bark. He lumbers up (ha) and moves to sit next to the bed, showing his open chest cavity.
The bottom is lined with soft moss.
"I don't deserve you," Rocket mumbles, just quiet enough he can pretend Groot didn't hear. He crawls in.