Guardians of the Galaxy One-shots and Preferences

Reorganizing- Groot

My first Groot one-shot. I was thinking about that one end credit scene from the second movie when Groot is now a teenager and Peter was giving him a hard time about cleaning up his room. I also took some inspiration from this clip from Ed Edd n' Eddy.

"Hey, guys!" Rocket calls out to you and the other Guardians as you all lounge about the ship that was landed on some random planet. "What do you need this time?" Gamora questions."You say that like I ask so much from you," Rocket sarcastically comments, "I've been working on upgrading the engines to the ship, but I can't find the final part I need to install. Anyone seen a rod like thing that looks like it's suppose to belong on an engine." "That's not exactly narrowing it down," you deadpan. "We'll just look around the ship, there's not much to cover anyway," Peter points out, "Besides, it shouldn't take too long with all seven of us working together."

"It looks like we're missing one," Mantis points out. "Drax is standing over, he's not invisible," Gamora nods at Drax who was busy cleaning his knife. "Not yet," Drax agrees, "But I could...if I wanted to. I've had years of practice perfecting the art of standing so still I become invisible." "I was actually talking about Groot," Mantis rephrases, "Has anyone seen him recently?"

"I think he locked himself in his room after I took that video game thingy away from him," Peter answers. "Really?" you raise an eyebrow. "Why would you do that?" Rocket asks, "that gaming device is the only thing that's been keeping Groot happy and distracted since that little puberty related growth spurt he went through." "He has to learn boundaries," Peter argues, "Groot's in a vulnerable stage right now, where violent games can influence his behavior." "he's growing up," Rocket argues back, "He's gonna do what he's gonna do. Groot's not a baby anymore, there's a fine line between parenting and smothering." "Just cause it rhymes doesn't mean it's sound advice," Peter retorts. "Okay, dad one and dad two, can we get back on track here?" you interrupt, "Groot probably has the spare part in his room, let's go and ask."

You and the Guardians head for Groot's room. Peter tries to open it, but realizes it was locked. "Groot," Peter knocks on the door, "Groot open up." "I am Groot," Groot provides for an answer. The tone indicated the teenage talking tree didn't want to be disturbed. "Groot, don't be like that," Peter speaks up, "Look, I know you're still upset about me taking your game away, but we really need to get in, so open the door." "I am Groot!" "Hey, you better watch your tone, mister," Peter sternly says, "now you have five seconds to open this door before I kick it down."

"Here let me try something," Drax offers, approaching the door with a battering ram. "Since when did we keep a battering ram on the ship?" you point. "You never know when an uprising may occur and we need to break some tyrant's door down," Drax shrugs, "besides, this little trick used to work with my daughter when she refused to open the door." Drax clears his throat before addressing, "Groot!" he knocks on the door, "I am both respecting your privacy by knocking, BUT asserting myself as your paternal authority figure by coming in anyway!" Drax then uses the battering ram to kick the door open. You and the others stare at Drax with shocked looks on your faces, which became even more shocked once you all see the state of Groot's living conditions.

To say the place was messy would be a gross understatement. Vines and leaves and branches were scattered all over the place, stuff was knocked over, and judging by the smell, it's safe to say something died in here. "Dude!" Peter grimaces, covering his nose from the stench, "Seriously, I thought we talked about this!" "I am Groot," Groot sasses. "I highly doubt you could possibly be comfortable in this mess," Peter argues back. "You might want to check under the bed," Rocket holds his own nose, "I think something died in here." "I am Groot." "Look Groot, we just need to see if you have that spare part in here that Rocket needs," you reason, "Once we have it, we'll get out of your hair." "It may take awhile seeing the state of this place," Peter mutters as you all scatter to look for the part.

"Um, Groot, this would go by a lot quicker if you helped out," Gamora points out. Groot rolls his eyes and reluctantly crawls under the bed to search. "I am Groot!" Groot says five minutes later, popping out of the bed with the spare part; along with half a dozen birds. "Groot!" Peter exclaims, "How can you live this way!" You, Drax, and Gamora try and shoo the birds out of the room with brooms. "I need air!" Peter opens a window so the birds could escape. "I am Groot!" Groot frantically calls out for the birds as they fly away. "I am Groot, I am Groot, I am Groot!"
"I hate birds. They're so useless," Rocket grumbles while Groot tries to fly after them, pointless as it was.

"Okay Groot, that does it," Peter starts to get mad, "You're room is so messy even birds can't stand to be in here. You're going to take a mop and broom and clean this place up. If it's not done by the time we take off, no video games for a month. One month!" You and the others exit. You turn and see Groot was had this sad look in his eye. Even though the little talking tree was going through his rebellious streak right now, you could still see he was sensitive and can get his feelings hurt easy.

You couldn't stand to see the poor little guy so sad. "Groot," you approach, "Don't be so sad, sweetie. Peter didn't mean it, you know he likes to keep the ship a little more tidy than this." "I am Groot," Groot points out. "Well yeah it wasn't exactly organization central when this whole ship was basically his bachelor pad," you admit, "but at least he did manage to tidy up once we became the Guardians of the Galaxy." "I am Groot," Groot admits, knowing he could do a better job keeping his own room clean, "I am Groot." "It won't take all day," you encourage, "You just gotta keep at it, and before you know it, this place will be spotless. In fact," you take a broom, "A little extra help and we'll be done long before the deadline." Groot still didn't seem up to the task, but a least he felt a little better that he didn't have to do it alone.
"By the way, Groot," you speak up as you get started, "When was the last time you cleaned your room." "I am Groot," answers, which was another way to say there was no last time.

------Four hours later--------------

"Well that wasn't so bad was it?" you ask once the last of the vines were trimmed."I am Groot," Groot tiredly replies. "Well, it's over and done with," you try to cheer up, "and I'm sure once Peter sees this, he'll have to give your gaming device back."

Afterwards, you and Groot head to the cockpit of the ship where, right on time, Peter was getting ready to take off. "You done cleaning your room, Groot?" Peter asks. "He is," you assure, "And Groot has some other stuff to say." Groot clears his throat and takes a seat next to Peter, "I am Groot," he begins, "I am Groot, I am Groot, I am Groot...I...am...Groot," he says the last part a bit shyly. "It's okay, buddy," Peter replies, "I shouldn't have so hard on you. We're suppose to maintain some sort of appearance as the Guardians you know." "Yeah," Rocket agrees, "We may be a bunch of a-holes to the rest of the Galaxy, but we have to look like we're tidy a-holes right?"

"I am Groot," Groot replies. "Here," Peter hands Groot his gaming device, which Groot happily accepts, "and in the near future you can play when you have the time, but we need to focus when we have jobs, alright?" "I am Groot," Groot agrees to the compromise. "Good to see we're all getting along now," Gamora smiles. "Well at the end of the day, we're one big happy, dysfunctional family," you joke, "So since Groot hasn't lost his video game privileges, where to next Quill?" "Who knows," Peter shrugs, "Let's see what work there is to find on the other side of the quadrant."

While Peter got the engines started, Groot happily played on his gaming device, lost in the moment and forgetting the little argument awhile back.