[Mantis rolls the glass between her fingers, shoulders hunching a bit under what she perceives as a disappointed frown.]
I tried. When we all first arrived, we all lived together. You and me and Rocket. It was just-- There was a lot of-- It was loud and-- [Okay, she's totally failing at everything right now and she finally blurts out a complete sentence in absolute frustration:] I don't know how to live with people!
[She sucks at social things. She knows it. She knows it intimately.
And then she feels the need to defend herself, because don't be disappointed in her, Peter.] I still spent time with you both. I brought you dinner sometimes. And-- and I really did try to help when they wanted you and Rocket arrested for the bombing.
[A slight pause, then ruefully:] I didn't do that very well, though.
That's very fair. He and Rocket kind of set one another off, have special ways of lighting the fuses on each other's tempers. (Maybe a more insightful person would point out it was because they were so much alike, but Peter insists it's because Rocket is such a prick.)
When she seems to be in a hurry to defend herself, to cut off anything Peter might say, he waits, eyes slightly wide. And when she seems to lose steam, Peter breathes out a laugh. ]
Mantis. It's cool. I get it.
[ He frowns down at his glass again, trying to figure out how to best put this, then, ]
How often were you telling us to keep it down?
[ Because he has to assume she tried and that they just ignored her.
Peter fully admits he has a bad habit of saying "yes" and then forgetting his promises an instant later. ]
Well, if anyone would know how loud and uncomfortable Peter and Rocket can get, it would be Peter and Rocket, she supposes. Eyes a little wide still, she shrugs one shoulder.]
Once or twice. [That might even be an exaggeration.] I mostly just, uhm. Left.
[ He presses his lips into a thin line for a second before he takes a sip from his drink. It buys him a little time to figure out how to phrase this without sounding like he's pissed off at her. ]
Did you actually tell us to knock it off, or are you just saying you did because I asked?
I have noticed. [There's a touch of wryness in her tone and her lips quirk upward as she picks up her drink. She has definitely noticed that. Hard not to, really.
She takes a drink and debates even saying what she's thinking for a moment. But truth will out someday anyway and she half-suspects that Peter already knows what she's about to say. Or -- at least, he would if he gave it some thought.] I have spent most of my life trying not to bring attention to myself. It was easier to slip away. I apologized to both of you but you don't remember so-- I am sorry. I will try to do better.
[ He presses his lips together into a thin line, regarding her over his glass.
He barely knows her. What he does know is that however it was that it happened, she ended up on their side. He remembers Mantis standing on the construction ship, terrified, but still offering her help. He remembers Mantis using her abilities against his father, keeping that giant goddamn ass-blaster at bay. He remembers her getting knocked the hell out, too, and Drax carrying her to safety.
(After that... things sort of cut to black, until he woke up on Thesa.)
He doesn’t know how the hell any of that happened or what her reasoning was for helping them – aside from the obvious fact that Ego was a huge, unmitigated cask of crap with a cup of crazy on the side – but he has to admit, whatever she was before, now, she’s kind of part of the team.
... Whether or not she wants to be is another matter entirely. ]
[That's a difficult question and Mantis doesn't quite know how to answer it. She's feels as if she's grown since coming here, but it's been a slow process and full of hiccups along the way. Her initial response is to shake her head. No, she does not want to be alone.
But sometimes, she needs some time to regroup.
She does not know why this is so hard to put into words.]
No. I missed you and Rocket. [And she cannot help but think that she could have helped them more if she'd been living with them. It's a dumb though. She knows that it is, but cannot help it.] I got lonely sometimes.
(It sucks, he thinks, that he's lost all that time by going back into the pod, or whatever the hell happened. He and Mantis must've been friends, at some point, and if their roles were switched, if he was the one talking to some jerk who'd forgotten all that time, he'd be seriously disappointed.) ]
But the noise gets to be too much.
[ A statement, rather than a question. He gets that, too. Peter is used to a shitton of noise, thanks to living with a ton of Ravagers on the Eclector, where peace and quiet were absolutely impossible to come by. But, hey, not everyone is. ]
Gamora will be there, too, you know.
[ And on the surface, that extra person might seem like a deterrent, but— ]
She'll probably help balance it out.
[ Because when Gamora asks for quiet, the options are to either listen to her or get something thrown at his face. And given Gamora's unerring accuracy, he knows better than to test her. ]
[She nods, a bit shyly and certainly glad that he gets what she's trying to say. Ego had had his moments, of course, of exuberance and rage; things could certainly be loud sometimes when she was with him. (But with Ego, his 'louder' moods tended toward instability.
That usually meant that she needed to make herself scarce, if at all possible.
A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.] It does.
[But then she sobers and doesn't look uncomfortable so much as uncertain.] Will she? I do not know her very well.
[Yet. She is determined that she will get to know the woman.]
Yeah. Trust me. Gamora could herd feral cats, if she wanted to.
[ He pauses for a second before leaning forward on the table, head tilting slightly. ]
But, you know, obviously it's your call. [ Peter's not in the habit of forcing anyone to stay where they don't want to be. ] I mean, if you'd rather stay at your own place, it's whatever. You're welcome to just hang out, if you want.
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I tried. When we all first arrived, we all lived together. You and me and Rocket. It was just-- There was a lot of-- It was loud and-- [Okay, she's totally failing at everything right now and she finally blurts out a complete sentence in absolute frustration:] I don't know how to live with people!
[She sucks at social things. She knows it. She knows it intimately.
And then she feels the need to defend herself, because don't be disappointed in her, Peter.] I still spent time with you both. I brought you dinner sometimes. And-- and I really did try to help when they wanted you and Rocket arrested for the bombing.
[A slight pause, then ruefully:] I didn't do that very well, though.
no subject
... Well.
That's very fair. He and Rocket kind of set one another off, have special ways of lighting the fuses on each other's tempers. (Maybe a more insightful person would point out it was because they were so much alike, but Peter insists it's because Rocket is such a prick.)
When she seems to be in a hurry to defend herself, to cut off anything Peter might say, he waits, eyes slightly wide. And when she seems to lose steam, Peter breathes out a laugh. ]
Mantis. It's cool. I get it.
[ He frowns down at his glass again, trying to figure out how to best put this, then, ]
How often were you telling us to keep it down?
[ Because he has to assume she tried and that they just ignored her.
Peter fully admits he has a bad habit of saying "yes" and then forgetting his promises an instant later. ]
no subject
Well, if anyone would know how loud and uncomfortable Peter and Rocket can get, it would be Peter and Rocket, she supposes. Eyes a little wide still, she shrugs one shoulder.]
Once or twice. [That might even be an exaggeration.] I mostly just, uhm. Left.
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Did you actually tell us to knock it off, or are you just saying you did because I asked?
no subject
I... I think I said that it was too loud once but I don't think that I said it loud enough.
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... You should've tried shouting. We respond really well to shouting.
[ Mostly by shouting back, but it's basically their most common form of communication. ]
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She takes a drink and debates even saying what she's thinking for a moment. But truth will out someday anyway and she half-suspects that Peter already knows what she's about to say. Or -- at least, he would if he gave it some thought.] I have spent most of my life trying not to bring attention to myself. It was easier to slip away. I apologized to both of you but you don't remember so-- I am sorry. I will try to do better.
no subject
He barely knows her. What he does know is that however it was that it happened, she ended up on their side. He remembers Mantis standing on the construction ship, terrified, but still offering her help. He remembers Mantis using her abilities against his father, keeping that giant goddamn ass-blaster at bay. He remembers her getting knocked the hell out, too, and Drax carrying her to safety.
(After that... things sort of cut to black, until he woke up on Thesa.)
He doesn’t know how the hell any of that happened or what her reasoning was for helping them – aside from the obvious fact that Ego was a huge, unmitigated cask of crap with a cup of crazy on the side – but he has to admit, whatever she was before, now, she’s kind of part of the team.
... Whether or not she wants to be is another matter entirely. ]
You still wanna live on your own, then?
[ And he asks it as evenly as he can. ]
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But sometimes, she needs some time to regroup.
She does not know why this is so hard to put into words.]
No. I missed you and Rocket. [And she cannot help but think that she could have helped them more if she'd been living with them. It's a dumb though. She knows that it is, but cannot help it.] I got lonely sometimes.
no subject
(It sucks, he thinks, that he's lost all that time by going back into the pod, or whatever the hell happened. He and Mantis must've been friends, at some point, and if their roles were switched, if he was the one talking to some jerk who'd forgotten all that time, he'd be seriously disappointed.) ]
But the noise gets to be too much.
[ A statement, rather than a question. He gets that, too. Peter is used to a shitton of noise, thanks to living with a ton of Ravagers on the Eclector, where peace and quiet were absolutely impossible to come by. But, hey, not everyone is. ]
Gamora will be there, too, you know.
[ And on the surface, that extra person might seem like a deterrent, but— ]
She'll probably help balance it out.
[ Because when Gamora asks for quiet, the options are to either listen to her or get something thrown at his face. And given Gamora's unerring accuracy, he knows better than to test her. ]
no subject
That usually meant that she needed to make herself scarce, if at all possible.
A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.] It does.
[But then she sobers and doesn't look uncomfortable so much as uncertain.] Will she? I do not know her very well.
[Yet. She is determined that she will get to know the woman.]
no subject
Yeah. Trust me. Gamora could herd feral cats, if she wanted to.
[ He pauses for a second before leaning forward on the table, head tilting slightly. ]
But, you know, obviously it's your call. [ Peter's not in the habit of forcing anyone to stay where they don't want to be. ] I mean, if you'd rather stay at your own place, it's whatever. You're welcome to just hang out, if you want.