Wrapping Her Arm Around His, She Rested Her Temple Against His Shoulder. The Thought Of Walking Out With

"Your emotions say otherwise," Mantis murmured softly, her empathic abilities picking up on his turmoil. "I can alleviate some of your discomfort, if you'd like?" She gently reached out a hand towards Loki's forehead, intending to use her empathic touch to ease his headache. "As for the idiocy of others, unfortunately my powers can't help with that."

Loki didn't realize his hand was on his head until he caught the other looking. "I'm fine. Headache." he dropped it, nodding to the case in front of them. "Because apparently everyone collectively decided to be idiots this week."

As Johnny approached, she hesitated for a moment before tentatively extending her hand towards him. "The park sounds nice," she agreed, her tone soft and uncertain. "But what if I'm not fine?" Her antennae twitched with uncertainty as she followed him, hoping for reassurance in the midst of her newfound doubt.

"Well, that was a lie." Johnny gave her a knowing look and left the door so he could walk over to her. He made grabby hands towards her. "Come on. Let's go to the park or something. Get you some fresh, not Stark-owned air." He smirked. "You'll be fine."

Mantis listened intently to Johnny's words, feeling a sense of warmth and understanding wash over her. She appreciated his efforts to comfort her, even if she still struggled to fully grasp the complexities of human emotions. As he stopped walking and held both of her hands in his, she couldn't help but be touched by his sincerity. "Thank you, Johnny," she murmured, her voice soft yet filled with genuine gratitude. "Your words... they help." She offered him a tentative smile, her trust in him growing with each passing moment. "And yes, I understand what you mean," Mantis dropped her gaze momentarily, processing his words. "I'm just glad to know it doesn't mean I'm a bad person... I want to believe Tony is a good person, he's never given me a reason to think otherwise. This was just a lot."

"Yeah. Well, I mean it was kinda the first big thing that happened for you down here," he mused, giving her a small, but reassuring, smile when she finally looked up at him. But then Mantis continued and he stopped walking, the amusement fading and giving way to a more concerned expression. "You should be able to, yeah. But you saw something that scared you and made you have doubt. That's okay, babe." Johnny lifted his his free hand and held both of hers in his own as he came to a stop in front of her. "It's a normal reaction to what happened. And it was freaky as hell. Being worried about it is only human." Johnny wrinkled his nose, almost immediately catching himself. "You know what I mean."

Though she'd only been on Earth for a short time, Mantis had found a number of things she enjoyed. Recently she stumbled upon an intriguing Earthly pastime—rock-paper-scissors. Not realizing it was a game better suited for multiple players, she had started a game by herself. With childlike enthusiasm, Mantis animatedly formed the hand signs of rock, paper, and scissors in various combinations, giggling to herself each time she'd 'won' her one-woman competition, blissfully unaware of anyone and anything.

🤔 for a confused starter for @awclintno

Mantis had known she'd have to talk about her home at some point, although truth be told she would have rather waited a bit longer before the topic had come up. But she was comfortable with Loki, at least, so it wasn't as difficult to open up to him about her life before the Avengers. "I lived with Ego before I came here. It was just me and the Living Planet my entire life. No animals, talking or otherwise, no other living being besides me and my father," she paused a moment, a breathy laugh on her lip as she forced a small smile. "If you've never met Ego, you should be happy about it. He's not exactly what I'd call a 'people person.'"

"Oh. Well, thank the gods," he said under his breath, vanishing the file with a wave of his hand. "If animals here on Earth could talk, I'd be in trouble." Loki looked at her for a moment, before asking, "Where are you from again?"

Mantis was that much more excited when her enthusiasm was returned, looked up from the screen at Carol with a bright smile. "Screaming goat videos? I shall definitely explore those. Thank you for the suggestion, Carol Danvers," she replied, shaking Carol's hand with a gentle warmth. "I'm Mantis. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Pause, rewind, and repeat babycakes, because that is the most adorable thing I've seen all day." Nevermind that it was only ten-thirty in the morning, that wasn't important. Carol flashed a grin to her newfound companion. "Apart from yourself, obviously. Carol Danvers," she said, extending her hand earnestly. "Also, if you need a switch-up, try the screaming goat videos. I found those to be very funny."

Mantis beamed at the praise, her antennae perking up even more. She returned the shoulder bump with a playful nudge of her own. "Double points? Wow, I feel so special!" she said teasingly, glad that everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves. "I'm glad nothing bad happened. I was worried that something might go wrong. It was really hard to focus on the party at times, I found myself more patrolling than partying more than once."

Johnny smiled and shook his head. "You had nothing to be nervous about. You did good, Bug." He sat down beside her and gently bumped her shoulder with his. "Mhm, it was fun. Your extensive research on all things related to Earth parties paid off. And," he continued, nodding at her. "Nothing bad happened. That's been a constant at every other thing we've had as of late, so I think you get double points for that one."

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emotions

😡 for an angry starter

😄 for a happy starter

😲 for a shocking starter

😭 for a sad starter

🤔 for a confused starter

😶 for an angsty starter

🥰 for a fluffy starter

👻 for a scared starter

💢 to start a fight with my muse

💀 for a jealous starter

🤗 for my muse to comfort yours

plot-themed

👀 my muse catches yours in a shady situation

🔎 our muses find a clue to an investigation

🕵️ my muse helps yours on a mission

🛡️ for my muse to shield your muse from something

⚔️ for our muses to duel / fight

texts

✨ for an excited text

🔥 for a lustful text

💔 for a heartbreaking text

🗣️ for a rude text

☕ for a morning text

💤 for a midnight text

🍺 for a drunk text

muse

📷 for an instagram post

👶 for a throwback instagram post.

🖼️ to see the last pictures taken on my muse’s phone.

🎭 for a gif moodboard of my character ( or a + character name )

🎨 for an aesthetic of my character ( or a + character name )

🎵 for a mini-playlist my character ( or a + character name )

She had actually observed that fact, from the many videos she'd watched it seemed that falling over was indeed humorous, although she didn't necessarily see the humor in it. "I've observed similar behaviors among other species during periods of celebration or revelry. It seems that physical comedy holds a universal appeal across many cultures and beings. And I imagine the element of unpredictability adds to the excitement." Perhaps she would have to ask for a demonstration of it at some point.

"Well people find it funny when everyone falls over, and usually this game is played by children or drunk adults." She explained, shrugging. "If you play with a lot of people then the person who gets everyone out would step to the side, making less and less people with each round. That way the game lasts longer cause it goes pretty quick." Ella told the other girl, but wasn't sure how well she was selling it. "It can be pretty fun as long as you don't get hurt!"

Mantis smiled warmly as she considered the idea of adopting a furry friend, the notion of forming a connection with a small Earth creature intrigued her. "I think I would like that. Would you go with me to pick one out?" Not that she was looking to get one right at that moment, although she probably wouldn't need much coercing to change her mind. She was quite enjoying the companionship of her new friends already. Having one around all the time sounded very pleasant. "You know, when I'm ready for one. I don't think I'm quite there yet."

"Yeah. Tell me about it. It gets everywhere." The white fur on his hand after he ruffled Luna's fur was evident of that. He smirked when she curled up on Mantis's lap and looked up at her. "They've been coming with me on days we aren't out on a mission, so feel free to whenever. Just not permanently, because my husband would hunt you down," he teased and sat beside her, gently bumping her shoulder. "You should totally adopt one, though."