Mariethecakegal - Bingo-Bango!

Hello bugborg fandom! I present you with a short drabble.

Knowhere. 4 days after the abduction of Kevin Bacon.

“You knew.”

“What?”

“You knew the whole time, Nebula.” Mantis paused, deep in thought. Then finally, all those questions bubbled to the surface and formed one word. “How?”

Nebula was getting annoyed. “Again, knew what? I don't read minds, bug.”

“That Ego is my father.”

“Was,” Nebula corrected. Mantis flinched. Her antennae flickered a bit.

“I told you yesterday,” Mantis continued. “But I could sense…guilt. Remorse. Nervousness. You already knew.” 

Nebula stiffened. “It wasn't hard to guess. Ego didn't have a single other being living on his planet. He murdered all of his previous children and their mothers, makes sense he'd spare the most useful one.”

Mantis's eyes widened for a moment. “Yes, that was why he wanted to find Peter.”

“I'm not talking about Peter, grasshopper.”

“It's Mantis.”

“Let's just say that we've got one thing in common.”

“What is that?”

Something resembling a smile twitched on Nebula's lips. “We both had total dicks for fathers.”

Reading a book about slavery in the middle-ages, and as the author sorts through different source materials from different eras, I am starting to understand why so many completely fantastical accounts of "faraway lands" went without as much as a shrug. The world is such a weird place that you can either refuse to believe any of it or just go "yeah that might as well happen" and carry on with your day.

There was this 10th century arab traveller who wrote into an account that the fine trade furs come from a land where the night only lasts one hour in the summer and the sun doesn't rise at all in the winter, people use dogs to travel, and where children have white hair. I don't think I'd believe something like that either if I didn't live here.

Vibes for Softly Tortured Characters

For the ones who make you want to wrap them in a blanket and also scream “JUST TALK TO SOMEONE.”

Always looks like they didn’t sleep (because they didn’t)

Talks like they’re about to say something else, but never does

Constantly touches their sleeves/jewelry/lip, like if they’re not holding something, they’ll fall apart

Laughs too easily, but it never quite reaches their eyes

Over-apologizes for things no one noticed

Craves affection but flinches when they get it

Body language = trying to take up as little space as possible

Flashes of unexpected rage, like pressure finally cracking glass

Always says “I’m fine” in a tone that screams “Please ask again”

Cries alone, then wipes their face like it’s a secret

Feels safest in chaos because stillness feels like waiting for pain

Thinks being loved means being a burden

Cannot remember the last time they were truly, fully relaxed

Keeps people at arm’s length, but is the first to drop everything if someone else needs help

Treats their own joy like it's a luxury they didn’t earn

a whole foods of pearl & overcast

Bank of Sapphire Cold?

A chimera occurs when genetically distinct tissues co-exist within the same plant. The mutant plants exhibit different sections of color on a flower. In some cases, the color presented is a reversion to the flower’s ancestral form.

Part 2:

“What are you doing?” Mantis had snuck up on Nebula curled up in her bed, flicking a triangular prism of paper back and forth. It had been approximately seventeen hours and forty-two minutes since their last conversation. 

“Some stupid game,” Nebula didn't even look up, focused on aiming the paper triangle directly at the lamp across the room. 

Mantis tilted her head. “If it is stupid…then why are you playing it?”

Nebula shrugged. Flicked the paper with her left hand. It crashed onto the floor without a sound. “Don't know. Don't care.”

Mantis shifted on her feet, then leaned back on her heels, then stared at the ceiling. “Can I join you?”

Nebula didn't say yes. She didn't nod. She just scooted to the head of the bed, back pressed against the wall, and patted the other side. “Get the paper. Get up. Put your hands like this. Let's get on with it already.”

Mantis copied Nebula's hand position, but Nebula had to make adjustments. For half a second, her hands touched Mantis's. Nebula's hands were surprisingly cold. Mantis couldn't help the way she stared into Nebula's eyes, her antennae glowing in the dim room.

“You're nervous.”

Nebula pulled away with more speed than a bullet shooting out of a rifle. “I didn't give you permission to read my mind, insect.”

Mantis stared at the black bedsheets. “Sorry.”

She was met with a paper triangle hitting her in the chest, then falling into the space between her hands. Nebula's expression remained untouched. “Score.”

Somewhere else on the planet, Rocket and Drax would be wondering where Nebula and Mantis had been all afternoon. They weren't going to find out.

Hello bugborg fandom! I present you with a short drabble.

Knowhere. 4 days after the abduction of Kevin Bacon.

“You knew.”

“What?”

“You knew the whole time, Nebula.” Mantis paused, deep in thought. Then finally, all those questions bubbled to the surface and formed one word. “How?”

Nebula was getting annoyed. “Again, knew what? I don't read minds, bug.”

“That Ego is my father.”

“Was,” Nebula corrected. Mantis flinched. Her antennae flickered a bit.

“I told you yesterday,” Mantis continued. “But I could sense…guilt. Remorse. Nervousness. You already knew.” 

Nebula stiffened. “It wasn't hard to guess. Ego didn't have a single other being living on his planet. He murdered all of his previous children and their mothers, makes sense he'd spare the most useful one.”

Mantis's eyes widened for a moment. “Yes, that was why he wanted to find Peter.”

“I'm not talking about Peter, grasshopper.”

“It's Mantis.”

“Let's just say that we've got one thing in common.”

“What is that?”

Something resembling a smile twitched on Nebula's lips. “We both had total dicks for fathers.”

Just letting myself relax and stave off burnout the best I can.

Here's a bat blep as a thank you.

Sadly, not my bat.