you are the dancing queen

[glowfeelers]

who: Mantis & Quill
what: Drinks and karaoke because why not
when: July 10
where: A karaoke bar somewhere
warnings: alcohol? will update as needed but really this is just shenanigans


closed to peter

[ A few drinks had been had when Mantis first arrived here, but the timing and the topic that had come up had done a good job at smudging out the enjoyment of it (Thanos and everything involving him isn't exactly the most fun topic to discuss), and Peter had (rightfully) cut her off, anyway.

But now that the dust has settled and the entire city seems to be in party mode, it seems like a good time for round two!

So after a colourful evening of eating their way through carnivale sweets, Mantis and Quill have somehow ended up in a lively looking place. Not a shady little bar, no weird looking people to say weird things to her (presumably anyway, and it helps that she is no longer wearing shirts with inappropriate puns on them), and hell, most people are even wearing clothes! Some workers are setting up for karaoke while the live band finishes up their show, and Mantis has once again found a strangely coloured cocktail to drink. ]

How pretty! [ It's a bright magenta colour, with a little umbrella for garnish - pretty is definitely a word for it. ] Would you like a pretty drink too, Peter?

Comments

[glowfeelers]

[ Suddenly a thought occurs to her, ] Are there more hand related expressions of joy?

[ That's the best and most normal way to describe it, right? Definitely right. All smiles (and a little swaying that makes her path a little zigzaggy), Mantis happily walks along with him and responds, ] Good! I am good, and definitely not puke-y. Are you good, Peter?

[nostalgiabomb]

I mean, other than clapping? That's pretty much it.

Oh! And secret handshakes.

[ Not that Peter had many of those, growing up, considering his school friends were few and far between. ]

And, yeah, I'm always good.

[glowfeelers]

There are secret handshakes?

[ Little things continue to fascinate Mantis, if the excited curiosity in her voice and her expression in response to the knowledge that there are secret handshakes are any indications. Sitting back down, she leans in and asks, voice lowered since they are discussing secrets, ]

Do you know any secret handshakes?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ And Peter similarly takes another seat. He pauses, then—

—well. Apparently he's playing with fire tonight, because he signals for another round.

When Mantis leans in conspiratorially like that, he makes an effort to restrain the way he wants to laugh. He mostly keeps it together, so he explains, ]

It's not, like, a top secret thing. It's a handshake you make up with people you're close with.

[ Aaand he's carefully sidestepping the other question.

Peter was a lonely little kid when he was on Earth, and living with the Ravagers had its own host of problems. Neither of those things are what he really wants to think about right now. ]

[glowfeelers]

[ Top secret or not, she seems quite taken with the concept! (That and the new cocktail that the bartender deposits in front of her, which she starts in on as soon as it's in her presence. Clearly, someone is enjoying herself!) ]

Do you have a secret handshake with Gamora? Oh! [ AN IDEA ] Would you like to create a handshake with me?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Gamora and Peter's secret handshake is better left in the bedroom, for everyone's sake.

So it's much safer to respond to Mantis' second question. ]

We should. [ And he says it like this is the greatest concept in the world. ] But we should make it something, like, pretty simple, you know? So it's easy to remember.

[ Especially when there's no way of knowing what state they'll wake up in tomorrow. ]

[glowfeelers]

[ Everything Mantis knows about handshaking is as follows: you shake hands with another person. Even that she doesn't do often, but she imagines that for a handshake to be secret it has to be something a little more, right? ]

Simple, yes!

[ Good idea. She doesn't even know what to do, delighted as she is by the idea, but she figures step one is to extend her hand. ]

How simple?

[nostalgiabomb]

I dunno. Simple enough that we'll remember it tomorrow?

[ He scoots his chair so that he's facing her more fully. With an air that's probably far too serious for the situation, ]

So a secret handshake is, like, a bunch of parts that you kinda throw together. It's kinda like choreographing a bunch of high fives or snaps or fist bumps and stuff. I think some folks do a quick spin or a dance move? But that seems like overkill.

Like, I guess it's not really a secret handshake, since we all knew about it, but Ravagers had a salute for each other, like—

[ And Peter demonstrates, putting his right hand into a fist and thumping the left side of his chest twice. ]

So it could be simple like that, too.