[ When she seems to leave the topic alone, Peter lets out a sigh of relief.
But, nope, she raised his hopes and dashed them quite expertly, and when she presses on, he winces all over again. For a long while, he's quiet, looking down at his hands as he fidgets with Mantis' patch. ]
... I'm not gonna yell at you, Mantis.
[ That, at least, he says with certainty.
Because really, Peter's just— tired. After everything that happened, after the whole, giant mess, Peter's angry and confused and hurt, and a small part of him wants to lash out and shout at the top of his lungs as some kind of outlet for that knotted mess of emotions writhing in his gut, but mostly he's just exhausted. And, yeah, his mind has been buzzing with unanswered questions, with a lot of what-ifs and whys.
But he's tired. Too tired to take it out on anyone, Mantis especially. And for a second, it shows with the way his shoulders fall, with the way his expression sort of crumples around the edges.
He scrubs at his face, covers his eyes for a second as he takes a deep breath. ]
Here's the thing. [ Quietly, slowly, as he chooses his words with care. ] I don't— I don't actually think you had a choice, did you? I think... you were forced to do a lot of that stuff. I think you had to do as you were told, or something might happen.
[ (Logically, he knows it isn't Mantis' fault, whatever it was that Ego made her do. Emotionally, though, the thought of Mantis having a hand in manipulating his half-siblings, in helping with Ego's plan, leaves a bitter taste in Peter's mouth.
He tries his best to swallow around it.)
A pause. He swallows thickly, and he peers up at her, studying her. ]
no subject
But, nope, she raised his hopes and dashed them quite expertly, and when she presses on, he winces all over again. For a long while, he's quiet, looking down at his hands as he fidgets with Mantis' patch. ]
... I'm not gonna yell at you, Mantis.
[ That, at least, he says with certainty.
Because really, Peter's just— tired. After everything that happened, after the whole, giant mess, Peter's angry and confused and hurt, and a small part of him wants to lash out and shout at the top of his lungs as some kind of outlet for that knotted mess of emotions writhing in his gut, but mostly he's just exhausted. And, yeah, his mind has been buzzing with unanswered questions, with a lot of what-ifs and whys.
But he's tired. Too tired to take it out on anyone, Mantis especially. And for a second, it shows with the way his shoulders fall, with the way his expression sort of crumples around the edges.
He scrubs at his face, covers his eyes for a second as he takes a deep breath. ]
Here's the thing. [ Quietly, slowly, as he chooses his words with care. ] I don't— I don't actually think you had a choice, did you? I think... you were forced to do a lot of that stuff. I think you had to do as you were told, or something might happen.
[ (Logically, he knows it isn't Mantis' fault, whatever it was that Ego made her do. Emotionally, though, the thought of Mantis having a hand in manipulating his half-siblings, in helping with Ego's plan, leaves a bitter taste in Peter's mouth.
He tries his best to swallow around it.)
A pause. He swallows thickly, and he peers up at her, studying her. ]
Right?