you get the gray skies outta my way

[feelybug]

who: Mantis (and yoooou)
what: Catch-All~
when: The month of August
where: All abouts
warnings: Almost without a doubt there will be spoilers for Guardians Vol. 2 in this post. You have been warned.



[Closed to Peter Quill]
[Mantis, after recovering the necessary iron from the room of laundry, paces in front of the elevator, awaiting the arrival of her 'instructor'. She is not sure why she is nervous, but she is that, in addition to the general excitement she has retained at the idea of learning more new skills.

Someone, likely one of her floor-neighbors, walks by and Mantis offers an explanation they didn't ask for.] I am going to learn to sew and to iron.

[Very important stuff.]

[Closed to Gamora]
[Mantis is not really sure what to expect or if this will end well.

On the other hand, she knows she probably needs this. It is important to learn to take care of herself. She does not always want to rely on others to protect her. Her powers are helpful, of course, but they are not enough. Mantis has seen Gamora fight, and she knows how proficient she is, so if anyone is capable of teaching Mantis to do this, it is her. She follows Gamora along the street, wondering where they were going, but staying silent for the moment. The last thing she wishes to do is annoy her 'teacher' on the first day.]

[OPEN to anyone - all around wildcard]
[Feel free to spot Mantis anywhere in the city. Places you are more likely to find her include the following:

• Wandering the streets looking for the portal, on her perimeter orientation squad grind.


• Checking out 616!Loki's club
  


• In the toy section of a second-hand store. Or any section.
  


• Anywhere else your heart desires.
  

Feel free to poke me with questions/ideas if you so desire, or just throw something at me, I'm sure it's fine.]

Comments

[franciscoramon]

[ When she agrees to the offer (which actually surprises him - he feels like most people would say no, even if it was a good idea, merely because it's a breach in usual etiquette) he grins. ]

You're most welcome. Gimme two seconds.

[ With that, he grabs one of the bags, leaving the basket with the rest of his candy sitting on the floor of the store as he goes up to the counter to pay for just that bag of peach rings. He returns a moment later, stuffing a receipt into his pocket and then tearing the plastic bag open. He plucks one of the peach rings out and pops it into his mouth, then holds the bag in Mantis's direction. ]

Moment of truth.

[feelybug]

[Mantis waits in the aisle relatively obediently, looking about at the other items in the vicinity of the rings that the new and helpful stranger has pointed out for her. There is a bag of blue gummies that she has taken to prodding at while she waits for him to make his return.

She was keeping count.]

That was not two seconds. [Her pointing this out is somewhat offhand as her gaze is already narrowing in on the offered bag. She selects an orange and yellow ring and sniffs it, nose wrinkling when a couple of errant sugar granules attach to the tip of it. She brushes them off before taking a careful bite that removes half the ring and morphs her face as she adjusts to the mix of sweet and sour the ring provides. It is a rather intense combination of both flavors and something fruity.]

These are very powerful rings. [She cannot resist finishing the other half, taking her time to chew it thoroughly whilst she offers a thumbs up. Universal symbol of acceptance.] They are very good!

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco laughs when she tells him that he was gone for more than two seconds, shaking his head a little. For the most part, whatever technology is in place that translates speech between them all works seamlessly. But it can't cover things like idioms and colloquialisms as well. ]

Just an expression. If I was gonna buy them in only two actual seconds, I'd have to be a speedster.

[ He finds himself laughing again when she describes them as powerful. It sounds like a compliment, anyway, but he had never really thought of them that way. Her thumbs up makes it clear she's enjoying the taste, so Cisco reaches in for two more and then holds out the bag to her. ]

Here, you can have the rest, I only wanted a couple anyway.

[ Cisco shakes the bag a little, prompting her to take it. ]

I'm Cisco, by the way. Nice to meet you. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say they don't have a lot of candy shops, where you're from?

[feelybug]

[Well, she understands what 'just an expression' means, but she is about to ask was a speedster is when he offers to let her have the entire bag of squishy rings. Mantis is immediately smiling.]

Thank you very much. [The thanks is genuine, and she does not hesitate to take the bag when it shakes at her, crinkling it as she is already digging for another one.]

I am Mantis. There were no shops at all on the planet I am from. There was no candy either. I did not know there were so many types of food.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco is yet again delighted by her enthusiasm, by the way that she doesn't pretend she doesn't want them and make him insist a second time, but just accepts the gift without any pretense. ]

Wait. So you're telling me you probably haven't tried, like, most of these?

[ He swings his arm in a broad arc, indicating the candy shop with its hundreds of different varieties, some bright and colorful, others glossy and dark, some shaped like fish or butterflies or belts, some on sticks or in little packets. He almost say 'any' of these, but he wants to give her some benefit of the doubt. ]

I got an idea. We should get a teeny tiny bit of as many different kinds as we can... or not that many but just... a lot [ He amends the statement midway through, realizing that given her earlier comments, she might appreciate if he were a bit more literal, and he doesn't want to ACTUALLY buy every kind in the store - ] and just find somewhere nice to sit and try them all, so we can see which ones are your favorite? Like a taste test?