video | un: mantis

[uglybug]

Hello. I am Mantis. [With that abrupt greeting comes an equally abrupt (and not at all awkward, really!) smile. She's trying. There's a bit of a pause here, as her smile fades a bit, to be replaced by a genuinely contrite expression.] I apologize. I know I have a hideous face. I will not show it here again. I wanted to meet all of you, though.

[And that means face-to-face, you poor unfortunate souls.]

Some of you have asked such interesting questions. I am afraid that I do not have any to ask of you. I wanted to meet you all and introduce myself. [Cue the friendly awkward smile again. She is getting better at it, at least.] Oh! Perhaps you could tell me something about yourself. [A pause, as she tries and fails to think of a more specific question. Then, a little defeated:] Anything at all will do, I suppose.

[She glances downward for just a short moment, uncomfortable and anxious at the attention she's calling toward herself. But it's just that: a short moment, easily mistaken for wandering attention, perhaps.]

Comments

[beatupgrass]

[HE DOES.]

Okay, well I'm gonna be honest. I think all of you hairless idiots are hideous. But I don't say that, 'cause objectively I know people somehow want to get physical with Quill, and that must mean something.

[uglybug]

'Get physical'? [Give her a moment. It'll dawn on her. She did, after all, grow up around Ego.] Oh, I see. [And suddenly she's thinking way too hard about this.] Perhaps... different people see beauty in different things. I can reconcile it that way, I suppose.

[Or maybe some people just aren't bothered by hideousness. It's hard to tell.]

[beatupgrass]

See, there you go. Now you know nobody is bullshittin' you when they tell you three hundred times you're not hideous.

[Well, some of them are probably going to be insincere, but you can't even teach Drax about insincerity, nor does he want to learn.]

[uglybug]

[She sighs -- it's a hefty one and the face she makes is just this side of disgusted.]

People are very complicated.

[beatupgrass]

Yep. It's the kind of thing that makes a person a misanthrope, but what can you do?

[uglybug]

Nothing, I suppose, except try to understand.

[beatupgrass]

You are way more patient than I am.

[ain't nobody got time for peace, love, and understanding.]