riverview | [text] un: mantis!

are you okay.

i amokay!

how do you feel?

try switching to video. text doesn't lend itself well to your... eccentricity.

[Translation: he wants to see what kind of hyperactive 14 year old girl he's dealing with here.]

[It takes her a little while to figure out how to do that and about three tries to realize that double-pressing the video button only turns it on and off again.

After a moment first one antennae than another comes into view, and then her forehead.

It is a start.]

Hellooo?

[Instead of switching to video, he just switches to audio. Yeah, he can tell... the moment he hears her voice, that this is not someone he has to worry about as danger.]

Hold the phone with your arms stretched out, so I can see you. [A small pause as he waits for her to try it.] What's your name, doll?

[She tries not to smile really big when she hears another voice come through the phone, only because she has been told her smile is terrifying and disgusting, but this is very exciting! Not that he could see it anyway just then. She does as the voice instructs but then it doesn't last, because instead of seeing another face she sees a black screen and her confusion mounts.

When she answers him, her eyes are much closer to the screen as she attempts to see if there is a button somewhere she missed.]

I am Mantis. [There is a pause before she comes back into view, though slightly diagonally] I cannot see you.

Nothing wrong with your phone, kiddo. Just don't have my side of the feed on.

[Is she really having this much trouble with it? Ughh.. he's starting to think maybe it would go quicker to find her in person. And maybe give her some tips.]

You a mutant, Mantis?

Oh...

[The camera at least stabilizes though it remains tilted at at a slight angle as Mantis frowns in thoughtful consideration of this question.]

I do not think I am a mutant though I am told I am very ugly.

I am also an empath.

[There is a pause, and Mantis squints briefly at her phone] Are you a mutant.

[What is a mutant?]

[What a weird comment. But alright... not a mutant, just an alien, or... from some reality where humans aren't the norm.

He pauses again when he hears the word 'empath'. Gross.]

I'm a mutant, yeah.

[After a bit of thought he decides he'll get furthest showing her they have some common ground... so he switches to video, and opens his palm to show a fistful of fire burning in his hand.]

We call anything that's not a human a mutant, where I'm from. Guessing it's different for you, huh?

[It becomes more and more difficult for Mantis to understand what she is, the longer she spends trying to explain it. Not for the first time in her life, she wishes Ego had told her the name of the planet of her birth, if only because then she could better explain who she is

She sees the black on her screen flicker to life, and then the flash of light and crackle of fire in the hand of the self-professed mutant, and the black of her own eyes grows wider]

Wow. That is amazing!

I was raised alone on the planet of my master [Mantis pauses a moment to think, only to shrug, which sends the camera wobbling a little too.] I have only ever been called Mantis.

[He tips his head to the side. Master, huh... The flame disappears from his hand after he lights a cigarette off of it.]

You a slave? Or... a pet?

[Either way, the 'master' talk has him regarding her with a little less condescension.]

[Mantis is somewhat mesmerized by the smoke streaming from the stick and floating off screen. She has never seen anything quite like it and she wonders as to its purpose.]

I was a pet I suppose. A pet with a purpose.

[For a moment, her expression darkens, and Mantis’ lip may have trembled ever so slightly.] But my master had to be destroyed. He was not a nice person. [Or planet, for that matter. ...Or father.]

[He thinks the story over for a moment... and then a lazy grin spreads over his face as he makes the feed private.]

You wanna hear something funny, Mantis? We got a lot in common. I was a pet too... but my master wasn't too nice either, so he ended up killed.

[His master wasn't too good of a father, either.]

[Mantis does not even notice the video has changed to private, at least, not at first, she is more distracted by the new smile on the new face of what will surely be a new friend.

She does let out a quiet hic, mostly because this is the first time she has ever met anyone who has also been a pet. Fumbling with her phone a bit she props it onto her windowsill. The better to fidget without bouncing him around, she just has to lean forward a little to still be seen.]

Did your master also explode? [She blinks at the screen, and cannot help asking now.] What is your name?

[There's another pause as he thinks out how to approach the question. Benny's death is one of the clearest memories he has - the look of shock, the shower of blood, the rising sense of satisfaction...]

Something like that. [At least, that's what the blood trails made it look like.] The name's Dodger. That's what he called me.

[She listens, and nods, and understands completely.]

It is nice to meet you, Dodger.

[Mantis is quiet a moment before she finally speaks.]

I think it is nice to not be a pet anymore. It is nice just to be me. [For the first time in her life]

[Aaand that's one point he can't relate to. He just sort of offers a shrug.]

Kinda weird, though, isn't it? Getting stuck out here without a purpose. We're like strays now.

[Unlike Mantis, he's gone from master to master his whole life... and he's stopped really questioning it, he just wants someone else to care for him again.]

[Strays, with no purpose, her head agrees, but she does not say this out loud.]

It is a bit...lonely. Is it strange that a place with so many people can feel that way?

[It feels strange to her, but then, there is little that doesn't these days.]

Nah... that's not strange at all.

[He can blame his friendships here, for the fact that his expression is softening as he speaks to her. It's a little bit like talking to a younger, more innocent version of himself... so he can't help wanting to play nice.]

Sometimes you're lonely because no one's around. Sometimes you're lonely because you're surrounded by people that just don't get you. Life fucking blows like that.

[It is reassuring somehow for Mantis to not feel like the only one who felt so out of place. To be in an entire city of others in the same boat made the current situation feel not so bad.

She looks to the person on the screen curiously, and grateful to have found a connection.]

Fucking blows [She repeats, only vaguely understanding the sentiment of the phrase.] But I am making new friends and learning many new things. There are so many shops to buy things.

[If Mantis is learning anything, it is that she enjoys shopping.]

Yeah... You heard that one before?

[He really doubts she's heard people swear from her tone.. and boy, is he ready to teach her if no one stops him.]

I'm around if you wanna learn anything from me - but most of what I know is how to fix up a motorbike or smoke cigarettes.

[And when he mentions cigarettes he gestures to the one in his mouth... because this isn't the first woman he'd had to teach what they were to.]

[Mantis' head shakes quickly.]

No I have not heard that one before. [She pauses, thinking, and that is not entirely accurate. Peter sometimes dropped the word blows, but Mantis still is not fully understanding of why blowing is bad.

So much to learn. Like the meaning of fucking. Though it appears to be a word of emphasis.] Not all of it. Only the blowing part.

[Ahhh...so that is a cigarette. And as per usual, she has more questions.] What is a motorbike? [On Ego, the transportation was usually just more levitating creations. No wheels required.]

[His eyes actually light up, and there's a huge grin on his face. All that tough exterior? Gone. He's adopting this girl.]

Let's hang out some time - I bet I can make a biker chick out of you.

[Motorbikes are way more fun when you get to test drive them, anyway... bonus if he can get her to wear a leather jacket and teach her some choice swears.]

[Mantis really has no idea what a biker chick is either, or why she should be one... but she's interested in finding out. And since Dodger is smiling, she grins back, terrifying as it may be.]

Okay!

[She flashes him a thumbs-up, one of the newest gestures she has learned. Perhaps her new friend Dodger can teach her more.]

[text] un: mantis!

@dodger/text

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