#froliswrites

Mantis drops into the empty space on the couch beside Nebula with a breathless laugh. Her cheeks are flushed with activity and her hair is slightly askew. She smooths the stray strands back into place with an absent sweep of her hand and settles in beside Nebula, snuggling into her side.

“Finished dancing already?” Nebula asks dryly. She’s wearing her usual, grouchy expression—not the least bit impressed by the Guardians’ post (successful) mission celebrations—but she shifts to let Mantis lean against her more comfortably.

Mantis tips her head back until she can see Nebula, who is frowning down at her. “Just taking a break,” Mantis answers. “I’ll get back to it in a minute.”

Nebula grunts in reply and goes back to doing what she had been doing before—pointedly ignoring the festivities, which included her ridiculous sister dancing with her idiot Terran and the rest of the equally foolish Guardians getting boisterous and rowdy across the room. Beside her, Mantis studies her for a moment and then moves to flop down into Nebula’s lap. Nebula’s arms snap up reflexively before gradually relaxing as Mantis makes herself comfortable.

  Nebula makes a face. “Happy?” she grumbles, even as she slowly threads her fingers through Mantis’s hair.

“Yes,” Mantis answers immediately. She closes her eyes and sighs happily.

Soon Mantis is absently humming along to Peter’s music, which was currently playing over the ship’s speakers. She’s almost dozed off, lulled by the repetitive motions of Nebula’s fingers through her hair, when the first notes of Hooked on a Feeling starts up and she snaps back to alertness.

Mantis sits up abruptly, grinning, and Nebula’s fingers slip from her hair. “I love this song.”

She turns to Nebula but before she can speak Nebula beats her to it. “No.”

“Dancing is so much fun, though!” Mantis pleads. “I’m sure you’d like dancing if you tried.”

“I don’t dance,” Nebula insists.

“It’ll be fun!”

“Mantis…”

Mantis looks at her beseechingly. “Please? For me?”

Nebula’s protests die in her throat in the face of Mantis’s earnest, pleading look, and she silently curses her weakness even as she sighs in defeat and gives in. Mantis lets out a delighted squeal and leaps to her feet. She takes Nebula by the wrist and pulls her along onto the “dance floor,” starting in with a simple swaying motion.

Already Nebula is regretting this. The other Guardians have noticed her sudden presence among the partying—something Nebula is painfully aware of—and are trying (and failing) to discreetly watch as Mantis coaxes her into the dance.

“I don’t know how to dance,” Nebula mutters quietly. She sees Quill nudge Gamora with his elbow and lean in to murmur something Nebula can’t make out. They’re both watching. Nebula sets her mouth in a thin line and refuses to look their way. Instead, she focuses on Mantis, who beams up at her.

“It’s okay, Nebula. Just follow my movements.” Mantis clasps one of Nebula’s hands in her own, places the other on her waist. “I’ll lead, you follow. Okay?”

Mantis’s smile is warm and infectious, and despite her misgivings Nebula feels a twinge of reassurance. She nods, slowly brings her hand up to rest on Mantis’s shoulder.

She follows Mantis’s lead as best as she can, but she is surprisingly clumsy for how effortlessly graceful and precise she is in combat. Mantis doesn’t seem to mind, though, even giggles fondly in a way that makes Nebula feel warm when she fumbles, occasionally murmuring encouragement or advice.

“Okay, twirl,” Mantis instructs, having told Nebula what that entailed in advance.

Nebula grumbles, “This is ridiculous.” But she does as Mantis instructs, and at first it goes well, but when it’s time to twirl back she spins too sharply, too abrupt, and she bumps into Mantis, making them both stumble.

Nebula winces. “Sorry.”

Mantis regains her footing quickly. She falls back into step easily, briefly cupping Nebula’s cheek.

“Relax. You’re over thinking it.”

She resumed their dance, gently prodding Nebula into motion. Nebula follows her lead, managing to fall into a stiff sort of rhythm that has Mantis beaming up at her. Nebula can’t help but smile back.

Suddenly Mantis’s eyes take on a mischievous gleam, and before Nebula can say anything the world drops out from under her and Mantis is leaning over Nebula, hair spilling over her shoulders and framing her face.

Mantis holds the dip for only a few moments that seem to stretch forever, and Nebula is too stunned to properly react. Her mind races and she cycles rapidly from alarm to baffled surprise to…even more baffling attraction. Nebula’s pulse spikes and she is all too aware of how close Mantis is holding her; of Mantis’s arm curled securely around her waist and the pressure of her fingers against her hip, of how tightly her own fingers had curled into the back of Mantis’s shirt and just how hard she’s suddenly finding it to breathe.

Fuck, she thinks through a dizzying rush of want.

The song sounds so far away to her now, and the tiny snatches that she catches swirl around her head in an endless loop.

(I’m hooked on a feeling)

Mantis’s antennae are glowing, but Nebula is too distracted by the moment to realize what that means until Mantis—still holding one of Nebula’s hands—gives it a squeeze and starts Nebula out of her reverie.

Of course. Mantis knows exactly what she’s feeling.

Nebula’s cheeks darken and Mantis giggles, her own reddening as she yanks Nebula upright again and lets the momentum take into a twirl as the song winds down and finally ends.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Mantis asks, pulling her close and looping both arms around Nebula’s waist.

“I suppose,” Nebula grudgingly admits. Her heart is still racing and shows no signs of slowing down. “But that song was ridiculous.”

Mantis laughs. “I think it’s fun. And a little romantic.”

Nebula lets out a huff. She’s not feeling quite that generous. She leans forward to press her forehead to Mantis’s. “Still…I wouldn’t mind doing that again,” she says, more quietly.

“Sounds like a date,” Mantis says, settling into their embrace and rocking them gently in time to the next song.

Mantis sighs happily as she falls into bed, happy to finally be in bed after a long day and smiles into her pillow as she settles comfortably into the mattress. Nebula lets out a little “oof” from where she’s lying beside her, jostled by Mantis’s dramatic flop into bed.

“And I thought I was violent,” Nebula mutters. “What if I had been asleep?”

“But you weren’t. And you only got into bed a few minutes ago; I know you did not fall asleep that fast.”

Nebula grunts, and Mantis finally rolls over to face her. “Sorry,” she giggles, unable to help herself at the way Nebula’s nose scrunches when she tries (and fails, in Mantis’s opinion) to scowl. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

She holds one hand up, palm out, and waits expectantly as Nebula eyes her grumpily. After a long pause she gives in with a huff and leans into Mantis’s touch. Mantis giggles again at the way Nebula melts into her touch and shifts close enough to press a kiss to her lips.

“Forgive me?” she asks, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“Mmph. Yes,” Nebula answers and leans in for another kiss, which Mantis happily returns.

They eventually break apart and settle into bed. It doesn’t take long for them to doze off, the quiet hum of Nebula’s cybernetics barely discernible in Mantis’s ear.

-

Mantis sleeps easily that night, and the several nights that follow until Nebula leaves again. She doesn’t sleep poorly when Nebula is away, but it does take her longer to drift off without her, which is one reason (among many) why she’s so enthused when Nebula announces her arrival over the comms.

That first night she’s back Mantis drops happily into bed and Nebula starts her usual grumblings when the bed jostles, to which Mantis replies, “You weren’t even asleep.”

“Are you even capable of getting calmly into bed?” There’s a hint of fond amusement in her voice despite her otherwise monotonous tone and somewhat grouchy expression.

“Nope,” Mantis responds cheerily, all too happy to keep playing along with their now-familiar game.

Nebula grunts but before she can reply further Mantis tucks into her side and snuggles close with a happy sigh. Nebula huffs out a quiet laugh and loops an arm her waist and Mantis falls asleep with the faint hum of Nebula’s cybernetics in her ear.

-

Once, after a particularly grueling excursion, Nebula returns in a smoking ship and with enough new cuts and bruises to make Mantis and Gamora both fuss over her (much to Nebula’s annoyance). She comes back in one piece, at least, and after a quick trip to the medbay to take care of the worst of her latest batch of injuries (at Mantis and Gamora’s insistence, of course) she lets Mantis drag her over to the ship’s couch with only minimal complaining.

It’s the least she can do after worrying her so badly.

Mantis is curled into Nebula’s side, their fingers laced together and her antennae glowing softly in contentment. Nebula’s tended to the worst of her injuries, but some part of her cybernetics has been damaged. What is usually little more than white noise is now an audible, droning hum. It isn’t serious (or at the very least, it isn’t fatal, Nebula had said when Gamora asked) but she does think something has been knocked out of place or might need fixing or replacing, and she isn’t sure she has the energy or tools to do that tonight.

The noise doesn’t bother Mantis, but she can feel the tension in Nebula’s shoulders and see the tight frown across her face. She’d long-since gotten used to the noise of her body mods over the years to the point of tuning it out, but recent damage had dragged the noise to the forefront of her mind again. Nebula had almost forgotten how grating it was.

Mantis peers up at her thoughtfully, and when Nebula notices she slits her eyes suspiciously in a silent question. Mantis opens then closes her mouth, shakes her head a little and laughs.

“What?”

“It’s just…do you know what a cat is?”

Nebula’s scowl changes into a look of confusion. “What?”

“They’re a Terran species—“

Nebula huffs. “You’ve been spending too much time with Quill again.”

“—species of animal,” Mantis continues, ignoring Nebula’s grumbling. “Peter says they do something called purring.”

“…Purring,” Nebula echoes, eyeing Mantis. She isn’t quite sure where Mantis is heading with this.

Mantis nods, trying and failing to hide her growing smile. “It is a vibratory kind of noise. Apparently, it is a sign of contentment and relaxation.” Nebula glares. Her cheeks flush a darker blue even as Mantis teasingly finishes, “It sounds like you’re purring.”

“The increased noise is the result of a fault in my cybernetics,” Nebula retorts. “It is nothing so saccharine.”

“I think it’s cute,” Mantis says, resting her head against Nebula’s shoulder.

“You are ridiculous,” Nebula growls embarrassedly.

“Maybe,” Mantis concedes. “But I distracted you from the noise.”

Nebula blinks at her, and then makes a face. “I suppose,” she mutters, slowly moving to lay her cheek against the top of Mantis’s head. “…Thank you.”

Mantis hums happily in reply and lets the fluttery, irregular thrum lull her further in relaxation.

-

Mantis notices, over time, that the best position to hear Nebula’s cybernetics (and therefore her favorite) is when she sprawls across Nebula, ear to her chest.

Nebula notices, too.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” she asks one night as Mantis gets ready for bed. Mantis looks at her questioningly as she gets comfortable, gradually nudging Nebula onto her back with her shifting. “My cybernetics. The noise,” Nebula clarifies.

“Why would it bother me?”

“Isn’t the noise…bothersome?” Nebula sounds genuinely baffled, and now it’s Mantis’s turn to be confused.

Mantis carefully settles across Nebula, crossing her arms across Nebula’s chest and resting her cheek on her arm, head angled to meet Nebula’s gaze. “I think it is comforting. It relaxes me.”

Nebula looks skeptical. She remembers how long it took her to get used to the endless, constant drone of her body mods, to learn how to tune it out. She remembers how maddening it was to never have a single second of silence to herself.

It takes a minute for Mantis to collect her thoughts, and when she does, she says slowly. “On Ego’s planet, there was scarcely any noise. We were the only living beings on his planet, and the silence when I was alone was maddening.”

Nebula doesn’t interrupt, but brushes her hand across the back of Mantis’s neck in quiet reassurance.

“But now,” Mantis continues, smiling at Nebula’s comforting gesture, “I am rarely alone, and when I am, there is always some kind of ambient noise to remind me of that. And you”—Mantis stretches until she can press a quick kiss to Nebula’s lip—“are my favorite.”

Nebula makes quiet, embarrassed sort of huff and Mantis settles back down with a giggle. Mantis feels Nebula shift beneath her until she’s comfortable, and then feels her arm settle across her waist.

“Sentimental fool,” Nebula mumbles. She’s quiet for a long time, long enough that Mantis almost thinks she’s finished speaking. “I sleep better with you, too.” She says it quickly and quietly, but there’s affection in her voice despite how flustered she sounds and feels.