Upon Reaching The Designated Training Area, Mantis Felt A Mixture Of Excitement And Curiosity. The Sleek,

She shook her head, wishing that were the case. However on her homeworld, the one she'd known anyway, there had only been her and Ego. "Not where I'm from, but I've seen a dog while I was traveling. I never got to actually meet them, but they did speak! So I was just shocked that the creatures here look remarkably similar to the one I saw, but they don't."

"Of course you have." Loki reached over and closed his laptop, not missing the look on her face. He wasn't going to question her on it because he had a feeling she'd tell him anyway. But what she said made him stop. "Wait, what? What do you mean do they not talk on this planet?" Loki just looked at her for a second. "Wait, do you mean puppies talk wherever you're from or all animals in general?"

Mantis blinked at the other, confusion etched on her face. "I don’t know what that means..."

Mantis giggled at Peyton's playful smirk, appreciating her roommate's understanding nature. "Exactly! Taste is the most important," she agreed with a nod. As Luke demanded attention and affectionately rubbed against her arm, Mantis chuckled, scratching the cat behind the ears. "I'm getting you food, don't you worry," she cooed, putting the first pancake to the side and pouring the next one into the pan. She started cutting up the finished pancake for the cats to share, nodding eagerly at the invitation. "I'd love to come to the lab with you!" she exclaimed, enthusiasm bubbling over. Not that she really understood much of what they worked on, but it was fascinating to watch. "What are you working on? Anything you can talk about or is it a secret project? Oh! And when we go to the city, can we get one of those giant pretzels?"

"I can absolutely see that, yes." She looked at Mantis with a smirk, rolling her eyes fondly at the other's antics. Peyton pressed a kiss to the top of Luke's head. "That's all that matters, babes. How it tastes, not how it looks. I don't gotta look at it when I eat it." She let Luke go so he could walk over to Mantis and rub his head against her arm, insistently against her arm, obviously wanting food of his own. "Nah," she replied to her roommate's question, hopping off the counter so she could go and pluck Luke's sister off the bookshelf before she could knock a plant over. Once Leia was secure in her arms, she walked back over to Mantis. "Well, I need to head to the lab and finish something I was working on if you want to tag along. We could head to the city after."

Mantis's eyes widened with excitement at the mention of puppies, her antennae quivering with anticipation. "Puppies? I would love to meet them!" She'd only seen a few dog-like creatures during her travels through space, but to actually meet one? It was an actual dream come true, as they'd quickly become one of her favorite creatures of Earth. Second possibly only to cats. Leaving her pillow fort behind, Mantis jumped up with a happy squeal, ready to greet her new best friends. "What do you call them?"

Johnny laughed when he walked inside, shaking his head at her antics. "You're actually so adorable it's ridiculous." He smirked at her. "I could join you, but I brought two someones for you to meet and I think they'd go crazy with the teddy bears." He nodded to the door. "I told you I had puppies way cuter than the videos."

Mantis, with her multifaceted eyes flickering in shades of green, considered Ella's proposal. "Electronic games could be intriguing, but I have observed that the tactile nature of card games has a unique charm. And I've heard of so many games that can be played with a single set of cards. I'm curious to know how that works."

Ella thought for a moment, "Do you want to play something electronic? Or like a card game?" She asked the other woman, thinking of all the different possibilities. Plus she was sure there were a ton of games she didn't even know about. That was just on Earth! She couldn't even imagine what sort of things aliens did to pass the time.

Mantis shifted uncomfortably, her large, expressive eyes blinking slowly. "It's just… complicated. My father had dark intentions, and I was a pawn in his grand plan." She hesitated, reliving memories she'd rather forget. "Well, if one ever does, make sure to record it. People seem to really love the videos of the animals pretending to talk, think about how popular your video would be if they were actually talking!" Mantis offered a reassuring smile, hoping to ease the tension that lingered in the air. "A personal zoo sounds fun, though. Do you not like that idea?"

Loki caught the slight hesitation and looked up. "Is the past a no-no subject?" He questioned, head tilted. "Your father sounds delightful. And like he'd be best friends with mine. I get it." He gave her a small smirk, before shaking his head and switching the subject off of that, "But the talking animals thing? You described my daughter's heaven. She's apparently made it her mission to create her own personal zoo and I'm waiting for one of them to start talking or something at this point."

Mantis nodded thoughtfully, her eyes following April's movements. "I think you're right, April. When I first arrived on Earth, everything felt so strange and unfamiliar. I kept comparing it to what I knew, trying to understand it through the lens of my past. But now... I just let myself experience things as they come." She took another sip of her tea, her expression serene. "Accepting who I am now and embracing this new life has brought me so much joy. And having friends like you makes it even better." Mantis glanced at the vegetables April was gathering, scratching her cat behind its ears as he jumped up into her lap. "Are you going to feed your turtles now? Can I come with you? I love watching them eat. They always look so content, and I think Rocket likes them, too."

"Yeah? Well, that's good." April smiled at her, happy to see her friend finally feeling one hundred percent settled into life on earth. She took a sip of her coffee and sat it on the table, before going over to the fridge. "I think you just stopped overthinking it all too, you know?" She pulled out some carrots and various vegetables to bring to her turtles. "Like, once you just accepted this was who you are now and not putting too much thought into it, you settled more." She smiled back at Mantis again. "And you seem alot happier now, too."

Mantis fought the urge to look back to see who could be trailing them, not wanting to escalate the situation if she could avoid it. "Do you recognize them at all?" She questioned, looking for an escape route. "We should be able to turn up ahead, maybe we can shake them on that street."

"Someone's following us. We need to lose them."

With a serene expression, she joined Peyton on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest while she contemplated the advice Peyton had given. "You make a point," Mantis said softly, thinking about how much of her life had already been dictated by a man. She had vowed as part of her experience here that she would do what she wanted. "I do really like their donuts... especially their cheesecake donut. I have no clue where'd I'd find something like it." Her focus shifted to the cats and their discarded leashes. "Did you want me to calm them down for you?"

Peyton made a scrunched up face -- both in distaste at the whole catcalling situation and her actual cats who decided to mutiny against her apparently. She gave up on the cat leashes and looked up at her friend. "Or," she said, sitting crosslegged on the floor. "You could keep going to your favorite donut spot and ignore them. Give them like a big screw you." She shook her head, "Babycakes, if you let gross guys dictate where you go in life, you'll literally never go anywhere."

Mantis listened intently to Johnny's words, feeling a sense of warmth and understanding wash over her. She appreciated his efforts to comfort her, even if she still struggled to fully grasp the complexities of human emotions. As he stopped walking and held both of her hands in his, she couldn't help but be touched by his sincerity. "Thank you, Johnny," she murmured, her voice soft yet filled with genuine gratitude. "Your words... they help." She offered him a tentative smile, her trust in him growing with each passing moment. "And yes, I understand what you mean," Mantis dropped her gaze momentarily, processing his words. "I'm just glad to know it doesn't mean I'm a bad person... I want to believe Tony is a good person, he's never given me a reason to think otherwise. This was just a lot."

"Yeah. Well, I mean it was kinda the first big thing that happened for you down here," he mused, giving her a small, but reassuring, smile when she finally looked up at him. But then Mantis continued and he stopped walking, the amusement fading and giving way to a more concerned expression. "You should be able to, yeah. But you saw something that scared you and made you have doubt. That's okay, babe." Johnny lifted his his free hand and held both of hers in his own as he came to a stop in front of her. "It's a normal reaction to what happened. And it was freaky as hell. Being worried about it is only human." Johnny wrinkled his nose, almost immediately catching himself. "You know what I mean."