4016/Lower Deck Schmooze

Lower Deck Schmooze
Date of Scene:	03 November 2020
Location:	Lower Deck - Milano
Synopsis:	Mantis gets to meet Rocket up close and personal
Cast of Characters:	Mantis, Rocket

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Mantis has posed:
Being a relatively new addition, if not the newest addition to the crew, Mantis still moves about with an air of exploration. She still poses questions to varying degrees of annoyance to her teammates. At the moment she's wandered to the Lower Deck, mostly because it felt like someone was active there rather than asleep.

Rocket has posed:
Indeed, there is somebody busy in this section of the Milano. Not Drax, or Groot, or Gamora, or Quill, but the smallest of the crew. By no means the quietest, however. Rocket has a worktable set up with a gun on it that would look too large for him, especially because for him to work on it /he/ has to be completely up on the table as well. It's designed for it to lengthen via segmented sections when activated, but it's currently in that position even while off. This is because he's tinkering here, tinkering there, tinkering everywhere. This is what he does.

Mantis has posed:
Mantis' antennas perk as she looks curiously at Rocket at his work, slowly approaching him, not because she means to sneak on him, but because she doesn't want to interrupt. So, she does wind up sneaking up on Rocket, only for good reason. If he doesn't notice her approach, he will soon have Mantis' head looming over his shoulder, staring at his handiwork.

Rocket has posed:
Rocket's ears shift, a sign he's noticed Mantis, but he remains focused on his work. A couple screws undone, the sound of an 'ahh' as if he's figured out a problem. An energy cell removed and chucked blindly over a shoulder - watch out, Mantis! - before he rummages around for a replacement, slotting it into the opening before slapping the panel back in place to tighten it up.

"Some of us are workin' here, babe," he remarks, his tone abrupt and brusque. "So how about not blockin' my light?" He scuttles around to the other side of the weapon, checking other spots out for integrity.

Mantis has posed:
"Oowwww!" Mantis cries out in pain, immediately creating distance between herself and Rocket as she gets his right in the face by the discarded energy cell, she did not expect to fly her way. She sniffles a bit, and reaches to cover one side of her face with her hand. "You are not careful at all when you work...Friend of Groot."

Rocket has posed:
"Oops," Rocket answers, but not in a tone that suggests remorse. He tinkers further, adding, "I'm careful where I need to be." If he saw her get hit, he isn't saying anything about that, but there might just be a hint of a smirk along one side of his muzzle. "And why do you call me that?" he asks, his tail shifting behind him as he moves, as he works.

Mantis has posed:
"Ooooo...." Mantis mouths as if she had just experienced a revelation of sort, "you are only careful around people dear to you, like the tree! Is that it? I'm just not important...?" Mantis asks curiously, the black pools that are her eyes opening wide in anticipation of his reply. "I saw you hanging out with the Groot a lot! Aren't you friends?"

Rocket has posed:
Rocket's beady little eyes squint at Mantis as he stands fully upright on the table, which actually puts him close to the same eye level as her. He gestures toward her with the screwdriver in a hand, saying, "For starters, I got a name. It's Rocket. You want me to go around callin' you something like 'Chaser of Quill?' Because I can definitely do that."

He fiddles with the gun again, ensuring it will extend and retract like it's meant to, then he picks it up and cradles it in his hands with the back of it resting over a shoulder, looking down the holo-sight at a spot on the wall. Apparently satisfied, he deactivates it and it shrinks back to its 'compressed' state.

"Me an' the tree, we kinda watch out for each other."

Mantis has posed:
"Yes! Rocket is an unusual name! Did you know that rocket could be a weapon...?" Mantis quizzes Rocket, before looking touched by the title he is willing to bestow on her. "Me? A Chaser of The Quill? Is that an honorable title? I never held a title before..."

"Can I join your circle of watching eachother...?"

Rocket has posed:
Rocket reacts to all of this with an expression that shifts through varying levels of confusion and annoyance. "Of course I did. A rocket's a weapon, and I'm a living weapon. It's a perfect fit."

"Just like those pants I saw Gamora in earlier," he adds thoughtfully, more to himself but still said aloud.

Waving it off, he scuttles about the table, shoving a little of this and that back into some sort of haphazard order which probably only makes sense to him, then he hops back down with the gun to prop it back up on a spot made for it on the wall.

At that point, he looks over a shoulder back toward Mantis. "It ain't a circle or a square or a triangle or a pentagon or an octagon or even a hectagon. We been through some stuff together and we protect each other. If we're gonna be a crew here, everyone'd better be doing that."

Then, his mouth twists into a devious little grin and he encourages her with a snicker, "Yeah, you go around callin' Quill that. I'm sure he'll /love/ it."

Mantis has posed:
"You're a living weapon!?" Mantis seems shocked by the notion, "woooo!" She gasps, all impressed, "do you combust, or just hit people very hard like Drax?" She does look a bit confused at the comparison to Gamora's pants, "are they a weapon, her pants?"

Mantis nods solemnly as Rocket reveals the depth of his connection with Groot, "I am willing to protect everyone in the crew, regardless of the proper geometrical shape!"

"Oh, you think he would enjoy the title of the Quill?" Mantis looks determined, "I will do this and bring him joy!"

Rocket has posed:
"And don't you forget it," Rocket confirms, classifying himself as deadly, threatening, a..thing not to be trifled with. "I shoot stuff. I blow stuff up. Whatever you need."

Then he giggles uncontrollably for a second or two at the question of Gamora's pants. "Yeah, something like that."

He makes his way toward the mess hall after that, not even so much as a wave following. "Gonna go stuff my face. You be sure to, with Quill. Trust me. What could go wrong?"

Mantis has posed:
"I was unaware that pants could be used as a weapon...I will have to ask her how she does it, maybe I could get weaponized pants for self defense myself!" Mantis notes, sounding genuinely impressed by this unexpected piece of technology. "Have a good meal time, Rocket, I'll let The Quill know. I'm sure he'll be happy."