Space Lovers~ Peter Quill

18. Southern Nights

"You are so beautiful," Mantis smiled as the two women settle on a cliff edge. The rock warm beneath them from the two suns that had shone brightly in the sky day.  Their legs swinging off into the abyss below them. Revealing the expanse of the valley beneath them. The three moons illuminating the crash sight that had ripped a disgusting whole through the magnificent scenery. 

It pained Freya to see the destruction that her ship had made. The once tranquil valley beneath them had been ploughed and sheared open to expose a horrid wound in the earth that would forever leave a scar. There presence here to forever leave its mark on the silent land. 

"Not as magnificent as you," Freya smiled softly. The breeze from the cliffs rustling her hair and pulling a few strands across her face as the few stars in the midnight sky winked in welcome, "Does Ego treat you well?" The raven-haired beauty asked the woman. Having grown up learning about many species, she was not alarmed nor disgusted by the innocent woman's charms. She was not prejudiced against how she looked; she admired how unique she was. How her beauty and her sweet charm was something refreshing to the princess. 

She was, however, guarded as to how nieve Mantis was. She believed that Ego was not as welcoming as he appeared to be. The way the young woman seemed to be so innocent and oblivious to the world around her. It was either her nature, and Freya would accept that, or Ego had manipulated her as his slave.

"Yes, he saved me and has looked after me since I was a baby," Mantis smiled. Her smile making Freya's heart stutter at just how innocent this woman was. 

"Just the two of you?"

"Yes, he lives on his own planet and looks after me. I help him sleep when he has troubles," Mantis explained. Freya, smiling sadly at the life of isolation the woman had lived through. Taking her hands in her own, Freya rubbed her thumbs over the sharp knuckles of Mantis. 

"Always the two of you?"

She seemed nervous at the question, "I owe Ego my life. He saved me, and I'm never alone. Ego is always there,"

Sighing sadly, Freya was about to change the topic of conversation, seeing as Mantis would rather talk about something else. When the innocent woman spoke up,

"You're nervous," She whispered. Freya blinking in surprise as her eyebrows raised into her hairline, "Sorry, I can feel peoples emotions," 

Freya wasn't scared nor upset by the woman's gift. She was intrigued. "It's fine. I don't mind," 

"But you are loved. And you love him so deeply. Don't be scared," Mantis reassured as she held onto Freya's hands tighter, "You are the nicest anyone has ever been to me. Thank you," 

"Everyone deserves kindness, Mantis. You should be treated like a goddess because you are one of the most refreshingly honest people I have met in a very long time." Both the woman smiling as they stood and began a leisurely walk back towards the camp they had set up for the night.

"Just beware of Drax. His words often don't equal what he's thinking," Freya smirked. Watching out of the corner of her eye how confused Mantis grew, "he could call you a disgusting beast, but really he means that you're as beautiful as the sun,"