Marvel Imagines

5. The Galaxy's Worst Spies (Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy)

   "There he is!" Mantis stated too loudly with a huge smile, pointing at the man we were supposed to be following, Martinex. I couldn't help but smile as I gently lowered her arm with my hand.
   "You gotta quiet it down, Mantis. We're supposed to be undercover." I told her, unsure of how she'd take my mild chiding. I was extremely new to the Guardians of the Galaxy and knew very little about them yet.
   She nodded that she understood, though, and her face became serious. "We're undercover agents."
   "Yeah, sort of." I stood from the café table we had been waiting at and began following the alien man at a safe distance. Mantis was quick to follow, except she looked anything but inconspicuous. She was walking partially sideways with her hands crossed under her chin. Sighing, I diverted my path to a nearby building and came to a stop beside it, partially concealed in the alleyway.
   "Why have we stopped following him?" She asked innocently as she trailed behind me.
   I wasn't sure if I'd hurt her feelings if I told her the truth or not, but it was my nature to be honest, so I went for it. "You look very suspicious."
   "Oh?" She frowned. "Are we not on the alert?"
   "Yes, we are, but we're supposed to act normal so he doesn't know we're tracking him." I explained, watching as she processed this. She nodded slowly and I studied her face for a moment. She wasn't attractive, but her innocence and the person she was appealed to me. She was cute and incapable of playing games, which I was more than happy about. However, I doubted she had any romantic feelings for me, so I pushed these thoughts aside.
   "So don't be alert physically, but mentally?" She asked.
   I nodded. "Exactly."
   Her expression suddenly changed to one of surprise as she looked further down the alleyway and this time she spoke in a whisper. "There he is again!"
   We spent the next thirty minutes or so following the man around Xandar and Mantis was almost a better tracker than I was. When he entered a junk shop, though, things got tricky. We followed him inside, but deliberately walked through the shelves on the other side of the shop so he wouldn't notice us. We were very recognizable and I didn't really want to get into a fight very badly.
   "He's handing the clerk something." Mantis whispered, peeking through the shelves. I crouched beside her and looked through the shoes to see she was right. Martinex and the Xandarian clerk were making some sort of a trade.
   "Let's tell Quill." I murmured, standing.
   Mantis led the way out of the shop, but what I saw outside made me stop in my tracks. A group of Ravengers was headed our way, and with Martinex on one side and them on the other, there was no escape. Thinking quickly, I gently pulled Mantis off to the side of the shop where we were partially concealed by a potted plant. However, the Ravengers had to have seen us and we were not completely out of view. So, I resorted to my last and worst plan of all.
   Turning to Mantis, I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. She was stiller than a statue during the kiss, but I couldn't quite bring myself to regret my decision. The Ravengers passed with a comment or two about PDA, but they left us alone and I pulled away as soon as they were inside the shop. I looked at her for a moment, but she was staring at me, almost in a stunned way. So, I nodded once and turned, heading back to the ship at a steady clip.
   "Felyx, was that a real kiss?" Mantis suddenly asked, catching up to my quick walk easily.
   "Yup." I felt my ears redden slightly, but I wasn't sure why. The wave of emotions sweeping through me was almost overwhelming and I couldn't make sense of any of them.
   "Oh." She sounded surprised and I snuck a peek at her. Her expression was very thoughtful and I wondered what she was thinking. Was she going to tell the gang? It wouldn't shock me if she did. I was going to have to prepare myself for a lot of teasing from Rocket and Quill.
   "We're going to have to talk." She mused quietly. The words didn't match the innocent tone she used and I couldn't help but smile. She was weird, but fun.
   And I had a feeling the talk would be very interesting, to say the least.

(Published August 22, 2021)