Mantis smiled at the witch as she approached zir, waving as zir bracelets made a jingle noise. “Hi Illyana, how can I help you?” Ze chirped, fidgeting with the rings on zir fingers. “Uhm- I just uh- I was wondering if maybe you’d help me with my potion-? I’m not that great at the … plant stuff” the girl mumbled, her feeling of nervousness so strong mantis could feel it without even having to touch her.
Ze smiled warmly as she nodded, standing up. “Lead me over to your table! I’ll see what I can do” mantis reassured, letting Illyana lead zir to her table. Looking at the potion, ze let out a soft laugh. “How did you manage to do this?” Ze chuckled, resting a gentle hand on Illyana’s as ze noticed the woman turn more embarrassed. “I uh- don’t know..?” The witch muttered, a strong feeling of love shooting through her hand into Mantis’.
“It’s okay, not everybody’s good at the same things! I’ve seen you with your magical sword, it’s amazing” Ze grinned, making the feeling of courage in Illyana grow a bit before letting zir hand fall back. “You- thank you-“ the woman stammered, blushing as she backed away from the potion to let Mantis work on it. Ze giggled, finding the sight of the usually stoic, angry, witch so flushed amusing. Ze hummed, picking up a bottle from Illyana’s desk. “I think your first mistake was not adding this-…”
.
Peter didn’t like Rasputina. The girl kept glaring at his sister, her dark makeup only highlighting the pale blue eyes which she used to burn holes into the back of Mantis’ head.
Plus the girl called herself Magik. Wow, real original, a witch named Magik. And they call him uncreative.
”Peter, stop staring at Illyana, it’s not a battle you’re going to win” Gamora huffed, flicking him in the back of his head. “Ow! Yes it is-“ “not it isn’t! You just look like an angry puppy!” Mantis chimed in cheerfully, earning another glare from Peter (which in turn earned him a laugh again) as she smiled.
”You’re all assholes” he muttered, rolling his eyes as he saw the other witch beginning to stare again. “Whats her problem!?” He muttered under his breath, crossing his arms as Rocket tried to steal something from his bag.
”I dunno Quill, why don’t ya ask her?” The raccoon replied dryly, dodging the swat of his hand while running away with his potions. Peter rolled his eyes, standing up defiantly. “Actually, I will. Just watch” he grumbled, walking over to the blonde witch’s table.
The woman raised an eyebrow as Peter approached, leaning back in her chair when he put his hands on her desk. “Can I help you.” She asked curtly, Russian accent layer on thickly. He blinked for a second, before nodding.
“Yeah, I want to know what your problem with my sister is.” He replied angrily, trying to make eye contact with Rasputina. “I don’t have a problem with zir?” The witch frowned, seeming mildly confused. Peter let out an annoyed laugh, putting his hands on his hips (and promptly removing them from there when he heard Rocket laugh behind him).
“Uh huh, and that’s why you keep staring at her.?” He retorted dryly, trying to hide his suprise as the woman… blushed? “I’m- I don’t uh,- whatever. Don’t talk to me asshat.” Illyana grumbled, standing up and walking away quickly.
Peter turned back to look at his friends with a confused look, sighing as he saw Drax burst into laughter. “Shut up Drax.” He mumbled, sitting back down defeatedly as he began to eat his sandwich.
.
Illyana was completely fucked.
“Kitty. I messed up.” She groaned, dragging her hands over her face defeatedly. Her friend just chuckled, patting her back mockingly. “It’ll be okay Yana, pretty sure Quill is just a big himbo” she laughed, sitting down next to Illyana.
“Mantis thinks I hate zir! How will that be okay!” She whined pretty uncharacteristically, tugging on her own hair. “Mantis’ brother thinks you hate zir, pretty sure they don’t share emotions.” Her friend reassured, throwing a piece of candy at her. “Kitty. Ze’s an empath. They literally share emotions!” She grumbled, begrudgingly eating the stupid candy.
“Well, didn’t ze help you in potions class? Sure ze wouldn't do that if ze hated you” Kitty rolled her eyes, giving Illyana a shove. She glared at her friend, defiantly eating the candy. “Shut up. I’m doomed.” She grumbled, falling back onto the bed with a groan. Kitty sighed, standing up and tugging on her arm. “Alright Yana, I’m so done with this. Your pining goth ass is going up to her dorm right now.” Illyana’s eyes widened as her friend dragged her away from the bed, protesting loudly.
”Cat- no, do you see how I’m dressed!? And it’s 10 pm I can’t just-“ she shouted, swatting at the other girl’s head. “lalalala can’t hear you, now go get ‘em tiger.” Kitty pushed her out the door, grinning as she closed it again. Illyana glared at the door, pounding on it aggressively for a few minutes, frustratedly giving up when their neighbour shouted at her.
”Fucking limbo” she cursed, patting down her pockets before realising that her phone was still inside. “I’m going to break her crystals I swear-“ she grumbled, giving the door one last middle finger before stomping out of the hallway, making sure that Kitty could hear the soles of her combat boots connecting with the ground angrily.
Where the hell do I go.?
Illyana bit her lip as she thought, dragging a hand over her face. Defeatedly, she realised that she couldn’t go anywhere, closing her eyes in annoyance as she reluctantly let her feet lead her to Mantis’ dorm.
Taking a deep breath, checking in the glass of the door to see if her makeup wasn’t completely smeared out, Illyana knocked on the door. It only took a few seconds for Mantis to open, promptly taking her breath away again as the woman smiled at her. Ze was dressed in a simple green hoodie with white bows, wearing beige flared pants and fuzzy socks, but damn ze looked gorgeous.
Illyana realised she had just been staring when Mantis tilted zir head curiously. “Can I help you, Illyana?” Ze asked softly, leaning in the doorway. “Uhh- Uhm, well, I uh-“ she began to stammer, turning red as she prayed to limbo that there wasn’t anybody else around to hear her fumble. “My roommate kicked me out for the night because- cause I Uhm-“ she mumbled, surprised to see that Mantis was looking at her intently, a gentle look on zir face instead of seeming annoyed.
“Because- she saysi’mpiningforyouandneedtogetitoverwith-“ she blurted out, already mentally preparing herself for the cold laugh of rejection. Mantis let out a soft chuckle, moving to put zir hand on Illyana’s face as ze stepped closer. “I know that, I’m an empath Illyana.” Ze replied warmly, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. While Illyana just stood in front of the woman, completely stunned and turning an unhealthy shade of red, ze took her hand to lead her inside.
“You can stay in my dorm for the night, I don’t mind” Mantis continued, smiling as Illyana blinked a few times. “Really-? I- holy limbo- do you want to be my girlfriend?” She breathed out, a grin playing on her lips as the other witch chuckled a ‘yes’.
Finally regaining some of her usual confidence, Illyana quickly pulled Mantis closer, resting a hand on the back of zir back as she looked for permission. The woman just rested her arms around Illyana’s neck, letting her kiss zir softly. As their mouths moved together, she gently put a hand in Mantis’ hair, pushing them both closer against a wall.
The witch let out a soft moan, and it was the most goddamn beautiful sound Illyana had ever heard in her life. It urged her to pull away for a second, admiring Mantis’ face, before gently pressing a kiss to the side of zir jaw, trailing down to pepper kisses on zir neck. “You’re so beautiful” she muttered against zir chest, humming appreciatively as hands moved in her hair and under her shirt.