Taking a break.
Mantis was patiently watching Sky breathe in and out, over and over. It'd been about a minute, and she was waiting for them to be ready.
Sky was hesitating, she could tell.
Sky took a breath in and out.
Again, and again, and again.
Mantis gets a thought.
"Did you know, it is common to do breathing exercises to try to calm down, but the specific mantra we use is technically Rocket's?" Mantis asks.
Sky perks up. "I... Didn't know that, no..."
Mantis continues, "He would always repeat to himself 'In and Out. In and Out.' as he did breathing exercises. I think it helped him to remind himself of his control, maybe? Verbally saying it, or thinking it. Everyone does everything a little differently. I used to go 'Deeeep breaths. Deep breaths.' but I adopted Rocket's mantra, because he would sit with me, and do it with me when I needed it." Mantis smiles fondly, holding her hands to her chest. "He did it with everyone, I eventually learned. It was a secret to everyone. Something private they shared. But eventually he had shared it with everyone, and someone was doing the mantra, and everyone else recognized it! It was a little funny."
"Rocket was never very good at expressing himself, showing his care, or interacting. He hid his heart a lot. There were many scars that held him down." Mantis lowers her head, taking her own breath in and out. "But he showed his love by being there. Doing things for everyone, doing whatever he felt he could."
"But... You are not Rocket, at all." Mantis says, looking at Sky.
Sky looks up at Mantis, searching her face for anger behind that statement, pain.
Mantis isn't upset at Sky.
She smiles softly. "You are very expressive, incredibly open about your care and needs, your emotions. It is relieving." Mantis rolls her eyes playfully, "Almost everyone on this damned ship is SO closed up sometimes!! You are so refreshingly honest, Sky. Thank you for that."
Sky puffs up, rubbing the back of their neck awkwardly. Mantis knew from Rocket that this was how this kind of person blushes.
"You feel bad you can't 'make it better'. That you cannot be Rocket, that everyone wants Rocket, that you feel no one wants you, or are upset you are you." She gently brushes her hair behind one of her ears. "You do not need to fix anything. You are you, we don't know what that might mean in the future, but for this time, this moment, all you must be is Sky."
"I will not say I do not miss Rocket, that I do not hurt thinking about him being gone. I do not know or understand what happened..." Mantis looks down, thinking solemnly. "I think Rocket would be frustrated at something like this happening, but I have absolute faith he would make us treat you with kindness and patience. After how he behaved with Groot, who was... Much a similar situation."
"There is something I think about." Mantis rubs her chin. "How Groot was similar to the old Groot, that only Rocket knew... But still his own person, still had his own personality and such."
"I think about how everyone is dealing with this, and know it is something Rocket dealt with before." Mantis looks into Sky's eyes. "He would have loved you, I am sure. He would have been patient, understanding, and probably would have adopted you like he adopted Groot."
"You are like his child, in my eyes." Mantis thinks. "In the same way Groot is Groot's child, which is confusing to say, oh my."
Sky giggles a little. "That is confusin', but I got th' Flora info t' und'rstand it."
"Good." Mantis smiles. "I do not."
Sky smiles softly. "Thank ya, Mantis. (That's what Drax called ya, right?)"
"Yes, it is, I am sorry I did not introduce myself." Mantis shakes her head slightly, "I was quite worried about you."
Sky's fur smooths out, guilt? Or relaxation?
"I... Think I'm ready, by th' way... F'r tryin' t' figure out more a' my emotions..." Sky is visibly nervous, but is patient and gentle, in tone.
"Okay. May I have your hands?" Mantis holds hers out, palm up. "When we touch, I will feel your emotions."
Sky looks at her hands.
They reach up, and gently put their hands in hers.
Waves of emotion wash through Mantis.
Pain, fear, anguish and confusion, paranoia.
Relief, comfort, joy, love, hesitant hope.
Hopelessness and deep grief, too.
It washes over her, it feels like dozens of currents, dozens of waves crashing and moving over and around her. It feels Blue. It feels a little Green. It feels like a corrupting illness, threatening to turn Sky into a statue, and leave them dead.
An undertow of emotion threatening to drag them into something they might not recover from...
But those positive emotions are little lifelines, strings wrapped around their chest like a harness, keeping them just low enough to get battered by the waves, but just high enough to breath.
Mantis would like to forcibly make those waves pass, utter a command and make it better. It's always her first instinct.
She grips Sky's hand a little tighter, to offer a reassuring squeeze, and Sky lifts a little higher in their mind.
Mantis can make out some shapes inside their mind.
Drax is a solemn, distant statue. Hesitation and Comfort, fear of failure. Many things adding together to make a picture in Mantis's mind. Drax seems to be seen as a father figure of sorts, if she had to guess. Sky fears they upset Drax by existing, and want to be good enough for him.
Quill... Seems to be the next clearest, or one of two, of the next clearest. Sky has no clue how to feel about him, but has a strange attachment to him, where they want to trust him, know more, and not feel like they're upsetting him. They wanna make him laugh more.
Groot is the next clearest, roughly tied with Quill. He appears like a giant, mysterious monument, that Sky is incredibly scared of, worried about, and curious about. Sky feels they don't know anything about them, and yet they have caused so much pain in the Flora Colossus, that they have no clue how to handle.
The next clearest was Cosmo, who was distant in Sky's mind. Sky seemed convinced Cosmo wanted nothing to do with them, so much anguish and failure.
Mantis was the next most prominent, Sky felt... Like they were a problem for Mantis. But found great comfort in Mantis being there. This made Mantis feel guilty for jumping right into trying to help... Sky thought Mantis saw this as a duty, and she did! But it was a duty she took pride in... Something she loved to do.
She chooses to focus elsewhere.
Gamora and Kraglin both seemed to be people Sky enjoyed, but felt guilty towards. He could tell their pain.
...There was someone else there. Sky didn't know what they looked like, but Mantis knew the abstract shape was Rocket.
As Mantis tried to check what the emotions that was were like, she felt like she was being dragged under and battered by so many powerful emotions. Confusion, Pain, Rage, Sorrow, Fear, Curiosity, Wonder...
She had to back off, finding herself panting, hyperventilating slightly.
"Oh my." She refocuses on reality, and sees Sky looking up at her.
They reach up, and gently wipe a hand on Mantis's face, where she had been crying, it seems.
"You okay...?" Sky asks, and Mantis can tell Sky is mimicking her tone from before.
"I am fine, these tears are yours." Mantis explains, "There are many, many emotions flowing inside you, you do not know what to make of them, do you...?"
"No..." Sky admits, shame flooding their heart.
Mantis squeezes a little tighter again. "It is okay, I promise you."
"No one will ask you to be something you are not. Someone you are not." Mantis firmly states. "And if anyone did, I would punch their face."
"You are hurting on your own, you do not need to worry about them. I know you want to, but what is most important right now, is that you are okay. You are injured, you are new to the world. You are a child." Mantis gently rubs her thumbs on the back of Sky's hands. "You are a sweetheart. You are new to everything, and yet you want to learn everything so fast, so you can be helpful."
"Babies are new, and no one expects THEM to be helpful for YEARS!" Mantis says with playful dramaticism. "You do not need to worry."
Sky smiles ever so slightly.
"I dunno what a baby is."
"It's what you are, in a way. A new person who has just been introduced to the world!" Mantis lifts her hands in a gesture, at the world around them.
"So just worry about taking your time, adjusting, and getting to know yourself, and everyone." Mantis gently lifts Sky into a hug. "You are fine." She holds Sky against herself.
Sky fills with joy, and appreciation. Purring...
Rocket purring was always so rare, always so privately guarded, when he could manage it...
But Sky purred differently. Openly, proudly.
It was SO CUTE!!!!!
Mantis giggles in delight, squeezing Sky, and rapidly swinging back and forth, just delighted and endeared.
"So so so CUTE!!" Mantis says, starting to giggle.
Sky yelps, and starts giggling, too.
"I think I love you quite a lot." Mantis smiles, lifting Sky to look them in the face.
Sky blinks, eyes wide and full of wonder.
Mantis pauses.
"Also my goodness you are full of a lot of physical pain." Mantis frowns.
Sky frowns too. "Is that not normal?"
"I think that is just a side effect of your body."
"Oh." Sky fills with concern about Rocket.
Peter sat down once they reached the dining room, slumping into his chair.
Gamora grabbed two sodas from the fridge in the dining room, gently setting one down for him, before sitting next to him.
"I like Sky." Gamora offers, seeing the way Peter is holding his brow.
"I do, too, duh. Like, it's... It's still his face and, body, and voice, and all that... There would be no world I didn't still love him... Or, them." Peter frowns, leaning back in his chair. "Fuck. I don't know if I love Sky. I love Rocket, but do I love Sky for Sky or what? Is that unfair to Sky?"
"It is, but I don't think there's a way to avoid it." Gamora admits. "You're right, there's no world we didn't love them. No world where it's fair. We could never be unbiased."
"This situation sucks like crazy..." Peter sighs, putting his head in his hands. "What do we do? Groot is depressed, thinks it's his fault... We've had accidents before but... How on earth do we fix this? Rocket is gone... He may as well've died!"
"That's. That's true, yeah." Gamora nods.
"We owe Rocket so much... He saved us from that prison, he came for us on Ego, he went with me when... Well, when I needed his help, and didn't want you all knowing. He went with you when you ran off on your first treasure hunt bro-fest whatever the hell you call it!" Gamora rambles. "He is family, he... Will always be. He deserves us trying our best to bring him back..."
"And... Sky might have his body, his voice, his smell, his everything... But they are their own person, too. We must give them patience and care in Rocket's stead. Just as we did for Groot." Gamora looks down. "Hm."
Peter deflates slightly. "Groot..."
"We were all hurt losing the old Groot, and then all of us adjusted rather quickly to the new Groot... But..." Gamora frowns. "How is it only now I consider what Rocket must've gone through...? A miniature version of his closest friend, who died right before his eyes? It must've been like hell, if this is anything to go by."
"When we get Rocket back, I'm apologizing to 'im for every rough time we gave him back then like, five more times." Peter says softly. "We... Have. To get him back."
"We will. But... We don't know how. It could be a long time. And we need to treat Sky the way they deserve to be treated, a person, part of this family, until then." Gamora says firmly.
"Yeah." Peter sighs.
"Heyyy Groot, you excited to eat?" Kraglin calls from the hall, a clear warning.
Peter and Gamora both pause, Gamora gets up to get the two of them drinks.
Groot walks in, glum as to be expected, and Kraglin is clearly putting on a smile, but dealing with his own shit.
Groot sits down, lowering his head, next to Peter. Kraglin sits on the other side of Groot.
Peter sighs. "Hey, buddy, how ya doin'?"
"i am groot... dad isn't dad anymore..."
"I am... Groot. But Dad kept stuff about me... In someplace safe in his head...?" Groot looks towards Peter and Gamora. "I am... Groot. He loved me... A lot."
Groot looks down, starting to tear up. "I am Groot. And I did THIS to him."
Kraglin frowns. Doesn't understand the words, but he can at least tell Groot is saying bad things.
Gamora and Peter's mournful expressions made that plenty clear.
"Groot... I know. I know that it hurts, and it sucks, and you wanna blame yourself. But he isn't dead. He's not gone forever. He isn't here right now, but... Sky is." Peter says firmly. "I know that sucks, and you don't like it. You don't HAVE to like it, honestly. But... Sky is hurting too. And can tell how we're all hurting, I bet."
Groot looks down.
"I'm not sayin' you gotta talk to Sky. You have every right to avoid them. But... I guess, try to be patient, with yourself, especially. It was an accident, and none of us could have ever known this would happen. Alright, Groot?" Peter puts a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright."
"I am Groot!? What if he's gone!?" Groot snaps at Peter, tears (or... Sap?) in his eyes.
"Then we figure that out when we get there. But we don't give up. Especially not on day one." Peter glares into Groot's eyes.
Groot deflates slightly, looking down, and nodding. "I am Groot... I won't..."
"Good. Good job, buddy." Peter pulls Groot into a hug. "You'll be okay."
They all turn as Cosmo pads in, hopping up onto a chair across from Groot with a whine. 'Is hard to be okay. Cosmo understand. Cosmo having hard time too... Groot and Cosmo have to try together.'
Cosmo lays her head on the table, whimpering again. Groot hesitates, before reaching across the table to pet her.
Peter sighs. "We all gotta be strong together."
He stands up, walking towards the exterior window, which was currently closed. He presses the button to open the shutters, and let in the view.
He walks over to the opposite wall, and opens the shutters to the rest of the dining area, opening up the air flow more.
He then opens the shutter-doors to the engine area, and then to the second living area. Air flow and just making it feel more open.
"Let's all just sit down, take a breath, and..."
He pauses as Drax walks in.
"...Drax?" Peter tilts his head as Drax sits down next to Cosmo.
"Sky left their room early. They were not ready, but did not want to be alone." Drax bows his head. "They are overwhelmed, and feel terrible. They feel everyone is upset with their existence."
". . ."
Drax sighs. "I know. Everyone IS upset."
"But not with the fact Sky exists. Only the fact Rocket doesn't. The fact that..." Drax freezes as he fails to find the right words, frustration clear on his face.
"Upset with the fact Rocket is gone, and someone else is using his body." Gamora offers.
"Roughly." Drax nods.
"That's... Horrible." Peter frowns.
"All of this is horrible. We must be strong, all of us know it. But it's easier to say than to do." Gamora says sternly, looking towards the hall. "I'm going to assume Mantis is with Sky?"
"Yes." Drax nods. "Helping them figure out their emotions. And also distinguish physical pain from emotional pain."
"Oh god." Peter frowns. "Rocket told me one time that he's got tons of chronic pain, and he just... Got used to it."
"An' Sky woul'n't be used t' none of it..." Kraglin deflates. "Aw... Poor kid..."
"That's... I didn't think about that." Gamora frowns deeply. "And painkillers don't work on Rocket, so they wouldn't work on Sky..."
Everyone leans forward, head on their knuckles in thought.
"Damn."
A new goal spawned in everyone's mind.
They need to help Sky be comfortable, and adjust, and then focus on how to fix this mess.