She had been watching her for ten minutes now and she was beginning to feel creepy. But of course, she wasn't, because she wasn't going to just stare at her from afar, Nebula was actually going to talk to her. Eventually. She just needed to wait for the right moment, the right words. She had been telling herself this for ten minutes now and she was beginning to feel pathetic. On the other hand, Nebula couldn't help but smile as she watched Mantis play with the little Stark girl, who had been trying to teach her the rules of 'Monopoly' for the past hour or so and even though Mantis was utterly terrible at that game, or any of the games Morgan had shown her so far, her adorable smile, the little sparks in her big, beautiful eyes and the childlike excitement in her voice warmed Nebulas heart in a way that she never thought possible. Mantis made her happy, there was no point in denying it and as Nebula watched her new found happiness play with Starks little daughter, throwing fake money around and laughing with no care in the world, she decided that she could stay like this forever. Watching Mantis, admiring her from afar and being happy that she was happy seemed more than enough in that moment. Who needed talking anyways?
It was Tony who interrupted this peaceful moment of happiness. "You like her, don't you?", he asked and gave her a knowing look. "How long have you been standing here?", Nebula asked instead, crossing her arms infront of her. "That's the question I should be asking you", Tony said. "I've been here for maybe ten minutes", she replied defensively. "And what do you mean I like her? Of course I do, why else would I bring her with me here?" To say he had been surprised when Nebula announced she was going to bring Mantis to visit him was an understatement and of course, it led him to believe that they were a little bit more than just friends. Or whatever her relationship with her other teammates was, exactly. He rolled his eyes:"I mean you like like her. Like I like Pepper." The look she gave him made it seem like he was the one who just landed in her backyard in a giant spaceship. "That's crazy. What makes you think that?" "Well, smurfette, it's quiet obvious", he laughed. "So what are you afraid of?" Nebula shook her head:"This is ridiculous." "Is it because you're both girls? Because I know some stupid people think that's wrong but I can assure you that's perfectly normal and-" She tilted her head and looked at him with a mix of confusion and her resting "I-don't-trust-you" face. "Of course that's normal. Why wouldn't it be?" That's when Tony was reminded that it was, in fact, Nebula who landed in his backyard with a giant spaceship. "Exactly", he laughed. "So why are you two not dating yet?" Despite her blue skin, Tony swore Nebulas cheeks turned red right then and there.
Nebula could feel her face heat up as soon as Stark asked that question. And it wasn't like she hadn't thought of it before, in fact, there were barely any moments where she didn't think about it. About Mantis and her big, beautiful eyes that seemed to light up whenever something excited her, her soft lips that Nebula wanted to kiss so bad, her adorable smile and her laugh that sounded like the most beautiful music in Nebulas ears. Most of the time, Mantis and everything about her, was the only thing on her mind and with that came all the scenarios of Nebula talking to Mantis, admitting her feelings to her, all that wishful thinking about being able to cuddle her, to play with her hair, to kiss her and to hug her whenever she wanted. She didn't even realize how far she drifted off into her thoughts, until Tony interrupted the moment once again. "Are you still with me?" Nebula blinked a few times and forced herself to turn away from Mantis while also avoiding any eye contact with the man she was talking to. "I just-" "Yeah. You like like her." "And even if I did", she started hesitantly. "What does it matter? Who says she likes me?" Tony dramatically rolled his eyes. "Of course she likes you! Why else would she be here?" "Because she told me she always wanted to see earth, so I offered her to come with me. That doesn't proof anything." Another eye roll. "I don't know if you noticed, Smurfette, but you are quite literally the only thing she talks about." Nebula shook her head:"You're exaggerating, she-" "Oh, Nebula is so strong and brave! You should have seen her fight that guy and that guy! Oh, Nebula is so pretty, oh, Nebula thinks I don't know but she has a lot of nightmares and I want to help her sleep but I don't know if she would let me. Oh, Nebula is so nice to me", Tony imitated Mantis with a higher voice and Nebula rolled her eyes, trying her hardest not to show the shy smile that was forming on her lips. Of course, Tony saw it anyways. "I'm going to go outside with Morgan now. When we come back, you two better have it figured out", he announced before calling for his daughter.
And then they were alone again and Nebula watched Mantis again, as she reached for a piece of watermelone on the table and before she could stop herself, Nebula stepped forward and said the first thing that came to her mind, something that Stark probably told her once:"Did you know that watermelones are 92% water?" Mantis giggled:"Really? Do you think I could drink one with a straw?"