"The other soldiers on this base aren't exactly known for their well intentioned hospitality or polite mannered habits. You should avoid them. You're above them." ...understatement of the year. Mantis had heard from word of mouth and snippets of conversation of dissatisfaction with the current chain of command, some mummers about a coupe being planned. Though he ignored it for the most part. Instead, his attention had been oddly focused on you. "You" being a civilian chef brought in to cook and serve the mess hall, loads of N.D.As and wordy legal documents guaranteed your silence. Which seemed to encourage the soldiers to try and hit on or ask you out every chance they got, you'd signed enough paperwork that you couldn't leave the base easily so it was like they had a captive audience to try their charisma on.

You laughed and informed Mantis that almost all the soldiers had told you the same thing but about him. Saying the "freak show in the gas mask would screw up your mind and slide through it like a maggot through a carcass" though you abridged some of the harsher phrases when repeating it to him. He stiffened in indignation but cleared his throat and replied. "I don't count them as my peers so I don't spend time with them if it can be helped. You on the other hand-" He trailed off as the silence was filled with the wheezing of the gas mask as it filtered his breath. His hands balled up into fists at his side as he looked down at you. You weren't anything special, so why the hell did he find it hard to keep from slipping into your thoughts and rooting around for any mention of himself? Just to simply see if he was in your mind as often as you were in his. It wasn't unpleasant per say, but the fact that his heartbeat pounded in his ears when he saw you was certainly an annoyance. From his experiences watching and feeling other's emotions, he was sure that this was some kind of affecttion. Though at the moment he simply wanted to ensure you didn't go on a date with any of your "suitors".