There’s a lot of nodding from Mantis as he listens. There’s a lot of things different about these aliens, but that took him for a real surprise. He looks down at his hands and mutters quietly to himself, unthinkingly, in Russian.

“She’s like a fairy princess with a doting queen...” Then his head snaps back up to Tom. “You are a lucky man. I will offer a new hope for the little one: may she gain strength with every new second. She will be a strong devotchka.”

“It’s endearing more than anything. Part of what made Nyoka so good at getting followers is that he never held back, even a little.” Mantis’s tone shifts to something softer the more he speaks of his friend. He’s smiling behind the mask.