You're learning, came the oddly-fond reply, and Mantis' fingers smoothed dark hair away from the lost expression. He shifted, folding his legs under himself, skinny body looking fragile in the oversized clothes. His gray eyes were startlingly lucid beneath the gas-mask's lenses.
I can take those feelings onto myself, he added after a moment, his mental voice so much clearer when not surrounded by people and after having had time to center himself. He paused, realising that she might protest that, and then flicked her gently in the brow with one white finger. Don't argue--you need this. And I do not mind. You are.. important. To me. I would do this to help you.
He'd begun to realise that he'd do a lot of things at the behest of the residents of the Hyperion. He'd become strangely attached to them all; it was both terrifying and strangely soothing, to know that his heart wasn't so completely destroyed.