Mantauri with Antauri helping Mandarin relax but it turns into Antauri venting how stressed and worried he was all the time and Mandarin ends up helping Antauri relax too.
Mandarin took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’ll ever adapt, Antauri. I’ve been evil for so long, and it’s the only thing that I seem to know anymore. I’ve just forgotten what it’s like to be good.”
Antauri placed a hand on Mandarin’s shoulder. “None of us expected you to be okay overnight. It took Sparx a while to fully recover after his time under the Fire of Hate. It’ll be the same for you.”
“I understand that,” Mandarin said. “I just hoped it would have happened by now. I’ve been liberated from Skeleton King’s army for three months now and I still feel this way.”
“I understand the stress,” Antauri said. “I... I’ve never told anyone this, but I’ve dealing with heavy stress as well. So you have someone who can relate.”
“What do you mean?” Mandarin asked. “You’re always so calm and collected.”
Antauri took his hand off of Mandarin’s shoulder before placing it behind his back. “In such a short time, I have died, been brought back to life in a body that is... not my own.” Antauri took a deep breath. “I’ve seen my entire team get torn apart. Team members turn against each other.” Antauri looked to the ground. “I keep myself calm and collected because I have to. For the sake of my team. Otherwise, there is chaos.”
“But even you need to be able to express your true feelings,” Mandarin said. “You might have metal for skin, but what’s inside is real and organic. You have to vent that out sometimes! You’d go insane if you didn’t.”
Antauri looked back up at Mandarin. “I have my own methods of dodging this anxiety. I’d rather not burden the others with my stress as I’m sure they have their own troubles to deal with.”
“You know that’s not fair to yourself,” Mandarin said. “The Hyperforce vents to each other all of the time. I just spent the past 10 minutes venting to you. That’s how we survive!”
“Antauri, you are not one for making up excuses,” Mandarin said, cutting Antauri off. He crossed his arms. “Promise me you won’t just hold yourself off from everyone else. Or at least... vent to me. I’ll even make it a mutual deal. Surely I’ll have plenty of things to vent to you.”
Antauri stared at Mandarin for a second before taking a deep breath. “I suppose you still maintain some of your wisdom from when you were leader before. Some wisdom that I have long forgotten.” Antauri smiled a little. “Thank you.”
Mandarin brought himself forward and wrapped his arms around Antauri, bringing him into a hug. “You’re welcome. You’ve done too much for me. It’s the least I can do.”
