DivaVerse and the Nexus. The /Mirror/ and the Nexus Mall. Returning a Jerk and Sharing News

[dens_extra_pups]

Rhinox: *appears aboard the ship of a femme who hires a divaCon crew. Throws a divaCon in a long black dress up against the wall*

Corsair: *recognizes where he is, will SHRIEK!*

light footsteps: *running down the hall now*

Rhinox: *growls* I never thought I'd meet someone more annoying than Rattrap.

female voice: Obviously, you haven't worked with a crew of divaCons.

Rhinox: *turns toward the voice* Scattershot and Galaeas aren't half as annoying as this useless piece of slag.

pale green, somewhat delicate-looking femme: *soft snort and a headshake that isn't quick enough to hide the slight flash of pain at the mention of the two divaCons*

Rhinox: *sees that flash, and his expression softens* You're the captain?

femme: I am. My designation is Barque.

Rhinox: *surprise* You've changed since school.

Barque: *puzzled expression is a go* Er...

Rhinox: *quietly says a name he hasn't used since the Axalon crew came to Earth* Mind you, my going to school with a version of you doesn't guarantee you went to school with a version of me.

Barque: *boggling now* Oh, unholy slag.

Rhinox: *grins* So you did.

Barque: It was a long time ago, but yes.

Rhinox: *nods* Yeah. I hadn't even remembered till I heard your name. *shoots a sudden stink eye toward where he'd mashed Corsair*

Corsair: *has apparently slinked off to proverbially lick his wounds*

Barque: So... What brings you here, besides the obvious return of someone to the ship?

Rhinox: I actually just came to offload that scrap. But now that I'm here... *looks in his apron pocket* I know why Galeas gave me this this morning.

Barque: *raised brow ridge* Is he alright?

Rhinox: *quietly* He will be. Here it is. *looks up and offers the glittery green envelope* ...You knew he'd Travelled?

Barque: *nod* The femme who showed up for a bit told me. *will reach for the offered envelope*

Rhinox: *slight smile as he hands it over* That was an Optimus Prima.

Barque: *so surprised* Oh...

Rhinox: She's the new Guardian of Time and Space.

Barque: ... Wow.

Rhinox: Oh. *takes out a holocube and activates it to show an image of a pink mech in a slim pink tunic/dress and a big black apron, the flowered bloomers of a tiny femme visible on his shoulder and a stinker grin on his face* And there's Scattershot.

Barque: ... *soft snerk* He looks happy.

Rhinox: That floral aft is his wife.

Barque: ... *facepalm, snickerfit*

Rhinox: *switches the picture to divaShot in a loli dress and showing full panic mode as the same little femme, in a matching dress, rides on his shoulders and gnaws on his head*

Barque: *actually guffaws as she laughs herself silly*

Rhinox: *next picture! The pair caught in the act of mischief. Scattershot's optics open wide with guilty surprise, and Mal with a wide and ebil grin*

Barque: Oh, no... *so amused*

Rhinox: And they're still not half as annoying as that slagger I just dumped. Who owes my boss.

Barque: *frown* How much does he owe?

Rhinox: *tells her the calculations he made based on the initial insult to Scattershot and the ensuing unwillingness to work* Oh yeah, and then there are the customers he scared off on two separate days with his stupid slagging book.

Barque: *facepalm* *sigh* I'll dock his pay till he's paid me back, and after that, I'm finding a new crew.

Rhinox: *lifts his brow ridges* Where those three all you had?

Barque: Yeah. The Mirror isn't a very big ship. And I've been cruising since after I graduated school.

Rhinox: Ah. *sudden frown and absent look as he listens to something*

Barque: *shrug* Up until the airlock blew, and the number two engine went, we were fine.

Rhinox: *absently* There's a crew at Stargone. Three mechs and a femme. More divaCons.

Barque: *blink blink* Huh. That's not too far from here.

Rhinox: *slight grin* Oh, and here. *hand in pocket again and offers a PINpoint*

Barque: *blinks a bit as she accepts the offered PINpoint* What's this?

Rhinox: The way to come to the Black Dog and take Galeas up on his offer to serve you a really good meal. *grin widens a bit*

Barque: *soft chuckle* That kid... I'm glad he'll be alright.

Rhinox: *quietly* He's got a lot of friends.

Barque: Good. *small nod* *then* I'd better get Corsair's debt settled.

Rhinox: *blinks and looks absent again* Don't worry if the lights go out once you've got the new crew.

Barque: ... *snerk* That'd actually be pretty mild compared to some of the weirdness I've seen in all the crews I've had.

Rhinox: Lockdown thinks it's funny. *shakes his head* A Lockdown. That's gonna be fun.

Barque: *facepalm, is smiling behind her hand though* Oh, great. Well, if he shuts the lights off, I'll just light things up.

Rhinox: *grins* You can control it now? *remembers the cute little dancing lights the Barque he'd known had played with*

Barque: Well enough to confuse even the rowdiest bar crowds. *smirk*

Rhinox: *rumbles laughter*

Barque: *slight tilt of her head* So tell me about you. I know you're not the guy I went to school with, but I'm still curious.

Rhinox: *pauses, his face darkening. Then quietly recites the career of most Rhinoxes, including the change to Tankor and the death*

Barque: *silent by the end of the recitation, a troubled look in her optics*

Rhinox: *still looking down* Then most of us come back to help Optimus Primal. My return was a little different, and a little while after it happened my entire reality ended.

Barque: *quietly* Could that happen here?

Rhinox: *speaks with assurance* It won't.

Barque: *relaxes slightly* Alright.

Rhinox: *slight smile* And I have a wife, and kids other than Galeas.

Barque: ... *soft snerk* Why am I not surprised?

Rhinox: *looks up quizzically*

Barque: *slight smirk* The guy I went to school with was a big softie, even with his intimidating looks. I doubt he'd have been single for long.

Rhinox: I never thought about being any other way till I ran into Spazz.

Barque: *blink blink* Well, that's an interesting name.

Rhinox: She's got an interesting gift. *mouth curves at one corner* And it scares the slag out of anyone she's near when she lets loose.

Barque: *snerk* Sounds fun.

Rhinox: Well, that time Scattershot snuck up behind her and grabbed her in the sides.

Barque: *face palm, snicker* He deserved what he got, then.

Rhinox: He should have known by then not to take any of Mal's dares. *optics twinkling*

Barque: He deserved what he got.

Rhinox: *fiddles with the holocube, and there's a posed family portrait with himself and Spazz in the center. tKriti is on his head with Kouji in her arms, and Rhinox's arms hold Lucky and Dinobaby. Flanking himself and Spazz are Scattershot and a green mech of mechanical construction, and flanking them are two larger mechs with gentle, good natured faces. Two more little blue femmes, Mal, and a larger femme with a wicked smirk fill out the group* Galeas wasn't with us yet when we got that.

Barque: *slight smile as she sees the image* I see what you mean about him having a lot of friends.

Rhinox: That's just my immediate family. *starts flipping through images of Mutt and his family, Nemesis and hers, white Dinobot and his, etc*

Barque: *boggling by the end of the images* Why. That's an entire colony's worth of people!

Rhinox: The Black Dog's in the sign Nexus. It opens onto nearly every time, place, and reality.

Barque: ... Wow.

Rhinox: *nods and shows a picture of the white Dinobot introducing his baby daughter to Dinobaby* *both infant Maximals are scowling horrendously*

Barque: Aww.

Rhinox: Caldera's father is another version of Dinobot, but Dinobot still thinks she should have been a kitten instead of a sparklet.

Barque: ... A kitten?

Rhinox: *finds an image of little Raven tasting the tail of Miss Jenny's Baby. Shows that to the green femme*

Barque: *blink blink* Ah. Who's the one in the background?

Rhinox: *mouth twitches* Another Dinobot. This little one's mech creator.

Barque: *brow ridges up as she studies the brightly-colored mech, caught mid feather-poof in reaction to what his offspring is doing*

Rhinox: In some realities Maximals have wound up with fully organic components.

Barque: You mean, that's not metal?

Rhinox: Nope. Neither is this. *pokes himself in the chest*

Barque: 0_0 *okay, now she HAS to poke you, Rhinox*

Rhinox: *grins as he watches her reaction to the give in his poked hide*

Barque: *boggling and looking a bit brain broken now* ... Huh. That. Explains a lot. Especially with Scattershot.

Rhinox: *chuckles* He's the same tech. Galeas is Transmetal. *goes on to explain what Transmetal means and when it first happened*

Barque: *quietly, after the explanations are done* Wow.

Rhinox: *nods, and then suddenly he's whipped out one of the "Chain Guns of Doom" and is pointing it right at the face of the mech who'd snuck up behind him with a weapon*

Barque: *had a similar reaction, only instead of "Chain Gun of Doom", she's launched a handful of light orbs right in Corsair's face*

Corsair: *startled string of cursing as his optics are overloaded by Barque's lights*

Rhinox: Go to your room.

Corsair: *makes a stumbling retreat*

Barque: *circulates air for a few moments*

Rhinox: *as the big gun vanishes into subspace* He's going to have a hard time finding anybody to have tea with after this.

Barque: He'll be lucky to find a place to recharge.

Rhinox: *nods, then stoops as something flashes and swishes and scoops a scowling tiny dark blue femme into his arms* What's wrong, Kriti?

tKriti: *grumble, curse, mutter, cling to Dad*

Barque: *blink blink*

Rhinox: *gentle big finger pokes the little rag doll in his daughter's arms* *voice so soothing and soft* What's this?

tKriti: *quietly* Someone gave her to me.

Rhinox: May I see?

tKriti: *small nod, will gently set the rag doll in Rhinox's hand*

Rhinox: *looks at the wide-eyed little thing* You like her?

tKriti: *nod, a bit more of a scowl coming to her face* I do.

Rhinox: *still quiet and gentle as he gives the little toy back* Someone made fun of her?

tKriti: They called her ugly.

Rhinox: Vi or Mal?

tKriti: *headshake* They were arguing over who got to order their own first.

Rhinox: Was it Scattershot?

tKriti: That doofus squeed and ran off giggling.

Rhinox: ...He's been in the coffee again.

tKriti: Prolly. *bit of a shrug as she gently fusses over her doll*

Rhinox: Who was it, then?

tKriti: Dunno their names.

Rhinox: Ah. What did Galeas say?

tKriti: He told them to go away. He, Pink, and I were playing dolls when the jerks stopped by.

Rhinox: Did he have his sheep?

tKriti: *headshake* He wanted to go get his sheep, but I offered to let him play with Missy.

Rhinox: That's the one that everyone says is a doll version of you? The one with the story that says she licks batteries? *mouth twitching now*

tKriti: *sheepish expression is a go* Yeah.

Rhinox: *rumbles and cuddles her close, then turns to Barque* My daughter, Kriti.

Barque: It's nice to meet you, Kriti.

tKriti: *small nod* Likewise.

Rhinox: I should get back. *turns a frown toward Barque* Are you going to be alright here?

Barque: Yeah. Oh, hang on. *will get a credit chit out of subspace and offers it* This should cover the damages.

Rhinox: *frowns and looks around the tiny passageway, then back to the femme* Save it till after you've got your new crew.

Barque: *bit of a frown* Alright...

Rhinox: *squeezes her shoulder with his free hand* Stay safe.

Barque: You too. *nod*

Rhinox: *slight smile, and then PINpoints... to the Mall* Alright, Kriti. Let's get Galeas his own doll, so you've got both your babies.

tKriti: Okay. *snuggle*

Rhinox: *rubs her tiny back, and then heads off for a few hours shopping that will result in the bringing home of a tall teddy bear*

((Written with random_xtras))