dens_tf_den | Nexus, Black Dog, Meeting New 'Bots...

Skylar: *looks up when he registers the change in sound from busy college hallway to a different sort of sound* ...Oh, great. I walked outta the reality again.

Archiva: *stumbles to keep from stepping on him* Oh dear! Welcome to the Black Dog. Grab a seat and I'll be right over. *hurries toward a table holding three adults and eight noisy sparklets*

Skylar: *looks around for a table or some way to get up to the bar, after giving Archiva a curious look*

*something rustles from a nearby chair that's too tall for him to see onto the seat, and then there's suddenly a small red bot looking at him with grave curiosity in her blue optics. She is of a different tech than the waitress, but like her she carries no faction mark*

Hound: Hey... 'Halo, don't scare that fellow.

Skylar: *jumps slightly, and boggles at 'Halo* Er...hi?

Sunhalo: Hello. *shy shy* Are you losted?

Hound: *reaching down to pick up his daughter* Don't worry, Mister. She's just a baby. She won't hurt you.

Skylar: Er...kinda...This is the Nexus, isn't it? *boggles again* ...She's a baby?!

Hound: *now holding Sunhalo close to the badge on his chest* Yeah, it's the Nexus. This' the Black Dog. They have human food. And yeah... just a few months old.

Blackout: *rumbles loud laughter from over by the bar*

Skylar: *small frown, considering, jumps slightly when he hears the loud laughter, and then he's looking over towards the bar*

Hound: You don't have to worry about Blackout. I hear she doesn't usually even notice humans.

Skylar: *quiet chuckle as he nods* Guess this means I pass well enough...

Hound: Pardon? *slight, curious frown*

Skylar: *Small smile* I'm not human...I just look like I am....

Hound: *startled, he looks at his companion, his brow ridges lifting as Prowl nods silently. Then he turns back to the small being on the floor* Oh. Sorry about that. Er... you want to sit with us?

Skylar: Sure...just...hang on to these for me, would you? *offering his textbooks*

Hound: *takes them and sets them on the table* You want a hand up, too?

Skylar: No need... *looks around briefly, before transforming*

Hound: *is startled* Oh! You're one of us. *then frowns as he studies the other mech's construction*

Sunhalo: *watching with great interest as she sucks her thumb*

Starscream: *standing up to his full height, which may or may not be right around the same height as Hound* Yeah...the other Autobots where I'm from are smaller than me though...makes for some...interesting conversations...

Hound: *offers him a seat* Really? Oh, I'm Hound, this is my daughter, Sunhalo. And the silent guy is Prowl.

Starscream: *as he sits, he snerks softly and nods politely to Prowl, before raising a brow ridge as he gets a better look at the mech who shares names with his acquaintance back home*

Hound: Prowl's techno-organic. *firmly* But he's a good guy.

Prowl: *without looking at them* Unless you're a deer.

Starscream: *nods* The Prowl I know is a good mech....even if 'Jack messed up when assigning alt-modes. *small smile*

Hound: Messed up how? *absently stabs one of the energon based dumplings on his plate and pokes it into his mouth, his optics on Skylar* Oh... and I didn't catch your name.

Starscream: We based our alt-modes off of the dominant species of the planet we crash-landed on...which happened to be Earth, and the dominant species, humans...'Jack accidentally based Prowl's alt-mode off of his size class, instead of the way his spark is coded, and our Prowl wound up being a human female when in alt-mode. *Smirks about this* Oh...I'm Starscream.

Hound: *freezes* Star...scream?

Sunhalo: *nods. She'd known, somehow, who the mech is* A good Scream, though?

Starscream: *nods and taps his Autobrand* The other Decepticons...their actions...sickened me and I defected.... Kinda ticked off a few of my former comrades, and my former commander...but I don't regret becoming an Autobot.

Hound: *just looks at him with utter shocked flabbergast, not sure he's heard him properly*

Sunhalo: *gravely* My 'Scream was bad.

Starscream: *small frown as he nods* I was bad too, for awhile...but I realized I was being dumb...and that by doing bad things, it wouldn't bring my best friend back to life...

Hound: So... no taking over the galaxy? No slagging Megatron? No... abandoning a femme named Moonshadow to deliver a sparklet alone and then starve?

Sunhalo: *frown for Poppa. What did he say?*

Starscream: *Narrows optics at the mention of Moonshadow* Considering I recently met Moonshadow, and got her away from the glitch that was keeping her as a slave...I have no intention of letting ANYONE hurt her ever again.

Hound: *looks down at Sunhalo and offers her a bit of orange gummiveg from his stew* //Good. Remember that, okay? Our Starscream wasn't so particular. My friends pulled his Moonshadow out of our asteroid belt. What was left of her. She'd just delivered Sunhalo.//

Starscream: *small nod, studies Sunhalo while trying to appear like he's not* //Your Starscream sounds like a glitch-rat.//

Hound: *gravely* //That's an insult to glitch-rats.//

Sunhalo: *happy, sleepy optics as she chews on the bit of gummi*

Starscream: *Snerks softly*

Sunhalo: *optics open and looks up at him, and the little mouth smiles around the gummi and her fist*

Hound: You want something to eat? This stew looks pretty weird, but it's good.

Starscream: I've seen weirder-looking foods, and tried them since I got upgraded... but that does look good...

Hound: *grins* And it's all energon based. Imagine actually eating energon, like it's oil. *calls to Archiva for another plate of stew*

Starscream: *curious now* that's...that's actually pretty cool sounding...I know 'Bee and the Twins mentioned something about energon-based cookies...but I didn't think they were serious...

Sunhalo: *grave little voice speaks again* Cookies are good. Specially CinnySeekers.

Starscream: What're CinnySeekers?

Hound: CinnaSeekers. They're some of those cookies you mentioned. The mineral blend in them's enough to draw bots for astromiles.

Starscream: Oh...huh...Wonder if I can find who sells them...

Hound: *asks Archiva to bring three cinnaSeekers too as she sets Starscream's plate of stew in front of him*

Archiva: *nods, then asks Starscream if he'd like a fork or chopsticks*

Starscream: Fork please...I know how to use that, at least...

Archiva: *gives him a big fork of some alien composite, then smiles and goes to get the cinnaSeekers*

Sunhalo: *reaches up and puts nommed gummiveg in Poppa's mouth*

Hound: Thanks, Lady. *eats*

Starscream: *raised brow at the size of the fork, shrugs a bit and has a taste of the stew, before making a pleased sound*

Hound: It's kinda one size fits all, unless you're a minibot. Then you get the smaller fork. *not that many of the people around them are bothering with more than the traditional liquid energon*

Starscream: *small nod as he works on making his plate of stew vanish*

Prowl: *turns and looks toward the bots at the bar, his expression enigmatic as he holds his drink but doesn't drink it*

Archiva: *here she is with the cookies on a plate... and the scent precedes her*

Sunhalo: *smiling, her optics bright*

Starscream: *attention goes to Archiva when he catches scent of the cookies*

Archiva: *sets the plate down and smiles at him, then turns and walks over to another table, dodging a cyclopean drone who is busing another table as a massive furry puppy bounces around its feet*

Hound: *grins at Starscream despite his uncertainty* Help yourself.

Starscream: Thank you. *reaches for a CinnaSeeker, which gets set next to the plate of stew he's working on finishing*

Hound: No problem. *takes another of the cookies and gives it to his daughter. Clearly there is no 'finish your meal before you get a cookie' here*

Suhhalo: *noms happily, her tiny tooths working busily* ^_^

Hound: *eating more of his stew* So you've been to the Nexus before?

Starscream: *nods* Once...I got a drink from a vending machine that time...

Hound: *has heard of those things* Oh oh. *concerned look* Did it turn you into something?

Starscream: *puzzled* No...Why?

Hound: My friend says sometimes those vending machine drinks are LOL'd.

Starscream: LOL'd? *lost*

Hound: *brows lift slightly, and then he's explaining LOLs and the effects of them that he's seen personally, such as a certain little sparklet and a whole building full of bots transformed to humans*

Starscream: ...do you know if any of those LOLs could cause someone to have weird dreams?

Hound: I wouldn't put it past 'em. *uses dumpling to swipe up some gravy*

Starscream: ...I think...I got LOL'd a few weeks back then....*worried expression*

Hound: Oh? *lifts brows*

Starscream: *nods* After I finished the drink I got from the vending machine, I had a dream....and when I woke up....something from my dream was there...

Sunhalo: Monter?

Starscream: *headshake* No...not a monster...someone very dear to me....somehow came back from the dead...and he's been around since that day...

Hound: *concerned expression* How long ago was it that he came back?

Starscream: A few weeks ago...the same day I came to the Nexus for the first time...

Hound: How many weeks. *still the frown of concern as he wonders if being brought back from the dead is the same as being born from a LOL*

Starscream: *tips his head back and thinks* Almost four now...

Hound: *rubs his face* Huh. Maybe he's there to stay. Shia is.

Starscream: ...who?

Hound: The sparklet that was born from the LOL.

Starscream: ...oh...*focuses on finishing his stew and then gives the CinnaSeeker by his plate a taste*

cinnaSeeker: *makes his taste sensors sing with its warm, sweet, spicy flavor*

Sunhalo: *pauses her nomming* Good?

Starscream: *nodding as he eats*

Hound: So... you just met a femme named Moonshadow?

Starscream: *nods*

Hound: What's she like? *wondering about the little blue-eyed lady who died there on the dock at Tau*

Starscream: *Finishes the bite of cookie he's eating before answering* Quiet...and a bit skittish...but there's something about her...I just... I want to protect her.

Hound: *small smile* Yeah?

Starscream: *nods, expression serious* The only good thing from my time as a Decepticon is the fact that my desire to protect what is important to me is stronger....

Hound: *softly, thinking of his mate* 'That's MINE. You touch it, you die.'

Sunhalo: *looks at Poppa and chuckles* Is Momma talking to Aunty Show.

Starscream: *Ducks his head and nods sheepishly* Rachel says I need an attitude adjustment..

Hound: *nods and grins at Sunhalo, then looks at Starscream* Rachel?

Starscream: A friend of mine...

Hound: One of us?

Starscream: *nods*

Prowl: *quietly, once more speaking while looking across the room* Would that be Ratchet?

Hound: *frowns and looks at him* Ratchet?

Starscream: Yeah...She's a good 'bot....even if she does live with the walking kitchen disaster.

Hound: *looks back to Starscream with surprise, and then starts laughing* I should'a known with what you said about her. It just never hit me that there'd be a lady Ratchet.

Starscream: *raised brow ridge* ...Your Ratchet is a mech?

Hound: Cranky old guy that says my mate needs an attitude adjustment. *grinning*

Starscream: ...*SNERK*

Sunhalo: Momma was a 'Con. Now Granny keeps her from deadin' bots while Buddy's new.

Starscream: ...*puzzled expression*

Hound: My mate used to be a 'Con. So did her mentor. Right now the mentor's back on Earth helping Sky to not kill her best friend while she's jumpy and protective after having our second sparklet.

Starscream: *look of understanding dawns on his face and he nods* I see...

Hound: *quietly* So... you want to protect Moonshadow?

Starscream: *nods*

Hound: And you think about her when she's not with you?

Starscream: *wondering what Hound is getting at, but nods*

Hound: And the world's brighter when she smiles at you?

Starscream: *definitely not sure where Hound is going with this* Yeah...why?

Hound: *small smile* Maybe you better buy her some energon candy before you go home.

Starscream: *headtilt, considers this, and then nods* Probably something with carbon in it...so it's sweet...

Hound: Nah. No. Get her a Cybertron Sunrise. Those things are the only sweet I know that's better than cinnaSeekers.

Sunhalo: *looks up at Poppa, and then wriggles free and climbs up in the table to crawl over and look at Starscream, her cookie still in her tiny hand*

Starscream: *Blink blink* er...

Hound: They're energon rocks, with liquid centers. And the flavor.... *tries to think of how to explain it* It's tangy, but.... Well, it's really good.

Sunhalo: *studying Starscream as she noms her cookie*

Starscream: *nods to show Hound he's listening, is more interested in trying to figure out what's got Sunhalo's attention*

Hound: *looks down and uses a bit of spongy stuff that was on a little plate next to his to soak up the last of the gravy... yes, there is even 'botbread'*

Sunhalo: *sets her cookie down, and then rapidly butt-scootches over the edge of the table and into Starscream's lap*

Starscream: *Startled noise, moves to put his hands in a position to keep Sunhalo from falling*

Hound: *looks up and rises partly out of his seat with alarm* Lady!

Sunhalo: *small hands closed on Starscream's fingers as she looks up at him gravely and tries to figure him out*

Starscream: *quiet clicks once he's sure Sunhalo isn't going to take a topple off of his lap*

Sunhalo: *no, not fall... just try to climb up his front*

Hound: *watching this, and thinking he might understand what his little femme is looking for*

Starscream: *puzzled at the little one's actions*

Sunhalo: *up she goes, and then pauses clinging to his chest, where she lays her head against the plating and listens with an intent frown*

Starscream: *raised brow ridge* ?

Hound: *nods slightly* *quietly* She's checking to see if your spark sounds familiar.

Starscream: *quietly* Oh...

Sunhalo: *thinks she hears a hint of something familiar there; something seems to sound like her own spark song, which she's heard while Ratchet was giving her her checkup. Her frown fades as she listens, and then she's curling up a little, and her optic shutters are drooping*

Starscream: *Raised brow ridge gets joined by its friend over his other optic*

Hound: Just put your hand over her till she's in stasis. Then I'll take her back.

Starscream: *nods and gently puts a hand on Sunhalo's back*

Sunhalo: *snuggles and clicks, then makes little sparklet purrs*

Starscream: *quietly clicks to Sunhalo*

Sunhalo: *contented sparklet purrs as her little body curls up the rest and she trustingly falls into stasis on him*

Starscream: *glances up to look at Hound*

Hound: *hands halfway out. But she looks so contented....*

Prowl: If Sharpshot were to arrive now....

Hound: *0_0* Gimme quick.

Starscream: *Gently transfers Sunhalo back to Hound* Who is Sharpshot?

Hound: *takes the sparklet and rubs her back as she clicks and wriggles* My mate.

Starscream: ah...and she has full Decepticon programming, I take it?

Hound: Seems like it. She wasn't built a 'Con, but she seems to have taken to it pretty well.

Starscream: *somber again, nods in understanding*

Hound: But then she learned the truth about something, and got hit in the head by Fixer a few times, and she came back to the 'Bot side of things.

Starscream: Fixer?

Hound: Her mentor, and the head medi-bot for Station Tau, where Sky and I used to be stationed before we came to Earth. *yes, the other one he'd said started out 'Con*

Starscream: ...this is gonna sound like a dumb question...but why do you call her 'Sky' if her name is Sharpshot?

Hound: *sheepish grin* For the same reason I call Sunhalo 'Lady' and my son 'Buddy' when his name is Ridgeback. I nickname bots.

Starscream: ...oh... *personally thinks Hound is a bit weird, but oh well!*

Hound: And she's the same colour as the sky just before the sun comes up over Cyber City.

Starscream: *nods* that's one place I kinda miss...

Hound: Yeah? *slight smile*

Starscream: *nods* Last time I was there was just before Iacon was attacked, and the Towers fell...*grim expression as he remembers*

Hound: Which Towers were those? How long ago was that?

Starscream: The Towers near the Academy...it was about five million years ago though...

Hound: So a little while. *nodding* *then starts and pokes himself in the ear, only to wince as an angry, upset, and frustrated Sharpshot wants him HOME NOW!*

Starscream: *raised brow, and a knowing look* Someone freaking out?

Hound: *nodding, putting credits on the table, and stuffing his cookie and what's left of Sunhalo's into a storage compartment. All done one handed as he gets to his feet quickly*

Prowl: *drink has vanished completely, as though it was never there, and he's coming to help Hound so that he doesn't trip over the chair* It was nice to meet you, Starscream.

Starscream: Likewise...*moves his books so they're out of Hound's way*

Hound: *sheepish grin as he steps back a bit, then tightens his grip on Sunhalo, makes sure Prowl has a hand on him, and vanishes with a flash and a slight swish*

Starscream: *focuses on finishing his cookie and transforms back to alt-mode once he's done, so he can do a bit of studying before he tries to find his way back to his reality*

((co-written with

random_xtras))