Lady Stardust

Tommy stops again after transversing about half the distance between the porch and where Soundwave sat. There he stands with unfocused eyes though his mind is hyper focused. He's seeing things in this place, those that were here before them. It's a problem Tommy has constantly. It takes several moments before his mind addresses the comments.

{It's more than that, more than xenophobia.} Though Tommy would not deny his general dislike of most other beings and distrust too. {Humans, and other sentient beings, make us mentally and physically ill with their thoughts and behaviors. The way they amplify negativity and darker emotions can... does.. injure us.}

He'd been there when human excess and self depressing behavior swallowed him, made him forget and nearly took away his sense of self. Maybe it did take it away? Thoughts of his meltdown and locking himself in a room to scream when he couldn't take it any more linger in his present mind.

{The aggressive and darker mindsets of others can be like a disease to us.} That was the best description. Tommy even saw it eating away at Ziggy though, Tom didn't have that effect and the Anthean had no reason why he didn't. It was a mystery.

{Beings do break their own. Sometimes more than outsiders do.}

Laserbeak leans into the pat, whistles, and follows Tom into the air joyfully. She can absolutely open up her comms to him. And she can match his speed, though if they go very far at the full speed of an F-10, she's going to want a lot of energon when they land. Not that she cares about that right now.

==flyflyfunflyflyfast!!!=

{If it's like spark-merging, I shouldn't,} Ravage thinks tentatively to Aletayria. {That's something I only do with Soundwave. Our closest friends my see our sparks, but only bound lovers will merge. When we had a more open relationship than we currently do, that was our limit, and it will always be our limit.}

He is, however, ecstatic about being told to keep the drape. {Thank you so much!} He may even be twirling around in it a bit. It could potentially even show up at future peace talks, though when they first demand to negotiate with the Autobots, he'll be wearing his wedding cape, because that is the freaking Necrobot cape, and it will make an impression on dear sweet Orion.

{I can already tell I didn't bring enough energon,} Soundwave muses as he watches the bird and the birdman fly off, then returns to his conversation with Aletayria.

{I bow, as I said, to your superior judgement, Aletayria. Just don't be surprised if Tommy and his mate both disappear together from the ceremony. The birthing rite may be equally hard on her, and I would not be surprised if they seek immediate union.}

Soundwave grins at her. {And thank you for giving him the drapery. I have a feeling my enthusiastic appreciation of it may have played some small part in that decision. It does accentuate his perfect loveliness in new and intriguing ways.}

Soundwave doesn't dwell on or broadcast his lustful feelings regarding his mate, but he also doesn't think that Aletayria is completely unaware of them, being a telepath and empath herself. And it's an important part of a successful marriage, after all.

{If the third-eye ritual is communication between self and other, but does not cause merging of self and other, I will consent to Ravage performing it and agree to stand guard. But when Ravage and I merge sparks, we completely perfuse one another.

{It's the most intimate form of love-making among our species, and it's the first intimacy we sought in one another, so I must insist that no complete merge can occur. That is far more important to me than whether he rides on somebody else's spike--though I confess I would not like that, either.}

He chuckles a little; he knows Aletayria has no intention whatsoever to trespass upon their conjunction, he just wanted to make sure she knew where the boundaries were.

Soundwave wonders what Tommy is seeing. When he returns to the conversation, though, Soundwave nods in sympathy. {That's part of the reason I wear so much protective headgear. The thoughts of the other members of my species are often uncomfortably violent, and despair can be contagious. I don't think they affect me to the degree that they do you, but I really don't want to experience them. I was third in command of Lord Megatron's fleet, serving on his flagship as communications officer; the only way I could stay sane was to keep my mind in the network when I wasn't safe in my berth with Ravi.}

hellomajortom

Surely she could hear him laughing through the comm as he guided the jet into a steep climb. The F-22 could easily hit 1500 mph but this one had been tweaked with Anthean gravity based propulsion which allowed it to creep nearly to Mach-3.

"How fast can you go?" He didn't want to leave her behind, or be left behind himself. Alien technology had always surprised him with its complexity and speed.

edited 2020-12-08 23:35 (UTC)

sordiddetails

Aletayria watches the two shooting up into the sky. {He is going to come back with an adrenaline high.}

She is still glad that they had gone. She nods to Soundwave's theory. {That is the hope. My species doesn't do well in isolation. She's always had a way with him and he could use the attention of his own species after being trapped among humans for so long.}

Yes, she was saying her cousin needed to get laid by his wife in polite terms. She had nothing particular against humans but she knows he suffered from that kind of isolation. With any luck maybe another child would join the family in the near future.

And she doesn't need telepathy or empathy to know lusty and affectionate thoughts accompanied those sorts of comments. It was probably the use of the word lovely which Tom used too.

{I'm glad he likes it. I plan to make more if you want another, Ravage.}

She pauses to think over the concerns from the pair and figures and explanation may be better than assuming anything. Then they could make an informed decision.

{It is more like mental cuddling. It can be friends, families, or lovers. In general, it lets you feel my mind with less barriers and, if you wanted, see or share memories.} She turns to Soundwave's concerns. {My species does something similar with time. Our minds connect like a shared dream and it often accompanies physical passion. We can hear and feel each other for hours after, at great distance. Eventually it becomes permanent. Most Antheans don't bond with more than one other this way unless their partner dies.} Her eyes turn up toward the sky and lock onto the two disappearing into the clouds. {My mind is already bound. It would be difficult for another to form given the strength of the one I have.}

She had spent so long in Tom's mind now, 15 human years maybe, that bond would not give way to any others for a long time hopefully.

Tommy takes a moment to truly focus on Soundwave. His presence is calm, quiet, cold, and distant like standing in a barren desert.

{I isolated myself from them.} It didn't save him particularly since the person living in his space had her own darkness, but it had to be better than the general public. He's curious about the headgear and turns his eyes toward it.

He's not scientific, by Anthean standards, but as humans had mentioned more than once.. his scientific knowledge seemed vast for not being a scientist. {I found the same insanity among humans. I want to look at it.}

He's talking about the pieces that Soundwave had taken off. Tommy assumed they were thought of like clothing if he took them off.

=howfastsafeyou?=

=Icangomoon :BUT: insuff-fuel=

=go >1000mph ->must Embassy->morefuel=

{Yep. They sure are. I just commed LB and told her to go by the Embassy and pick up more fuel if she runs herself out. We didn't bring enough for her to race with him.} Ravage shakes his head. Laserbeak is always The Most Enthusiastic.

He strokes the cloth a little reverently. {Thank you,} he says, and hugs her. {I would like that, but only if you can spare the materials. I know they don't have cloth like this here.}

Soundwave and he have reached a decision. {If it's like cuddling, that's all right then. We hold and cuddle our family and friends. We just don't interface them. Interface is just for us. But I think you and Tom are the same.}

Soundwave grins at Aletayria. {Some needs are ... multiversal, I suppose.}

It takes him a moment to parse what Tommy is trying to say. And he'd get the rest of it, too--Ravage has a darkness of his own, sometimes, but it's a darkness Soundwave understands.

{I'm not without my own darkness sometimes, nor are you, I think. But I think you and I do not let it fester like they do.}

He gently disentangles himself from Ravage, then picks up the mask, and the visor, and the helm. {Please don't take them apart. I need them, and I can't replace them here. But you can look at them. I normally only take these off when we're in bed, or when I'm meditating, trying to find an answer that eludes me.}

He is keenly aware of Ravage watching, concerned, as he walks toward Tommy, and hands him the helm first. {This is the part that keeps other people's thoughts soft enough that I don't have to listen unless I want to,} he says. {I don't know if you need the part that keeps all the extra colours from being disorienting, or from getting upset when people can't see what's perfectly obvious to me. Or the part that keeps smells at bay.}

hellomajortom

"Over 1500 miles per hour. I can probably push her to near MACH 3." He says it and then wonders if they use all the same measurements of speed and distant. Something that he scolds himself internally because he remembered how annoying it was to deal with Imperial system when he came from Britain to the United States.

"We can stop to refuel. This jet can't leave the atmosphere. If you want to do that I'll have to go back for my wife's ship." He frowns and sighs. "It's windowless though and not as fun to fly."

sordiddetails

{We altered his jet for longer flights. I'm sure he'd wait for her to refuel if it meant a flying partner.} Aletayria shook her head. She enjoyed flight but nothing like her husband, no Anthean probably got that excited about flight any longer.

{One of the things I do here in the Nexus is grow plants to provide supplies for our people on their ships. The materials used for the fabric are cast off from food production.} The Anthean practices used everything. They had to on a dying planet. It was one part of their culture that Tom welcomed quickly, completely, and then started him mind on improving their techniques.

{If you become uncomfortable we can stop or break the connection. I'll leave that to your discretion. I know our ideas of closeness are sometimes closer than others want.} Aletayria holds up both of her palms toward Ravage, fingers open. {Yes, Tom and I are monogamous too.}

She comments more to see if the ideals are the same or any explanation if they are different. {When you're ready... Well} She sighs when she breaks off before continuing thoughtfully. {Our palms are sensitive. Normally we press them together because of the sensory contact. You can use your hands too, or if there's some other sensory area you would prefer, that makes sense to you...}

She trails off because she's not sure about the body plan she is dealing with to make any sort of suggestion to what might be applicable.

{They are rare. We fall ill from the darkness now.} Tommy was talking about the 'genetic pacifism' that the Antheans displayed. The sickness and madness that came from violence and the darker emotions.

{I'm not a scientist.} He tells Soundwave in response to the request to not dismantle the items. He does touch them though, his unnaturally long fingers and hands touching the surface reverently.

Aletayria is also watching the conversation and gives Soundwave a gentle mental touch to draw his attention. There's concern about upsetting Thomas in the nudge. {He was partially blinded by the humans. It's delicate.}

Tommy comes closer to look at the items with curiosity. {I wouldn't want to give up the experience of the world and my mind doesn't allow for it, even if I developed a shield like these.}

=no need to leave atmosphere
=just answer to question?
=around town, <1000 mph is fine
=here to have fun!
=can go moon any time
=fly with friend more special

Ravage starts by pressing his palms to Aletayria's, then thinks better of it and slides his hands up so that her palms are against the underside of his wrist, where he slides open a panel and reveals crystalline contact points and some small openings that look a little like USB ports.

{Data transfer ports,} he explains, and presses his own fingertips to her wrists. {Sensitive, and receptive; intimate, but platonic. I will not be upset by being touched if I expect it. Sometimes Soundwave and I lie down with Laserbeak and the twins, or Howlback and Glit, and just rest and feel close to each other. Esmeral and Clobber will not join us, they don't feel comfortable. But sometimes Suckerpunch will. You could, too, if you wanted. It's nothing like when Soundwave and I go to bed alone with each other. We just all lie down, mostly on him because he is the biggest, and think thoughts together, and rest. Sometimes that's also what he wants when he's upset. To have as many of the minds that love him around as possible.}

{Acknowledged. Fortunately I do not believe he was upset.}

Soundwave smiles at Tommy.

{When we invented these things--Ravage and I--by adapting them from other kinds of equipment, I was the only one of my kind who existed. The society we lived in at that time was very cruel. Ravage was a selfish and perverse Senator's personal assistant. Megatron, my dear friend, was a gladiator who had to kill for a living.

{I could handle their pain, because I love Ravage and I loved Megatron then as well. But even after we took over an empty building and filled it with our friends, I was still surrounded by people who were being abused all the time, and at work, by the people who abused them.

{I was also absorbing wireless data directly from the atmosphere. Conversations between strangers, random purchases, speedtesting pings... Sometimes there were so many people and so much data in my head that I couldn't remember my own name.

{A 'doctor' who intended to destroy my will and intellect once told me that I would be happier if he succeeded, because my processing units are very overclocked, and sometimes I just...guzzle coolant because I am putting out so much waste heat. The equipment also allows me to vent that safely.

{I'm sure that if I grew up among Antheans as they are now, I too would prefer being open. But I didn't. And I became a revolutionary, meaning that I still had to live around violent people, even though their violence was directed at those who oppressed us. Many of my dearest friends--people I love because we worked together for the same goals--are violent people, with many good reasons to be angry, and strong emotions that can make me feel like I've been caught in a storm that is out of control.}

hellomajortom

"I don't have enough people to fly with." Antheans certainly couldn't endure this kind of flying. The Gs would probably kill them.

Tom rolls his jet so that he is upside down above Laserbeak. "What kind of flying is the most fun? Lead and I'll follow."

He's admittedly curious what she might find as fun flying and if it is the same as humans.

sordiddetails

She nods to Ravage and easily adjusts to the new position. The idea that sensitivity might vary between species is not unexpected.

[Our kind will lose ourselves to thought in order to rest, too, but my species doesn't sleep or rest like others do.]

She pauses and then adds. [This contact can be platonic or romantic, like a hug to a human. the meaning can vary depending on the people greeting each other.]

Very slowly she moves her palm over the contact points in Ravage's wrists because it felt right. She doesn't move quickly like an Anthean would, where contact and the whole flood of presence happen simultaneously. Instead she focuses on home and lets Ravage see Anthea with its sandy warm browns and rusty reds in the landscape and the bright blues of the sky under a blue sun. The air is cool and moving, windy and smelling slightly acidic.

This memory is something important to her. She is showing Ravage where she grew up, and where Thomas had lived with his family. As the view shifts around the area they turn to low cliffs to the West. Love, longing, and a bittersweet joy attached to them.

For her kind this is light contact, sharing a three dimensional space, a place of importance that carries home with it.

Tommy takes in everything that is being said, receptive but stoic.

[Everything is loud.] The words come simply and quiet. [I hear the planets move and the past.. the future.]

Tommy slowly pulls his hand away from the pieces and looks up at Soundwave for a very long moment. The bit of dullness to the world's vibrancy due to the eye damage solidifies his thoughts on the items. [These are not for me.]

Soundwave nods. {Of course not. I only showed you because you asked.}

He thinks for a moment. {The past and the future, too? I don't think I would like that. It's bad enough when I get glimpses of possible futures just because there is so much data coming in all the time...}

{Do tricks!}

Laserbeak flips into a barrel roll and does a couple of loops.