Cyberformed: Inbox

[petrifiedshadow]

"Hello, this is, um, Starflight. Sorry I did not answer right away but please leave a message and I'll try and get back to you as soon as possible."

Text | Voice | Video | Action


Art Source: pencilcat on tumblr

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[cybercatastrophe]

"Ravage," says Ravage, though she thought she'd said so. "I had no idea what a dragonet was. Probably should have thought to do a database search but here you are. You look like some of the Warworlders do, only organic. My friend Esmeral turns into something a lot like you. I'm a femme, too, a she--I'm not like some of the femmes where you can just tell, so."

[petrifiedshadow]

"Oh, thanks for letting me know, I’ll remember that. And you probably wouldn't have found anything if you had done a search, anyway. 'Dragonet' is what young dragons are called, but I've never heard anyone use it who wasn't from Pyrrhia, and so far I haven’t found Pyrrhia in any databases yet. It never occurred to me there might be mechanical beings similar to dragons; I’ve never heard of a warworlder before,” he rambled, a nervous habit when he met someone new.

“Anyway this is the right room, I bet we can find some stuff you’ll like.” He opened the door and led the way in. Inside was an assortment of furnishings and raw materials carefully arranged on shelves and in stacks on the walls: cushions, rugs, some furniture, wood, fabric, and more. Much of it was still in bags from the store, and the whole thing was extremely organized (Ultra Magnus had seen to that).

[cybercatastrophe]

"The Warworlders are people who broke off from the Decepticon movement long ago," Ravage explained; she didn't mind rambling at all. "They don't all look like you--only some of them do. Like the Camiens sort of got lost and forgotten about by the Autobots, we were out of touch with them for a long time. This is the first time you've used the word 'dragon' in our conversation--and that one I have heard before, but on Earth you're believed to be mythical creatures."

Ravage picked out some large cushions and a table which was low for her, but wouldn't have been for a human. She could turn them into a Warworlds-style sitting area where she could read and drink energon and possibly talk to her friends, if they came to visit her. She found a few lengths of fabric that she liked, as well.

There were a lot more things than she'd expected, but she'd lived most of her life in a communist sort of household and it didn't occur to her to take more things than she really needed, though she had a luxurious nature when she wasn't on the job (which for millions of years, had been "practically never"). One elaborate piece of fabric didn't look like it would be pleasant to lie or sit on, but... "Do you think I could put this up on a wall? And how will I get it all back to my room?"

[petrifiedshadow]

"Yeah, I, um, get that a lot. The Earth legend part, I mean. It's weird that so many people know what dragons are but have never seen one. I'm the only one I've ever run into in space. Can you tell me more about Camiens? I've never heard of them."

He waited patiently as she picked out what she wanted.

"I don't see why not, there isn't a plan for most of this yet. I'll help carry everything over to your room." He circled her selection, thinking through the best strategy. There were a couple ways he could manage it.

"It might take a few trips, but none of it is really heavy so I can fly it over, so it shouldn't take too long."

[cybercatastrophe]

"Flying them? That would be very kind of you. I was hoping there would be some kind of transport cart, but if you're willing to help I'd appreciate it," said Ravage. She bundled the fabrics around one of the smaller pillows, the one she meant to put on her recharge slab, because her head wasn't shaped like that of most mechs and sometimes it got uncomfortable when she came out of recharge.

"Also as far as the wall hanging--I was wondering if we had some way to hang it up on the wall. I might put curtains up around my recharge slab later. I like to sleep in enclosed spaces if I don't have anyone with me," she explained as they prepared to go.

"I don't really know much about Camiens, I've only known three of them, and one of them kept trying to pet me which was very annoying. But Windblade is one of them." Ravage smiled. "I'm a Decepticon. Not an Autobot. But I don't bite, unless I'm given reason to."

[petrifiedshadow]

"Oh, there, um, might be. I kind of assumed if there were a cart it would be an awkward size for me. It's hard to know if things are going to be too big or small for me."

He bundled up the rest of the cushions and fabrics into a pile, stacking it in a way that seemed easy to squish down and carry without dropping anything.

"I bet we could figure something out. Maybe there's a way we can attach a hook or a rod to the ceiling that you could hang the fabric on? They got a lot of extra supplies for building things we could look through. Though we might need to get someone taller to help. Where's your room? I'm guessing on one of the other floors?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"Yes. Not far. I can ask one of my friends to help if we need, although I want the fabric where I can see it well, not necessarily where Megatron could." Ravage smiled. "Ah... in case I do have to call a friend, pronouns?" She doesn't want to assume. "I've never met anyone like you before. There might be a way to tell things like that but if so I don't know what it is."

[petrifiedshadow]

"I'm a boy, so he I guess? I mostly meant to, um, help attach something to the ceiling, not necessarily hang it up that high."

He jumped up into the air, hovering for a moment before swooping down to gather up the bundle of cushions and fabrics, holding them tight to his chest and flying into the hallway to wait for Ravage.

"Which way is it?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"Well, it seems to me you could do that, if you wanted, since you can fly." Ravage grinned. "Thanks again for your help. It's this way." She held the door as best she could, since she was carrying a bundle too, and led the way.

[petrifiedshadow]

"Thank you for getting the door! I could try, but it's kind of hard to hover that close to the ceiling, and the surface is so smooth I'm not sure I could hang from it like you sometimes can in caves, and I'm not very good at that anyway."

He followed after her in the air, the silver scales on the underside of his wings glinting in the bright light of the hallways.

[cybercatastrophe]

"No problem," said Ravage. When they got to her suite it was immediately apparent that even when she stood bipedally, the room was too big for her. "I could've asked for a smaller place," she said, "but then I wouldn't be able to have most of my friends over. My four closest friends are all a lot bigger than I am. When I went to visit Megatron, he had to help me up just so I could sit on his berth."

[petrifiedshadow]

"That makes sense, and it's really considerate of you," he said as he landed and placed his cargo in a tidy pile against the wall so she could arrange everything how she wanted later. "I kind of wish I'd picked out a bigger room. It was fine for just me and Cody but they gave him a big award for the competition they had and it, takes up a lot of space."

With the cushions and fabric in a satisfactorily stable stack, Starflight turned to where her berth was, looking up at the high ceiling.

"By the way which, um, Megatron are you friends with again?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"My Megatron is big and silver, with filigree scrollwork on his chest," Ravage replies. "Not the really mean one. When I was smaller, I used to sit in his lap like an Earth cat. Was this from the roomba thing? And who is Cody again?"

[petrifiedshadow]

"Oh, that sounds like the Megatron who was on the Moira. I talked to him a few times, but not here. Most of the cybertronians I recognize from there haven't recognized me so he's probably a different version." He fiddled with the MID comm device on his wrist, which hadn't been able to connect to the Moira's network since he got here. "To be honest I've– I've been avoiding all of them anyway, I was told they were dangerous."

"Cody is one of the humans. He's pretty small and has yellow fur on his head. Or– I guess they call it hair? It was for the roomba thing, but I didn't go."

[cybercatastrophe]

"You're lucky you didn't go. Someone got murdered," Ravage said flatly, as she began to arrange the cushions and the table on the floor. "Cody is the tiny one! I remember him now. I was worried about him. I'm glad he's all right. And Megatrons are dangerous, but we can all be dangerous. The thing about Megatrons is that they're military leaders. They lead the Decepticons. I'm a Decepticon. In some universes, like mine--the Decepticon movement was a revolution against a horrible, oppressive government. I have been told that there are universes where they're just imperialist looters."

She lifts up the patterned, embroidered fabric. It would not be comfortable to lie upon, but...

She unrolls it and folds it in half, very long. "Can we suspend this from the ceiling, right over my berth? So that I have kind of a curtain around my bed, and the light hits the sparkles and the colours filter the brightness?"

[petrifiedshadow]

"I– I heard about that. Cody left before it happened so he wasn't there. I'm glad Verity is ok now."

He listened to her explanation with his head tilted to one side, "I mean, I avoid a lot of the Autobots, too. They're just all so big. What you're describing sounds kind of like the Talons of Peace, almost. The Talons are an underground movement trying to stop the War of Succession. A lot of them are pacifists who are trying to stop the fighting, but some can be very scary and dangerous. Like Kestrel." It wasn't exactly the same, but he understood the kind of overwhelming oppression that would lead to a revolution like the one she was describing.

He moved towards the fabric where she had it folded. He reached out, feeling the texture under his claws, "That would be really pretty! I can't fly all the way to the ceiling, but I can hold it up if you want to see how it looks."

[cybercatastrophe]

"That would be nice. I didn't know there were limits on how high you could fly, but then, you're not Laserbeak, and you're not a Seeker, so I shouldn't assume." Ravage smiles. "I'll have to ask Tiny Soundwave if his bird can do it sometime."

[petrifiedshadow]

"It's not that I can't fly that high, but my wings are going to hit the ceiling if I'm not careful. That why I was thinking someone tall could attach a hook or something to hang it."

With that he grabbed the folded part of the fabric and arranged the rest of it as she described on either side of the berth. He moved so he would have more room and jumped into the air, wings flapping to gain altitude. He hovered as high as he could, his wingtips brushing the ceiling every few beats.

"How's this?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"Perfect!" says Ravage, clapping her hands. "And yes, of course we can attach a hook, but can you get close enough to hang it? If not don't worry, we can ask someone else. Did you perhaps bring the hook? I didn't know where they were. I could make one out of wire if we need to."

[petrifiedshadow]

Starflight looked up at the distance remaining between himself and the ceiling. Unfortunately his wingspan was quite a bit longer than his arms or neck could reach.

"I don't think so. I'm sorry."

He descended in a flutter of silver dotted wings and landed in front of her, handing over the fabric. "I didn't bring one, I need to go through the supplies and see what we have, but I can do that now and let you know if I find anything."

[cybercatastrophe]

"Hey hey," Ravage said, "no need to be all apologetic because I'm not very good at doing the math around wings."

She reached out like she wanted to pat him, but wasn't sure if that would be okay. "I can get someone else, it's no big deal, and you certainly don't have to run right back."

[petrifiedshadow]

Starflight flinched as she reached out towards him, but after a few moments he leaned forward to nudge her paw with his shoulder and complete the gesture. He understood that she meant to be reassuring, but he'd been in too many situations where he'd been injured for something as simple as a touch. The dramatic lighting shaped scar running across neck and chest was testament to that.

"Sor– that would help, thanks. I don't have anything more important to do at the moment so I don't mind doing it now. Cody was actually just asking if we could make our room more interesting and I really like your idea. Do you mind if I copy it?"

[cybercatastrophe]

Ravage smiled and squeezed his shoulder very gently. "Of course not. I'm not the first person who ever hung fabric from the ceiling around a bed. It's not actually an original idea. It's a fun idea, and that's what counts."

She in-vented, then. "Sometimes," she said, "where I come from, people touch me whether I want them to, or not, because I look like a cat to them, and they want to pet me like one. And they either don't know that I'm a person, which is one thing, or they don't care, which is another thing entirely. I want to be helpful, but I don't want to do that to anyone else. You understand?"

She noted the scar, because the way he shifted unconsciously brought it to her attention. "I suppose someone hurt you. I've been hurt, too. You just can't see it because I had some parts replaced."

[petrifiedshadow]

Starflight gave a sad sort of snort, "That happens to me all the time, isn't it the worst? People are always surprised I can talk, which is kind of ironic considering humans don't talk in my world. I appreciate it, though. Really."

He pulled back from her grip, but was clearly more relaxed about it than he had been before. "That's something I really wish we had the technology for on Pyrrhia, being able to heal people like that, or at least help replace what they've lost. I've met some humans who had really advanced prosthetics and I can't help but think about how many dragons injured in the war would benefit from something like that. One of my guardians lost his wing and arm in a battle and it made a lot of things impossible for him."

[cybercatastrophe]

Ravage smiled at him. "The number of people who have expressed surprise to me that I am able to talk--and I don't just talk, I also write poetry and essays--is beyond ridiculous. I wrote under a pen name for a really long time because it was dangerous to write under my own designation and publishers wouldn't believe my stuff was any good, anyway. I don't ever want to make you our anyone else feel the way that feels, so you let me know at once if I ever do anything that is uncomfortable for you."

She looked up at the ceiling. "I'll ask someone tall to help me hang that up. Or a Seeker. Their wings don't move the way yours do. I wish my sister Laserbeak were here. She'd do it easily, and you'd like her a lot. She's very fun. She's a bird, but she's much smaller than you, and her wings don't need as much space. I think...I think it's easier to replace parts for us because we're mostly metal. Our armour plate isn't alive like your skin is. The protoform underneath is, but protoform regenerates around the struts and under the plate once those are replaced, as long as the neural receptors and energon lines are there to keep it alive."