othmtmte. /Skyroller/. Pets and Secrets

[marsthewriter]

Jazz: *stumbles into the rec room, one hand gently cupped around a tiny, soft crying* Jes... Jes gimme a click, babygirl. Gotta git it... Ugh. Too early.

Iaso: *MIGHT not have gotten any recharge last downshift, considering she's currently sitting at one of the tables reading her new book* *that changes when Jazz comes in because she closes the datapad and unplugs herself from it*

Jazz: *says a word she wouldn't usually have said around Iaso as she bangs a shin on a chair*

crying: *stops and is replaced by quizzical pips*

Jazz: Yeah, I dented it. *tired grumble*

Iaso: *puts her datapad to the side* Do you need some help, Jazz? *not fazed by a word that her brothers have used*

Jazz: *startles and turns toward her voice* *concern* Iaso? What're you doin' here this time'a shift?

Iaso: . . . I couldn't stop reading my book. *rises and walks over to Jazz*

pips: *are excited now*

Jazz: *soft, slightly staticked chuckle* That good, huh? *slight startle as the excited pips change back to the soft crying*

Iaso: Just a lot to learn. *and it's nice to indirectly get some help from "Dad" while she figures out words that have been confusing her* *hadn't realized that she'd been wanting courage to ask him for help more* *repeats her question from earlier* Would you like some help?

Jazz: *sighs at the question* You wanna grab me one'a Telaria's bubbles?

teeny violet turboferret head: *peeks over the side of the Jazz hand and cries*

Iaso: Sure thing. *walks over to where she remembers Jazz storing them, grabs one, returns, and places the bulb into Jazz's hand* There you go.

Jazz: Thanks, baby. *bites the tip off the tiny spout, and then gently pokes it into the crying*

Telaria: *whut? OOO!* *rolls on back and drinks eagerly, her little back legs flailing slightly as they try to hold onto the nom too*

Jazz: *soft chuckle, the sound and her expression showing how utterly charmed she is by the tiny pet*

Iaso: *smiles at the little cute!*

Jazz: *softly* Still can't believe Op sprung you on me. *thumb of the hand holding the kit gently rubs the itty bitty head, and then she looks at Iaso with a slightly sheepish grin*

Iaso: *smiles back at Jazz*

Jazz: *softly* You gonna get some sleep now?

Iaso: Ummm. *she'll get back to you with an answer to that question, Jazz!*

Jazz: *fond chuckle* You kin read tomorrow, y'know.

Iaso: Doesn't "tomorrow" start in 30 minutes?

Jazz: *more soft chuckle* Not fer all night readers 'n mamas ta baby critters.

Telaria: *baby critter is a SLEEP*

Iaso: *looks down at her hands* I wasn't intending to read that long. I guess I just liked the quiet too much. *since it meant fewer interruptions*

Jazz: *poofs away the empty energon bulb, then uses the freed hand to gently pull Iaso a little closer so she can kiss the little blue girl on the helm* Ain't mad. You jes' gotta take care'a yerself. Otherwise ol' Garnak'll fuss himself inta a tizzy.

Iaso: *lets herself receive the contact she never got growing up* *still thinks it's a bit odd to finally get "mothered"* I know. I think he's visiting with Nightwish tonight, though.

Jazz: *visor twinkles with suppressed mirth* Shhhh. Nobody knows about that but Oppy.

Iaso: Oh. *didn't know that was a secret* He's always happier when she's here.

Jazz: *softly* Wishy's scared if it gits out somebody'll wanna hurt th' big guy. 'N yeah. That's how love works, baby.

Iaso: *blinks and lifts an optic ridge*

Jazz: *gently pokes a doodad under a panel on her wrist* What's that face for?

Iaso: Just wasn't expecting a femme like her having that fear. *and is also curious about what Jazz is doing with her wrist*

Jazz: *indicates the doodad* Stealth field. We kin talk now.

Iaso: *takes Jazz's word for it* Wheelie said she's the Black Angel from the old wive's tales back home.

Jazz: *chuckle* Yeah, he's right. But even the Black Angel's a woman.

Iaso: *frowns at that*

Jazz: *with the same endless patience that she always shows when speaking to the girl* 'N what's that face for?

Iaso: Do all femmes need secrets?

Jazz: *thinks about it, then slowly shakes her head* No, baby. I think there's even Cybertronian ladies that kin get by without. S'jes, Nightwish's known. 'N she's gotta lotta enemies. Nobody's gonna mess with her crew, but Garnak's organic, so she's protective of 'im.

Iaso: *takes that in for a moment* Oh. That makes sense.

Jazz: *bit of a grin* Though I kinda think she feels the same way about 'er kids. But they live by 'er.

Nightwish: *from just inside the door* You guys're making my ears ring.

Jazz: Eeep! *bleep!* 0_0

Iaso: *startles and hides behind Jazz*

Nightwish: *slight, friendly smirk* You kiss Trailbreaker with that mouth?

Jazz: *recovers herself and chuckles* 'N every other guy that holds still long enough. What're you doin' in here, 'Wish?

Iaso: *peeks at Nightwish from behind Jazz*

Nightwish: *taps her wrist to indicate that she too is shielded* Garnak went to check on Iaso, and she wasn't on her slab, so I told him where she was. And then he asked me to come get to know her. *golden eyes don't glance toward the girl, letting her hide till she's ready to come out*

Iaso: *oops!*

Jazz: *looks down at her with a half grin* You wanna git ta know yer aunty, baby?

Iaso: *still a bit embarrassed she made Garnak go looking for her* *looks up at Jazz before she steps out from behind her to meet Nightwish* Hello.

Nightwish: *tall lady goes to one knee so that she can see eye to eye with the girl* *softly* You know, to Cybertronian thinking, I'd be one of your mothers. Will you think about it and tell me if you'd like that?

Jazz: *free hand is now offering support on Iaso's shoulder*

Iaso: *blinks at the suddenness of the question* *thinks about it for a bit before nodding* I'll consider it.

Nightwish: *smile warms that beautiful face* Random's sleeping soundly tonight. Seeing you did him a lot of good.

Iaso: *feels relieved* *smiles* Thanks. I'm glad.

Nightwish: The girls are eager to get to know you. And I think Two and Bad were looking for you.

Iaso: *smile*

Nightwish: *gently* Do you know you have three more sisters now?

Iaso: *blinks* I do?

Nightwish: My younger sister Nightstrike counts Random as a brother. So do my daughters Jenny and Kia.

Iaso: Oh. I'm glad he's with people who care about him.

Nightwish: So am I.

Iaso: He's getting his new body soon, right?

Nightwish: *short nod* He'll be alright soon.

Iaso: *shifts a bit* Can you give something to First Aid for me?

Nightwish: Sure. *holds out hand, her movements slow and smooth*

Iaso: *relief* Hang on, a sec. *moves to grab her datapad off the table and then starts mad tapping on it*

Nightwish: You were asking Jazz some questions about me? *tone says she'll answer questions for you*

Iaso: *completely sidetracked* Huh?

Nightwish: *quietly* My senses are strong enough to hear past a stealth shield. I heard what you were saying.

Iaso: *blinks* Oh.

Nightwish: Have you ever heard about outliers?

Iaso: *hugs her datapad, completely distracted from what she was doing on it* A little bit. I know about Trailbreaker and Windcharger. And heard about Dad working with some.

Nightwish: *nods* I'd gone off on my own before then.

Jazz: *don't mind how big her grin just unconsciously got at mention of Trailbreaker*

Iaso: *thinks a moment and realizes Nightwish is saying she's in that boat* Oh.

Nightwish: Though, in my case, it's not just an ability that doesn't sync with my alt mode. *quietly* I'm the brightest spark that's ever been found, and some genius decided to amp it a bit.

Iaso: *winces a bit at the implied spark manipulation*

Nightwish: *gently* I'm alright.

Jazz: *squeezes Iaso's shoulder*

Iaso: *sigh, feeling slightly disgusted* I still can't believe he did that to us.

Nightwish: *expression hardens just ever so slightly* He'll never do it again.

Iaso: I hope not. *brings her datapad up and starts tapping again* *soon starts looking for a spare datachip in her onboard compartments*

Jazz: *softly, though with amusement* Baby, if Wish says somethin' like that, that ol' cat's grease is cooked.

Iaso: *pauses with what she thinks is an empty datachip* *thinks for a long moment before she starts moving files onto it*

Nightwish: *gently, in reply to that thinking silence* He's still functioning.

Iaso: *mixed sigh* *removes the datachip* I don't know if First Aid will need any of this, but this has everything I've been able to find on what Natto did to us. I hope this helps.

Nightwish: *smiles and takes it, then slips it into subspace*

Iaso: *task which had been weighing heavily on her mind done, she absently resumes hugging her datapad* Thank you.

Nightwish: *smile becomes a warm grin as her hand comes back out of subspace. Offers a datachip, but this one SPARKLES*

Jazz: *curiously* What's that?

Iaso: *raises an optic ridge curiously but holds out her hand cautiously*

Nightwish: Jenny wants you to have this. *gently sets the pretty chip in Iaso's hand* It's a datasprite.

Jazz: *brows lift* Wait, you mean like Blaster makes?

Nightwish: Mmmhmm.

Iaso: *takes the datasprite and absently subspaces her datapad, so she can examine it with both hands* *looks up at the older femmes while they talk* Datasprite?

Nightwish: *nods. Softly* She's shy.

Jazz: Give 'er a lil' shake 'n call her. *gentle shake of her hands by way of illustration*

Telaria: *weeee! Do 'gain!*

Iaso: *slightly wide-opticked expression*

Nightwish: *gently* It's a little pet drone.

Iaso: *looks relieved* Oh. Thank you. *gives the drone a little shake*

datasprite: *soft chirping starts up. It's not complaining about the shake, though. It sounds very happy*

Nightwish: *grin*

Iaso: *smile* *holds it in an open hand, not sure what will happen*

Jazz: *softly* Coax 'er a little.

Iaso: . . . How do I do that?

Jazz: *surprised, but looks down at the baby turboferret, who is now rolling around and being cute. Gentle tap with her finger on the hand, and a soft clucking sound*

Teleria: *Oooo? Whazzat? Gotta sniff! Runs to sniff the tappy finger, and see what it's showing her! *

Iaso: *looks and sees what Jazz is doing* *will try to mimic that now, though will feel kinda silly making noises*

datachip: *chirping gets a little louder, sounding excited. And then... it's unfolding!*

Iaso: *blinks!*

datasprite: *is now a lovely, tiny, sparkling bot, who has danced over and is hunkered to look at the tappy finger* *oh, and chirping*

Iaso: Oh. *offers the datasprite the finger, not exactly sure how to interact with it*

datasprite: *studies finger, holding the tip of it in her unbelievably tiny little mitten hands. Then looks up at Iaso with beautiful little bright eyes of turquoise blue over a drawn on smile* *chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!*

Nightwish: I think she likes you, Iaso.

datasprite: Iaso! *more chirp!*

Jazz: *big grin as Telaria peeks to see the chirp*

Iaso: *smile of wonder as the tiny thing unfolds and looks up at her, and then a soft gasp of shock when she hears her name*

datasprite: *tilts that tiny head, still chirping. And then the shiny little wings are buzzing, and she's dancing in the air over Iaso's hand. The merry chirping never stops*

Jazz: *so much grin*

Iaso: Aww.

Jazz: Y'know what 'er name is?

Iaso: *peeks at Jazz* No.

Nightwish: No hurry. She'll love you anyway.

datasprite: *happy little twirl, and then puts hands up*

Iaso: *confused* I'm supposed to come up with one?

Nightwish: *gently* That's part of having a non-sentient pet.

Iaso: Oh. *looks down at her new datasprite*

datasprite: *busy carefully lowering herself down to stand on tiptoe on one of Iaso's finger tips*

Iaso: *stays perfectly still*

datasprite: *tiny tiptoes balance neatly, and then she's throwing her hands up again as she looks up to see if Iaso approves*

Iaso: Very good. *smile*

datasprite: *so much happy chirp as she pirouettes and lifts up one leg*

Nightwish: *chuckle* Blaster's weird.

Jazz: *absently* Yeah, but we love 'im anyway.

Iaso: *more smile for the datasprite and will keep still*

datasprite: *distracted! Must go see what Iaso's trim is*

Jazz: *chuckle*

Nightwish: She'll store data for you, too.

Iaso: *blinks at the datasprite's sudden mindchange* She's a workable datachip?

Nightwish: *nods* Yup. And she can watch something for you, and then show it to you later.

Iaso: *gets an idea and unsubspaces her datapad before showing the datasprite one of the ports on the top* *will see what the result is and also wonder why she would need the datasprite to watch anything for her*

datasprite: *excited! Jumps toward the port, folding as she goes. And now the datapad is showing footage of Iaso's face as she watched the little pet*

Iaso: *much blinking at suddenly seeing her face*

datapad: *and now it's showing the holo-vid Jenny and Nightstrike had been watching with Dreadwing the day before*

Iaso: *sees something new comes on and curiously starts watching it*

Nightwish: *grin* That's 'Nightwind'. My older girls love it.

Iaso: *looks up at Nightwish* What's it about?

Nightwish: Nightwind is a human woman who was born with wings. She hides them during the day with holo-tech, but at night she shows them and wears a mask as she fights crime.

Iaso: *blinks*

Jazz: 'N that cat's Captain Disaster, the cop she works with. He knows who she really is.

Iaso: Why do people always need secrets?

Nightwish: Some secrets protect the secret keeper's people. Some secrets are attempts to protect the secret keepers.

Jazz: 'N some secrets 're so youk'n surprise people. *looks down at suddenly sleeping kit with a grin*

Iaso: *sighs and hugs her datapad again, luckily not squishing the datasprite in the top port*

Nightwish: *gently* What's wrong?

Iaso: Just royally confused.

Nightwish: Want me to explain something?

Iaso: . . . I don't know if you can.

Nightwish: Okay. Would you like me to try?

Jazz: Zzzzz...

Iaso: . . . Was it wrong for me to be a femme?

Nightwish: No. It's never wrong to be a femme. *hand out to gently poke Jazz*

Jazz: Don't do that.

Iaso: Then why do so many have secrets?

Nightwish: Because there are a lot of people who think they know better than the Creator. They treat females as if they're inferior, or property.

Iaso: *knows all about THAT*

Nightwish: But those people are wrong. Male and female are the two sides of the same chit.

Iaso: But females are different, aren't they? Or otherwise we wouldn't have a male and a female?

Nightwish: In Cybertronians our programming is often, but not always different from male programming. Our sparks always have different coding.

Iaso: *thinks about this*

Nightwish: Our personalities usually have different nuances than most males, too.

Iaso: Oh?

Nightwish: According to the experts, we're more nurturing. We can cope with pain better, but not stress. And we worry more. Though I think the people who think we worry more has never seen Perceptor.

Jazz: *snerk*

Nightwish: Most of us are more tactile. Cuddling is a thing. *slight smile* We're also usually more emotional.

Iaso: *thinking and letting Nightwish's words soak in*

Prowl: *muted roar from somewhere in the depths of the ship*

Nightwish: ...Which makes me wonder how she thinks she's fooling anyone. *frown*

Jazz: Eh. You've met 'Hide. Guys git emotional too.

Iaso: *hides behind whoever's blocking the door better at the roar, even if Prowl's not even close*

Nightwish: *gentle hand back to the girl, offering comfort* Don't worry. Only tables are in danger. *words are mocking, but the tone's not*

Iaso: *deep intake and release* *more hug for her datapad*

datapad: *chirp chirp chirp!*

Nightwish: *turns to face Iaso, her expression compassionate and kind* Any more questions?

Iaso: *distracted from her thoughts by her chirping datapad, which she stops hugging long enough to see if it's trying to tell her anything*

datapad: *happy happy happy happy!*

Nightwish: *chuckle* I wondered how she was staying quiet so long.

Iaso: *smile for the datapad for a moment before she reminds herself that Nightwish had asked her if she had more questions* *looks up at the older femme* So, the biggest difference is our sparks?

Nightwish: That's the biggest physical difference, yes. *glances over toward Jazz*

Jazz: *zzzzz*

Iaso: . . . And there are things we tend to be more of, but that doesn't mean the mechs can't be it either.

Nightwish: *hand out to prop Jazz up* Some guys are special.

Iaso: *raises an optic ridge and tilts her head* "Special"?

Nightwish: Well, a lot of the personality traits that usually get assigned to women are there, but culture and society reinforce them. And repress them in men. It's a special man who can buck expectations and let people see him do things that most think are womanly.

Iaso: *lots of thinking in her processor*

datasprite: *pops out of the port and sits on the pad, looking around and chirping her delight with the world*

Iaso: *startles at the sudden movement from her datapad* Hello.

datasprite: *looks up, and despite the simplicity of her little face, it's clear she's smiling* Iaso! *much chirp*

Iaso: *small smile back*

datasprite: *little tiny hand reaches up toward Iaso's face as she chirps her happiness with the entire world*

Iaso: *stays still since she's not sure what the datasprite is doing*

Nightwish: *softly* She's glad to see you again.

Iaso: *looks to Nightwish* Oh. *back to the datasprite* Thank you.

datasprite: *stands and happy dances on the edge of the datapad like some sparkling little snowflake*

Iaso: *stays still to not knock the sprite off her perch accidentally*

datasprite: *and now she's going to walk up your arm. Yes, even the part that's not horizontal*

Iaso: *raised optic ridge and more staying still*

Nightwish: You can move.

Iaso: *look that says she doesn't quite believe you, Nightwish*

Nightwish: They stick to things. And between their wings and sensors that let them always know how far they are from something, they don't fall. *gentle finger toward the tiny walker*

datasprite: *NOPE! Happily scoots away up to Iaso's shoulder!*

Iaso: Oh. *watches the datasprite*

Nightwish: *again that soft chuckle as she pulls her finger back. Is still easily holding Jazz up with the other hand*

datasprite: *once more interrupts her chirping with a happy "Iaso!"*

Iaso: *another smile for the datasprite before she sighs*

Nightwish: *sympathetic hand on the unoccupied shoulder*

Iaso: *looks at the hand* . . . So is Random "special"?

Nightwish: *so much PROUD in that grin* Random is special by every non-sarcastic meaning of the word.

Iaso: *a bit taken aback by that* *looks up at Nightwish* I meant like how you were saying some mechs were "special."

Nightwish: *bit sheepishly* I know. *nods* He is.

Iaso: *looks somewhat relieved at that* Okay.

Nightwish: *hand off Iaso to catch the Telaria that just fell out of the Jazz hand that went limp* Wups.

Telaria: *continues sleeping*

Iaso: Um, should we put them back to bed?

Nightwish: I think that's a good idea. *offers tiny turboferret*

Iaso: *subspaces her datapad and takes the turboferret* *tries petting sleeping Telaria*

Telaria: *little bitty snuggles*

Iaso: *smiles at that*

Nightwish: *picks Jazz up with one arm* Okay, I haven't looked at the layout of this ship. Can you show me where Jazz sleeps?

Iaso: Oh. Sure! *starts to head for the door* She shares a room with . . . *stops short* Prowl. . . . *admits something she's also been worried about for a while* I don't know how to deal with Prowl.

Nightwish: *soft sound like a sigh of sympathy* For now just avoid her. And if you pray, do that.

Iaso: . . . I don't know what to call her. *because she knows what Prowl is not and it feels wrong to say that Prowl is what Prowl is not*

Nightwish: If you have to call her anything call her Prowl.

Iaso: *so, sorta what she's been defaulting to* Okay.

Nightwish: *free hand gives free shoulder a gentle squeeze*

Iaso: *deep breath and sigh*

Jazz: *murmur that contains "Breaker baby"*

Nightwish: *face inadvertently curls itself into a snerk*

Iaso: *frowns as realizes something else about Nightwish and Jazz but decides not to say anything* *looks back towards the door* Her room's down to the right.

Nightwish: *as she follows the girl into the corridor* It's alright to laugh at things like that.

Iaso: *starts leading the way to the dormitory section Jazz's room is in* *doesn't have a datapad to hug anymore, so she'll pet the turboferret in her hands* Oh. There were some things that amused my brothers that I never thought was funny.

Nightwish: Well, this is funny because it's cute. And because if she were awake, laughing at it would make Jazz laugh.

Iaso: *more pet scritchings* Sorry. I had other things on my mind.

Nightwish: *softly* I know. But you don't feeling like talking about those. I can see it in your body language.

Iaso: *stops and blinks at Nightwish*

Nightwish: *quietly* It's part of how I'm different.

Iaso: *remembers she and Jazz had been talking about the Black Angel before Nightwish showed up* The Black Angel stories. How much of them are true?

Nightwish: I don't eat babies. I don't steal kids.

Iaso: And the other things?

Nightwish: I'm a good tracker. I can smell where people have been, and see traces they've left. If showing mercy endangers the peace of too many people I don't do it. And... *hand on Iaso again*

Prowl: *stomps right past without seeing them*

Iaso: *so engrossed with Nightwish is saying that she doesn't hear Prowl's stomps until Nightwish puts a hand on her shoulder--at which point she startles and instantly freezes* . . .

Nightwish: *watches Prowl vanish into the rec room and slam the door, then takes her hand away from Iaso* I can teleport, and I've got cloaking capability. I was born with them.

Iaso: *watches Prowl walk down the hall* *doesn't want to think of what would have happened if she was still in the rec room when Prowl went in there* *quiet givings of coordinates to Jazz's berthroom*

Nightwish: *looks down at her*

Iaso: *you can teleport, yes?*

Nightwish: The teleporting only works for me, though.

Iaso: *oh* *looks back down the hall . . . before scooting down the other way*

Nightwish: *quick dart, catches Iaso* *softly* Wait. I have a teleporter like your dad's, too.

Iaso: *pushes against the sudden grab, doesn't appear to have heard what you said, Nightwish*

Nightwish: *frowns slightly, but lets go in a way that won't make the girl fall*

Iaso: *will resume scooting down the hall . . . for the few moments that it takes for her processor to realize what just happened* *at which point, she stops and turns to look back at Nightwish quizzically . . . and look like she wants to keep moving down the hall*

Nightwish: *sees that questioning look* *softly* I have a teleporter like your dad's, too.

Iaso: Oh.

Nightwish: *shifts Jazz and offers hand* We need to touch for you to come.

Iaso: *looks down at the hand, then back to the door of the rec room, and then at Jazz* *rests her optics on Jazz before placing her hand on Nightwish's*

Prowl: *crash from the rec room and cursing*

Iaso: *startles and looks like she wants to bolt*

Jazz: *murmurs comfort to the cussing without waking up*

Nightwish: Now?

Iaso: *overwhelmed by the number of things happening right now, so is a bit louder than she would have liked* Yes!

Nightwish: *and the world barfs sideways, and they're in Prowl and Jazz's quarters*

Telaria: *DO NOT LIKE*

Iaso: *that was . . . odd* *aaaaaaaaand then she realizes she's still holding Telaria* . . .

Nightwish: *as she turns toward Jazz's slab* Are you alright?

Iaso: *still seems baffled that she's holding Telaria*

Nightwish: *tucks Jazz into her bunk, then comes over to ask with gentle hands for the crying Telaria*

Iaso: *gives Telaria before thinking back on the odd that was teleporting*

datasprite: *very very softly resumes her happy chirping*

Nightwish: *soothes Telaria, and then tucks her into Jazz's pocket. Comes back to offer comfort to girl*

Iaso: *starts a bit at the chirps, but when she sees Nightwish come over, she calmly puts up a hand in refusal of her comfort* I'm okay. *doesn't want to admit that her blind panic of Prowl made her forget about Telaria and the datasprite*

Nightwish: *steps back and lets her hands drop* Would you like me to ask Optimus if you could have a teleporter?

Iaso: *watches Nightwish move back and unconsciously relaxes a bit, so it takes her a moment to recognize the question* Why?

Nightwish: It would make visiting your brother easy.

Iaso: Oh. *not sure what she thinks about that*

Nightwish: *sees that and turns her eyes toward the door for a moment* No rush.

Iaso: *frowns when she sees where Nightwish is looking and after a moment turns to look at the door herself, wondering what she sees*

Nightwish: *quietly* Optimus is back, and is seeing if he can't get a few winks before shift start.

Iaso: *raises an optic ridge* *didn't think that Optimus had gone out*

Nightwish: He's safe. *looks back to Iaso* Any more questions?

Iaso: *frowns a bit at Nightwish's strange comments before her gaze stumbles onto Jazz* . . . *suddenly remembers* How did you see through Jazz's stealth thing?

Nightwish: My sensors are strong enough to work through all known stealth tech.

Iaso: *blinks in surprise*

Nightwish: *softly* Strong spark.

Iaso: A strong spark can do all that?

Nightwish: When it's as bright as a sun, been tinkered with on top of it, and put into a body that's a mad scientist's fever dream.

Iaso: *blink and frown in thought*

Nightwish: I can scan more than one alt mode, too.

Iaso: *that was pretty strong*

Nightwish: *turns her head to look in the direction of Garnak's room*

Iaso: *remembers where they are* *turns to quietly leave the room*

Nightwish: *quietly* See you later, Iaso.

Iaso: *stops and blinks in surprise* Bye, Nightwish. *aaaaaaaand is gonna leave the room*

datasprite: *chirpy little comment as she sees a door open up ahead*

Iaso: *starts!* *had forgotten the datasprite was there again* *also notices the door opening up ahead*

Garnak: *steps out and stretches, then groans and scratches his head as he blinks blearily*

Iaso: *smile* Good morning, Garnak.

Garnak: *perks and looks around with a grin, and then comes over for the morning hug* Mornin', Miss.

Iaso: *will give him one* Did you sleep well?

Garnak: *toothy grin gets its usual hint of shyness* Yeah. *glance around* Did she find you?

Iaso: *nods and gives him a smile*

Garnak: *even shyer now* Good. *perks again* Ready for breakfast?

Iaso: *blinks* *oh, yeah* *food* *was she ready for that yet?*

Garnak: *sometimes he notices things. Frown of concern* What's wrong?

Iaso: *yeah, guesses she's hungry* *smile* Just trying to decide if I'm hungry yet.

Garnak: *grin returns* There's still some of that special stuff Optimus brought for you, right? *turns toward the rec room* Those cans?

Iaso: *thinks* I believe so. I saw them last night when I was getting dinner.

Garnak: *starts walking* You like that stuff?

Iaso: I haven't had any yet.

Garnak: Oh. Well, Optimus said it's supposed to be really good for you.

Iaso: *moves to catch up with him* *nods to show she heard him*

Garnak: *opens the rec room door, and goes over to the cupboard to take out a can of his own food, his broad back turned to Prowl as he very markedly doesn't speak to the white and black bot*

Iaso: *resists the urge to look around the rec room too much once they've arrived, keeping close to Garnak and quietly gathering a can of the food Dad got for her and the things she'll need to eat it*

Garnak: Does yours have a button on the bottom to warm it? *has removed the lid on his can and is peering inside as he presses something on its base*

Iaso: *placing the items near each other for better pick up when Garnak interrupts her* Umm . . . *moves to pick up the unopened can and looks at the bottom* It does! *optic catches a bit of text on the can, and she moves the it so that she can more easily read the glyphs on it*

Garnak: *looks up from his can, and his grin changes to a frown again* There's a bug on you.

datasprite: *looks around, and then starts looking for the bug, chirping softly all the way*

Iaso: *distracted by her reading of the can, it takes her a few moments to realize what Garnak's talking about* Oh. She's a datasprite. Jenny made her for me.

Garnak: *puzzled expression* Who's Jenny again?

Iaso: Nightwish's daughter.

Garnak: *deep thought, and then a perk* The little purple one?

Iaso: I don't know. I haven't met her yet.

Garnak: Well, the big black one's Nightstrike, and the little silver one's Kia. *bit of a grin as he says it*

datasprite: *happy happy seesnobug*

Iaso: *remembers back when she saw those two in the hotel* Oh. Okay.

Garnak: *doesn't look around as Prowl abruptly slams out of the room to get away from the smell of warm steak and greens* You wanna to go sit down and eat?

Iaso: *visably relaxes when she hears Prowl leave the room* *nod*

Garnak: *big hand comes out to guide her over* That place?

datasprite: Oooobug! *pounce! Wait, not bug. Is fluffy. Examine fluffy*

Garnak: *blinkings of surprise* It talked.

Iaso: *briefly wonders what she's gotten herself into by taking on this datasprite* Yes. There's fine. And she's said a few words so far.

Garnak: *as he moves to guide her over to the seats at the table* She? Okay.

datasprite: *rolly rolly rolly up the fluffy, and FLING it away* *happy*

Iaso: *allows herself to be led* *nods* What Nightwish said.

Garnak: I guess she kinda looks like a girl. *hand away from Iaso to pull out a chair for her*

datasprite: *happy happy happys down Iaso's arm to peek at the can*

Iaso: Thank you. *moves to sit down once the chair's moved out for her* *places her stuff down* *sees that the datasprite is looking at the can* That reminds me. *unsubspaces her datapad* Can you put the text from the can into a form I can read on my datapad?

datasprite: Ooo? *looks up at Iaso's face*

Garnak: Text from the can... you mean like recordin' the data?

datasprite: Record? *still intent on master's face*

Iaso: *looks to Garnak* *thinks* *back to the datasprite* Yes. Record data.

datasprite: *scoots over and walks around the can, still very quietly happy all the way*

Iaso: *watches and wonders if the datasprite actually understood what she meant*

datasprite: *happy happy happy, all the way around the can. Then turns and scoots toward the book. Happy happy happy, she transforms and plugs in. A click later the book beeps*

Iaso: *looks at the datapad screen*

screen: *shows the script from the can, and also shows the same options that it showed for the other text she'd looked at*

datasprite: *happy little datachip*

Iaso: *smiles when she sees that* *had hoped the datasprite could do that* *plugs herself in and checks on a few words that she had been confused by*

book: *explains the words!*

Iaso: *relieved to find she understood the words better than she thought she did and is glad for the clarification on the few she didn't* *unplugs herself from the datapad and sets the datapad aside where the datasprite can unplug if she feels the need to* *moves to pick up the can and press the button on it without taking the lid off* My food needs the lid on when it's getting warm.

Garnak: *thinks about this* Huh. Optimus said it had to come off mine 'cause of steam. I guess yours don't steam.

datasprite: *happy happy happy! Recorded more of the book! Now she wants to look around, so she stands up by the datapad and does so*

Iaso: It didn't say it did. *watches for the indication that her food is warm*

Garnak: *also watching the button on her can. Perks as it changes colour*

Iaso: *smile* *moves to carefully remove the lid*

Garnak: *grins and sticks his fingers into his can*

Iaso: *grabs her spoon and carefully scoops some of the spaghetti-os-like fuel and eats it*

Garnak: *doubtfully* Does that taste good?

Iaso: *thinks* It's different, but it's not bad. *will have some more*

Garnak: Huh. *pauses to give a piece of cooked green a doubtful look* Well, the best-tastin' stuff always does look revoltin'.

Iaso: *distractedly runs a chemical analysis on her food with her on-board medical scanners while she eats*

Garnak: *tips his can up to drink the broth* Mmmm.

Iaso: Dad is right about the fuel being good for me. *sees the expected energon as well as the minerals she'd been neglected growing up along with rust flavoring*

Garnak: *lowers his can* Good. Um, are you growing any more?

Iaso: *thinks* No, I'm going to be in this body for a while.

Garnak: Ah. Okay. *eat more!*

datasprite: *shyly dancing by the book as the happy finds a way out*

Iaso: *sees that the datasprite is out of the port and subspaces her book so that it won't get spilled on* *that done, she eats some more*

Garnak: *pauses with his mouth full to look at the tiny twinkle bot* What's she doin'?

Iaso: Dancing.

Garnak: Ain't that the thing you do to music?

datasprite: *little twirl*

Iaso: *smile between bites as she watches* Often, but she doesn't seem to mind doing it without.

Garnak: Huh. *checks in his can, and then tips it up and drinks the rest* I met a girl like that once.

Iaso: *looks at him* You did?

Garnak: Yeah. But Wheelie does it better than she did.

Iaso: Oh. Wheelie does like dancing.

Garnak: *nod nod* Bumblebee kinda looks like she forgot how.

datasprite: *can twirl on one tippytoe!*

Iaso: *remembers what Dad's mentioned about Bumblebee, including how Megatron died saving her* She's been through a lot.

Garnak: *gruffly* Yeah. That's what Cap'n Rodima said too.

Iaso: *nod*

Garnak: She's the woman that made planetfall without a ship. *sets his can aside*

Iaso: I know. *the femme's exploits are well known*

Garnak: But she's okay. *grin* She's the best cap'n I served under.

datasprite: *folds up in mid twirl. Happy is muted*

Iaso: *smile for Garnak as she continues eating* *raises an optic ridge when she realizes that the datasprite has folded up suddenly*

Garnak: *notices the change in happy chirps a few minutes after the change. Looks for the sprite, and then reaches to poke the little datachip*

datasprite: Thrrpt! *happy!*

Garnak: *laughs at the funny little sound*

Iaso: *distractedly watches as she continues eating, smiling a bit*

Garnak: *ponders deeply. Then gently pokes again*

datasprite: Thrrpt!

Garnak: *laughs again*

Iaso: *sees that Garnak is being careful, so she thinks the datasprite is safe*

datasprite: *waits, and then peek* *peeeeeeks*

Garnak: *gentle poke, his mouth twitching*

datasprite: *hide* Thrrpt! *tiny trill of laughter*

Garnak: *laughs*

Iaso: *starts to slow as she gets towards the bottom of the can, seems like she's close to dozing*

Garnak: *poke*

datasprite: Thrrpt!

Garnak: *laughs*

Iaso: *and as Garnak continues to play with the datasprite, Iaso falls asleep and leans against Garnak*

Optimus: *will be there when she wakes an hour or so later, sitting on her other side with his hand on the table, holding Elita's hand and talking to her and Garnak as the pink and gold femme sits across from Iaso. They won't be invading her space, but they and Garnak will be there by her as the little datasprite peeks over her arm at them*



((co-written with random_xtras))