| abstract
| - November 11, 2011 (The Tina, Polyhex) --- Nova Black twitches her wings in a little wave as Quickrazor enters. She's sitting at the same out of the way table the glider has just vacated, and now that he's gone, she orders a cube for herself and for Quickrazor -- something a little finer quality (and more expensive) than her usual. She's not sure what sought-after medics drink, exactly, but she figures he'd appreciate the gesture. Quickrazor smiles and immediately makes his way over to Nova. He sits next to her, instead of across from her- not only a gesture of closeness, but so that they might talk quietly between themselves. "How are you, Nova? Found that scum that shot you and ran yet?" Nova Black chuckles, passing the second cube over to him when it comes. "Sad to say I haven't, Doc. Lookin' forward to it, though. I have a few surprises in store for that slagger when I catch up to him." She takes a sip of her cube. "But trading ideas for scrapping Autobots, fun as it is, isn't why I wanted to see you." Quickrazor tilts his head curiously, grabbing his cube and taking a small sip. "Exquisite taste. What do you need? Anything you wish to know." He smiles genuinely, glad that at least near her, he can relax his guard. She would not harm him. Nova Black nods. "Just wondering about something. Your markings -- you said they are your name and the names of your guardians. I -- never had them. I was part of a huge batch of Seekers. I never even met them all. And I've never been part of a trine." She flicks her wings. "I was -- curious -- what your guardians meant to you, that you would have their names painted on yourself." Quickrazor nods. "Yes. The first mech I remember seeing after I onlined was Warhammer. He is.../was/..a medic assistant and warrior out of Altihex. My other guardian, Blade Wind..he was a Seeker attached to Vos." The look on Quickrazor's faceplates at the mention of Vos is almost murderous. "They were...are my family. Family is important to me. We were all close. My guardians were sparkbonded- they were both as close to a bond with me as one can have without actually doing it." He takes a large drink, then- somewhat disturbed, but willing to tell Nova. She told him all her secrets. A spasm of pain crosses Nova's face at the repeated use of the word "was." She twitches her wings in a clear gesture of sadness. "I -- I didn't realize they were gone." Quickrazor shrugs. "You didn't destroy the Sky Tower in Vos. Know how hard it was to get a grounder in there? Warhammer didn't give a slag, and Blade Wind took his mate wherever he went." Nova Black's expression hardens. "No. No, I didn't. But I know what it's like to lose what matters. I --" her wings click again -- "I -- don't understand what they meant to you, not yet, not really, but I do know that. I -- don't like hearin' that it happened to you too, Doc." Especially since that's not something coming back can fix, she thinks. Quickrazor meets Nova's gaze and smiles faintly. "I renember them every cycle, and my sigils proclaim my ties with them to any who care to notice. On the surface, this resembles pretty artwork. But here, here, and here-" he indicates the whirls where name-glyphs have been incorporated into the design- "here is where I honor them and myself." Nova Black takes a sip of her drink and nods. "Have you always worn it, or is it a memorial to them?" Quickrazor traces Blade Wind's sigil idly. "A memorial. When I heard the news...when the tower fell, I was in shock. I stopped my training for quite some time. And then I learned some things about myself, and got these shortly before my pledge to Lord Megatron." "I see." She watches him trace the sigils. "Then you weren't always one of us?" Quickrazor shakes his head. "No. Blade Wind was. Warhammer was Neutral. And so was I, until I went to the Medical Academy and learned what Cybertron was truly like. I have no love for the smothering oppression that the Autobots call peace. Soundwave...they spoke of him, his coding skills, and I wanted to know more, so I managed to get myself posted here, where he was." Nova Black chuckles, not kindly. "I've got no use for anything they call anything -- but then, I didn't when I wasn't here either." She takes another sip of her drink. "And I -- well, I'm glad when anyone stuck in between makes the right decision. Even when it's someone as irritating as Sparkles." She scowls, flicking her wings. "But I'm very glad that you did." Quickrazor takes a sip of his cube. "It wasn't a hard decision. I...belong here. My ways would get me imprisoned or executed quite quickly in Iacon. I was taught to value independence and respect of the individual, that strength is an ideal to strive for, whether it be strength of body or of intellect." Nova Black grins. "I didn't think it would be a hard decision for you. I've told you before I think everyone's one or the other, and someplace deep inside their spark they know it. Even if they don't realize it yet. Meaning no disrespect to Warhammer," she hastily adds. "I have no problem with Neutrals unless they have a problem with me. Sometimes knowing who you are is easy. Sometimes it -- isn't." Quickrazor nods. "I have an idea of how you feel regarding the undecided. I never knew why he never decided- Blade Wind never really mentioned it, and it didn't come up that often." Quickrazor stares into nothing for a long moment. "Our lives were...good, I suppose." Nova Black stares into her cube of energon, thinking. "That was nobody's business but his. If he was friendly enough to the Decepticons to share his spark with one, that's good enough for me. And he raised you, didn't he?" She looks back at him with a grim but sincere smile. "Like I said -- sometimes making choices comes with a price. I'll do what I can to convince those I think belong with us, but I'm not the one who gets to force that. I -- don't think many other 'Cons see it that way, and I didn't myself before -- things happened. But that's how I see it now." Quickrazor smiles. "He did. I suppose I turned out all right." Quickrazor is teasing. "They were decent mechs. I wish...you could have met them. Even if Blade would have likely taught you several new insults for Autobots the moment the subject was mentioned." He laughed at the memory of the silver and cobalt Seeker- he'd looked like a piece of the sky itself, when flying...Quickrazor supposed that was why he'd always been fascinated by their forms. Nova Black laughs. "He had words for 'em I couldn't dream up? Would have been fun to see if he had." She looks at him carefully. "Is that why you know so much about Seekers then, because he was one?" Quickrazor gets a sly look in his optics. "That's one reason, yes." He smirks, then holds up a hand. "No, it's because Warhammer purchased an entire database of Seeker physiology and other related things as a gift. It's my secondary specialty, the first being chemistry...specifically, toxicology." Nova Black chuckles. "Yes, I noticed. Thank you, by the way." Quickrazor nods. "You're welcome. I hear that things went well." He really wanted to know how his 'gift' had worked, but the less said about it, the better. Nova Black smirks. "They did. I couldn't stay to see how well, sadly." Quickrazor shrugs. "The important thing is that all went as planned. Anything else would have been icing on the goodie, so to speak." Quickrazor finishes his cube, just enjoying the moment. He had a beautiful femme next to him, a high rank in the 'Con faction, good high grade, a chance to experiment as he saw fit, and a quiet place to spend time in. Quickrazor was missing only one thing...his family. But they were still with him, in a way. And Nova...she helped. He reaches out with those two fingers and touches her hand, smiling. Nova Black nods. "Oh, I agree with you. Just thinkin' it was a shame I didn't get to see it." She grins as he touches her hand. Quickrazor agrees. "Yes, to see the fruits of one's efforts is nice...like Hookshot, the annoying little glitch. Nice to know the paralysis works...at least, works on gliders with more vocalizer than sense." Nova Black chuckles again. "Yes. He's still got his lovely new paint job. That's worse than the one I used for a while. And that's saying something." Quickrazor is now curious. "What colors did you use, then?" He thought her current scheme suited her, and was enough to make her stand out...most Seekers, especially the batch-Seekers, had unimaginative colors and names. Nova Black shakes her head. "Well, when I -- when I needed to hide, I used an electronic paint job. The mech who sold it to me knew I was in rather dire straits and thought it would be hilarious to give me something that clashed horribly. Dull, dark gray and deep blue that was almost the same shade. I looked horrendous." Quickrazor laughs."That would be somewhat different." He looks around, contemplating a second cube. Nova Black shrugs. "Eh. It was the price of surviving, at the time. I couldn't even think of an interesting name..." Quickrazor cocks an eyeridge and asks, "What did they call you? I don't think you ever told me that." Nova Black shakes her head. "That's because it was the stupidest... I went by Eclipse, only because it was the first thing that popped into my processor when I met the gang of Neutrals that had found me. 'My name is uh -- er --' wouldn't have gone over too well." Quickrazor laughs. "No, that wouldn't have worked very well, would it? There's nothing wrong with your choice, but your true name is better." He considers for a moments more. "Definitely better. Exploding heart of a dark star." Quickrazor says in a silly tone. Nova Black snorts and nods, indicating his energon cube. "Did you have too much of that?" she asks, in her version of a similarly silly tone. Quickrazor shakes his head. "Several misinformed mechs learned way back in training that getting me overcharged requires rather more than you'd expect. I merely enjoy seeing you smile." Quickrazor says quite seriously. His tone turns teasing again when he puts a finger to his lips and says, "Next time I choose to get you a gift, I'll find a nice slow Autobot and wrap him up for you, how's that?" This time Nova does smile, the grin spreading slowly across her dark faceplates. "Sounds good." Quickrazor nods, actually a little serious...if he actually found one, he really WOULD bind it and present it to his... to Nova. "I will keep this in mind. Do not worry, I won't bother letting it escape when you're halfway through." Nova Black snickers. "If it escapes, I'm not doing my job right." Quickrazor flickers his optics in amusement. "I have no doubt that I'd shortly have a multitude of spare bits for later use. Of course, I did once ask if you'd like to be a lab assistant once...I can teach you the basics of creating various substances." Nova Black's optics brighten. "Sounds like a handy thing to know. But I'm not sure I'm cut out for it. It's probably very precise work, and I'm not the most patient 'Con out there." Quickrazor nods. "It is precise work. Precise measurements, timing, and occasionally even movement with some of the more volatile explosive compounds. One mistake and all your work is wasted- or it could explode in your face. This does not mean that I wouldn't welcome your assistance should I find adequate test subjects. Recording reactions does not require the same patient precision...and I suspect that you would...appreciate seeing the results." Nova Black twitches her wings excitedly. "Now that sounds like fun. But as far as the other goes, I'd love to learn anything simple, but more than that and I'd probably just get your lab blown up." Quickrazor snickers. "No, we can't have that. As I test new things, though, would you be willing to use them?" Nova Black nods. "Sure." Quickrazor smiles. "And we should meet for training again soon. I forget to practice on my own, and I haven't yet practiced with anyone else. Perhaps I should." Quickrazor checks his internal chronometer. If he didn't get some recharge soon, he was going to regret it... Nova Black gives him a stern look. "Forgot to practice? Then do it, and let me know when you have." Her expression softens. "But yes, it's late. I'm glad we had this talk. I -- felt I needed to tell you some of my secrets when we decided on this -- alliance. I appreciate that you were willing to share yours in return." Quickrazor jumps, a little, and salutes. "Yes, Commander!" he says with the equivalent of a wink. "I will practice with someone who is /not/ you, then report back with the results...likely that will be me picking my aft off the floor, but who knows- I could get lucky." His expression softens into something rather more serious at her last words. He says, very quietly, "You /know/. And yet you stayed. You are /here/. I would give almost anything you ask of me." Quickrazor can only actually think of one thing that he would not do for her, but...she would never ask that, so he was safe. Nova Black shakes her head. "You did well enough against the gladiator." Then she says, in a soft tone of her own, "What were you afraid of?" Quickrazor just looks at her. "That my intensity would drive you away. You...you knew, though, didn't you." He looks intently at the table for a bare instant, then forces himself to look up again. Nova Black looks back at him. "I think you're... useful to have around." She smiles. "If that stops being true... well. I told you before, we've both got long lives. Or will if I continue to manage not to get myself slagged, anyway. Whatever happens will happen." Quickrazor nods. He knew better than to ask for more than she was willing to give. All he could do now was wait. "We do. A very long time left for many things." Nova Black nods. "We do." She gets up to go, still giving him a small smile. Quickrazor smiles then, a small one, filled with memories and current thoughts alike. He remains where he is, for now. "Until next time."
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