Co-Authered by Kitra and Omicron
"Human spoken dialogue"
"~Human speaking rough Cybertronian dialogue~"
"Cybertronian spoken dialogue."
::Cybertronian communication/Comm. Line dialogue::
-Bumblebee's translation dialogue-
Atlantis
Out and About
When Wing woke up he wasn't alone, Jack had stayed. Or rather had come back with his laptop, and was working on the last of his homework for the week. Having figured out a long time ago, unlike Miko, that if he did it all the first day then he had more time for his job, and now the Autobots.
The white mech stretched and yawned, feeling better than he had before the binding. "Hey Jack!" He grinned when he noticed the human was still there with him. "What are you doing there?"
Jack winced and rubbed the side of his head, sighing once he relaxed, "Just the essays I need to get done for the week, this is the last one." He tilted the screen, not minding if the mech saw, "This one's geology, it's the last one. Mom's going to look over it for me tonight if she can stay awake after dinner."
Golden optics focused on the teen for a moment before he eyed the screen. "What exactly do you have to do and about what in particular?"
"Right now its identifying different minerals and types of rocks, kinda a test to see I've been paying attention in class." Jack grinned, "Arcee went out with me to get all the samples, and its safe generally that Optimus will let us go with the bots when their scouting or looking for Energon. We're going out today too."
"Ooooh... outside... so much space to stretch my wings. I'm just not entirely sure if I can go and use my current alt mode." He sighed softly. "Going to need a new one I fear. Mine would stand out just a tad bit too much."
He eyed the screen again. "So Rocks and Minerals. Hmm..." The jet dug around his subspace, pulling a pure transparent gem out, it was polished and cut into a highly faceted orb, so many facets that it almost appeared to be a smooth ball. It would neatly fit into both the humans hands. Wing held it out for Jack, a smirk on his face. "Identify this then."
"That," Jack took it and held it in both hands, then hefted it up, "Is very shiny." He announced, proving to have a playful side after all. "What it is exactly I'm not sure other than that. I suspect I might be able to buy a state or country with it. If you're like Bumblebee, it's like a diamond or something similar, like those crystal-gems he has that aren't even on earth."
"Keep it. It is indeed a diamond. I have about a dozen more at home, all mounted on differently colored light sources. It spectacular seeing how they distribute the light all over a room. Only very good carvers manage to make these, since they're carved inside with lasers as well." He explained quietly, pulling another one out, this one less than a third in size and a small stand attached to it.
The jet moved his finger over a small switch, watching with a coo as the entire room was filled with an endless mural of light blue light, filtered through the facets. It was like a mixture of water reflections, smooth and wavy, with sharp patterns overlaying them.
Jack's eyes widen a bit, he looked down at the sphere he held, and then was quiet for a bit to watch the lights. Not really memorized but enjoying the lights none the less. "It's amazing," Jack said after a bit, and looked at what he held and back up at Wing's face, "Are you sure?"
Wing nodded, "Yep. I've got many of them at home. The planet we live on is rich in diamonds. So getting these was easy enough. There's one in a park that's larger than me." He shut the other one off again and put it back in subspace, then eyed both his sheathed plasma swords and sub spaced them as well. He wouldn't need them in the base and clicking them back in place right now wasn't really necessary. At least in his subspace they wouldn't need maintenance.
"Can you put it up on the table?" Jack asked, pointing to the far end where there were more than a few shiny, though comparatively tiny, things. Including raw twists of gold in and out of crystals, and smaller 'flakes' to a mech. "Or, put me up there, there's some nuggets I'm ready to bring home to show mom. Should help pay off the missed mortgage." Jack added that last part more to himself as he saved his work and put the small, and 'simple' human computer away into his pack.
Jack was carefully, effortlessly lifted up onto the table. Wing watched him curiously. "It's amazing how much worth these things have here. Some of them are simply normal to us. Some crystals your kind hasn't even seen before are day to day shinnies for us."
"I think some things are a little silly of how much their worth," Jack agreed, dropping his bag lightly and as he walked to his collection of things left to be here safe, he was admiring the sphere not from a worth stand point but just the beauty of it. Some awe of the things inside as well, "I wonder if mom would like it... but, hey, I can sell some of the gold chips now," Jack said as he knelt down, holding coin thin flakes up, to him at least, "And help mom with the house. Maybe school to for later on."
"I've got a bunch of rare crystals and metals with me, at least what humans deem rare. I like having shiny stuff with me." Wing chirped with a grin, leaning on the desk to watch the human. He wasn't bothered at all over giving some of the shinnies away, they had barely cost him much of his credits and it really was worth seeing the happiness in others when he gave them away.
"Well, I have a lot of things here," Jack smiled as the sphere was carefully placed in the collection that really wasn't all that big, more so compared to what Wing likely had. "Maybe Raph and Miko will like something if you want." he offered as a few of the flakes were put in his pocket.
"I have a feeling they'll both be all over these things." Wing replied amused, walking over to the hooks his Great Sword was still resting in, he quietly took it and set it in the brackets on his back, then sauntered back over to the desk. "I've got enough shinnies hidden in my pockets to at least cover Raph in them."
"It would be too heavy for him, but maybe he'll sprawl on it?" Jack grinned, remembering the geek out pictures he and the other two couldn't help with a pile of gold Ratchet wasn't using just yet, and let the humans play with it before using to make some sort of enriched energon for the active fighters. Jack suspected that well shielded soft side had been very amused at watching him and the others indulge in just being kids for a little bit.
"Most likely. Though I think he won't want to come off it. Lots of shinnies hidden in my pocket." His grin broadened, and Wing bounced lightly, trilling happily.
"Maybe you can show shinnies together?" the teen offered as he got his bag again and came to the edge of the table, more even to Wing's lower chest now. "Are you really feeling better Wing?" He asked in concern.
"A lot, yes. It's really just that brief time between meditation and recharge that I'm off." Wing trilled softer. "I'll have to show you three my shinies some time later." His namesakes wriggled and stretched out. "You said something about going out and getting samples for your studies?"
Jack shook his head, "I already got those, and it's a scout mission," the teen looked in the general direction of the main room with the ground bridge, "To look for energon, or something else the mechs need. Like ores."
"Ah." The jet purred softly. "Need a lift?" Wing wasn't sure if he wanted to come with them or not, though he really wanted to get some air under his wings. He hadn't flown since before the slaver camp, and he was getting twitchy.
"Sure," Jack had been hoping for that offer really as he lifted his arms a bit to keep them from being pinned.
Wing hoisted the near adult up and onto his shoulder, he was just large enough for that to work. He waited for Jack to get comfortable and a hold on his armor before he started to move out of the room.
"Maybe it'll be remote for you to fly," Jack offered, having little to no trouble as he adjusted himself to the white mech's walking pace. It seemed he had this shoulder riding thing down.
"I hope so. Flying was the reason I kept sneaking out of the city. At some point I stumbled across the camp Wheeljack later on attacked." He chirped back. "My creators have known cases where fliers were punished in the military by flight withdrawal. Those with a weak mind sometimes went outright insane." He spoke, soft and sad.
The teen leaned over and rubbed the side of Wing's jaw, "I'm sure none of that will happen. Optimus never denied the bots from going out on drives that I know of."
"I'm not his, and I have an alamode that is very definitely not from earth." The Knight chuckled, tilting his head. "If you keep petting me all the time, I'm going to keep you for real." He threatened jokingly.
"Arcee will rescue me." Jack said, loyal and trusting... and if it wasn't just a friendship, that meant the deadly femme was this boy's guardian.
"If she can catch me in the air, she can get you back, until then, I'll keep you for the snuggles." He grinned mischievously, gently petting Jack's legs, a reflexive motion.
The human shook his head, and then shrugged before using a foot to place on the large, blunt finger tip. "You can stay in the sky, I can't, and I have to get back to my mom... ~carrier.~" he translated, more for his own practice then thinking he needed to translate the term for Wing.
"I know. But still, I like you, and you're snuggly. Who knows, maybe I can talk the others into snuggling." He hummed softly. Yes he missed home already.
"I'm... snuggly?" Jack blinked, he hadn't been called that at all- though heard Bumblebee chirping in a way that hinted he was calling Raphael that when they were alone in the scout's room as Jack was walking by.
"Jack, I'm one of the most tactile mecha around, I like snuggling of all kinds. Having somebody absently pet me is quite normal to me. Normally the role is reversed, I'm the one sitting on a shoulder and getting cuddled." He tilted his head enough to regard the human with an optic. "My creators are just that large. And I've been known to spend more time perched on either of their shoulders rather than use my own pedes to move."
"They are?" Jack blinked, and then twitched slightly, "That means there bigger then Megatron." He noticed after glancing at the distance to the ground, "At least when he first came to earth."
"They're somewhere between three to four times my size and several times my mass." Wing explained quietly. "They're both triple changers. Heavy fighting jets and tank alt modes."
He walked down the hallway, taking absent note of his surroundings.
"Hi Wing!" Blaster's voice called over from the open ground bridge, she was walking from it with the female human quiet secured in the little femme's arms. Blaster was holding the pouting Miko not unlike how a child with a favored toy as an amused Bulkhead and Wheeljack, with Arcee were leaving.
"Hey Blaster!" She got a trilling reply from the jet. Wing walked over to the raised platform and gave Jack the opportunity to hop off onto it before he shifted to eye the others who were leaving. "You going for a remote location, somewhere well away from human society?"
"Sorry kiddo," Bulkhead said as he glanced back, shaking his head, "This is business."
A large hand rested on Wing's other shoulder once Jack was gone. Optimus rumbled as he walked past, the two Wreckers transforming and semi-racing again while they bumped into, or whacked each other with doors pannels, "Not with us Wing, but you may go with Bumblebee and the children. We are responding to Decepticon activity."
"Okay, don't really want to get caught up in the fighting, unless necessary." Wing gave Optimus a level look. "If you really do need an extra pair of swords, I'll be helping you. Chances are you don't need me, but don't hesitate to call me in as well. I might not be one of your faction, but I'm not an useless bystander either." He said with all seriousness as he put a smaller black and white hand on top the large one on his shoulder.
"I know you do no wish to be apart of the war," Optimus prime rumbled, and smiled, "As you have said so before. We are advancing on a Decepticon controlled, energon mine." The Prime was drawing back, rolling his shoulders as he prepared to transform, "If you still wish to help, you may go with Bumblebee and scout for another mine we may finally have."
Behind the yellow scout buzzed happily, chittering in that odd way of his, adding something that had the red and blue chuckling.
"And get a language pack so you can decode what he's saying." Optimus added as he moved to the ground bridge. Transforming in a big-rig, that though was very big it was also pretty compact for Optimus' size, likely being more armored as a result.
Wing grinned. "No problem with that scouting. And yeah, I should get me a translation for the sparkling babble." Snickering he watched the others disappear in the bridge, then turned his attention to Bumblebee. "So you got the files for your own babbling, oh funny yellow one?"
Oh yes, Wing was enjoying this place.
The scout gave a gargling, warble, his opinion on being called that, and Raphael was giggling as he was picked up. Bumblebee shifted to let the boy climb up to his collar ridge, reaching out a hand for a data transfer. While in the background Blaster and Miko seemed to be getting along, and there was quite a lot of snuggling going on with chirps and squeaks from the small femme and girl both.
The jet responded to it, letting the transfer start as he watched Blaster and Miko cuddle. "Your speech does sound like sparkling babble. I gotta know, I was watching sparklings until a few weeks ago." He smiled and patted the yellow mech amused.
Bumblebee gave a large expressive shrugging motion, and then spoke, or tried. It wasn't very pleasant to hear for a mech. It was just a quick thing to show that he just... couldn't talk.
Ratchet gave a bark, "Stop that! You'll stress it more!"
Bumblebee ducked his head, getting a reassuring scratching from Raphael.
Wing chuckled. "I'd listen to him. He's like Redline at home. They're pure evil when it comes to expressing 'care'. Verbal abuse and mild violence are common for medics it seems." He made sure to duck and hide from Ratchet before he'd spoken. The jet knew that rousing the temper wasn't a good idea, especially not when there was a clear line of fire.
The ground bridge closed down as Blaster came over, shifting her new human until she had Miko clinging to her back. It seemed she was coming too, Jack was walking down too, having changed his back pack to a different one, with a jacket in each hand for his two younger friends.
"If there's any Decepticon activity don't engage if you can help it," Arcee was standing by the ground bridge as it opened, "It should be pretty isolated for you to walk around, but keep an optic out for humans. No being seen." She eyed Wing and Blaster, then looked at Bumblebee, who mumbled-churred in an odd way to the blue femme, giving a salute with Raphael before heading in.
"Any chance I can get a bit of flying in?" Wing asked gingerly, hoping the answer would be yes, but he was unwilling to get his hopes up. 'No being seen' pretty much included 'no flying Cybertronian jets'. He followed them, padding after the group.
Arcee eyed him as Jack came over to her, patting her lower leg before walking into the light. The teens were well used to the ground bridge now. "Keep it below," Arcee sent Wing a small data pack as she moved away, it had the information of how to avoid and block human sensors, scanners and radar. "And don't get any birds in your thrusters."
"I promise to not get a bird in them, it hurts like slag, makes a mess, and I would grief that loss of life far too much." Wing chirped back in confirmation when he had the pack integrated. Then he followed Jack.
"She kind of likes you," The human said once Wing was walking behind him, and they were well into the bridge and away from the blue femme.
"So I've noticed. It's her room I recharged in, right?" He asked quietly, sighing softly. It seemed he would have to thank the femme later on.
"Yeah, that's why my stuff is there, and some of Cliffjumper's." Jack grinned, "He can't make up his mind where he wants to be, in his berth or being with Arcee or Bumblebee." He looked ahead as Bumblebee was wiggling his door wings at Miko, chirping to get her to keep talking about something.
"Maybe they should merge two or three rooms and make it one." Wing suggested amused. He remembered the time he had been a young mech and had still lived in the same apartment as his creators. They had refashioned one of the rooms into having two floors. So Wing had gotten two floors to himself a very large apartment for a mech his size. "I just hope I'm not going to be inconvenient. I've sleepwalked my way into the berth of my creators more than once. Even now as adult whenever I'm staying over I'm practically recharging between or on top of them." He admitted amused. "Not that I'm ever going to be ashamed of it. More than one other Knight complained that any image capture of such situations isn't worth scrap as anything but cooing over the cuteness." Now he sounded vaguely proud of himself.
"Bumblebee does that too, we saw him stumbling into Cliffjumper and latching on." Jack smiled, looking up at the yellow scout on the other side, and grinned as Bumblebee stooped a bit before making a face as best he could, waving a tree branch at the two younger humans.
Wing snorted amused. "It's been determined I'm a mixture of cat, gecko and bird. I've clung upside down to my carrier more than once. Happens whenever he is actually surprised by something or had to abruptly stop." He snickered and kept looking around in awe, so much pure life around him.
Blaster seemed to be having the same reaction, churring and trilling in joy as she was led by Miko and Raphael around. "What's this?" was mostly what she was saying as Blaster bounced on her heals. Then sprawled out on the grass of an open clearing, fallowing the human's lead and gave a higher trill. "Wing! This grass stuff is so soft! And there's things called rabbits out farther! They look like petro-rabbits! they really do! How can that happen- this world is so young!"
"How can rabbits not happen? They're the fluffiest things ever!" He trilled right back and flopped next to her. "Organic stuff is usually fluffy you know?" Wing snickered and poked Blasters side.
"I meant they look like the pretro-rabits from Cybertron," She glanced at Wing, pausing, "Oh, did you have many cyber-creatures on your Crystal City?"
"Several species. And rabbits just look the same, because rabbits are the universal animal of fluffiness!" He made a face of mock-disbelief at her then stage-whispered, "Didn't you know this?!"
The smaller femme pounced on Wing, spine like winglets, not unlike Arcee's. "Wiiiing...! It's a confirming link between mecha-fauna and bio-fauna! That old theory is true! Oh if CronkSkew was here I could shove his high opinion up his aft with this alone!" She was almost bouncing on Wing's back and shoulders as she rambled, optics soon drawn up to the confused birds. Gasping she clung to the mech, shivering in delight as she hugged the flier.
"Wow," Miko blink and then grinned where she still lay.
Wing oofed when he was pounced but easily let her have her moment of joy. "Look at them, they're similar enough to us too." He nodded towards the humans. "Most likely there are more species who are similar." He sighed amused and watched her over his shoulder.
-Do you need help?- Bumblebee chirped, that decoding program working now as the scout crouched over the humans in a protective habit.
Wing raised an optic ridge, seemed to mull over it then shook his head. "I hope you're good at clinging Blaster!" He pushed himself up and fired his thrusters just enough to get into a handstand, waiting to see if she would slide off and fall or cling to his back.
Instant reflex had Blaster latching onto Wing- gripping claws extending to help her stay on as the femme gave a startled warble- and scaring away the rest of the wild life.
Another burst of his thrusters had him flipping over onto his legs again and he snickered. "Next time you decide to pounce me, better tell me to roll over first. It's way easier to snuggle that way too."
Blaster scrambled up until she was looking at Wing upside down. "Flier! Hah!" Trying to keep her forward motion to get Wing to flip again with her momentum. Either that or she would just flip off.
Wing sensed what she wanted and easily went with the momentum, flipping a few more times. Being a stunt jet made it easier for him than others to do it. "I think I'll have to take you flying at some point. Crazy femme."
"Iiiiiii...am happily a grounder." her winglets twitched before folding into her back again, back to being streamlined. She grinned as Bumblebee chirped an agreement.
"Can I go?" Miko asked popping up from where she had been messing with something.
Wing snickered and rubbed Blasters helm. "What, you afraid you're gonna scream like a mech... though... that wouldn't be much of a difference to your actual scream I think. Most grounder mechs tend to scream like femmes." He snickered fondly, remembering more than one daring grounder who'd asked for a flight and ended up screaming so high-pitched everyone else had looked for a femme.
He padded over to Miko and crouched on his heels in front of the girl, "Depends on what Bumblebee say to that. I'll happily take you along." He trilled and gave her a similar rub to the head with a finger tip.
The very Wrecker-sparkling like human ducked and then wrapped her arms around Wing's finger, turning to look back at Bumblebee. "Cool! Can I Bee? Please? Pretty Please?"
The scout tilted his head, his door wings arching and relaxing. -Can you carry her safely?- Bumblebee asked looking at Wing as Blaster trotted away with Jack to look at something else that snared her attention.