-0-THUNDERCATS, HO!(dd3 179)
The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box 15
-0-At the studio, Cultural Center, Autobot City, Mars
They entered with the segway following. It parked near a couch and all aboard watched as the two big bots gently, tenderly put the infants into a portion of the room that was a play area. It was filled with dollies, toys and soft blankets for the babies to lie down upon.
Turning to the humans, they stared down at Leonora Huttle and her femme film crew as both silently regarded the women and the conversation to come. Then they walked to the two chairs across from the humans to sit, their keen blue optics and savagely beautiful faces giving nothing away.
Finally, Sideswipe said, :What do you want to know?:
:I want to know what do you mean by Cybertronian beauty? What do you find in your culture and point of view that makes you think that someone is beautiful or attractive to you?: she asked earnestly.
They considered that, glancing at each other as they discussed it privately.
Then Sunstreaker looked at her. :I'm beautiful. I have been all my life. I know and accept it because it's been made clear to me since I was a youngling by more mechs than you can count. Same with Sideswipe. Among our own kind, we're slagging good looking, maybe in some ways too much. I don't know if you see that when you look at us but Cybertronians do and always have. Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad but it is what it is:
The humans considered that a moment. Then Leonora nodded. :I can see that. I can see a wild kind of masculine beauty in you and its reflected in your alt formats. Lamborghinis are lean, fast and beautiful.
:Among our own kind, we know beauty and attractiveness by body type and facial characteristics. Its not always agreed upon in all our cultures but there are certain things that are commonly held to be beauty and are like archetypes for it. How do you do that among each other?:
Sideswipe glanced at Sunstreaker, then Huttle. :Prowl is considered very good looking. Tell me if you see what we see. What do you see when you look at him?:
Huttle considered that. :I see a very fastidious bot with a great deceptively simple paint scheme. Black and white is very elegant and classic even among us. He's perfectly turned out all the time, he's got a great balanced body type and he has a face that would be handsome in any culture because its balanced, intelligent and calm. He carries himself like a gentleman but he has an aura of intensity that probably means it would be bad to mess with him:
:That's pretty good: Sideswipe said. :What would attract mechs to him in your opinion?:
:Among humans, the biggest sex organ is our brain. We think and create all of our impressions and actions in the space between our ears. For me, from my perspective, I would think his mystery. He's very closed up and quiet. Yet, he has this amazing sense of determination and competence that sort of hangs around him like a cloud. His unknowable stillness, his overall polish and his intellect. That would be what I'd say myself:
Sunstreaker regarded her. :What about us?: he asked, his optics fixed upon the fascinating figure before them.
-0-Nearing Soundwave's fort
They landed on an asteroid in a thick cloud of debris and gathered themselves together. They'd flown through the space bridge at a spot calculated to be far enough away from Soundwave's sensor range to allow them to look without being detected. They were specialist Seekers who were surveillance and reconn experts, all of them networking together to extend and expand their range without being close enough to be in harm's way.
They were on a reconn mission to find out the scope of the effort that Soundwave was putting into the nearby area as he established a fort for yet unknown reasons. He was either expanding out to meet the threat of Prime and to monitor the migrations which were even now being detected on the sensors at Fort Apache or he was building a fall back position from which to fight Megatron if he should come back and be disappointed or angry about things on Cybertron. Either way, it was a puzzle.
They gathered themselves, established flight patterns and lifted off heading into the night time with a purpose in mind. They were to do an ultra fast flyby, then head back with their data. No one was to be a hero. No one was to be fancy. All of them were expected to come back in one piece. The dust was barely filtering to the ground when the last Seeker disappeared into the night.
-0-At the studio on Mars
Huttle considered the two. :Okay. I see two mechs that are very balanced in their formats. Two mechs that are extremely self aware in the sense that you know how to handle your bodies for the moment you're in and get the maximum out of them for the job at hand. I see two mechs that are extremely conscious of their appearance and work at looking good because you look good anyway. I can see the question of beauty clearly in you. You have a beautiful design and your personalities animate them even more to create interest in others about you.
:You're twins. I know how rare that is for your species. You're also different in your temperaments and personalities. Sunstreaker, you're harder to know, more closed off and less open. I think you have a lot in you but you don't share easily. You seem more intense, more dangerous if that's the word. Competent describes both of you, but Sideswipe is easier to know. I would love to be your friend but would hate to be your enemy. You're incredibly able and put a lot of store in your ability as warriors.
:Sideswipe, you seem easier to know, more outward in your personality but both of your personalities are attractive. The side of you that's quiet and intense, Sunstreaker, is very intriguing and I think that some of those that have had designs to know you personally find that part of you the thing they want to explore.
:Your air of quiet and intensity is attractive in you just as it sometimes is for humans. 'Bad boys' are always interesting. Sideswipe is more accessible and more 'typical male' as we'd call it, an outgoing and funny guy type. I can see in the two of you, in Prowl and even Optimus why the attraction is there but what about other types? The big bruisers and bots like Ratchet? How does that work?:
They glanced at each other, surprised by her comments. She had obviously given this a lot of thought.
Sunstreaker regarded her. :Ratchet is considered very very good looking, very sexy if that's the word and a great catch. He's always had mechs of his own and Ironhide is considered a lucky bot. Do you see it?:
Leonora considered that. :Is it a sort of processor thing? Like a meeting of the minds? I think Ratchet has a really sweet face but then he's so nice and funny that might be influencing me. Is it possible that I'll never understand it because you're so different? I want to:
They considered her. :I don't know. You might not be able to get it. When I first met Bluestreak, we were in the same unit and heading for battle. He was younger than me and rattled over the loss of Praxus. For a long time, he was the only survivor of the barrage that leveled the city and killed all his own family.
:There were two million bots living there and he thought he was it. There's more coming that were from Praxus which helps but for a long time he was traumatized from the experience. It didn't help that he was a little kid when it happened either.
:I remember wanting to protect him. I remember thinking he was really cute. I liked his paint scheme: Sideswipe paused a moment to think about things. He glanced at Sunstreaker and they both talked off line. Looking back at Huttle, he began again. :I think paint schemes are a big deal. I liked his, his color and design. I like the cleanness of black and white and his gray chevron. Chevrons are considered sexy among some of us. Ask Ironhide: Sideswipe said with a grin.
:Blue was with me in the beginning. After a while, we got together, Blue and me. I liked the idea that he needed me and that he actually 'got' me. I don't mesh with too many bots. I've worked my way forward as a soldier doing all the shit details and fighting at the front when battle comes. I built my reputation one Decepticon at a time and I'm secure about it. Blue is the best shooter that probably ever came from Cybertron and that appealed to me, too. But the fact that he was hurt from his childhood and he was smaller and needy, that mattered to me:
Sideswipe nodded. :That he can slag us good when he wants to doesn't hurt: He grinned. :Don't get the idea that Blue is a shrinking violet or a femme. He's not. But he's smaller than us and genuinely sweet and good sparked. That makes him the one we naturally turn toward to protect, that and the sparklings:
:You know, when it comes to Ratchet, you should know a few things. He has a lot of bots here that he's helped, fixed and listened to over the millennia. There's a lot of bots here who'd be hanging around his door but for Ironhide: Sunstreaker said. :Ada is a good looking, smart, tough bot with a lot of appeal to just about everyone. I know that he isn't seen that way among you slaggers but in our culture and among our population, Ratchet is a straight up looker. I think that's what you meat sacks call it:
Huttle grinned at Sunstreaker. He was given to speaking about humans in the strangest terms but he treated her like a queen. :That's a new one. I haven't heard meat sack before:
He grinned down at her. :It's yours:
:I can see that Ratchet has a lot of pizzazz and sass. He's so fun to be around. He has the place tied in knots sometimes and lots of bots are very close to him. Springer and Drift love him and so does Jetta. I can see his draw but if I had to label his format as beautiful or sexy, I don't know. I hear he was once yellow-green. I love the white and red on him. He looks sharp: she replied.
:He did that for Ironhide: Sideswipe said with a smile. :It's a long story. Suffice it to say, Ratchet has always had a lot of mech company in his life. He's been bonded with Ironhide since the beginning of time. That's the best bond I know and if we get half as lucky in our own we'll do okay: Sideswipe said.
Huttle nodded. :Is there a list of characteristics that spell out sex appeal or beauty in your culture? In ours, tall men are considered attractive. Long hair on women, a certain figure and long legs. All of that is considered appealing. What about your culture?:
Sunstreaker considered that. :I think wings are sexy. I don't know if that word fits us but since you're using it and I think I know what you mean by it, I'll use it. Blue's wings turn me on. His body type appeals to me. There's a lot of big bots out there who are to me not as attractive. That doesn't mean that they aren't. They just aren't to me. Maybe its like the pictures of body builders I've seen among humans. I find them ugly as the Pit. What about you?:
Huttle smirked. :I think overly muscular men look odd. I don't personally find it attractive but my sister does. She's married to a body builder. I can see your point. Wings are pretty. I love them on Prowl. You can read his mood by how he carries them:
:There's a whole language about wings. Wingers can actually have conversations among themselves by how they move or hold them. I don't know all of the lingo but I know the positions and movements for 'I'm going to slag you' and 'frag off': Sideswipe said with a grin. "I also like a solid color face. There's some with a lot of detail or multiple colors. Solid color faces are beautiful to me. I also find chevrons sexy. Blue's chevron is an information gathering device but its beautiful. I also like gray. Red is ultra sexy but gray suits Bluestreak:
Sunstreaker nodded. :Long legs are considered beautiful in our culture. Servos are, too. The shape and color of servos, the length of the digits, that's attractive. Or not. Optic color matters. I love blue. There's other colors … red, orange, yellow, amber. It depends on the model and their genitors' choices. Blue is perfect for me. He has all the features I love. Blue optics, wings, tall and slim but shorter than me. He's tough, smart and sweet. He's perfect:
Sideswipe nodded. :Optimus is considered extremely handsome and it helps that he has that dignity and integrity. Ratchet likes to tease him and make him laugh. He loves to have fun but he also understands he's Prime and has to act in a certain way most of the time. Jazz is considered really sexy and he has a lot of mechs giving him the optic even if he's with Mirage. He's really cool and fun. Jazz may not be tall. Height isn't as big a deal among us as it seems to be among you but Jazz seems to be twice as tall as he is because his personality is so big:
:I love Jazz: Huttle said.
:I don't know if we can explain it to you. I don't know if we can match our points of view closely enough to see what the other does. You might want to talk to the femmes about this. We can only tell you what we can: Sunstreaker said.
Sideswipe nodded, too.
:I also want to say that I don't care what humans think about us and our species. We've been space-going since you were amino acids in water. We fight for you and will continue until Optimus says no. We understand how weak you are to fend for yourself alone against our species. But I want to make clear that we don't allow slagging from anyone.
:Blue is beautiful. So are our kids. Our culture does what it does because that's who we are. We don't apologize to anyone. Those two slaggers, Johnson and Hedges, they tried to mock us and put us down in the dirt. We don't like it and we won't allow it. No one has to understand us or figure us out. They just have to respect us. That's the bottom line for me: Sunstreaker said.
Sideswipe nodded.
-0-TBC 2013 (2) 9-24-19