(no subject)

[dirge]

Who: Dirge and whoever is brave enough to get near him while he's eating.
When: After Dirge talked to Sam about tomatoes and murder.
Where: A restaurant.
What: Dirge is hungry and super unnerved. Sounds like a great time to bug him!
Warnings: Dirge. Always warn for Dirge.

Dirge's meeting with the Sam human had left him feeling a bad combination of irritated, worried, and very very hungry. Fortunately, he could at least fix that last one by heading to a restaurant and goring himself on free food. The jet's digestive system was a little different than most other cybertronian's. On account of an experiment headed by a rogue Shockwave in far away Axiom Nexus, Dirge was gifted with a tank that could process nearly anything. Organic matter, metals, energon-- if he could fit down his throat he could digest it. Eventually. Not to say that his systems always appreciated it. Especially the tougher materials...

The clone was particularly delighted to find that the restaurant served organic food as well as energon. To the confusion of the cybertronian staff, he proceeded to order from both menus, indicating at least five different dishes to start with. If anyone were to venture in later they'd find him hard at work consuming whatever was on a vast number of plates in front of him, with empty ones stacked up on the side and occasionally muttering something about 'witches' or 'ghosts'.

Comments

[knight_light]

Wing stepped into the restaurant and spotted a familiar face. He...hesitated, but in the end he stepped over and motioned at the seat beside Dirge. "Would you mind if I joined you, friend?"

[dirge]

Dirge finishes dumping an entire plate of chicken cordon bleu into his mouth, chasing that with half a cube of energon, before finally noticing the mech politely waiting for his answer.

"Sit. I have to ask you some more questions about friendship," the jet replies, selecting another dish piled high with edibles.

"Someone told me recently that happy people make better friends. Is that true?"

[knight_light]

Wing nodded and sat by Dirge, though he couldn't quite hide a bit of a grossed out look as he watched Dirge consume organic food. "Is that....safe?"

He shook himself to put his mind on Dirge's question. "Yes. When your friends are happy they want to make you happy."

[dirge]

Dirge isn't at all offended by Wing's look of disgust. He's used to that sort of thing by now.

"For me, it is. My tank can handle anything," he responds, knocking on his midsection with a grin. "Well, mostly anything. Certain kinds of glass give me indigestion like you wouldn't believe."

Wing's answer to his question seems to excite him though. "Really? Make me happy? As in give me things?"

[knight_light]

He's just...shocked is all. "That's...impressive."

He smiles, amused at Dirge's reaction. "That's very possible. Friends tend to give their friends gifts."

[dirge]

"It's wonderful! How else would I be able to experience so many different tastes and textures?" Dirge exclaims, though it is not unlikely he would have tried things that looked tasty, regardless of system damage.

"Perfect. Friends seem like a very good investment then. I'm glad you taught me about them."

[knight_light]

Oh dear, what's he gotten people into? He wants to just break down laughing, because it's so clear that Dirge doesn't get this whole "friends" thing. He refrains, though, just smiling instead.]

"They certainly are. Friends watch out for each other, spend time together, want to see each other happy." Mutual thing, Dirge. It's a mutual thing.

[dirge]

"That corroborates with what I was told by the green autobot," Dirge agrees, though he'd said some other things that Dirge is still not sure about.

He pauses in the conversation to guzzle down an entire energon cube, tossing the container aside once empty.

"So. Are you happy, Wing?"

[knight_light]

"Bulkhead." Names are good, Dirge. Learn them.

He looks amused when he gives a little nod. "More-or-less. I'm not exactly where I'd like to be, but I'm with the people that matter."

[dirge]

"That name sounds sort of familiar actually...." Hadn't there been a big green autobot with that name back in his universe?

"I understand. I left a great many things behind that I want to return and collect." That's probably not exactly why Wing wants to go home, but its the best Dirge can empathize.

[knight_light]

"It is written on all the side of all the Gateways." He shrugs, though the thought that there might be another version of Bulkhead does kind of cross his mind.

"It's a hard thing. This is a good place, though. We'll be all right."

[not_a_ghost]

Sirrah was not a creature that needed to feed in the conventional sense. Unlike the robotic and organic inhabitants of the world she got her sustenance by being near other living beings. And so finding places where people often spent a lot of time was a good way to fill up on a little extra energy.

And so she found herself at the restaurant. Spotting Dirge was just an amusing bonus. Invisible but for two glowing points of red she trotted across the Cybertronian counter, hopped tables, and made her way to where Dirge sat, indulging himself with the oddest assortment of fuels and foods she'd seen anyone attempt to consume.

Taking a seat by one of his empty plates she materialized, gazing up at the giant bot. She was tiny compared to him, no bigger than a typical organic house cat. In person the wispy nature of her appearance would be more apparent. She looks like she's soft and fluffy...and like she's made of smoke.

"Enjoying your meal, Tael'ip?"

[dirge]

Eventually Dirge turns to toss yet another empty plate on the pile, visibly startled by the sudden appearance of a whispy, red-eyed feline. But he's seen this creature before, hasn't he? It was on the network through the communications drone he'd tried to break.

"You're a lot smaller than I imagined," the clone remarks, wondering if his talon would pass right through if he tried to poke her. The smokey quality of her body is almost mesmerizing... He uses the talon instead to spear something that looks like it came out of Earth's oceans, squishy and riddled with tentacles.

"Oh, yes~" he says, consuming it in one bite and sucking the juice from his claw. "It's free, it's delicious, and they say I can have as much as I want." Something the staff may regret telling him as soon as they find out just how much food he can hold.

"What does 'Tael'ip' mean?"

/key words relevant? XD

[not_a_ghost]

"Mmm, yes, I get that often." People seem surprised by her size. But size was never an issue for her. Energy moved differently that normal, tangible mass, she wasn't limited on where she could go based on size, or even the form she'd chosen to take. She just liked this fluffy look, and so she appeared as it.

She smiles up at him, yes, the cat face is capable of smiling. "It means 'odd one' in my native tongue. And you, my fine Cybertronian specimen, are odd indeed."

XD yours and my previous, yes

[dirge]

"So I've been told," Dirge replies, leaning in closer to inspect the cat-like creature. He lifts a talon and pokes it into her chest, eager to see if his claw will go right through.

"Don't suppose you've changed your mind about that whole power thing, have you?"

lol prefect

[not_a_ghost]

"I am sorry, Tael'ip. I'm very particular on those I share my power with. You will have to be mine if I'm to let you have my power."

She looks down at his claw as it goes into her chest. He'll feel a mild sensation that goes all the way through his finger, like a light electrical current. Won't hurt, and it's very soft, but there.

And to be really ornery, when he lifts his claw she'll...lift with it as though impaled. Clearly she's uninjured, she's just...going with it.

[dirge]

He can understand that, but it doesn't make him any less determined to have power without belonging to anyone. He huffs a little through his vents though, once again adopting a pouty expression.

He can't keep it up though, as she rises with his talon, appearing to be skewered straight through the transparent-ish chest. He stares at his claw, feeling the tiny bit of sensation, obviously intrigued by the performance.

"Can you go through anything?" he asks, moving his finger from side to side a little.

[not_a_ghost]

"I can." She climbs up to sit on his finger, no longer skewered on his talon. He can turn her upside down and she'll remain where she is as though right-side up. "It's easy to do when your form is not truly physical."

[dirge]

Frag, he was afraid of that. It meant containing her would be nearly impossible. How did one trap something that could float through objects?

"Yes, you said it was energy. Does that mean you can be conducted like energy? Through a wire or a device?"

[not_a_ghost]

Well...there were ways to contain her, but she wasn't about to tell him the spells necessary for that.

"I can, though a conduction device isn't necessary."

[dirge]

He brings her up close to his face, red optics studying her hungrily. If he only he could spear her and suck her off his talon like an appetizer...

"I've never tried to catch something like you before," Dirge remarks, sounding half frustrated and half excited. "I can tell its going to be very difficult."

He plucks a cherry from a huge sundae and drops it onto her head.

[not_a_ghost]

"And a challenge you'll certainly take, I see."

She lets it sit on her head. "Oh, why thank you for the gift, Tael'ip. I will cherish it." She's just messing with him, though it's hard to tell in her tone.

[dirge]

"Taking is what I do, after all," Dirge responds with a snicker.

"It's not a gift." One wing twitches behind him at the very thought. "It's a garnish. For when I eventually consume you."

[not_a_ghost]

"Oooo, and you think you can? This shall be entertaining."

She stands, giving him a wicked grin. "I will so gladly take your gift, though, whatever you wish to call it."

[ye_olde_engineer]

Wheeljack had just needed to get out of his workshop for a bit. He'd hit a snag on one of his projects and he'd frustrated himself trying to solve the issue. Always best to walk away and clear his head when that happened. He'd made his way over to the Hub for a drink . . . and paused at a rather unusual sight.

After a moment, he headed over. "That's a pretty impressive spread you've got there."

[dirge]

Dirge swallows hard- wow, that corrugated steel does /not/ go down smooth sometimes- and looks up to see who's making comments on his meal. Oh, it was the mech with the headlights- he'd seen him often enough on the network.

"It is, isn't it? I suppose you're here to tell me to stop whatever I'm doing?" the jet snorts.

[ye_olde_engineer]

He shrugs at that and shakes his head - he can't say he blames the young jet for that. It does seem to have been the majority of their interactions so far, warranted as they've been.

"Nah. You're not hurtin' anyone, an' you're not tryin' ta claim what isn't yours. Food here's for anyone who needs it. You only take the share ya need right now an' not all of it, then you're fine. Me, I'm just here for a drink." He looks again at the various items on the table, admittedly impressed. "You can really process all this?"

[dirge]

"Doesn't claiming something make it mine?" Dirge asks, munching on something organic that is long and rubbery like pale wires. What he needs and what he wants is also not something very distinctive in Dirge's head. Its more likely he'll stop ordering food when he physically can't hold anymore.

"Oh, yes. My digestive system is very unique. In fact, I think it is the only one of its kind."

[ye_olde_engineer]

Wheeljack studies the jet for a moment. Greedy or arrogant as his tone might have been, there was also something . . . innocent about it, as with everything so far from the young Seeker. More and more the old engineer's sure that the jet's not willfully difficult so much as . . . underdeveloped? There might be a glitch in his core processing.

"That I wouldn't doubt," he murmured in a wry tone at the last comment, then looked around the table. "Ya know, on second thought, I guess I am feelin' kinda hollow. Since this is already here . . . I'll claim this. Oooh, an' those too, those look good." He'll reach for some random items on the table, fully expecting to be stopped.

Does he actually want any of it? Okay, the energon goodies do look good, but he can order his own. Right now, he's hoping to make a point and hopefully teach the young jet something.

[dirge]

Dirge's wings rise in alarm as the other bot reaches for his food, a loud chugging growl grinding from his engine. He slams a claw down on whatever plate Wheeljack was about to pilfer, his expression ferociously possessive.

"No! This is my food. I ordered it! You can't eat it!" the jet snarls.

[ye_olde_engineer]

Wheeljack stops, meeting the jet's optics with feigned surprise and earnest. "Why not? Doesn't claimin' somethin' make it mine?"

Yes, he's deliberately using Dirge's own comment, word for word.

[dirge]

Dirge looks stunned, optics shuttering slowly. He withdraws his hand, brow furrowing as he tries to puzzle this one out.

"I...guess it doesn't," he concedes eventually. "Perhaps it is the strength to keep something that renders it in one's possession then."

[ye_olde_engineer]

Wheeljack shifts back, satisfied. "People try that sometimes, but that's not really it either. If I wanted those chips, an' I'm stronger than you, I could take 'em away . . . but is that fair? They're really yours, not mine, even though I successfully took 'em away, right?"

[dirge]

"Fair? What does fair have to do with it?" Dirge is staring at Wheeljack now as if he were something utterly alien to him. The depth of his confusion is evident in the fact that he's stopped eating to address this.