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Post by SceneMod on Dec 23, 2010 2:17:46 GMT -5
Day 20. Medical Complex on Pz-Zazz. Semi-Private
Mother Theron smooths a hand over Jill's brow, pressing a few feathers back into place. The girl whimpers and twitches in her sleep, and the old crone frowns. How long, she wonders, before her girl will be able to rest without fear?
Sighing, she shuffles back over to her chair and eases herself back down. Her eyes move to the clock on the wall, and the crone sighs again, this time in annoyance. That snippy old bounty hunter ought to be here any minute now. Her contacts let her know that he'd made an appointment to speak to the girl. Damned if she was going to let him bother her chick without putting up a fuss. Jill's been through enough.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Dec 23, 2010 13:08:44 GMT -5
But it's not the snippy old bounty hunter that's first through the door, but the young flame-clad Prime, currently dressed, as is the local custom, but keeping to maroons and reds and with an open jacket that keeps his Autobot symbol on display and leaves holes for pipes and spoiler.
His voice is lower than usual, out of respect for the fact that he's in a hospital, but this doesn't stop him from expressing his disbelief to Kup. "Over nine-thousand? Come on, Kup, you're exaggerating again."
It's not that Rodimus doesn't regularly experience the unbelievable - it's just also that he knows that Kup sometimes exaggerates (and sometimes, Rodimus suspects, out and out lies) for the sake of a good story.
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Post by Kate Mason on Dec 23, 2010 14:00:02 GMT -5
"The blasted scouter done broke, so it ain't like I could get a more exact number," Kup insists. He's shined up fairly nicely, though he doesn't like it. He's also in a semi-decent outfit, nothing too memorable, since the lad went through the trouble of dressing up.
Looking over the room, he asides to Rodimus Prime, "Mother Theron. You remember me telling you about her?" Off-panel.
"Y'know, I think it's a lil' early to call in the carrion birds, but that's just me," Kup observes, and he tries to stride over to Jilly's side.
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Post by SceneMod on Dec 24, 2010 0:04:02 GMT -5
The crow's head comes up as the door opens, her eyes sharpening as she takes in the flame-colored mech. Unlike some of the other folk who Rodimus may have met in this place, Mother Theron looks directly at the young Prime, though her hands grip the chair arms entirely too tightly. She's met him before, after all.
When Kup approaches, she stands and moves to intercept him. She moves quicker than someone her age should, and her body visibly twinges from the pain of that effort.
"I'm not the one here to pick over her like so much refuse, mercenary, you are," Mother Theron hisses. Her head tilts and twists up so that she can fix one black eye on Kup. "She's resting. She's healing. Out with you, you and your godling, and leave my girl alone."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Dec 24, 2010 0:19:07 GMT -5
"What?!" Rodimus exclaims, getting louder than he intends to. He lifts his hands, palms towards Mother Theron, as if to ward off the old bat. "No. No, no, no, no, no. No. I'm... I'm not. I'm not... I'm just... look. We're just... we wanted to make sure she's all right. We... I... I just want to help, that's it." He lowers his hands and casts a worried glance towards Jilly. "That's it," he repeats, softer.
Then he glances at Kup and gives him a faint smirk. "As it turns out, we've met," he tells the veteran.
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Post by Kate Mason on Dec 24, 2010 13:51:18 GMT -5
"What? My boy's no godling," Kup snaps, frowning deeply, which makes the lines on his face stand out even more starkly. "You'll give the lad a big head. Last thing he needs. So that's what all that," he looks back out the door, "was about?"
The folks who wouldn't even look at Rodimus as they entered, the hints of deference.
Mother Theron has risen to block Kup. He glares at her. "Glad to hear she's healing. Don't think she'd be doing too much of that if I hadn't dropped her off." Odd thing for a mercenary, no? "Like the kid says, we just want to help. Now, do I gotta go back and bring flowers, or are you gonna let us talk?"
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Post by SceneMod on Dec 24, 2010 23:50:05 GMT -5
Mother Theron's piercing gaze swings to focus on Rodimus Prime. "You did help. You woke Her, brought Her out from where She hid from the devouring dark, and gave this world a chance to live again. She claimed kinship, and I see no reason to doubt Her word."
"Every soul on this planet- and some beyond- is in your debt, in the debt of you and your rabble rousing group, and none who matter will ever acknowledge it." She pulls her shawl closer around her. "But I will."
She doesn't move out of Kup's way just yet. "I told you, she's resting." The nun's voice is almost- but not quite- pleading. "In know the devil who did this is dead. What can you transients want now that is worth interrupting her rest?"
In her bed, Jill stirs, but she hasn't woken just yet.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Dec 25, 2010 0:27:23 GMT -5
Rodimus doesn't react any way out of the norm when Kup calls him 'my boy,' because he sees nothing odd in it. Kup often uses things like, 'lad' or 'son' as terms of endearment, and if anyone is like a father to him, it's Kup. Perhaps not this Kup, but he's so close...
Rodimus gives a sheepish smile as he rubs the back of his head. "I... thank you," he says softly when Mother Theron acknowledges what he's done. "I... wasn't expecting anyone to acknowledge it, but..." But it's nice when someone does.
He looks at the girl again. "We didn't know she was asleep. Kup really did just want to make sure she was all right, and after I heard about what happened, I thought I'd come along." And maybe get to spend a bit more time with his 'father figure'.
He looks down at Mother Theron. "Can we talk in the lounge, maybe?" Rodimus does still have a few questions about the 'lay of the land.' 'Transients' though they might be, he can't help but feel that there will be lasting consequences for the things that have happened on Pz-Zazz.
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Post by Kate Mason on Dec 25, 2010 13:58:03 GMT -5
"That's us Autobots," Kup drawls, "saving the world, never gettin' the credit, takin' alla the blame."
He waves a hand dismissively and says, "Yeah, I really just wanted to see that Jilly was all right, see if there was anything else I needed to do. We can talk outside."
Kup doesn't even think about what he just called Rodimus Prime. If called on it, he'd shrug and say something like, well, he hopes that if Rodimus's Kup was stuck with Kup's Rodimus, he'd do the same, and he might as well hold himself to the same standards that he holds himself to. Just his other self.
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Post by SceneMod on Dec 25, 2010 16:51:12 GMT -5
Mother Theron visibly relaxes when Rodimus suggest the lounge. "That would be fine."
She turns back to Jill and pulls the girl's blanket up a little higher. The crow smooths the girl's brow again before turning back.
Reaching for a dark wooden cane with birds carved into it, she heads out the door and to the lounge at the end of the hall. A female hummingbird in a lab coat zips by, stops suddenly and turns to wave, then continues on.
"So, godling, what do you want to talk about?" Mother Theron says as she settles herself into a chair. She looks tired.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Dec 25, 2010 21:23:08 GMT -5
Rodimus grins at Kup's observation about what it's like to be an Autobot even as he follows Mother Theron outside. He waves after the hummingbird, though by the time he actually manages to do so, she's out of sight. He gives a bit of a shrug to Kup, then turns towards Mother Theron.
"Actually, my name is Rodimus Prime," he offers, a not so subtle hint of, 'Please stop calling me "Godling."' "Our plan isn't to stay on Pz-Zazz much longer - you were right enough about that - but I get the impression that a lot of the... factions, for want of a better word... we've found ourselves involved with here go beyond this planet, and I'd like to see us as prepared as possible before it bites us in the skidplates."
He pauses, then finds a chair near Mother Theron's so that he's not looking down on her so much. "At that auction... there were a lot of people interested in that Egg, and I'm pretty sure some of them are going to be... unhappy with how we finally handled it."
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Post by Kate Mason on Dec 25, 2010 22:41:02 GMT -5
"Popular guy," Kup mutters to Rodimus. Who doesn't the kid know, here?
He does quick check of the lounge, keeping it casual, like he isn't doing a check at all. Then he plunks himself down near Rodimus Prime, with a good view of an exit.
Kup adds, smiling lopsidedly, "Making people unhappy. We do that, too." He sounds sarcastic about it; it's not a threat.
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Post by SceneMod on Dec 25, 2010 23:43:26 GMT -5
"Those fools can go hang!" the old crone snaps, "Most there would have either used it for some arcane experiment or attempted to destroy it."
She shifts in her seat, getting more comfortable. "Worse is that too many don't even know anything's changed. It will take years before She can grow strong enough to combat His influence here."
Her eyes glitter like black diamonds, "But information... information on them I can give you, and I call that good payment for what you did for my girls." Because there is no payment equal to what they did for the planet.
"Speaking of girls- the violent one- did she live?"
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Dec 26, 2010 0:24:18 GMT -5
Rodimus gives Kup a sheepish shrug and explains, "She's a friend of Blurr's." He pauses a moment, then his expression grows more serious. "Which means that this is where that Decepticon is getting treated, too. Or was."
The right corner of Rodimus lips quirk up in a crooked grin. "I'm not really worried about whether their feelings were hurt over it or anything, just about how much they can trouble us down the road." He pauses a moment then shakes his head. "And... no matter how long it takes, every step in that direction is a good one," he states firmly.
He leans back in his seat, slouching a bit, never one for formality, not even when dealing with one who thinks him a 'godling.' "She lives," he states, not going into details. Theron doesn't need to know just how... displeased Bambi is with Rodimus right now. "But... about the subject at hand. What can you tell us?"
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Post by Kate Mason on Dec 26, 2010 12:35:22 GMT -5
"Oh. Him," Kup fairly snarls, when Rodimus mentions the Decepticon. He recalls just how quickly Spinister had offered up Inanna's name, how he'd known that Jill was suffering from Blight, and how Spinister had medgrade vials on him like wasn't no thing. To Mother Theron, Spinister might have rescued one of her girls, but to Kup, Spinister's just a particularly annoying enemy, one he should have killed when he had the chance.
'The violent one'? Well, that's sure specific.
Kup asks, "Would some of these same groups use that... disposal service," he fairly spits out, "I clogged up?"
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