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Post by Carolyn Blake on May 31, 2012 22:44:13 GMT -5
Spin off from Energon on the Rocks
Carolyn is not a dancer. She has a dancer's grace and moves to the steps easily, but she is stiff in Rodney's arms. The music moves her not at all.
After a few moments she says, "I must apologize for my cousin. He is determined to make of me a butterfly, when I am much more comfortable as a caterpillar."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 1, 2012 20:26:52 GMT -5
"Well, that tends to happen eventually with caterpillars, anyway, unless it's not really a caterpillar at all but something in disguise. Perhaps your that?" Rodney chatters conversationally, giving no hint of anything beyond light playfulness as he speaks. Then he tilts his head slightly, thinking. "Well, or unless it gets eaten before it reaches butterfly stage..." He frowns. "You know what? This metaphor's a mess. Let's move onto something else."
Rodney dances gracefully, and lacks Carolyn's stiffness, even though this isn't exactly his favorite sort of music either. Still, his mood is light and friendly as he gives Carolyn a grin and charges, "So I take it this isn't really your favorite song, huh?"
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Jun 3, 2012 15:33:31 GMT -5
To her credit, Carolyn doesn't stiffen when Rodney's teasing hits a bit too close to home. Her eyes do grow a bit colder, however.
"We are all in disguises, Mr. Pryor. It is a failing of the human condition that we are seldom honest in how we present ourselves. Some are more so than others of course, but we all pretend to be other than we are."
She moves with him through the dance. Without realizing it, she is relaxing into the movement. This feels oddly... right.
"Take my cousin. He pushes me off on you in pretense of acting in my interests, pushing me to be more social, when in reality he is enjoying a rare moment of superiority over me. These types of things are his element. They are not mine."
"And no, it isn't. I don't pay much care to music. It is a distraction."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 3, 2012 17:41:25 GMT -5
Rodney lifts an eyebrow as Carolyn talks of disguises and pretending, and though he still smiles, the smile is a bit wry. "Wow, that's a careful answer, isn't it? Not one for just relaxing into a bit of small talk, are you?"
Does she... know who she really is? But not realize who he is? Is that what she's so guarded about?
But then there's the business with this 'cousin' of hers, one that she apparently has a history about. It could be a double-memory set, but... if she's self-aware, why hasn't she contacted the Autobots yet?
And besides, that last comment isn't very 'Arcee.' Rodney chuckles. "A distraction? Well, isn't that what parties like this are for? People come to these things to be distracted!"
Damn it, is she going to get in the way of his investigation?
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Jun 3, 2012 19:38:14 GMT -5
Carolyn levels a look on Rodney and answers, "Talking in general tends to be a distraction. Small talk is even more so. Distractions get you k-" she catches herself, "caught up in other people's lives."
Why is she even talking to him now, then?
"My family is distraction enough, I assure you, and is why I am here- not to be courted by a pretty fop's prettier toy." There. That should make him leave her alone, right?
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 5, 2012 21:16:41 GMT -5
Rodney does catch her slip, though he doesn't comment on it, not yet. He makes mental note, however, and though he doesn't show, becomes a bit more alert. That attitude combined with the evasiveness as to why she's hear spells trouble, and given how crowded the room is, trouble means a lot of people in danger.
At her 'insult,' he smirks and, noticing how she's unconsciously relaxed into the dance, decides to take advantage of it to twirl her gracefully. She responds instinctively, and in moments, she's facing away from him, arms crossed over her chest, his arms holding her, hands over hers, his head over her shoulder, next to hers.
He's still smirking. "Well, at least you admit I'm pretty," he says smugly before letting go of one of her hands, a move that should let her move away (or spin, should she continue the dance). "Though most think he's the prettier one."
Rodney, vain peacock that he is, disagrees, but Addison does seem to have that effect on people. Probably the Magic Sexy Field.
OOC: Twirling done with permission.
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Jun 7, 2012 18:55:56 GMT -5
"Feh. He's colder. You have fire," Carolyn counters offhandedly when Rodney says people prefer Addison.
She's stiffens, suddenly becoming aware of the positions of their bodies, of how close he is. She lets no one this close, except maybe Arlen.
She does not twirl out from Rodney again as much as she pushes away from him, stumbling in her haste. Carolyn pulls her hand from his grasp and regards him with a cool, wary expression.
"Who the hell are you?" she asks abruptly.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 9, 2012 16:46:08 GMT -5
"I'm Rodney Prior," Rodney answers, then smiles slight. "I blow shit up. You said as much when I introduced myself. Even said that you already know me."
He reaches towards Carolyn, palm up, offering to take her hand again, to continue dancing.
"And you do."
His expression turns sincere and... asking. "But it'll be easier to answer questions without people staring if we get back to dancing."
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Jun 11, 2012 22:02:37 GMT -5
"I said I know who you are," Carolyn says tersely, making no move to accept that offered hand.
"That isn't the same as knowing you."
After a long moment she steps back toward Rodney. There is nothing of friendliness or flirting in her demeanor. She tries to take his hands, her grip more forceful than it should be for the movement and her bone structure.
"I'll dance with you, Mr. Pryor, because I want to know why you're pretending to be someone you're not."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 12, 2012 13:51:18 GMT -5
"Oh, that's easy," Rodney answers cheerfully as he takes her hand, ignoring the coldness of her demeanor. "It's because I don't have any choice." He tilts is head and seems to be considering something for a moment, and then nods his head slightly, as if he had briefly reconsidered his answer and then decided that yes, that is correct. Then he looks down at Carolyn and his expression becomes more serious.
"So, why're you doing it?"
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Jun 15, 2012 11:20:00 GMT -5
Carolyn barks out a laugh. "Mr. Pryor, clothes and shoes aside, I am more myself in this moment than I have been all evening."
She isn't pretending to grace and station. She has a Person of Interest before her. True, she is not usually this hands on, but her vendetta against Slaughter has made her more reckless, more willing to push. Whoever this Rodney Pryor is, he isn't just a special effects man screwing a socialite. He's here for a reason.
Plus, he upset Stella and consequently caused problems.
"Your history is incomplete, Mr. Pryor. You should have paid for better services," she says. Her eyes narrow, and she continues, "And not harassed my teammate, thereby garnering my attention. You're lucky I've other priorities."
The song is winding down. As the dance comes to an end, she steps back. "Whatever reason you're here, stay out of our way. Else my priorities might be reordered."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 17, 2012 21:11:13 GMT -5
Rodney lifts an eyebrow and, despite a struggle to avoid it, a slight smirk creeps into the corner of his lips. "Maybe, but you're less yourself than you used to be." He doesn't answer the comments about his spotty history, but he sobers completely at her final threat.
"I don't know why you're here, and I don't really care, but this room is full of bystanders, and if your... 'priorities' endanger them, I'm reordering them. I saw just how much your... 'team' cares about bystanders when your teammate harassed me. But I do care, and I'm not letting them get hurt."
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Jun 18, 2012 14:21:18 GMT -5
It isn't Rodney's assertion that she isn't herself that gives Carolyn pause, but his comments about wanting to safeguard the bystanders. It sounds... not just familiar but right. Compassion wasn't included in her programming, though.
Plus, she isn't used to be argued with, let alone threatened.
She steps back in close to Rodney, and hisses quietly, "Sixty percent of these 'bystanders' are engaged in activities illegal in their home countries. Of the remaining forty percent, twenty percent are just as bad by association. Don't defend that which you know nothing."
"Beyond that, there are far more dangerous things here than myself, and they are much less concerned with limiting collateral damage tab I."
With that last, Carolyn turns away, intending to head back to her brother- who is flirting with the movie star? What the hell?
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 19, 2012 20:55:47 GMT -5
"Oh, good, the old, 'nobody's innocent' argument," Rodney rolls his eyes. "And here I was just thinking I hadn't heard that one in a while. So is that you tell yourself so you can sleep at night, or just the line you use to reassure teammates who still have some of their compassion in-tact, until it's all been worn away?" Rodney looks at her (though by this point, she might have turned away).
"I've got a good idea what I'm defending. I just don't care. And if you really believe that no one's worth saving, you've got to ask yourself what you're even fighting for? And at what point you stop being 'worth it', too."
It's not that he has any problem with taking the life of a villain, with killing 'for the greater good', or even with sacrificing one for the many, but he's not one to condemn a group large mixed group like this just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if there's any way, any way at all, to avoid the collateral, it should be taken. The indication Rodney is getting from Carolyn... from Arcee... is that she wouldn't even look for those alternatives.
Besides, 'engaged in activities illegal in their home countries' is a pretty broad description. For some of these people, that could just mean they're gay.
As Carolyn stares back towards Arlen and Addison, however, Rodney peers over his shoulder. He doesn't really see that anything's gone particularly wrong, beyond his concerns about whatever Arlen is. Would it be 'safe' to leave Addison alone with him while Rodney went to find the source of those energy readings?
"Well, at least someone's enjoying themselves," he mutters.
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Jun 24, 2012 15:43:33 GMT -5
On the contrary, Carolyn's team does consider options that result in less collateral damage than others. If possible, they are supposed to get in, do the job, and get out, causing little to no fuss. The problem is that often the "job" has not intention of limiting casualties. Aside from that....
"Compassion isn't a part of my programming," she says, not looking back at Rodney. Her hand drifts up and touches the Phoenix brooch at her shoulder and she frowns more deeply. That she is unsure if she is frowning at her words or at Arlen does not please her.
"And he is not supposed to be having a good time," Carolyn adds before stalking back toward her brother.
OOC: I will post Carolyn back into Energon on the Rocks on once I am home and can copypasta more easily. However, she is leaving Rodney at the moment.
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