The Spark is a Lonely Hunter

[Mirage]

Day 9, afternoon. Semiprivate

---

Mirage has to admit (grudgingly, however) that this hunting preserve is almost the equal of the preserve on the smallest of his estates.

Almost.

It's well kept, with just the right amount of wildness, clean and well stocked with a variety of wildlife native and non-native.

Why, he even thinks he saw a turbofox off in the distance! Oh, the nostalgia!

But Mirage isn't here to hunt foxes, no. He's after bigger, sneakier, and more gaudily-colored game. Which he seems to have caught the scent of, if the careful way he's moving through the trees is any indication.

After a few more paces, Mirage stops and leans against a large moss-covered boulder. He frowns, studies his rifle for a moment, then starts breaking it down, giving the impression that he means to give it a good cleaning to anyone watching.

"How has Pz-Zazz been treating you?" he murmurs, just loud enough to carry to the other side of the rock.

[Counterpunch]

"Gives me things to... punch," Punch answers lowly from where he sits, perched in a tree-stand. He's holding a rifle and using its scope to watch a mechadeer.

He turns to look down at Mirage. His Autobrands are... missing. Then he tosses a datadisk to the other spy, startling the mechadeer.

Punch seems unconcerned with having startled it.

[Mirage]

Mirage doesn't look up, simply raises a hand quickly to snag the disk and drop it into subspace in one quick motion. A few moments pass as he completes the process of breaking down and reassembling his rifle.

"Mmm, yes. It is a most coarse place. I'm sure it serves well for the release of aggression."

Now Mirage looks up, "And how are you faring, friend? I will admit I was glad to hear from you, albeit surprised."

[Counterpunch]

Punch pulls his rifle - not his standard one - into the stand with him and starts to inspect it almost absently. He glances sideways at Mirage and shrugs.

"Why wouldn't I? It was the first chance I've had for awhile, after all, and no way of knowing when it'll come up again."

"Anyway, doing no worse than usual. Got banged up not too long ago." He smirks. "Lost my... temper. But I got put back together since then."

[Mirage]

Mirage smirks, "You were the one who was unsure about sharing frequencies, remember? I was afraid I'd have to run into you on the street and lure you off in a false chase or some other such thing."

His expression turns serious, "I am currently working on a...side project of sorts. I'm sure you've noticed how easy it is for someone to go missing here. Someone, however, has a particular interest in robot or technorganic mixes, especially with special skills. I strongly suspect slave trade in some fashion."

"Watch yourself."

[Counterpunch]

Punch nods, apparently satisfied with the condition of his weapon. "Always do," he answers softly as he starts to climb down from the tree.

"I'm not the most tempting target, anyway, but then, my relative... insignificance might itself make me interesting."

It's worse than he implies, of course. The Decepticons would be largely indifferent if he went missing, and very few Autobots even know his nature, and even those who do are unlikely to find out he's gone for a good long while. Not that an outsider has reason to know this.

[Mirage]

Mirage is probably the one most likely to notice a missing Punch, but even then, that would take a while.

He moves so that if Punch needs assistance getting down, he'll have it, but unless Punch actually asks Mirage will stay out of the way.

"I know you're careful, friend, but I wouldn't have felt right had I not warned you."

Mirage grins then, "It really is good to see you. That fight you mentioned- you're obviously all right now, but what happened?"

[Counterpunch]

Aah, but to answer that clearly, Punch would have to give more details about his alter-ego than he's willing to. He uses Mirage as a contact because he has few alternatives.

Trust? Oh no. Already, Mirage is in a position to see Punch killed. That's bad enough.

He smiles grimly and rubs the back of his neck, rolling his head back and forth as though working out a kink.

"Mmmm. Strong belief in a... disproportionate response is a common trait among Decepticons," he answers cryptically. True enough. If Counterpunch hadn't attacked over being told to shut up, it wouldn't have happened. If Lugnut hadn't used an extraordinarily destructive weapon against a small carformer with limited ability to harm him in a room full of allies on a space ship, it also wouldn't have happened.

Disproportionate response.

[Mirage]

Mirage's lips quirk up. Cagey fellow, Punch is. He'd have to be though, to do what he does.

"Fair enough," he says, and decides to change the subject, "So, this seems like a very well-stocked preserve, and I've not had the pleasure of hunting in entirely too long. It...wasn't the same, hunting the organic things."

No, not the same at all. It had unnerved him, terribly, were he honest about it.

"Do you hunt or track?"

[Counterpunch]

Punch considers Mirage's request, not quite meeting his eyes.

He really should get back, but...

...he's spent entirely too little time being an Autobot over the last few years, and he finds that he's not quite ready to go back to his 'other' life.

"Better at tracking than tagging..." he says slowly, lowly.

"...Animals," he finishes.

[Mirage]

Mirage stiffens slightly as Punch adds that "animals" as an almost afterthought, as if he thought Mirage was talking of something else.

"Tracking and hunting animals is where my expertise lies as well, Punch. I prefer to avoid doing the other."

But can he? Of is he doomed to become the sniper/hunter/killer some seem to know?

"Do you wish to lead out, or shall I?"

---

Good with fade out on your post, if you'd like.

[Counterpunch]

Punch had added the clarification because the need for such a clarification seems natural, not because Mirage is Mirage but because Punch spends most of his time among Decepticons. Still, Mirage's reaction is... interesting to say the least, and the double-agent studies Mirage for a moment, expression unreadable.

"Hmmm," he answers.

Then, another pause, and he glances off into the woods. "I think perhaps you should," he says quietly.

That way, he can keep an eye on Mirage better.

---

OOC: And fade out.