Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Feb 27, 2008 23:13:23 GMT -5
At Rattrap's not so polite hail, Botanica turns to the group, a polite smile on her lips that comes no where near her eyes.
"I merely thought not to interrupt Perceptor in his conversation, or cause our newly arrived Emirate distress. Unlike some here, I can well imagine what a...me unrestrained by ethics and civilized thought processes could be like. It is not a pleasing thought."
"And you are not the best of company when in your cups, Rattrap."
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Rattrap
Major
Sarcasm as a Lifestyle
Posts: 695
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Post by Rattrap on Mar 2, 2008 14:14:06 GMT -5
OOC: Skipping Perceptor due to timeout. He's free to post back in whenever.
Rattrap makes a very rude sound and gives Botanica's entire argument one big handwave.
"Nobody asked ya to keep anybody company, lady," he declares, scowling at her. What does she know about what he's like with a few drinks under his belt, anyway? "I'm just sayin' the least you could do is toss us a greetin'. S'only the polite thing ta do, right?" Right. And when Rattrap starts lecturing on manners, you know there is something grievously wrong with the universe.
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 2, 2008 20:55:52 GMT -5
As much as he had been hoping that Xaaron might allow him the chance to help - to make amends for his alternate - Perceptor had not honestly believed that it might happen. And yet... And yet, Perceptor had caught that flinch as Xaaron had glanced at Rattrap.
Xaaron is terrified of what he has just agreed to.
He cannot think of anything suitably comforting to offer Xaaron, nor does he believe that anything he might offer even would be comforting to the transpalnted Emirate.
Fortunately, Rattrap's irritation is an easy distraction, although he does offer Xaaron a sympathetic look as he turns his attention to the much smaller Maximal.
"Interrupting an ongoing conversation would be just as rude, Rattrap," he observes.
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Emirate Xaaron-3
Rookie
Ate you alive since you were a child/That's when the monster first appeared in you
Posts: 162
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Post by Emirate Xaaron-3 on Mar 3, 2008 23:51:26 GMT -5
"Ah, the loving couple," Emirate Xaaron murmurs over Botanica and Rattrap's bickering, with just a trace of sarcasm. It's as bold as he gets, and don't expect it often.
Emirate Xaaron observes, more loudly, "I believe that my counterpart will be needing medical help sooner than I will, however. Being roughed up by a Dinobot cannot be pleasant."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Mar 4, 2008 17:16:59 GMT -5
"Actually, Rattrap, you just made a point of inviting me into the conversation, thus into your company," Botanica's eyes narrow as she looks down at the rat, "So yes, you did ask me to keep you company."
She nods at Perceptor, "My point exactly, and I apologize for being the cause of said interruption. Now, if you will all excuse...."
Botanica breaks off as the Emirate's comment just reachers her, going very stiff and still, and looking everywhere but at Rattrap. It hadn't occurred to her that she and Rattrap would have been together in that other world.
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Rattrap
Major
Sarcasm as a Lifestyle
Posts: 695
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Post by Rattrap on Mar 6, 2008 16:28:51 GMT -5
"Whaaat," Rattrap drawls out, looking far more offended than he really has any right to, "you people never heard a' non-verbal greetin'? She didn't hafta say anything, she coulda just nodded or waved or… or flailed a vine…" and here he helpfully demonstrates with his free arm how that works, "…or however it goes fer plants." Yeesh. The last time he heard of anybody expecting a whole conversation just because he said 'hi', it was on some little backwater called Maabala. He'd have to be paid to go back there. "And fer dat matter, since when is sayin' hi invitin' you inta my company?" he demands as he points at Botanica. So much for manners. "Or izzat how it goes wit' dis Rattrap from the future you know?" He scowls. "Well, lemme tell you somethin', Miss Better Homes an' Gardens: I ain't him and it don't matter how many sad looks you send my way, I ain't ever gonna–"
Screech. Rewind. Close gaping pie-hole. What did Xaaron just say? 'Loving'? 'Couple'?
"Whoa!" Rattrap slices one hand through the air in a sharp negative motion and turns his glare on the not-Emirate. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Me an' da she-creeper here?" The spy's tone shifts from incredulous to outright disbelief. "Did hoppin' over from your reality knock somethin' loose in dat noble noodle?" he wonders, one side of his brow significantly higher than the other. Rattrap, a tree-hugger. Sure, and he'll start saluting any day now.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Mar 7, 2008 1:12:34 GMT -5
Okay, Holi had a bit of a detour to peek at that picture Nightbeat was showing off. Squeaking through the crowd without losing his tray meant taking his time, so his rounds of the party have been delayed just a little. He's back on track now and trying to make up for that late start.
So along he comes, gaily oblivious to the unpleasantness he's inadvertently disrupting. It's almost like he timed it.
"Emirate Xaaron, sir!" he all but cheers, a genuinely sunny grin on his face. One of the two Emirate Xaarons here tonight, at least. "It's nice to see you! And everyone else, of course." He giggles sheepishly, then hefts his tray a little higher. "Did anyone need a drink?"
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 7, 2008 23:34:24 GMT -5
Hmm.... this is a decidedly uncomfortable situation, and a private matter, really, that he neither should remark upon, nor has anything useful to share. Awkward.
"Perhaps tomorrow I might call upon you to begin those maintenance repairs?" he finally asks, turning back toward Xaaron as the lesser of two awkwards. He doesn't add "or whenever you would be most comfortable," as he's fairly certain the answer to that would be, "Never."
Fortunately, Holi arrives before the mood can sour any more, or before he has the opportunity to further irritate this brewing situation. Antidote and excuse, conveniently wrapped up in the same compact little package; Holi should not be subjected to Rattrap's ire on such a festive night. Or at all.
Fortunately, there are libations, and there is music, and it has been proven in the past that he requires neither, really, to be willing to make a fool of himself dance. Even if it is badly.
"Holi! It is very nice to see you, as well!" he exclaims, knocking back the last of his current drink with an enthusiastic grin. That receptacle is set to one side out of the way, before the tray Holi has improvised is summarily plucked from the micromaster's hands.
"This is not an evening for work, Holi," he admonishes cheerfully as the tray is plunked on a convenient crate. "This is an evening for celebration. If you will excuse us, Botanica, Xaaron, Rattrap." With little more warning than that, Holi is lifted onto Perceptor's unencumbered shoulder before the scientist jauntily wanders off toward the open space where the others have been dancing.
ooc: Perceptor will catch Xaaron's response, but then is otherwise out of thread with Holi. Absconding of Holi done with permission.
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Emirate Xaaron-3
Rookie
Ate you alive since you were a child/That's when the monster first appeared in you
Posts: 162
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Post by Emirate Xaaron-3 on Mar 8, 2008 12:30:51 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron stares at Rattrap, and then he apologizes in a hurry, "I see. I am sorry. You two are not a couple here. Forgive my presumption."
Gaaaah, Holi! The Micromaster may just be a sullen little fellow bullied by Bumblebee, but he isn't dead. Clearly, this makes Holi the very essence of evil, wrapped in an innocent package, just waiting to spread and ruin them all.
Maybe Emirate Xaaron is paranoid, too. "E-heh. Hello there, Holi. I think that I had better go check on my Swerve," and hide behind him for a while.
He answers Perceptor with a "Perhaps," and then tries to slip away to find Swerve.
Out of thread.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Mar 8, 2008 14:08:36 GMT -5
Botanica nods politely at both Perceptor (Now with Holi Shoulder Accessory!) and the Emirate's exits, though she does tell the latter, "No harm done. There are bound to be differences. Learning about them now is better than later."
Of course, everyone's exit means that Botanica is now alone with Rattrap, and the look she turns down on the rat is not sad, or longing, or pleading, or hurt. It is a look of righteous fury. She is tired of making allowances for Rattrap's rudeness; time to make a few things perfectly clear to Mr. Manners here.
"Now, you little loud-mouthed spawn of a virus-laden back alley pleasure-drone, I am under no illusions what so ever that you are anything like your namesake in my reality, excepting perhaps your odor and even that is not so pungent in my time. You don't like the news I bring or the future I represent. Fine. I can understand that, and have attempted to keep out of your way in concession to those feelings, but bloody buggering hell, Rattrap, I will not be treated like some...some fungus you might find in that fragging garbage heap of yours!
Somehow, Botanica has managed to refrain from shouting and attracting the attention of those not in their immediate vicinity. Two of her hands are propped at her hips, the other two hanging at her sides, fists clenched. She leans down, her voice dropping in both volume and octave.
"You want to know what's between us in your future, Rattrap? What that backwards Emirate just said. And you save my life, risk everyone else's to do so, against Primal's orders and my own wishes. Every morning I wake on this Primus-forsaken planet I am acutely aware of the lack of another body in my berth but I would not pursue you, not in a million years!"
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Rattrap
Major
Sarcasm as a Lifestyle
Posts: 695
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Post by Rattrap on Mar 9, 2008 23:11:00 GMT -5
The others hightailing it get a half-hearted wave and Rattrap starts to take another swig of his drink. He sort of freezes mid-motion, though, the instant he fully registers that first sentence leaving Botanica's mouth. Who knew the shrieking violet had it in her? He sure didn't. Somebody oughtta tell her she's actually pretty beautiful when she's angry like that.
…It sure won't be Rattrap. And he did not just think that. If anyone asks, he hesitates because those particoloured optics of hers are distracting as all get-out. And not because they're in any way pretty.
"Look," he counters, tone thick with irritation masked by his customary disdain as he lowers his mug, "first of all, she ain't my maker, she's a cousin on one side or th' other. Ya could at least try ta keep dat straight. And yer right, I don't like what you told me. Y'know why? You're tellin' me my best friend is gonna bite it 'cause ol' Megajerk got away and screwed up all o' Cybertron." He's been fairly quiet to this point, all things considered, but he glares right up at Botanica and restraint goes out the nonexistent window. "So how's about you tell me, Princess Daisy!" he cries, voice swinging up in volume and pitch. "How d'you think you'd feel if somebody you don't know from a marigold came waltzin' along and told you dat…." He fumbles for a couple nano-kliks to find a comparison. "Dat the othah Rattrap dies a little while down the line and you couldn't do nothin' about it? Huh?!" His free hand goes to his forehead for an instant, fingertips brushing brow before he flings his arm out to the side. "An' – an' Airazor too! Both o' ya, ya just–!"
He stops. He deflates a little. He asked to be told, after all; he's only got himself to blame for this.
"…Just… just ferget I said anything, then," he mutters, much more quietly, and looks away. Sure, when he's sober again, he'll be back to figuring out how he's gonna keep his whole world from falling apart and his friends from dying. Right now, though? Oh, how he'd love to just crawl into his drink and forget all about everything, because unlike some, he doesn't get to punch down a building to vent when he cracks. Does he get to crack? Maybe he just did. Even super spies lose their cool once in a while.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Mar 11, 2008 13:38:55 GMT -5
How would she feel is someone showed up tomorrow and told her of Rattrap's death? She hopes that she would have enough presence of mind not to shoot the messenger, but even she admits that her temper can be volatile at times.
It was not a question requiring an answer, but she gives him one anyway. Her fury is fading, but there is still an edge to her tone as she says, "I would dedicate my entire being to returning to my place and would then take great delight in turning the one to be responsible into much."
Oh yes, she does not condone violence as a whole, but in that case...in that case she would make an exception. She also looks away and toward the horizon, taking another sip of her drink.
"It does not follow that my present will be your true future, Rattrap. The chances of our being returned to our times at exactly the moment of our removals is slim. And unless our memories are wiped, the timeline will be changed."
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Rattrap
Major
Sarcasm as a Lifestyle
Posts: 695
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Post by Rattrap on Mar 13, 2008 5:10:09 GMT -5
Rattrap pointedly doesn't turn back to Botanica and takes a long pull from his mug, nearly draining it. See, he hasn't even contemplated shooting the messengers here; he just gets drunk and rants at one. Who might maybe be his sweet pea in the future.
Smooth.
"Slaggin' right it'll be changed," he snorts, then looks at the dregs swishing around the bottom of his mug. Refill? Or maybe he should lay off for the remainder of the evening. The rest of these last couple rounds probably hasn't hit him yet, if he's any judge of high-grade (and he is a modest one, if he says so himself) and he'd kinda like to avoid being carried back to his room. He doesn't want to hear the glitching that'd come of it – oh, he remembers all the whining Mirage did about the smell and the mud and the fur – and besides, it's perfectly okay for an officer to get lit off his aft at a party. Passing out and being hauled back to quarters to sleep it off, however, is an unrecoverable shame and Rattrap's lost enough cool for one night.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Mar 14, 2008 18:40:46 GMT -5
Botanica just nods, then looks down at her own now-empty cup. She is also contemplating a refill, but unlike Rattrap, she is not contemplating remaining at the party. Her enthusiasm- and her anger- has waned, and perhaps she should make an early night of it. She never was much of a party plant.
"I think I shall grab one for the road, so to speak, give my regards to Skyfire, and retire. Good night Rattrap."
OOC: Unless stopped, Botanica will be out of thread. Not pulling her completly out of the party just yet. Gonna probably meander through a couple of other threads.
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Rattrap
Major
Sarcasm as a Lifestyle
Posts: 695
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Post by Rattrap on Mar 15, 2008 22:00:15 GMT -5
"Yeh," mutters Rattrap without looking up from his drink, "have a great time." You know, he'll forgo another refill and reacquaint himself with his little corner of the world for a while. Come out and socialise when he's feeling a little more social. Aces plan, old rat.
He shrugs, mostly to himself, then stretches and scratches the back of his neck.
"…Y'know…" he starts to say, then stops and shakes his head. And if his tone can be construed as almost apologetic, well, Botanica has some good hearing. He doesn't bother to follow up on that and just ambles back into the notch of the corner to sit and Autobot-watch. With so many of 'em dancing, at least he's got something to hold his attention. Did… did Nightbeat just deck Xaaron? Well, hey, maybe the night'll close on a note Rattrap knows, after all!
OOC: Toodles, Sprouts.
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