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[4_toteachus]

The Badlands were fascinating until I got stepped on.

I'd rather not repeat that experience.

[Actually, it's surprising that it hasn't been done before, considering that Four is a tiny doll in a land full of giants. Dying a second time would just suck all around. Still, the Badlands was an interesting experience, and she got to be useful while she was there.]

I have a question!

[Big surprise.]

What sort of things make you smile? Why? Are there every any circumstances when those things wouldn't make you smile?

Do any of you have a favourite poem?

[That's more than one question Four.]

Comments

[Action]

[notyourblueangel]

[Thundercracker was just heading back to the room anyway when his comm picks up Four's post. Rather than reply on the network, he just continues, intending to do so in person.]

["What sorts of things make you smile?" - You . . . your enduring innocence and your tireless questioning and exploration - but he's not going to have anyone accuse him of being a sap or something, so...he won't admit as much, just gives himself the luxury of thinking it for a moment.]

[Then he reaches the room. The door slides open and he spots her immediately. He crosses to the table and crouches down on his heels, arms folded on the table surface and chin resting on his wrists.]

I saw your post. That was "a question" plus three.

[Yes, he's lightly teasing her.]

[Action]

[4_toteachus]

I find it difficult to limit myself to just one question.

[Even getting stepped on hasn't dulled her sense of curiosity in the slightest. She smiles up at him as he approaches, delighted as always to see him. In the absence of Three, it feels nice to have someone close to her that she can always count on.

With his face so close, there's no way she can't go over there and check it out. She knows that face better than her own by now, but she still loves examining it whenever she can.]

[Action] - Damn, I just don't have enough icons appropriate for their interactions... XD

[notyourblueangel]

((ooc: I'll have to try to draw some sometime.))


[He holds still for her for several minutes, except to free one hand to brush a fingertip down her back – the immense size difference keeps him from being able to do much else. She is, after all, not even as tall as his thumb. He lets her touch and explore, even shifting his gaze here and there from time to time, letting her watch how his optics shift and recalibrate with the changing focal points. Finally, he looks back down at her.]

So what did you learn in the Badlands, little one?

[Personally, he'd have preferred that she stay home, but he couldn't deny her the opportunity to learn about the threat firsthand. Nor did he dare argue with Megatron when the powerful warlord himself had granted her request. He was just really glad she'd made it back all right. Especially since he'd not been able to remain with her to protect her.]

[4_toteachus]

Lord Megatron sure is a gentleman.

I wouldn't have guessed that from him considering what I've heard.

[She's really impressed actually. Four leans against his finger and cheerfully allows him to pet her. Physical contact is comforting and she takes whatever she can get. If someone had told her a year ago that she'd close to a robot three hundred times her size, she wouldn't have believed them.]

The bladed monsters were odd. I wonder what they're out there for.

[notyourblueangel]

[Had anyone told Thundercracker he'd be sharing room – and honest companionship – with a creature half the size of his fingers, he'd not have believed them either.  But he's glad.]

  [The first comment does…but doesn't surprise him.  The mech still made him nervous, but he wasn't so blinded by his own eons of experience that he failed to recognize more than half of it being just his own problems.  The mech was powerful and demanded respect and obedience, but he'd yet to be the abusive, quick-tempered, and often unreasonable tyrant that the Seeker had grown so used to.  He nods.]

  He is and yet . . . is not anything like the Megatron from my own timestream.  I understand this one is from still very, very early in our war.  He'd be from way back in my past if we were from the same world.  I've heard that my Megatron was once . . . much like this one, though obviously he didn't stay so.  [He sighed, air expelling from his circulation vents.]  Let's just hope this one takes to spark what he's learning of his other selves and what they become.

  [He considers the observation about the bladed monsters.]  That's a good question.  Did you get pictures of video of them?  [He himself kind of missed out on the "fun", since he and Ventus got grounded during their scouting mission.]

[4_toteachus]

He does not seem like an evil person. In fact, he seems very thoughtful at times, and a strong leader. He can also sometimes be a bit aggressive and distant, but those aren't necessarily bad traits.

Oh! I did! Look Thundercracker!

[She sets down her communicator and directs her gaze towards the wall. There's a loud click and whirr as a coloured projection starts up. Thanks to tinkering from Shockwave, Four's projection abilities have been greatly improved.

Thundercracker gets to see different bots from different angles, obviously Four had shot a few of those while riding on someone. The clips move on from travelling through the haven to the unfriendly badlands. Four jumps eagerly from clip to clip, not being too particular about the order, when she finally stops on an image of a large bladed monster.

That's the one that stepped on her. Interesting, isn't it Thundercracker?]