rubycity_ooc | Test Drive meme

Uwah!

[These are two very wide and disbelieving eyes staring at you there, Devcon.]

You're a talking metal man!

[His voice is barely above a whisper, partly from awe, but just as much from fear. Talking metal men are scary, after all. The only reason he dared respond at all is that he recalls meeting another metal man called Scorponok a few times soon after he had arrived.]

[...a human?]

Mech, actually. [Devcon's vocals are rough and dark, but there's an amused edge to them. Human, huh? Does this mean he's in an organic-only settlement?

Lovely.]

Is this Earth? [He looks around, and frag it to the Pit, but if he's in Earth, it's gonna take a while to get home. He looks at the human and tilts his helm.]

Do you know what I am? [And the shit-eating grin? All for you, organic. Charm works everywhere, after all.] Do you have a designation?

["Mech" means nothing to him, so he ignores it for the moment in favor of more pressing questions. To which he has no answers, just like he doesn't have an answer to the question what a mech is. Life can be so hard and unfair.]

Ve... I don't know where we are! Our kidnappers don't tell us where we are but we can't escape and once the earth crumbled beneath us and we fell and ended up on an island. It was nice, there was sunshine and a beach but no cocktails.

[Quite a few of the residents of Ruby City have made a harrowing experience with Feliciano's headache-inducing explanations, it looks like it is now your turn, Devcon.

He tilts his own head to the side and coos pensively as he tries to answer the second question.]

I think you are a robot... like Scorponok.

[Kidnappers...? Devcon shutterblinks and nods, filing the information away. The frown is back, and his optics narrow. Made a prisoner, again. It keeps getting better, doesn't it?

The organic talks along, but Devcon's busy calculating. Then he suddenly metions a certain designation and the hunter growls.]

Scorponok? There are Decepticons here?

[Aww, smelt.]

[The term Decepticon means just as little to him as "mech" does, but he has no problem understanding the hunter's growl. Feli yelps and clings to his watch with both hands, at the same time he is cringing away from it. Scary!]

Scorponok hasn't been here since last year and I don't know what a Decepticon is, please don't hurt me!

[The yelp isn't helping. He cycles a sigh and shakes his helm, wondering whether Primus is being a glitch or not. Hard to say, with him ending up in this place, talking to an organic. A human, even. Those things are only for heroes, not for his kind, and thank you Primus for that.]

Decepticon, Predacon, who cares. [A snort follows.] Hurt you? Why would I hurt you? You are an useful little thing, aren't ya? [The shit-eating, loopsided grin is back. He likes you, little human.]

A year, huh? Small wonder, that. Been long here?

[Adding more terms he doesn't know isn't going to lessen his confusion, but reassurance that he won't be hurt is always welcome. Even if Feliciano isn't quite certain if he likes being called an "useful little thing." He wrinkles his nose as he tries to figure out if that's good or bad. Being useful is nice, he likes helping, but sometimes it means you're about to be put to work.]

Ve... [He nods tentatively.] I've been here for a little more than a year. It doesn't sound like long, but... [He purses his lips and coos, at a loss how to explain how long a year can be when it's the kind of year he has had.] A lot happens in Ruby City in a year.

[...and he keeps being helpful. Devcon is enjoying this. In the back of his processor, a plan is forming. There must be a way of getting out, if the 'Con went away. Or back. He makes an amused sound at the name.]

Ruby City, huh? [He looks around, musing.] What do you do in this city? Anything interesting? [He needs to find a pub, perhaps some kind of a network as well. Something larger than a few organics and tales about wayward 'Con...

A mech can dream, right?]

[Feliciano purses his lips and coos as he tilts his head to the left. He regards Devcon thoughtfully. This conversation is calming him, even if the conversation partner is the oddest one he's ever had in Ruby City.]

I like to paint and I cook a lot and I play with Lupo and go on walks with him and I spend a lot of time with my friends and now I spend a lot of time taking care of my brother, too.

[No, he hasn't understood the point of the question but he appreciates your interest in his interests, Devcon.]

[It's like talking to a newspark, or a mech who has never dealt with anything criminal. His interests make Devcon's processor stall for a nano-klikk; paint and cook, go on walks. Take care of others...? Great Cybertron, but this human is as far from his prefered prey as possible. That might be a good thing, though.

Devcon allows his smirk to grow into a soft laughter.]

I see. Sounds like you've made yourself a nest here. And, you have friends, and a brother. There must be others, too. Of my kind, perhaps? [See the gleam in his optics? He's being gentle. He's also looking for intel.]

[He gives the robot a tentative smile, deciding just as tentatively that he had been wrong to be scared of him. He is a nice person and just wants to make friends. Ruby City has made him too wary of others' intentions. How silly of him.]

No~ I don't think there are any others like you. [There are other robots in the city, in fact, but Feliciano either hasn't met them or hasn't recognized them as such.]

There is a pointy-eared man who says he's from another planet, though. And there are the trolls. I think everyone else I've met is normal. [Normal such as samurai from centuries past and personified nations, yes, nothing to see here, move along.]

And I have made myself at home, that's true! I've made good friends. But my brother is from home. I have another brother; he's from home, too. I have a sister who became my sister here, but she has gone home. [He thinks for a moment before he goes on, it's still taking some getting used to.] I have a boyfriend. And my dog. I got him here, too.

[Well, slag... If he's the only Cybertronian around, he'll have to find something else to do, because hunting inferior prey isn't interesting enough. He listens carefully as the human talks along.]

Huh. From another planet, and pointy-eared? I'd like to have a word with said man. [His kind sounds slightly familiar. He shrugs at the mentions of trolls, and tilts his helm.]

Pets and family, friends. Doesn't sound like your typical kidnappers. Have anyone tried to figure this mess out? [Because a bounty hunter gone Marshal gone hunter won't allow himself to be kidnapped without wrecking some havoc.]

[Feliciano's eyes go very wide with alarm, his mouth shapes itself into an "o."] No! You can't! Our kidnappers aren't always mean, I thought they were but Temper and the pretty girl were nice to me and Gene is mean but he can do nice things anyway but you can't make them angry! If you make them angry they'll do awful things to you and your loved ones!

[His breath comes a bit faster and shallower as worry makes his heart speed up.] They say they want us to learn. That's what Temper said. They are teaching us lessons. But the lessons are dangerous! There was the haunted house where the ghosts tried to kill Lili and me and the rabid dogs killed me in the labyrinth and they took Lovino and when he returned he didn't remember anything!

[Devcon is no fool. He is a survivor of many horrors, and he has no interest in getting grounded or even worse, tamed. The way the human talks, what he says - makes his tank roll.]

Awful things done to you and your loved ones. Teach us lessons. Dangerous lessons. You... died. Erasing memory-files? Aw, smelt. Why didn't I stay in Cybertron?

[His vocals grow more agitated for each thing he repeats and once done, the hunter's optics are widened. He's been a prisoner before. He survived being hacked, not too long ago. The idea of being forced through similar things makes him shudder. At least he has no loved ones to worry about.]

This is a slaggin' Pit, isn't it? And those in control... I'm not in need of a lesson. I'm need deep space, good booze and a decent hunt! Ugh. The 'Con got out. How did he get away?

[Feliciano tilts his head to the side, momentarily distracted from his worries.] Hunt...? Are you a hunter? What do you hunt? I wouldn't mind some nice fresh venison for dinner but I don't know if there's anything good in the woods. I haven't heard about anyone hunting there.

[Oh wait, there had been other questions. Questions about Scorponok again. He blows up his cheeks in agitation, more frustrated with his own inability to be more useful than the metal man's persistence. He likes being helpful to newcomers.]

I don't know how Scorponok got away. People just... disappear. [He waves his arms around wildly.] They go missing and sometimes they're gone for good and all their things are gone, too. Sometimes they are in the dungeons and they return hurt and scared or they return after a week and they say they were home for a year... I don't know. [He sighs sadly.] You should talk to Vash. He has studied these things. I would rather not know anything about it, it's scary.

I... just about got out of a fraggin' dungeon! [What the slag is going on? He sighs and moves over to a wall, sliding down. Quintessons, no doubt. Or bleedin' Unicron, or a slaggin' combination of both. He shudders and looks away, staring at nothing for a while.]

What kind of a lesson would anybot teach me? [His spark feels small, and aches for things lost. Above else, he remembers Rodimus and feels a surge of relief - this Pit cannot take his old friend away. Cryotek already saw to that.]

Uhm, I don't hunt food. I hunt criminals down, I uphold the law. I was a Marshal once, before being captured and... [A small sigh, then he looks back at the device and gives the human a slight grin.] Sad story that one. Point is, I hunt the bad guys down, put them away or terminate them, if they are dangerous enough. [And he's good at it.]

I'm sorry... [Feliciano coos, his face crumbles up in distressed sympathy, but no matter how hard he tries, be can't think of any compassionate words that would make it better. Being locked up in Ruby City is pretty scary when you let yourself think about it, which is why he tries his hardest not to think about it.]

I learnt many important lessons here but if I had been given the choice I wouldn't have learnt them. Learning them was horrible and it hurt and I don't like the person it has made me become, but Temper said it was my choice what I did with the lessons they taught me. [He bites down on his bottom lip and gives Devcon a tentative smile.] Maybe they want to teach you about being a better policeman? Maybe... there are many people from different worlds here, maybe you can learn new things from them.

...I don't think Temper and I will like each other very much. [Meaning: if gets his hands upon the glitch, Temper is going down. Not that Devcon will be able to do so, but the satisfaction in trying would be sweet enough. He knows he's doomed when it comes to becoming a better "policeman", and seeing he's a bad Autobot, things might get messy. Or painful.]

Anybot thinking they can teach any other being a "lesson," is a 'bot in need of taking down. [And his vocals grow cold, not mean, just cold.] I've met the kind. I've suffered the kind. My friends are gone, or dead, because of Temper's ilk. Besides, we just about saved the universe, and Primus wouldn't...

[I left, didn't I? I said I had better things to do but to stay and help Ratbat and Cheetor rebuilt Cybertron... Aw, slag. This is punishment, isn't it?]

Slag.

[Feliciano coos gently, but his eyebrows are furrowed in worry. He happens to like Temper and now he must have said something wrong to make this robot hide him before he has even met him. What a horrible friend he is! He opens his mouth to argue that it isn't like that, yet after a moment of thought, he closes it again without a word having come out. There is nothing to say to refute Devcon.]

You are right, it is awful what their kidnappers do, toying with us like they do. But if you keep seeing only the bad things you miss out on all the good things. Temper can be a nice person sometimes despite not being a good person and Ruby City isn't such a bad place. I made new friends I would have never met otherwise. I've fallen in love twice - with people from home, but sometimes it takes something special happening to make you see something that has been right in front of you all the time! Like realizing that "reading the atmosphere" isn't talking about a book! I didn't figure it out until Mister Austria told me. It isn't all bad.

[He flashes the metal man an encouraging smile.] You shouldn't be sad! We could be friends, would that cheer you up?

[It's hard to keep the mirthless laughter away, and in the end, he compromises with a loop-sided grin. Slag it to the Pit, but let it be known that Devcon the bounty hunter, once a Peace Marshal, isn't going down.]

...friends, huh? As long as you don't try to become my partner, it could work. [Because partners, they get in the way, or are useful for a while... then you dump them in deep space, with a survival suit and a tracking beacon. Yup, better be friends, little organic.]

As for cheering me up - ever heard of engergon? A drink wouldn't hurt.

Oh... [He hums pensively and taps his forefinger against his bottom lip.] No... I haven't ever heard of a drink named energon! I like red wine, that's yummy! Don't you want to try some? But maybe Prussia knows energon, he has a bar and they have all kinds of drinks there!

[He brightens again after all that hard important thinking.] If we're going to be friends I should know your name! You can't be friends with someone whose name you don't know... Ve~ you could be but you would be a bad friend! My name is Feliciano Vargas, I'm... [And here his boisterousness falters again as he is torn. Italy or North Italy? Which one is he? No matter which one he chooses, it feels wrong.] I'm Italy.

[No energon? Aw, smelt. Perhaps their kidnappers aren't as friendly as the human seems to think they are. He can be without energon for quite a while, but what the slag is he going to do the Solar cycle he needs fuel? Drink oil?

...ew.]

A bar? [Now, that's much better. Have a smiling mech.] I could give that a try. Been to most bars and pubs in the 'verse, anyway. Perhaps this Prussia wouldn't mind having me around.

[Ah, designations. Good things, those. He repeats the name, almost tasting it. It's a good one. It fits nicely. He grins, tilting his helm to the side, dipping it in a courtly manner. Charming, that he can be.]

The name's Devcon. [Italy? Hmm, would that be Feliciano's job description?] Not a Peace Marshal anymore, but a hunter still. Nice to meet you, Italy. [There's a slight questioning tone there, at the "Italy".]

[It never fails to take him by surprise when someone doesn't know about nations, he has become used to interacting with people who are used to them. After all it's impossible to go a day in Ruby City without encountering one of their kind. They and the trolls are by far the largest groups. Yet he notes the questioning tone, after all he has been trying his hardest to be more observant ever since Mister Austria explained reading the atmosphere to him.]

I'm a nation! A personified nation, I'm the personification of Italy! [He strikes a silly little pose, then giggles at himself.] Oh, when you were a Peace Marshal, did you wear a nice uniform? Was it blue? I wear a blue uniform at home... but it's at my brother's place now. He is... [He is South Italy, that is the southern half of Italy, the spiel continues normally. Now Feliciano trails off, his eyes flicker around uneasily.] His name is Lovino. Have you left family behind? My other brother's here, too. He's France.

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