Adjustment of character, 14
Wow, this is getting long. We have... getting to the capital, two scenes, and then getting her the 'sponsor'. ^^; I don't know HOW I'll do that bit.
At first, Vos didn't look like much. Roadstead was leading Amber though one of tunnels piercing the city's exo-structure, and it let out into what was basically an alley-way. They had landed near the middle of the outer bowl-like structure, and so there was not the immediate vista that would be had higher up. Roadstead had avoided that because that was also where the manufacturing and defense was, and traditional view or not, that wasn't the best introduction to the city.
Vos was made to be seen from the bottom, the buildings and spires and streets catching the optic and drawing it ever up, up and up, all the way to the sky. It was always to the sky...
The clouds which surrounded the city were from its own venting as much as the temperature differential it brought, and there were very few above the city, allowing the stars and the sun to shine freely, depending on the time of orn. It was currently mid-afternoon, and as they drew further from the city-side, the full city could be seen.
Amber stopped a few steps away from the street they were going towards. She twisted around, looking up, and Roadstead had to steady her as she threatened to overbalance. The femme didn't seem to notice, twisting to look at the far side of the city.
"I... expected it to go the other, um... the other way around? I mean... up? Not... um..." Amber motioned downward, where the fancier buildings took up the bottom and center of the city.
Roadstead grinned. "Most do. Here, let's get to one of the observation platforms... We made the city to be beautiful and seen, as well as function. You'll understand more when you see it right, and I can explain better then, too."
That didn't stop Amber from turning and trying to see everything as Roadstead led her by the hand, further away from the wall. The alley had become a full street at the first intersection, but this was still a residential area, with not too many people around. They did pass a small flock of younglings, but the winglets were more interested in playing their game, some knock-off of Quiddich an OC had devised at some point.
He pulled her faster once they neared the main road, which circled the edge of this level. There was a little bazaar on most of the edge-roads, and this one was no different, shops selling energon, candies, trinkets, and doo-dads. Roadstead didn't want Amber distracted until after he had pulled her to the bench which sat very near the edge. If he couldn't fly, he'd be nervous...
"This... Is Vos." Sweeping his arm out, he let her look.
The buildings in the center were polished metal, with glass shimmering in the high spires. They were more or less surrounded by water, which fell from the top of the city down the sides in two or three winding paths, the sound enough to be heard through most of Vos, a low and steady undercurrent of sound. Brightly colored Seekers flew from place to place, landing on the balconies which were hard to see at this distance.
And they flew around crystals. Many people had heard of the 'floating gardens' of Vos... but only those who had been there understood. The entire city was the garden, with anti-grav thrusters carefully seeded and tended to produce crystals which were as at home in the air as any Seeker. It was fun to fly around them, and they were carefully spread out in all dimensions to minimize any impediment to traffic. There were chimes with them too, when the crystals themselves didn't chime. The city was really quite noisy, here on the edges and center.
The city was also quite untraversable by grounders. Vos was made for Seekers, and they saw no reason to accommodate those who were trapped on the ground. The only way to get from level to level was by wing, just as flying was the only way to reach the city, or enter the primary business and government buildings.
"...Wow..." Amber murmured, not even noticing as Roadstead pulled her to sit. "This is... wow..." Optics still flickering with her attempt to process everything, the femme turned to look at Roadstead. She only focused on the brown Seeker for a moment, and then her optics were caught by the bazaar behind him.
Or... not, he realized, turning to see as well. There was a little space between two vendors, and wind-chimes did very little to cover the sounds as one Seeker overloaded at another's hands. Roadstead chuckled. "And that's why you have those symbols on your wings."
She looked away, seeming to force herself too. "They shouldn't... I mean..."
"They're not in immediate view. As far as I can see, they're just touching... like I touched you. Maybe elsewhere, in some of the other gardens, the ones that don't float, some couples- or triads, or whatevers, will merge. Or use finger, or hands... well, you know those bits."
"What if those sparklings see?" Amber asked.
Roadstead had expected that, and twitched a wing in a shrug. "And what if they do? They wouldn't see much more than two, or more, adults touching and hugging. We do try to keep anything more less visible, or at least in places younglings are less likely to be. But we don't want them..." He shrugged again. "To be blunt, we don't want them to be like you, thinking pleasure is something wrong..."
"You're hedonists," Amber accused.
"Yeah... And the reputation has caused problems in the army before." Roadstead wouldn't deny the truth. Seekers were hedonists. Flighty, winged, vain creatures who usually cared more for their own pleasure and happiness than anything else...
It was no surprise the Autobots tended to hate them.
They sat there for a while, and then Amber made an odd shaking gesture and stood up. "I'm hungry. Can we get some energon? And... er, where are we going to stay...?"
"Over there," Roadstead answered, motioning to one of the center spires. "I'm branded, so I can use the quarters they set aside for that, and there's room enough for you, too. As for energon, sure. There's a seller there, have at." He stood with her, but let the femme approach the energon seller.
It was clear that Amber didn't know quite how interact with the mech, even though she had seen him buy more than one cube, both on Ijurn and in Nemmis. Apparently she hadn't been paying much attention... Further evidence that she shouldn't get into a fight.
Eventually, the femme managed to order two cubes, only to be flummoxed by payment. Roadstead took mercy on her, sending his information to the shop keeper. "I'm covering it."
The keeper looked up, and proceeded to flutter his wings enticingly. "Is that the only thing you're covering, sir?" he asked politely.
"For the time being," Roadstead answered easily. "You know I have to show her around..."
"You do that, then. Come back if you get... bored," the sells-mech said, handing over the energon and adding another flirty wiggle. Roadstead ignored it. This was Vos, after all. This was normal... this was home.
"He was flirting with you," Amber muttered as they walked away, energon in hand.
Roadstead laughed, nodding. "Yup. It's the brands. They feel different than paint, with those indentations."
"...He didn't flirt with me..." Amber sounded almost hurt.
"Of course not," Roadstead agreed, lifting a hand and tracing the glyphs he had painted on her pale blue wing. "I knew this would happen, you know. I had these myself, the first time I came here..."
Amber stopped, looking at the brown Seeker in surprise. "Y- you did? But- But you like all this stuff. All this interfacing and flirting and- You said this is your home, you belong here! Why would you need something like... like these?"
A languid wing-shrug answered her. "It is. I do. Now. But I was human once... I had my inhibitions. Less than you did, and I was eager to shed them, but I had them."
"...Do you still think... I mean, you've said things about me not... being sparked a Seeker, but... Do you still think that? I-" Amber bit at her derma, and again her wing-shrug was a matter of lifting them, not twitching them.
"I don't think I want to be like this. I don't-"
Roadstead silenced her with a finger on her derma. "That proves you're not. And that's okay."
"Then why am I still... um. In this frame...?"
"Cheaper for me," Roadstead answered easily. At Amber's confused look, he explained, though he was sure that he had already told her all of this. "You're a flier. My money's on helio. And even if you were a grounder... well, reformats are expensive. You can't afford one. I can, but I don't want to. Which means..." He smirked a little.
"...Means?" Amber asked. She didn't seem happy about the conversation.
"Means you'll have to find someone to sponsor you. And then you'll have to pay him back. Contract terms to be decided- I'm quite sure I've told you about all this. Don't worry about it. You'll not find one here... Right now, you're in Vos. There's mechs who would kill to be here."
Amber twitched uncertainly, then seemed to relax at the wop wop wop of a visiting helio. "So I should shut up and enjoy myself while I'm here, is what you're saying?"
"Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying," Roadstead agreed. "Now... I know it's not your spark's preferred form, but the energon's gone, so let me show you the Flying Garden. Up close." With a flash of light, he dismissed the empty cube and took off, waiting for Amber to join him in the air.
At first, Vos didn't look like much. Roadstead was leading Amber though one of tunnels piercing the city's exo-structure, and it let out into what was basically an alley-way. They had landed near the middle of the outer bowl-like structure, and so there was not the immediate vista that would be had higher up. Roadstead had avoided that because that was also where the manufacturing and defense was, and traditional view or not, that wasn't the best introduction to the city.
Vos was made to be seen from the bottom, the buildings and spires and streets catching the optic and drawing it ever up, up and up, all the way to the sky. It was always to the sky...
The clouds which surrounded the city were from its own venting as much as the temperature differential it brought, and there were very few above the city, allowing the stars and the sun to shine freely, depending on the time of orn. It was currently mid-afternoon, and as they drew further from the city-side, the full city could be seen.
Amber stopped a few steps away from the street they were going towards. She twisted around, looking up, and Roadstead had to steady her as she threatened to overbalance. The femme didn't seem to notice, twisting to look at the far side of the city.
"I... expected it to go the other, um... the other way around? I mean... up? Not... um..." Amber motioned downward, where the fancier buildings took up the bottom and center of the city.
Roadstead grinned. "Most do. Here, let's get to one of the observation platforms... We made the city to be beautiful and seen, as well as function. You'll understand more when you see it right, and I can explain better then, too."
That didn't stop Amber from turning and trying to see everything as Roadstead led her by the hand, further away from the wall. The alley had become a full street at the first intersection, but this was still a residential area, with not too many people around. They did pass a small flock of younglings, but the winglets were more interested in playing their game, some knock-off of Quiddich an OC had devised at some point.
He pulled her faster once they neared the main road, which circled the edge of this level. There was a little bazaar on most of the edge-roads, and this one was no different, shops selling energon, candies, trinkets, and doo-dads. Roadstead didn't want Amber distracted until after he had pulled her to the bench which sat very near the edge. If he couldn't fly, he'd be nervous...
"This... Is Vos." Sweeping his arm out, he let her look.
The buildings in the center were polished metal, with glass shimmering in the high spires. They were more or less surrounded by water, which fell from the top of the city down the sides in two or three winding paths, the sound enough to be heard through most of Vos, a low and steady undercurrent of sound. Brightly colored Seekers flew from place to place, landing on the balconies which were hard to see at this distance.
And they flew around crystals. Many people had heard of the 'floating gardens' of Vos... but only those who had been there understood. The entire city was the garden, with anti-grav thrusters carefully seeded and tended to produce crystals which were as at home in the air as any Seeker. It was fun to fly around them, and they were carefully spread out in all dimensions to minimize any impediment to traffic. There were chimes with them too, when the crystals themselves didn't chime. The city was really quite noisy, here on the edges and center.
The city was also quite untraversable by grounders. Vos was made for Seekers, and they saw no reason to accommodate those who were trapped on the ground. The only way to get from level to level was by wing, just as flying was the only way to reach the city, or enter the primary business and government buildings.
"...Wow..." Amber murmured, not even noticing as Roadstead pulled her to sit. "This is... wow..." Optics still flickering with her attempt to process everything, the femme turned to look at Roadstead. She only focused on the brown Seeker for a moment, and then her optics were caught by the bazaar behind him.
Or... not, he realized, turning to see as well. There was a little space between two vendors, and wind-chimes did very little to cover the sounds as one Seeker overloaded at another's hands. Roadstead chuckled. "And that's why you have those symbols on your wings."
She looked away, seeming to force herself too. "They shouldn't... I mean..."
"They're not in immediate view. As far as I can see, they're just touching... like I touched you. Maybe elsewhere, in some of the other gardens, the ones that don't float, some couples- or triads, or whatevers, will merge. Or use finger, or hands... well, you know those bits."
"What if those sparklings see?" Amber asked.
Roadstead had expected that, and twitched a wing in a shrug. "And what if they do? They wouldn't see much more than two, or more, adults touching and hugging. We do try to keep anything more less visible, or at least in places younglings are less likely to be. But we don't want them..." He shrugged again. "To be blunt, we don't want them to be like you, thinking pleasure is something wrong..."
"You're hedonists," Amber accused.
"Yeah... And the reputation has caused problems in the army before." Roadstead wouldn't deny the truth. Seekers were hedonists. Flighty, winged, vain creatures who usually cared more for their own pleasure and happiness than anything else...
It was no surprise the Autobots tended to hate them.
They sat there for a while, and then Amber made an odd shaking gesture and stood up. "I'm hungry. Can we get some energon? And... er, where are we going to stay...?"
"Over there," Roadstead answered, motioning to one of the center spires. "I'm branded, so I can use the quarters they set aside for that, and there's room enough for you, too. As for energon, sure. There's a seller there, have at." He stood with her, but let the femme approach the energon seller.
It was clear that Amber didn't know quite how interact with the mech, even though she had seen him buy more than one cube, both on Ijurn and in Nemmis. Apparently she hadn't been paying much attention... Further evidence that she shouldn't get into a fight.
Eventually, the femme managed to order two cubes, only to be flummoxed by payment. Roadstead took mercy on her, sending his information to the shop keeper. "I'm covering it."
The keeper looked up, and proceeded to flutter his wings enticingly. "Is that the only thing you're covering, sir?" he asked politely.
"For the time being," Roadstead answered easily. "You know I have to show her around..."
"You do that, then. Come back if you get... bored," the sells-mech said, handing over the energon and adding another flirty wiggle. Roadstead ignored it. This was Vos, after all. This was normal... this was home.
"He was flirting with you," Amber muttered as they walked away, energon in hand.
Roadstead laughed, nodding. "Yup. It's the brands. They feel different than paint, with those indentations."
"...He didn't flirt with me..." Amber sounded almost hurt.
"Of course not," Roadstead agreed, lifting a hand and tracing the glyphs he had painted on her pale blue wing. "I knew this would happen, you know. I had these myself, the first time I came here..."
Amber stopped, looking at the brown Seeker in surprise. "Y- you did? But- But you like all this stuff. All this interfacing and flirting and- You said this is your home, you belong here! Why would you need something like... like these?"
A languid wing-shrug answered her. "It is. I do. Now. But I was human once... I had my inhibitions. Less than you did, and I was eager to shed them, but I had them."
"...Do you still think... I mean, you've said things about me not... being sparked a Seeker, but... Do you still think that? I-" Amber bit at her derma, and again her wing-shrug was a matter of lifting them, not twitching them.
"I don't think I want to be like this. I don't-"
Roadstead silenced her with a finger on her derma. "That proves you're not. And that's okay."
"Then why am I still... um. In this frame...?"
"Cheaper for me," Roadstead answered easily. At Amber's confused look, he explained, though he was sure that he had already told her all of this. "You're a flier. My money's on helio. And even if you were a grounder... well, reformats are expensive. You can't afford one. I can, but I don't want to. Which means..." He smirked a little.
"...Means?" Amber asked. She didn't seem happy about the conversation.
"Means you'll have to find someone to sponsor you. And then you'll have to pay him back. Contract terms to be decided- I'm quite sure I've told you about all this. Don't worry about it. You'll not find one here... Right now, you're in Vos. There's mechs who would kill to be here."
Amber twitched uncertainly, then seemed to relax at the wop wop wop of a visiting helio. "So I should shut up and enjoy myself while I'm here, is what you're saying?"
"Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying," Roadstead agreed. "Now... I know it's not your spark's preferred form, but the energon's gone, so let me show you the Flying Garden. Up close." With a flash of light, he dismissed the empty cube and took off, waiting for Amber to join him in the air.