[OPEN] We do this every time...

[vosseeker]

WHO: Starscream & OPEN
WHEN: Throughout July
WHERE: Garage, R&D Labs, Library, various
WHAT: Starscream is keeping busy this month. And hopefully staying out of trouble. Maybe.
WARNINGS: A corpse? A corpse! Otherwise, just his normal sour disposition...
NOTE: Will match prose or brackets, your choice!

A. Garage & Mechanic Shop

Starscream goes outside of the colony regularly, every few days. He has less to fear than most from the radiation, and the thin atmosphere doesn't bother him since he doesn't need to breathe. Of course he's just as susceptible to the red shifts as anyone, but he counts himself fortunate that he's only fallen afoul of them a couple times. Usually he returns with a crate of glowing energon crystals to convert to fuel, but today he's returned through the decontamination process dragging something very, very different: the rusted out corpse of another mech.

The body is unmistakably the same species as Starscream, although their body structure isn't too alike: this is (was) a land-based frame, shorter and stockier than the Seeker's narrow, lanky physique. Though the corpse is heavily rusted, even on the less corroded patches the dead mech is unnaturally, uniformly grey, as if all the colour had been sucked out of them. They're also considerably heavier, if the way Starscream is huffing and heaving to get the body up on a flat slab usually used for vehicle repair like it's an autopsy table in any indication.

... it appears he is absolutely planning to use it for an autopsy table.

B. R&D Labs

This is most often where Starscream is found, having converted one of the larger but unused indoor rooms to his own housing. Old equipment has been shoved aside, the door repaired, the lighting upgraded. It's not much to look at, to glimpse inside: what appears to be some kind of nest in the corner, a
low metal table that he's pillaged from one of the labs, a slowly growing stack of refined energon cubes piled in the corner.

Sometime later after he has dealt with the other mech corpse, he's back in the R&D section with a new crate of energon crystals from the crevasse out in the wastes that he'd located some months ago. Lacking the resources (and the cooperation) to undertake any kind of mining operation, he'd been making do by retrieving small batches for processing. The distiller looks... well, exactly like a distiller, with an unrefined chunk encased in the top portion and a slow drip of liquefied energon — blue and luminescent — slowing trickling down into the lower tank. It's a tedious process, but it has to be done. That doesn't mean Starscream isn't tapping one frightfully long bladed talon shiing-shiing across the workbench surface, leaving little curls of metal piling up like shavings in boredom.

C. Library

When he needs a change of pace however, he takes on a project which — for anyone who knows him — would probably not have been expected. After surveying the collapsed portion of the library, making some notes for himself (literally he'd just carved the notes right into the nearby wall), Starscream starts digging out the toppled area. He doesn't offer any explanation, nor request (or demand) assistance.

It's still slow going, even with his size and strength. Sometimes he'll start on a section and it'll be unsteady, so he has to move off and try somewhere else. The removed debris has to be carried out and dumped in an unused corridor, so there's a lot of going back and forth, dragging material that easily weighs several tonnes. He grumbles a little, low and pitched, but it's not the theatric complaining that one would usually expect from him.

Still, progress is being made. When he finally stops for a break, perhaps just noticing that he's gained an audience, he flicks his wings irritably to knock the dust from them. "What?"

D. Wildcard

Anything that doesn't fit in the above prompts, or poke me on Discord or at sojourney for other starters!

Comments

Option C

[tsuyoi_ame]

Yamamoto has been trying to find a place large enough and secluded enough that he can clean it up as a training area, base of operations for him and Gokudera. There is no intention to move out of the quad but if more family shows, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared. Plus considering the mid-range bomber he is here with, secluded is good for training. His box companions are tucked in safe, he is in his casual clothes but his Shigure Kintoki is wrapped, hanging over his shoulder as always.

He has his hands in his pockets, trotting along when he hears noises. He cautiously approaches at first. Then caution goes to the wind, Yamamoto is no little guy by any means but even he feels tiny watching Starscream work. It is the awe that that has him staring, most likely a softly murmured amazing before he is noticed.

Wings snap him back to himself, he realizes he has been rudely staring but who can blame him? Well, the guy he is staring at of course. His response is an immediate sheepish press of his hand to the back of his head and a wide grin.

"My bad, that's really cool." He is meaning the wings, sure he can fly around when he uses his flames but actual wings, come on!

[vosseeker]

Starscream looks at Yamamoto, then at the cleared section of rubble, then back at the human in askance.

"The progress?" he inquires, not realizing that the man's statement is in reference to him rather than the work that's being done.

[tsuyoi_ame]

Yamamoto leans around Starscream, blinking at the rubble a second. Well yeah, that is impressive too. He chuckles as he shakes his head.

"That's a lot of progress but nope, it's the wings. Can you fly?" Obviously, he probably can but still, Yamamoto tends to get excited and ask the obvious, at that moment he sneezes into his elbow, seems like some of the dust got him as he offers a muffled excuse me against his shirt.

[vosseeker]

Oh. Starscream feels an unexpected little lift of appreciation at the remark. Still, he tosses his head haughtily, though he looked pleased.

"Hmph. A Seeker's wings are a sight to behold, it's true. How nice to finally meet someone who can appreciate a superior frame. And of course I can fly, for all the dull scenery this wretched hunk of rock planet provides while airborne."

[tsuyoi_ame]

Yamamoto grins ear to ear, most people would note the haughty behavior. Maybe be bothered by it, not this guy. It is hard to mess with his mood, plus, dude, this guy has the right to be full of himself. He is an impressive work of machinery and for a teenage boy it is like Christmas morning to see him first hand.

"What's a seeker? Oh! You're welcome. Yeah, I guess this place doesn't have much to look at, but still, that's so cool! And you look really strong too."

[vosseeker]

Starscream could get very used to this kind of open appreciation. "A Seeker is a specific subset of flight frame," he replied. "We are unparalleled in the air, along other superior features. And yes, I am."

Modesty? Starscream ain't never met her.

[tsuyoi_ame]

Without drastic action on Starscream's part to change it, Yamamoto will probably stay an avid fan. Sure, he has seen some cool things in his life. The teenager can bring his resolve to being in the shape of dying will flames and has traveled back and forth between the past and future. Fought humans that weren't human anymore. Trained with a baby who wasn't a baby, he has seen things. Yet, the mech still comes up way high on the list of the best ever.

He is a rapt audience through the explanation. He gets the gist of it if not all the words and they don't matter. It's basically confirmed, Yamamoto is a fan.

"There's more like you? Where are you from?" That must be the coolest planet, he wonders if maybe next time he gets dragged through dimensions he could up somewhere like that. Forgive his questions, he is naturally curious and can not help himself.

[vosseeker]

Don't worry, Starscream will find a way to turn that fascination to his advantage before long. It's what he does.

Yamamoto's question about others draws a faint but noticeable hesitation before he replies. "There are others. There were more, once. And I am from Cybertron— though I doubt, as a human, that you will have any recognition of my planet."

(The way he says "my", like he actually owns the planet, rather than merely hailing from it.)

"I am Starscream, lord and commander of the Decepticon empire," he adds arrogantly. True, said empire was presently in shambles (or it had been, when he'd arrived here) but he was sticking to his blasters about claiming rulership of it!!

[tsuyoi_ame]

That is alright, Yamamoto is happy to help others as long as it does not compromise his integrity of course.

He is rapt attention if his teachers had been mech's maybe he would not have fallen asleep and needed Gokudera to tutor him so much. He clearly is intelligent enough to get it but it was so boring. This, however, coolest thing ever. He knows there are other worlds out there, it's why ending up on Anchor was no shock to him. But a world full of mechs like this and this guy is their leader?

"Nope never heard it." He's just a kid from Japan of course he hasn't, then it hits him what else the guy said and Yamamoto, not one to always be polite drops into traditional hands to his sides, fingers splayed against his legs bow at the waist out of respect.

"So you're a King? Amazing!" Yup, totally believing in that ownership, clearly he is the boss and it's his kingdom.

A; before the earthquake

[numerouno]

As soon as the screeches and crunches of rusted metal against solid stone reach Scaramouche, he cuts toward the source, his curiosity well and truly piqued.

Self-assured steps carry him into the garage, but he doesn't make a grand entrance. The clicking of his heels are drowned out by the racket, too. Those same steps become leisurely as he takes in the scene. They wind him around the spectacle until he's standing at the other side of the slab, outside of the giant (he's seen bigger) robot's line of vision for now, his neck craned upward, hands folded behind his back, and a devious smile on his face.

There's a pause between the clanking and huffing. That's his cue.

"Keepin' busy, babe?"

[vosseeker]

Metaphorical hackles raise at the mode of address, even though by now Starscream knows it's just Scaramouche's mannerisms.

"Naturally," he said frostily, kicking the dead mech's leg out of the way spitefully as he finally gets the corpse arranged in some semblance of repose. "You should try it sometime, so the colony can actually find a use for you."

[numerouno]

The smile doesn't falter; on the contrary, it grows.

"Well? Don't keep me in suspense! Where'd you find it!?" His face is shining now with an impossibly wide and white grin of excitement. He watches as the corpse is laid out nice and flat, and the moment the other bot has finished arranging it, Scaramouche leaps onto its enormous, rusted chestplate with a seemingly oblivious smile, bringing the two of them closer to eye level.

[vosseeker]

Starscream makes a face at Scaramouche jumping onto the corpse, but he doesn't seem like he's about to order the smaller inorganic down. It is, after all, a corpse — it's not like it's going to complain about the treatment.

"In the same location as my mining site," he replied. There was no advantage in keeping that a secret, he decided. "Presumably this mech also went there for fuel, but some things don't make sesnse."

From a nearby work station, he retrieves some tools and comes back over to the table. "Move," he orders shortly. "You're standing where I need to work."

[numerouno]

"Yeah, like what made them kick the can."

With that flippant remark delivered, Scaramouche hops on to the corpse's unseeing face, landing right between its optics. Unfazed by the prospect of witnessing an autopsy, he turns to watch.

He's still smiling.

[vosseeker]

"Among other things, yes," Starscream replies, but at least Scaramouche is out of the way now. "There doesn't appear to be any obvious injuries severe enough to cause death."

Actually, aside from the severely rusted appearance and general scuffing and dings consistent with Starscream dragging the corpse across however many miles of rocky planet, the dead mech appears in remarkably intact shape. The Seeker runs his claws along the seam of the chestplate until he finds the manual override catch, releasing it and lifting the front armor panel off. Inside is a remarkably complex tangle of mechanics, gears and cogs and wires and pistons all nestled like jigsaw pieces into the space. There's not much unused space 'under the hood', as it were, with everything packed so densely.

Starscream turns the removed armor plate over, scanning the inside for something. Whatever he's looking for, he doesn't find, and he starts on the shoulder plating next. Each segment is removed, visually scanned, and set aside.

[numerouno]

Scaramouche moves his arms behind his back and tilts forward to take it all in. By all appearances, he's keen to watch the larger bot work, but he's actually only half-interested in what's behind Plates Number One, Two, and so on. His widened optics suddenly narrow as a wicked smile spreads across his face. He looks up at Starscream and lifts his arms toward him.

"Hey, how do I know you didn't do this?"

If there's any doubt as to whether that was a jibe, the snide tone oozing from every syllable of his exclamation should give it away.

[vosseeker]

Obvious jibe or not, Starscream gave Scaramouche a sly look. "You don't," he replies nonchalantly. "Perhaps I did, and it slipped my mind."

Of course, he could have pointed out that for any Cybertronian to naturally rust to this state would take hundreds of vorns, but Scaramouche didn't know that. The Seeker continued to remove sections of plating until he'd checked about a dozen of them, but clearly didn't find whatever he was looking for.

"Hm. No serials... must have be Forged," he muttered to himself.

D! Piano time!

[bakudan_bambino]

Once Yamamoto has introduced Gokudera to the training area he had found, and the piano he'd bartered for as a gift, the bomber's been less cooped up in the quad, and more cooped up on the bench. It's becoming something of a daily routine to play. In Amoi, he'd played as a job, but the work was inconsistent. He also was too poor to afford such an instrument.

There had been a point when he'd had a keyboard in his apartment in Namimori, and played it quite regularly. He'd even plug headphones in so as not to disturb his neighbors.

But things are a bit different in Anchor. He has neighbors, and no means of keeping the music down. He plays at odd hours, thinking no one will hear him as he runs through his scales, chords, and eventually has to run through classical songs he'd practiced as a kid. There had been sheet music Takeshi had given him, and some of the alien songs, he's not sure how to make out. Clearly, that's not all it is, though. There's some familiar songs he plays through, slow and intense before he gets carried away with Bach's prelude and fugue No. 2 in C Minor.

A few notes are missed, but he doesn't stop until both songs are done, interested in heading out to smoke and really calm down. If he notices that he had an audience, he doesn't say anything. Did they hear? How much?

[vosseeker]

Starscream doesn't keep any semblance of normal hours. Even if Cybertronian day-to-night ratios were the same as humans, which they weren't, the erratic nature of Anchor sometimes threw everything off routine. The other part of it was... Starscream rarely hangs around anyone whose schedule it would make sense to match to. He hardly hangs around anyone at all. Logically one would think it would be hard for a 25' mech to avoid most people, but that's exactly what he does.

That doesn't mean he's never about, though. And he's startlingly quiet, for his size. He stands for quite a while outside the area, listening to the scales and chords that eventually move into full songs. He doesn't recognize any of them — he's never really given human music more than a passing data byte — but that doesn't mean he can't appreciate an apparently advanced piece.

When Gokudera emerges and says nothing, Starscream lets the silence stretch for several moments. Finally he queries, "The songs... do they mean anything?"

[bakudan_bambino]

Gokudera would notice Starscream, but he completely misses him. One would think it would be hard to miss a 25' mech when they're literally right in plain sight, but Gokudera does. Amoi had been full of towering structures, and the law enforcement had often been accompanied by AI with weapons that could not only stun or destroy their targets, but to disable even the powers of Gods. He'd fought some large hulking metallic figures, been taken to places in the Golden City of Tanagura that most lower-caste mongrels could never dream of.

So when Starscream breaks the silence, Gokudera pivots and pulls out several sticks of dynamite from... thin air? They're not lit, and he's not even sure who his target would be until he looks up.

"Shit..." okay he's jumpy, and hopes no offense was taken. The silver-haired boy tucks away his weapons and lights his cigarette, taking a drag before answering through smoke, "Depends on the composer." He looks up, stares thoughtfully and seems to be mulling the question over. His answer is probably unsatisfactory.

"Most are written to convey emotions, and evoke them from the listener. Others are meant purely for entertainment... or noise to fill in silence, to create an atmosphere." And boy oh boy do Italian mafioso love their private performances and events. His skill would help him blend in as a talented pianist if he ever needed to get in and witness an 'accident' with a rival or enemy family. Not that his boss would ever have him do something so dirty. At the very least, he could blend in and talk to the right people... keep enemies close while appearing harmless.

[vosseeker]

Starscream has never seen a human materialize something quite like that before, and he stares for a moment. "I didn't think humans had anything like subspace," he says finally. "How did you do that?"

But the appearance of the weaponry doesn't seem to cause affront — in all honesty, people pulling weapons on him is a pretty regular part of Starscream's life — and he doesn't push Gokudera to answer at any faster a pace than he seems to want with thinking the question over.

"What about that last one?"

[bakudan_bambino]

It's amazing, and something Gokudera is very good at being secretive about. Why, in the anime not only does he pull dynamite out of thin air, but it lights on it's own! In the manga, he lights then with his cigarettes, and just keeps the weapons "all over his body" and even if someone were to pick him up and shake him, frisk him, or go through any kind of search, the dynamite never shows up. He creates it himself, though no one has seen him do it. "Hm? Practice. For half my life." Maybe more than that. Is it all strapped to him? Does it just materialize with his will? No one knows. He clearly has to have a free hand to make it appear, though.

"The atmosphere? It's just background noise, not meant to communicate anything, but provide a sense of comfort. I think it's repetitive." He used to play in a bar on Amoi. There was nothing special about it.

[vosseeker]

Starscream is certainly thinking more along literal lines, but ultimately he doesn't press the issue. It was more surprise that prompted his initial comment on it, since mecha had an actual version of hammerspace.

"The last song you played," he clarified. "It was... interesting. What is it called? Is it well known?"

[bakudan_bambino]

"The last one? Oh! Yeah..." He scratches the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "It was Bach's Fugue number two... in C Minor. Bach is a well-known Earthling, German composer who lived for sixty-five years and died two hundred and... uh fifty years before my time? I left Earth around two thousand.... something..." Gokudera sighs, seeming troubled.

"I'm sorry. I've got to be honest. I was on Amoi from eight-thousand fifteen until July eight-thousand seventeen. I'd say Bach is still well-known, but I'm not even sure what year I'm in now." Gokudera doesn't even know how old he is. Clearly, he's not an adult, but he feels like that may just be his body. He'd gone through two years worth of his life on Earth in Namimori after he'd been picked up from living on the streets. No one would celebrate his birthday, and so he just kind of... assumed he was the same age as his friends. Then there's the two years he'd been on Amoi, and his birthday falls in the beginning of September. He could tie himself up in knot trying to sort everything out.

And then there's the whole brainwashing he's still trying to snap out of.

[vosseeker]

Starscream's already figured that any place which could draw people from multiple worlds would also draw across various timelines, so this isn't terribly surprising. "You'd likely get different answers to that question depending on whom you asked," he comments.

"Although if it worth the data point, it was two thousand thirteen by the Earth standard calendar before I was brought here."

He tilts his head. "The Earth informational packets which Soundwave curated for crew usage didn't touch on major musicians of previous centuries," he replies. "And I never saw the point in pursuing such irrelevant minutiae. I do know where and what Germany is though."

It might have come across insulting, if not for the matter of fact way Starscream states it. Then he pauses, head tilting to one side in concession. "The music was enjoyable... the tonal subharmonics were especially appealing."