Indespectus

canon soup Mirage; selective side blog following back from @maxfortress.

[indespectus]

Indespectus

canon soup Mirage; selective side blog following back from @maxfortress.

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[rpmemes-galore]

fantasy / royalty vibes … sentence starters  feel free to change up species names / phrasing to suit your needs

“It’s the work of a curse, your highness.”

“Your highness, we need to get you inside.”

“Shall we haul him/her/them off to the dungeons?”

“I will not have such beasts roaming my kingdom!”

“I shall begin a war with whom I wish, magicks or not!”

“The guards say they’ve seen a dragon to the North…”

“There’s a strange sound coming from the catacombs.”

“Have we no courageous knights left to slay the beast?”

“They betrothed me to a dwarf. But, I refuse to be wed.”

“Perhaps we should beseech the elves. They may help us!”

“As a ruler, you have the choice to be merciful to such beings.”

“You are a merciless tyrant. And I curse you to my final breath.”

“With all due respect, you know nothing of ruling such creatures.”

“Surely we cannot stay there. People whisper that he is a… vampire.”

“I wonder, would you make deals with devils to protect your kingdom?”

“I know these lands better than most. I needn’t an army to defend me.”

“There’s nothing wise in starting a war with the magical, your highness.”

“Must we invite the fae, your majesty? They always cause such trouble.”

“And she claimed she saw mermaids in the moat. I don’t think she’s well.”

“It’s not bandits you need fear out here. There’s creatures more dangerous.”

“A ruler such as yourself should not play with powers you do not understand.”

“They townsfolk, they mutter about you, highness. They say you are not human.”

“The halls of this castle are rumored haunted. Are you sure you wish to stay here?”

“You have already ensured there is no place for beings such as us before your throne.”

“A royal like you shouldn’t be out here. These woods are rumored to be full of nightmarish monsters.”

[kytherion]

{{I am here with you now.}}

Soundwave takes a moment to sit up and remove his helm and visor. He doesn't want anything to come between himself and Mirage, and if Mirage wants to touch his external coolant lines or his sensory fin, he is welcome to do so. Then he slips one knee between Mirage's thighs and wraps his mind and his field tenderly around both of them, tucking himself around both of their frames like the softest of blankets. Soundwave resumes the kissing and caressing, allowing their sensoria to merge slowly; otherwise the synaesthetic riot that is Soundwave's world might be disorienting, even behind the dampers that keep their thoughts and feelings contained in the room and the thoughts and feelings of others from distracting them.

Mirage moves gracefully under him as they explore each other, and Soundwave uses every sense he has to discern where Mirage needs to be touched. But as their arousal grows, Soundwave can feel something come to life in Mirage that isn't completely his own.

Soundwave does not want a trained performance. Soundwave wants Mirage. He does not want anything to temper the building swelling and burn in Mirage's anterior node, to keep him from losing control. And when he parts the petals and of Mirage's outer array, he does not want the charge of his spike against all of Mirage's inner nodes and receptors dampened. Elegance is for situations other than this; he wants Mirage raw and hungry.

{{I would like to cable you and disable some coding you have that is interfering with us.}}

The formed thought requires some effort. Soundwave does not want to be angry with whoever did this; he just wants to make love to his newest consort without interference.

[indespectus]

Mirage shivers again, presses close and arches his frame against Soundwave's. Please. He wants what you can give him. What he can give you. And that has nothing to do with his coding.

He slides open a dataport, trusting.

--If you will it.-- he murmurs.

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[kytherion]

"Of course. But if I ask you for something I'm going to give on behalf of the Station, I'll have to pay you, or I'll be accused of keeping you in domestic servitude or something like that."

Soundwave smiles wryly. "You know...you don't work for Autobot Special Operations anymore, and it would be very strange if you did. I know keeping up anti-telepathy shields takes some effort and energy. I won't read your mind unless you really want me to, or unless I can't help it because you're too close and too overwhelmed by feelings. You are safe here. Viridian is a telepath also, but she has shields. None of the others seem to be, although nothing will surprise me coming from Catfish and Sparkthief."

[indespectus]

".... That's more than fair." Mirage murmurs concession, and goes to him, moving purposely just within reach.

A pause, and then he's consciously lowering his fields, revealing uncertainty-determination if Soundwave looks; what he does focus on and push forward is a growing affection for the mech before him.

"I have no desire to be kept." He affirms, then relents-- just a little. "... Although I would not say no to being pampered on occasion."

[kytherion]

Soundwave looks down at him thoughtfully, letting his field flow outward and blend with Mirage's at the edges. "You've been here a while. You and Ravage are starting to become friends. I understand you're working your way through the Four Acts with Jazz? And I like pampering all of you. You know it's not for lack of attraction that I've been keeping this simmering. But I was carrying Catfish when you came out here, and now she's got a younger brother."

He touches Mirage's face, ghosting fingertips across the cheek plates. "There's still an imbalance of power. I carry the Creation Matrix. It's a great relief to feel your emotions directly, even though I won't pry into your thoughts."

He wants to know: is it time? Is it right? Is it wrong? He's allowed to want; wanting never hurt anyone. And sometimes the ache is pleasant as well as painful. It's not as sharp as it was when Ravage and he were so young that he didn't even know what he was aching for, and it's not as fraught as the longing that grew between him and Jazz after their first encounter but before they became conspirators.

They've been left alone in the suite; Viridian is at Silverwing's hab, and Dedication is being tutored by Soundblaster down at the library. Jazz and Ravage and Remix took the little ones out for the day. He wonders if this was something they planned.

[indespectus]

Mirage tips his helm into the touch, just so; gold optics flicker as he regards the taller mech, reaches up with one hand to take Soundwave's servo in his own. "We've been... working on it, yes." He murmurs in response. "Jazz and I, Ravage and I.... And I believe I too, am finally settled enough here that I might... might believe I have a place as well."

[kytherion]

"Mirage: is also careful." Soundwave rarely wears his blast mask in the suite, and he leans a little closer. "I have to admit I thought you and Jazz would either become conjunxes or break it off within a year. It was brave of you to come here, and braver still to stay. I believe you will make a place for yourself wherever you are. Is the place you believe you might have here now a place in the Station, or is it a place of our own--yours and mine--within the larger concordium?"

[indespectus]

"... Both." Mirage murmurs, and entwines his fingers with Soundwave's. "Or, at least, the first-- and starting to see the shape of the second." He adds, relenting slightly. "You are... not what I expected, after all; not since the war ended, and I followed Jazz here."

A pause. "... You are better."

[kytherion]

"So are you," Soundwave replies, and leans in. "None of us were allowed to be the people we wanted to be before the war, and the war made us all do things we regret. Some of us came from enslavement and some of us came from privilege, but we all came from cruelty. The privilege we were born into came at a terrible price that I couldn't pay and you shouldn't have had to."

He slips his other arm around Mirage's waist, tugging him just that little bit closer. "Would you like us all to be consorts, then? There are things between Ravage and me that I can't share with Jazz or with you, but I'm sure that the two of you have your own privacies."

[indespectus]

Mirage allows it, tipping his helm up slightly to continue to regard Soundwave. "I... Jazz, yes. You... yes, as well." He adds in a murmur. "Ravage.... I think I would like to be friends, longer, before I am truly certain-- though of course, she is welcome to join you in berth, as long as I am forewarned."

He tries another smile, glides closer when he's guided to it.

[kytherion]

Soundwave holds Mirage as close as he will allow. "We're not in the Towers, beloved, and you are not my third conjunx," he says in a very old dialect. He falters a little; he never liked or wanted to speak it before. "I proposed the title of consorts--" and here he uses the old Kaonite word-- "because we are not all going to be conjunct with one another. Neither you nor Ravage nor Jazz will ever be expected to share an interface when you do not desire it--whether it's because you're working on something, or you're feeling unwell, or you simply do not desire the other party." He kisses Mirage's forehead. "Ravage doesn't want that either. I don't know if either you or she ever will. None of us expect that from you or from her. Right now, if she comes to the berth we are in, it will be to recharge with us. If it ever happens and you are both happy about it, that will be fine, but...she is reluctant as well, and if I have read you correctly, your tastes are too similar for you to please one another." There is no need to mention that Ravage killed his father, or that he was afraid of her before he humiliated her, and it took them a long time to become something like friends. "What it means is that I have her blessing to pursue this, and also that consorts are free to retain their own properties and make arrangements regarding their own children with me or with anyone else. Not that I expect you to make love to her. This is not a world where anyone can be compelled to surrender their ports, their arrays or their spark to someone else because they have made vows or signed papers."

He kisses Mirage's forehead again. "I want you. Right now, I want you so much I'm amazed you can't feel it coming off me in waves. And I also want it to be clear that you are Jazz's conjunx and Ravage is mine. But you are a part of this household and I want to recognise that."

[indespectus]

Mirage shivers against him, optics flaring. "Beloved." He murmurs, shifting to the same lilting elegant dialect, and his free hand comes up, strokes gently over Soundwave's chassis. "I could not have imagined, once, that I would have everything I do now."

He offers Soundwave a small smile, though no less genuine for it. "... I thank you, again, for your welcome."

[kytherion]

Soundwave kisses the corner of his smile, and brushes his face against Mirage's before kissing him again. "Is it too soon for me to claim what I think you have offered me, beloved one? Will you open for me like a flower at dawn and permit me to take you, and fill your body and mind with every pleasure you know, and a few you cannot yet imagine? The only thing I cannot give you is my spark."

He sounds like Ravage, but she would never say those things.

"You make me fierce and gentle all at once. It's not in my nature to yield, but I always give back what I take, sometimes threefold or more."

[indespectus]

Mirage shudders, and his field flares and flowers open, just like said described flower, admiration and affection and want blooming against Soundwave's field as he kisses back.

"I want you to have me, brightspark." He murmurs. "I feel your radiance; I see it in how you treat everyone around you."

[kytherion]

Soundwave closes his arms around Mirage and lifts him up into a bridal carry, then kisses him, fiercely.

He isn't sure about the playroom, which is blatantly a very sexual (and very informal) place, but the door to his own berthroom is ajar. Normally he wouldn't take someone who wasn't also Ravage's lover into that bed, but someone--probably Ravage herself--has cleaned the place thoroughly, scented the room, and put crystal flowers in a vase by the bed. If that's not permission, he doesn't know what permission is. He's got his arms full and he's kissing Mirage for all he's worth, but he gives a silent command to the door and it shuts and locks. He puts Mirage down gently in the bed, and arranges the pillows around him, and then he gets into the berth himself, straddling Mirage as he leans over to kiss him again and again. Their fields swirl into and out of and around one another, sparkling with affection and heady with want. He wants to be inside Mirage at once and at the same time he wants to kiss him forever. Between Ravage's slow acceptance and Mirage's natural reticence, Mirage has made a work of enchanting and inexorable art out of Soundwave's frustration, but soon it is going to be over, and Soundwave can wait just a little bit longer. Long enough to kiss Mirage as if he could drink him in, and long enough for his hands to find surface nodes and exposed wires, and long enough for him to knock at the door of Mirage's mind. {{Will you allow me to read your desires and share my sensations and feelings with you? I enjoy being in control, but only if I know how to give what you need without leaving you wanting for anything. I have spent entirely too much time and energy imagining this and I want it to fulfil your wishes as well as my own.}}

[indespectus]

Mirage moans.

Hands reach out, grasp at Soundwave's sides, stroke along seams, giving and accepting the pleasure passed between them, shared back and forth.

"... Yes." He murmurs, only a few moments of hesitation. "... I... I will let you in."

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[kytherion]

"Of course. But if I ask you for something I'm going to give on behalf of the Station, I'll have to pay you, or I'll be accused of keeping you in domestic servitude or something like that."

Soundwave smiles wryly. "You know...you don't work for Autobot Special Operations anymore, and it would be very strange if you did. I know keeping up anti-telepathy shields takes some effort and energy. I won't read your mind unless you really want me to, or unless I can't help it because you're too close and too overwhelmed by feelings. You are safe here. Viridian is a telepath also, but she has shields. None of the others seem to be, although nothing will surprise me coming from Catfish and Sparkthief."

[indespectus]

".... That's more than fair." Mirage murmurs concession, and goes to him, moving purposely just within reach.

A pause, and then he's consciously lowering his fields, revealing uncertainty-determination if Soundwave looks; what he does focus on and push forward is a growing affection for the mech before him.

"I have no desire to be kept." He affirms, then relents-- just a little. "... Although I would not say no to being pampered on occasion."

[kytherion]

Soundwave looks down at him thoughtfully, letting his field flow outward and blend with Mirage's at the edges. "You've been here a while. You and Ravage are starting to become friends. I understand you're working your way through the Four Acts with Jazz? And I like pampering all of you. You know it's not for lack of attraction that I've been keeping this simmering. But I was carrying Catfish when you came out here, and now she's got a younger brother."

He touches Mirage's face, ghosting fingertips across the cheek plates. "There's still an imbalance of power. I carry the Creation Matrix. It's a great relief to feel your emotions directly, even though I won't pry into your thoughts."

He wants to know: is it time? Is it right? Is it wrong? He's allowed to want; wanting never hurt anyone. And sometimes the ache is pleasant as well as painful. It's not as sharp as it was when Ravage and he were so young that he didn't even know what he was aching for, and it's not as fraught as the longing that grew between him and Jazz after their first encounter but before they became conspirators.

They've been left alone in the suite; Viridian is at Silverwing's hab, and Dedication is being tutored by Soundblaster down at the library. Jazz and Ravage and Remix took the little ones out for the day. He wonders if this was something they planned.

[indespectus]

Mirage tips his helm into the touch, just so; gold optics flicker as he regards the taller mech, reaches up with one hand to take Soundwave's servo in his own. "We've been... working on it, yes." He murmurs in response. "Jazz and I, Ravage and I.... And I believe I too, am finally settled enough here that I might... might believe I have a place as well."

[kytherion]

"Mirage: is also careful." Soundwave rarely wears his blast mask in the suite, and he leans a little closer. "I have to admit I thought you and Jazz would either become conjunxes or break it off within a year. It was brave of you to come here, and braver still to stay. I believe you will make a place for yourself wherever you are. Is the place you believe you might have here now a place in the Station, or is it a place of our own--yours and mine--within the larger concordium?"

[indespectus]

"... Both." Mirage murmurs, and entwines his fingers with Soundwave's. "Or, at least, the first-- and starting to see the shape of the second." He adds, relenting slightly. "You are... not what I expected, after all; not since the war ended, and I followed Jazz here."

A pause. "... You are better."

[kytherion]

"So are you," Soundwave replies, and leans in. "None of us were allowed to be the people we wanted to be before the war, and the war made us all do things we regret. Some of us came from enslavement and some of us came from privilege, but we all came from cruelty. The privilege we were born into came at a terrible price that I couldn't pay and you shouldn't have had to."

He slips his other arm around Mirage's waist, tugging him just that little bit closer. "Would you like us all to be consorts, then? There are things between Ravage and me that I can't share with Jazz or with you, but I'm sure that the two of you have your own privacies."

[indespectus]

Mirage allows it, tipping his helm up slightly to continue to regard Soundwave. "I... Jazz, yes. You... yes, as well." He adds in a murmur. "Ravage.... I think I would like to be friends, longer, before I am truly certain-- though of course, she is welcome to join you in berth, as long as I am forewarned."

He tries another smile, glides closer when he's guided to it.

[kytherion]

Soundwave holds Mirage as close as he will allow. "We're not in the Towers, beloved, and you are not my third conjunx," he says in a very old dialect. He falters a little; he never liked or wanted to speak it before. "I proposed the title of consorts--" and here he uses the old Kaonite word-- "because we are not all going to be conjunct with one another. Neither you nor Ravage nor Jazz will ever be expected to share an interface when you do not desire it--whether it's because you're working on something, or you're feeling unwell, or you simply do not desire the other party." He kisses Mirage's forehead. "Ravage doesn't want that either. I don't know if either you or she ever will. None of us expect that from you or from her. Right now, if she comes to the berth we are in, it will be to recharge with us. If it ever happens and you are both happy about it, that will be fine, but...she is reluctant as well, and if I have read you correctly, your tastes are too similar for you to please one another." There is no need to mention that Ravage killed his father, or that he was afraid of her before he humiliated her, and it took them a long time to become something like friends. "What it means is that I have her blessing to pursue this, and also that consorts are free to retain their own properties and make arrangements regarding their own children with me or with anyone else. Not that I expect you to make love to her. This is not a world where anyone can be compelled to surrender their ports, their arrays or their spark to someone else because they have made vows or signed papers."

He kisses Mirage's forehead again. "I want you. Right now, I want you so much I'm amazed you can't feel it coming off me in waves. And I also want it to be clear that you are Jazz's conjunx and Ravage is mine. But you are a part of this household and I want to recognise that."

[indespectus]

Mirage shivers against him, optics flaring. "Beloved." He murmurs, shifting to the same lilting elegant dialect, and his free hand comes up, strokes gently over Soundwave's chassis. "I could not have imagined, once, that I would have everything I do now."

He offers Soundwave a small smile, though no less genuine for it. "... I thank you, again, for your welcome."

[kytherion]

Soundwave kisses the corner of his smile, and brushes his face against Mirage's before kissing him again. "Is it too soon for me to claim what I think you have offered me, beloved one? Will you open for me like a flower at dawn and permit me to take you, and fill your body and mind with every pleasure you know, and a few you cannot yet imagine? The only thing I cannot give you is my spark."

He sounds like Ravage, but she would never say those things.

"You make me fierce and gentle all at once. It's not in my nature to yield, but I always give back what I take, sometimes threefold or more."

[indespectus]

Mirage shudders, and his field flares and flowers open, just like said described flower, admiration and affection and want blooming against Soundwave's field as he kisses back.

"I want you to have me, brightspark." He murmurs. "I feel your radiance; I see it in how you treat everyone around you."

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[kytherion]

"Of course. But if I ask you for something I'm going to give on behalf of the Station, I'll have to pay you, or I'll be accused of keeping you in domestic servitude or something like that."

Soundwave smiles wryly. "You know...you don't work for Autobot Special Operations anymore, and it would be very strange if you did. I know keeping up anti-telepathy shields takes some effort and energy. I won't read your mind unless you really want me to, or unless I can't help it because you're too close and too overwhelmed by feelings. You are safe here. Viridian is a telepath also, but she has shields. None of the others seem to be, although nothing will surprise me coming from Catfish and Sparkthief."

[indespectus]

".... That's more than fair." Mirage murmurs concession, and goes to him, moving purposely just within reach.

A pause, and then he's consciously lowering his fields, revealing uncertainty-determination if Soundwave looks; what he does focus on and push forward is a growing affection for the mech before him.

"I have no desire to be kept." He affirms, then relents-- just a little. "... Although I would not say no to being pampered on occasion."

[kytherion]

Soundwave looks down at him thoughtfully, letting his field flow outward and blend with Mirage's at the edges. "You've been here a while. You and Ravage are starting to become friends. I understand you're working your way through the Four Acts with Jazz? And I like pampering all of you. You know it's not for lack of attraction that I've been keeping this simmering. But I was carrying Catfish when you came out here, and now she's got a younger brother."

He touches Mirage's face, ghosting fingertips across the cheek plates. "There's still an imbalance of power. I carry the Creation Matrix. It's a great relief to feel your emotions directly, even though I won't pry into your thoughts."

He wants to know: is it time? Is it right? Is it wrong? He's allowed to want; wanting never hurt anyone. And sometimes the ache is pleasant as well as painful. It's not as sharp as it was when Ravage and he were so young that he didn't even know what he was aching for, and it's not as fraught as the longing that grew between him and Jazz after their first encounter but before they became conspirators.

They've been left alone in the suite; Viridian is at Silverwing's hab, and Dedication is being tutored by Soundblaster down at the library. Jazz and Ravage and Remix took the little ones out for the day. He wonders if this was something they planned.

[indespectus]

Mirage tips his helm into the touch, just so; gold optics flicker as he regards the taller mech, reaches up with one hand to take Soundwave's servo in his own. "We've been... working on it, yes." He murmurs in response. "Jazz and I, Ravage and I.... And I believe I too, am finally settled enough here that I might... might believe I have a place as well."

[kytherion]

"Mirage: is also careful." Soundwave rarely wears his blast mask in the suite, and he leans a little closer. "I have to admit I thought you and Jazz would either become conjunxes or break it off within a year. It was brave of you to come here, and braver still to stay. I believe you will make a place for yourself wherever you are. Is the place you believe you might have here now a place in the Station, or is it a place of our own--yours and mine--within the larger concordium?"

[indespectus]

"... Both." Mirage murmurs, and entwines his fingers with Soundwave's. "Or, at least, the first-- and starting to see the shape of the second." He adds, relenting slightly. "You are... not what I expected, after all; not since the war ended, and I followed Jazz here."

A pause. "... You are better."

[kytherion]

"So are you," Soundwave replies, and leans in. "None of us were allowed to be the people we wanted to be before the war, and the war made us all do things we regret. Some of us came from enslavement and some of us came from privilege, but we all came from cruelty. The privilege we were born into came at a terrible price that I couldn't pay and you shouldn't have had to."

He slips his other arm around Mirage's waist, tugging him just that little bit closer. "Would you like us all to be consorts, then? There are things between Ravage and me that I can't share with Jazz or with you, but I'm sure that the two of you have your own privacies."

[indespectus]

Mirage allows it, tipping his helm up slightly to continue to regard Soundwave. "I... Jazz, yes. You... yes, as well." He adds in a murmur. "Ravage.... I think I would like to be friends, longer, before I am truly certain-- though of course, she is welcome to join you in berth, as long as I am forewarned."

He tries another smile, glides closer when he's guided to it.

[kytherion]

Soundwave holds Mirage as close as he will allow. "We're not in the Towers, beloved, and you are not my third conjunx," he says in a very old dialect. He falters a little; he never liked or wanted to speak it before. "I proposed the title of consorts--" and here he uses the old Kaonite word-- "because we are not all going to be conjunct with one another. Neither you nor Ravage nor Jazz will ever be expected to share an interface when you do not desire it--whether it's because you're working on something, or you're feeling unwell, or you simply do not desire the other party." He kisses Mirage's forehead. "Ravage doesn't want that either. I don't know if either you or she ever will. None of us expect that from you or from her. Right now, if she comes to the berth we are in, it will be to recharge with us. If it ever happens and you are both happy about it, that will be fine, but...she is reluctant as well, and if I have read you correctly, your tastes are too similar for you to please one another." There is no need to mention that Ravage killed his father, or that he was afraid of her before he humiliated her, and it took them a long time to become something like friends. "What it means is that I have her blessing to pursue this, and also that consorts are free to retain their own properties and make arrangements regarding their own children with me or with anyone else. Not that I expect you to make love to her. This is not a world where anyone can be compelled to surrender their ports, their arrays or their spark to someone else because they have made vows or signed papers."

He kisses Mirage's forehead again. "I want you. Right now, I want you so much I'm amazed you can't feel it coming off me in waves. And I also want it to be clear that you are Jazz's conjunx and Ravage is mine. But you are a part of this household and I want to recognise that."

[indespectus]

Mirage shivers against him, optics flaring. "Beloved." He murmurs, shifting to the same lilting elegant dialect, and his free hand comes up, strokes gently over Soundwave's chassis. "I could not have imagined, once, that I would have everything I do now."

He offers Soundwave a small smile, though no less genuine for it. "... I thank you, again, for your welcome."

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[kytherion]

"Of course. But if I ask you for something I'm going to give on behalf of the Station, I'll have to pay you, or I'll be accused of keeping you in domestic servitude or something like that."

Soundwave smiles wryly. "You know...you don't work for Autobot Special Operations anymore, and it would be very strange if you did. I know keeping up anti-telepathy shields takes some effort and energy. I won't read your mind unless you really want me to, or unless I can't help it because you're too close and too overwhelmed by feelings. You are safe here. Viridian is a telepath also, but she has shields. None of the others seem to be, although nothing will surprise me coming from Catfish and Sparkthief."

[indespectus]

".... That's more than fair." Mirage murmurs concession, and goes to him, moving purposely just within reach.

A pause, and then he's consciously lowering his fields, revealing uncertainty-determination if Soundwave looks; what he does focus on and push forward is a growing affection for the mech before him.

"I have no desire to be kept." He affirms, then relents-- just a little. "... Although I would not say no to being pampered on occasion."

[kytherion]

Soundwave looks down at him thoughtfully, letting his field flow outward and blend with Mirage's at the edges. "You've been here a while. You and Ravage are starting to become friends. I understand you're working your way through the Four Acts with Jazz? And I like pampering all of you. You know it's not for lack of attraction that I've been keeping this simmering. But I was carrying Catfish when you came out here, and now she's got a younger brother."

He touches Mirage's face, ghosting fingertips across the cheek plates. "There's still an imbalance of power. I carry the Creation Matrix. It's a great relief to feel your emotions directly, even though I won't pry into your thoughts."

He wants to know: is it time? Is it right? Is it wrong? He's allowed to want; wanting never hurt anyone. And sometimes the ache is pleasant as well as painful. It's not as sharp as it was when Ravage and he were so young that he didn't even know what he was aching for, and it's not as fraught as the longing that grew between him and Jazz after their first encounter but before they became conspirators.

They've been left alone in the suite; Viridian is at Silverwing's hab, and Dedication is being tutored by Soundblaster down at the library. Jazz and Ravage and Remix took the little ones out for the day. He wonders if this was something they planned.

[indespectus]

Mirage tips his helm into the touch, just so; gold optics flicker as he regards the taller mech, reaches up with one hand to take Soundwave's servo in his own. "We've been... working on it, yes." He murmurs in response. "Jazz and I, Ravage and I.... And I believe I too, am finally settled enough here that I might... might believe I have a place as well."

[kytherion]

"Mirage: is also careful." Soundwave rarely wears his blast mask in the suite, and he leans a little closer. "I have to admit I thought you and Jazz would either become conjunxes or break it off within a year. It was brave of you to come here, and braver still to stay. I believe you will make a place for yourself wherever you are. Is the place you believe you might have here now a place in the Station, or is it a place of our own--yours and mine--within the larger concordium?"

[indespectus]

"... Both." Mirage murmurs, and entwines his fingers with Soundwave's. "Or, at least, the first-- and starting to see the shape of the second." He adds, relenting slightly. "You are... not what I expected, after all; not since the war ended, and I followed Jazz here."

A pause. "... You are better."

[kytherion]

"So are you," Soundwave replies, and leans in. "None of us were allowed to be the people we wanted to be before the war, and the war made us all do things we regret. Some of us came from enslavement and some of us came from privilege, but we all came from cruelty. The privilege we were born into came at a terrible price that I couldn't pay and you shouldn't have had to."

He slips his other arm around Mirage's waist, tugging him just that little bit closer. "Would you like us all to be consorts, then? There are things between Ravage and me that I can't share with Jazz or with you, but I'm sure that the two of you have your own privacies."

[indespectus]

Mirage allows it, tipping his helm up slightly to continue to regard Soundwave. "I... Jazz, yes. You... yes, as well." He adds in a murmur. "Ravage.... I think I would like to be friends, longer, before I am truly certain-- though of course, she is welcome to join you in berth, as long as I am forewarned."

He tries another smile, glides closer when he's guided to it.

[remixofpraxus-archive]

"Mirage? Can I talk to you for a moment?" She stands in the doorframe holding a silvery package.

"I know its a bit late considering the whole family got sick but Jazz helped me pick out something to give you for the festival. I hope you like them."

Inside the package are two things, the first is a bundle of soft fabrics in a variety of colors. The second is a large jar of energon goodies

@indespectus

[indespectus]

Mirage looks up, but this is technically Jazz' room, and so he nods. "Enter." He murmurs, too well trained to reveal surprise. "You... acquired gifts for me? You needn't have..."

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[kytherion]

"Of course. But if I ask you for something I'm going to give on behalf of the Station, I'll have to pay you, or I'll be accused of keeping you in domestic servitude or something like that."

Soundwave smiles wryly. "You know...you don't work for Autobot Special Operations anymore, and it would be very strange if you did. I know keeping up anti-telepathy shields takes some effort and energy. I won't read your mind unless you really want me to, or unless I can't help it because you're too close and too overwhelmed by feelings. You are safe here. Viridian is a telepath also, but she has shields. None of the others seem to be, although nothing will surprise me coming from Catfish and Sparkthief."

[indespectus]

".... That's more than fair." Mirage murmurs concession, and goes to him, moving purposely just within reach.

A pause, and then he's consciously lowering his fields, revealing uncertainty-determination if Soundwave looks; what he does focus on and push forward is a growing affection for the mech before him.

"I have no desire to be kept." He affirms, then relents-- just a little. "... Although I would not say no to being pampered on occasion."

[kytherion]

Soundwave looks down at him thoughtfully, letting his field flow outward and blend with Mirage's at the edges. "You've been here a while. You and Ravage are starting to become friends. I understand you're working your way through the Four Acts with Jazz? And I like pampering all of you. You know it's not for lack of attraction that I've been keeping this simmering. But I was carrying Catfish when you came out here, and now she's got a younger brother."

He touches Mirage's face, ghosting fingertips across the cheek plates. "There's still an imbalance of power. I carry the Creation Matrix. It's a great relief to feel your emotions directly, even though I won't pry into your thoughts."

He wants to know: is it time? Is it right? Is it wrong? He's allowed to want; wanting never hurt anyone. And sometimes the ache is pleasant as well as painful. It's not as sharp as it was when Ravage and he were so young that he didn't even know what he was aching for, and it's not as fraught as the longing that grew between him and Jazz after their first encounter but before they became conspirators.

They've been left alone in the suite; Viridian is at Silverwing's hab, and Dedication is being tutored by Soundblaster down at the library. Jazz and Ravage and Remix took the little ones out for the day. He wonders if this was something they planned.

[indespectus]

Mirage tips his helm into the touch, just so; gold optics flicker as he regards the taller mech, reaches up with one hand to take Soundwave's servo in his own. "We've been... working on it, yes." He murmurs in response. "Jazz and I, Ravage and I.... And I believe I too, am finally settled enough here that I might... might believe I have a place as well."

[kytherion]

"Mirage: is also careful." Soundwave rarely wears his blast mask in the suite, and he leans a little closer. "I have to admit I thought you and Jazz would either become conjunxes or break it off within a year. It was brave of you to come here, and braver still to stay. I believe you will make a place for yourself wherever you are. Is the place you believe you might have here now a place in the Station, or is it a place of our own--yours and mine--within the larger concordium?"

[indespectus]

"... Both." Mirage murmurs, and entwines his fingers with Soundwave's. "Or, at least, the first-- and starting to see the shape of the second." He adds, relenting slightly. "You are... not what I expected, after all; not since the war ended, and I followed Jazz here."

A pause. "... You are better."

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[kytherion]

"Of course. But if I ask you for something I'm going to give on behalf of the Station, I'll have to pay you, or I'll be accused of keeping you in domestic servitude or something like that."

Soundwave smiles wryly. "You know...you don't work for Autobot Special Operations anymore, and it would be very strange if you did. I know keeping up anti-telepathy shields takes some effort and energy. I won't read your mind unless you really want me to, or unless I can't help it because you're too close and too overwhelmed by feelings. You are safe here. Viridian is a telepath also, but she has shields. None of the others seem to be, although nothing will surprise me coming from Catfish and Sparkthief."

[indespectus]

".... That's more than fair." Mirage murmurs concession, and goes to him, moving purposely just within reach.

A pause, and then he's consciously lowering his fields, revealing uncertainty-determination if Soundwave looks; what he does focus on and push forward is a growing affection for the mech before him.

"I have no desire to be kept." He affirms, then relents-- just a little. "... Although I would not say no to being pampered on occasion."

[kytherion]

Soundwave looks down at him thoughtfully, letting his field flow outward and blend with Mirage's at the edges. "You've been here a while. You and Ravage are starting to become friends. I understand you're working your way through the Four Acts with Jazz? And I like pampering all of you. You know it's not for lack of attraction that I've been keeping this simmering. But I was carrying Catfish when you came out here, and now she's got a younger brother."

He touches Mirage's face, ghosting fingertips across the cheek plates. "There's still an imbalance of power. I carry the Creation Matrix. It's a great relief to feel your emotions directly, even though I won't pry into your thoughts."

He wants to know: is it time? Is it right? Is it wrong? He's allowed to want; wanting never hurt anyone. And sometimes the ache is pleasant as well as painful. It's not as sharp as it was when Ravage and he were so young that he didn't even know what he was aching for, and it's not as fraught as the longing that grew between him and Jazz after their first encounter but before they became conspirators.

They've been left alone in the suite; Viridian is at Silverwing's hab, and Dedication is being tutored by Soundblaster down at the library. Jazz and Ravage and Remix took the little ones out for the day. He wonders if this was something they planned.

[indespectus]

Mirage tips his helm into the touch, just so; gold optics flicker as he regards the taller mech, reaches up with one hand to take Soundwave's servo in his own. "We've been... working on it, yes." He murmurs in response. "Jazz and I, Ravage and I.... And I believe I too, am finally settled enough here that I might... might believe I have a place as well."

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[kytherion]

"Of course. But if I ask you for something I'm going to give on behalf of the Station, I'll have to pay you, or I'll be accused of keeping you in domestic servitude or something like that."

Soundwave smiles wryly. "You know...you don't work for Autobot Special Operations anymore, and it would be very strange if you did. I know keeping up anti-telepathy shields takes some effort and energy. I won't read your mind unless you really want me to, or unless I can't help it because you're too close and too overwhelmed by feelings. You are safe here. Viridian is a telepath also, but she has shields. None of the others seem to be, although nothing will surprise me coming from Catfish and Sparkthief."

[indespectus]

".... That's more than fair." Mirage murmurs concession, and goes to him, moving purposely just within reach.

A pause, and then he's consciously lowering his fields, revealing uncertainty-determination if Soundwave looks; what he does focus on and push forward is a growing affection for the mech before him.

"I have no desire to be kept." He affirms, then relents-- just a little. "... Although I would not say no to being pampered on occasion."

[indespectus]

"I have sent all of our household's gifts--and my personal ones," Soundwave says as Mirage wanders into his study. "I have only heard wonderful things, as expected. Are you sure you won't let me pay for your work?" (@kytherion of course)

Mirage runs his digits over a datapad shelf, idly noting a few titles, before his attention shifts fully once more to Soundwave, offering an incline of his helm.

"Positive." He murmurs. "I... enjoyed crafting them. That is payment enough, from you. And... I will still be charging most mecha, of course." He adds.

"... The gifts were successful then?" He adds.

[indespectus]

He's still not sure on what, if any profession, he should start up. He has a feeling no one would really be interested in the same kind of high end as he is.

Plus he doesn't want to be rude.

For now... Maybe he can find out if anyone else knows how to weave metalmesh. Or... Wants to learn.

[dontpetmeibite]

There's a knock on Mirage's door.

It's Ravage, looking very forlorn. She has an embroidery ring in her hands, and someone--probably Ravage herself--has tried to embroider one of her poems on silvery mesh using dyed spidersilk.

The operative word is "tried".

"I fucked up," she says, "and everything I try to do to fix it makes it worse." She glances down. "Soundwave said you'd know what to do."

[indespectus]

Mirage does not hesitate, reaching out with upturned servo. "... May I?" He murmurs. "... Let's have a look, darling, shall we?"

If Ravage hands it over, he'll examine it for a moment, before offering it back. "You've drawn the thread too tight, here, here, and here." He gestures. "And there, you've wound the thread back on itself two stitches. That's the problem start." A pause. "... Would you like me to fix it?"

[dontpetmeibite]

"I would like you to show me how to do it," she says, very softly, hopefully. "Esmeral makes it look so easy, but she's not close enough for me to watch. Would you?"

[indespectus]

"I can do that. But not out here in the hallway." Mirage states.

A pause.

"... Would you like to come in? And, of course, did you bring the needle you've been using to weave? I don't want to use the wrong size."

[dontpetmeibite]

"Thanks," Ravage says. "I didn't mean for you to show me out here. That would be weird." She had been waiting for him to ask her in, but she didn't want to comment on it. "I brought everything, actually."

[indespectus]

"It would be." Mirage concedes, with just a hint of humour, before he's stepping aside gracefully, inclining his helm in welcome to allow Ravage entry.

"... Would you like some refreshment?" is added, after a moment.

[dontpetmeibite]

"That would be lovely," Ravage says. He hasn't asked her to sit down, but if he's going to bring her a snack, she figures that's part of the deal. "Is here okay?" she says, sitting down on the couch where there's enough room for both of them to look over her...handiwork, if she can call it that.

[indespectus]

"Yes." Mirage assures her. "Yes, of course-- sit wherever you please." He drifts over to the kitchen, pulls out a plate of mini chocotar bars, and returns, setting it on the low table before them.

"... Now. May I?"

[dontpetmeibite]

"Yes, of course." Ravage hands him the embroidery frame and all of her needles. Except for the ones she can't part with--at one point she'd been reduced to using her claws to pry the knot apart. It wasn't madness--she can knit on them--but it hadn't worked.

She nibbles at the one of the bars, nervously.

[indespectus]

"Hmm." Mirage lifts the frame with its attached scarf, studies it another moment. "... Yes. I see. Watch." He brings out his own kit, rummages around, and then brings out a tiny fine grade pick. "First we need to loosen the stitches."

[dontpetmeibite]

"I've never seen one that small before," Ravage confesses, and watches him. "Do you think you'll go into bespoke handicrafts? I'm surprised you haven't asked to open another nightclub, although I hope that if you do, you won't call it 'Visages' this time."

[indespectus]

"It's dedicated for just this purpose." Mirage hums. "... I can try to find or commission another, if you would like. As for taking up handicrafts... Perhaps as a hobby."

A pause, and then he's shaking his helm. "... No. Not a nightclub. At least... Not at this point in time." the mech murmurs. "Though.... I have been thinking. Perhaps a formal tea service, like the Towers used to enjoy. With a few alterations, of course. I can't imagine those here enjoying some aspects of it-- not even myself, anymore."

[dontpetmeibite]

"A commission? A little tool?" It looks like the sort of thing you could buy in a shop, if you knew what you were doing or if you had someone like Esmeral with you--

"Is your craftwork like Esmeral's? I carried a favour she made for me when I took down Galvatron and a blow that could've killed me glanced right off me! I think all her tools were commissioned, but she does more than tapestry with them--"

Ravage nods quietly. "If you mean the Iaconian service, and not the Urayan one...well, actually they can both involve kneeling, can't they? My legs aren't made to bend so far that way. Dance training was the only way I could do it at all, and having to remain motionless in that position was agonising. Couldn't turn your motor relays or your sensory net off, either--not with the reaction time that was expected. People here won't want to be knelt to, ever. But the rest of it...the pampering, in particular...that could catch on."

[indespectus]

"If you want to be certain of the quality? Yes." Mirage states, simply. "It may be more expensive, but a finely crafted tool will last much longer than a cheap one."

A pause, considering, and then he adds, "... No. A full formal traditional Iaconi Towers service would be spectacularly ill suited for Sanctuary. I'd adapt it, of course. Less kneeling, or perhaps none at all, depending."

[dontpetmeibite]

Ravage sighs, her head bowed to one side. She is suddenly supremely aware that all of her needlework tools (except for her claws, of course) are probably parsecs below Mirage's standards. Perhaps that's why she is so terrible at this.

[indespectus]

Mirage looks at her.

Looks down at her kit.

And then he's quietly laying the fine pick-- and several other gleaming tools-- by her nearer hand. ".... Take these." the mostly white mech murmurs.

[dontpetmeibite]

Ravage looks up at him cautiously, but her ears aren't drooping quite so low. "Thank you. I didn't even know things like this existed. I'd rummage through craft stores in spaceports when we were on leave. Or Laserbeak stole things."

The delicate pick goes through the knots on the back side of the frame with ease when she holds it just as Mirage did; she doesn't even have to cut too many threads. And it slides in and out of the weave of the base fabric so easily that she doesn't have to worry about not ripping it.

"Have you ever worked with organic textiles? They're surprisingly versatile, although a lot of them are rather delicate."

[indespectus]

Mirage hesitates, a moment, before cycling a vent of his own. "... No. I mean... I considered it, but the only fabrics I would have wanted to work with would be too fragile for our kind to handle much." A faint smile, however self deprecating.

"I've had that set for a very long time." He adds. "They're made from starmetal. Take good care of the pick, and it's unlikely to ever tarnish or break."

[indespectus]

He's still not sure on what, if any profession, he should start up. He has a feeling no one would really be interested in the same kind of high end as he is.

Plus he doesn't want to be rude.

For now... Maybe he can find out if anyone else knows how to weave metalmesh. Or... Wants to learn.

[dontpetmeibite]

There's a knock on Mirage's door.

It's Ravage, looking very forlorn. She has an embroidery ring in her hands, and someone--probably Ravage herself--has tried to embroider one of her poems on silvery mesh using dyed spidersilk.

The operative word is "tried".

"I fucked up," she says, "and everything I try to do to fix it makes it worse." She glances down. "Soundwave said you'd know what to do."

[indespectus]

Mirage does not hesitate, reaching out with upturned servo. "... May I?" He murmurs. "... Let's have a look, darling, shall we?"

If Ravage hands it over, he'll examine it for a moment, before offering it back. "You've drawn the thread too tight, here, here, and here." He gestures. "And there, you've wound the thread back on itself two stitches. That's the problem start." A pause. "... Would you like me to fix it?"

[dontpetmeibite]

"I would like you to show me how to do it," she says, very softly, hopefully. "Esmeral makes it look so easy, but she's not close enough for me to watch. Would you?"

[indespectus]

"I can do that. But not out here in the hallway." Mirage states.

A pause.

"... Would you like to come in? And, of course, did you bring the needle you've been using to weave? I don't want to use the wrong size."

[dontpetmeibite]

"Thanks," Ravage says. "I didn't mean for you to show me out here. That would be weird." She had been waiting for him to ask her in, but she didn't want to comment on it. "I brought everything, actually."

[indespectus]

"It would be." Mirage concedes, with just a hint of humour, before he's stepping aside gracefully, inclining his helm in welcome to allow Ravage entry.

"... Would you like some refreshment?" is added, after a moment.

[dontpetmeibite]

"That would be lovely," Ravage says. He hasn't asked her to sit down, but if he's going to bring her a snack, she figures that's part of the deal. "Is here okay?" she says, sitting down on the couch where there's enough room for both of them to look over her...handiwork, if she can call it that.

[indespectus]

"Yes." Mirage assures her. "Yes, of course-- sit wherever you please." He drifts over to the kitchen, pulls out a plate of mini chocotar bars, and returns, setting it on the low table before them.

"... Now. May I?"

[dontpetmeibite]

"Yes, of course." Ravage hands him the embroidery frame and all of her needles. Except for the ones she can't part with--at one point she'd been reduced to using her claws to pry the knot apart. It wasn't madness--she can knit on them--but it hadn't worked.

She nibbles at the one of the bars, nervously.

[indespectus]

"Hmm." Mirage lifts the frame with its attached scarf, studies it another moment. "... Yes. I see. Watch." He brings out his own kit, rummages around, and then brings out a tiny fine grade pick. "First we need to loosen the stitches."

[dontpetmeibite]

"I've never seen one that small before," Ravage confesses, and watches him. "Do you think you'll go into bespoke handicrafts? I'm surprised you haven't asked to open another nightclub, although I hope that if you do, you won't call it 'Visages' this time."

[indespectus]

"It's dedicated for just this purpose." Mirage hums. "... I can try to find or commission another, if you would like. As for taking up handicrafts... Perhaps as a hobby."

A pause, and then he's shaking his helm. "... No. Not a nightclub. At least... Not at this point in time." the mech murmurs. "Though.... I have been thinking. Perhaps a formal tea service, like the Towers used to enjoy. With a few alterations, of course. I can't imagine those here enjoying some aspects of it-- not even myself, anymore."

[dontpetmeibite]

"A commission? A little tool?" It looks like the sort of thing you could buy in a shop, if you knew what you were doing or if you had someone like Esmeral with you--

"Is your craftwork like Esmeral's? I carried a favour she made for me when I took down Galvatron and a blow that could've killed me glanced right off me! I think all her tools were commissioned, but she does more than tapestry with them--"

Ravage nods quietly. "If you mean the Iaconian service, and not the Urayan one...well, actually they can both involve kneeling, can't they? My legs aren't made to bend so far that way. Dance training was the only way I could do it at all, and having to remain motionless in that position was agonising. Couldn't turn your motor relays or your sensory net off, either--not with the reaction time that was expected. People here won't want to be knelt to, ever. But the rest of it...the pampering, in particular...that could catch on."

[indespectus]

"If you want to be certain of the quality? Yes." Mirage states, simply. "It may be more expensive, but a finely crafted tool will last much longer than a cheap one."

A pause, considering, and then he adds, "... No. A full formal traditional Iaconi Towers service would be spectacularly ill suited for Sanctuary. I'd adapt it, of course. Less kneeling, or perhaps none at all, depending."

[dontpetmeibite]

Ravage sighs, her head bowed to one side. She is suddenly supremely aware that all of her needlework tools (except for her claws, of course) are probably parsecs below Mirage's standards. Perhaps that's why she is so terrible at this.

[indespectus]

Mirage looks at her.

Looks down at her kit.

And then he's quietly laying the fine pick-- and several other gleaming tools-- by her nearer hand. ".... Take these." the mostly white mech murmurs.

[indespectus]

He's still not sure on what, if any profession, he should start up. He has a feeling no one would really be interested in the same kind of high end as he is.

Plus he doesn't want to be rude.

For now... Maybe he can find out if anyone else knows how to weave metalmesh. Or... Wants to learn.

[dontpetmeibite]

There's a knock on Mirage's door.

It's Ravage, looking very forlorn. She has an embroidery ring in her hands, and someone--probably Ravage herself--has tried to embroider one of her poems on silvery mesh using dyed spidersilk.

The operative word is "tried".

"I fucked up," she says, "and everything I try to do to fix it makes it worse." She glances down. "Soundwave said you'd know what to do."

[indespectus]

Mirage does not hesitate, reaching out with upturned servo. "... May I?" He murmurs. "... Let's have a look, darling, shall we?"

If Ravage hands it over, he'll examine it for a moment, before offering it back. "You've drawn the thread too tight, here, here, and here." He gestures. "And there, you've wound the thread back on itself two stitches. That's the problem start." A pause. "... Would you like me to fix it?"

[dontpetmeibite]

"I would like you to show me how to do it," she says, very softly, hopefully. "Esmeral makes it look so easy, but she's not close enough for me to watch. Would you?"

[indespectus]

"I can do that. But not out here in the hallway." Mirage states.

A pause.

"... Would you like to come in? And, of course, did you bring the needle you've been using to weave? I don't want to use the wrong size."

[dontpetmeibite]

"Thanks," Ravage says. "I didn't mean for you to show me out here. That would be weird." She had been waiting for him to ask her in, but she didn't want to comment on it. "I brought everything, actually."

[indespectus]

"It would be." Mirage concedes, with just a hint of humour, before he's stepping aside gracefully, inclining his helm in welcome to allow Ravage entry.

"... Would you like some refreshment?" is added, after a moment.

[dontpetmeibite]

"That would be lovely," Ravage says. He hasn't asked her to sit down, but if he's going to bring her a snack, she figures that's part of the deal. "Is here okay?" she says, sitting down on the couch where there's enough room for both of them to look over her...handiwork, if she can call it that.

[indespectus]

"Yes." Mirage assures her. "Yes, of course-- sit wherever you please." He drifts over to the kitchen, pulls out a plate of mini chocotar bars, and returns, setting it on the low table before them.

"... Now. May I?"

[dontpetmeibite]

"Yes, of course." Ravage hands him the embroidery frame and all of her needles. Except for the ones she can't part with--at one point she'd been reduced to using her claws to pry the knot apart. It wasn't madness--she can knit on them--but it hadn't worked.

She nibbles at the one of the bars, nervously.

[indespectus]

"Hmm." Mirage lifts the frame with its attached scarf, studies it another moment. "... Yes. I see. Watch." He brings out his own kit, rummages around, and then brings out a tiny fine grade pick. "First we need to loosen the stitches."

[dontpetmeibite]

"I've never seen one that small before," Ravage confesses, and watches him. "Do you think you'll go into bespoke handicrafts? I'm surprised you haven't asked to open another nightclub, although I hope that if you do, you won't call it 'Visages' this time."

[indespectus]

"It's dedicated for just this purpose." Mirage hums. "... I can try to find or commission another, if you would like. As for taking up handicrafts... Perhaps as a hobby."

A pause, and then he's shaking his helm. "... No. Not a nightclub. At least... Not at this point in time." the mech murmurs. "Though.... I have been thinking. Perhaps a formal tea service, like the Towers used to enjoy. With a few alterations, of course. I can't imagine those here enjoying some aspects of it-- not even myself, anymore."

[dontpetmeibite]

"A commission? A little tool?" It looks like the sort of thing you could buy in a shop, if you knew what you were doing or if you had someone like Esmeral with you--

"Is your craftwork like Esmeral's? I carried a favour she made for me when I took down Galvatron and a blow that could've killed me glanced right off me! I think all her tools were commissioned, but she does more than tapestry with them--"

Ravage nods quietly. "If you mean the Iaconian service, and not the Urayan one...well, actually they can both involve kneeling, can't they? My legs aren't made to bend so far that way. Dance training was the only way I could do it at all, and having to remain motionless in that position was agonising. Couldn't turn your motor relays or your sensory net off, either--not with the reaction time that was expected. People here won't want to be knelt to, ever. But the rest of it...the pampering, in particular...that could catch on."

[indespectus]

"If you want to be certain of the quality? Yes." Mirage states, simply. "It may be more expensive, but a finely crafted tool will last much longer than a cheap one."

A pause, considering, and then he adds, "... No. A full formal traditional Iaconi Towers service would be spectacularly ill suited for Sanctuary. I'd adapt it, of course. Less kneeling, or perhaps none at all, depending."

[theirfavouritestranger]

🌸 (@indespectus )

You probably don't remember this, but I played at one of the festivals shortly after your debut and I wanted to steal you away and set you free. But that was a different world and it was never gonna happen. Even if I found another caravan you weren't going to live with the Convoys, and I could never have afforded you.

I don't even know what the right word is for what I like about you. You're like a delicate crystal flower, except you have wheels and you're faster than any Tower prince was ever supposed to be, and when you aren't being judgemental and just let everyone be themselves--which is hard for you sometimes, I know--you make everything you do beautiful.

When you manage to turn off your anxiety, you radiate serenity and peace.

I tried to be careful with you, because I had so much power over you, and because I knew I could never give you the life that you want, and because I knew I could end up dead. I really tried hard not to make you fall for me. I knew it wasn't right.

Do not tell The Princess Who Gets What He Wants* this, but he was a princess before he was a prime; you have it in you to become a queen**.

I like the things you create, the sillage of serenity that surrounds you, and your quiet sensibilities, and sometimes I do not know what to do with you, but I love the way you make me feel.

(*this is what Princess is short for) (**and Ravage is one of the loveliest and most gracious femmes in the universe, but she is Lord High Protector all the way down to her spark. She is not a queen. I tried once to tell her she was, and she corrected me politely but exhaustively.)

[kytherion]

"I... I made you something. It isn't much, but..." (@indespectus )

"You shouldn't talk yourself and whatever you're giving me down like that," said Soundwave, with a fond little smile.

[indespectus]

The former noble hesitates, then answers with a hint of a smile of his own.

"I suppose you're right." He admits. "... In any case, I've been... making an effort, to remember the skills my Tower taught me, and..."

He offers up a single steelsilk scarf, embroidered at the edges with little whorls and swirls-- which, if Soundwave looks closely, are stylised glyphs of Ravage's and Soundwave's and Jazz's name, all interlinked.

[kytherion]

"You actually know the proper glyphs for Djazzan ya'Stanizi Convoy's real name." Soundwave grins. "So many people just substitute the glyphs for 'musical improvisation'. Let me know when you want to embroider yourself into the narrative," he says, and wraps it around his neck, beaming, then leans over to kiss Mirage's forehead, if this is permitted.

"I was always terrible at things like this," he admits with a faint flush. "And I make patisserie but if my so-called mentors were still alive they would have told me that was a job for servants."

He likes the scarf. It's in his field as well as on his face; he goes unmasked most of the time, at the Station.

[indespectus]

Mirage allows it; welcomes the contact even, however tentative and surprised his field reflects.

"My instructors were adamant that I learn household arts." He murmurs. "I was only fifth born, and of the lesser line, so naturally these were the appropriate talents to offer my future dominant bonded and their House."

A pause.

"... I like embroidery. Even if they told me weaving itself was unbecoming of a noble."

[kytherion]

"Did you weave this as well?" Soundwave asks, and then he knows: "Of course you did. I love it all the more." He smiles.

"Things will get easier here. Jazz loves you, I care for you, and Ravi...will not admit it, but she is beginning to care." He sighs. "She felt that you disdained her aboard the ship. She knows you are sorry, but...here are the things I can help you with."

Soundwave rests his hand against Mirage's cheek.

"Ravage is a graceful dancer, a very good poet, well spoken, and fond of making art. If you compliment her scents, if you tell her how lovely she dances with you on the floor, if you praise her poetry and, if you can, play word games with her...she will warm up to you over time."

He sighs.

"Ravage was educated in many of the things we were educated in, because she was meant to infiltrate the nobility as well as military and criminal groups. But when they sold her into slavery, they expected her to be good at them only in the service of others. She was allowed to be a dancer, to arouse her master's friends; she was not supposed to be better in the ballroom than any of the fine people there, and she was never allowed to be good enough to show up a partner she despised. She was meant to appreciate poems and literary references and to understand their meanings when she was given orders, but Ratbat punished her viciously for being better at all of those things than he was, and for daring to compete in poetry rounds herself."

He glances aside. "When you let her drink in a bowl in a corner, instead of insisting that she sit at the table or the bar like everyone else--and you came down on her for making out with Megatron--she felt like she was once again a slave, allowed to enjoy things alone and be used, but not to enjoy things for herself. When you came around after reading her poetry, it stung her--but it was the first step toward making her understand that you do respect her. Compliment her. Play with her. Talk with Laserbeak about embroidery--be just as good and respectful to her family as you are to her--and share the arts with them, and she will come to understand that you're learning to be better. Appreciate her skills. Do not encourage her to hide in shadows. Draw her out."

Soundwave leans over and kisses his forehead again. "I can imagine the four of us all together, at least occasionally, at some point in time, and it certainly doesn't have to be that way, but she will become closer to you if you show her admiration."

[indespectus]

Mirage inclined his helm, golden optics dimming at Soundwave's words; listening, and intently so. "I will try to incorporate her more fully." He promised. "She is your bonded, and you and Jazz love her. I... would shame none of you."

He looks down at his hands, then. "I would ask only for patience. I was a noble, and then I was an agent under Jazz' command-- it is... difficult, on occasion, to set those parts of me aside. Though... They are not all I am, or I would never have made it through the War."

[kytherion]

Soundwave lifts his chin with a fingertip. "There is no shame here. I am only trying to help us all grow closer to each other. Jazz loves you, and me, and Ravage. I love Ravage, and Jazz. Ravage loves Jazz, and me. And there is also something happening between the two of us."

He swallows. "At least, I think there is. I do not believe Jazz would object. I would not want Ravage to, either."

After a moment, he sighs. "When Ravage and I were very young we fell in love with Megatron, and then Megatron fell in love with Orion, and so did I, a little, though I now i despise him. But Orion and Ravage were never able to be close to each other. The situation is not the same, but Ravage was taught to do all of the things the decorative members of the nobility were expected to do, and she was genuinely talented for many of them. But she was only allowed to excel at them when Ratbat thought it made him look good. Does that make it clearer? I think you two are far more similar than you know, even though she was once a slave."

[indespectus]

"... Not so different from a fifth creation, after all." Mirage murmured. "... I will not be what comes between you, Soundwave. I swear it." He inclined his helm once more, though his field rippled out a moment later in gratitude.

[kytherion]

"Indeed not." Mirage feels so happy that Soundwave won't spoil it by reminding him that Ravage also had to put up with vicious abuse; the operation has succeeded, as now he understands her better.

Soundwave puts an arm around Mirage's shoulders. "You can't enjoy them and also keep them, but I've been baking gold puffs for everyone to enjoy at supper. Come and let me know if they came out well."

[indespectus]

Mirage leans against Soundwave, just a little. "Gold puffs? Sounds sweet." He hums. "... I do like your cooking." He adds.

A pause. "... Do you think Ravage will request a matching scarf?"

[kytherion]

Soundwave laughs softly. "Ravage: does not ask for gifts, but she treasures them. She would like one, perhaps red and silver or red and gold?"

A timer goes off. The gold puffs are very puffy, and Soundwave holds one out to Mirage, carefully; the structure will collapse if not carefully handled.

[indespectus]

"I.... don't have red steelsilk." Mirage murmurs, almost apologetically. "Steelsilk in itself is a rarity, and I'd need to find the right components to imbue the metal with red. But... I will try, if it would please her." He adds quietly.

The gold puff is accepted with a graceful incline of his helm, and eaten. Mirage lets his optics dim in enjoyment. "... It is delicious." He murmurs. "Thank you."

[kytherion]

Soundwave sighs, and then grins at the sight of his enjoyment.

"Mirage...you don't need to apologise for not having something. It was only a suggestion. She likes silver and gold as well; it's just that she often wears red, because that's the colour of her optics."

He sighs again. "You know, it's hard to reconcile what i've heard about you on the Lost Light with the you I know now. That mech was confident to the point of insufferability, but here, on the Station, and especially with me...you're self-effacing and apologetic, almost as if you were back in the Towers. And I know the way we live here is nothing like the way we lived in the Towers."

He takes another puff and starts to feed it to Mirage by hand, then stops himself.

"Do you really feel that your position here is precarious? If so...then you don't have to court me."

Because that is what this is, isn't it? Soundwave has been thinking of it as a long, delicious slow burn of growing attraction--of Mirage and he, each one seeing what Jazz sees in the other...but he remembers what Jazz was like when he first came here.

"But if you want it with your whole being, not just Jazz, but maybe all of us...that's different, too. I just need to know."

He holds the puff out for Mirage to take.

There is giggling coming from outside the kitchen; it's Silverwing, of course.

[indespectus]

"I..." Mirage starts, then stops. "I suppose I don't. But it's only courtesy, to apologize when something offered can't be delivered upon."

A pause, and then plating fluffs slightly. "... I suppose you could say I've been reverting to my best behaviour." He adds. "Especially in order to prove I won't be a nuisance to Lady Ravage or the smooth workings of this Station. However... If it's confidence you desire now, I can deliver." is finished.

Greatly daring, he leans forward, and takes the puff just so with his mouth.

[kytherion]

Soundwave laughs out loud, and then sighs.

"I want you to be yourself, whether or not that's confident," he says, and feeds him another.

"When we were prepared for formal courtships, we were being prepared for relationships we didn't choose and had to make successful to ensure the futures of our Houses. This is different. We are courting to find out how and where we all fit together and how and where there needs to be space between us, and with whom."

Soundwave eats a puff himself.

"Ravage also has more platonic relationships than I do. It's all right if she doesn't fall in love with you, ever, as long as you can come to trust and care for each other."

[indespectus]

Mirage accepts the second gold puff, and purrs his engine, just a little. "I remember those days." He murmurs. "Where everything was decided for you, from your paintjob even to your eventual bondmate. This... This is much better." He adds. "Besides, darling, I think I might finally be coming to an understanding with Jazz. And you. So-- in the interest of preserving harmony, I might appeal to Ravage soon, again."