[closed]

[flameout]

WHO: Rodimus & Tailgate and Rodimus & Knock Out
WHERE: Jeopardy
WHEN: January
WHAT: Reconnecting with an old friend and getting to know the car next door.
WARNINGS: Proooobably nothing


FOR TAILGATE »

[ If anyone were to walk in through the front door of Jeopardy 004 right now, they would be greeted with a mildly concerning site -- a man passed out on the living room sofa, snoring loudly, with melted ice cream on his face and a several empty cartons scattered on the carpet beneath him. This definitely-an-actual-human man is Rodimus, and he just ate ice cream for the first time. He's overdone it, and the sugar crash hit him hard.

Most roommates would consider this a bad first impression, but hopefully someone who knows him would find it...charming? Maybe. ]

FOR KNOCK OUT »

[ Typically, Rodimus's joy rides on the roads near Jeopardy end in the middle of the night, but he's back in broad daylight today -- it was a day off work, so he cruised around during the day, making sure to stay in vehicle mode whenever there were locals nearby. He tried walking around downtown Jeopardy in his robot form shortly after moving in, and the glares he received for standing out so much put a dent in his pride. No one thought twice about seeing a car on the road though, and it was nice to be able to just drive around. Being cooped up in a starship meant his alt was mode mostly unused for some time.

He pulls up to the driveway of Jeopardy 004 and transforms to robot mode. He'll have to switch to his human form to get in the front door, but he takes a moment to give the ol' joints on his robot body a stretch. ]

Comments

[itcanwait]

[Tailgate had been out of the house. Not at work, but checking out the new city. He was used to Heropa and being relatively near the beach. When he'd left, no one had been there, so he's honestly a little surprised when he sees a guy on the sofa. Once he gets closer, it takes him a moment to even recognize him. There was something about this human. Tailgate got closer and squinted and then made a loud gasp.]

Rodimus?

[Sure, he'd just seen him not long ago. But this was Earth. Not Necroworld. What was he doing here? Also, was that triple chocolate fudge? Because that was one of the best flavours of that brand.]

[flameout]

[ Rodimus jolts awake, nearly falling off the couch as he scrambles to look like he was totally alert and just taking a little catnap. This, of course, is not at all the case. ]

Yeah, that's me! I'm up, I swear!

[ But after about a second of consciousness, he realizes that there is a stranger in his living room, staring back at him.

A stranger who knows his name and recognized him in this fleshy getup.

He sorts through all the holomatter avatars in his memory and draws a blank. He knows it's totally possible for them to show up in human forms completely different from their avatars, and this has to be someone he knows well, but he has no idea who. ]

You know me! So I know you. You're...! Um.

Don't tell me...

[ Shot in the dark-- ] Taaaailgate?

[itcanwait]

[He was honestly surprised that Rodimus knew it was him. He'd seen his human form in the mirror and noticed he looked bigger than he had last time he was hear.

He grins and sits on the arm of the couch.

Yeah, how'd you know?

[Not that there was a large selection of people to choose from.]

[flameout]

[ Rod blinks in surprise a few times. ] I didn't? I just thought, who do I know who would be a blonde woman if they were human, and I had a few ideas but I guess got lucky on the first try--

--Whatever! Doesn't matter! [ He cuts himself off and lunges forward, pulling Tailgate into a hug. His confused look gives way to a big doofy smile. ] You have no idea how glad I am to see you, buddy! It's been way too long!

[itcanwait]

[He hugs right back and gives it a squeeze. He doesn't have his strength in this form which was definitely a good thing.but he'd forgotten how squishy he was. And now Rodimus too.

He pulls back from the hug, not breaking it though. Too long? Oh great when was he from?
]

How long has it been for you?

[flameout]

Uh... [ He starts counting on his fingers and muttering under his breath. ] ...20 years? You and Cyclonus sort of eloped and I've been too busy to visit. [ Which is a funny way of saying "I haven't reached out to you or anyone in decades". ]

[itcanwait]

[Well he's not going to take it like that because Rodimus would never go that long not talking to his friends. At least in his mind.

There's a small downturn at the corner of his lips. Something must have happened in general for 20 years to go by.]

That's a pretty long time. Before I got here it was probably five minutes?

[flameout]

Yeah... Way too long. [ He frowns. ] What was the last thing you remember?

[itcanwait]

We were on Necroworld and the DJD left cause we kicked some serious aft. There was the mutiny too.

[redcosmedic]

[ Knock Out had already been made aware of one Autobot being assigned to the housing across the street, but Jeopardy was evidently becoming a hotbed of Cybertronian activity. The medic was in vehicle mode in the driveway, and was just taking note of the other attractive car (though not as nice as himself, of course) when it reverted back to another mech.

Knock Out debates keeping silent, but that's a ridiculous course of action, so he broadbands the message rather than transform to root mode just yet. ]

Apparently we're neighbours, so I suppose it's only polite that I introduce myself.

[flameout]

[ The voice startles Rodimus, and he looks around frantically in search of where it came from before taking notice of the car in the neighboring driveway. He squints in suspicion and points a finger in its direction. ]

...You're that other Cybertronian that Riptide told me about, aren't you?

[ He hopes it is, because otherwise he'd just be standing there talking to a car. ]

[redcosmedic]

[ Knock Out savours a little bit of Rodimus looking startled, before he points in the medic's direction and he reverts back to root mode, leaving the street between them. ]

That's right. My name is Knock Out.

[flameout]

[ Rodimus can't help but give Knock Out the up and down look -- he's one hell of a bot at first glance. In fact, he feels a little defeated knowing that his neighbor has a better finish than him. And he's red, too! Rodimus wanted his niche to be the Local Red Car! He just can't help but compare himself and feel a twinge of jealousy when he falls short.

He forces a smile, not wanting to seem perturbed. ]

Hey. I'm Rodimus. Former space captain, close personal pals with Optimus and Megatron, carried half of the Matrix once upon a time. You might've heard of me.

[ Of course he's gonna take the opportunity to hype himself up. ]

[redcosmedic]

[ Oh, Knock Out knows the feeling of getting that evaluating look, he lives for that look. But despite his vanity, he does know how to be gracious (when he feels like it) so although he hasn't heard of the mech, he knows how to go around that. Plus, he wants to play nice with the Autobot neighbours for his own peace of mind. ]

That's quite the impressive resumé, Rodimus! You're truly in a class by yourself.

How much did Riptide fill you in on things here?

[flameout]

Yeah, I get that a lot. [ He does not. ] But I try to stay humble, you know? [ He, again, does not. ]

He gave me a good idea how stuff works around here. He's pretty well settled in. Have you been here a while too?

[redcosmedic]

How inspirational.

[ Sarcasm? It's just on the edge where it's hard to tell whether that's sincere or mocking. ]

No, only since earlier this month. Is this your first time on Earth?

[flameout]

I get that a lot, too. I'm actually a life coach here, so y'know. Inspiration's my whole deal lately.

[ He's just gonna ignore the possible sarcasm, because sincerity suits him better in this instance ]

No, I've spent some time on Earth. It was a few decades ago, though. And this Earth seems pretty damn different.

[redcosmedic]

That's the job they assigned to you?

[ No, don't say something ill-mannered. ]

It seems... fitting, that you'll be able to share your expertise that way. Better than what they asked me to do, helping sell used cars.

[ He's clearly disdainful about it, but he's being a good mech and attending his job so the government doesn't get cranky about giving him energon rations. ]

I was also stationed on Earth before coming here, for a few years prior to roughly the same year as it is here now. You're right that this Earth does seem significantly different in some ways, however.