Part patrol, part pondering [OPEN]

[notyourblueangel]

WHO:  Thundercracker and anyone
WHERE:  All over Haven - no, really...he's a fighter jet, he can get from end to end in minutes if he wants
WHEN:  This week, spans several days
WHAT:  Someone's out trying to keep himself busy . . . and maybe his mind a little quieter than it's getting
WARNINGS:  Only if you bring any
NOTES:  Don't forget to add your tag to the log.   ^,^  also HAHA I suck at log starts sometimes.  x,x


Thundercracker's out and about, usually airborne - he's a Seeker, what would you expect? - but often landing as well, especially if something, or someone, catches his attention.  It's just that things have been . . . quiet around Haven lately.  Too quiet.  And he's getting restless because of it.  What's that human saying he heard on television a few times (give him a break, it was the Stunticons who always had the thing going) - "It's always calmest before the storm", or something like that.

Why can't he shake the feeling that something's coming?  And where are the First-Forged?  When will they be returning?  Will they be?  Or has whatever they went off to deal with overpowered them?  And what about those . . . those demons he encountered months ago.  Yes, they still plague his recharge sometimes.

Other things bother him too, things he can't quite pinpoint - or just can't quite face.  Like that fact that he's nearly asked his roommate if he'd like to be trine with him.  More than once.  He doesn't know how Starscream would take it, though.  Or Cliffjumper, for that matter.  He's not afraid of the little Autobot - that's a laughable thought, even - but he doesn't want trouble, either.  He finds himself wanting to approach Wing too.  For old times' sake, or whatever.  And . . . and Jadewing.   Because the sparkling Seeker is probably longing for his trine even more than Thundercracker is.

Right now, though . . . he'll take just about anyone's company.  If only to help get the wheels in his head to quit spinning ceaselessly.

Comments

[knight_light]

If Thundercracker isn't too distracted with his thoughts he'll becoming aware of another jet craft rising up to meet in him the sky. The jet pings TC private comm, so as not to have to yell over the wind and roar of engines as they soar through the air.

::Mind of I join you?::

[the_other_green_seeker]

Another day, another flight. Not that there was much else to do around here when you weren't part of some group. Which Jadewing wasn't. He'd at least stopped sulking about it after his conversation with Wing, but he still wasn't sure what to do about it.

He did a lazy loop before realizing that he wasn't alone in the sky that day. Having nothing better to do, he changed course a bit to intercept Thundercracker, sending him a standard ID ping as he approached, then opened a comm channel. "Mind some company?", he asked via comm.

If Thundrecracker would rather be alone, Jade would respect that, but he missed flying with others. And had been meaning to ask if Jadewing would let him unofficially join in on his patrols anyway. There just... hadn't really been a good opportunity.

[angleofscience]

Even company in the form of an oversized jet that comes diving past from far up, literally tearing past?

Though when Jetfire noticed he just dove past someone, he braked, turned up around and caught up.

::I apologise for that. There's few enough aerials around here you can get... ah, sloppy.::

[originaldragoon]

Rose is also out on patrol herself. Though she's down on the ground riding her motorcycle rather than flying through the air. She's letting her firelizard, Charmer, take the areal route as means of scouting.

The said firelizard chirps excitedly when he spots Thundercracker, thus drawing Rose's attention to him. She uses the comm on her Link device to contact him privately.

"How are things looking up there?"

[notyourblueangel]

::Wing!::

No, that's not a pulse to his systems, he's just mildly startled. No, who's he kidding? He used to fly with Wing all the time - the early morning outings had originally been Wing's idea. The other Wing, but still.

::Not at all. How have you been settling?::

[notyourblueangel]

Thundercracker had spotted the other Seeker first but hadn't approached. He didn't want to make the first move and seem to force the young Seeker. He knew he would have felt compelled to acknowledge/follow/obey/whatever had he been in the other's place.

He was glad when the other pinged him instead, readily pinging back. "Jadewing. No, not at all." He slowed and banked, changing course to make it easier for the other to catch up. "How have you been doing? Settling all right?"

oh hai bb! <3

[notyourblueangel]

If it's any consolation, Thundercracker could be accused of a bit of sloppiness himself. He's not in the habit anymore of scanning for things above him, not when he's at an altitude like this. So he actually hears before he senses the approach of the massive jet.

Pinging warnings on reflex, he's frantically maneuvering out of the way, caught completely off-guard. Also completely out of reflexive reaction, Jetfire might pick up the Seeker's weaponry powering on the next instant. At least Thundercracker catches himself before he fires?

The larger jet banks and returns, but in a way that doesn't at all suggest hostility. And then Jetfire's comm'ing him. Thundercracker powers his weapons back down.

"Mnn. Understandable. Surprised to see you out here, though. Aren't you usually holed up with Starscream?"

He's not unhappy at all to see Jetfire, just hadn't expected it.

LOL no, not actually sonic booming her, just swooping low overhead bc he can XD

[notyourblueangel]

"Rose!"

He'd been aware of her, of course, but he'd not wanted to interrupt her patrol. Or joyride, if that's what she'd been up to. But he'll accept the invitation to engage.

"Nothing of note to report."

He circles around and drops altitude as well as speed, coming back around at what, for a lesser flier, would be dangerously close to the ground and dangerously slow to remain airborne. But Thundercracker's far from a lesser flier.

"How are things down here?"

Yes, he's been a little ornery.

[happyclappyhippydrippy]

While Drift had been getting a lot out of his recent training sessions with Wing, he still ended up wandering off on his own to practice by himself. He'd even picked a favorite spot for it, somewhere a bit secluded and quiet, somewhere he could practice his kata without interruption. The sound of the jet overhead broke his concentration, though, and he mentally kicked himself for letting himself get distracted. Tch, he could do better than that. Still, he had been out here for a couple hours, maybe it was time to wrap it up anyway.

Upon looking, he was fairly certain it was Thundercracker up there. Drift wasn't sure if the jet could see him from his position, but he offered a friendly wave all the same. Come on down and chat, dude.

XD Oh goody!

[originaldragoon]

She watches him come around, impressed by his maneuvers, since she knew that dragons on her world that are as big as him would have some difficulty.

"Nothing here. Things have been pretty quiet around here lately."

He could probably tell by her tone that she was also thinking that things were too quiet as well.

x3

[angleofscience]

He noticed, yes, but since it's brief

::We might live together, yes, but we hardly spend every non-recharging moment together,:: Jetfire says, amusement bleeding through his words as he does a lazy roll before stabilising, ::he would get pretty... ah, frustrated should he spend that much time in the lab with me.::

Even if Starscream still engaged in scientific research, he rather insisted on keeping up his image... and space. Jetfire wouldn't insist, since he got him into the lab him with every now and then anyway.

::And I was coming down from one of the moons.:: So not even just stretching his wings around the Haven, but something a bit more ambitious than that.

[the_other_green_seeker]

Jadewing dipped a wingtip in a gesture of thanks as Thundercracker slowed and changed course to meet him. It wasn't long before he was taking up a parallel course, sliding easily into the wing-second's position; one length behind Thundercracker and one to the left.

"Alright," he said. "Getting used to everything and everyone, learning the layout of the place. It's nice to be able to take off and go flying whenever I feel like it, but it'd be nice to have something to actually do."

Some downtime was nice, but Seekers weren't really meant to be idle. And exploring for its own sake was losing its charm.

[notyourblueangel]

Thundercracker recognizes his friend's buddy.  He spoke briefly to Drift once or twice before, but back then, the mech had seemed closed and defensive, very different from the mech who'd arrived this time.

  That was not, in the least, a bad thing, in Thundercracker's estimation.  If nothing else, it made him far more approachable.

  And on that note, with the obvious invitation, he does just that, circling back around and dropping altitude in lazy corkscrews until he was low enough to transform and drop the rest of the way to land on his feet.  He nodded greeting.  "Drift."

[notyourblueangel]

Thundercracker pulls back up, but not before very lightly tapping the top of her helmet with a wingtip.  Don't take it the wrong way, Rose –it's actually a friendly Seeker greeting.  Just that she doesn't have a wingtip for him to tap instead.  But he climbs again a bit, tilting into a wide arc so that he can build a bit of speed back up without actually leaving her, circling instead.

  "And that bothers you?"  In his opinion, it should.

[happyclappyhippydrippy]

Depending on the subject, Drift could still be a little closed and defensive. He didn't always like talking about certain aspects of himself, for example, but he generally tried to be friendly and approachable.

He gave Thundercracker a smile, brushing his armor off a bit. "I thought that was you up there. Hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

=3

[notyourblueangel]

Pretty much, it's that you scared the slag out of him, Jetfire.  It wasn't anything personal.

  The clarification gets a low chuckle from the blue Seeker. ::Yeah, if he's anything like my trine leader, he gets frustrated spending much time with anyone else in his lab.::

  A stab of something like longing goes through him at that for just an instant.  For all the Air Commander's issues, his manic bouts, his scheming and backstabbing . . . Thundercracker does miss his trine leader sometimes.  But then the last comment surprises him.

  ::Moons?  Oh, right . . . forgot you're actually able to break orbit on this place.::  Something he himself hadn't managed.  Not that he was overly built for it to begin with.  ::Anything of note up there or just exploring?::  He's curious if nothing else.

[notyourblueangel]

Jadewing falling into the second's place put him in the position normally occupied by the trine leader.  Suddenly, it was a weird feeling, he himself having always been the second of his own trine. 

  He pushed that aside for now, shedding speed just enough to fall back alongside Jadewing for an instant.  He tapped wingtips with the younger Seeker –a greeting –before kicking his afterburners briefly to regain his original position.

  "It is nice to be allowed to fly any time."  A beat, and then, "How about this for something to do?"

  Suddenly, he banked and corkscrewed away, calling back over the comms.  "Think you can keep up with me, youngling?"

  How long has it been since you've played, Jadewing?  If ever…

[notyourblueangel]

"Flying is always important."

  There was a small smirk on his face as he said it.  He meant it, but no, he wasn't being interrupted.  Although speaking of which…"For that matter, I'm not, am I?  What were you doing?"

  He'd never been trained in the same sense Wing had been either, so he had no idea what a kata was.  He'd just seen Drift moving in odd patterns, like some kind of weird solo dance.

[angleofscience]

::Hmmmm. He wasn't so bad before the war, but changes... are to be expected.:: Starscream had just changed (or had things unearthed and blown up) in a far more extreme fashion than he'd ever expected to.

Though, honestly, that was a truth with modification and applying their former and partly current relationship to the situation right when they met - Starscream didn't actually like people in "his" lab.

Jetfire had just managed to stay in that lab despite Starscream's efforts until he'd gotten into the "tolerable" zone.

::As I ought to be,:: Jetfire said, and he might have lingering annoyance shading his voice regarding the earlier inability to. ::Should explore that field further... And no, just exploring. Taking geological samples and getting a view of the Lambda from a closer yet somewhat safer distance than approaching it directly.::

[happyclappyhippydrippy]

"Oh, no, I was just wrapping up for the day." Drift stretched his arms over his head, trying to loosen up his joints a bit after training.

"Wing's got me practicing my stances and stuff. We already go over it on a daily basis, but sometimes I like to get out and do some training on my own. I like to think I'm getting better."

[knight_light]

::Been settling in well. I hear you're on the build crew...? I've agreed to help out with any building projects. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can make of our home here.::

Wing was nothing if not an optimist. He made the best of things, or did what he felt he needed to in order to make them right.

[originaldragoon]

Thankfully that was very light, otherwise you would have one hurt human on your hands, TC.

"Sometimes when it gets quiet like this, it is usually before something big happens."

[notyourblueangel]

Thundercracker was silent for a moment, letting his wings tilt back and forth slightly as he flew alongside the shuttle.  His voice was quiet when he spoke again.  "If the Starscream who's here is anything like mine, he . . . yeah, he's changed.  A lot.  He's also been through a lot."  There were times when he wanted to shoot or throttle his trine leader as much as anyone else, but he also knew the mech as well or better than anyone else, and understood how and why he thought and behaved the way he did.  For the most part.  Again, he didn't know if any of that applied to Jetwing's partner or not, but . . . it was worth considering, at least in his own mind.

  "Yeah, must have been irritating."  A beat as he thought, then asked, "Do you ever take anyone with you?  Or . . . can you?"  Scientifically, the blue Seeker would be of no help at all – he was a soldier, not a scientist – but the thought of exploring and all that intrigued him.  And he'd do his best to not be a hindrance.

[notyourblueangel]

"Uh . . . yeah, I'm on the road crew.  Have been for some months now.  I offered to help Bulkhead since there were so few people doing it.  So you too, huh?"

  Honestly, the optimism doesn't surprise him in the least.  It's just . . . so Wing.

[notyourblueangel]

"Stances?"  Thundercracker can't help the look he's given Drift.  "What kind of training?  Training for what?"  Because it certainly wasn't combat . . . was it?