| Dumpster Paradise | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 20 October 2018 |
| Location: | Rodion |
| Synopsis: | Scavenger and Swivel have a chance encounter... amidst trash. |
| Cast of Characters: | Swivel, Scavenger |
- Swivel has posed:
Ah, the beautiful Rodion! A bit less beautiful since the incidents pertaining to Simanzi, but it is rallying well. There's been a lot of rebuilding, and cleaning going on for quite some time now. In the south-western part of Rodion, there's a string of very busy hardware stores and general supply retails. And behind them are rows of vast dumpsters. And with some recent suspicion towards drones, the automated pick-up and disposal has slowed down as they've opted to more manual labour. Which has been poorly organized.
But this makes it a dumpster diver's paradise! There is one, big, enticicing dumpster crammed full of stuff, forcing one side of the segmented lid to be propped open. Beside it are various crates and smaller cans of rubbish - lined up almost like steps. But surely, that is a coincidence!
- Scavenger has posed:
Oh and what a dumpster diver's paradise it is. Rows and rows of potential treasures to be found and hoarded- collected. Scavenger is more than large enough to get into these dumpsters, a fact proven by his current state: torso disappearing into the depths of a large one as his tread covered legs kick at the air for balance. Anyone too short, or oblivious, could easily miss the mech as he digs around.
- Swivel has posed:
There's small. There's oblivious. There's both. And then there's minding one's own business, rummaging through delightful trash, and hearing a small startled squawk coming from deeper within the discarded 'treasures'.
- Scavenger has posed:
Scavenger is finding so many cool things, a shiny length of pipe (dented), an old vase (cracked and missing pieces), and- WHAT WAS THAT!? Startled by a sudden noise, Scavenger's legs kick wildly as he tries to back up. Unfortunately not having one's feet on the ground makes it hard to right one's self. The flail sends him falling directly into the bin, sending up bursts of discarded dust and scrap as he lands inside with a loud THUNK.
- Swivel has posed:
There is another squeak and the sound of frantic shuffling. Not just the sound, but something is pushing a rather brightly coloured, large novelty lamp (cracked) against Scavenger as he dives deeper into the wonderland of waste. If this wasn't evidence of someone already being in this particular dumpster beforehand, the foot that pushes against Scavenger in a moment would be evidence.
- Scavenger has posed:
Now caught upside down, Scavenger has to reset his optics to register what is in front of him. Oh pretty lamp! No wait- somenoe else is in here! What are they- OW FRAGGER! While it was more startling than painful, Scavenger shifts his shoulders to glare around the lamp and peer through the junk.
- Swivel has posed:
Hmm that felt too solid to be junk. Oh! "OH! Sorry!" Scavenger will hear a light voice, albeit a bit muffled. It's hard, with the clutter of odd shapes, colours, and minimal light to quite make out the form of the other person in the bin. But the foot is small, so likely the rest of the body it belongs to is small. A tealish colour and some black, or maybe dark blue, can be coloured around some both blocky and rounded parts of a leg, but then a net of chin links draped over her the thigh obscures where it might connect to its owner. There's glimpses of more of that teal, or perhaps something lighter, obscured by a large cog, some more pipes, and various undefiniable rubbish. The leg withdraws gingerly, and a very soft purple glow barely eminates from somewhere beyond, outlining some of the awkward angles of crumpled metal in the soft cool hue. "Um... 'ello?"
- Scavenger has posed:
"Wha...?" Scavenger squints into the dimness as his face screws up. There is definitely someone there. The glow of optics- biolights?- becomes proof enough. "Uh... hi?" He looks around, limbs shifting and legs kicking where they hang in the open air. Well, looks like he's stuck for now. If he moves he could crunch the little mecha also in the dumpster... which is totally an option.
- Swivel has posed:
There is more shuffling, the angle and brightness of the purple light shifting. Finally, a hand tentatively navigates it's way through the various objects, slender brassy fingers taking hold of something and pushing it to the side. A small window between objects shows a pair of large purple optics against a brass face peering through. Swivel just peers through for a moment or two quietly. Then, tentatively, she pushes a bag of decals through the gap. It perches on the edge of a piece of pipe, then her fingers gently nudge it further until it tumbles down towards Scavenger. Is this some sort of peace offering?
- Scavenger has posed:
The decal bag flops onto the Scavenger's chassis. He stares at it, she stares at it.... he slowly slides it to his other side. "..... I found a vase."
- Swivel has posed:
Oh yay! The much larger mech didn't crush her. The offering must have been accepatable. Swivel continues peering through. "Vases are nice. I loik to put those little tiny outdoor loights in them and point them up, then put coloured glass over top."
- Scavenger has posed:
"... Thats a good idea." Scavenger mutters, optics glazing over. They snap back to reality, "Crystals are good to put light through, too. Hang them in windows." He peers back at her, legs simply flopping along the rim of the dumpster.
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel tilts her head, squinting as she peers through the gap she created. "Oh, that sounds pretty. LIke, to get little rainbows? Although... that works better with natural light. And I..." Swivel thinks better of saying more. She tilts her head the other direction. "Are you... upsoid down?" Pause. "Do you need 'elp?" Like a tiny thing like her could help the heftier mech.
- Scavenger has posed:
"Yeah, little rainbows everywhere. Its pretty." See the others don't get it when he hangs up crystals around the warehouse! "Yeah." Scavenger admits, glancing to his own upturned state, ".... No, I'm fine. Been in worse spots before." Scavenger forces some room for himself with a quick shove to the junk around him. Better!
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel pushes against what she hopes os the bottom of the dumpster and pushes herself back when Scavenger begins trying to make more space for him to move. She's not keen on getting crushed between junk and a hard place. "Okay." Swivel begins shuffling around, looking at some of the objects around her. "S'long as you are okay." Swivel pulls something free and examines it. It's a length of cord, but for what purpose, she's not sure. She pushes it through the gap and then picks up a can of reflective metal flakes. Then the dumpster gets a lot brighter as her headlights come on. While some matte objects become bizarre silhouettes, also casting shadow over nearby objects, other reflective materials light up fiercely, casting interesting colours and halos around nearby rubbish.
- Scavenger has posed:
The lights come on. Scavenger's optics offline against the glare that illuminates the area. Too bright! Now open eyes slowly... ohhh look at all the cool shapes! Scavenger shoves out again, this time pushing objects this way and that until the shadows fall ing a way he likes more. They need something colorful....
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel gathers up a few of the things she wants to keep and gives them one more critical look over now that she has better light. Then she subspaces them. "Oh wow..." Swivel mutters as she looks around at how her lights have dramatically altered the appearance of their surroundings. As Scavenger moves things around, some spherical objects fall into Swivel's lap. She picks one up and examines them. Hollow. Metal. She's not sure what they are for but she pockets a couple of them as well. Swivel then finds a smallish pipe, pushes it through the gap to Scavenger's side of the dumpster, then puts one of the orbs through it. She tilts the pipe a bit then gives the ball a small push and it rolls to Scavenger's side.
"So... do you come 'ere often?"
- Scavenger has posed:
Scavenger examines the pipe, deeems it useless, and tosses it away. The little ball passes the test. It gets subspaced alongside everything else he has been grabbing. "Not as often as I should," He responds, "you?"
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel picks up another pipe and then points it through the gap, pressing her optic against it, like someone looking through a spyglass. "I don't 'ave the toim much anymore. But I was on an errand and saw 'ow full these bins were and figgered... why not?"
- Scavenger has posed:
Scavenger thought he knew mechs who talked weird. This femme? Something entirely different. "Mmm." He hums in agreement, "Just too much going on these days." He picks up the lamp, examinging it before taking off the shade. The colorful covering is held up to the light flowing through the gap. Brilliant colors full the small area. Excellent.
- Swivel has posed:
Shuffle. Shuffle. "You kin say that again." Swivel says with a sigh. She begins trying to straighten herself up and push upwards, digging herself to the surface. She twists and turns, her large wheels getting caught on all kinds of protrusions of trash, knocking other things loose. It's visual chaos as that gap between them collapses and the petite femme tries to pulls herself up. After a while she manages to push a large board aside and pokes her head out, catching sight of Scavenger's feet, still sticking up out through the mound of trash. She giggles at the sight, then stops abruptly. She is a well behaved femme and certainly would not reach over to poke those feet. Even if it is sorely tempting. "I just kinna understand 'ow now, when resources are scarce, folk kin throw some of this stuff out. It's still useable."
- Scavenger has posed:
"Well," Scavenger's voice is muffled from beneath the junk. One of his legs twitches as it settles into a better position, "Sometimes materials are just too corroded or weak to be used. My team and I have had to toss plenty of things because they would just mean we'd have to replace it before it could even get halfway through its intended purpose. Better safe than sorry."
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel takes a moment to think about that for a moment. "Well..." She looks at some rusted piece of metal. "Of course, some of it is junk." She tilts her head, looking over at the feet. They... sort of look familiar. All purple and such. She squints a little bit. She can't quite place it though, as she's not had a lot of dealings up close and personal with Constructicons. "I agree it is better safe than sorry. Still. Never know when you kin find somethin' still functional - or moight find an unintended use." Swivel pauses and frowns. "Though I'm not the most creative when it comes to that sorter thing..."
- Scavenger has posed:
Scavenger hums. The trash shifts as he begins sifting through it from below. "My team doesn't like it when I bring all this stuff back, they think its all junk." But they know better. She seems to know better?
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel notices a broken mirror shard and picks it up. She turns it this way and that, seeing the bits of grease, rust flakes and other trash related gunk that's clung to her. Ugh. She'll have to wash some of this off. But... that can wait. Swivel isn't fond of showers. Swivel tosses the mirror shard aside. "The folk wot tossed everything out also think it's junk. But... one mech's trash is another mech's treasure. And I've known some that could do some amazing things with so called junk." Swivel picks up a broken muffler and examines it. "I'm not one of those people... I mostly just look fer things that still 'ave a few uses in them."
- Scavenger has posed:
"I've got stuff hung up all around my room," Well. Hung up, piled everywhere, on every spare inch of surface space. Those who call him a hoarder may not be telling lies. "Eventually I'll find a treasure they like." Done with this, he gets shoves himself into a proper position- legs disappearing and soon a helm popping up from the sea of trash.
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel smiles as those feet disappear. She backs away, as the disturbed junk pushes against her uncomfortably. "I've got bits and bobs I just loik to fill my shelves with at 'ome." Yes. Her home. But not her barracks, which are mostly bare and lack any personal touch. "I'm sure you'll f--- oh!" When Scavenger's head pops out, she does recognize him. Again from not personal contact, but the Constructicons are well known enough she's seen their mug shots in some files and reports.
Frag.
- Scavenger has posed:
Scavenger glances at Swivel as her words suddenly come to a jarring stop. Wait... she... looks familiar. Standing from the junk, Scavenger swings his legs over the edge to loom over the small femme. He squints down at her with a hand to his chind. "Hey wait... you look... familiar...."
- Swivel has posed:
"Oh, uh, really? Maybe we, uh, 'ave passed on the streets or something 'coz that 'appens all the toim. I'll see folk 'en see 'em again and go 'oy, now where'd I seen them before?' and strain ta think, but sometoims, you know, it's best not ta strain too much 'bout it and just figger, 'ey, if I don't remember them that well then maybe they 'ent really done anything worth rememberin' so we kin all just keep movin' along and not think too 'ard because. You know. Why ruin a nice moment loik this?" Yes. THe words all come flying out of the femme's mouth in a nervous babble. And she finishes it off by offering one of her coveted finds - a jar full of those reflective flecks that could have all kinds of uses, right? Okay. It's essentially glitter. But it's a second peace offering to distract Scavenger from discovering that he has every incentive to crush her.
- Scavenger has posed:
Scavenger continues to squint until the jar is offered up. Then his attention is split. He feels he should know who this is but... thats shiny... hmmmm... It feels like forever until Scavenger makes up his mind. Optics breaking away from the shorter femme, he takes the jar from her. Its quickly shaken to watch how the flecks sparkle in the low light. Yes, this is good. "Maybe..." He admits, still distracted, "but still feel I should know you..." Though he doesn't seem to be thinking hard on it anymore.
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel watches Scavenger very carefully as he looks between her and the jar. Finally the offering is accepted and he seems a little less interested in her identity. But she can tell his might still be a bit wary. Swivel is unsure whether staying is a good idea. He may be appeased for now, but for how long? Swivel begins to shuffle further away, but always trying to keep junk in a place to obscure her Autobot brand. Once she reaches the edge of the bin, Swivel turns around. "Anyway, uh, I've, uh, gotta go!"
- Scavenger has posed:
"Huh? uh... ok. See you around uh... What's your name?" Scavenger asks, his attention forced away from his jar. (his now.)
- Swivel has posed:
Swivel... doesn't like lying. She really doesn't. She leans to one side, peering over her large back tires. "Uh..." Of course, she's being taught to lie as a necessity. Maybe she ought to get practicing? But... she's not ON duty. But she might get crushed if the name is more recognizeable than her face. Swivel hesitates. "My name... is a surproise! Maybe if we see each other again I'll letcha know! Later!" Swivel crawls up to the edge of the dumpster, perching precariously on the edge in a tiny hunched up little ball, before leaping down.
- Scavenger has posed:
Scavenger stares after the femme as she runs off, staring as her small frame disappears over the edge of the dumpster. "Uh... That doesn't make any sense." He calls after her. Despite the yelling, he doesn't move to stop her. Instad he calls after a few seconds, "Well um.... I'm Scavenger?"
That was super weird.