Fond are my feelings, yet unfeeling I feign » Open

[flickerandfade]

CHARACTERS: Megatron, anyone else
LOCATION: The Station
DATE: Feb 13th onward.
CONTENT: MEgatron hangs out on the station.
WARNINGS: N/a

Infirmary

In the hectic couple of days after the return from the mission, Megatron quite literally does not sleep. Being a cybernetic lifeform has it's benefits, apparently! And one of them is being able to power through without rest when the need arises. He practically never leaves the infirmary, considering that the most skilled doctor among the group is among the injured requiring treatment, rest, and recuperation. In the first few days, he's here whether in holoform or his actual body, changing IVs, checking vitals, and doing rounds to make sure everyone is as comfortable as can be.

He'll also heckle anyone who passes near the Infirmary about making sure they have enough to eat now that they're back aboard and have access to proper nutrition again. Basically he's being aggravating and doing his best to take care of everyone and running himself ragged to do it, especially while Bones and Marta are still recovering.

Maybe someone should tell him to take it easy?

Common Area

Once things have calmed down and he's gotten some rest, Megatron resumes his usual place in the common area, usually reading something or other and keeping quietly to himself. Some days it's a medical text and others it's more culturally relevant information, which is the case today. He's scrolling through a datapad, a look of intense concentration on his face as he studies... something. If someone gets close enough to disturb him or even ask him what he's looking over, he gives a faint sound of discomfort--who the hell is bothering him now? But he raises the datapad.

"...I'm reading up on Terran poetry. I have little else to do and thought it might give some insight into your mindset." He pauses.

"I'm not sure that it has."

( I will happily match pose format, and if you have a more specific starter or situation you'd like, feel free to poke at me for it or just wildcard your heart out. )

Comments

[winscenario]

"Ah, that doesn't sound complicated at all," he jokes, counting some bottles of disinfectant, jotting it down, then placing it back into the cupboard. "I think I prefer having three names. Beats seeing the name 'James' somewhere and wondering who of the, like— nine on my ship alone they meant."

[flickerandfade]

"You must remember that in Neo-Cybex the distinction is much easier to make than in your language," Megatron cautions with a smile.

"Our names often combine our places of origin in formal settings, at least in our own language."

[winscenario]

"I see your point," he nods. He of all people understands how some things don't translate between different species, and different forms of communication. Humans can be plenty adaptable, but their primary means of communication, the linguistic approach, can often be fairly limited when compared to other species'.

"That used to be the case for some people on Earth, too. Hundreds and thousands of years ago. That much seems to be pretty common even on vastly different planets."

[flickerandfade]

"When you come down to it, I believe that many sapient species are moe similar than they are different. It's something that I've experienced myself, and something I wish I could have recognized earlier. It's unfortunate, the way that conflict drives wedges between people. Thanks to my war, there were many organics who considered Cybertronians not truly alive. Mere automatons carrying out orders given to them by creators sometime in the distant past, fighting a war they no longer knew the purpose of." Sigh.

"It didn't help that we are so comparatively long-lived in comparison to most other species."

[winscenario]

"Well, that is an unfortunate view. I can't say that Humans wouldn't be guilty of the same misconception under similar circumstances, but— well, that's our own fault. For all the species we've met in the past couple of centuries, I think we all struggle to varying degrees with the concept of non-organic lifeforms."

But all of it makes him smile, or at least part of it.

"Differences should open pathways of tolerance and understanding, not hatred and ignorance. It's what we believe in, where I'm from, and I hope it stays that way long after I'm gone."

[flickerandfade]

"If more cultures had your point of view, I think the universe would be a far happier place, Jim," Megatron says with a warm smile.

"I hope that one day it can be a universally held belief and that we can all truly live in peace and friendship." He pauses. Smiles.

"Heh. I guess there's still some idealism in this old spark after all."

[winscenario]

"I'm sure it would, but we both know all too well it's not that easy. I mean, by your concept of time it wasn't that long ago that Terrans in my reality were violent, angry and intolerant." But they changed over the centuries, and a lot too. It's what gives Jim hope that there's nowhere in te universe, no people in the universe, that can't change for the better too, given time and the right conditions.

"Ah. We should make a club," he chuckles. "I still get a few weird looks every once in a while. More here than back home, actually."

[flickerandfade]

"Hold onto that idealism, Jim. It's important," Megatron says with a weary sigh, though he smiles all the same.

"My people managed to change, even if it took us too long and cost too much. I'm sure others out there in the universe can as well. Of course, we may never be perfect, but we must try if nothing else."

[winscenario]

"Not planning on letting it go anytime soon," he assures Megatron. He hopes never to become so jaded that idealism won't mean anything to him anymore.

"Mm, I wouldn't go so far as perfect. Nothing is truly perfect, I don't think. But striving to always be better, that's something I can get behind."

[flickerandfade]

"Good," Megatron says and means it, from the depths of his spark. It's precious, believing in the things. Eventually one finds reasons to become cynical, to become hard and cruel. It is better that such a thing should never happen to these younger people, as far as Megatron is concerned.

"We strive to better ourselves every day, it is all we can do. Eventually, we will stop but only because as all things do we each have an ending."

[winscenario]

"Well, that's one sad, fatalistic way to look at it," he chuckles, giving Megatron a sideways glance. "You're not wrong, obviously, but it's nicer to say that we should never stop. And hopefully those that are inspired by us will continue on, and we will live on through those same beliefs."