Back from speaking with Telrim in the Nexus

[screamsofstars]

Starscream strides into the room that she's set aside for the young yeerk's use, her steps sharp and precise as she focuses on her anger instead of the PINpoint that she just gave to the human woman she'd hoped to protect.

"You!" she says coldly to the creature, all trace of her usual friendly demeanor missing. "Have you been in contact with your superiors?"

Comments

[in-the-cracks.livejournal.com]

It's a shame Arrash hasn't the face to give her a funny look. "Yeerks do not use human slang outside of infiltration." All right, sometimes, but! "Galard is the standard language in most of the Empire."

[screamsofstars.livejournal.com]

"Far be it from me to be patronizing." Yeah right. "But knowledge of language is a skill that should never be overlooked."

[in-the-cracks.livejournal.com]

Arrash clicks at her. "I learn all relevant languages. We don't all have time to learn everything, Transformer. Some of us must prioritise."

[screamsofstars.livejournal.com]

"Knowledge is power." She absently pulls a tiny kadrona pellet out of subspace.

[in-the-cracks.livejournal.com]

"Some knowledge is more powerful than the rest." Exoskeletal sensors are now focused on that one little pellet.

[screamsofstars.livejournal.com]

The treat is put into the tray on the front of the exoskeleton with absent indulgence. Whether she's pleased with Arrash or threatening to make it the main course of a meal the kadrona is usually forthcoming. Starscream never mentions the act, and would deny it mockingly if called on it.

"True." She turns away, peering into her labs and other locations in her domain. "The files are accessible from your screen, should you want them."

[in-the-cracks.livejournal.com]

Arrash occasionally feels like a pet chadoo, but sustenance is sustenance, and anything better than hunger. It ingests the pellet in a quick swallowing motion, then sits back to let the nutrients soak in.

"What made you ask if I would be called a hostage?"

[screamsofstars.livejournal.com]

"It's not important now. Do you want to walk with me?"

[in-the-cracks.livejournal.com]

"If it pleases you." It picks its way forward with miniaturised grace.

[screamsofstars.livejournal.com]

"Walk or ride?" Her hand curls slightly, ready to be offered as a pathway to a shoulder, but not insisting.

[in-the-cracks.livejournal.com]

"I will ride," Arrash decides, slinking on board. "These legs are too small to keep pace with you."

[screamsofstars.livejournal.com]

"I suppose we'll have to do something about that," muses the former Decepticon absently as she waits for the little being to get settled. Then she turns to the door and walks down the hallway, her soles tapping softly as she communicates with various assistants and associates in either Cybertronian or in the local human dialect. All this is business as usual (and perhaps another lesson as to why learning more languages might be advantageous, knowing her), but then she turns through a new doorway.

And Arrash will find herself under a slightly purple sky on a quiet street near the center of Starscream's complex. It's the first time the yeerk's been permitted outside the building she'd been housed in.

[in-the-cracks.livejournal.com]

Arrash has already given its reasons for not knowing every language around it; any intended lesson will be ignored or pass unnoticed. It sinks into a half-crouch for balance as Starscream moves.

Only when they step outside does it rise, clicking as it scans this new scene, this new sky it is under.