| abstract | - The bar was relatively packed tonight, with several seekers and off duty band mates in the crowd this day. The stage was set up simply but brightly lit, quite empty at this time. There were a few seats left, but they were rather close together. WindShear made a delivery to this oh so fine establishment earlier, and has decided to check out the place and it's 'entertainment' that has been scheduled. He looks around for a sturdy table and takes a seat. Strife takes a seat at the bar and orders. He's just finished funeral preparations on yet another loser from the pit fights, and has dropped in to relax. A kind of awkward silence fills the room as it takes a few moments for the news to reach the patrons brains, then suddenly they all rush for the stairs climbing over each other in their mad rush for the roof. Again an awkward silence surrounds the mob on the roof until one of the more sober members exclaims, "Hey where are the drinks?" Starscream wanders into El Sleazo Cafe. Perhaps there's some entertainment, information, or at least a stiff drink and possible recruits in here. He finds himself a table near the bar and sits down, tapping a finger on the surface a bit impatiently. An alarm clock goes off by the Pianist and he slaps a hand on it, waking up instantly as he flips the sign over and coughs a few times, glancing about at the crowded room in surprise. The sound of the alarm clock briefly catches WindShears attention. He peers over at the piano and the mech at its bench. A brow plate raises. With a shake of his head he turns his gaze elsewhere to study the assorted mechs around. Perhaps the show is about to begin! Strife surveys the room with his usual grimness. He recognizes Starscream The rest here are strange to him. At the sound of the alarm clock, he turns his optics to the pianist. The piano player starts up a tinkling little tune, as the manager steps onto the stage "And now, straight from Polyhex, the seeker bombshell herself, Firedance!" Striding out in rather plain adornment comes Firedance, smiling as she bows to the crowd regally "good evening everyone!" she greets with a wide show smile. Strife applauds very slowly for Firedance. Starscream knows the dancer, and claps politely as Firedance makes her appearance. He's been looking forward to this. WindShear offers applause as the dancer comes on stage. Then he leans an elbow joint against the table, resting his chin in his hand while the other hand rests upon the grimy surface too. Firedance smiles again at the applause "Thank you, thank you! I will be putting on a small performance a kind of glimpse into our large seasonal one for myself and the others." she notes "It is called Firedance. After myself, Choreographed by my friend Gargoyle." she notes, gesturing to a large stony seeker in the crowd as she turned to walk off stage again. Starscream orders a drink while waiting for the show to start. He glances around at the other patrons. A few seedy types. Perhaps they'd make good Decepticons. But later. Strife looks Gargoyle over and thinks, as he will, about how long it would take to prep the big Seeker for burial. He shifts in his seat, turning back to watch Firedance. A smirk spreads across his face. A soft string instrument strums, lowering its' notes over time in a quick succession as the lights dim Then slowly, Firedance steps back onto the stage, the lights low and red now around her feet, her face held down to the ground as she steps lightly in time to the music, doing soft, graceful turns and twirls back and forth. WindShear sits back in his chair and the cheap thing squeaks. He glances at the stage and then around him briefly. With the lights dimmed, it'd be a good time for low lifes to try to swipe something, so he takes note of his surrounds quickly before letting his gold gaze fall back towards the stage. In his 'crazy civilian' disguise, which is simply a thick covering of dirty oil, road dust and the like that covers him from head to foot, Shark slips into the Sleazo just in time to duck into a corner booth where there is absolutely no light in order to watch the show and basically be unnoticed. Strife sips his drink very slowly, optics glued to Firedancer. He basically forgets anyone else is there - probably looks quite a bit like a perv. The music ends only after a few seconds, as Firedance stands absolutely still. The lights brighten, becoming more yellow than red as a sharp clicking noise like snaps starts up. It was her foot, barely moving but tapping loudly, several times a second before the strings continue again and she begins into a more vigorous, energetic dance, like the starting of a flame in a fireplace, moving and twisting around the stage. Starscream feels secure in his own identity to not be disguised in any way. His recognizability is both an asset and a detriment, but for now he hopes it's an asset. Right now he's enthralled by the dance. That's a different sort of dance. Sure as the pits not what he was expecting in a dive like this. With a smirk WindShear continues watching, his arms folding across his chest plate. He avoids making optic contact with any of the mercenary looking mechs. He figures if he leaves them alone, he's got a good chance they'll do the same. It's worked pretty good over the years. Besides the dancing is very interesting. Shark relaxes in that dark corner booth, optics kept at the lowest luminance possible. Just keeping out of sight, out of mind. Strife is intrigued by this form of dance. It's something he's never seen. He puts down his glass and moves closer to the front of the room to get a better look at exactly how Firedance is doing what she's doing. Starscream continues to sip energon and watch. Such an odd dance, too. Not what Starscream's used to seeing usually. Again the music pauses and Firedance freezes. then she picks up again with the music, a little more spiritedly again as she twirls and spins around the stage, the colors lightening even more in the lights as she comes right up to the edge of the stage before drawing away once more, back and forth fickle. WindShear can't resist the rhythm, it is rather catchy and before he realizes it he's tapping a few fingers against his arm with the beat quietly. He'll have to tell a few of his friends about the place, it might be worth the danger to visit. Maybe. Shark doesn't move within the confines of his chosen location, letting the darkness be his cloak. The fact the grime of his undercover persona only lends to his ability to blend in a bit more. Lowly lit optics watching the dancing. Strife finds himself in close proximity to Starscream. He eyes the mech surreptitiously as the dance continues. Also, he thinks about Firedance after the show. This is certainly an impressive display. He'd like to commend her on it in person. Firedance smiles a little bit, despite her composure and is definitely enjoying herself as she slows her spin in the middle of the stage, the music holding before two more dancers sprung out from the sides - seekers it seems. One whom had been in the audience not long ago in cool dark blues and grays as they moved, flanking her back and forth as she snapped her head back and forth to keep both in sight, the music picking up even more. Starscream finds himself smiling at Firedance. He's not yet aware that Strife has taken it upon himself to be in close proximity to him. Lifeline clumps sourly into El Sleazo. She's surly normally...having to set foot in this rat trap of a bar just makes it that much worse. She spares on a momentary glance at the Decepticon dancing for the entire establishment, either uninterested or unimpressed. She makes her way through the tables to the bar, brusque and graceless and not even trying to keep time with the music accompanying the dancer. She speaks with the mech dispensing the beverages, her voice pitched too low to be made out past the music by anymore more than an arm's length away. Strife nudges the Seeker to his side ever so gently, keeping his optics on the dancers. "Starscream, yes?" Shark knows that stride all too well, thanks to being around Cubricon perhaps too much than would be expected for a undercover mission. But he doesn't dare move too much and draw attention to himself. Even the wait staff are avoiding the young Bot, perhaps knowing to come there would invite a brawl should the Cons see through the guise of crazie Cubricon civilian. Weaving in and out, the red Firedance interweaves her own moves with that of the stiffer militant seekers as they all intertwined their pathways, nearly clipping wings in a few places. Her eyes flicker a moment, noting Lifeline below and she moves on, eyes seeing darker eyes towards the back, and a familiar seeker. She picks up a little bit more, the music starting to rise to the crescendo. Starscream turns towards Strife. "Yes, I am Starscream. Do you have a desire to join the Decepticon forces?" he replies. Tiptaptippty tap! The dance number going on is certainly worth recording and uploading to the Cybertronian information net. More visitors to the place will mean more supplies need and more supplies needed will mean more deliveries! Yes WindShear is most definitely going to put the word out. No emotion shows on Strife's face. "I've considered it," he says, "though I admit I'm still uncertain." "There are several benefits to being a part of the Decepticon Forces," Starscream says. "Power. Glory. All the energon you can drink." Shark would be laughing right now, but it'd blow the whole you don't see me thing he's trying to pull off. There's a soft beep as WindShear gets a communiqué. Oh another delivery is needed. Woot. He stands up quietly and exits. What a shame this was starting to get really interesting! Twirling faster and faster, Firedance's optics were glowing brightly, the stage almost lit by white light now before she stops, dead cold and the music ends with a bang, suddenly fading off to black. Strife nods. "As I have heard. And I do sympathize with certain of your philosophies. We should keep in touch. Don't consider me out just yet." He applauds as the music cuts off and the stage goes dark. Shark sees the show is over, watching now to see if the Cons depart or stick around. Starscream nods. "When you're ready, you know where to find us," he says. He doesn't want to 'scare off' this new potential recruit. Lifeline finishes talking with the mech behind the bar and turns to look....straight into Shark's secluded corner. The scowl is still firmly in place as she clomps her way across the bar again. Shark does /not/ like that scowl on the doc's face. But he dare not move. 'Slag what did I do to earn this Primus... what did I do.' he thinks to himself. Soon after, the lights come back on in the bar, the low lights bars like to have as Firedance steps out into the crowd now, smiling widely, optics bright Strife just nods. This will be a good way to get an ear into Decepticon command. He stands as Firedance comes out, offering her his hand. "An excellent show," he says, "I'd love to hear how you developed such a technique." Firedance stops short as Strife steps up, and she smiles, flattered "Why thank you... Its not my invention though but gargoyles'." she gestures to the large military-sized Seeker walking with her, a smile on his face as he merely dips his head. Starscream nods at Strife. Then he turns his attention to Firedance. "Bravo," he says, "You have adapted their moves well." Shark is still watching the doc to see where she ends up. Lifeline stomps right up to Shark's table, probably drawing all kinds of unwanted attention to the mech. Leaning on his table, she glowers at him dangerously and says something lowly enough to again be difficult to hear from a distance. Lifeline whispers: Did you really think you could hide here? Play along. You have some explaining to do, so you can either come with me now, or I can drag you back by your audio. Shark looks up at the doc, listening to that tersely worded whisper. Slowly he gets up from out of the booth, saying nothing as he stands and moves toward the door. Shark continues walking as he is 'escorted', just waiting for the doc to talk because he is clueless why she is so upset he was even in there. Lifeline waits until she's sure they're out of both earshot and eyeshot of the pub before she completely drops the angry facade. "Shark, sorry about that. I wanted to ask if you could take something back to Iahex for testing. My clinic doesn't have the equipment to handle it." Shark is already marching toward the doc's building, just naturally doing so as it makes logical sense. He nods his head, not really looking at her, "Sure doc, I can do that. What would I tell the testers to do, or am I just bringing some written instructions along with me?" Lifeline says, "I'll send a data chip of instructions along so you don't have to worry about having to remember it all. And it's not terribly time sensitive, so you don't have to hurry about it either." Shark nods as he stops in front of the doc's building, "Sounds good." he says, oddly his face unreadable today. Perhaps there is something the mech is hiding. Lifeline notices Shark's closed expression but says nothing right away as she opens the clinic. Shark checks to make sure none of the Cons had pursued them, but doesn't see anything and nothing is popping up on scanners. Lifeline leads Shark inside and gives him a small sealed box with a data chip maglocked to the lid. "Here it is. Did you want to go back to El Sleazo?" Shark takes the box, putting it into his subspace for safe keeping. Why let anyone see him leaving with something hm? "I won't be going back there, just wanted to see what this dancer was about really. I'll get this straight to Iahex for you doc." he relates, moving to the door, "Take care all right?" Lifeline nods. "All right. Oh, one moment." She reaches over and with extra delicate care manipulates the top right side of Shark's helm, making it look like she beaned him one on the cranium. "There. Just in case." Shark reaches up to touch the spot then grins just a hint, "Nice touch." then heads on out the door to deliver the pocket. You may just hear him shout as he goes outside, "Shut up!" Meanwhile at the El Sleazo... Strife "Indeed you have," he tells Firedance. "I wonder if you'd like to get a drink?" And now he looks over at Lifeline. The mech seems to be making a lot of noise, clumping and stomping around. It's at this point that he notices Shark. He honestly doesn't know what to think of Shark's presence, but it seems as if Lifeline is unhappy with it. Shark leaves. Strife reminds himself never to cross Lifeline. "Unm... I'd be honored to, and thank you Commander Starscream" she notes with a smile to the warrior "I just have to go take care of something first." Lifeline follows the filthy mech out the door, still glowering dangerously. She even dares to put a hand on Shark's arm (causing some little flakes of rust-like stuff to fall off) and 'escort' him completely outside. Firedance returns from her last minute chores to rejoin Strife and Starscream. Strife welcomes Firedance with a grim smile. "Madam," he says, bowing a little. "What are you drinking?" "A regular energon with cherry." the womech replies with a smile, taking a seat between the two. Gargoyle was not with her, but did watch from nearby. mostly STrife. Strife nods. He order the drink and pays. It wasn't his intention to share this conversation with Starscream. He looks a little frustrated. He'll have to try and play off the Seeker as best he can. Strife doesn't notice Gargoyle staring at him. "The dance may have been devised with the help of another," he says, "but it would not have come to life if any other had been doing the steps." Firedance nods at both of them with a warm smile "Yes, that is true. Dance takes a lot more than the one doing the movements on the stage. Gargoyle does a lot, then there's the body workers for our 'costumes', the actual costumes, the pyro and lights..." she lists off. "ah, sorry. Get carried away." Starscream sips at his beverage slowly. "How intriguing," he says. Strife nods. "You're a...Decepticon. Yes?" He asks Firedance. Firedance smiles and touches her brand "Since the day I was built, yes. Purely civilian of course. " she notes, sipping her drink as she glances to Starscream again. Strife says, "My friend and I were just discussing that faction, actually. Quite a coincidence. I'm considering joining." Firedance smiles "really. What would you do for us? Not everyone joins the military of course, though we always need strong warriors." she notes, nodding to Starscream "You'll see. The Decepticons are a swell bunch," Starscream says, "And do we have FUN!" Strife allows himself smirks. "I collect information," he says, "Mostly scraps of what I hear here and there. There are quite a few unscrupulous voices to be heard. Some of what I know may prove useful." Firedance ahhs with a nod and a smile "That could be useful. Maybe even if you do not join us, you could help us find gigs" she quips, then laughs at Starscream with a wide smile. "Information? Excellent. We could use some more intelligence-gatherers," Starscream says. Strife nods in approval. "We shall be in touch then," he says, "My office is in Iahex. Feel free to come to me," he says to Firedance, "Either way, we shall be in touch." He looks to Starscream after this and slips from his seat to make his exit, bowing to the Decepticons.
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