1045/Who's Afraid of Heights

**Nightlash has posed:**
The Plateau itself is...well, a dangerous place. It's got horribly rough terrain, a lot of craggy areas, and the best part (or worst) chasms and valleys and troughs! So...what better spot to have an airbase?

And...what better spot to be hopelessly reckless?

Cloak dismissed in favor of raw speed, Nightlash is...doing ...probably stupid things, but fun things, canyon-running at speeds that are probably best left in the 'unknown' category, but it's certainly pretty fast if the fiery trails behind her engine are any indication.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl is likely also out doing stupid-but-fun things. Purely coincidentally at the same time that Nightlash is doing them. His stupid-but-fun things also involve flying fast, but he's above the canyons, where he can engage in erratic zipping and flitting around without the risk of ending up an interesting pattern on a canyon wall.

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock has made a mistake, a very very big mistake.. She maybe of been getting used to heights, but this? THIS was too much. She'd been on the base to do routine checkups on those stationed here, and.. well, she made the mistake of going out onto the platform, and was trying hard to stay standing up and /not/ clinging to the nearest sturdy object to avoid falling off.

      "Deep ventilations Starlock, deep ventilations...You're fine, this is fine." She'd state to herself in a high pitched tone.

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash blinks...wait, there's others? She slows as her sensors pick up...familiar pings. Hrm. The strange one and the short one. Right... She brakes into a sharp climb and rolls into a quick reverse turn to head towards where Starlock's at...

Mainly because she knows Whirl can fly, and Starlock being out this way is a bit amusing. <<I'd offer a show, but...eh, the wing's down a flier, so...yeah... you're not here to keep talking about stuff, are you?>> It's meant more for Starlock, but she doesn't bother directing it at any mech in particular.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl wasn't expecting voices, though he likewise picked up signs of life. Autobot signs of life. Darn it. <<I get enough talking about stuff with the head-docs, so, yeah, just kind of out for a flight.>>

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock gave a confused blink, before bringing her hand up to tap on her commlink to Nightlash. "<<Er.. was here on medical work call.. Some bots can't come in for check-ups all the time so we need to go out and meet them.>>" She'd respond, frowning at the mention of talking about "stuff" and she vents a sigh.

      "<<..So, no, not here to talk about that.>>" She'd look up at the sky, trying to find just where these two where at.

**Nightlash has posed:**
Starlock will know pretty quickly where Nightlash is... As soon as she gets into level flight, she throttles up enough to crack the sound barrier right over where Starlock's at. Or, at least where the IFF ping says she's at... it's a proper buzzing the tower moment.

<<Hah! Good. I'm just enjoying a little, uh, challenging flight. Nothing too crazy, I suppose... or maybe it is. It's pretty bad if you smash into the walls and stuff, because then you just get smashed into all kinds of pieces.>>

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl is also likely easy to spot since he's moving erratically about the sky, though since he's talking to people, he's cut down on the wilder, crazier moves. <<And this is a baaaad place to get busted up. Disappear here, they won't find you for six million years...maybe not ever.>>

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock jumped from being startled and dropped down, covering her helm. "<<Reaaally making me want to get off this fraggin' thing.>>" She'd laugh weakly through the violet tremors. After a moment showly, starts to get back up, trying to keep her knee joints form going out.

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash brakes and drops into a hover nearby Starlock, dropping altitude until she's at a semi-safe distance from the ground... then it's just a matter of transforming and falling the rest of the way. At least she lands on her feet (super hero landing time!) and grunts.

"I...need a refuel...high speeds burn fuel pretty quick..." She grumbles and brushes herself off, looking at where she'd been flying through. "Huh...didn't realize how narrow it got there...."

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl stays in the air for the moment, though he moves closer to where Starlock and Nightlash's signals are coming from. <<Ok, clarify for me: should I or shouldn't I be yelling 'jump!' right now? I never can tell when's the right time.>>

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock squeaks when Nightlash lands near her, out of being startled, the mini-bot was /not/ having a good time on this flying platform, and just lets out another stressed vent. "Eheh telling the refueler you need a hand?" She'd chuckle weakly, before looking up with a raise ridge.

      "<<Why..would we need to jump?>>" She'd hesitantly ask whirl.

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash laughs at Whirl. "I /could/ jump, but then I'd just fly out of it. Don't think it does me any good." She grumbles a bit and then drops to sit on the edge, feet dangling over because...of course she does. "I mean, and sure, if you want... I won't mind it. Probably just burn through it all again, though."

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl zooms past the flying platform, close enough that hsi rotor wash is likely felt as he goes past. <<Dunno, it seems to be the thing to say, in situations like this,>> he says. <<I just figured I'd be polite or follow the crowd or whatever...>>

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock would keep herself away from the edge, but noted Nightlash's mood, and frowned, inching her way over to the other femme, very slowly. "...something bothering you?" She'd ask Nightlash, with her finials drooped.

      She also raised a ridge at Whirl's words, but was.. Well unsure what he was meaning... This was one of those weird rotary things, wasn't it?

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash blinks at the question and looks over at Starlock, sort of just...studying the mech a bit before shrugging and chuckling. "What? Me? Nawwwww....all's good here." She flicks something off the edge. Probably a bolt or rock or...well, it wasn't important, at least. Then her attention goes to Whirl. <<Not much of a crowd here!>>

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl is a bouncing, beautiful bumblebee! No, wait, he's a vicious, zooming wasp! Fear his sting, Decepticons! He zips and zooms, dipping and dodging against imaginary opponents -- or maybe just against ones only he can see. <<Which is a crying shame! Because this? Is awesome flying right here, I'll tell you that for free!>>

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock was looking at Nightlash curiuselly, and of course, was being really skittish of actually approaching the ledge. "...Alright, if you're sure." She'd nod, looking out to Whirl as he passes. "<<...Guess it looks fun, i'm no flyer, so i'd not know.>>" She'd nod sagely.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl dodges the rock! Because he is a bad-aft, high-speed/low-drag flying machine! <<HAH! Missed me!>> he says, coming back around as if for more. <<A swing and a miss! Nice try, too slow!>>

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash just continues to stare a bit at Starlock... "Why? You sound like there's something on your...thoughts...however that's said." She turns her attention to Whirl and picks up another rogue piece of debris, again probably a rock, and lobs it towards the rotary, chuckling softly.

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock was.. well on her chassis as she kept close to the platform, and near Nightlash, as if standing was going to send her over the edge, and looked to Nightlash and then back out. "...Eh, maybe I'm reading your tone and posture wrong, but seemed like something was on your mind." She'd state as she watched Whirl play dodge-wrench with what Nightlash was throwing.

      "...Lots of things on my mind, I'll admit though." She'd nod. "So much I often can't tell when one thing starts and the another ends." she'd huff.

**Nightlash has posed:**
"Naw, I don't...have much on my mind, usually. Kinda just relaxing and all that...it's easier than trying to overthink things." She vents softly and rubs her head. "Just...trying to kinda figure a few things out. It's like...there's something back here," she taps the back of her head, "telling me something's not right, and I can't figure out what it is. So...maybe it's something on my mind, but...something's nothing?"

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl is hit! Though, this time its just a ping off one of his struts. <<AIEEE!>> he yells, stopping his rotors and dropping into a fall for several hundred meters before he revs them back up and zooms up in an overly dramatic and showy whooooooooosh!

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock tilted her head as she listened, and glanced up. "Think it has.. anything to do with what you mentioned before? About being able to think clearer before..." She'd trail off, not wanting to bring up her drone's demise.. Well, besides Nightlash's drone, that was the only thing Starlock could imagine could be wrong, that she knew of.

      Starlock's optics widened as she watched Whirl, and then relaxed when she saw he was fine and just showing off, venting a stressed huff.

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash gives Starlock a very bewildered look, missing Whirl's little show of...faux distress and crashing. "What did I say and when now? I don't remember talking about anything before..." She mutters, then looks at Whirl...and then skyward for...nothing, and then back to Whirl. "What'd I miss?"

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl zooms up and up and up, climbing as high and as fast as he can before, once again, he cuts his rotors and drops. He swirls and whirls, tumbling aft over energon flask toward the ground. This time, he waits just a little bit longer before reengaging his rotors, but still they cut back in before he gets level with the mouth of the canyon. Up, up, up he goes! Whooooosh! <<Nyoooooooom!>>

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock blinked. "You don't remember asking me about, if someone had messed with ya head the last time you where in the medical bay? given it was a number of mega cycles ago, but you asked me it, and no one did that I was aware of? There also no medical records about such." She'd frown, looking at Nightlash.

      "Ah.. it had looked like he'd started crashing." She'd knit her ridges, watching as he does another dangerous stunt. "....I now realize he's just.. showing off? having fun? Probably Both." She'd nod with a cringe.

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash watches Whirl a moment or two and chuckles softly before looking back at Starlock. "That looks fun...can't remember the last time I ever threw myself into a flat spin and just tried to pull out of a stall..." She grunts and thinks more on it.

"That...all sounds like something I'd totally never ask about. I feel fine...diagnostics are fine... flight systems are fine... everything's fine!" She mutters.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl goes up, up, up! Like a dolphin charging for the surface of an ocean, going for a leap that'd make the tourists go "ooohhh!" -- except without the ocean. He reaches what he seems to consider the perfect height and instead of "leaping", he attempts a barrel roll.

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock looked up at Nightlash in confusing with a raised ridge. "I mean it is what you asked.. I'm pretty sure no one did anything though." At least she hopes, who knows who could of snuck in while they were resting and done something. She'd keep her head plopped down on the platform as she watched Whirl and vented out.

      "He does look like he's having fun."

**Nightlash has posed:**
Nightlash huhs... "Well, if you say so..." She shrugs it off and goes back to watching Whirl do his Whirly thing. "Eh, well... I mean, I'm just going to...maybe get some flight time in or something. See where the wings take me..." She gives Starlock a slight wave before just pushing herself off the ledge and going into a freefall...where it almost seems like she takes a laboriously long (almost excessively so) time to transform, get her engines going, and starts flying back through the canyons. <<Don't fall...it's a long way down.>>

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl is going to do the barrel roll! He is! He is! He starts it! He's going for it! He's...bitten off more than he can chew, figuratively since he doesn't chew any more but he can recover from this! This is fine, this is fine, this is not fine, this is not fine at all, this is not fine verging on oh <redacted> but then, as Whirl stalls out at the top of the roll, he twists around and recovers and manages to make it look \*almost\* like he meant to do it.

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock looks over the ledge, watching nervously before Nightlash finally zooms off, and tightbeams her, making her vent out a sigh of relief.. Only to swallow it, looking over the ledge of the platform and scrambles back away from it and pants, pushing herself up. "I.. I really should get off this thing..."

      She'd also vent a sigh of relief, seeing Whirl come back up, and just.. fell onto her back on the platform. "I hate heights.."

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl zips over to the platform and, after transforming, drops down onto it with a whoop and yeep and a "Phew!" He chicken-walks over to where Starlock is laying on the platform. He stares down at her, head cocked to one side. "...hello, this is a pretty weird place to sleep, dontcha think?"

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock's optics aren't closed, so when Whirl comes over, she'd look right up at him, blinking before just.. nodding and pushed herself up, frame violently trembling as she made her way for the door. "Yeah... Yeah it is.. should.. should finish work and get to the ground e-eheheh" She'd laugh weakly.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl holds out a hand, well, a claw, as an offer to help Starlock up to her feet. "You probably should, yeah," he says. "...y'know, aversion therapy can be helpful but you shouldn't really try to do it on your own. It's better if you have somebody with you who can talk you down if you get too far out into the scary bits."

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock's would blink a moment, but.. After a kilk, took his hand, accepting his help. "...E-eheh I imagine that's how it would work yeah..." She'd look to him again. "Thanks."

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl nods, head bobbling a bit. 'No worries," he says, optic brightening as his claw is accepted. "There's a couple very interesting monographs on the subject of phobias out there. One of the new therapy interns, I think her name is PoMo or something like that, was talking about one the other day."