1316/Not a Date

**Swivel has posed:**
As Swivel had predicted, scheduling a time to head out for drinks was not the easiest task. She'd been working hard on the energy monitoring project, then it was underground exploration, and of course many other duties. But finally Swivel had pinged Glyph to finally make good and those plans for drinks.

And thus, Swivel was now waiting at the Red Guardian, having got there just a little early just to avoid arriving late. Sitting back, Swivel holds off ordering anything until Glyph shows up. She's got a datapad out which she reads quietly while she waits.

**Glyph has posed:**
Glyph, unfortunately, due to busyness with his own projects, arrives several breems late. He notices her sitting at the bar already, and makes his way over. Upon arrival, he bumps her arm gently with one of his hand servos to get her attention. "Sorry I'm late," he says, "Was looking over those blueprints Blurr had brought in of those strange looking pylons. Actually, I've been looking at them all day. Not my area of expertise, but definitely fascinating..."

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel looks up when her arm is nudged and gives a friendly smile. "I wasn't waiting too long, and still managed to make use of my time." She lifts up her datapad as evidence before tucking it away. She tilts her head, peering at Glyph as he talks about what held him up. "Fascinating? How so?"

**Glyph has posed:**
"Well, for one, whoever made them, isn't mentally alright." He shrugs. "No surprise there, but I've been able to make some deductions about his personality from reading the notes he left on the blueprints. He's.. anxious, attention hungry, with poor self esteem. Enough to convince that he needs to something.. really drastic to get noticed. Not only that, but he might actually be smart enough to pull it off, at least half way, anyway. Needless to say, it doesn't bode well..."

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel clasps her hands together, listening to Glyph speak about clues to the personality of the mech behind the pylon. "Desperation never bodes well," Swivel remarks quietly. "Desperation /and/ high intelligence, well..." Swivel makes a downward spirallying motion with her hand instead of using words. Swivel leans forward a bit, placing more weight on her forearms as they rest on the table. "So... reading between the lines, as you seem to already be doing, what sort of drastic measures do you think we're dealing with here? And who, exactly, is this mystery scientist trying to get the attention of?"

**Glyph has posed:**
"I don't know, actually," he says, "I still don't know what the pylons do. I mean, that's something that Hoist and the other 'bot scientists have to figure out. I just study words on a page." He grins, and takes out a datapad, which contains a copy of the blueprint of the pylon. "Hmm.. well, I still need to talk to Blurr about it." He then immerses himself in looking at the blueprint. "Have you looked at these yet?"

 The bartender standing behind the counter, looks annoyed. Neither of them have ordered anything yet. "Are you drinking or working?" he says irritably. "Because if you're not going to drink and enjoy your damn date, then get out."

**Swivel has posed:**
"WHy would you need to talk to Blurr about it? He's not an engineer." Swivel says, tilting her head with a perplexed expression. "I mean, I know he retrieved the information but..." Swivel squints her optics as if she's missing a part of a bigger picture. She then shakes her head a little bit. "Uh, only what was shown during the meeting."

When the bartender gets irritated, Swivel looks up from the blueprint. She tilts her head, looking around almost as if she'd forgotten where she was. "My apologies. Of course. I'll have a Nova-lite." She then looks to Glyph.

**Glyph has posed:**
"No," he says, "I mean about the guy who made these blueprints. They have some kind of estranged relationship, of that I'm sure. You saw the way he reacted when I tried to ask him about it, right?"

 "Ah, right. You're busy doing other things." He doesn't look up from the datapad. "Nightmare Fuel, if you've got it, if not, I'll take whatever's on the house." Then he chuckles. "We're not on a date~"

**Swivel has posed:**
"Oh. About that. Right." Swivel leans back. "Right..." She mutters. "Blurr was very evasive about it." Swivel glances off to the side. "Well good luck talking to him about something he doesn't want to talk about, Glyph," Swivel says, giving Glyph and encouraging pat on the arm, which ends in a thumbs up.

All the talk about dates or not dates goes uncommented by Swivel. Instead she just tilts her head. "But you are picking up the tab, right?" Ever the cheapskate.

**Glyph has posed:**
Glyph chuckles, "Oh, I'll exercise my charm and hopefully that'll do that trick," he says with a wink, "but who am I to talk? You're the princess, after all," he teases.

 He gives her a curious look. "Only if I decide to drink," he says, a small smirk forming on his features. "Because, this isn't a date, and if I pick up the tab, it is."

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel gives a half smile and shakes her head at being called princess. "Well I can't say I've ever been called that before." The knitting of her brow is evident that behind her smile, she's unsure whether to take it as a compliment or not.

Swivel glances at the bartender, then back to Glyph. "Oh, are those the rules? Goodness, now I'm beginning to realize I've been on far more dates than I'd realized." Swivel says, sitting up straighter.

**Glyph has posed:**
Glyph is amused. "I called you that last time, and you didn't even flinch. Well, too bad, it's sticking now," the blue minibot says to her cheekily. "Ha, well, it's about time you learned," he says, still studying the datapad. "But it's whatever you want to make it. If you agree this is a date, then I'll pay. Otherwise, you're on your own."

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel tilts her head. "Ah... I'd forgotten. I didn't think much of it at the time. Do you often go around handing out such prestigious nicknames?" Swivel asks, turning slightly in her chair and leaning more heavily on one arm than the other. "And this sounds an awful lot like extortion. Besides, are you even ready to be going on dates again?"

**Glyph has posed:**
"Nope," Glyph says cheekily, "Just for you," he says, giving her a mischievous look. "Extortion? Oh please!" he says, laughing. "How is paying for your own drink, just like you normally would, extortion on my part? I'm not taking anything from you!" He teases.

 Glyph turns away, swivelling on his barstool. "Am I? You tell me." He then hops off his stool and wanders over to a table that's the Cybertronian equivalent of pool. "Wanna shoot some balls?"

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel laughs. "All right, all right. Bartender, put the Nova-lite on my tab." Swivel turns back to Glyph. "But you could just say it's what decent folk do, rather than yarn about dates and whatnot. Only arguing the point because there are plenty of reasons a person would pay for someone else's drinks without it being a date."

Swivel takes a sip of ehr Nova-lite, watching Glyph head off to where the games are kept. She tilts her head. "I was just asking. You seemed to be in a rather... dark place when we first met." She walks over, placing a hand along the edges of the 'pool table'. "And I can't say that I've ever played. But I'm open to learning, and no stranger to making a fool of myself."

**Glyph has posed:**
"..." Glyph gives Swivel an odd smile, but doesn't say anything right away. "A decent person acts with the best interests of himself and other person in mind," he says, perhaps a bit ambiguously. "Don't worry about me," Glyph says a bit dismissively, "you already have enough to worry about with Blurr and work, right?" He hands her the pole. "It's simple, just point and shoot," he says. "Like so." He demonstrates.

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel's optic ridges furrow at that odd smile. "Yes... a decent person does." Swivel says, sounding a bit serious. But then she follows it up with a smile. "Alas, I'm just a shameless mooch and sometimes fall a micrometer short of decent." Swivel shrugs lightly as she looks at balls all lined up. "Hard to ignore years of panhandling."

Swivel takes the pole, giving Glyph a long look when he brings up Blurr again, but says nothing. She looks at the pole, shifting it from hadn to hand as if getting used to its weight and balance. "Point and shoot... sounds too much like a firearms practice..." Swivel murmurs. But there are no triggers. Swivel takes her time examining the board, remembering when she'd watched others play this game, practicing following the balls as they all moved in different directions, rather relying on the inclination to follow just one moving entity. Finally Swivel leans forward, steadying pool cue as best as she can before striking the ball.
She straightens up, watching with pleasant surprise as the balls knock into each other, several balls rolling into the pockets. "...They're supposed to go in, yes?"

**Glyph has posed:**
Glyph laughs out loud, although why specifically isn't known. He just gives her a fond look. "Oh, Swivel," he says with a sigh. For a nanosecond, he seems sad, but before she can say anything about it, the look vanishes.

 "Hey! That was.. not bad for a first try," he says. "You can go again. That's how this game works. Go until you miss." He leans against the wall, grinning.

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel cocks an optic ridge at the laughter and mixed looks he is giving her. She looks back at the game at hand, then back to Glyph, then the game. It doesn't escape her notice, but for now, she's not responding to it. "Alright, I'll give it another go. Though I'm sure it was just beginners luck. Though can't say as I've experienced that before." Swivel takes her time again, lining up her shot. She's not entirely sure HOW she got such a nice shot before, but hopes to repeat her success. "So. If you were angling for a date, just let me say..." Swivel takes her shot, and another ball goes into the pocket. "Probably not going to happen in near future. There's a lot going on. I already have too many commitments and conflicts of interest as it is." Swivel stands up straight, holding up the pole cue.

**Glyph has posed:**
Glyph shakes his helm. "Nah," he says, "Honestly, I was trying to avoid one," he says, "but you asked me and you're princess, so I didn't know how to say no." He chuckles. "But I guess I got lucky and managed to get out of it this time." He leans over with his own pole and takes a shot. Somehow, all the balls roll around until every single one of them falls into a hole. "You ever heard of setting relational boundaries, Swivel?"

**Swivel has posed:**
THe response Swivel gets from Glyph is met with a satisfied nod, as if it were was expected. She watches Glyph knock the rest of the balls into their pockets. "Guess you must have played this a fair amount." She remarks, somewhat stalling for a moment or two regarding his question. However, it is merely a short stall before she crosses her arms. "Yes. Which is what I was putting into practice right now. Laying down boundaries. As in I'm not going to get into a relationship that demands more priority, effort, and commitment that outweighs the time I've known someone."

**Glyph has posed:**
"Eh. Not really."

 Then Glyph chuckles. "I think you need more practice, princess~" he says teasingly. "Like if I hadn't clarified at the beginning that this wasn't a date, by now you'd be in over your helm," he says, "which is why you have to stop asking people to pay for your drinks," he says. "I know it might pinch your wallet, but it's a lot more cost effective for your spark." He winks.

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel studies Glyph for a moment or two, before shrugging lightly. She picks up one of the balls and rolls it from one hand to the other. "Well in my experience, not everyone has your view on what is and isn't a date." Swivel tosses the ball up and catches it before rolling it back onto the table. "Still, I appreciate you trying to look out for me."

**Glyph has posed:**
Glyph hehs. "Sure, but you never asked, and it's better to be safe than sorry," he says. "I've always considered that date behavior," he says.

 He nods. "Of course. I'll always look out for you."

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel reaches for her neglected glass of nova-lite and takes a swig from it. "Right. Better safe than sorry. Maybe I just assume folk to have more sense than to attach a deeper meaning to a small purchase, such as drinks. Now, favours, and larger 'gifts', yes, those will definitely come with strings attached and I'm more wary."

Swivel gives Glyph a long, steady stare when he says he'll always look out for her. "That seems like an unwarranted amount of devotion considering how seldom we've had the chance to really talk. The only thing I've really done for you is end up in the right place at the right time and ... listened." Swivel tilts her head. "But at least that's a nice change from my tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

**Glyph has posed:**
"Like I said before," Glyph offers, "better to be safe than sorry, if you actually have no idea," he says. "Never can know who's going to look out for you in the harsh world, so presume the worst and hope for the best," he says candidly, leaning over the table to rearrange the balls again.

 "Ha! Clearly haven't read through protocol," he continues, "The first paragraph of the Autobot 101 textbook they give you on the first day as a cadet is a quote by Optimus Prime himself. Says, 'Never leave a comrade behind.' Or something to that effect."

**Swivel has posed:**
"Right. Best to be candid, then, and lay the cards on the table." Swivel says. She tilts her head, seeming a bit puzzled by something, venting in as if about to speak. But then she pauses and gives a small shake of her head as she instead watches Glyph arrange the balls.

"I'm well aware of what is in the protocol. But I took that to mean in battle. You seem to be looking out for me in a far more personal way."

**Glyph has posed:**
"Always," Glyph says, with a nod. Then he laughs. "Well, do you think Optimus meant for that to only apply in combat situations?" A small smile starts to grown on his features. He then takes a step back and aims the pole at the balls again, taking a shot.

**Swivel has posed:**
"I don't presume to know what a Prime means," Swivel says as she watches Glyph's game very carefully. "It's not my place to interpret him how I would wish."

**Glyph has posed:**
"Well," Glyph says half jokingly, "What do you think Optimus would do?"

 The balls bounce around, and several fall into a hole, but he offers her the pole. "What do /you/ think it should mean?"

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel puts her hand up, shaking her head when he offers her the pole. "Nope. You said go until you miss."

Swivel takes a moment to think about matters. "I know people say things, even mean them when they say it. But often don't always live up to it." Swivel tilts her head. "What do I think it should mean? I think it should mean no comrade gets left behind unecessarily. A younger me would say no one gets left behind, and we support each other no matter what. But such loyalty is so easily abused. There become... exceptions, feuds, secrets... it's all toxic." Swivel crosses her arms. "But on the other hand, each individual needs to be valued and not rendered down to acceptable losses. And better morale means better performance. Still, there are times, when going back for a comrade would be endangering too many people. Sometimes, it can't be helped. And fighting for lost causes is losing its appeal. We need less brash displays of bravado and valour and more every-day heroes, doing the small, mundane, but nonetheless trying things to keep balance and stability in our lives."

**Glyph has posed:**
"Like," Glyph counters, "letting you have a turn at this ball game even though it's still technically mine?" he says with a grin. "Is that a small, mundane and ordinary enough act of valour?"

"Look, whatever you would do for me, I'll do for you. That's just ... unspoken Autobot rule. It probably isn't written anywhere explicitly, but everyone here knows it and lives by it. Or tries to. Well, maybe wants to, to at least some degree. And for me, that's good enough."

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel smiles and shakes her head at Glyph's example, and then shrugs. "Sure. Common courtesies go a long way so long as they aren't purely for show." Swivel still declines any attempt to give her a turn; she seems intent on playing the game by the rules. "But that does sound great. Something I'd like to live by as well. Or have tried to live by. But there's a darker side to that, Glyph. If someone were willing to kill for me, should I be willing to kill for them? And I don't mean the in and out exchange of fire that happens in a war, but downright murder? And what if that's not what I wanted them to do?"

**Glyph has posed:**
"I didn't say you had to reciprocate," Glyph says, "I certainly won't demand that you do. And I trust you enough to know that you wouldn't want me to kill for you. That might not be the case every person, but every person that you care about, there is some form of trust that you can offer. For example, people like Whirl, I can expect to protect me in combat, but he won't be emotionally supportive. So to him, I'd offer confidentiality of whatever he'd like to tell me, in exchange for physical protection."

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel looks at Glyph long and hard, and a smile slowly grows as she listens. It's followed by a slight nod, which only turned into a series of more enthusiastic bobs. "Aaaah... to hear someone put that in words - that which has been rattling around in my brain. There have been many people who have accused me of not trusting them at /all/ when I merely don't trust them with something they have proven they cannot be trusted with. As you said, there are those I would trust to watch my back in a fight, but would never lay down my troubles to. Yet when I try explaining..." she shakes her head and sighs. "Let's just say, it wears me out."

**Glyph has posed:**
Glyph laughs, amused by her reaction. He gives her that fond look again. "Well, I guess you could say I have a way with words," he says. A pause. "I think you think way too much," he says jokingly. "I can't even remember the last time one of my conversations got this philosophical."

 He smiles, and leans his pole against the wall, checking the time. "It's, ah, getting late. I'm going to turn in. See you tomorrow?"

**Swivel has posed:**
Swivel tilts her head to one side. "There was a time I would have thought the idea absurd. Me? Thinking too much? Didn't do much of it before... but sometimes things just kind of bring it on." Swivel then looks down at herself, and also checks the time. She nods in agreement. "It is late. I have my duties. But it was nice to get away and chat for a while." Swivel rubs her cheek in thought. "Our paths might cross tomorrow, but as always, I make no gaurantees." Swivel smiles. "Good night."

**Glyph has posed:**
"Presume the worst, and hope for the best," he says with a sad smile, "Goodnight, Swivel." And with that, he transforms and exits the drink joint.