Out of all the hard workers on the Lost Light, one that always manages to slip through the cracks is Perceptor. Overshadowed by Brainstorm's sheer... Brainstorm-ness, barely coherent to anyone that isn't in the scientific field half the time, and possessing a generally unflappable demeanour, it's truly a shame that Perceptor's brilliance has been hampered by a nasty cyber-flu these past few days.

It's nothing to really worry about; he'll be better in about a week, but he's a little too out of it to be left alone for any extended period of time, and Primus knows that an unsupervised scientist with a fever is a terrifying sight to behold.

Perceptor's optics narrow ever so slightly at the cube of medical-grade Energon in his servos. "I don't want it," he says, holding the cube at arm's length like it personally offended him. "It tastes terrible.*

It doesn't taste like anything, "But it does. It tastes like how sadness feels, but it's my glossa that's sad because it's too thick and too thin at the same time, and there are bits in it, and they're too small to really strain out but too big to not matter, and it makes the entire thing taste execrable."

He glares at the cube, then glances at you. "Fine, I will... Endure this punishment upon the senses." With that, Perceptor proceeds to chug the cube, and shivers violently upon finishing, his faceplate screwing up in a look that conveys a level of disgust that can scarcely be put into words.

You didn't know he felt that way about textures, though. "I suppose it's just one of my many idiosyncrasies," Perceptor does something that might be considered a kind of shrug, glancing at you and pausing at your blank expression. "Ah, that was my attempt at a joke. You know, because... Nevermind."

The room falls silent, aside from the tapping of Perceptor's digits on the now-empty cube, but only for a few moments. "My helm feels as though there's a hole in it, and Primus himself is funnelling sand into my brain module and clogging it all up. I don't like it. It's hard to think clearly, I feel like how you must feel all the time."

It's not a fully intentional insult to your intelligence, but it still sort of hurts. Perceptor doesn't notice the little signs of offence on your faceplate, but even if he wasn't staring at the cube in his servos, he probably wouldn't be focusing fully on you.

Actually, the only times you've ever seen Perceptor give his full focus to something, it's always an experiment or sniping. Never to a fellow bot.

The thought is mildly upsetting, so you stamp it down, only to realise that Perceptor's blue opticed gaze is locked on you. And then he sneezes, causing his optics to glitch out.