I Actually Finished Something!
Title: Thief in the Night
Prompt: Week 2: #8 - I’m a freelance wealth redistribution specialist
Characters: Prowl, Jazz, Smokescreen, Bluestreak,
Rating: PG-13
Verse: G1 AU
Words: 1,828
Summary: A new kind of thief arrives in Praxus.
Notes: For the prowlxjazz anniversary challenge. I'm not completely happy about how this turned out, and it turned out to be much longer than I had planned. Let me know what you think.
“At the back of every great fortune lies a great crime.”
- Honoré De Balzac
Prowl woke suddenly, his processors booting quickly as they registered that something wasn’t quite right. Once fully conscious he held still, waiting for whatever had woke him up to make another appearance.Prowl’s doorwings were stretched out to their fullest, taking in as much sensory information as they could. Just when he was about to relax and put whatever had woke him up as some sort of odd sensor blip, when he felt it again. Prowl was up and out of the small room in the span of a klick, living up to his name, moving silently so as not to disturb his still sleeping brother and whatever it was that was in the other room.
Prowl didn’t bother turning on the lights in the living room, it was easy enough for him to see with his doorwings. And what he saw was the shape of a mech tripping over the couch and letting out a low stream of curses.
“I would appreciate it if you would watch your language while you are in my home,” Prowl spoke quietly, keeping his back to the bedroom door, blocking the door from the intruder and to keep Bluestreak from stumbling into whatever situation this might turn out to be.
The mech jumped and looked up to see Prowl from where he was bending, clutching a pede. A bright blue visor gazed at the black and white Praxian, and the light of the visor allowed Prowl to see that the intruder was smirking at him.
“Heh, well I guess I can. I forgot that all you Towers mechs are so touchy about crude language and all that,” was the nonchalant response.
Prowl was taken aback at the ‘Towers mech’ comment that he said the first thing that crossed his CPU.
“If I’m a Towers mech, then what does that make you?”
“I’m a freelance wealth redistribution specialist,” was the cheeky reply that nearly stalled Prowl’s processor.
“Well that’s a new one. Was calling yourself a thief too blasé?” Prowl snarked back, unable to stop himself in this bizarre situation.
“Yeah, much too boring and simple. Plus it implies that I steal from everyone and that I keep what I steal for myself, which I don’t,” the mech answered easily, and Prowl now had a very good idea of what this mech thought was going on, but he decided there was no harm in playing along for a little bit anyway.
“Then who do you steal from?”
The mech tilted his helm at Prowl as if he were the slow one.
“The rich, you know, like you Towers mechs are? And then I give what I steal to the poor.”
At which Prowl concluded that this mech wasn’t really all that bright if he hadn’t taken in his surroundings yet.
“Yes, because so many Towers mechs live in a one bedroom apartment near an enforcer station and a youth center, when they have the credits to hire bodyguards and send their younglings to private academies,” Prowl deadpanned, and the intruder froze, smirk falling off his face and his cocky pose wilting.
“Ya’re kidding me,” the mech whispered as he took in the full meaning of Prowl’s words.
“No, I’m not.”
The mech grimaced, and looked around the room hopelessly, as if just realizing the cramped condition of the room around him.
“How far off am I?”
Prowl didn’t see anything wrong with letting the intruder know the full extent of his short comings in trying to rob him.
“Other side of the Helix gardens, if you get to the main road to Iacon you’ve gone too far.”
“But that’s the way I came!” was the answering high pitched yelp that had Prowl twitching his doorwings to check on the apartments still recharging occupant.
“So you came from Iacon to Praxus, passed through the Towers district, and came to one of the poorer sections of Praxus?” Prowl clarified.
“Looks like it,” the intruder sounded so put down that Prowl almost felt sorry for the would-be-thief.
“Care to explain why you bypassed the Tower’s district on your way here?” Prowl asked honestly curious, and the mech shrugged.
“Sure, the buildings were shiny, but they looked all the same, and I saw other buildings away from there that had the crystals growing around and on the buildings, and I figured the more crystals on the building, the richer the mechs inside were,” the mech explained, and Prowl could see the logic with that outlook, but decided to explain about the crystals that Praxus was so famous for.
“It’s actually quite the opposite, the more crystals a building has on or around it, the poorer the condition the building itself is in. When the crystals break off they leave the main crystal with enough force to imbed themselves in a mech’s plating, as such crystals need to be gardened by those who are experienced with them, which costs credits that poorer places don’t have. They also damage the integrity of the building,” Prowl explained, and the mech nodded understanding. “So, while they look pretty, in clusters like they are around this building, they’re dangerous.”
“Huh, well I never woulda guessed that.”
“Well, Praxus is the only place that can grow them in the large amount of wild clusters that can get everywhere, so I’m not surprised it’s not common knowledge. At any rate, are you going to go steal from the Towers now?” Prowl asked politely and the other mech regarded him suspiciously.
“An’ why are you asking?”
“Because I’d like to know when you’re going to leave so I can properly lock that window you came through and get some more recharge before my shift that’s in a few joors,” Prowl explained, and the mech’s visor brightened.
“Oh, well that’s too bad, I liked talking with you. Past the Helix Gardens but before the road to Iacon, right?” the mech asked, going over to the window and jumping up onto the ledge.
“Yes.”
“Hey, do you want me to get you anything?” the mech asked randomly, and Prowl’s optics brightened in surprise.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, you were nice enough to point out where I need to go and why the Towers don’t have any of the crystals. You didn’t even call the enforcers for breaking into your apartment,” the mech explained looking around the cramped living room and kitchen. “I’m sure anything I steal from the Towers would be more than enough to help you out.”
Prowl bristled at the comment and the audacity of the mech to say that. “I don’t need or want anyone’s help to take care of myself or my brother. Nor do I want or need any of your stolen goods. As for calling the enforcers, it would only cause a ruckus, and wake my brother who has a hard enough time getting to recharge. Since you have not tried to steal or break anything, I am content to let you leave.”
“Alright, I can take a hint,” the mech laughed, and flashed his visor in what Prowl supposed was a wink. “See ya later!”
The intruder jumped out of the window and proceeded to crawl down the side of the building, no doubt with the help of magnetic pulses. Prowl watched with interest as the mech reached the ground, transformed and sped off in the direction of the Helix Gardens.
As Prowl began to lock the window, he opened up his comm. line.
:: Smokescreen.::
:: Prowl? What the frag are you doing up? You have the early shift,:: Smokescreen answered, and Prowl waved aside his concern.
:: Don’t worry, I’m going back to recharge in a few klicks, but first I have something interesting to tell you…::
===
When Prowl arrived at work later that orn after seeing Bluestreak off to the youngling center, he relieved Smokescreen of the night’s reports, and waved the other mech off home. Prowl then began to go through each of the reports, cataloging their contents and filing them away, pleased that the night had been a mostly quiet night. Simply put, it was the beginning of a perfectly normal day at the office for Prowl.
Or at least it was, until Prowl’s attention was jerked away from the reports by shouting.
Prowl looked up to see a mech with a color scheme similar to his running through the office area with three of Prowl’s coworker’s trying to catch him.
Prowl’s tactical computer quickly processed the fastest way to end the chase with the least amount of damage, and at the last possible moment, when the mech was passing by Prowl’s desk, Prowl’s arm shot out. Black abdomenable plating collided with Prowl’s outstretched arm hard enough to deaden the sensors in Prowl’s arm, and cause the would-be escapee to flip over and land on his back.
Prowl was on the mech in a klick, trapping both wrists in stasis cuffs, the captive too dazed to do anything. That’s when Prowl noticed the bright blue visor, and his doorwings confirmed his suspicion as they recognized the readings off of this mech as the same readings from the mech that had broken into his home last night.
“You’re not very good at not getting caught, are you ‘freelance wealth redistribution specialist’?” Prowl teased the mech bellow him, causing the mech to jerk in surprise and reboot his visor.
“Hey, you’re the mech from last night! What are you doing in an enforcer station…” the visored mech’s voice, which began cheerful, began to trail off as he was able to see the insignia painted on Prowl’s doorwings that the dark apartment had concealed the night before. “You’re an enforcer?”
“Yes, my designation is Prowl,” Prowl smirked, getting up and hauling the other up by his shackled wrists. “I’m going to need your designation so I can add this to the record that Smokescreen created when he arrested you earlier.”
“Jazz,” was the mech’s answer, but the visored gaze didn’t leave Prowl’s doorwings and the enforcer insignia on them.
Prowl led Jazz over to the other three enforcers who had been pursuing Jazz, and handed him over to them.
This seemed to regain Jazz’s attention back to the real world, as Prowl turned to go back to his desk.
“You said you wouldn’t turn me in!”Jazz protested, causing Prowl to look back at the mech.
“For breaking into my apartment, no,” Prowl answered, amused at Jazz’s outrage.
“Then why was there an enforcer after me before I even got to the Helix Gardens? He knew where I was going too!” Jazz whined, and Prowl was reminded of a sparkling that wasn’t getting what he wanted. It was actually kind of funny to hear from a grown mech.
Prowl smiled slightly as Jazz was led back to the jail cells, and concluded that this was much more interesting than having an ordinary day at the office.
“Smokescreen was there waiting for you, because I reported you for speeding.
Prompt: Week 2: #8 - I’m a freelance wealth redistribution specialist
Characters: Prowl, Jazz, Smokescreen, Bluestreak,
Rating: PG-13
Verse: G1 AU
Words: 1,828
Summary: A new kind of thief arrives in Praxus.
Notes: For the prowlxjazz anniversary challenge. I'm not completely happy about how this turned out, and it turned out to be much longer than I had planned. Let me know what you think.
“At the back of every great fortune lies a great crime.”
- Honoré De Balzac
Prowl woke suddenly, his processors booting quickly as they registered that something wasn’t quite right. Once fully conscious he held still, waiting for whatever had woke him up to make another appearance.Prowl’s doorwings were stretched out to their fullest, taking in as much sensory information as they could. Just when he was about to relax and put whatever had woke him up as some sort of odd sensor blip, when he felt it again. Prowl was up and out of the small room in the span of a klick, living up to his name, moving silently so as not to disturb his still sleeping brother and whatever it was that was in the other room.
Prowl didn’t bother turning on the lights in the living room, it was easy enough for him to see with his doorwings. And what he saw was the shape of a mech tripping over the couch and letting out a low stream of curses.
“I would appreciate it if you would watch your language while you are in my home,” Prowl spoke quietly, keeping his back to the bedroom door, blocking the door from the intruder and to keep Bluestreak from stumbling into whatever situation this might turn out to be.
The mech jumped and looked up to see Prowl from where he was bending, clutching a pede. A bright blue visor gazed at the black and white Praxian, and the light of the visor allowed Prowl to see that the intruder was smirking at him.
“Heh, well I guess I can. I forgot that all you Towers mechs are so touchy about crude language and all that,” was the nonchalant response.
Prowl was taken aback at the ‘Towers mech’ comment that he said the first thing that crossed his CPU.
“If I’m a Towers mech, then what does that make you?”
“I’m a freelance wealth redistribution specialist,” was the cheeky reply that nearly stalled Prowl’s processor.
“Well that’s a new one. Was calling yourself a thief too blasé?” Prowl snarked back, unable to stop himself in this bizarre situation.
“Yeah, much too boring and simple. Plus it implies that I steal from everyone and that I keep what I steal for myself, which I don’t,” the mech answered easily, and Prowl now had a very good idea of what this mech thought was going on, but he decided there was no harm in playing along for a little bit anyway.
“Then who do you steal from?”
The mech tilted his helm at Prowl as if he were the slow one.
“The rich, you know, like you Towers mechs are? And then I give what I steal to the poor.”
At which Prowl concluded that this mech wasn’t really all that bright if he hadn’t taken in his surroundings yet.
“Yes, because so many Towers mechs live in a one bedroom apartment near an enforcer station and a youth center, when they have the credits to hire bodyguards and send their younglings to private academies,” Prowl deadpanned, and the intruder froze, smirk falling off his face and his cocky pose wilting.
“Ya’re kidding me,” the mech whispered as he took in the full meaning of Prowl’s words.
“No, I’m not.”
The mech grimaced, and looked around the room hopelessly, as if just realizing the cramped condition of the room around him.
“How far off am I?”
Prowl didn’t see anything wrong with letting the intruder know the full extent of his short comings in trying to rob him.
“Other side of the Helix gardens, if you get to the main road to Iacon you’ve gone too far.”
“But that’s the way I came!” was the answering high pitched yelp that had Prowl twitching his doorwings to check on the apartments still recharging occupant.
“So you came from Iacon to Praxus, passed through the Towers district, and came to one of the poorer sections of Praxus?” Prowl clarified.
“Looks like it,” the intruder sounded so put down that Prowl almost felt sorry for the would-be-thief.
“Care to explain why you bypassed the Tower’s district on your way here?” Prowl asked honestly curious, and the mech shrugged.
“Sure, the buildings were shiny, but they looked all the same, and I saw other buildings away from there that had the crystals growing around and on the buildings, and I figured the more crystals on the building, the richer the mechs inside were,” the mech explained, and Prowl could see the logic with that outlook, but decided to explain about the crystals that Praxus was so famous for.
“It’s actually quite the opposite, the more crystals a building has on or around it, the poorer the condition the building itself is in. When the crystals break off they leave the main crystal with enough force to imbed themselves in a mech’s plating, as such crystals need to be gardened by those who are experienced with them, which costs credits that poorer places don’t have. They also damage the integrity of the building,” Prowl explained, and the mech nodded understanding. “So, while they look pretty, in clusters like they are around this building, they’re dangerous.”
“Huh, well I never woulda guessed that.”
“Well, Praxus is the only place that can grow them in the large amount of wild clusters that can get everywhere, so I’m not surprised it’s not common knowledge. At any rate, are you going to go steal from the Towers now?” Prowl asked politely and the other mech regarded him suspiciously.
“An’ why are you asking?”
“Because I’d like to know when you’re going to leave so I can properly lock that window you came through and get some more recharge before my shift that’s in a few joors,” Prowl explained, and the mech’s visor brightened.
“Oh, well that’s too bad, I liked talking with you. Past the Helix Gardens but before the road to Iacon, right?” the mech asked, going over to the window and jumping up onto the ledge.
“Yes.”
“Hey, do you want me to get you anything?” the mech asked randomly, and Prowl’s optics brightened in surprise.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, you were nice enough to point out where I need to go and why the Towers don’t have any of the crystals. You didn’t even call the enforcers for breaking into your apartment,” the mech explained looking around the cramped living room and kitchen. “I’m sure anything I steal from the Towers would be more than enough to help you out.”
Prowl bristled at the comment and the audacity of the mech to say that. “I don’t need or want anyone’s help to take care of myself or my brother. Nor do I want or need any of your stolen goods. As for calling the enforcers, it would only cause a ruckus, and wake my brother who has a hard enough time getting to recharge. Since you have not tried to steal or break anything, I am content to let you leave.”
“Alright, I can take a hint,” the mech laughed, and flashed his visor in what Prowl supposed was a wink. “See ya later!”
The intruder jumped out of the window and proceeded to crawl down the side of the building, no doubt with the help of magnetic pulses. Prowl watched with interest as the mech reached the ground, transformed and sped off in the direction of the Helix Gardens.
As Prowl began to lock the window, he opened up his comm. line.
:: Smokescreen.::
:: Prowl? What the frag are you doing up? You have the early shift,:: Smokescreen answered, and Prowl waved aside his concern.
:: Don’t worry, I’m going back to recharge in a few klicks, but first I have something interesting to tell you…::
===
When Prowl arrived at work later that orn after seeing Bluestreak off to the youngling center, he relieved Smokescreen of the night’s reports, and waved the other mech off home. Prowl then began to go through each of the reports, cataloging their contents and filing them away, pleased that the night had been a mostly quiet night. Simply put, it was the beginning of a perfectly normal day at the office for Prowl.
Or at least it was, until Prowl’s attention was jerked away from the reports by shouting.
Prowl looked up to see a mech with a color scheme similar to his running through the office area with three of Prowl’s coworker’s trying to catch him.
Prowl’s tactical computer quickly processed the fastest way to end the chase with the least amount of damage, and at the last possible moment, when the mech was passing by Prowl’s desk, Prowl’s arm shot out. Black abdomenable plating collided with Prowl’s outstretched arm hard enough to deaden the sensors in Prowl’s arm, and cause the would-be escapee to flip over and land on his back.
Prowl was on the mech in a klick, trapping both wrists in stasis cuffs, the captive too dazed to do anything. That’s when Prowl noticed the bright blue visor, and his doorwings confirmed his suspicion as they recognized the readings off of this mech as the same readings from the mech that had broken into his home last night.
“You’re not very good at not getting caught, are you ‘freelance wealth redistribution specialist’?” Prowl teased the mech bellow him, causing the mech to jerk in surprise and reboot his visor.
“Hey, you’re the mech from last night! What are you doing in an enforcer station…” the visored mech’s voice, which began cheerful, began to trail off as he was able to see the insignia painted on Prowl’s doorwings that the dark apartment had concealed the night before. “You’re an enforcer?”
“Yes, my designation is Prowl,” Prowl smirked, getting up and hauling the other up by his shackled wrists. “I’m going to need your designation so I can add this to the record that Smokescreen created when he arrested you earlier.”
“Jazz,” was the mech’s answer, but the visored gaze didn’t leave Prowl’s doorwings and the enforcer insignia on them.
Prowl led Jazz over to the other three enforcers who had been pursuing Jazz, and handed him over to them.
This seemed to regain Jazz’s attention back to the real world, as Prowl turned to go back to his desk.
“You said you wouldn’t turn me in!”Jazz protested, causing Prowl to look back at the mech.
“For breaking into my apartment, no,” Prowl answered, amused at Jazz’s outrage.
“Then why was there an enforcer after me before I even got to the Helix Gardens? He knew where I was going too!” Jazz whined, and Prowl was reminded of a sparkling that wasn’t getting what he wanted. It was actually kind of funny to hear from a grown mech.
Prowl smiled slightly as Jazz was led back to the jail cells, and concluded that this was much more interesting than having an ordinary day at the office.
“Smokescreen was there waiting for you, because I reported you for speeding.