(Untitled)

[sole_captain]

Oceanglide has taken up residence in one of the less cushioned Nexus armchairs. He appears to be lost in thought, with a distant light in his optics as he rests his chin on his clasped hands, solar panels and arm-mounted launcher alike tipped downward, out of the way. However long the silence around the Minicon has lasted, it's broken when he

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[random_xtras]

"A lot, I guess. It's kept me alive a lot over the vorns. But you need to depend on your sensors, too." Bumblebee shifts her weight with a creak, then leans on her cane as she thinks of the second question. "And I... guess I'd do something nice for them."

[sole_captain]

He studies the Autobot, noting damage and design as he replies, "It's hard to disregard your instincts when you know how they've been honed. And your solution is deceptively simple: finding a favour to do for someone is more easily said than done..."

[random_xtras]

"Yeah," she says ruefully. "But sometimes the thing that they'll like best is something you usually wouldn't think of. Like my friend Redeco. I wasn't neglecting him, but I did something embarrassing to him. So I bribed him to paint the base a different colour. Now he's pretty happy. And the whole base looks like me."

Amusement shows in her large optics as she relays the last bit, and then she shifts again to keep her balance.

[sole_captain]

He chuckles. "I think by now I have a fair knowledge of what pleases my brothers. And preferred assignments would usually be my favoured means of indulging them. Unfortunately, I am already giving them all the free rein for their amusements I can allow, in our present circumstances. And I really am trying not to alarm our local security officer..."

[random_xtras]

"Ah... yeah. Not slagging off the security mech can be important." Bumblebee absently shifts again. "How about energon goodies?"

[sole_captain]

"Not quite their style, I'm afraid. And energon generally is out of the running." His tone of voice says that might be out of kindness to the security bot, as well.

[random_xtras]

"Kinda rough around the edges?" She beeps softly and tilts her head.

[sole_captain]

"The edges are the least of it. As you might expect of Decepticons."

[random_xtras]

"Ah. Get them a Jedi practise ball droid." She thinks of the one she just bought from the little pink Minicon and grins at the thought of setting it free on the ship.

[sole_captain]

"How lifelike would that be?" He raises his optic ridges, considering the possibilities along that general line. "They're accustomed to sparring with more than drones."

Salvaging an old training projector might be even easier than her suggestion, if the opportunity should arise. The question is whether that would really satisfy his sense of debt.

Yes, call it debt. Oceanglide isn't well-acquainted with guilt.

[random_xtras]

"Uh... I don't know about lifelike, but they're really hard to pin down, and prone to shooting people in the aft after a missed hit." Her mouth twitches with amusement. "I saw a veteran Decepticon warrior get so frustrated at one of the things that she finally EMPd it."

And Blackout will kick Pink's pointy little butt for recording that and sharing it, too.

[sole_captain]

"I did mention that my objective was to reinstate myself in their good graces?" He sounds a little amused, impassive faceplate notwithstanding. "Still, it's an option I shall consider, though... some part of me feels my thoughtlessness demands greater recompense."

[random_xtras]

"They're also intelligent enough to make a good pet when the person with the code has told them to stand down from attacking anyone, and the force of their shots can be adjusted."

Then, at his last words, she sighs and looks down and away. "Yeah... I know what you mean. But at least your team's still alive to try and make recompense to. That's something."

[sole_captain]

"Something, indeed. But it has never been my habit to settle for survival." Oceanglide can guess at the meaning behind her words and body language. But of course, who from the many iterations of their planet hasn't lost friends?

"They may be content to accept a more mundane apology," he continues musing, "but I would be lying to claim that their safety was my chief concern in this... no matter how well the situation serves that aim."

[random_xtras]

"What do you mean?" She looks back, avoiding his first words and addressing the last.

[sole_captain]

"That however convenient our mission may be in keeping us fuelled and repaired and relatively unlikely to incur the wrath of a thousand enforcers, my motives for choosing it had more to do with personal appeal." His contemplation of her is a little more thoughtful, now.