Hey sister_dear, I have a Cutoff for you.
I got Cutoff again this month. Took me a while to come up with something to fit the prompts you listed, but I finally got it done. Hope you like you!
Cutoff hated downtime. The island held little in the way of entertainment for bots like her to pass the time with. Racing had been banned thanks to the twins and Sideswipe taking a sizeable hunk out of one of the hangers. The more intense training exercises were on hold until Ironhide returned from a routine reconnaissance mission on the mainland. Even the most undesirable jobs on the duty roster had been snatched up by other the other bots on base, leaving her with nothing but empty free time on her hands. Cursing her rotten luck she let her helm fall back against the patch of tarmac she had claimed with an undignified sprawl and stared up at the endless expanse of cloudless blue sky that stretched above her. Was it too much to ask for something, somewhere, to be blown to bits by the Cons?
The distant sounds of involved movement jarred her from her brooding some time later. Not bothering to lift her head she turned it in the direction of the noise and watched as the newest bot on the island came into view, pulling a cart piled high with mail bags behind them. Cutoff recognized the other femme immediately, not because she had spent much time with her but because there was no other Autobot on Diego Garcia that resembled an Earth canine. Someone had tied a large pink bow around-what was her name again?-the dogbot’s neck and another on her left hind foot. Quirking a brow ridge Cutoff slowly sat up.
“What in the All Spark are you wearing?” she asked without tact when the other passed close to her. The dogbot paused in mid-stride and cast a glance at the silver warrior for a moment, casually holding out a back paw to keep the cart from running into her.
“I believe the humans call it ‘ribbon,’” was the answer.
“…why?” Cutoff continued, eye ridge still quirked.
“I’m not entirely certain. One of the soldiers put it on me when I volunteered to hand out the surplus of packages that came in this week,” the scout replied while angling her head to study the bow with a thoughtful frown.
“Oh.” Grown bored with the whole thing, Cutoff dropped back to the tarmac again and resumed staring at the sky. The quirks and whims of humans were trivial matters as far as she was concerned, and not particularly interesting. Before she had a chance to sink back into sulking, however, the dogbot spoke up again.
“Do you want to join me? There are many parcels to be delivered, more than I am capable of handing out before nightfall. Any help would be much appreciated. And no ribbons, I promise.”
The urge to say ‘no’ was instantaneous. She was a warrior, not a mail carrier! Still, Cutoff found herself considering the offer, and chalked it up to the sheer intensity of her boredom. Rolling over she got to her feet and, after grumbling under her breath about why she was even doing this, nodded.
“Okay, uh…”
“Clipper.”
“Right, Clipper. What do I have to do?”
“Not much. We just have to find the soldiers whose names are indicated on the boxes and make sure that they get them.”
“Right…”
That said she trailed after Clipper while the dogbot led the way. The task was only slightly more entertaining that gazing blankly at the sky had been. There were indeed many boxes to be delivered, and tracking down each individual soldier was a time consuming process. Even with two bots handling the chore it took them well into the afternoon to get down to the final package. Passing the box to Cutoff Clipper shrugged out of the crude harness that had allowed her to pull the cart.
“What’s the nametag say?” she inquired as she stretched, the effort making the bows she wore look even more ridiculous.
“It’s for Major Lennox,” Cutoff answered.
“Somebody say my name?”
Blinking, Cutoff turned to stare down at the soldier in question as he ambled into view. She smiled slightly and knelt, holding the box for him to take, pleased to see her friend. Lennox grinned back and accepted the gift, glancing briefly at the address label and laughing when he caught sight of Clipper.
“So, they have you two playing the Valentine’s Fairy this year, huh?” he asked, tucking the package under his arm.
“…what?” Cutoff had never heard the term before, and wasn’t sure how to react to it.
“Never mind,” Lennox mumbled with a shake of his head. “It’s just what we call the person who gets stuck with handing out the Valentine’s gifts sent from home.”
“…what is Valentine’s?” Clipper asked.
Cutoff could not help but roll her optics at the question. It was part of human culture, and that was all she needed to know about it. Still, it couldn’t hurt to listen to Lennox’s explanation. Anything to pass the time.
Cutoff hated downtime. The island held little in the way of entertainment for bots like her to pass the time with. Racing had been banned thanks to the twins and Sideswipe taking a sizeable hunk out of one of the hangers. The more intense training exercises were on hold until Ironhide returned from a routine reconnaissance mission on the mainland. Even the most undesirable jobs on the duty roster had been snatched up by other the other bots on base, leaving her with nothing but empty free time on her hands. Cursing her rotten luck she let her helm fall back against the patch of tarmac she had claimed with an undignified sprawl and stared up at the endless expanse of cloudless blue sky that stretched above her. Was it too much to ask for something, somewhere, to be blown to bits by the Cons?
The distant sounds of involved movement jarred her from her brooding some time later. Not bothering to lift her head she turned it in the direction of the noise and watched as the newest bot on the island came into view, pulling a cart piled high with mail bags behind them. Cutoff recognized the other femme immediately, not because she had spent much time with her but because there was no other Autobot on Diego Garcia that resembled an Earth canine. Someone had tied a large pink bow around-what was her name again?-the dogbot’s neck and another on her left hind foot. Quirking a brow ridge Cutoff slowly sat up.
“What in the All Spark are you wearing?” she asked without tact when the other passed close to her. The dogbot paused in mid-stride and cast a glance at the silver warrior for a moment, casually holding out a back paw to keep the cart from running into her.
“I believe the humans call it ‘ribbon,’” was the answer.
“…why?” Cutoff continued, eye ridge still quirked.
“I’m not entirely certain. One of the soldiers put it on me when I volunteered to hand out the surplus of packages that came in this week,” the scout replied while angling her head to study the bow with a thoughtful frown.
“Oh.” Grown bored with the whole thing, Cutoff dropped back to the tarmac again and resumed staring at the sky. The quirks and whims of humans were trivial matters as far as she was concerned, and not particularly interesting. Before she had a chance to sink back into sulking, however, the dogbot spoke up again.
“Do you want to join me? There are many parcels to be delivered, more than I am capable of handing out before nightfall. Any help would be much appreciated. And no ribbons, I promise.”
The urge to say ‘no’ was instantaneous. She was a warrior, not a mail carrier! Still, Cutoff found herself considering the offer, and chalked it up to the sheer intensity of her boredom. Rolling over she got to her feet and, after grumbling under her breath about why she was even doing this, nodded.
“Okay, uh…”
“Clipper.”
“Right, Clipper. What do I have to do?”
“Not much. We just have to find the soldiers whose names are indicated on the boxes and make sure that they get them.”
“Right…”
That said she trailed after Clipper while the dogbot led the way. The task was only slightly more entertaining that gazing blankly at the sky had been. There were indeed many boxes to be delivered, and tracking down each individual soldier was a time consuming process. Even with two bots handling the chore it took them well into the afternoon to get down to the final package. Passing the box to Cutoff Clipper shrugged out of the crude harness that had allowed her to pull the cart.
“What’s the nametag say?” she inquired as she stretched, the effort making the bows she wore look even more ridiculous.
“It’s for Major Lennox,” Cutoff answered.
“Somebody say my name?”
Blinking, Cutoff turned to stare down at the soldier in question as he ambled into view. She smiled slightly and knelt, holding the box for him to take, pleased to see her friend. Lennox grinned back and accepted the gift, glancing briefly at the address label and laughing when he caught sight of Clipper.
“So, they have you two playing the Valentine’s Fairy this year, huh?” he asked, tucking the package under his arm.
“…what?” Cutoff had never heard the term before, and wasn’t sure how to react to it.
“Never mind,” Lennox mumbled with a shake of his head. “It’s just what we call the person who gets stuck with handing out the Valentine’s gifts sent from home.”
“…what is Valentine’s?” Clipper asked.
Cutoff could not help but roll her optics at the question. It was part of human culture, and that was all she needed to know about it. Still, it couldn’t hurt to listen to Lennox’s explanation. Anything to pass the time.