Prompt 1 Response
“Know I’m going to regret asking this,” Barricade said, leaning against the brick wall, “But how d’you even fit in there?”
“MotiVAYtion!” Frenzy chirruped. The techling had squirmed his way into the vending machine’s flap door, down to where the candy and snacks normally dropped. Then, he’d wriggled up to a standing position, all four of his hands grabbing at the racks. It had been the chocolate-covered pretzels that had caught the tiny mech’s optics and attention, but by the time he’d crawled inside, he’d been distracted, grabbing at Twizzlers and Sun Chips and Almond Joy (chittering ‘sometimes you feel like a nut!’) .
Barricade shook his head. Frenzy didn’t even eat them. Well, not really. He took small chemical samples, and dissolved nearly EVERYTHING in coffee in an attempt to create a field-expedient fuel. Barricade did not expect these experiments to succeed. Like, ever.
Still, the drive had been boring and Frenzy had been drooping until they’d pulled up to the dusty truck stop. Frenzy hated being cooped up, and had tried to teach Barricade any number of apparently common road-trip games, all of which were uniformly stupid and pointless. Though Barricade did rather enjoy the idea of squishies beating the slag out of each other at the sight of a Volkswagen Beetle. He almost considered changing his alt to that, just for the punchbug pummeling possibilities.
But most of the other ones just seemed stupid. Out of state plates? Alphabet games? Barricade slaggin’ hated the human alphabet to begin with. The last thing he wanted to do was scour the hideous countryside looking for something that began with a ‘d’. Stupid letters. Stupid Earth.
So both of them had been relieved to find the automated rest-stop, picked out against the black night by cones of amber light. Only one car squatted in the parking area, on the very outskirts of the light, either abandoned or the owner too far gone in sleep to care about one police vehicle of unrecognizable jurisdiction rolling up toward the shabby brick structure.
And then Frenzy had seen the Flipz package and gibbered something about the secret being sodium chloride and clawing at Barricade’s door handle which led to…this.
Barricade smirked down at the vending machine. Frenzy had finally sated his…whatever…and stood, face pressed pitifully against the glass, up to his spindly knees in candy wrappers and chip crumbs.
“Can’t get out!” Frenzy said. “Cantgetoutgetoutgetout!!!” His little fists beat a frantic tattoo.
“Need help?” Barricade tapped his talons along the top of the machine. Oh he was going to draw this out.
“Barricade help! Barricadehelpfrenzygetout!”
“Why? You got in there all by yourself.”
The blue optics swirled. Frenzy thrashed in the machine, slamming his face against the glass. “Helpgetout! Help! Get! Out!” Wham! Wham! Wham!
Barricade sighed. Frenzy was…always doing this sort of thing. “Fine. On one condition.”
“No condition! Frenzypartnersbarricade!”
Yeah, Barricade thought. Do not remind me. “You want us to keep working together all nicenice, Frenzy? As in, you know, me not ripping your tiny little head off?”
“Barricade mean! Meanpartner.”
“Damn straight.”
Frenzy trembled, feeling the enclosed space of the vending machine almost closing in on him. He shifted his little feet, awash in a sea of snack foods. “Fine! Finefine! Frenzy be good!”
Barricade nodded, gesturing with one talon for Frenzy to crouch down before he punched a hand through the plexiglass, rough-edged shards of it clattering on the concrete floor, a web of white fractures spreading across the entire pane.
Frenzy clambered out of the hole on all six limbs. Only then did Barricade notice that the little limbs were shaking. Frenzy had been…really scared in there. “Be good!” Frenzy bleated, throwing his skinny arms around Barricade’s thigh. “Frenzy be good! Goodfrenzy!”
Barricade didn’t believe it for a klik. But of course, that’s what made the irritating little techling so oddly endearing. He patted the silverchrome head briefly. “Come on, oddball.” Frenzy nodded, his little claws still dug in tight under Barricade’s armor. He reached through the hole and snagged one of the few intact packages, pressing it into Frenzy’s chassis. “’nd don’t forget those pretzel things.”