As soon as the plane had grounded and stopped in the base, the returning bots and humans quickly got off the plane and began milling around the base - happy to finally be able to stretch their legs out after such a long plane ride.
Hound and Mirage had been the only two bots to take their time to get off the plane and stretch out. Hound cast his friend a look to see how he was taking in the new sight and chuckled fondly at the sight.
The poor mech looked pretty overwhelmed as his optics bounced from one human to the next, there may not be as many people here as there were in Nevada but they were packed close enough to make any new bot hesitant about even taking one step forward. He could tell Mirage knew that the sight of his feet would soon become his favorite thing to look at while he got used to the base.
Hound patted him comfortingly on the shoulder," You'll get used to it," he chuckled and motioned for him to follow, " just gotta keep an eye out for them and make mental logs on where they're mainly at. But if you don't or forget... well, I'm sure they'll jump out of the way before our feet hit the ground." Hound joked.
The ruby mech snorted and said something back in their native tongue, unknown to those passing by. "Mirage!" Hound scolded, "Now don't you go talkin' like that. The humans" he stressed, "aren't so bad. They're not too different from us if you think about it but if you're going to continue to hold them in that point of view then you're not going to be happy here. We all work with the humans on one-on-one activities everyday for hours on end. It's best you get used to them." Hound advised.
Mirage rolled his optics at the mech's statement but inwardly acknowledged it anyways, seeing some truth in his old friend's words. "Mirage, Hound!" Ratchet called from behind the duo. The two mechs turned and waited for the yellow medic to catch up, "What can we do for ya doc?" Hound asked.
"I need Mirage to come with me, I need to get a language data chip installed in him, I want to do another scan on him in case I missed or misread something back in Nevada and I want to try and get to work on that cloaking device of his." Ratchet answered casting a glance to the former spy.
Mirage nodded in understanding and began walking with the medic, absently making sure he watched his feet to avoid the puny inhabitants near his feet. "Good luck Mirage! Comm me when yer done and I'll show ya around the base!" Hound called to his retreating figure. Mirage threw a servo up in acknowledgement before bringing it back down and continued on his silent trek to the med bay.
"Besides your cloaking device malfunctioning, do you feel like everything else is alright?" Ratchet asked after some time. Mirage broke his gaze off of his feet and made a small noise of confirmation before looking back down, faintly noting how the small Earth creatures moved so briskly up and down the halls as they completed their daily jobs.
"Interesting little things aren't they?" Ratchet asked without looking back at the cherry mech. Mirage looked up at the back of Ratchet's helm curiously, wondering what he was talking about. "The humans." Ratchet answered his unvoiced questioned with a small look over his shoulder to meet his curious gaze with his calm one.
"They are a young species capable of intelligence and they have varying emotions that sometimes cause them to have difficulties with handling certain situations. But they are also devoted to the ideas of life as being precious and special, despite what ever violent acts they carry out on each other on occasion." he said.
Mirage frowned a little bit, ::They sound like they're more trouble than they're worth:: he commed over to the medic. Much to Mirage's surprise, Ratchet laughed but he didn't understand why. What had he said that was that funny?
"Oh trust me Mirage, they are." Ratchet agreed with a laugh,"And as much as you want to detest them, it's nearly impossible too. They always manage to worm their way into your spark and keep a tight hold on it." He said, thinking about a certain curly haired woman who had grabbed a hold of not only his spark but many others too.
Mirage rolled his optics, he highly doubted any sack of organic mess would get a 'hold of his spark' but he decided not to say anything to the mech.
0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *
" There you go, try that Mirage." Ratchet said as he stepped away from the mech seated on the medical berth once he was done with the installation process. " Try saying something. " Ratchet instructed calmly. The cherry mech cleared his vocal processor before opening his mouth to speak.
" Hello?" A heavy Italian accent said awkwardly. Ratchet smirked, oh the women of the base were just going love this. They always loved a man/mech with a good accent.
" Well you're all set vocally, you'll be able to communicate with everyone on base now. Now all that's left is to run some more scans on you to see what's going on with that cloaking device of yours." Ratchet stated and was going to run another scan on Mirage but suddenly paused when he received a comm.
::Ratch'! Heard y'all were back buddy!:: Jazz's overly excited voice filtered through. Ratchet smirked amused, the youngling was only trying to get on his good side so he'd come get him down from the wall in the back of the room.
::Yes, we are. What of it?:: he mused in an uninterested tone. ::Well," Jazz laughed nervously ::I've been up 'ere for a while an' I'm pretty sure I've learned m'lesson. Can't ya find it in yer spark to forgive a stubborn, ungrateful mech like me an' get me down now?:: he asked hopefully.
::Hmmm...:: Ratchet mused thoughtfully, inwardly enjoying the torment he was putting Jazz through. ::Aw come on Ratch'! Please?! I'm sorry 'kay? I'm sorry! I won' disobey you again as long as I can help it, promise!::
Ratchet knew that, that was as good as an apology he would get and he supposed he could accept it. ::Fine, but I'm busy with Mirage right now. Have Jolt get you down:: Ratchet instructed. ::Jolt ain't around though!:: Jazz protested almost immediately.
Ratchet huffed in slight frustration with the saboteur. ::Well, get Élise to get you down then.:: he compromised. ::She ain't around either!:: Jazz whined. ::Well then you're in quite a predicament then aren't you?! Because I'm not dropping everything to come and get you down. Where are they?:: Ratchet demanded irritably.
Ratchet could practically see Jazz shrug helplessly at the question, ::I dunno' they went off and disappeared after Jolt put out the call 'bout the energon. Haven't seen them since.:: Ratchet sighed heavily as he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose at the same time.
::Well you'll just wait then, I'll be there in a few minutes. Ratchet out.:: Ratchet blew air through his vents, what was he going to do with these guys? "Someone giving you trouble?" Mirage inquired knowingly.
"When isn't someone giving me trouble?" Ratchet answered rhetorically as he ran a scan over the mech without a warning. Mirage frowned and winced a bit at the sudden tingling sensation that racked over his form, after all of these cycles he still wasn't used to the medic's scans - abrupt or not.
"I appreciate the warning, Ratchet." Mirage muttered rhetorically as Ratchet stared at the results. Ratchet narrowed his optics but did not turn to face the sarcastic mech, he simply waved him off,"Mute it youngling before I weld your aft to the wall." he threatened.
Mirage lifted an eye ridge in curiosity, "Y-you welded somebot's aft to the wall? Whose?" he asked incredulously, wondering who had been ignorant enough to push Ratchet's temper that far. " Why Jazz's of course." Ratchet answered as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
Jazz? Jazz, of all bots got his aft welded to the wall? It was funny to hear, don't get him wrong but Mirage couldn't help but feel a spark of doubt flicker through him. While he meant no disrespect to the CMO in front of him, everyone knew Ratchet was not as young as he used to be and while Jazz wasn't the youngest bot on base - he was still young nonetheless.
How the elderly bot got a hold of the young, crafty, evasive bot was a mystery. And how he managed to keep a hold of him while he welded Jazz's rear end to the wall was even a bigger one.
"It wan't that hard." Ratchet suddenly spoke, catching the spy's attention, "He's been out of commission for a long time now and he's just now getting back on his feet. It didn't take much to get him offline." he said with a shrug. Mirage frowned,"Why was he out of commission?" Mirage questioned.
"Megatron ripped him in half during our first few weeks of being on this planet, during the battle of Chicago." Ratchet informed regretfully. Mirage stared at him, stunned. Jazz was ripped in half by Megatron?! Mirage couldn't even imagine the feeling of going through it.
"The battle of Chicago?" he echoed confused. Ratchet nodded gravely, "Yes, unsurprisingly it was over the Allspark." he grumbled dully, " The battle against the Decepticons was going in our favor until Megatron arrived. Ironhide, Jazz and I called a retreat when we spotted him- but it wasn't an easy one and Megatron kept getting closer and closer to us.
I...I wasn't powerful enough to take on Megatron by myself and Ironhide was already in a battle of his own, so Jazz took it upon himself to attack Megatron head on to cover our escape.
Jazz tried to fight Megatron but once he was in that monster's grasp, I knew it would be over for him." Ratchet said with a shake of his helm, " But seeing as Jazz isn't one to give up so easily, he still continued to try and fight - even when Megatron lifted him far above his helm, holding him by his arms and legs.
Jazz came to the conclusion that he would have rather fought to the bitter end then surrender to Megatron, and he managed to get two shots in on the mech before Megatron just tore him in half a moment later.
He wan't even phased by Jazz's last attempt to cause some harm to him. And after that was done, Megatron just tossed his parts away as if Jazz was just another piece of trash you would find on the street!" Ratchet growled bitterly and silently cursed that pit spawned fragger to the deepest parts of the Pit for what he had done.
The medic took a calming breath and continued on," As soon as I was able too, I rushed over and did everything physically possible for a field surgery. I got him somewhat stabilized and we moved him under the Hoover damn. We spent a good six months there until they moved us out here to Diego Garcia, and we've been here for over a little more than a year and a half now.
In all reality Jazz was lucky to survive for as long as he did. For countless months on end, he spent his time in limbo and no matter how hard I worked on him it just seemed like he'd slip away at any second.
It wasn't until Epps called in his niece, did things start looking up for Jazz. She healed him when I couldn't, and for that - and for many other things as well- , I am in her debt. We all are." Ratchet noted with a small smile. Mirage frowned,"A human healed Jazz when you couldn't?" he said doubtfully, "I find that very hard to believe." he retorted.
The medic frowned a bit, "That's just the thing though, she's not human."Ratchet said with a shake of his helm. Mirage quirked an eye ridge, "Then what in the name of Primus is she if she's not human?" he asked.
" A mutant." The yellow medic answered as a matter of fact."A...mutant" Mirage repeated slowly to make sure he heard Ratchet correctly. "Yes, she's a mutant with a similar ability as your own but her powers have much more to them then one would think." Ratchet mentioned.
Mirage gave him a look,"Care to elaborate?" he asked sourly. The idea of some inferior being not only having a similar ability as him, but to have even more to it irked Mirage.
"Epp's niece can turn invisible like you can but she can't be detected by technology - something that was quite the problem for us if you recall back to the days on Cybertron." Ratchet said with a pointed look. Mirage glared at the medic in front of him heatedly, so it was his fault the Decepticons created a technology to track his cloaking device?!
" She also has the powers of phasing," Ratchet continued, brushing off the bitter mech's glare," electricity and the ability to be able render herself absolutely silent." He listed. "So Optimus took her in to replace me." Mirage stated after processing what the medic had reported back to him.
Ratchet blinked once,"What?" He asked dumbly. Mirage rolled his optics, he hated it when bots played stupid." What you just described to me was the perfect spy, maybe even a perfect saboteur as well…Optimus brought her in to take mine and Jazz's places among the Autobots didn't he?" Mirage accused.
When Ratchet didn't say anything for a few moments, Mirage knew that he was right. This woman was brought here to replace them both. He wouldn't lie, he felt hurt by Optimus's decision to have some earth woman replace him and Jazz. Where was Optimus's faith in him, in them?
" It was only temporary Mirage," Ratchet began but the mech didn't want to hear his excuses. Mirage jumped off the berth and began walking towards the med bay doors much to the surprise of Ratchet.
" Mirage, where are you going? I haven't even began the repairs for your cloaking device yet!" Ratchet cried and reached out for the cherry mech's wrist but Mirage jerked out of his reach before Ratchet could clamp down on him.
"Forget it! I don't need it fixed anymore, you have your spy already." Mirage snarled and stormed out of the med bay. Ratchet watched the ruby red mech leave with a regretful sigh, he couldn't exactly say that he blamed the mech for acting this way.
He supposed that if Optimus had brought in an Earth woman to replace him as the Autobot medic, he'd be rather ticked off and hurt too. He just hoped someone told him the complete truth behind the reason Élise being brought in before Mirage did or said something he'd regret.
::~Ohh Ratchet! I'm waiting darlin'!~:: A small smile managed to work it's way onto the elderly medic's face plates at the sound of Jazz's ridiculous call. He supposed he could get him down now, he had nothing better to do now that Mirage had stormed off.
0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*
"Ohh my God these cinnamon buns are life!" Élise groaned in pleasure from her sprawled out position on one of the stainless steel tables in the laboratory, nibbling away at the gooey treat in her hand.
Kayden paused in his work and looked over at her with a quirked brow and an incredulous smile, "Where did you even get that?" he questioned, " We went straight down here after Jolt gave us the okay to make more energon."
Élise smirked and pointed the rest of her cinnamon bun at him, "Don't test meh boy," she said with a heavy accent and then took another bite. The scientist rolled his eyes playfully and turned back around, returning to his contribution to the synthetic drink.
" I'll believe that when you can actually manage to get around base without asking for directions and keep track of your shoes for more than a few days." he muttered under his breath.
Élise didn't fully hear what he had said but she knew he had made a comment about her specifically, "What? What was that?! You wanna repeat that Kayden? Can't understand you with all the crap coming out of your mouth right now." Élise retorted with a smile as she propped herself onto her elbows.
Kayden smiled and peered at her from over his shoulder,"I said I want to test that cinnamon bun you have to see if they slipped something into it. That's what I want to do." he lied, thinking it was better for his safety if he didn't repeat what he had originally said.
Élise opened her mouth to reply but soon closed it, yeah, she could see why he wanted to test the remains of her treat. She dropped back down onto her back and nodded, "Yeah, you probably should...next time though. I want the rest of this." she said and popped the rest of the sticky bun in her mouth and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing.
"Kayden, do you have any like...synthetic milk down here?" Élise asked after a few lip smacks. Kayden snorted good naturedly ,"You already have me making a synthetic energon, one thing at a time!" he insisted.
She pouted and groaned heavily, man she really needed something to drink. After a few moments of living with her increasing thirst problem, she swung herself up with a sigh and hoped off of the table.
"Okay, well you go on and keep doing your sciency thing." she said with a wave towards the glowing blue imitation liquid, " I am going to find something to drink. I'll be back later." Élise promised.
Kayden nodded in understanding and gave a little wave goodbye, "Alright…..don't get lost! " he called after she was far out of his field of vision. "You know what?!" Élise yelled and to Kayden's surprise, she suddenly skirted around the corner and threw her shoe at his head.
"Hey!" he yelped with a laugh as he attempted to protect both his head and creation from the offending object. Élise smirked at the semi injured scientist before turning and walking back to the elevator with her head held high.
...
Right as the elevator reached the main floor and Élise walked out, a cherry red foot about five times her size came down right in front of her. "Woah, watch what's around your feet here big guy!" Élise called the new mech after her miniature heart attack had disappeared with out a trace.
Mirage stopped in his tracks and turned around to see a woman with smooth, caramel colored skin, pale blue grey eyes and light brown curls that spiraled down to her shoulders that framed her face very well. He supposed that she would be considered very pretty to the male population of this planet, she did have the looks to catch a wandering eye from a mile away.
Mirage snapped out of the contemplation he found himself in over her appearance and focused back on her as a whole. She was regarding him with an amused smile and a quirked brow, " As tempting as it is to squish us, I'm pretty sure you'd regret it later." she mused.
"And pray tell well, why is that?" Mirage responded, his accent heavy and thick. Élise's smile grew larger when he spoke, she was really loving that accent of his. She could listen to it all day if she wanted to - not that she would ever tell him that anyways.
"We leave too much of a mess if you squish us and then you'd have to clean up later. Then there's also the gross fact that you may not be able to get our mess off of you completely." she pointed out with a shrug.
Mirage frowned with a grimace, humans were disgusting. "See? I made you think twice about it didn't I?" Élise smiled with a laugh. Mirage huffed lightly and nodded, "Yes, I suppose you did." he answered truthfully.
"Well good, now no one can say that I've never given any helpful advice before." she joked lightly before regarding him carefully. Élise knew that this was Mirage, it would only make sense that this way him - there were no other new bots on the island.
Élise noted how outwardly he remained calm and collected but hidden within his optics, was a totally different story. Behind those calm glowing blue optics was a hurt, angry and betrayed look. No doubt she was the cause of that, but she wondered if he realized that he was talking to the very person that was the causing his upset nature.
"So, Mr. Fancy accent." Élise started up again before the mech tried to make a break for it and continue on his way, "What's got you in such a grump? Sand in your gears? Temperature bugging you?
Are you hungry? Or did you just get some form of unpleasant news and it put you in a bad mood?" she rattled off casually, holding her hands behind her back as she rocked on her heels.
Mirage hesitated and watched her carefully, how had she known something was upsetting him? He had made sure to remain calm and collected as he strolled through the base so there would be no talk about the upset newcomer.
"Trust me big guy, I know." Élise smirked, " I know all about that putting on a calm and collected look so others won't know how you're really feeling act. I do it every once in a while and it's pretty easy for me to see it in those optics of yours." she said with a point to said glowing metallic orbs before placing her hand back behind her back and continued rocking on the balls of her feet.
"You're hurt, worried and angry at something or someone - that much I can tell but don't worry it's not noticeable unless you run into anyone as perceptive as I am." she assured with a small smile before continuing on.
"If it makes you feel any better for some reason, I'm feeling the same way pretty much even though you can't tell." she shrugged, "I just found out I'm getting replaced and now I'm technically out of a job or jobs if you will. Only thing that I can do now is work down in the lab with the scientists and contribute what I can." she frowned.
Mirage narrowed his optics slightly, "A little of something is better than nothing at all." he stated before giving a small sigh, "but it seems we have something in common little Earthling." he admitted.
"I am getting replaced as well and am 'out of a job' as you say. It seems like my position has been filled during my absence and I am no longer needed." he said with an angry and hurt glare to the floor in front of him.
Élise frowned heavily with an absent shake of her head, no, no, no. He had it all wrong, he was needed! "What was your job?" she asked 'curiously' . "I am the Autobot spy...or at least I was anyways." he added bitterly.
Élise snorted, "I hardly think Optimus has replaced you...what's your name?" she asked for her performance's sake. "He has and my designation is Mirage. And what is your designation?" he asked in return.
There was no way she would tell him that he was having a conversation with the very being he was being 'replaced' by, "Cipher." Élise answered smoothly. "Cipher?" Mirage echoed curiously. That sounded more like a code name than a real designation.
"Mhm." Élise nodded innocently. "Is Cipher your real designation?" The cherry mech asked with a slight tilt of his helm. "Is Mirage yours?" she shot back smartly with a small smirk.
The corners of his lip plates tilted upwards, "No," he admitted with a shake of his helm, " my carriers had originally designated me Dino but my friends gave me the code name Mirage and it just stuck. It's rather fitting if I do say so myself." Mirage noted.
"And how do you figure?" Élise asked genuinely curious. "Well, I have a special ability to create illusions which either typically render me invisible or make it seem like I am somewhere else." Mirage explained, his voice full of self pride.
Élise smiled impressed, "Dude, that's pretty freaking cool." she confessed honestly, "Can I see a demonstration?" the young woman asked. Mirage suddenly shifted uncomfortably much to her confusion, she didn't understand what there was to be embarrassed or shy about.
"Well go on, Mr. Fancy Accent." she said with an encouraging smile, "Show me what you got." she insisted. Mirage frowned and looked away from the curly haired woman in front of him, "I- I'm afraid I can not at the moment." he hesitantly answered.
Élise quirked an eye brow, "Why not? What's the matter?" she questioned. Mirage opened his mouth to speak but soon closed it, ashamed of his previous actions that was stopping him from showing his new acquaintance his abilities.
Perhaps he should have kept his temper in check while speaking with Ratchet and at least pretend to listen to the medic as he explained Optimus's actions instead of storming off as he did. His cloaking device would be fixed if he had at least.
A sudden pressure on his foot startled the mech out of his daze, he looked down and seen 'Cipher' hugging his foot to the best of her ability. "Come on, tell Mama Cipher." she joked with a broad smile as she took one hand and began rubbing circles into the shiny red metal in what seemed like a comforting fashion.
Mirage watched her with a strange look on his face plates, why was she rubbing his foot? And why did she address herself as 'Mama Cipher'? "The device that allows me to access my powers is currently broken, I can only flicker in and out of sight for a few seconds tops." Mirage finally explained after he broke away from his confused musings about the somewhat strange woman he had encountered.
Élise picked up her head and gave him an incredulous look, "That's it? Why don't you go get it fixed?" she asked. "Ratchet and I did not exactly part ways on a good note." Mirage answered awkwardly, "I may have over reacted over this new girl and stormed out of the medbay before he could fix my cloaking device." he said.
Élise felt her eyes widen a fraction, "And...who is she exactly?" Élise asked carefully. " I do not know her personally nor do I even know her name but she is the one who has been replacing me." the mech grumbled unhappily.
"Do you know why? I mean, what made her stand out enough to have Optimus call her in?" the curly haired mutant questioned. Mirage huffed and shrugged his shoulders indifferently, "She is some advanced human abomination related to one of the high ranking men who work here from what I am told." he said coldly.
Élise winced at the mech's words and felt her face deflate, she's been called a lot of things before. A monstrosity, a freak and a disgrace but never an abomination. That one was new to her but it hurt no less than all the other words she's been called before. In fact, she was pretty sure this one had hit her a lot harder than the others ever had.
"T-that's a little harsh don't you think big guy?" Élise asked, struggling to keep her voice level. "Perhaps." Mirage acknowledged but soon shook his helm," But that is none of my concern right now.
To be quite frank with you, I am a mech of my pride and when I heard that Optimus replaced me, I was hurt. However, when I learned it was by some humanoid atrocity, I was angry.
If Optimus would have at least replaced me with someone of equal standards as myself, not only would I have managed to maintain my pride but I would have been more accepting of the matter at hand." he explained in a dignified manner.
Well, wasn't he just the nicest bot around? As the mech's words processed in her mind, Élise swallowed thickly and slowly stepped away from the mech. She suddenly did not feeling like talking to the Italian accented mech anymore, she needed to leave before she ended up shoving a ball of electricity up this mech's tailpipe.
Luckily before she that could happen, she was saved by the sound of the familiar roar of a certain engine coming from around the corner. A smile had slipped onto her face when she seen Sideswipe's alt form come swerving around the corner and speeding down the hall, but for once an angry topkick wasn't chasing after him.
Right at the last second, Sideswipe slammed on his breaks and cartwheeled as he transformed back into his bipedal mode. "Show off." Élise murmured under her breath but said nothing else as the two now grinning Autobots greeted each other.
"Mirage! It's been a while mech, good to see you again!" Sideswipe laughed, clapping the cherry mech on the shoulder fondly. The darker colored mech laughed along with the swords master and nodded, returning the gesture with a smile,"It is good to see you as well, my friend." Mirage said truthfully as he let his hand slid back down to his side.
Élise subconsciously let her eyes drift over to Mirage's dropped arm and noticed that he had rather impressive looking blades attached to his wrists too but unlike Sideswipe's, Mirage's were curved and they were curved upwards towards his elbows.
Awe they were like blade buddies or something, that was so cute! Élise started when she realized that the two bots were staring down at her, one amused and the other confused. "What? What did I do?" she asked cluelessly.
"Blade buddies?" Sideswipe said dully with an amused smirk. Élise blushed and watched her feet shuffle in place awkwardly before steadily shuffling away from the two mechs with a nervous laugh.
"Well, looks like I just made a fool of myself and in front of the new guy nonetheless." she admitted with a sheepish smile, "So I...am just gonna...leave.... Later!" she exclaimed quickly before whipping around and taking off down the hall in one smooth motion.
Mirage watch with raised eye ridges as the curly haired woman run like her life depended on it and quickly vanish around the corner, effectively escaping their line of eye sight. He had to admit that, that wasn't too bad of a time for a little two legged creature.
Sideswipe let out a low whistle, impressed with his female friend as well, "That's gotta be the fastest I've ever seen her move before." he mentioned with a nod of his helm before snapping out of his semi stupor.
"So I'm gonna take it that you and little Shirley Temple were having a conversation just a few moments ago?" Sideswipe asked. Mirage looked at his old friend confused, "Shirley...Temple?" he echoed lost.
Sideswipe smirked a bit and shook his helm, "Ignore that part," he said dismissively. He would explain the reference later, Sideswipe just wanted to know if his two friends got along on their first meeting.
"I was talking about the little darling that just hauled some serious aft down the hall." Sideswipe clarified with a pointed thumb jerked over his shoulder. A look of understanding flashed across Mirage's face plates and he nodded, "Yes, we were." he confirmed.
"So how do you like her?" Sideswipe asked a bit anxiously. Mirage hesitated a bit as he contemplated over the conversation and then nodded slowly, "She is a bit strange." he began as he recalled her strange actions involving his foot.
"But she is smart and perceptive too." Mirage added as he thought about how easily she could see past his mask from when they first laid eyes upon each other. "What do you mean she's a bit strange?" the silver mech asked, "I mean as much as I love her, I agree with you. She is a bit odd compared to the others around the base but what did she do to make you say that?" he questioned.
"She hugged my foot and rubbed circles into my plating as she told me to reveal my problems to... 'Mama Cipher' " Mirage recalled awkwardly. Sideswipe snorted amused, yeah that was something Élise would do. He didn't know about the whole Mama Cipher thing but her fondling Mirage's foot was something he could see her doing.
Sideswipe smiled and clapped Mirage's shoulder once again with a laugh, "Yeah. That sounds like something she would do, suggest you get used to it bud." he advised before moving away and motioning the red bot to follow him.
"Stuff like that is kind of a daily thing with her, it's best not to try and understand the things she says or does. You'll only give yourself a processor ache." Sideswipe chuckled,
"Now come on, let's go find Hound. The mech's running around like a chicken with its' head cut off trying to find you so he can show you the rest of the base." he said and skated back towards where he came from with his friend trailing behind him
0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Élise blew air through her lips as she finally slowed herself down to a slow walk, man running took effort. It didn't exactly help that she was already practically dying of thirst from the start either.
If she had to be honest, she didn't even feel like taking another step forward...or standing nonetheless. Shrugging to herself she lowered herself down onto the cool tiled floor and began rolling down the hallway, much to her own amusement and to those who watched her as she rolled past.
"Watcha doing there Élise?" One of the soldiers asked as he and his two friends came to a stop as they watched her roll past them in the opposite direction, "Going to go find something to drink!" she answered easily as she came to a stop facing upwards.
"And you're not walking because...?" one of his friends asked with a smile. "Because the laziness is real!" Élise exclaimed and then continued rolling down the hall, gaining their laughter in return.
"Man, she is something else. I'm glad she came here, I think I would have died of boredom long ago if she hadn't." she faintly heard one of them comment with a laugh. His comment had gained murmurs of agreement from the other two men with him and Élise felt touched. Awe, she felt special now!
After a few more minutes of rolling down the halls of base and having similar encounters with those she came across, the cafeteria came into sight. It was about time, all this rolling around was beginning to take its' toll on her. There would be no guarantee she would be able to maintain her balance if she tried to stand up at the moment.
"Lennox! Hey Lennox!" she called, spotting the handsome captain out of the corner of her eye leaving the cafeteria with a bottle of water in his hand. She increased her rolling pace to get to him before he left her line of eye sight.
Lennox stopped in his tracks and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Down here hun!" Élise said, slowing her rolling to a slow pace before she got close to him. Lennox looked down at the ground and began laughing almost immediately, what in the world was she doing?
"Élise," he laughed and he crouched down close to her height,"What the hell are you doing?" he questioned good naturedly. "Trying to find something to drink." she answered with a smile of her own and reached upwards, grabbing at the air near the water bottle in his hand.
"You want this?" he asked in mock shock. Élise nodded "Mhm, I ate a cinnamon bun and now I kinda regret it because now I'm like cray cray thirsty...soo~ sharing is caring." she finished with a hopeful smile.
Lennox smirked, "You know, you say that but I don't actually see you ever doing it." he pointed out, jerking the water bottle out of reach when she suddenly made an attempt to snatch it out of his hand.
"You are crazy, I do share!" she protested with a pout when he dangled the plastic container out of her reach. "Oh really?" Lennox asked disbelievingly. "Yes, really."Élise echoed with finality.
A large smirk spread across his lips as he rose one eye brow questionably,"So where's my cinnamon bun?" he asked. Élise froze and let her pale blue grey orbs widen comically in realization, aw come on! That wasn't fair!
She blinked once and frowned a bit as she crossed her arms over her chest, "That's not fair, I didn't know where you were!" she protested with a pout. Lennox shrugged and began standing up, "Ahh well life's not fair either now is it?" he chuckled.
Élise frowned and quickly maneuvered herself up onto her feet far faster than Lennox had anticipated and lunged at the man,"Just share damn it! My mouth is like a dessert!" she cried as she tackled a squawking Lennox down to the floor.
The two began wrestling around on the tiled floor, both fighting to keep the water bottle in their hands when ever they managed to clamp down on it. However the bottled liquid would just be knocked away soon after and then it was another scramble to get to it first.
Subconsciously, they knew they had attracted a crowd that was growing by the minute seeing as one portion of the group was cheering on Lennox and the other was cheering on Élise.
After a few minutes of this, Élise had finally gained the upper hand and got the bottle of water in her hands. However right as she wrapped her fingers around the cover to twist it off, Lennox came up from behind her and wrapped an arm around her - desperately reaching for the water bottle with his other limb.
Élise squealed in surprise and to her horror he managed to get a hold of the water bottle, forcing her to hold onto the bottle for dear life. After a few moments of struggling to keep the bottle in her grasp, several things all happened at once. Élise maneuvered her captured arm free from his grasp and grabbed his sleeve.
She relinquished her grip on the water bottle, wrapped her other arm around the back of his neck and lowered his head downwards. Then she positioned her hips at just the right angle, leaned forward - lifting the full grown man off of the floor and swiveled her hips, proceeding to throw him to the ground in one smooth motion.
Man she loved that move, judo hip toss for the win baby!
Lennox hit the ground hard and landed with a loud 'Omphf!'. Their spectators all gasped and a dead silence filled the hallway for about ten seconds until someone broke the silence with laughter, causing others to join in a moment after.
"You okay Lennox?" Élise asked with a laugh of her own as she squatted down to the stunned man on the ground. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where did you learn how to do that exactly?" he groaned with a slow blink.
"Youtube." she answered honestly with a shrug. Lennox closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, of course she learned it off of Youtube. You wouldn't need to pay anybody to learn how to flip someone like that unlike if you actually went to an actual judo class.
Lennox re-opened his eyes and got back onto his feet with the help of the younger woman in front of him, discreetly rubbing his throbbing hip with a wince once he regained his footing. He had to admit that it was cool that she could flip someone, a.k.a a full grown man with years of military training, after watching some type of imitation of it off the internet but it still hurt like hell.
Not noticing the actions of her friend, Élise walked over and grabbed the discarded water bottle that had fallen down back onto the floor near the dispersing crowd of people. She twisted the cap off before taking a well deserved drink, "Oh my goodness that is so much better!" she whispered gratefully and took another swig of water.
Lennox snorted and rolled his eyes, he guessed he didn't want that water anyways. "Hey, did you say your mouth was like a dessert, when we started our little wrestling match?" Lennox asked after a moments' thought.
Élise blushed a bit, "Maybe." she admitted as she screwed the cap back on but then shook her head and waved her hand dismissively, "Dessert. Desert. It's all the same thing. You knew what I meant" she assured.
But suddenly a thought hit her like a ton of bricks, she was supposed to be back with Kayden already! "And oh my God I forgot about Kayden!" she cried in realization and quickly whipped around, running back down the hall and towards the elevators again.
"Don't worry Kayden, momma's coming!" Élise yelled as she skirted around the corner and vanished out of sight. Lennox chuckled and shook his head before placing a hand over his abused hip again.
He really wanted to go get some ice for this, but the guys down in the cafeteria sure were going to get a good laugh if they asked why he needed the ice if they hadn't of heard what had happened yet by the group of spectators who had seen the whole ordeal.
Lennox sighed, he supposed it would be worth it. He doubted any of them they could get judo flipped like that and not want to put some ice on their abused body parts either. He took a calming breath and walked back into the cafeteria, bracing for the worst.
"Hey Lennox! Heard you got judo flipped over a bottle of water man!" one of the soldiers called from a table closest to the door with a laugh as he spotted the captain walking in with his hand over his hip and he was soon followed by his friends in laughter.
Lennox sighed tiredly, this was going to be fun.
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Hey! Thanks for the read and the reviews! I appreciate it :). Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors you found.