When Steeljaw and Thunderhoof finished speaking Jawsplitter came forward again, "That's all, you all may now return to your residence or go about your business!" All the bots stand up and begin leaving as they talk amongst themselves about the new leaders and rules set in place, "Strongarm, you stay!" Jawsplitter says as he walks off the platform.
Strongarm rolled her optics as she looks over at Topper, "You go on, I'll be there in a bit." Topper just nods with a worried look and walks off. Strongarm walks over to Jawsplitter and he leads her to a spot where they can talk in private.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner Strongarm. I just couldn't find a way to tell you. I mean I knew you wouldn't be upset about it but I just couldn't bring myself to say the words to your face."
"We might not have gotten as close as you wanted but I will say that I will miss you. I have known you since I was a sparkling after all, you basically raised me." Jawsplitter smiled at her. It warms his spark to hear that, "Why them? Why did you have to sell the city to them?"
"They made a good deal."
"Even knowing about their reputation you gave them the city because they offered the most credits?"
"That's what matters in this business Strongarm. It's not only ruthlessness and reputation that gets you far but also how much credits you possess. How do you think those two got so much territory on Cybertron?"
"They'll ruin the city."
"They promised me they wouldn't ruin it."
"And you believe them!?"
"Strongarm, settle down!" Jawsplitter says firmly.
"I just got a really bad feeling about this."
"You just don't trust them because they're mob leaders."
"Of course I don't trust them. I don't trust any mobsters."
Steeljaw watched the pair as they talked, though his optics were more so on the femme. He can tell that she's very unpleased with the arrangement but he's sure he can change her mind over time. His charms always work on the femmes, he hasn't met a femme yet that refused him. Though she's already proven to a bit difficult but that's fine, he loves a good challenge.
"I didn' appreciate you interrupting me like that Steeljaw." Thunderhoof says from beside him.
"Sorry about that, I just couldn't resist." Steeljaw says keeping his optics on the femme, "That femme is very intriguing."
"Let me guess, you found a new plaything. You just can't resist getting you one or two femmes to play with in each city."
Steeljaw finally looks over at him with a chuckle, "You should try it sometime, it really relieves stress."
"There are pleasure bots for that."
"True, but you can have fun with pleasure bots while playing with a couple of femmes. It's all just fun and games… Maybe not for the femmes after they find out that they were played, but for me it's all for fun."
"Well, you might want to find another femme 'cause somethin' tells me this femme isn't gonna go for it." Thunderhoof says as he points at Strongarm.
"But that's what makes her so intriguing, she's gonna be a challenge and you know I love challenges. I haven't had one in a while and the last femme that was supposed to be a challenge didn't take too much to convince. Then she turned out to be really annoying, I didn't even want to bother with her anymore." Steeljaw says with a grimace and a small quiver of disgust at the thought of the femme.
One of Jawsplitter's guys who resembled an Earth tiger overheard their conversation and couldn't help but put in his input, "You might want to take your friend's advice and look for another femme wolfie because you'll never get that femme into your berth. A lot of mechs have tried and failed, a few even came close to losing their spikes."
"She almost tore off their spikes?" Thunderhoof asked with a raised optic ridge, "She can't be that strong."
"Wanna bet?" The mech asked with a smirk, "She was trained by Jawsplitter himself."
Steeljaw's and Thunderhoof's optics widen as they both look over at the femme. From everything Steeljaw's been hearing about her, it seems she has a lot of fight in her. It makes him interested to see exactly how much fight she has and if she has a breaking point. He's also curious about how she even got caught up in Jawsplitter's gang and how she got so close to him. Steeljaw turns his attention back to the tiger, "She seems to really hate mobsters. So how did she get caught up with you guys?"
"I gotta go, Jawsplitter is leaving. If you really want to know her back story you need to get it from her, if she'll tell you." The mech replies before he runs off.
Steeljaw usually doesn't bother trying to get the back story of the femme he plans on making his plaything because he doesn't care, he's usually not that interested. But he hardly ever sees a femme caught up in the mob life and the femmes he does see in a mob group usually were apart of a mob family or were sparkmates with either the leader or one of the members. But either way, they loved the mob life and didn't mind that line of work. But this femme, Strongarm, she's caught up in the mob life and yet she hates mobsters. Why would she be so close to Jawsplitter and his gang if she despises them so much?
When Steeljaw looks back to where Strongarm was he sees that she's walked off already. He jumps down off the platform and runs off after her, "Eyo, where youse going!?" Thunderhoof shouts.
"I'll meet up with you later!" Steeljaw shouts back.
Thunderhoof shakes his helm, "He just doesn't listen, he's too focused on getting that aft." He mumbles to himself.
Strongarm decided to walk as she headed home. She smiled and waved at other bots passing by that smiled and waved at her. But all she can think about is the fact that Jawsplitter is leaving, sure she still hates him for killing her parents but after growing up with him and spending pretty much her entire life with him she's come to care about him a little bit. She wasn't lying when she said that she would miss him, she really will.
Her processor drifts to the two new mechs that now own this city. She doesn't care what Jawsplitter says she doesn't trust them and she doesn't believe they will keep their promise. She needs to hurry up and get out of the city.
"Strongarm!"
Strongarm froze, that was the voice of that Wolf-Con. How the frag did he get her name? Jawsplitter! That fragger told him her name!
"Hey Strongarm, what's the rush?" Steeljaw asked when he reached her.
Strongarm growled and rolled her optics as she turns to look at him, "Jawsplitter had no right to tell you my name!"
"Whoa, easy. What makes you think he told me?"
"He's the only fragger that would."
"Did you even consider that maybe I got it when he said your name at least two or three times back at the meeting?"
She had actually forgotten about that, "Right, I forgot about that." She says as she turns to walk off.
Steeljaw followed after her, "Sorry about the whole fifteen hundred credits thing. Thunderhoof really loves his credits and can go a bit over at times."
"The five hundred is no better. You mobsters need to understand that we can't make that much. But all you care about is reputation and being the toughest."
"It's the way it works…"
"I know, Jawsplitter keeps telling me that."
"I can lower the price for you."
Strongarm stops and looks at him skeptically, "What's the catch?"
Steeljaw gives a throaty chuckle, "You're a smart femme. All I ask in return is that you go on a date with me."
Strongarm glares at him, "You've scrambled your processor just as much as your partner has!" She turns to continue walking but Steeljaw refuses to give up.
"So I've scrambled my processor for wanting to take a beautiful femme out on a date?"
"No, you've scrambled your processor by thinking I would fall into such a trap! Using the pricing as a way to bribe me, you got some nerve!"
"Can't blame a mech for trying."
Strongarm is relieved when she finally gets to her apartment building, "This is my place. Good day to you." She says as she walks up the stairs. She was hoping Steeljaw would leave but he follows her right into the building. Why can't he take a hint?
Topper was entering the front area after cleaning up a mess when he saw Strongarm come in, "Hello Strongarm. How-?" He went silent when he saw the Wolf-Con walking in after her.
"Hello, Topper." Strongarm said with a smile as she walked to the elevator.
"Come on Strongarm, I'm not a bad mech." Steeljaw says as he looks around, "Nice place."
"Thank you." Topper says and Steeljaw looks over at him, Topper just smiles.
"That's Topper, he's the owner of this building." Strongarm tells him before she pushes the button for the elevator.
Steeljaw smirks, "Do I get to see your apartment?"
"No. I'm going to my apartment alone while you go to your place." Strongarm replies as she gets on the elevator, she quickly presses the button to close the door before Steeljaw gets on with her. The door closes in his face and she goes up to her floor.
Steeljaw looks at the door to the elevator as his tail wags a little bit, she's definitely going to be a challenge and he's looking forward to it.