Mini chapter – Grimlock.
Ellen was sorting through paperwork, updating her notes on her pad and making a few phone calls, left alone with Grimlock in the scrap yard due to the others mission being in a dense population, they had to leave him behind.
Which made Ellen's work that would take twenty minutes or so to a speed of two minutes an hour. Because he was hovering.
"Whatcha doin'?" he asked like a small child.
"Still working Grimlock." She said for the fifteenth time.
"You not done yet? I'm bored. I'd do this with Russell or Denny but you're the only one that's left isn't that great? You were my fourth choice."
In a typical sarcastic manner, "4th place? Wow, I think that's the highest rank I've ever had, I should take that as an insult but I don't set my hopes high so I'm actually flattered. Grimlock I've said already, the more you talk to me the less work I do. I promise I'll be done soon."
"Then you'll be my human test subject for my disguise idea?" He asked excitably.
"Despite not agreeing to participate in the first place? Yes. And your sure if won't destroy or injure anyone?" She said with her own well being in mind.
"It's more of a technique, but I'm pretty sure it won't...maybe. Well, it'll definitely be different than last time." He assured grinning.
"Last, Time?" Ellen quivered.
Grimlock then turned at a 180 degree angle intending to patiently wait at a distance, but in doing so swung his tail as Ellen's folded table flew across the scrap yard alongside her paperwork, phone but fortunately saved her tablet that was tightly held to her chest. Her eyes widened as Grimlocks tail just about brushed over her head feeling like a swirled gust of wind, Ellen noted this must have been the seventh time she has seen her life flash before her eyes.
Her eye twitched as she grit her teeth.
Grimlock looked over her space as it seemingly disappeared, "Hey! Your right you were faster! You're all done!"
"I. Am. Now." She hissed trying to remain calm her eyes darting around to the once neatly stacked pile now a garbage pile of its own.
"Technique time?" he said wagging his tail.
She sighed like a person accepting their own death, "Sure Grimlock, let's see what you've come up with." She said with aggressive cheer.
Grimlock gestured his hands, excitable and nervous to present his idea, he really wanted this to work, "Right okay, so here it is...I go hide, you have to try and find me, so we know that my technique works."
"You go hide and I seek? Is that what you're asking me to do?"
"Your a sharp one, Bee was right about you. I had my doubts but, you came through." He said putting up a thumbs up.
"That's twice now i should feel insulted but again, low expectations cushion my falls." She shrugged, "Listen Grimlock I think the nature of what your proposing is...er a little ahead of its time and might not be appreciated or practical in this kind of environment, so I think I'll pass."
"Huh?"
"N-yeah, Grimlock what your-"
He looked on with a quivering lip, "My technique."
She stared at this once confident Dinobot, with such an intimidating build and presence, sat down on the ground with a limp tail and widened eyes as he trailed a clawed digit into the Earth making circles, "This is too relatable." Ellen noted as she breathed in deep, "Br-Brilliant! It's just Mmm! On point! 'I think I'll pass' is what I wouldn't say!"
Grimlock shuffled around so his back was facing her, "your just saying that." He uttered.
"No-No! I mean it I was just-" Grimlocks forehead was suddenly pushing up against Ellen's, as she tried to push against his nose with her hands to stop herself from falling over, her eyes forced into staring at Grimlocks.
"Yes!" he exclaimedin her face, "Okay you count to ten, I'll go test out my blending in technique." He ran off. The sudden pull back of his head made Ellen fall forward and flat on her face. She had accepted falling as an average part of her day and merely held her chin in her hand, tapping the ground.
"Good grief, wish I could bounce back as quick as him." She hummed. "Wait counting? This is just straight up hide and seek..." she looked around, "I hope no one comes back right now."
"Why aren't you counting!" called Grimlock.
"S-Sorry! 1-2-what the rotten turnips am I doing?-3-4-10!" she started wandering around mumbling to herself, "Its hide n' seek, I'm playing hide and seek with a Dinobot, one off the bucket list I guess. Well he's really sure of this technique, He's taking it pretty seriously, Maybe Its not as simple as a game maybe he has acquired some form of camouflage. Cloaking maybe, or nano-"
"Yeah okay, that's a hard no." Ellen face palmed looking over a huge pile of scrap metal and mascot figurines, with a huge noticeable green tail sticking out of it. She bit her lip, does she humour him a little or be savagely truthful? "Hm, gosh he's trying his best, but then I don't want to lead him on...it could get him killed out there...okay-okay I'll let him down gently...seriously though?"
"He-he." She heard from the pile.
She froze clenching her fist, "Gosh darn it, he's adorable..." she held her head, the idea of trying to play along with a grown Dinobot taking a childish game seriously made her very uncomfortable. She stiffened as she decided to play along for a little while stating in a robotic tone, "Oh-gee-I wonder-where Grimlock-has gone to?" she said lazily looking left and right.
"Sneaky-sneaky." Came Grimlock.
Ellen rolled her eyes lightly, "Okay that's just about enough for me, Found you Grimlock."
He poked his head up from the top, "Aw what gave me away?"
"Saying out loud 'sneaky-sneaky' kind of gave you away, also your tail had other plans."
He acknowledged his tail. "Oh. What do you think of it? I call it trash-pile."
"Wait seriously? That was anti climatic for something as similar as diving into a pile of raked leaves." She thought,"Um, well it's definitely a morale raiser, but not so much a reliable form of undercover."
"I thought for sure I got it right this time."
"We'll find you a disguise don't worry."
"I'm a very wide open spaces kinda Dinobot, its getting stuffy in this place. Denny and Russell have gone camping, even Fixit got to go this time." He said disheartened and slumping into the ground.
She looked around rubbing her arm, "H-Hey I think it's my turn now?"
"Your turn? Won't you be worried that your tail might stick out?"
"Er my tail is, pretty short." She placed a finger on the lowest part of her vertebrae.
He gasped, "It is short, I can't even see it. Lets do this."
She made numerous reasons in her head why she didn't need to do this, including the fact that she doesn't need a disguise, but his wagging tail was so hopeful and she didn't want to be 'lord buzz kill', or worse..Ratchet. She shuddered. "Sure, Grimlock, just one turn shouldn't hurt after all."
"Great, you'll be hiding from humans in plain sight in no time!"
Ellen could only offer a shaky thumbs up.
Bee and the others returned a long while after Grimlock and Ellen had started their 'training', six hours in fact. "So, bets on Grimlock squishing that know it all human?"
"Sideswipe that's incredibly disrespectful! And an unethical way of thinking!" Strongarm scolded shoving the bot.
"I agree Sideswipe, that was uncalled for." Bee said only because knowing Grimlock wasn't the gracious of bots, he was slightly worried such an accident could occur. "What am I worrying for? She's perfectly capable, I shouldn't insult her like this by thinking any different." He assured himself.
"I'm joking obviously! Lighten up. I bet Grimlock is the one in need anyway."
"Perhaps they are engaging in a quiet cask! Lask! WACK! Task!" Fixit commented.
Bee stopped at the entrance looking around the scrap yard and was now even more worried, "The yard it's..."
"Untouched." Strongarm finished.
"S-Seriously, I was only joking." Sideswipe stuttered. "But er, you may think of getting a-"
THACK!
Strongarm smacked Sideswipe across the back of the head, "Can you stop!"
"Med kit! I was going to say med kit Strongarm!" Sideswipe argued getting up in her face.
"Everyone stay calm, you don't know her the way I do, she's probably got Grimlock in a good state of distraction, obedience an-"
"I lost her!" Grimlock cried charging into Bee and embracing the bot. "I lost her I can't find her this is all my fault I'm too good at this disguise thing."
"Grimlock calm down, just try to explain." Bee wheezed through his spine crushing embrace.
"We were training, and I was teaching her my awesome disguise technique and I must have been too good a teacher! She's either turned invisible or shrunk so tiny that she's in a different dimensional plain of stealthy-ness!"
Just then Ellen burst out from under the hood of an old pickup truck
"Behold! I am Disguiso! All will love me and despair I-..." she froze to merely feeling the presence of the others.
She was wearing the old logo banner of a closed down fast food restaurant as a cape, she wore a string of greasy old flashlights like a belt, she had tied her jacket around her head like a bandana, held the top half of a streetlight as a staff, a piece off an old billboard as a shield and wore a plastic child sized Halloween batman mask.
All except Grimlock looked on with expressionless faces.
...
...?
"Oh good, maybe Disguiso knows where Ellen..." Grimlocks optics widened as his mouth widened inhaling to prepare for a huge gasp. "Wait a minute Disguiso is Ellen, what a twist!"
The others continued to stare at her with unmoving features.
Ellen was still frozen but felt her cheeks become heated.
Then in a quick thought before her face turned a deeper shade, she brushed herself down, still wearing her 'disguise' as she casually strolled to her table gathering her things and headed for her bike, "Since you guys are back now I shall be off, I re-calibrated some of the security systems as well as the ships, I also left a draft on some of the weaker points surrounding the scrap yard that may expose you to attack." She then clasped her hands, rubbing them together, "Well then, I'll see you all another time. Grimlock. Thank you for the, 'technique' and goodbye." She continued on towards her bike as the others slowly followed her with their gaze in silent awe.
"E-Ellen?" Bee finally spoke up in a shaky voice.
"Yes?"she said calmly, trying to pull off an 'emperors new cloths'.
"N-Nothing."
"Cool." She hopped on her bike and drove as fast as she could down the road without a second thought.
"What did we just see?" Strongarm asked, her lip quivering from trying to keep it together. "Was that the, 'Theatre' thing that she does?"
"I...I should be laughing, mocking her at the least but...I...I can't do it." Sideswipe said in genuine turmoil. "How does someone, subject themselves like that?"
Bee snapped out of and shook his head, "Don't be dramatic, she was just in costume. Its completely normal behavior for humans to dress up, even without...context or a reason...or if it was for one of those costume gatherings? Halloween?" he shrugged, "I got nothing, honestly."
They stood still and silent until Bee spoke up again,
"All in favor of never speaking of this again?"
"Aye."
"Aye." (Grimlock?)
"Aye."
"Eye-Aye" (Fixit)
"Um, Nay." (Sideswipe, grinning to the realization that he could use this for future reference)
"By the way, what are we not speaking about?" said Grimlock. "Hey, did you guys see her disguise? I'm almost jealous! Now she can go into cities without worrying about humans seeing her." Grimlock grinned, his work here was done.
"Uh Grimlock?" Sideswipe said. "She is human."
Grimlocks expression changed to shock, "Wait..." he pointed in the direction Ellen had left and then back to himself, he repeated this several times until he arrived at a conclusion and gasped. "You guys! I think she tricked me! All this time she was disguised from us! I feel so used." He said feeling betrayed.
They all facepalmed.
A/N Even I'm not entirely how Ellen decided to get into costume.