((A/N: thanks Skavnema XD I pretty much like her too. She's very silly. ))

Chapter One: Of Decimals and Puddings.

"I think four," Hex said. She sat against her bed. The wall was much nicer to lean against, but something about the electrically charged bars stopped her from doing so. She watched as one of the guards paced back and forth. These last several days had been incredibly fun. Protoform X was a very understanding guy. He got why she wanted to maim and kill people perfectly.

She grinned to herself, sighing happily. He was very nice to her, and acted like a true gentlebot. It had been specifically fun to see him shock a guard by pulling the guy's head through the bars because the guard told her off for giggling so much. It had been a shame that Protoform X had shocked himself in the process too, though he didn't seem to mind.

He had explained that his spark healed any damage that was given to him. He had shown it to her too. The dents and tiny little craters the electrical shocks had given him had vanished before her eyes. She had clapped in excitement and had moved closer to the bars to see him do that. It stopped being nice when she disregarded the fact that her own bars were charged too.

The laughter of the guards had followed her into stasislock. When she woke up again, she was already back in her cell. Protoform X seemed to be grumpy before he had noticed she was awake again. She had promised him to be more careful around the bars.

"Four? Now you're mocking me," Protoform X said in his deep, rich voice. He had sat down against his bed as well, but he was facing her. The events of a few days ago didn't seem to have phased her much. He had actually been worried. But from what he understood of her stories, she quite often did such silly things.

She was a very innocent creature, bordering on insanity if she hadn't already crossed that boarder. He thought for a moment. Yeah, she had definitely passed that line a long time ago. He found her delightful though. He was starting to understand the Maximal concept of friendship. If ever he had any, Hex was his best friend. She shared his ideas of what exactly was fun and what wasn't.

"No, I meant me. DUH!" Hex exclaimed with a giggle. "For you, I'd say at least twenty. Maybe thirty if they're small. And if they're dwarves, at least fifty!"

Protoform X chuckled. They were discussing how many guards it would take to take them down if they escaped. The discussion was nice for multiple reasons. It meant they could share more of their past experiences, and it made the guards very uncomfortable.

"If cone head over here would attack you, how would you take him down?" he asked, indicating the guard walking back and forth between their cells. Hex sucked on her lower lip as she thought, a thing he had seen her do often when she had her mouthmask off.

"I think I'll cut his main energon vein first," Hex started, "That way he'll spray some blood all around, which is good for the decor. And then I'd bend all his joints in the wrong direction."
She started listing things using her fingers. She looked at the ceiling quite absently as she did. He was sure she was imagining it too. Sometimes, as she described in detail what would happen, she let out a small giggle.

The guard himself hunched his shoulders, glaring at both of them before finally stopping his pacing. He returned to the other guards. Hex was oblivious to it.

"... And after that's happened, I'll start making these small drill holes in his stomach and put viral worms in them and have them eat him on the in- you really need a nickname."

Protoform X blinked. That was another habit of hers. She'd jump from one subject to the other in a heartbeat.
"What do you offer?" he asked.

"I dunno. Something short. And cool and such. Something that describes you like you really are," Hex said with a shrug, turning her head in his direction. "You can think up one for me too."

She sucked on her lower lip again as she thought. Her face creased into a frown, which got deeper and deeper with each passing minute. What he wouldn't give to get a peek into that mind. He had no doubt that it was a very complicated, chaotic, but incredibly happy place.

"How about... Puddin'?" she asked with a wide grin.

Protoform X blinked before frowning. He looked at her intendly, but she really seemed serious. How the slag...

"Pudding? Do I look like a dessert to you?" he asked, now actually slightly annoyed at her. It didn't help his mood that the guards were laughing. Hex looked terribly confused at his question.

"Of course not, though I have no doubt that you'd taste blissfully. But.. it fits, doesn't it?"

He could hear the growing disappointment in her voice. She really did think it fitted him then, for whatever reasons she had formed in her mind. He sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He did not want to see her unhappy. If not for the lack of fun conversation, than for the fact that when she wailed, she wailed very loudly and it hurted his audios.

"Fine, fine," he muttered, "You can call me your nickname."
The girl in the cell across from him bounced up and down, clapping her hands and simply looking terribly happy. The guards were still laughing. That would have to be adressed.
"But only you. I will rip the central processor out of anyone else that calls me that."

Hex nodded quickly. She had an exclusive nickname for him! She grinned very widely, incredibly pleased with herself now. The guards seemed to have quieted down. She could understand they were disappointed that they couldn't call him Puddin' as well. It was a very good nickname.

"What about me then?" she asked, tilting her head to a side. "I want a cool exclusive nickname too!"
Protoform X felt his annoyance grow a bit, but he knew he wouldn't direct it at her. She meant well. And she didn't even realise that Pudding wasn't really a nickname that was stuck to a psychotic serial killer. But somehow, it made sense to her.

"How old are you?" he asked. In all their days of talking, he had never asked her that. Come to think of it, aside from killing sprees and other torture adventures, they had never shared anything of their past. She realised that too apparently, as she looked at him intently. Had he asked the wrong question? She seemed to be thinking really hard.

"Sixteen... I think..." she eventually said, then proceeded to count on her fingers. "Yes, sixteen!"
She nodded satisfied and smiled again. Protoform X couldn't help but chuckle lightly. How could someone not know their own age for sure? It made the nickname thing really easy though.

"Then it's settled. You'll be Hexadecimal," he said. Soundlessly, Hex repeated the word before squaling and clapping her hands again. She seemed to do that often when she was hyper. Then it suddenly dropped and she tilted her head again, looking at him confused.

"What's a Hexadecimal?" she asked.