The recreation room was quiet and peaceful. It was during that sweet spot time Prowl loved where evening shift had just ended and those who had gotten off were too tired to interact with others, and those on the night shift were trying to squeeze out every last bit of alone time before it was their turn to begin their duties. Prowl sat at a table in the corner, sipping from his mug, reading reports, and overall enjoying the only time of day it seemed where the Ark was in tranquility. Among others in the room, Jazz had one audio tuned into his music, Cliffjumper was polishing a component from one of his weapons, Smokescreen, Tracks, and Mirage were playing a game of cards, and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were having a whispered conversation from the opposite side of the room.
The familiar –ping- of a hailing tone came over Prowl's comm-link. He answered to Optimus Prime, who was checking in on the daily reports. After a brief conversation, Prowl was back to his data pad, getting ready to wrap things up for the evening. Another minute passed before something else disturbed his peace:
-poke-
Prowl twitched at the sudden sound that had come over his comm-link. Confused, he glanced around, thinking he had simply heard somebody in the room and mistaken it for his comm. But he could find no logical reason why anyone nearby would have uttered the word: 'poke.' But nothing came through the comm-link before a hailing tone. Maybe it was later than he thought and his processor was playing tricks on him. He had one more page he had to get through before he could call it quits; then it would be time for recharge.
-poke-
There it was again, in an obnoxious voice that made Prowl cringe. He whipped his head around, but the room was only full of quiet mechs minding their own business. He turned back, now thoroughly convinced his mind was deceiving him. With no way to identify the source of the strange sound, he could only hope it would just stop.
-poke- -poke poke-
Prowl slammed his data pad down in frustration, which caught the attention of several bots nearby.
"You okay there Prowler?" Jazz asked.
Prowl glanced over at the saboteur. "I'm fine," was all he said. But before the tactician could do anything else it came again.
-poke poke poke poke poke-
"QUIT POKING ME!" Prowl suddenly burst into the quiet room.
Now everybody was staring at Prowl. Jazz looked at him oddly, and despite the visor it was easy to tell he had a quirked optic ridge. Stifled laughter came from Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's corner.
Prowl glanced around the room in a paranoid fashion. "Excuse me," he said as he hurriedly gathered his things and left. Sideswipe leapt from his chair and rushed after the black and white with a wicked grin on his face.
Jazz snerked, not quite sure what had just happened but pretty sure it was hilarious; if it had anything to do with the twins. Suddenly he caught sight of Sunstreaker looking at him in a predatory manner.
-poke-