Understood
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Chapter 22
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"Oh! Look at you!" Tailgate squealed as Swerve exited the finishing room of the paint-parlor. The technicians had done a marvelous job, and the haphazard white and once-bright red had been replaced by a clean white and a more restrained shade of crimson. The low-gloss overcoat worked gorgeously with the colors. "Swerve, you look beautiful! So respectable." He hurried over to his friend, opening his arms to embrace him, but froze, suddenly looking concerned.
"It's okay. I'm safe to touch," Swerve answered, knowing the reason for the hesitation. "It's all dried and cured already. And..." Swerve grinned naughtily. "They repainted my spike too. Let's just say it's not a respectable color."
Tailgate threw his arms around him and hugged him delightedly. "Swerve I'm so excited and happy for you!"
"I'm excited and happy for me too! Let's go get some energon somewhere fancy and celebrate!"
"All right, but you're buying," Tailgate stipulated.
"Of course." Swerve paid the painting technicians, and then hand in hand the two minibots ran out and scanned the neighborhood for somewhere to refuel. Swerve had chosen a parlor in Little Iacon to have his paint redone. The only places in Overdock for painting were either spur-of-the-moment detailing shops or very low end shops that were cheap but notoriously sloppy.
"Ooh! There!" said Tailgate, pointing to the top of a building where sunshades and twinkling lights indicated a rooftop restaurant. They found the entrance, glanced over the menu, and then took the elevator up. The host ushered them to a table with a view of the city, and both giggled at the fact that they could so easily see Overdock from where they sat. Two breems later they each had several glasses of variously flavored energon in front of them. Each took one, lifting it in a toast. "Here's to your new job," Tailgate smiled.
"Here's to my luck holding out," Swerve added.
They drank and hummed their approval of what they were tasting.
"You really do look beautiful, Swerve," Tailgate complimented. "Still red and white. Still in the same pattern. But just fresh and nice."
"I didn't want to get too far away from what I was used to. And I did ask for a more modest gloss from what I had before at the academy."
"It was a good choice. I like it."
"I want to look nice. I've got to look like a metallurgy technician now, even if it's just a metallurgy technician in a munitions factory."
"It's way better than anything you've been doing, and hopefully I'll be able to find something too," Tailgate sighed. "At least you had your studies done and were moving on into industrial applications. I was only halfway through mine."
"I'm sure you'll find something," Swerve said encouragingly. He lifted another of the small glasses, this one filled with a sunshine yellow liquid in which floated a golden glitter. "Here's encouragement to your luck holding out."
Tailgate grinned and picked up his matching drink. "Here's to something good happening for me."
They drank and looked out again at the view. "It's so beautiful from up here," Swerve said after a while. "Even Overdock looks good from up here."
"Yeah. You can't see the dirty streets or the black ice junkies or all the dilapidated buildings."
"Definitely better from up here."
"As soon as I'm settled in the new job, we'll get a new apartment. Something high up with a nice view like this, and a working water heater," Swerve said. "Somewhere halfway between West Kaon and Overdock."
"That would be nice. And handy for the transport lines. It would be easier for us that way."
"As soon as I'm settled and have a few paychecks in, we'll go looking."
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"Understood" continues in Chapter 23
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Transformers and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.
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