"Wait, Sentinel's secretary racer ex came back from the dead and is here to stay?"
Charoite, who had been deep in thought about she and Megatron's brief holographic conversation, heard an angry femme mention her. Was it this "Elita-1" she heard about? She took light, quick steps out of her room and stared into Optimus' room, which thankfully was on the same floor, and only a few doors down.
In Optimus' room, a femme, a medium shade of pink, wide audials, stared at Optimus confused, almost angry. B stood next to Optimus.
"Elita," Optimus began. "I understand she has some rumors surrounding her, but she made it perfectly clear that she didn't know Sentinel's secrets. She was just chased down by a bunch of bots. Besides, we don't know how long she'll actually stay. We know she wants to get back on her feet and doesn't have anywhere to stay."
"Eh…" Elita shrugged as she tipped her head. "…I could pitch in for a hotel room? I can even give Chariot a choice."
"Charoite." B chuckled. "She said a lot of bots call her that. Like, who's named 'Chariot?'"
Charoite felt flattered at the correction.
"Nice to see you're getting acquainted!" Elita responded with an air of irritation. "Optimus, how much do you think a room for two weeks would cost?"
"Elita," Optimus put his hands on her shoulders, "I understand you're suspicious. A lot of bots are. I also noticed she's wearing a Sentinel decal. I wouldn't call myself suspicious of Charoite, but I am going to keep an eye on her, just to be cautious."
Elita sighed. "Okay. Glad we agree to not completely trust this girl."
Charoite wanted to be mad, but she just felt guilty. As hard as it was to do, she brushed the guilt aside. She had a job to do. Optimus betrayed his friend. The Decepticons were kind enough to help her, and she needed to return the favor. She didn't want to betray them after everything they did. She didn't want to…be like Sentinel.
With a heavy spark, she sighed and pulled off the Sentinel decal.
She gave her head a shake and smiled. Right now, it was time to hang out with B and see if she could get some information out of him.
"Hey, 'going somewhere buddy!'" Charoite took confident strides toward B. Making a grand entrance cheered her up. "I'm gonna go buy some decorations for my room. Come on!"
B chuckled. "Fantastic!" Saluting her, he lowered his voice as his eyes moved opposite each other, "Badassatron…" his voice and eyes returned to normal, "…reporting for duty!"
"You don't have to salute her," Elita remarked. She looked at Charoite and gave her a nod. "Oh, Elita-1, Commander of the Autobots. Nice to meet you."
Charoite thought she saw Elita smile a little. She nearly laughed at her thinly veiled negative attitude. "Oh, Elita! Heard of you!" She gestured for B to follow her. "Come on, Badassatron."
B let out a loud gasp, which startled everyone. "Charoite, you're the first bot to ever use my nickname! Thank you!"
"No prob; you seemed like you wanted me to use it. Let's go!"
B threw his fists in the air. "Woooo! Charoite and Badassatron on their first Iacon City adventure!" He led Charoite out of the room and to an elevator.
"You know, we should come up with some nicknames for you!" B said while they rode in the elevator. "Maybe 'Coolatron,' or 'Coolwing!'"
The door opened to outside.
"Oh, scrap! I forgot this one opens to outside!" B flung his arm around Charoite.
She was briefly alarmed by the action.
"Badassatron is on the job." B narrowed his eyes at the few robots in the area….who paid no attention to them.
"Good to know." Charoite replied with a soft chuckle.
"Wow! This is weird!" B remarked as he dropped his arm.
"What do you mean?" Charoite walked.
B caught up to her. "I've never been able to put my arm around anyone's shoulders before!"
"Why? Oh…right. As a short bot myself, I actually never thought about that!" Charoite shrugged. "I mean, I can fly, so I could just fly up to someone."
"Could I maybe…keep my arm around you for a while?" B held up his hands. "Just for safety reasons!"
Charoite smirked. "Eh, why not? You're supposed to keep me safe, anyway!"
"Oh, uh, awesome!" B hugged his arm back around her.
B's grip felt less firm this time. Charoite still felt safe, and, for a reason she couldn't figure out, a bit giddy.