Keeping Busy

JUNE 09 2011
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First Aid Swivel
First Aid is armed with a rake and broom and is carefully removing the small rocks and debris that have fetched up around one of the pedestrian walkways that radiates out from the entrance to Iacon's dome. The larger pieces of rubble have been removed and most of the focus is now on repairs to the dome and entryway itself, but there are still bins for the small detrious to be removed, and Aid is focusing on filling one.
After the dome being sealed shut for as long as it had, Swivel was eager to get inside just because it was inaccessible. With cattish curiosity she manages to squeeze under the partially raised opening and saunters into Iacon as if she belonged there, occasionally kicking a piece of rock or debris down the path, resulting in an arrhythmic click-clack-cluckle.
The mechs working at the gate entrance eye Swivel as she waltzes through, but do nothing to impede her passage.
First Aid carries another armload of rocks to the nearest bin and drops them in with a clatter. "Swivel!" He calls as soon as he spots the femme. "Hi!"
Swivel's face lights up when she hears her name called and turns to see First Aid. Without further ado she skips on over to him, leaning her elbows on the rim of the bin and cradling her fingers on her chin. "Hullo thar Firsty! Been a while, yeah?"
First Aid smiles back. "Yeah, it has. How have you been? How's everything in Cubicron?"
Swivel smiles and tilts her head side to side, her chin rolling along the backs of her fingers. "Same ol' same ol'! Oh.... but ya moight wanner be 'ware tha' a bounty's been placed onner Ratchet. I dunno wot e's dun ter piss summun off... er, wait, ain' it 'is nature to be a mean ol' mech?"
"A /bounty/?" First Aid groans. "That's the -last- thing I need to worry about right now, although... Don Vespa, right? Streetwise said he was REALLY mad about the whole wrenching thing. I don't know what Ratchet was thinking, really." He sounds indignant about the last. (Some of the hero worship has worn off, apparently.) "Everyone says Ratchet has a bad temper but I hadn't really believed it till all of that."
Swivel cocks her head to the side, straightening up and just placing her hands on the edge of the disposal bin, gripping it for a moment before drumming her fingers along the edge. "Ya dun say? He gone an' wrenched Streetwise? No wunnder e's in it deep. Ya dun go wrenchin'... ah but na'mind that! If e's gonner keep that up peepers gonner start thinkin' Prime canna control 'is Autobots to least PRETEND ter behave."
First Aid says "Well... I know he meant well. He was trying to help me. Prime was really unhappy about it, though." First Aid steps back from the bin and picks the rake back up, beginning to gather up another pile of rocks and chunks of concrete to dispose of. "I think he's working too much. Ratchet, I mean. But I'm not sure. I haven't seen him in days."
Swivel watches as First Aid gets back to work, but makes no effort to join in and help him. She's a guest after all. She just glances around the lasting impressions of wreckage before looking back at First Aid. "Well..." she pauses a moment as if she wasn't sure what she was going to say next. She shrugs. "Medics ten' ter work ter hard 'coz their work'll never be done. They get all... wrapped up in ther mind set. Ya dun wanner b'come all nasty like Ratchet d'ya?"
First Aid grabs a dustpan from against the wall and begins using it to transfer trash to the bin. "I won't promise I won't work too hard, but I don't think I would /ever/ hit someone with a wrench for refusing medical treatment." Sweep, sweep, sweep. "Streetwise says that once I'm allowed out of Iacon again and back off probation, there's a lot of fun things we could go do."
Swivel walks around the bin to get a better view of First Aid as he sweeps debris into the dustpan. "Ooooh yeah, lotter fun things ter do once ya get out o' probation.." she glances around and notices there aren't as many mechs nearby as there were before. "There's lots of fun to be had. If you work hard you have to play harder, even if you enjoy your work. You won't keep enjoying your work if it's all you let yourself know. I think between little Mr. Shinyfeet..." It's best not to ask why Streetwise is now dubbed Mr. Shinyfeet "...and I we can make certain you don't over do it."
"Mr Shinyfeet?" First Aid has to ask. Has to. He follows Swivel's gaze. "I should move to one of the other areas," He says. "I'm only supposed to be out here as long as I'm where someone can watch me."
Swivel steps closer to First Aid. "Hey, I'm watching you," she says in a sly, impish tone, her optics narrowed and her grin lopsided. As for why Mr Shinyfeet, that just might have to wait.
"An Autobot," First Aid clarifies with a smile. He doesn't move away though, and pauses for a long moment before continuing to sweep dust and debris into the pile for the bin. "Streetwise wasn't sure who you were, actually." He'll get the shiny-feet story sooner or later...
Swivel smiles broadly. "Course he doesn't know who I am. I AM discrete. Hopefully you cleared it up with him that I am a very trustworthy and likeable femme.... very good to do business with in the future...?"
First Aid nods. "Of course. He was sort of annoyed that anyone's noticed him out and about, really. I think maybe he's not as sneaky as he thinks he is?"
Swivel rolls her shoulders, one after the other, as she is prone to do. "Hard to not be noticed when you live in a dump heap and looks THAT nice."
First Aid laughs. "Cubicron's not that bad. Lifeline's never a mess, and I wasn't either. And Metro stays pretty spiffy, too."
Swivel tilts her head to the side. "Yeah... and you all tend to be noticed. Everyone knows Lifeline the moment she enters an area despite being that uninspiring shade of gray, and Metro turns into a ... thing! With heads! Multiple ones! And as for you, well, your body language screams submissive, so I'm surprised that you haven't been junked before now or sold into slavery. Fact is, he can't expect to go unnoticed. No one else that well maintained does."
First Aid says "Well... that's true, I guess. I just don't know why it's such an oddity, really." He ignores the part about being junked. "How is Lifeline, by the way? Have you talked to her recently?"
Swivel shakes her head. "Not terribly recently. Poked in when she had some company, one of those Crystal City types. I didn't stay long, though. Oooh hey, I also saw that really pink Autobot femme there!"
First Aid says "Arcee? Huh. She's in Cubicron? I wonder if Ratchet and everyone knows that. She was one of the ones who didn't check in after the dome broke."
Swivel crosses her arms over her chest and glances around, then shifts her attention back to First Aid. "Arcee? Yeah. That sounds right I think. I saw her hanging off of some hot shot in the Scorps quite a while back... hmm... around the time when Deet started her transmissions." She pauses a moment in quasi-reverence. "Poor Deet."
First Aid nods in agreement. "Yeah- I still can't believe she's gone. Here, come on, I don't need more trouble." First Aid heads towards one of the bins closer to the other mechs working on cleanup.
Swivel follows First Aid quietly, glancing around at the other Autobots who are at work, a look of curiousity and wonder on her face rather than a huge smile. "Say... why d'ya suppose I'm gettin' such funny looks?"
First Aid blinks. "More than usual? I don't know. I'd ask, but I don't know if that would do any good, really. I guess everyone's just sort of on edge after the last attack on the dome. It's supposed to keep the Decepticons out, no one thought they could get in. Er, not that anyone thinks you're a Decepticon or anything, just that everyone is nervous."
Swivel listens to First Aid, her optics ridges raising by degrees with each comment, until they fall as if relieved when he says no one thinks she's a Decepticon. She then resume smiling. "I'd make a purdy lousy 'con if ya ask me! I dun like fightin' much an' iffin if I did I'm not ter good at it.... er... guess if I liked it I'd be better, yeah?"
"Your accent's back." Aid notices. "Um.. yeah, I don't like fighting either. At all."
Swivel raises her optics ridges and laughs heartily at First Aid's observation. She reaches out and has to grab a hold of First Aid's shoulder to steady herself. "Oooooo weeeeeeeeee! Boy ya gunner dun statin' ther obvious!" she says between guffaws. Finally she manages to calm herself enough to speak in a very quiet voice. "I prefer people to think little of me, and speaking poorly makes me sound broken, under privileged, and a bit stupid. But people who know better... why put up the facade?"
First Aid smiles. "Well... I always wondered. I thought maybe something was wrong with your vocabulary files or something."
Swivel tightens her grip on First Aid's shoulder just before she lets go. "Naw, I just do it as a defense mechanism."
First Aid ohs. "Right. I don't mind if you keep doing it or anything. I don't want to um, blow your cover or anything." He says, taking advantage of being released to begin sweeping again.
Swivel wears a sparkle grin. You know the sort. The kind that sparkles with that 'ting' noise. Of course, she doesn't literally make a ting noise, nor does she actually sparkle. Nonetheless, she is wearing a full, toothy smile. "Wellum, s'long as it dunna 'fend ya, but I dun think much does make ya mad! 'Cept mebbe peeps bein' REAL mean an' nasty fer no reason o'er than ter be mean an' nasty!" She watches as he sweeps things up. "So ya stuck doin' tha' coz yer suspended er jus' doin' it coz yer a nice lil mech?"
First Aid shakes his head- not much does make him mad, no. "I didn't have anything else to do, and it needed doing. And I was getting tired of studying. I /like/ being busy."
Swivel brings up a hand to her chin and watches him speculatively for a moment. "Weller, I dun like bein' idle much, but, if I ain't drivin' 'bout I'm jus' as 'appy ter be shootin' off me vocoder, yanno? Guess tha's sorter obvious by now, but hey, I dun mind bein' a chatterbox. Suits me jus' fine an' we can't all be serious and quiet, now, can we?" She glances over her shoulder. "Anyway, I jus' came 'ere ter tell ya 'bout Ratchet an ter say 'Hi!' coz I notced ther dome was sorter opened. I come 'round every once in a while ter check on that! Hooo wee, sure glad I wun 'round when THAT went down!"
First Aid smiles and waves as Swivel heads off. "Good to see you!"
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