Another Cycle in Nyon

*Note: No, I do not have a Swivel to English dictionary; you're on your own for translations.*

*Note#2: For your sanity, I, Swivel's player, shall be adding translations, tagged as S.T. for Swivel Translation, after my poses.  The players in the scene did not get this originally.*

-Another cycle in Nyon. Cybertron turns and is getting ready for the chaos of war, but as of yet, the cities are still standing. More or less. On this particular cycle Panacea has returned to Nyon. In her mind she has a few...lose ends to tie up. For the moment it appears as though she's looking for someone.

-Whilst one medic is searching for someone, another femme steps out of a dilapitated building, having just found the person she was looking for. She strikes of, well, more like taps off the last item of her to-do list and tucks away a worn-out datapad. Looking particularily pleased, this smiling femme begins to whistle a chipper tune. Perfect pitch was obviously not part of her programming, but it's a good try nontheless.

-Another cycle in Nyon, another cycle under Whirl's belt, another cycle of struggling through life. Whatever unrest is happening in the world at this point is completely meaningless to the mech; he has far too much going on in the little bubble that is his personal life for him to care or even think about the bigger picture. Currently he sits in the street, siphoning bottom-shelf energon into his systems. He is quite literally drunk in the gutter. What a way to live, but it seems to work out okay for him. Right?

-After a bit of searching, Panacea finds Whirl, almost literally stumbling across him. She peers at the mech for a moment or two, then plunks herself down on the curb beside him. "Hello again," she greets with a little smile, though perhaps an observant person (probably not a drunk one) would see a glint of something in her optics that isn't enitrely friendly, even though her general tone and expression are.

-As of this moment Whirl is the complete opposite of an observant person so any subtle hints are lost on him. In fact, it takes a few moments for him to even process the arrival of the femme, the mech staring at her (actually, it looks more like he's staring PAST her) before finally realizing who it is. "Ah! Panacea! Long time no see, eh?" he greets, emptying the rest of his bottle before removing the various drip-lines from his body and tossing them aside. Hey, it's tough to drink without a mouth!

"What brings you to this lovely section of street?"

-Observant? That may or may not be the bafflingly cheerful femme turning around the corner as Panacea joins the gutter perch. She certainly doesn't seem aware of the world around her beyond avoiding the more obvious obstacles, like buildings, posts, vehicles, and other pedestrians. Less obvious obstacles, such as a discarded bottle rolling into her path she seems less aware of.

CLINK-CRUNCH

There is a surprised yelp as the bottle partially rolls and partially breaks under her step, causing the femme to lose balance. Trying to regain it, she hops forward on one foot, while the other one tries to find a safe and steady place to plant itself. Leaning forward to keep herself from falling backwards, she reaches a momentary stillness, teetering only slightly, with her arms out, torso bent, and one leg striaght out the back. It is during this rediculous display that Swivel notices the two int eh gutter. "Er..... hi!" She says. That broke her concentration and the unfortunate femme falls forward due to over-compensation, crashing down face-first beside Whirl.

-"I don't know about lovely, but it's definitely a section of street." Panacea laughs softly. "I saw you there so I thought I'd say hello." Despite the fact that when she first met him after he had gone out a window and scuffled with another mech, she doesn't seem too worried.

And then the femme makes her rather 'spectacular' entrance and she stiffles a laugh, though her optics show amusement. Whatever else she was going to say to Whirl has been lost for the moment. "Hello," she greets. "Are you okay?"

-"The best section of street! There are so many memories here." Whirl begins gesturing to various random spots. "That's where I broke a guy's arm in half. Over there is where I lost a poker game and stabbed a guy. That spot over there is-" He's interrupted when another femme comes stumbling onto the scene, quite literally, and smashes into the ground beside him.

"Woah, looks like someone's been drinking too." He leans over and stares at the new arrival, head cocked to the side. "Hey, how's it going?"

-With her face smushed against the hard street, any response from her vocoder would liekly be muffled and difficult to understand. Instead the prostrate femme feebly lift up one hand, offering a 'thumbs up' to signal that she is, in fact, okay. More or less. After a pause, she places her hands flat against the piece of ground she was getting rather intimate with and pushes herself up. She has a lopsided and sheepish grin as she eases herself into a crouch. "Wheeeee-hoooo thatter strong drink, I tells ya! 'Speshly seens I han't dun drunk it yet."

*S.T.: That's a strong drink, I tell you.  Especially since I have not drunk it yet.*

-Panacea doesn't look terribly impressed as Whirl mentions all the violence. "Do all your stories involve people getting hurt?" she wonders. "I'm going to guess that issue the other cycle was not an isolated incident." She pauses for a moment of thought. "Who was that other mech, anyhow, and what was the issue?"

She gives the other femme a long look while her language centers try to process exactly what was said there. "So, just a generally unlucky moment of klutziness?" she finally asks.

-Whirl snorts at Panacea's comment. "My entire life involves people getting hurt. It's kind of my thing." He knows nothing about Panacea or her life but he reckons she wouldn't approve of all the horrible things he's done up to this point. "Hm? What guy?" A brief pause as he thinks. "Oh, you mean the guy from the other day? I have no idea who he was, he was just really upset because I said some unflattering things about Megatron. Yeah, apparently he's a big Megatron fan and didn't appreciate some of the things I said. And did."

To the other femme he just stares at her a moment before reaching into his cockpit chest and pulling out a flask. He holds it out to her, wiggling it around in his claws. "Want some?"

-"Natch!" Is Swivel's expedient response to the other femme. The ever so graceful femme then shifts her position until she is sitting mnore casually beside the other two, her legs straight out in front of her. She idly looks herself over for new dings and scratches but is intently listening to the conversation of the other two. Her attention is drawn back to the cyclopse - er - mech offering her a flask. She stares at it, looks to his face (or lack thereof), then looks back at the flask. "Eeeeeeeee ya dun havta. Sound like ya need it more 'en me." She reaches over to lightly punch Whirl in the arm as perhaps a rather forward attempt at bonding. "Thank y'enway."

*S.T.: "Naturally! (As a form of confirmation)." "You don't have to.  It sounds like you need it more than me."  "Thank you, anyway."*

-"Do you have a personal grudge against this Megatron, or do you just not like miners?" Panacea asks. "Because, no offense, you don't look like you'd hate a mech for writing a few things against a system that obviously hasn't done you any favors," she points out. Then her expression softens quite a bit. "I'm very sorry to hear that. You see, I'm a medic and a pacifist; I don't like violence." She watches as his claws handle the bottle with some degree of interest.

She peers at the other femme again. "Do you always talk like that, or did you damage yourself when you fell?" she has to know. Her optic ridges go up slightly as Swivel gives the odd Mech a friendly punch.

-Swivel will never know how fortunate she is for declining his offer, that flask actually contains a concoction of energon and a variety of dangerous pharmaceuticals. He offers it to anyone he finds interesting, hoping they'll be naive enough to drink it and lose their minds, giving him an opportunity to take advantage of them and do with them as he pleases.

Whirl is a messed up dude.

"It's a long story," is all he says to Panacea, not feeling the need to elaborate at this particular moment in time. The flask is tucked away back to wherever it came from and the mech finds himself on the receiving end of an arm punch. At first he is confused and even a little angry, his first instinct being to punch back but he comes to the realization that it was one of those 'friendly' types of punches and relaxes. He does punch her back though, no doubt about that, but it's the same kind of light impact she gave him so it's all good.

-Swivel lifts one side of her upper lip and gives Panacea a bemused stare. "Huh? I talkin' like I'ways talk." She makes a sound somewhere between hissing and snorting that could be as much a scoff as it is an attempt to hold back a loud chortle. The merriment brinning from her large purple optics would suggest the latter. A full out grin spawns pn her silver face when her playful overture is reciprocated. As far she is concerned, she just made a new friend. And friends ought to know names! "M'name's Swivel, by th'way."

*S.T. "Huh? I am talking like I always talk." "My name is Swivel, by the way."*

-"I would imagine so," says Panacea dryly to the empurata victim. "In fact, I would imagine you have a lot of stories period." She gives a little sigh. "So, did that mech ever come back to finish the job, so to speak? The one that fought you over what you said about Megatron?" Again, the keen observer might have seen a glint of something in those brilliant green optics of hers. Not that she seems to have anything to worry about in this crowd.

To Swivel she nods her head. "My name is Panacea," she says, even though it seems that the question was directed at Whirl. "And that's all I needed to know; it means I don't need to offer to fix you," she adds with a little smile. "Because I would have, were that the case."

-Whirl thinks for a moment, his expression no doubt quizzical if he, you know, actually had one. "Hrn, now that you mention it, I haven't seen that guy at all since then. I had forgotten, but I actually started drinking because he said he was going to come find me and beat me up so I wanted to be a little drunk because it makes it a little more enjoyable." He sighs. "But then I kept drinking and eventually forgot why I started and I passed out in this gutter for a bit, came to, drank some more, then you guys showed up." He groans and flops over onto his back, staring up at the sky. "Damn, I'm kind of disappointed now. I was looking forward to it."

He casts a glance over to Swivel, offering a terrifying set of claws out to her in some sort of attempt at a handshake. "I am Whirl." She probably doesn't recognize his name. Hopefully she doesn't recognize his name. Nah, she probably wont. "And I am pleasantly inebriated, hello."

-"Eh heh heh, naw. I d'need fixin' a'ther mo'." Swivel brings up her knees slightly and leans forward to faciliate looking past Whirl and getting a better look at Panacea, offering a nod and, well, she was already smiling. She then leans back into her previous seated position.

When Whirl offers his, ah, appendage as part of his introduction Swivel's hand darts out, then pauses. She twists her wrist this way and that as examines Whirl's claw-like extremity, as if trying to figure a way to fit her hand safely into his grip. Finally she shrugs and instead takes a hold of his wrist and shakes that. Her smile remains bright and completely unperturbed.

*S.T.: "No.  I don't need to be fixed at the moment."*

-Slow, thudding footsteps can be heard as the dull colored miner approaches. However, when he notices Whirl present, his expression crumples a little, like he suddenly just got a massive headache.

Mech, not this guy again, he was supposed to have gone into the mental asylum he'd left him outside of and stayed there. Now it looks like he's making trouble for some more innocent by standers.

He frowns in a concerned fashion down at Whirl as he towers over him. "What are you doing here?" he asks in all seriousness.

-"I'm sure there will be others," murmurs Panacea, "from the sound of your track record." She moves to pat him gently on the shoulder should he allow it. "Maybe he went to find his pal Megatron, since he was so interested in sticking up for him." She purses her lips as she looks Whirl over rather intently for a few moments. "Do you enjoy nothing besides drinking and fighting?" she asks.

It takes the medic even longer to decipher what Swivel said this time. "Well, if you ever do, you can look me up. I'm quite reasonable." At least, she hopes she understood what she said and that her response fits.

Then the big fella stalks over there and looks rather disapprovingly at Whirl. Despite his frowny features, Panacea's face breaks into a rather open smile. "Hello," she greets the miner with a rather polite nod of her head. "It looks like you're not having a good cycle; I'm sorry to see that." There's a hint of familiarity there without crossing the line into something uncomfortable.

-Whirl has no idea what Swivel just said and he probably can't blame it completely on the copius amount of alcohol in his system. "Oh, okay, cool," he says, hoping she didn't actually say anything important. To Panacea he gives her a shrug of his shoulders. "Naw, there's a few other things I enjoy but ah.. I don't think I can say it in such polite company."

There's a slight twitch of his body when he hears a familiar voice and then a startled gasp when he looks up and sees none other than Exodus standing before him. Damn! How did he not notice him approaching AGAIN? The cyclops suddenly becomes visibly nervous in the larger mech's presence, Whirl fidgeting around with his claws and avoiding eye contact. "Oh uh, h-hey. Uh! It's not what it looks like. I totally went to that hospital you brought me to and you know what they said? They said I was TOO sane and said there was nothing they could do for me so they, uh, sent me on my way.."

-Swivel glances up brightly as a shadow overtakes her diminutive form, seeing Exodus looming. She also hears Exodus glooming. She was about to interject with some light comment, but even this oblivious femme can sense the mech beside her is suddenly on edge. Intriiiiigueing. Swivel's optics dart between the two mechs constantly, trying to catch every little micro-expression with avid interest. Then, big mouth, small processor, speaks up. "I'this ther mech y'as hopin' 'ud come an' beat ya willin' you's numb-drunk?"

*S.T.: "Is this the mech you were hoping would come and beat you up while you were numb with drunkeness?"*

-Exodus sighs and extends a very large hand towards Whirl. Hopefully Whirl doesn't mistake this gesture as an attempt to grab his waist again, the miner is simply trying to help the mech off the ground. He shakes his helm at Whirl. "Ah, nice try, but you didn't even go in, did you?"

Then one of the females addresses him and he looks up at her, flashing her a warm and disarming smile. "Oh no, ma'am, I'm doing just fine, just concerned for the well being of this fellow over here," he says politely, glancing over at Whirl. "What's your name?"

To Swivel, he shakes his helm also. "I had no intention of harming him.. if that's what you were getting at?" She's a little hard to understand.

-"I don't know that this company is OVERLY polite," Panacea says, laughing outright at this notion. "Sounds like you're a bit on the hedonistic side there Whirl," she further notes. "Not that I have a problem with that in general." She shrugs her shoulders languidly.

Okay, this was totally beyond what Panacea could figure from Swivel's words. She opens her mouth to say something, closes it again, then shakes her head.

Smiling again, she nods to Exodus. "I'm Panacea. I used to work as a medic for the miners of a small community that has recently shut down."

-Whirl is only SLIGHTLY disappointed that Exodus wasn't going for another waist grab but there's no way in hell he would ever admit that, so he just takes the other mech's outstretched hand to help himself up onto his (wobbly) feet. "I uh.." He glances at the ground and scuffs a foot. "...No, I didn't. But can you blame me? Hospitals suck! Mental hospitals suck even more! Besides.." He crosses his arms and huffs. "I'm not crazy enough to be in one of those places." Ha ha, the irony.

"And I don't have to tell you my name, you're not my supervisor!" the cyclops snaps.

-"Tha's Whirl," Swivel helpfully supplies at the same time Whirl is objecting to giving his name. She glances over at him with raised optics, curls in her lips looking a bit guilty, and lets out a nervous giggle. "Er... wellum!"

Swivel slowly gets to her feet as well, checking behind herself to make sure nothing untowards got imbedded in her tires. Like pieces of that bottle she slipped on earlier. Some mechs really shouldn't litter. "Heeeeeey, I dun think dis'n Hosp'als in fronner medic's good... uh... manners 'r sumsot." Swivel is starting to piece together an rather interesting story here, and her imagination is working like wild filling in little elaborations of her own fabrication. This makes her expression become all the more vacant while her smile remains plastered on her face.

*S.T.: "That's Whirl." "Er... Well!" "Hey, I don't think dissing Hospitals in front of a Medic is good, uh, manners or something."*

-"Hey," Exodus says in that deep, oddly soothing tone of voice again, "take it easy, Whirl," he replies, nodding in thanks to Swivel for providing him with Whirl's name. "Mech," he says in a soft and persuasive tone of voice, "you need help." He steps towards the cyclops.

He beams at Panacea. "Oh yeah? And which one was it?" he says. "Thanks, for helping out fellow miners. They need it." Another disarmingly kind smile.

Exodus nods and extends a hand to Swivel, as she slowly gets to her feet. He then gives her a slightly puzzled look. She's making a connect between Panacea and the hospital she's from not being good? Hm. "Let's not make any assumptions, now," he says gently.

-"What's wrong with hospitals?" Panacea asks Whirl as she stands as well. No sense in sitting on the curb at this point. She doesn't sound indignant about it, merely curious. "You know they're there to help people, yes?" She says nothing about his level of craziness; she hasn't known him long enough to really have the full scope of his nature.

She nods to Swivel, getting /most/ of what was said. "It's not a big deal," she says. "A lot of folks don't like to come in for various reasons. But I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't try to mitigate as many of those reasons as possible," she says with a little smile. "I enjoy my job so I want people to be as comfortable as they can, considering they're usually not terribly comfortable if they have to come see me."

She gives Exodus the name of a little mining community that was somewhat isolated. If he keeps up with the mining news he'd know that the place was recently shut down due to a lack of workers. "I know they do. They do very dangerous work and there are often accidents. A lot of people wouldn't be able to handle it down there, so I'm a little sad they don't get a little more respect for their work."

It wouldn't have been Panacea's hosptial that anyone is complaining about since it really doesn't exist anymore; she's currently looking for work.

-Whirl GROANS when Swivel goes on and tells Exodus the information he was trying to keep from him (for what reason, who knows maybe he just wants to be difficult.) "Thanks for that, Swivel."

Exodus' attempt at kindness and his whole 'wanting to help' thing is really offputting to Whirl and it's painfully obvious by the defensive posture he's taken up. "I don't need help from anyone, and I sure as hell don't need it from you!" He takes two steps back when the big mech takes one towards him, claws coming up and snapping in a threatening display. "Not all hospitals help people," the cyclops says to Panacea though his optic never leaves Exodus. "Some of them are better described as prisons. Not that I'm trying to belittle your work, you seem like an okay person, but there are always exceptions."

-Blast Off enters the scene and immediately regrets it. The shuttleformer was walking down the street (he may live in Kaon but he winds up here in Nyon on business quite a bit) when he spots... Whirl. And look, looks like Whirl's in trouble- or causing it- again. In fact... it looks like he's involved with a \*number\* of people Blast Off has already met... all but that one femme there. The one with the happy vacant look.

He pauses, considering turning the other way while he still can... and then he remembers something about Exodus. Exodus buys him free drinks sometimes. Blast Off stands there a moment longer, and then he keeps walking down the street- and towards the others. Maybe Exodus will buy him a drink \*again\*? Only one way to find out.

-"Woh? I's na'makin' 'sumptions." The low caste femme crosses her arms over her chestplate and stares defiantly out at Exodus for a moment or two. However, feeling she had taken sufficient offense to false implications, she eases back into a friendlier expression. Swivel cocks her head to one side as she listens to Panacea, nodding her absolute agreement when Panacea insists that they are good places. This toadiness continues on as Panacea continues to stay a great deal. However, upon Whirl's rebuttal she tilts her head to the other side and has a look of deep consideration to his counter-points. And then she straightens up as if something dawned on her and she turns her gaze upon Whirl with a look of excitement. "Hey, you called me 'Swivel'! Most of the time I'm Just "HEY YOU" and... er..." Swivel suddenly feigns having something caught in her ventilation and makes an assortment of dreadful sounds while trying to 'clear' this obstruction. While hunchedover in charicature-esque discomfort, she cautiously lifts her head to see if anyone is buying it. She then goes on to say "S'nice ter b'named an naw jus' yelled at." She straightens herself up as casually as she can. She does not catch sight of the other mech approaching. Yet.

*S.T.: "What?  I'm not making assumptions." (middle sentence omited due to actually being understandable) "It's nice to be called by my name and not just yelled at."*

-Then Exodus notices Blast Off is approaching, and his expression turns worried. He reaches over and grabs Whirl's claw gently but firmly, just in case the mech decides he wants to give Blast Off a piece of him. No, like, literally. He looks Whirl straight in his one optic. "Please," he says urgently, "fine, I won't take you to a hospital. But let me take you home. Or somewhere else better than here out on the streets."

He smiles in greeting at Blast Off and nods at Panacea. "Good, I'm glad to hear someone enjoys their job. And I'm a little sad you don't get more respect for willfully helping the miners," Exodus says genuinely. "Really. I wish there were more people like yourself around."

To Swivel, he gives a puzzled look, but smiles kindly at her. "It's very nice to meet you, Swivel."

-It finally occurs to Panacea that Whirl's current state might have happened at a hospital of sorts. Certainly not one of the general hospitals, but a government owned facility. Her face softens considerably. "How careless of me. You've probably had some trying times at a hospital at some point," she says. "Most of us intend to help others though. At least, I think that's the case." Come to think of it, she hasn't talked to many other medics lately. Except that grouchy one in Kaon. "Where do you go when you're hurt then?" she asks Whirl with some concern.

She doesn't notice Blast Off quite yet, mostly because she's not looking in that direction. It's not as though the shuttleformer was small or insignificant.

She looks over at Swivel. "Well, if you have a name, people should use it. Things would kind of fall apart if no one had names; we'd never know who anyone was talking about without using a hundred words when one or two would do nicely."

Exodus gets a speculative look. "Well, I'm not as extreme as some. I don't really think the system of functionism needs to be changed in 9 cases out of 10. I mean, it makes sense for people to do what they are built for simply because they're designed to be good at it. My problem only comes into the fact that people are considered 'less' important because of it. I mean, if we're MEANT to have that function, it means we're needed for something, and if we're needed, people should recognize that we're needed." Yeah, she does have a lot to say, doesn't she?

-Whirl breaks his gaze on Exodus just long enough to stare at Swivel and her excitement at.. being called her name? She is real easy to please, it would seem! Unfortunately that tiny moment when his eye isn't fixed upon the other mech was just long enough for him to disarm the cyclops by... grabbing his claw? Yes, apparently that is all it takes to completely throw Whirl for a loop; he can only stand there, practically motionless with the exception of the very slight tremble of his frame. "W-what?" He says nothing after that and he certainly doesn't notice Blast Off's imminent arrival. If he did, no doubt there would be some kind of scene.

-Blast Off walks up and nods back to Exodus, appearing for all the world like a refined gentlemech. Though we'll see how long that lasts with Whirl around. Who he \*does\* keep an optic on. And no, the Combaticon shuttle is not small or insignificant (by NO means insignificant, especially according to him!). However, he is not one to rush. If Panacea is currently occupied, he will not intrude. He has no reason to, anyway.

Well- until she mentions functionism. And some of the shuttle's natural elitism surfaces. "Indeed, much of the time it does make sense for a person to do what they were built for. However, some jobs... well, they require a little more skill, or acceptance of danger, than others. And what's wrong with recognizing that?" Because being a space shuttle is obviously something that requires /both/ skill AND bravery.

-Exodus' optics light up as he listens intently to what Panacea is saying. "Right. Equality is so lost these days," he says a little mournfully, "it's nice to meet someone who isn't afraid to voice their opinion on the matter. Finding someone with aligning interests isn't that difficult, but finding someone who isn't afraid to say they agree.. well that's a different story." He smiles at Panacea.

"Hey." Exodus says to Blast Off, careful not to mention his name. Or his presence. "Good to see you." He moves in front of Whirl, blocking his view of the Combaticon. "Yeah, everything is going to be fine," he says with another disarming smile, patting Whirl's claw softly.

-Swivel relaxes instantly. It is while listening to Panacea patiently and attentively that Swivel takes note of the other mech approaching. She doesn't turn to acknowledge him just yet. She has words to use too! Real words! "S'wot I think too! Why 'ave names if y'un usin' 'em? An' meb' I not 'round lots, so 'em thinkin' 'eh le's 'nore tha there femme's name coz we 'ent see 'er 'gain"an I think to m'self, wellum! Ya jus may 'en see me 'gain, ya kin learn me name! I gives it man'o'times! But 'en mos'em ther uppers..." she trails off slowly as if she realised perhaps she was prattling. Or perhaps she was in danger of actually saying something mean. Either way she breaks off her rant and turns squarely to the newly arrived mech. She inclines her head, showing she has some tiny semblence of how to treat her superiors. Just a bit.

"'Allo thar! 'Opes y'avin o' fine cycle, guv!"

*S.T.: "That's what I think too.  Why have names if you don't use them?  And maybe I am not around much, so they think "Let's ignore that femme's name because we won't see her again", and I think to myself, well!  You just may see me again, you can learn my name.  I gave it many times!  But then most of the upper caste..."*

-If Panacea had another function, she might not have noticed the slight trembling of Whirl's frame, but she's been trained to keep an optic open for this. She watches him for a few moments as she discerns whether the reaction is medical or psychological. After all, she found him rather drunk.

As Blast Off approaches, she turns towards him briefly to give him a nod. She's still not sure quite what to think of him, but there's time for her to settle on an opinion. However, since he wants to discuss functionism, she'll go for that. "Well, yes, there are degrees," she concedes. "But that doesn't mean that the people who risk their lives in the mines should be treated like they don't exist," she points out. "As long as they're working and contributing, that should be worth some basic degree of respect. It's not an easy job; I know, I have to fix them when accidents happen." Pause. "At least I used to until the mine shut down."

Exodus gets a nod of her head. "I'm not interested in tearing down the system or anything. I just think the bottom line needs to be elevated some so that everyone has at least the basic things they need. If that makes those high up even higher," she shrugs, "then I'll accept that. The system could work if it was just tweaked a bit." Surely it's not illegal to say that there's a few rough spots in the current system? Then again, these days, it very well might be.

Swivel gets a blank look. "I'll get used to the way you speak eventually," she says, raising her hands in an apologetic shrug.

-Whirl is just so overwhelmed by Exodus and his unusually comforting claw handling that he doesn't even realize what's going on around him; every conversation has become unintellgible white noise at this point. It's just really nice and it brings pleasant memories. The last person who touched his claws like that ended up interfacing with him, afterall.

After what is surely an uncomfortably long and awkward stretch of time later, Whirl finally speaks again though his voice is a bit strained, as if trying to hold something back. "What.. what are you doing? WHY are you doing?" The claw Exodus pats flexes. "What's happening here!?"

And no, he STILL hasn't noticed Blast Off yet, despite him literally being RIGHT THERE.

-Blast Off nods once more to Exodus, then lifts an optic ridge as the bigger mech makes a display of blocking Whirl's view of him. Hmm. That's... not a good sign. The Combaticon takes note of easy escape routes... just in case he needs them. And then... then there's... well, he \*thinks\* it's someone talking. Are they talking to HIM? Violet optics flicker as he looks over at Swivel. And stares. What did she just say?

The elite, "refined" mech continues to stare at her, too. "....Excuse me?"

Blast Off finally turns to Panacea. His hard-nosed elitism has at least been taken down a few notches lately, since he's actually had \*contact\* with many of these struggling miners. And had to LIVE and WORK with some of them, like Rumble. "Well, I suppose that's true. \*Choice\* is important, and... I suppose even the miners are going to want some basic rights." He shrugs. "That is reasonable." Whirl goes on about... something, and Blast Off is content staying \*behind\* Exodus.

-Swivel's grin falters a little bit in the face of Blast Off's response. A few different thoughts cram into the forefront of her processor at once and she looks almost like a creature caught in high-beams. However, she redoubles her efforts to be friendly. "Jus' sayin' 'allo," she explains. "Dinna wan ya ter feel 'nored... but 'en, meb' I, uh, outter line an'..." she takes a few steps back, seeming to shrink away and simper. "I'll b'on m'way..." she says more quietly, seeming to hunch up a bit as she continues to slink away, seeming careful not to turn her back on Blast Off.

*S.T.: "I was just saying Hello." "I didi not want you to feel ignored.  But, then, maybe I was out of line and..." "I will be one my way."*

-Panacea watches Whirl to make sure the mech doesn't start having a seizure or something. Especially since he seems rather shaken up at this point. "Can we help you somehow?" she asks him gently, putting a hand on his shoulder to divert his attention to her for a moment.

"Reasonable. That's a good word. Everyone is errupting all over the place trying to make big changes. I think if little changes were made here and there things could work without all this nasty violence I've been hearing about." She shudders slightly. Yeah, she's not from Combatron. "In all honesty, I think most people would choose the work they're made for anyhow if they were given a decent pay and recognition for it. The few that were unhappy would be so minimal that they could hardly destabilize the whole society." She shrugs her shoulders. "But I think a lot of people believe it's too late for that now."

Panacea looks back to Exodus. "Most of my life was spent around the miners, except for my years of Primary Programing School, my initial training, and the last few weeks. They were hard workers, enjoyed their breaks, and most of them had a pretty solid sense of humor. What's not to like?"

She watches as Swivel turns to slink mode. "I wouldn't worry too much about leaving unless he actually tells you to leave. Then you can decide if you want to do so or not." She looks over Blast Off again.

-Is Exodus...singing to him? Is that actually a thing that is happening? Whirl is immediately sent back to his stunned state, just completely dumbfounded and, dare he say it? Flattered, by the big mech's actions. "I don't.. understand," he mumbles softly, still entranced. It's only when he feels Panacea's hand on his shoulder that he seems to come out of it, optic flickering slightly as things around him start to come back into view, as it were.

"W-what? I.. What is happening right now?" Whirl looks at Panacea and notices her looking at someone else. Someone juuust barely out of sight. His claws snap shut, no doubt pinching Exodus if his fingers were in the way. "Who else is here?!"

-Exodus grins and look sown. "Panacea.. thank you. I'm flattered. I could probably say the same about you." He looks over at her, his optics bright. The lights on his faceplates turn pale in embarrassment as he then averts his optics.

He gives Swivel a sad look. "She's right, you don't have to, but I'll see you around, right, Swivel?"

Then back to Whirl. "Nothing, nothing, there's no one," he says, his voice still sing songy. Exodus' fingers were pinched but it doesn't really do him much harm. His grip on Whirl's claw tightens, and he continues his song. "Come away with me on a bus, Come away where they can't tempt us, With their lies..."

He then starts slowly leading Whirl away, away from Blast Off... and whatever trouble Whirl noticing him may bring. "It was nice meeting with all of you," Exodus says as he parts, "I'll see you all around for a round of drinks on me another time."

-Maybe if Whirl hadn't just spent the whole cycle drinking he wouldn't be so easy to persuade. Maybe.

The cyclops is easily distracted once more, head tilting to the side as he watches Exodus intently. He doesn't even seem to know he's being lead away from the others until there is quite some distance between them, at which point he leans in and whispers, except he's kind of drunk so it's not really a whisper at all, just regular speaking volume. "So, uh.. are we.. going to fool around or something?"

-Blast Off goes back to staring at Swivel. \*Still\* trying to understand half of what she says. His head tilts slightly. ""Allo"? You mean... /hello/?" His optics narrow and now his natural condescention comes through with the flat tone to his voice. "Enunciation would do \*wonders\* for you, I assure you." He gives her a slightly disdainful look. The shuttleformer comes from a high class background, and /proper speaking/ is seen as VERY important. \*haughty sniff\* I mean, he doesn't even use many contractions at all, much less... Swivel's banter.

Panacea gets a nod. "Indeed. I..." He stops and blinks at her admonsition of violence. Of course- he IS from Combatron. "Well, violence is a tool. It has it's proper place and time, like any tool. Violence ALL the time is not ideal, for how would art and culture thrive? But sometimes drastic problems require more... forceful solutions." Seeing Panacea glance at him after talking to Swivel, he turns to gaze at Swivel. Then shrugs. "Whether you choose to stay or go is up to you. I am not your Lord or Commander." The shuttle watches Exodus lead Whirl away and.... oh darn. Exodus' promise means that 1) boo, NO free drinks for him this time, and 2) yay, free drinks next time! He waves a hand as he goes.

-"...." Exodus sighs, leaning away from Whirl, his expression akin to one someone who just got a sudden migraine would wear. "... something. We're going to do something about you." And he leads him out of sight, hopefully out of mind.

-As small and low as Swivel could possibly make herself without crawling, she does paint a rather pathetic picture. However, between Panacea's and Exodus' comments, she is given pause from her departure. She stares between them as if not scuttling away from anyone who so much as expresses that much pomp was an option. Her optics then go to Blast Off. She doesn't make direct optic contact, but rather just stares at his chin. "Yer not?" She fully straightens up. "Ya mean ther sight o' me dun disgust ya?" This time the femme makes an effort to slow down her speech a fair amount. "An' ya won't yell and throw things at me ter make me run faster?" Swivel fixes Blast Off with large hopeful, and somewhat admiring, optics.

*S.T. "You're not?" "You mean the sight of my does not disgust you?" "And you won't yell and throw things at me to make me run faster?"*

-The medic femme nods slowly to Blast Off. "Well, I guess as a tool it has it's place. But it's getting to the point where it's spilling over into everyone's lives, whether they want to fight or not," she says. "I'm a medic; I fix people. I wasn't built for the brawling and shooting that goes on." She sighs. "Fortunately most people realize that, with things getting the way they are, someone has to put folks together, and one of those someones is me."

Panacea gives Swivel a little smile. "Either you started speaking a little clearer or I'm actually getting used to the way you speak." She shrugs her shoulders. "Both work for me."

-The shuttleformer is STILL not sure what to make of this... this.... /urchin/. Blast Off continues to stare at Swivel. She ...is obviously NOT anywhere near as cultured and amazing and educated as HE is. /Obviously./ But still, he has no intention of doing what she is describing, either. That would take too much effort, anyway. "....No, of course not." His gaze flicks from Swivel to Panacea and back again, looking a little awkward and unsure how to properly... address this situation.

At Panacea's comment, he finds something to break his confusion, if only for a moment. "Yes. I think things shall become more restless and violent before they settle down again." And of course he might well be part of that, but he leaves that out. "A medic is always appreciated. So if times become ...difficult, you may become even more in "demand"." He should know, as a soldier he often needed one!

-"Wellum!" Swivel exclaims and is instantly transformed back into the casual and carefree femme from moments ago. "Tha's relief! Ya jus soundin' so top-knotchy I 'gan thinkin' ya'd treat me likes mos'em do." She folds her arms and nods her head with a very deiberate jerk. "An' mos'em dun wan ther sight o' me. Not e'en gimme d'rect orders 'cuz like talkin' t'me'd dirty 'em. So I 'ear 'em from summun lower." She nods her head again. She then throws up a hand, finally feeling allowed into the full of the conversation. "I dun like vi'lence much, ma'coz I notter strong as some an I's ther'on gettin' kicked inner dust an' 'en they laugh! I likes medics mucher."

*S.T.: "Well!" "That's a relief.  You just sounded so top knotch that I began thinking you would treat me like most of them do." "And most of them don't want to see me. They don't even give me direct orders because it is like talking to me would make them dirty.  So I hear them from someone lower." "I don't like violence much, maybe because I am not as strong as some and I was the one getting kicked into the dust, and then they would laugh.  I like medics much more."*

-"Well, I wish I could say that I was happy my job was so secure, but I'm not really thrilled at all the suffering that is going to be caused before everything settles down." In all honesty, Panacea doesn't care which side is right or wrong, just that people are going to get hurt defending both sides. "As long as people have need of me, I'll be here. With any luck, though, they'll keep all their political ideas outside the door. They can pick them right up again on their way out." She shrugs her shoulders. Reading between the lines, anyone with intelligence and perception will note that she's stating a willingness to patch people up regardless of station or ideology.

It takes Panacea a few moments to sort out the next tangled batch of Swivel's words, but that look of 'aha' finally crosses her features. "Well, I generally don't kick anyone anywhere. Though I might have people escorted out of my place of work if people get too rowdy. A hospital is a place for healing."

-Blast Off ...has no idea how to react to Swivel. This goes \*waaay\* over his head. He continues to stare at her, audios having to strain to understand anything. This is NOT the clear enunciation he is USED to. Part of the shuttle wants to grab this femme, sit her down near a projector screen and start on the grammar lessons ASAP. "I... uh.... see." (No he doesn't.) "I... don't really care about those things. If you mind your business, I am content to mind mine."

He turns to Panacea. As a Combaticon, the fact that people get hurt isn't really anywhere near as much of a concern for him. Again, one of those things that just /happens/. Especially if there's /fighting/. "Well.. perhaps the suffering will ultimately be for a good cause. I simply hope the \*right\* side wins." Of course, that means HIS side. He does note her dedication to patching people up, though- as a former soldier he has a natural inclination to note and be on the good side of any medic he knows.

The shuttleformer glances down the street. "Well... I should be heading off. I have some work to do. Good day." He gives the two femmes a nod, and starts heading away.

-"Well....um..." Swivel lets this word hang for a moment as she seems to be thinking carefully back on what she has said, or treid to say, for a moment. Making sure it all adds up she nods. "Good t'know ya dun gun kickin' mechs out! N'offin I needer medic... lotter times jus' kicked 'n shoved 'bout. Nu'in sir'us." She places her hands behind her back. "Still! I like 'em medic types aller same."

Swivel turns to Blast Off as he makes his polite and eloquent farewell. She beams, stretching her grin ompossibly wide so that it dominates her face. "G'bye! T'care!"

Still grinning, she turns back to Panacea. "Pansy, was it? 'En ya get good 'n se'eld I 'ope ter see y'in action!"

*S.T.: "Good to you you don't go kicking mechs out.  It is not often that I need a medic.  Lots of time I am just kicked and shoved about.  Nothing serious."  "Still!  I like those medics types all the same." "Good bye.  Take care." "Pansy, was it? When you get good and settled I hope to see you in action."*

-"Good cycle to you then," Panacea says to Blast Off with a nodd of her head and a friendly smile. She even waves, how nice! The odd-speaking femme gets a wave as well, the words sufficing for a farewell to her also.

-Once more or less alone Swivel rests her forearm against the crest on her forehead. "Whew. Time ta take a break. I really could go fer a drink... I need ta be much more drunk when I pull dialogue like that!" With that, Swivel goes searching for somewhere to get some energon.