Party Planning

Even if she's been spending most of her time hiding at the Institute lately, Nautica has to venture out sometimes. For her own sanity, if nothing else. Still, she can't help but check for signs of her grumpy blue BFF before leaving the facility; the only way she sees that the situation could be worse would be if Pharma took an interest in her friends. But when Chromia isn't in evidence, Nautica slips out of the facility and makes her way in search of a change of scenery.

It's not like Nautica can't see Hot Rod coming. Anyone can see him coming. Anyone can see him coming from far, far away. It's his curse.

Too bad he's so fast. I mean -- we're not talking Blurr fast, granted, but it's hard to get away from him when he transforms out of his alt-mode and into root mode to fall into step next to Nautica with airy cheer: "Wow, hi! You've been busy. Hard to track you down." He still shows signs of his recent scuffle. Keeping his paint pristine is not a top priority, but fear not: he'll get around to it.

"Oh! Hot Rod! Hi." Nautica pauses, glancing at the building behind her, and then back to the flamboyant mech suddenly walking beside her. She is, perhaps, just a bit tense now. "Yes. Very busy. Very, very busy. So busy, in fact, I'd really prefer not to talk about my work!" That last statement rings a little too desperate to be a good joke.

Hot Rod matches his step to Nautica's, keeping pace. He glances over at her. He's unusually thoughtful -- in that he's thoughtful at all -- as he considers her and her tone. "Really really prefer?" he asks. Just checking. "What would you rather talk about? I met a friend of yours. Or is that bad too?"

"Well, that depends on what friend," Nautica replies, with visible relief that Hot Rod seems to have taken the hint. This relief doesn't seem to alleviate the generally unhappy expression she wears, however. "I mean, some friends value their privacy."

"Chromia. She makes an /impression/." Hot Rod sounds somewhere between impressed and annoyed. One might expect a personality clash with very little insight into the two. "She kind of seems like the type to value their privacy."

"Oh, Chromia! How is Chromia? I haven't seen her for a little while. You know, work and all." Nautica seems to be choosing her words carefully here, as she watches Hot Rod.

Hot Rod watches Nautica just as closely, and he speaks much more slowly than he is usually wont: "Oh, you know, mostly good. Kind of mad about how much work's taking up your time. She talked to a coworker of yours, but hasn't even seen you." He's ready to cut off at a gesture or a twitch.

'Mostly good' earns a smile from Nautica. "I'm glad. She's one of my two closest friends. And, yeah, it's... well, we do important things here, so it takes up more time than I'd expect. Sometimes it's like work almost keeps you prisoner, you know?" Ha ha ha. "I'm sure I'll see her soon again, though; I'm going to take an opportunity to get away, make my escape for a little while."

If Hot Rod were sitting, he'd have knee jerked upright. As it is, the quivering attentiveness that runs from head to toe to the very tips of his spoiler has all the intensity of a hunting dog sighting prey. "Yeah? Cool. Chromia came by when I was talking about plans with some friends of mine. You know when you might have some free time? Maybe we can coordinate our schedule."

"I don't, yet," Nautica replies, apologetically, though Hot Rod's comment has definitely earned her attention. "I'll let you know, as soon as I have a timeline. Should be soon, though; like I said, I could really use a break."

"Okay, well." Hot Rod stalls a moment, then pushes forward saying, "Is it okay if I send you a comm if our plans change, just in case it's kind of a spur of the moment thing? I know Chromia would just kill me if there was a party and you weren't invited."

"Oh, sure. I'd love to come!" Nautica offers with a smile. More apologetically, she adds, "I really should go, though; I just have time to grab a quick shot of energon, and then I need to be back in the lab."

"Right. I'll keep in touch," Hot Rod promises, then falls back to watch her drag back to her cage.