apathetic-until-distracted

[apathetic-until-distracted]

"Oh- you remembered my name." Not because he thought Megatron wouldn't, but Dead End wasn't even the most important part of the combiner he was in, much less part of an important combiner. The mud was starting to get into places he'd rather it not be, but he couldn't be bothered enough to actually.. move.

Stalemate. Guess he'd just keep laying here, instead. If Megatron wanted a look at the back of him, now was a good chance, though, while he was laying flopped on his front. ...face down in the mud and unwilling to get up. "I don't know where any others are.. and you know what Breakdown is?"

They hadn't. Breakdown had done the unthinkable and taken off without them, and then a lot of things had started going haywire, and-

Dead End made a whiny noise into the wet dirt. "I don't even know where here is."

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } You don't just end up separated from the rest of the combiner unit. Usually something happened to push you to it, or otherwise move you apart. Which, of course, is how he ended up all on his lonesome, no comm unit, he was just a little race car. Didn't mean he wasn't scrappy on his own, but he wasn't nearly sturdy or big enough to face down- "Megatron," he murmured morosely. Lord no longer, even if it felt weird.

“Dead End. Good to see you’re not entirely scrambled,” Megatron replies, crouching down in the muck of the mud next to him to get a good look at the somewhat pathetic looking mech practically getting swallowed up by it. The lack of his former title does not go unnoticed, but like many things, Megatron has lost the right to it.

He’s offering the speedster a servo up instead, frowning to himself in… can that actually be called concern? Did Megatron’s face actually do that? Hard to tell for sure when his field is as shuttered and held-close as always.

“Where are your siblings? I know where Breakdown is, but— Wildrider, Motormaster. Dragstrip, er… no, it’s Blackjack now, isn’t it, that’s what he’s going by? Anyways. Let me get at the back of you, that’s a good mech. We need to get this chip off before it reactivates again.”

[apathetic-until-distracted]

Nudges him with his pede. “Hey, c’mon, dude, we talked about this… You can’t just lay on the floor at the foot of the stairs, Endie.”

Dead End made a low groaning noise into the floor, but rolled to his pedes.

"My Switch is dead. Everything is bad. I wanna play Warframe. Do you know what Warframe is, Rodimus? It's important."

[apathetic-until-distracted]

Promote him like one of your French mechs.

[apathetic-until-distracted]

{ @helicrazy } He shouldn't do this. It's dangerous, and perhaps stupid, and he is more than courting Death, perhaps, he is opening the door and making it a hot meal before letting it frag him into the floorboards.

..which is exactly why he's going to do it.

Damn. He's predictable as the pit, isn't he? Dead End sighed and paced a little, staring at his comm, and then at his surroundings. This area was still ruin, still gutted, recovering. No one would bother either of them for miles on miles.

Which meant no one would be able to get to Dead End if something happened. He was offering a lot of trust in Vortex, for this.

He sighed again, helm tilting back to look at the sky.

He was incredibly stupid for this. Which is why he sends the message, anyway. 'Come find me.' And then a set of coordinates.

[apathetic-until-distracted]

"You didn't deny wanting to be held by Optimus, though," Dead End pointed out, perhaps a bit knowingly. Knowledge of the self through the other, and all that bullshit.

"I mean... yeah." He shrugged- he was quiet. Usually because his processor was full of fuzz. "You're usually pretty talkative, though. So uh.. shanix for your thoughts, I guess?"

{ @flameofprimus }

"..huh. You know that sounds fucking unfortunate, what the hell is my excuse, then?"

[apathetic-until-distracted]

"So tell me somethin' new," he grumbled, scrubbing at his optics.

"If anyone doesn't feel a little.. down because they don't know if they wanna be Optimus and Megatron, or if they wanna be held by them, they're probably lying."

..hm. Maybe that was a little revealing. Change subjects. "What brings you over here, though?"

{ @flameofprimus }

"..huh. You know that sounds fucking unfortunate, what the hell is my excuse, then?"

[apathetic-until-distracted]

{ @flameofprimus }

"..huh. You know that sounds fucking unfortunate, what the hell is my excuse, then?"

[apathetic-until-distracted]

sparkmender “Do you want to talk about it?”

"I dropped my ice cream sandwich..."

[apathetic-until-distracted]

"Ah... winter months on Earth.

They say this is the 'season' for depression. ..you guys only have one season for that shit? I'm depressed all the time."

[apathetic-until-distracted]

Swindle kissed his knuckles and Dead End felt, for a moment, like he was going to faint on the spot. His optics flickered a little, and he wrested control back-

Just long enough to let out a horrid little squeak. Fantastic work, Dead End. Incomprehensible. He cleared his vocalizer and shifted a little, digits clenching around Swindle's thicker ones. "Yeah, I- yeah. That sounds nice an' all-" Say something of substance, damn it! ..or not. Maybe he will just stand here and stare at Swindle, instead.

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } Big, sparkly wet optics. "Swindle? A minute?"

Oh Slag... Those optics make a mech weak.

Swindle sets aside his datapads and smiles. A more gentle sort then he gives most. Sitting back in his seat," Whats up End?"

[apathetic-until-distracted]

Swindle looked a little... Dead End didn't know. He'd never seen that look on Swindle's face, before. Dead End blinked, fiddling with the paint on the tips of his digits.

"I can take you back there, yeah, but.." Dead End's brow furrowed, his servo lifting up towards Swindle hesitantly before dropping back at his side.

Something didn't feel right.

..maybe that wasn't his business, though.

"Yeah, I can take you back there."

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } Big, sparkly wet optics. "Swindle? A minute?"

Oh Slag... Those optics make a mech weak.

Swindle sets aside his datapads and smiles. A more gentle sort then he gives most. Sitting back in his seat," Whats up End?"

[apathetic-until-distracted]

Dead End noticed to reaction, but didn't mention it- if Swindle knew something, that wasn't exactly unusual, because Swindle kind of made it his business to know a lot of things.

He sent the coordinates again, helm tilting.

"Do you think they're bein'.. traced or anything, or should I start expecting some people to come out and help me haul this stuff back to you?" Or otherwise leave it alone. That much shanix, someone had to be looking for it, if they were still alive.

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } Big, sparkly wet optics. "Swindle? A minute?"

Oh Slag... Those optics make a mech weak.

Swindle sets aside his datapads and smiles. A more gentle sort then he gives most. Sitting back in his seat," Whats up End?"

[apathetic-until-distracted]

"I found something I think you might wanna see. You remember that, uh.. that case full of shanix I found for you ages ago?" His brow furrowed, and he sent Swindle a recording- and coordinates. "I kinda found it weird that I found it where I did and so I went back and did some maybe literal digging- there's.. Swindle there's a lot of these. Just laying around. Like someone was hiding money."

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } Big, sparkly wet optics. "Swindle? A minute?"

Oh Slag... Those optics make a mech weak.

Swindle sets aside his datapads and smiles. A more gentle sort then he gives most. Sitting back in his seat," Whats up End?"

[apathetic-until-distracted]

He'd be more surprised if Swindle didn't have those things, honestly.

But if Dead End were really honest, he just kind of enjoyed spending time with Swindle. ..too bad he was a filthy liar. At the very least, he got to spend time with Swindle like this, and Swindle didn't have to figure out he had any feelings, and they could just..

Keep going like this.

Dead End snorted at him, and let his helm roll to the side, giving Swindle a little tug to lead him forward. They both knew if Swindle didn't want to move, he wouldn't. "You're showing off now, huh?"

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } "Swindle?" Dead End taps the tips of his digits to Swindle's arm lightly, optics cycling lazily. "You have a minute?"

" End-?" Swindle's helm lifts from his arm. Blinking tiredly, work sprawled over his desk. Primus he'd done it again huh? He drags his palm over his face. Then smiles at End," Yea sure wassup End?" Pushing himself to sit up with a grunt. Its like magic, how exhaustion disappears behind the easy crooked grin.

[apathetic-until-distracted]

Dead End has a nasty sweet denta- he doesn't indulge it often because he can't really be bothered, but every now and again he gets a massive craving that he really can't quite ignore.

Easier to deal with, now that the war is over.

Dead End does twitch a little harder when Swindle does that, ticklish, but nods. He figured Swindle would want want to pick the entree, and frankly, Dead End doesn't particularly care about what it is. Swindle will make sure it's good.

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } "Swindle?" Dead End taps the tips of his digits to Swindle's arm lightly, optics cycling lazily. "You have a minute?"

" End-?" Swindle's helm lifts from his arm. Blinking tiredly, work sprawled over his desk. Primus he'd done it again huh? He drags his palm over his face. Then smiles at End," Yea sure wassup End?" Pushing himself to sit up with a grunt. Its like magic, how exhaustion disappears behind the easy crooked grin.

[apathetic-until-distracted]

That does get a huffing little laugh out of Dead End, optics squinting slightly. "Well maybe I wouldn't have to if 'ol Swindle' remembered to, huh?" Settling his servo over top Swindle's.

A deal, is that it? Dead End pretends to think it over, optic ridges raising.

"You do drive a hard bargain, Swindle. ...I suppose I'll agree. On.. on one condition." A bit of fidgeting. "Maybe.. do you remember that, ah.. I don't remember what it was called. The sweet red cake with the white icing?"

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } "Swindle?" Dead End taps the tips of his digits to Swindle's arm lightly, optics cycling lazily. "You have a minute?"

" End-?" Swindle's helm lifts from his arm. Blinking tiredly, work sprawled over his desk. Primus he'd done it again huh? He drags his palm over his face. Then smiles at End," Yea sure wassup End?" Pushing himself to sit up with a grunt. Its like magic, how exhaustion disappears behind the easy crooked grin.

[apathetic-until-distracted]

Dead End's optics brighten a little at the promise of a morbid tidbit to add to his collection. He doesn't reach out to take it, yet, though, because Swindle is pulling him in by the waist. He only just twitches when Swindle's pinky brushes the little gorge of an injury- not wide, but deeper, as though scratched by claws. "You should probably fuel, you know. ..if I'm not allowed to miss fuel, neither are you."

{ @apathetic-until-distracted } "Swindle?" Dead End taps the tips of his digits to Swindle's arm lightly, optics cycling lazily. "You have a minute?"

" End-?" Swindle's helm lifts from his arm. Blinking tiredly, work sprawled over his desk. Primus he'd done it again huh? He drags his palm over his face. Then smiles at End," Yea sure wassup End?" Pushing himself to sit up with a grunt. Its like magic, how exhaustion disappears behind the easy crooked grin.