ANH. Bespin Station. It just might be getting worse; we'll get back to you

[astrotechmech]

The room where Jetfire and Arcee find themselves after Nemesis Prime finishes torturing Jetfire maybe be small, dark, and bare, but it is not completely soundproof.

Muffled voices can be heard in the hall outside of the "dungeon" sometime after the 'Troopers throw them in. Jetfire might be able to recognize that one voice is a very irritated Smokescreen.

"I'm going in."

"But sir! You can't!--I mean, shouldn't! You've seen what happened. That mech might--

"You're not changing my mind on this, mech."

"I mean, look at what happened this morning! There's no telling--"

"Out of my way, mech."

"But, sir! Sir!"

It is at this moment that the door opens, and the voices become clear and attached to faces, starting with Smokescreen as he turns to give a parting shot to the concerned security mech behind him before crossing the dungeon's threshold.

"If Jetfire wants to harm me, so be it! I deserve every blow I get after what I've done to him!"

Even in the dim lighting, it will be quite apparent that Smokescreen is not exactly "running on all four pistons." As he storms in, the two in the room will be able to see that--along with being the embodiment of annoyance right now--he is showing the signs of exhaustion. . . . Something that implies that he didn't get a lot of recharge in last night, and also that he's been employing a "poker face" to conceal that fact for most of the day. As it is, Smokescreen has to restrain himself from leaning on something within the room once he is inside.

The security guard bursts into the room soon after. "Sir, I--"

The security mech stops when he takes in the others in the room, instantly clamming up and falling into Smokescreen's 'shadow'. "Greenie" is figuratively written all over his face.

Comments

[random_xtras]

"Get outta here," says Jetfire quietly once Arcee has the new cube, his optics switching off as he reaches for recharge. "Get lost."

[astrotechmech]

"I heard ya the first time." Smokescreen chuckles dryly, shrugging off the harshness the words would normally bring and whacking Jetfire lightly in farewell. "Gotta make sure that nothing's blown up in my absence anyway." Smokescreen's face then falls into a frown. ". . . And make sure Nemesis Prime isn't eying anything else."

Smokescreen pushes off of the bench, where he had inadvertently started leaning, and turns to give Arcee a nod in farewell. "Arcee."

He then walks across the room to collect the security mech, who has engaged in a starting contest with the grate after hearing a noise that the others had not been close enough to hear. "Come on, Sideswipe."

Sideswipe gives the offending grate one last look before following his boss out of the room and handing Smokescreen the last low grade cube when he reaches for it.

"I'm starting to think I'm the one going crazy," Sideswipe says conversationally, before turning his attention to Smokescreen's downing of the cube almost in one go. ". . . Do you want me to get you some mid-grade with energy boosters?" Should I have gotten you coffee instead, sir?

Smokescreen sighs contently once the cube is empty and hands it to Sideswipe. "No. That stuff always makes me crash and burn at the worst moments, and I don't need that right now." He looks thoughtful for a moment before giving Sideswipe a pat on the shoulder in farewell. "And it's back to the tyrant."