ANH. Rebel Medical Frigate Main Medbay. Swampy Squishes

[astrotechmech]

"Wait, don't hurt it!" Smokescreen steps forward and scoops up a small frog from the ground before the nearest bot can act on their 'squish it!' impulses.

"D'aww,' Smokescreen says, taking a closer look at the animal. "It's a green-eyed tree frog."

"A Hutt Chomper? Smokescreen, you're not keeping the frog. Do you WANT Liftor angry at you?" Arcee scowls up at the husky mech. "Keeping dangerous animals for gambling is stupid!"

[What dangerous animal?!] Liftor goes from being by the door of the medbay after walking in to being on Smokescreen's shoulder faster than a person could sneeze. He looks down at it briefly for a moment before turning to Smokescreen and flatly beeping, [We are NOT keeping that thing.]

Smokescreen frowns. "They're only dangerous if they're trained up to be. I've always liked these little guys but I don't have the spark to make 'em into the killers the gambling rings make them. And this guy's too old to get the full training. He's too far past his egg stage."

Random meanwhile is sitting up on the medical table with an open panel, trying to recover from the shock of having a live organic in him. "How? When? I--" had thought he had been thoroughly cleaned out after the Bespin adventure. . . . Did he pick it up at Jabba's? But then why would he imagine he felt something in him before that? Sigh. He just came here to make sure the abuse he received in Jabba's Palace hadn't permanently damaged him. "Where did it come from?"

"These little guys make their home in hollow trees in swamps mostly," Smokescreen says, absently, as he feels the frog.

That has Random's attention. "Swamps?!"

"Oh, hang on. Not as old as I thought. 32 standard days, I'd say."

Random stops as he realizes that the mech just said that the frog was as about as old as the days it's been since he was on Dagobah.

Liftor looks at Random and then pokes his big friend. [Smokescreen.]

"This guy's had good eatin'," says Smokescreen, unheeding.

"Eating?" Random looks a little pale.

[Smokescreen.]

"Yeah." Smokescreen proceeds to name all sorts of things you can find in the water of a swamp and Random slowly realizes that all of the squishy movement he thought he felt inside him before he got cleaned out was this pesky little frog eating everything that was living inside him. Random feels nauseous and then he feels faint and then he feels nauseous again.

[Smokescreen!]

Smokescreen finally turns to Liftor impatiently. "What?"

Liftor points at Random emphatically and Smokescreen instantly realizes his mistake. "Oops."

Well, it's a good thing that Random's not standing because he just fainted.

Comments

[astrotechmech]

"Yeah," Smokescreen nods. "They're good for pest control. Can get scraplets and glitchmice as well. This is a male, so you can just scratch him under the chin to tell him he's done good and he'll keep doing it." Smokescreen turns to Makeshift and carefully lowers his hand so the other mech can have a better look at what's in it. "Green-eyed tree frogs. We found this one in Random." He nods down at the frog currently eating the mynock.

Liftor hides his face in his hands--despite having a facemask that's already hiding his blush of embarrassment.

[random_xtras]

The old astrotech glances at the frog, and then startles slightly. "Where'd Random find a wild green-eye? I haven't seen one of those in over a hundred years."

Arcee blinks at Liftor, then looks back to the frog. "Uhh. Is he going to choke?"

[astrotechmech]

Liftor lifts up his head to answer since he was the one who'd been paying attention when the astrotech was reacting to the things Smokescreen said. [From a swamp, apparently. He didn't know he had it until it popped out of him.] He absently gives Smokescreen a sidelong glance of a glare.

Smokescreen looks down at frog and mynock when Arcee brings it back to his attention. "Uh, no. They're usually good at not taking on more they can swallow. But you got it off of a ship you said?" he asks, turning to Makeshift. "Then the mynock's probably eating wire and that's not good for these frogs."

Smokescreen carefully removes the mynock from the little frog's mouth and lovingly gives the frog a rub under the chin to tell it did a good job, despite the mynock not being the best meal for it.

[random_xtras]

Arcee snerks despite herself at the expression of content on the frog's face as his chin is rubbed, then looks down as Kia wriggles and sets the youngster down.

"I have got to go to Random," says Kia, that lilt in her voice coming out a little more strongly than usual in her absent mindedness. "I'll learn about the frog later, okay?" And off she goes back into the medbay before anyone can reply.

[astrotechmech]

Smokescreen smiles as he watches Kia walk off and then he turns back to Makeshift. "So, you're familiar with green-eyed tree frogs?"

--

Random doesn't start or flinch as he comes back to the waking world. Instead, he looks blearily up at the person holding him and is seemingly unaware of the nature of his surroundings.

The poor astrotech is feeling like he really did lose the contents of his tank with his consciousness, even though he fainted moments before that could be a reality.

"Kia." Random whispers hoarsely, trembling greatly as he tries to shift his weight to move. It seems that he is able to notice her missing despite all his confusion.

[random_xtras]

"Easy," says a gruff alto gently as arms support but don't restrain him. "Intake a little and wake up the rest before you try getting up."

A hint of Sunrise scent plays over his senses as the door to the examination room opens.

[astrotechmech]

Random obediently sighs and intakes deeply as he slumps back into the arms and reshutters his optics.

He remains like that, intaking with shut optic shutters, for a few moments. Then he opens his shutters slowly and frowns when he sees that there's someone above him. And he knows who it is.

"Fix-er? I--" He frowns in confusion, looking around the room, and then flinches when he realizes just where he is. Something bad must have happened. "What--?!"

Random jumps at the opening of the door and turns his head in that direction, pausing in his panic at the smell of Cybertron Sunrise.

Aaaaand his tank just pinged.

[random_xtras]

"Yeah, it's me." The big burgundy and white Taubot woman smiles, her stern but beautiful face showing relief at the recognition, but then she's scowling toward the opening door. "I said no interruptions. Get out."

"But Random needs me," Kia replies simply. "And he's hungry, too."

[astrotechmech]

"Kia." Random tries and fails to get up when he sees you, Kia. He's just trembling a bit too much to do so.