Ep. 1.5 - Dare to Be Stupid (Open)

[Deleted]

Week One, Day 1

----

Thundercloud was a mech who was unfortunately prone to willfully making what he knew to be terrible decisions. His entire history of existence seemed to play out as a long series of interconnected events which all paid testament to his apparent chronic need to screw up his own life. Whether these poor decisions were made on impulse, in the spur of the moment, or made with careful consideration but a complete disregard for his own wellbeing was difficult to say. It would be a fair guess to say it was a mix of both; Thundercloud was indeed a creature of instinct and impulse, and his sense of self-preservation seemed to be non-existent at times. Perhaps, like him, it was prone to ignoring its duties and not doing what it was supposed to.

For whatever reason, Thundercloud was prone to self-destructive behavior. He was also fully aware of this, which made his indifference and utter lack of concern for the outcome of most of his decisions somewhat troubling, given he knew full well he tended to act against his own best interest. Usually his bad-decision-making could be curbed by outside intervention, usually in the form of someone telling him, point blank, not to do the stupid thing he was contemplating. However, at the same time, being told not to do something could (and often did) have the exact opposite of its intended effect on him - depending on his mood at the time, or the circumstances he found himself in, Thundercloud would do the exact opposite of what he was told out of spite, or simply to be contrary. There was really no telling which way he would respond, fickle as he was. He was just as likely to listen to someone’s input as he was to throw it back in their face and do what he wanted just to give them the metaphorical finger, so there was no sure way of knowing whether attempting to dissuade him from doing something would actually convince him not to act, or conversely, ensure that he did.

That being said, it was for Thundercloud’s own best interest, and the best interest of everyone around him, that he not be left to his own devices for extended periods of time. Because, without fail, he would find something incredibly dangerous and ill-advised to do, and like a moth to flame, he would feel compelled to do whatever incredibly stupid thing had just crossed his mind, just because he could. Especially if he was bored. Boredom and freedom were a volatile mix in the wisest of mechs, let alone in Thundercloud, who was by no means unintelligent, but simply had too much devil-may-care recklessness in him to care to act wisely.

Amplified by this was his near compulsive need to take advantage of any and every opportunity to act upon a whim. Having spent a significant portion of time behind bars, where every aspect of his life had been closely monitored and dictated by a stringent set of rules and regulations, Thundercloud couldn’t help but develop a sort of… reverence for freedom. It was something he had been so long without, that now that it was within his possession once more, he couldn’t NOT utilize it to the fullest.

He never realized just how good it felt to satisfy a random impulse until he had the liberty to do so taken from him.

Not that he would every explain that to anyone. He didn’t feel the need to justify himself, nor did he think it necessary to put his actions in a sympathetic light. If people just assumed he was a reckless idiot, good for them. He didn’t care. So long as they didn’t think he had some sort of freedom complex and started looking at him funny (read: pityingly), he didn’t give a damn what people thought of him.

Hence why he was not at all ashamed to broadcast his bad ideas and perform them in front of an audience. In fact, as Carbine could testify, he almost prefered to have an audience: it was entertaining to see how people reacted to his stunts. Wide-eyed shock and incredulous swearing tended to be the most common responses, and Thundercloud had little doubt his newest Bad Idea would garner the same reactions.

This thought is what prompted him to saunter into the rec-room, where an audience would most likely be found. And found they were. Flashing a rakish grin at the various assembled Bots, Thundercloud lifted up his right hand, in which he held what looked suspiciously like a screw-gun.

“Hey. Anybody wanna watch me do somthin’ real fraggin’ stupid?”

[Deleted]

As a general rule of thumb, Kitandcaboodle did not like jetformers, or any other flier. She especially did not like snooty, high caste, jetformers. Kit was born and bred in Vos, even now after its destruction, on what had become a dead planet, she still called Vos home. It was a city full of snooty high caste jetformers, and nearly everyone looked down – literally and figuratively – upon Kit and her ilk. She was a low caste worker, as close to a slave as it was possible in that environment. So when Thundercloud called out for attention to some idiotic whim, Kit deemed him non-snooty, which was a mark in his favour. Of course she barely knew him at all.

Kit had been at the Auto-base less than 2 days and most people were utter unknowns. There was Optimus Prime of course, The Leader. Kit knew of him rather than knew him personally. The same for Ratchet, the “miracle doctor” was what she had heard. Scrap for a bedside manner, but excellent in nearly every other aspect. He had fixed Kit’s leg after the 'Cons had pounced her upon her landing. He also seemed rather old and wise, which was impressive in its own considering the near immortal nature of Cybertronians. There was Fortress Maximus, her saviour. Big name, Big Tankformer, Big Gun, Big Issues. What she knew of the other Autobots amounted to a very short list of names and not much else. But they were a team, welded together out of pure necessity.

And that meant she had to get on with the fliers. So far Thundercloud had made the first step easy for her.

Cheerfully Kit answered back, “I’ll gladly watch your escapades, let’s see what ya got.” Kit had a screw-gun of her own, one of her hand transforms, and maybe Thundercloud could even use a second.

[Optimus Prime]

It was a long day, and it seemed it was only going to get longer.

Optimus stood before the Energon dispenser, having just filled a cube half way with the fuel. He didn't cap it off, despite his large frame, but that was just something he did. He felt almost... guilty taking so much fuel... and in a way? He only served himself what Orion would have consumed back in the day. He knew it meant he would need to go back more often, but it just was a faint inkling of familiarity that brought him some comfort. This practice also forced him to attempt to communicate with his team more, despite his inability to socialize.

In addition to the familiarity of the half filled cube, there was also the guilt brought on by being one of the largest on base, meaning that what he needed to survive? Was triple, if not quadruple, that one such as Arcee would require. Even though it was logical, it was bothersome to him, compelling him to be far more throttled on consumption.

It is while he was filling the cube however, he heard another individual approaching, optics never leaving what he was doing in order to see who it was. He knew however it was one of the newer individuals, for he didn't recognize the footfalls that were near signatures for every individual on base. Eventually he would learn them given time, but alas... the voice that spoke out? Broke the mystery, and Optimus replied, a very flat even tone.

"No."

The word was simple, and dismissive, there not an inkling of amusement, or humor laced within. He did not care, he did not want to see it, and it was painfully apparent by his voice. While he didn't intend to be RUDE, there were just some things he frankly did not care about, nor wish to witness, and seeing one of his soldiers who they all relied upon in battle do something stupid? Was not high on his priority list.

It was only because he didn’t see the screw gun, that he didn’t tell Thunder to just put it back where he found it and cut it out. If he had? It would have changed the dynamic of the situation entirely, for it implied either damage to the base, to another Autobot, or Thunder himself.

[Carbine]

Carbine perhaps, would have been the only one to truly understand Thunder's insistent NEED to validate that they were free and not trapped without any rights or privileges any longer. He would have had firsthand experience, walking side by side with the massive jet through the living hell that was Garrus-1. He would have understood, and perhaps? He emulated some of it in his own ways subconsciously. However? To him? Thunder was still an impulsive jerk who would have probably did what he was about to do, with or without the oppressing power of Garrus in his past.

The ex-cop had gotten a cube of Energon for himself just before Optimus, having planned to retreat back to his quarters to down it in peace. He was never going to eat in front of others as far as he was concerned. He pretended he had no face under his helmet, even telling Ratchet he had nothing there but mechanics for his optics, and that the visor was legit his face. They were not going to see reality and his damage to permit them to start pitying him like he was some pathetic injured thing looking for handouts.

It is because of this he had to eat in privacy.

Such a goal was cut off though as Thunder walked in, and his mood? Sharply changed gears. What had been quiet and partly reserved, just fetching fuel with a goal, suddenly skidded sideways to alert and excited, as if someone had just declared to them the war was over once and for all. It is because of this, his field lashed out violently with glee and mirth, his frame reacting physically as well.

Slender rotors on either side of his spine flared out, as he launched forward at a full out run while casting the cube of Energon onto a table nearby with a clatter. He slammed his right ped down in front of him sideways before reaching his goal, skidding up beside Thunder to loop one arm up and over the brute's shoulders. The action was a bit difficult, a bit of a strain in order to reach so high on the other's huge frame. His free hand? Grasped the nearest arm, as he tried to 'walk' Thunder more into the room.

"Yes! Ye?s?! Com'on! Move f?o?rwar?d! Give ev?e?-e-?all a good show!"

He declared this enthusiastically, before slipping off the Jet and peddling back to the side a few long steps. He would be close enough to see what was happening, as well as view other's reactions, but not... TOO close. He recognized the object in Thunder's hand, and he didn’t need screws getting shot at him like a particularly painful game of paintball.

It is here Carbine waited patiently, his rotors on his back flicking and clicking together in excitement. Bolo, squirmed in his dock a bit, but otherwise kept in place, confused but knowing he should be excited.

[Deleted]

Unfortunately for Optimus, Thundercloud was not at all dissuaded by the lack of interest the Prime showed in whatever his latest stunt was. If anything, hearing that someone DIDN’T want to watch the spectacle just gave him all the more incentive to go ahead and put on a show for his captive audience, just for the sake of being contrary.

Hence why he met Optimus’ blunt “no” with an undaunted grin and a mock-salute directed at his turned back.

He was a smidge less disrespectful towards Kit, favoring the femme with a nod and a wink as Carbine rushed towards him, his field practically cackling with glee in anticipation for whatever his friend had in store for his audience. Unphased by the ex-cop’s display of exuberance, having long since grown accustomed to the mech’s quirks, Thundercloud simply rolled his optics a bit and dropped his shoulders down as Carbine slung his arm over them, so he wouldn’t have to stretch so high up. It was an unconscious gesture at that point, one that came naturally to him after so many years of repetition.

Of course, if anyone dared to point this out to him, he would have no choice but to introduce their face to a drainage ditch.

He allowed Carbine to lead him further into the room, his pace slowing to match the other mech’s shorter strides, before finally stopping once he was close enough to give the assembled mecha a good view of the dumbaft thing he was about to do.

Deciding he may as well be a little showy thanks to Carbine’s grand introduction, Thundercloud spun the screw-gun in his hand around his finger for a few rotations while he retrieved something from his subspace and tossed it lazily into the air.

It was a pair of slip-joint pliers.

He looked from Kit, to Carbine, to Optimus’ turned back, before flashing a smirk that was a little too sharp at the corner.

“Fair warnin’: anyone who’s squeamish might wanna look away. Or grow a pair an’ stop bein’ a wimp. Your choice.”

With that announcement made, Thundercloud then proceeded to do something that would likely top the list of Stupid Slag He Did for the rest of the month.

He stuck out his tongue, held it rigid with the pliers, then aimed the screw gun against its underside.

Idly, he wondered if this piercing would hurt less or more than his first did.

[Optimus Prime]

Optimus internally flinched at the sheer volume of glee and mirth that flooded out of the helicopter mech, the whiplash of fields almost alarming in its own right. This thrashing lurch from inert and quiet to excited activity however was not as bad as the calamity that followed just moments after. Carbine had effectively charged Thundercloud at a full blown run, these actions paired with the clattering clank of the cube managing to hit the solid surface and somehow not falling off the opposite side or tipping over.

This sort of chaos wasn't really appreciated, but it was brief, and didn’t evolve into some... fast paced chase game around the room. That he would have put a stop to rather quickly, not needing to deal with broken machinery from someone slipping and falling. Or... you know... general injuries... He felt like a killjoy half the time but it couldn't be helped.

The Prime finished filling his cube half way, before lifting it to rest at an idle level, not intending to drink from it just yet since his focus was more concerned with what was actually happening in the room now. With this object in hand, he turned about face, in order to try to view if this was just excited energy and mirth, or if something was truly going to go out of hand that would require his input. He didn’t think it would be anything dangerous however, he liked to think that despite the ex-convicts being new individuals, they would have the presence of mind to differentiate between what was acceptable or not.

Cyan optics blankly watched as the two convicts interacted with one another, not blind to the way they subconsciously seemed to adapt to their differences. It was a good sign that they would likely be an efficient team in combat, able to read each other and adapt on the fly to the myriad of changes and obstacles that could come up in war. But these thoughts were halted when Thunder became showy and displayed with a flourish what was in his hand.

Optimus' brows hooked up a bit while his helm raised, a disapproving look of unamusement flooding over his features to pair with them. He didn't have an opportunity to speak against whatever was going to happen, he didn’t have the chance. Thunder flowed right into his words of warning, before starting to act out and actually... place the screwdriver on the underside of his tongue.

...why?

He could only stand there and watch in confusion, his processor spinning into gear to try to figure out just what was going on here. Was Thunder mentally unsound? Did he trade one unstable mech for another? Looking at what was happening it certainly seemed so, but this was a new brand of crazy Optimus wasn't sure how to deal with.

The sounds of the drill working through metal in days long past would have bothered Orion. It would have made him cringe back and try to look away. Optimus didn't follow these same rules. He has seen so much during the thousands of years, that this hardly phased him more so than the internal mental battle of WHY!? It was this that left him rather silent, just sternly looking upon Thunder with a look of pure disappointment as if Thunder had tipped over an object and made a mess after being warned not to. There was a twinge of disbelief laced in, and disgust, but mostly strong disappointment.

[Carbine]

Carbine wasn't sure what he expected here.

Sure... it was going to be rather gory whatever it was, the object being held was a good clue to validate this assumption. There would be Energon loss. However the details past that was tucked away in the land of unknown mystery that was known as 'Thunder's Crazy'. The ex-cop wasn't sure if it was true crazy exactly, maybe demented boredom, or just a cry for an attention or something, but Thunder just was... always like this... Either way... insane or not, what Carbine did know was that it often ended great.

Would he drill into his arm? His shoulder? Or would he carve a hole clean through his palm so one could look through it? Maybe he'd bore the serrated bit of the screw right into the horn like chevron on his helm? Who knew! That was the mystery! And that is what made it so amazing! Thunder was just insane enough that you couldn't even try to anticipate this crap.

The disgraced cop stood off to the side with eager anticipation, watching the way the screw gun was flicked and spun a few times before being grasped onto. He was going to speak, he was going to comment, maybe make a suggestion or five, but oh he never had a chance much like Optimus had not, as a new object was produced and displayed, paired with a new announcement, and then...

Carbine reeled back with a disgusted squawk that was laced in laughter. Out of all of his ideas and guesses, this was definitely not one of them. The idea caused his own tongue to pull back in his mouth; as if scared he was going to follow Thunder's footsteps and damage it to make it so it'd never be able to swallow solid foods again.

"Oh S?N?A?P?! You a?ren’?t? ?g?oing to be able to eat rig-r-?r?-?proper!"

He let out a cackled squawk, the optic's outline on his visor curved into two near crescents in a look of pure mirth and glee. This excited look carried over even when the awful sound of metal scraping metal rang out paired with the mechanics of the screw gun going into gear. Being a cop, he had seen a lot of gore in the days even before the war. Pair this with Garrus, and being on the front lines? And he wasn't really fazed too much. He still sympathetically bit at his own tongue, but he wasn't wrenching back and gagging or screeching 'why would you do that!?'

"What pit the k???z?zt in prom?pte?d this idea!?"

It was a question for two reasons. One, to actually know what inspired this. Did Thunder see it somewhere to inspire this idea? Or did he just make this up on the fly? The second reason he asked was because he honestly wanted to see if the idiot would be stupid enough to try to talk while working. Hey maybe if he instinctively pulled his tongue back to speak he would split it in half!

Friends... shouldn’t hope this type of stuff on friends...

[Deleted]

The gun roared to life with a high pitched whine of mechanics. Carbine stared in wide eyed silence, Optimus’ expression melted into one of profound resignation, as if he was long past the point of being surprised by the copious amounts of insanity his life threw at him, and before either of them could say a word or move to stop him, Thundercloud pushed the gun upward.

There was a hiss of metal slicing into metal, a flash of blue fluid, and in less than four seconds, it was over.

Thundercloud optics brightened a bit, surprised by just how quickly the screw went through. He did little more than wince faintly as it cut into him, the bottom of one optic curving upward a bit as if he had done little more than bump his knee into a table. It likely would’ve caused him far more visible discomfort had he not dampened the pain-receptors beforehand--that was a mistake he wasn’t about to make twice. He might have been a self-described reckless idiot, but hadn’t walked away from the first time he let someone put a bolt in his face without a few valuable lessons that he wouldn’t forget anytime soon.

The first being, Don’t let someone put a bolt in your face. The second being Especially don’t let someone but a bolt in your face before you toss up some pain-blockers.

It still stung quite a bit, but it was nothing intolerable. If anything, he was more bothered by the surprising amount of fluid that spilled out of the wound - not because he was worried about possible blood loss, but because he didn’t want it to drip everywhere and make a mess he didn’t want to have to clean up.

Ignoring Carbine’s gleeful stream of words for the time being, he acted quickly, returning the pliers and screw-gun to his subspace and trading them out for a nut and a pair of screw cutters. The former he spun down the tip of the screw until it met the base of his tongue, the latter he used to cut off the excess length of the screw so it wouldn’t scrape the roof of his mouth. The entire process took less than a klik, and once he was finished he finally turned to acknowledge Carbine, flashing the mech a bloody grin that was probably a little less friendly-looking than he intended it to be. Instead of answering Carbine’s question, he responded to the other mech’s delighted bouncing with a question of his own.

“...You wanted me to talk an’ tear my mouth up, didn’t you?” He asked, despite knowing full-well what the answer was.

Oddly, he seemed more amused than offended by this.

Turning to glance over at Optimus, he gestured towards Carbine, jerking his thumb in the other mech’s direction.

“Can you believe this guy? Crazy, right?” Said the mech who just drilled into his own mouth on a whim, for slags and giggles.

Seeming aware of how ironic this statement was, he made a point to smirk, showing that he did indeed have enough self-awareness to recognize he was a pot calling the kettle black.

[Optimus Prime]

He had one heck of an A-Team available to him...

Sarcasm...

Optimus watched with a level of disbelief and confusion that simply bubbled up more and more in tandem with the screw grinding up into Thunder's tongue. Much like the way the sharp spike of metal finally popped through to the other side however, Optimus' confusion bubbled past the point of return, leaving him in a state of complete and utter lack of caring about the 'why'. There was only so much crazy he could take.

He had initially wanted to know. He truly had. Optimus was a curious individual by nature and core programming. But while his patience seemingly had no limits, his ability to care any longer certainly did, and it was often capped out and blocked off from permitting anything else along the same subject matter to pass. That was precisely what happened here, as his features somehow managed to reach some new levels of deadpan that may as well be an Optimus exclusive at this point.

Once it was all said and done, nothing really changed on the Prime's part. He still stood there, he still had a disapproving look of utter resignation, and he still had his cube of Energon held in the exact same position. Even when the jet spoke to him directly, he didn't speak in return, nor change his expression.

[Carbine]

Why did Thunder have to see through his game!? Why did he have to sniff out his plots!?

Carbine wanted to make an over exaggerated facial expression of mock depression when Thunder had anticipated he wanted him to tear up his mouth by preemptively speaking with the screw gun activated, however didn't. It isn't that he couldn't, it was more along the line that no one would be able to see such a thing with his visor. It is because of this the ex-cop opted for far more dramatic and energetic responses. For what Optimus' lacked in expressing himself, Carbine made up for.

The back of the mech's right hand swung up and slapped onto his forehead, while he swooped his helm back so far his spine dipped in accordance. It was a mock feinting motion, as an exasperated sigh of displeasure wooed out in sorrow and dismay.

"My ruse! It ?h?as? be?e?n exposed!"

He choked this out with a mock sob, as if he was truly distraught and hampered by the fact he didn’t get to see his friend mimic an earth reptile by slicing his tongue in half. But disappointment for real, or not, Carbine recovered, a flick of his wing rotors occurring while he swooped himself upright and started forward. Slender limbs easily crossed the distance he had previously made in only a couple strides.

Once Carbine was in front of Thunder, he reached his right hand up, and used the back of his pointer finger to swipe up and smear some of the Energon off from the side of the jet's mouth. At first glance, it could have looked like he was actually trying to help his friend with his new piercing and the cleanup that followed. At first it truly did seem like he was doing some form of good.

Only an idiot would think that.

Carbine's Energon laced finger, raised, and started to try to smear the blue around Thunder's eye, painting and mapping out a mock 'black eye' as humans would call it.

"Yeah! Let's mak-?m-m?-?construct it look like in you k???z?z?t? got a damn BRAWL!"

Why?...


Why not...?

[Deleted]

It was times such as these, when Carbine’s behavior gleefully left behind the confines of rhyme and reason and sauntered straight into the hands of impulse and whimsy, that Thundercloud was forced to look back on his life and wonder how he found himself befriended to this ridiculous little frootloop.

Then he remembered beggars couldn’t be choosers, and as far as friends went Carbine had at least never tried to cut out his optics (that he knew of) so all things considered, he could do a lot worse than a self-absorbed dirty ex-cop with a questionable capacity for feeling empathy. That, and he was simply too used to the other mech’s antics and quirks to really be bothered by them anymore. After sharing a confined space with someone for a few hundred years, one tended to learn how to put up with even the most outrageous, seemingly nonsensical behavior.

That, however, did not mean Thundercloud was never annoyed or bothered by Carbine’s actions. Quite the contrary. It simply meant he wasn’t SURPRISED by them anymore, which came in handy since at least 30% of the things Carbine did usually dumbfounded the average person who did not share Thundercloud’s hard won tolerance for the mech’s particular flavor of insanity.

So, instead of questioning why it was Carbine’s first response to seeing him bleed was to finger-paint with it, he simply rolled with the punches and accepted it as one of those Things that just happened when one associated with Carbine.

Rolling his optics, Thundercloud lightly swatted the other mech’s hand away from his face, scoffing at the out-of-nowhere idea he had come up with.

“Mech, if I wanted to look fresh outta a brawl I’d just get in one.”

He paused, realizing that a fight actually sounded pretty good right then, then looked from Carbine over to the still-silent Prime. One could practically see the gears turning in his head, hear them CLICK as a smile formed on his face.

He brushed his knuckles over his optic, absently smearing away the energon Carbine had painted on him, then addressed the Prime in a far-too casual tone.

“--Hey, Boss, you busy?”

[Optimus Prime]

Optimus at this point was not sure what he was even doing here any longer. Traditionally when things started to diverge down such paths of overly social behavior, he would depart and get back to his work in a separate section of the base. This time was different. Perhaps he found himself trapped in a way, unknowing if things were going to spiral down the slippery slope that would lead to a fight, or possibly he expected the duo to break something and need to be told to repair that which they wrought.

He did not intend to be judgmental, and in fact he was not using their sketchy pasts as a severe weight upon his conclusions of them. Others may assume they would be trouble because of it, watch them with a close scrutiny and harsh field of judgment. But past influences or not, the fact of the matter was this jet of a mech had just used a screw gun to pierce a hole through his own tongue as a means of entertainment and some poor fashion choice. Trying not to judge was a bit difficult when faced with that kind of crazy.

So here he was, standing there, watching the way the two aerials interacted with one another with over exaggerated zeal laced overtop of dismantled absurdity. It only got that much odder when the smaller of the two had decided to start... painting the others face in a particularly morbid display of childish entertainment. Slap on top the not so cleverly veiled request?...

"I am not going to fight you Thundercloud."

He wanted to just state as flat 'No' again, he wanted to just be done with this, but saying the single word could imply he wasn't busy, and as such could do a brawl. This was not an option, so he had to opt for the more direct and wordier approach, even if it was not that much wordier all things considered. to try to cover his bases, and prevent further issues, he spoke again in an even tone.

"If you seek means of combat to hone skills, there are many that may assist. However fighting for simple entertainment is only a drain on our Medic's time and resources if one were to become injured."

He knew he was a killjoy, but he didn't care in this situation. The last thing he needed was for a sort of 'Fight Club' to establish itself, where Ratchet and Dusk end up wanting to stab their patients offline just to quell the influx of incoming numbers from their 'to do' repair list.

Don't have to fix them up if they are offline.

[Carbine]

Carbine himself couldn't really explain why he thought painting with Energon was the smart thing to do. Maybe because it happened to just be there, or perhaps he was finding means to express himself since he couldn't write or successfully interact with most others in order to do so. Whatever excuse others wanted to paste on it could be right or wrong, but the fact of the matter was none would truly be sure, since the Ex-Cop wasn't sharing.

Hands were swatted away, and Carbine made a mock hurt look of being overly crushed. This was a bit more difficult for him to convey, bottom of optics pulled up a bit, while he shied away making a sarcastic hurt gasp. It looked more fear than anything else, but the sounds he made showed that it wasn't the case.

"But if you look already you k?z?z?t? like got in a brawl, you could win TWOkz?zt? ?in the eyes of others! And if you want to fight twi-t?w-?t?-t-double? Then that’s THREE!"

His logic was there, though skewed. It was being pulled out from Carbine's back pocket so speak, and materialized as he went. All things considered he was quick on his feet, and would be able to try to talk sense into nonsense all day if given a good enough reason in order to do so. Try as he might, it seemed the conversation sidestepped to a different goal, and his interest skyrocketed.

The ex-cop perked up a bit at the idea, forgetting he was trying to mock his feelings being hurt, and trying to explain away his actions. What had been delivered to him was far too great an opportunity. This instant interest was displayed just that much more, when he rocked up onto the pointed toe of his peds, and almost bounced back down onto his heel with a clunking clank of an impact. His hand nearest Thunder, almost slapped at his face while he looked at their Prime, in a motion as if he was trying to smack his shoulder to get his attention but missed... badly...

"But it IS fo?r ?learni?ng?!"

Time to put his argument skills to new goals.

"How m?any ?mec?h? here around k?z?zt? are that can ?compa?re to Fla?pja?ck's siz?e?"

He took a step away, and gestured in broad motions towards the jet, as if their leader would be blind to the painfully obvious.

"He has fought against me a lo-l?-l?-?much, we can't train one anot?her ?a?n?ymo?re! So what is he to do if he fights a big ol Decepticon? J?u?s?t gu?ess??"

The tail end of his words pitched up in a way that sounded as if Carbine was legitimately getting upset, this new revelation hurting his feelings and bringing up distress and worry. What would Thunder do if he got into a brawl with someone big?! Oh no! He could be too accustomed to fighting little individuals and not know how to do so effectively! It isn't like he had fought individuals his size and bigger in Garrus! NOOoooo that completely didn't happen in any way... ... ... sarcasm...

But wingman can play wingman in the hunt for punches.

[Deleted]

Optimus should have known better than expect his refusal to put an end to the conversation. That would’ve been too easy, and nothing was ever easy when Thundercloud and Carbine got an idea in their heads. The former was too stubborn to simply let things drop so easily, and the latter had a very concerning enthusiasm for enabling the former’s bad decisions.

So, no. The Prime would not be getting off that easily.

“Aw, come on, Boss.” He said, carefully avoiding Carbine’s broad-gesture before it could make contact with his face.

He paused to let the mech in question say his piece, looking oddly amused as he watched Carbine try to barter with the Prime, putting on a truly entertaining show in the process. Thundercloud had to hand it to the mech: he may have had a few wild approaches to his arguments, but he put 110% into his every word. He genuinely looked like he believed what he was saying, despite knowing full well it was pit-slag.

They both knew he could handle himself in a fight just fine. He didn’t need to practice against mecha his size to stay on the top of his game - he’d already had a lifetime’s worth of practice tossing people around. Fighting the Prime would serve no purpose other than entertainment.

Which is the angle Thundercloud decided he’d frame his own argument around.

“When’s the last time you cut loose, huh?” He asked, before planting his arm atop of his companion's helm and leaning heavily against it, casually using the smaller mech as an armrest.

“I can take a hit. You don’t gotta worry about wailin’ on someone who’s gonna break.”

[Optimus Prime]

Optimus was not too amused as the argument spiraled away from nonsense and zeroed in upon him fighting a soldier under his watch. It was fairly obvious he did not approve of it, due to a myriad of concerns and issues that such an action could bring. The only real boon to it would be if Thundercloud truly didn't have much of a grasp on fighting individuals close to his frame size, which the Prime had a very hard time swallowing this fact.

The jet would not still be alive this day with his attitude, if he had zero experience trying to physically take down a larger Cybertronian. This implied that he had not been put in such a confrontation in thousands of years, or had barely skirted out of it by luck from what he had learned from fighting Carbine who really wasn't too much smaller. But who was he to judge? Perhaps Thunder did need such aid, as Carbine was getting awfully invested in the idea that this was a real concern.

It didn't mean that he would do it though this night.

Shifting his weight gradually to his other foot, the Prime's helm raised up to peer upon the duo with newfound scrutiny to what they were saying. Carbine seemed to be aiming for training, while it was apparent Thunder wanted entertainment value, approaching his attempts to negotiate via such paths.

"When Megatron raised an army of Cybertronian dead."

Optimus' reply was emotionless and almost mechanical, dropping down the example in which he truly had to let go of reservations and slay every individual that came across his path. That was a brutal battle, not really one testing the skills of one's ability, but the endurance to continue on despite the horrendous numbers and the Dark Energon that permeated the air in a thick stench. He personally had to cut down many, and it hurt him to do so, having to slice into the decayed remains of Decepticon and Autobot alike. The point was though, he had truly cut loose, and that event was still too close to current days for comfort, so Thunder's attempts would fall flat.

"Or if you require a separate example, when I fought Megatron upon his Space Bridge."

There was a pause, the memory of that not terribly pleasant either. While it was not fighting raised dead, it was facing his own demons in a way, since he still remembered Megatron before he was corrupted.

"I have many opportunities to face combat. If you hunger for it, it is only a matter of time before a situation presents itself to you."

While his tone of voice had been rather bland beforehand, relaying the events in their most bare bones formatting, this statement had more inflection to it. It was a decisive end of conversation, where he didn't deem Thunder's request to be valid in any way.

Upon these words, the Prime turned to attempt to leave.