Ep. 2 - Omega Five - (Closed) - Finis

[Deleted]

Set during Week 2, Day 5! The time is roughly 9am.

----


When the message came, it was directed to only two people.

Nell Collins received it the night before in the form of a secure email:

Specialist Collins, it read. Fowler here. Need you and one of the Autobots to meet me back at Black Rock at 0900 tomorrow morning. Go to Gate 4 on the east side of the base. Lt. Mercer will intercept you there with an escort for the Autobot. No one knows I’m organizing this meeting - please keep it that way. Fowler.

For Bluestreak, the message was delivered through the Omega base computer system:

Bluestreak, it read. This is Agent Fowler. I need you and Specialist Nell Collins to meet me at the Black Rock military base at 0900 tomorrow morning. Drive to Gate 4 on the east side of the base and wait for your escort. Collins can provide directions to the base if you need them. Do not tell Optimus where you are going. If anyone asks, tell them Agent Fowler has requested your assistance with developing operating procedures for a potential form of joint military-Autobot ground patrol. I’ll clear this with him later. Fowler.

The next morning dawned clear and bright.

Sunlight streaked through the scattered clouds, illuminating the open desert. Even though it was only a little past dawn the sun was already well over the distant horizon. Heat baked up from the hard packed earth, stirred by light winds.

Good day for a drive.

[Deleted]

The email was something Nell just wasn't expecting from Fowler. She read it at least three times before bed, and the specialist thought about something. If this Autobot had no idea how to get there? Well, she didn't even want to think about that situation. So, instead of going to bed right away, Nell sent a reply back to the agent.

Tell 'em to meet me at that diner we passed on route 93, it had been the one place that popped in her mind that was pretty nondescript, oh and tell 'em what I drive – please. Don't want any surprises, which I know you're fond of. See ya tomorrow. In all, her message really looked like she was talking to a friend – not some Agent who was telling her to meet up with a giant mechanical alien.

After that was said and done, she set her alarm, got into bed, and well..Slept. She needed her sleep, especially when tomorrow promised to be a long, long, day.

At least it was looking to be a nice day, which was something that Nell appreciated as she started out her backyard window as she dried her hair. It was just before eight am, and she was gearing up to head out. She just needed to get her boots on, grab her wallet and keys, and go. Well, okay so she first fill up her coffee thermos and grab a granola bar, THEN go but that was besides the point.

Either way she was playing it pretty damn cool with this whole secret meeting thing, as she shoved the remnants of that dry ass granola bar into her mouth and unlocked the drivers side door. She gave a lazy wave to the neighbor's wife, who seriously looked like she spent a fortune on hair product and manicures, as she got into her car and headed off down the road.

The idea of stopping into the diner for real food was tempting, but she knew there wasn't going to be much time to eat and enjoy a stack of freshly made pancakes. She needed to keep her head on what needed to be done, and that was meeting up with this autobot at the diner. Which wasn't exactly too far away from where she lived, but it was long enough to have a cigarette, as she was already pulling her 69 chevy into a parking space. Naturally, there were a few cars there, but her eyes fell on one shiny Nissan and the guy standing beside it.

Her brows raised a bit as she shut off the engine, and grabbed the thermos, before getting out of her car. She also let out a rather audible whistle. “You know, they didn't tell me I'd be meeting up with Captain America.” The brunette drawled out before taking one last drag of her cigarette and stamped it out on the ground. The smoke was blown out in a thin stream, blown easily away by the light breeze that ruffled her still damp hair and the collar of her jacket.

Making sure her car was locked, she walked towards him. Her eyes scanned the car, then him, then the car again before the corners of her lips twitched into a slight smile. “Name's Nell Collins, and I'm guessing you're the guy I'm suppose to be meeting today, hm?” He has to be, after all no one had a car THAT shiny in the middle of nowhere.

{arjiwejrw I hope this works for you guys, please let me know if anything needs to be edited!!}

[Bluestreak]

The communication had utterly surprised Bluestreak that evening. He'd been off duty and cheerfully watching some surfing competition when it pinged up on his console. Automatically, he'd paused and checked his mail, kind of hoping that it was--

Then the silver mech had blinked. Twice. Maybe more. The doors behind his shoulders had twitched, sloped, and then quirked back in confusion. He turned his head and looked behind him in his quarters, as if half expecting someone else to pop in and say that he'd gotten a memo meant for someone else.

After a few seconds of silence, he'd quickly started to type a polite response of 'I think this might have been meant for Wash, sir,' and then spent several minutes staring at it again and thinking that Agent Fowler didn't want to be called out over some private and personal discussion that wasn't meant for him to see. He really didn't want to upset Agent Fowler, that was really low on his things-to-do-tonight list.

Bluestreak.

His name. This was meant for him. Not Wash.

It's my name, oh wow, it is my name, hold on a second, I mean I totally would understand if it got messed up and went to the wrong spot but this isn't a mess up, I mean, he totally took the time to type my name - oh cripes, uh, I hope this isn't about that mess in Vegas, because I swear everything seemed to work out -- wait, don't tell Prime?

That last bit had baffled him. Something didn't seem right, because Agent Fowler seemed to have a good communication with the Autobot leader, respectful and trading concerns between the humans and the mechs. He'd brought up his hand and rubbed at his chin, unsure, his brow furrowed under the red chevron on his forehead.

Wait - a specialist? Nell Collins? Wasn't that the human Fowler had introduced around base? He thought so, he'd heard the rumors - mostly because new humans invited into the base were few and far between, for the obvious security reasons. Which was sort of a downer in a lot of respects that he couldn't really explain to anyone. Heck, he couldn't explain it to himself.

Something was up, and-- well, it was important. Fowler had picked him to go with this woman to Black Rock base and be allowed in. That in itself was an awful lot of responsibility and trust and...

It bothered him that he wasn't allowed to say anything to Prime though. The mech had shifted in his seat, stared at the message one moment longer and then thought about it. Oh there, he'd clear it with him later. Right. There you go, Bluestreak, reading comprehension, right there. Later. It probably isn't a major thing, so he's not wanting to bother Prime with it just yet. Got it and hey, wow, you get to go to Black Rock and you get to have company on the way and a drive and I like driving, it's great, that's a route I've not been on yet-

A nod at the computer screen as he'd written back.

Understood, sir. I'll be there on time as requested -Blue

Funny, it took him more time to think about how to write that then to actually write it. Oh well.

* * * *

He'd driven to the meeting place early, and the one mech who'd asked him where he was headed, he's said -- oh, target practice - which was a pretty valid excuse because he did it all the time, wandered off somewhere close to base and honed his skills carefully.

So now he was parked in the bright morning sun in the diner parking lot, his avatar leaning against his wheelwell. Spiky-haired, clean cut, his projection wore a faded blue t-shirt that accentuated his wide shoulders, tapering down to his well-tailored jeans. Complete with cowboy boots that had never seen a horse except on TV. The Nissan shifted a tire slightly, the mirrors moving a bit to frame the area around him. Warm ripples of heat rose off the concrete and wavered; a family walked by with a little girl who was holding on to their hands. On every third step they lifted her into the air and she giggled in delight.

Bluestreak had been simply people watching. Car watching. They drove in and drove out and there was this constant stream of life that he found fascinating. When that classic car pulled in, his interest was immediately drawn to it; bold lines and that deep rumble growl of an engine... oh wow, it was perfectly tuned, too. Neat.

When it pulled in next to him, he was delighted. When the woman swung out of it and looked at him, he sort of realized he was staring at her car and started to offer a sheepish, friendly smile--

Which turned into a blink as she whistled at him. Wow, he didn't know that was a human greeting point. All the things he learned every day. She was short but hey, he knew for a fact that Arcee and a lot of femmes were and they could easily put you down with a roundhouse to the chops. She reminded him of that sort, and as she tossed her cigarette and stamped on it, he quickly realized he hadn't responded. Oops.

"Huh?" he echoed as he lifted himself off the car and stood upright, shoulders back. "Meeting up with -- oh gosh, no I'm not a Captain. I actually think I'm just a er- uh, I don't know what I'd be, I'm slowly getting your ranking system here still need to work on that, I'm afraid, but- Oh! Oh - you're ah, Collins? Oh yeah, yep, I'm here to meet you, yeah! Hey, that's a great car, I don't think I've seen one of those yet, but I like it. Super nice car."

Then he caught himself and laughed. It was friendly and open and cheerful as he stuck out his hand towards her, offering a handshake. There were a tangle of braided leather bracelets on his wrist; one with a bright blue glass-appearing bead on it. "Sorry, sorry, I totally got car distracted, but yeah, hi. I'm Bluestreak, and yep, I'm here, I'm here, got here a little early today. Nice to meet you, Collins."

[Deleted]

Oh if only Nell knew how much her car was getting checked out, it would of made the mechanic beam with pride. It was enough to have someone compliment her on how well she kept the classic maintained, but for a being that could change into any car of their choosing? Well...That would have been a cherry on top compliment in her book.

Of course she would find out that he was staring at her car in a moment or two, as soon as he remembered how to talk. That smile tugged a little more at her lips, and a softly snorted laugh left her. “Sug, I ain't sayin' that you are a captain, I'm sayin' you look like an actor who's character is a captain.” She lightly explained as she shook her head a little at him, though her smile was certainly widening as he talked about her car. “Thanks, she's a 1969 Chevy Camaro z28.” Patting the roof of her car a little, she moved towards him and let out her own deep laugh as she took his hand to shake his.

It was weird how his hand felt so damn...Normal, like he was actually human.

While her own handshake was firm, it didn't last long after two shakes before she let go. “It's nice to meet you, Blue.” Nell told him. “And there ain't nothin' wrong with being car distracted. Lord only knows how my head tends to turn when I spot a nice ride.” Her shoulders shrugged a bit. “Sometimes ya just can't help it, especially when there are classics around.” She glanced over the shiny silver Nissan for a brief moment before her blue eyes fell on Bluestreak again. “Or really nice n' shiny ones. So, how long you've been around these parts?”

Small talk, it was probably a good idea before she got inside of that...Car? Could she even call Bluestreak's other form a car? Hell, could she even logically sit inside of a living being?! Ugh, the whole thing was going to give her a headache that could put a whiskey fueled hangover to shame. Idly rubbing at the back of her neck, she felt like she could use another cigarette but she wasn't going to go about lighting one up so close to an Autobot. After all, who knew if they unconsciously put off some sort of fume that could go off worse like some bomb.

Which, given they were suppose to be meeting Fowler? Blowing herself and an alien up would probably be a bad idea.

Licking her lips, Nell gave a little sigh. “So, are you gonna follow me or am I ridin' with you?” There was another glance towards the Nissan, before she looked at Blue's avatar. Really, there was just a clear look in her eyes that said she had no idea what to make of this situation.

[Bluestreak]

The mech's avatar inclined his head and eyed the car again. Sleek and blue, shining chrome that swept back and accentuated that powerful hood, well maintained and well polished.

It was obviously an important part of her life to her; when she patted the roof of the car, it was like how he lifted his rifle and patted the stock.

"Nice to meet you too," he said with enthusiasm. His fingers closed around hers though with careful precision; and once again he was struck by how delicate humans were. Her handshake was not though - she gripped him firmly and shook, and he let her dictate how much pressure he should use in return. Collins didn't shy off of him or look worried, and that delighted him even more.

This was great - a human who knew exactly what she was dealing with, like Agent Fowler, or the kids back at base. He didn't have to worry about seriously messing something up and doing something not quite human, whew. He was trying but there was so, so much to learn. Every time he thought he had a grasp on some human cultural moment... nope.

"Ohhh," he echoed, bringing up his hand to scratch his head. The avatar's hair fluffed around his fingers and then fell back a little too neatly, right back into place. Then again, there were some humans that were equally obnoxious about that. "I see, I mean, I think I see, maybe. Not military, just an actor whose character is military, okay, I get it now, but oh- a Camaro? Wow, that doesn't look like the new Camaros, but I really like it. It's got a neat feel to it, more... uh, well, it just looks like a casino, I guess. Super slick and eye catching without all the neon. Well, the casinos in Vegas, the ones as you get off the strip aren't as---"

He caught himself and chuckled. "As fancy," he admitted. "And whew, thanks, glad to know that. I mean, that humans look at cars too, and yeah, I like the shiny ones. When I first got here, I got lucky and found a car show, right, but gosh, thinking back on it, I'm glad I kind of also got lucky and picked one that I liked and it blends down here. No one knows it's an import, haha, I've never really been looked at twice. I've been honked at a few times. Folks here are pretty friendly and helpful about pointing out when you make a traffic mistake. They wave and everything, it's great."

A grin. "Me? Here? Oh gosh, a few months now, I think. Getting the hang of things. Vegas is pretty awesome, I like driving down there."

At the sigh, he hesitated and looked at her, then at his car mode.

Nope, he couldn't blame her for that. Not in the slightest.

See, Blue- sane people don't drive with aliens they'd just met. Only humans that had been way too long out in the desert on their own.

Collins didn't look like the sort that had ever worn a tinfoil hat, even as a joke at a party.

"Aw, hey, whatever you feel comfortable with," Bluestreak quickly reassured her. "I mean, I'm happy to follow you if you want to drive, but if you want me to drive, that's okay too. I mean, I can drive you if you want, I'm careful, promise. It's really up to you. I- uh, I don't know where the gate to the base is though, sorry. I've not been out this way. Or to Black Rock at all. I mean, I know where it is, just not where we're actually going on it. Something like that. You know?"

[Deleted]

Oh how true it was that the well cared for car was an important part of her life. How could it not be? There were a lot of hours clocked into fixing it up, and all of those hours were spent with her dad. It had been their project when she was a teenager, and the project turned into all hers once he tossed her the keys when she graduated from high school.

To say the car wasn't important to her? Well...In Nell's eyes it would be an insult to her dad and that time she spent with him.

But the mechanic wasn't going to get into anything sentimental with Bluestreak, no, she was just getting to know the alien in front of her. Who, was turning out to be okay so far. A lot less serious than Optimus or Ratchet, which was nice to know that not all Autobots were total sticks in the mud. The shake was natural, normal, and Nell couldn't help the chuckle as he started talking again.

“You're a real chatterbox, aren't ya?” She asked him, though her tone wasn't insulting by any means. It was just an observance that couldn't be ignored. Of course, if he did a human nope around her? Nell was going to call him out on it, but thankfully for the silver mech he wasn't seriously messing up just yet. But she was smiling and finding it all rather hilarious. “Well, sorta. Maybe I should bring in the movies sometime, there's a few of them.” She explained with a shrug. “As for my Camaro, well, they only made around a hundred thousand of them and that was about...forty six years ago. The newer models are nice cars, but there is just something about old American Muscle.” She let out an almost blissful sigh before letting out a soft chuckle.

“Granted, some of the old casinos were considered fancy for their day. I haven't explored Vegas too much yet.” She explained, smiling a little as he mentioned that people were pretty friendly and helpful. The specialist half wondered if they were actually being typical road jackasses, and he thought they were actually friendly. Who knew until it actually happened while she was around or he gave her a little demonstration – that being if she ever got around to asking.

But for now? They had a few other things to worry about. Like the semantics of actually getting to Black Rock, and if it was actually a good idea for her to ride with him. Well, more like if it was 'socially acceptable' in terms of whatever intergalactic code there was for accepting rides from 'strange' aliens. Though, he was the one reassuring her that it was up to you and what not. A laugh left her and Nell shook her head a bit. “Well then, it's probably easier for me to go with you.” She told him, shrugging her shoulders as she moved around the Nissan towards the passenger side door.

“Plus we can chat a bit on our way there. I do know you got a few months on me being around these parts though. I was just transferred to Black Rock less than a month ago, still unpackin'.” Nell mentioned with a small smile. “The base isn't too far from here, and I honestly think no ones gonna mess with my car either at this little diner.” Plus given it was a rather busy little place, if someone tried to? Well there were other people to stop it, hopefully, or else someone had hell to pay for messing with her baby.

Though, she was a little hesitant on actually touching the handle before he gave her a nod. Okay, so she wasn't doing anything weird and once she was...Inside of him, she gingerly closed the door. There another pause and another 'go ahead' nod, before she buckled the seat belt. “So, I think I'm handling the whole aliens on Earth thing pretty well. I found out about ya'll four days ago.” Nell mentioned with a laugh. She didn't set her coffee thermos into the cup holder, no, she was keeping her hands and the thermos to herself.

“Anyways, to get to Black Rock you wanna head north on Route 93. I'll tell ya when to turn when we get closer.” She told him and glanced over at the avatar. “In the mean time, I'm curious as fuck about how you can impersonate people. I know a little bit about it, but well...it's all Greek to me.”

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak glanced over at the chatterbox comment and took it with good grace and a sloping little grin.

"Movies? I like movies," he agreed, looking thoughtful. "I've been watching a few when I get a chance."

Surprisingly though, when she spoke, he never once interrupted her. He let her words fill the space between them like the warm sunshine. All right, so the Camaro was an older car, that made sense to him. Of course age was all relative, he sort of realized how neat that was in how much the cars had changed in that short of a span. A blink by Cybertronian terms was an entire evolution of machinery; of engine and chassis. No computers regulating the old car's every move, not like the new ones he passed on the roads today. It fascinated him. Maybe if he ever had to change modes down here, something like this wouldn't be half bad.

Nah, then he'd really stand out. The idea was to disguise yourself down here among the humans, not have them stare at you and remember you every time you took a corner or something. Darnit.

"Oh, okay," he said as she reached for the door. He started to automatically open it to be polite then realized that it might be impolite, so he waited for her fingers to lift the handle before he swung his door carefully out on the hinges. Bluestreak's avatar waited patiently and quietly, but he couldn't help but angle his side mirror to reflect her in it. "If you're sure, I don't mind driving. Actually, I like it, but I'm a guy who turns into a car, you'd hope I did."

"I promise, I'm a pretty good driver. I mean, even for an alien on Earth thing."

He laughed. "I had to read your driver's manuals and take the test. Well, okay, not really your test, I mean, that would be silly I guess, but yeah, we had to make sure we knew what we were doing. Stop on red, go on green, yellow means-- well okay the manual says it means slow down and be ready to come to a stop but that's not what it means apparently to most Earth drivers in Vegas - that means go really, really fast. If you're a taxi it means cut the guy behind you off as you do it. I guess taxis have different rules, but I'm still trying to figure that out."

When she finally sat down, he opened the driver's door, trying to look as casual as she had. He wasn't as graceful about his side of things as he'd been about hers; the door popped open and swung out a few inches before his avatar pulled it the rest of the way open, and when he settled into the driver's seat, he kind of forgot a bit about you were supposed to reach out and close it. Quickly he grabbed and pulled, and the door shut with a too-hard thunk that he winced a bit about.

"Whoops, sorry about that," he apologized as he too pulled the seatbelt over himself. It was something that Wash had been very, very firm about. Always wear a seatbelt in the car, the cops would pull you over if they didn't see that. Of course, it didn't mean that he couldn't shut off his avatar for a second and materialize on the other side if needed.

He checked both mirrors, waited for her to get seated. The avatar's long legs settled in the right spots; brake and gas, and he reached over, hand on the shifter as it shifted into reverse and smoothly pulled from the parking spot. He was careful starting out, one hand on the wheel turning it into a gentle three point turn; and then the silver Nissan had nosed out into the road. Collins likely wouldn't even feel the point where the lot gave way to the road; his suspension was smooth as glass.

Bluestreak took extra caution; the avatar looked both ways, and to her left, the side mirror shifted and adjusted. Then he flicked on the blinker and easily pulled out into traffic. "North on 93," he repeated. "Got it."

The silver car accelerated under Collins; smooth and responsive. He easily moved between a few cars and settled politely into a lane, keeping a perfect distance between himself and a red Toyota in front of them.

"Chatting's great," he laughed. "So, you transferred less than a month ago? Where were you from before and-- oh, really? Four days?"

He glanced over at her. "Hey, I dunno, the first time I saw an alien, wow, that was a long time ago - I think I just spent a lot of time staring in amazement and someone had to sort of elbow me so that I wasn't staring. Whooch. So you're handling it great. Better than me that first time, for sure, and impersonate... oh, the avatar, you mean? How it works, is that what you want to know?"

The young man looked puzzled. "What's Greek about it?"

[Deleted]

Nell tilted her head a little at him for a moment or two. “You're gonna have to tell me which ones, so I can bring ya something you haven't seen.” She commented with a small smile. Really, she would have no problems bringing in some movies if anyone wanted to see them – though it would take her a bit of time to dig them out, what with a majority of her things still needing to be unpacked.

Now, when it came to how time moved so...Slow for a Cybertronian in a way. After all, for a human? That time span was a good chunk of time and someone born in the sixties was well, old and gray now. Course, if he wanted to change alt-modes and he wouldn't mind a more classic car? Well, Nell would love to help out with that. After all she knew cars like the back of her hand and she could easily suggest some cars that while were eye catching, wouldn't stick out too much.

As for getting into the car that happened to be a giant robot...It was probably a good thing Bluestreak didn't just swing open his door for her. It was polite, like a guy would hold a door open for a girl, but it would be freaky and confusing to the people that were around them. Most cars, didn't just open their doors by themselves. “Really, I'm fine with it and you've got to be a better driver than most people that are on the road.” Nell pointed out to him with a small smile, though she shook her head a little when he mentioned a few things that would be read flags to those who could have overheard them. Thankfully, they were out of earshot of a group that was just entering the diner.

A small chuckle left the brunette as he talked about the drivers tests and the manuals. “Well, a lot of people take it as go faster. Taxi drivers tend to cut everyone off, they're pretty crazy drivers for the most part. Some places they make more based on how many people they can get in and out.” Her nose wrinkled a little. “Or, I think that's how it works, never had a deep convo with a taxi driver.” Granted she didn't really take cabs for the most part.

Course, once she was actually inside of the car (or him, this was crazy shit in her book trying to figure it all out), she couldn't help laughing a little when he apologized for slamming his own door closed. “Naw, it's fine. You're not used to having to reach over and close the doors I'm guessin'?” It was sorta funny, watching someone who was the car being so incredibly careful. At the very least, she knew that she was in good hands.

There was something else that she knew was a little...Different about this. She couldn't tell when the lot gave way to the road or any other normal signs of a car in motion. It was a little weird, but also nice in a way. Her eyes were on the road in front of them, and she slowly started to relax a little in her seat. Might as well make herself comfortable, and not get too weirded out by the whole thing. “Yep, and I want to say it's close to fifteen miles before we need to make the turn.” Nell told him before nodding at his question.

“Yeah, on both accounts.” She couldn't help the smile forming on her face as he started talking about his first time seeing an alien. “Well, I roll with the punches, but I did let out a string of curse words in front of Optimus. I wasn't expecting to see someone THAT big come walking into your control room.” The specialist pointed out to him, shaking her head as she lifted her thermos to her lips to take a small sip.

A soft hum left her as he continued on with the whole avatar thing, and the look on his face was pretty priceless. She laughed softly, her lips quirking into a smirk. “A little at least, like if it's a bunch of light or something like that. It's a little freaky, in a neat way.” Now for the Greek thing... Nell was shaking her head at him, which she felt was going to be a common occurrence. “Figure of speech, it means you just don't get something cause it's like a foreign language.” She explained. “But yeah, phrases like that are something that are a bit common. Like no shit Sherlock means someone's pointing out the obvious or how the phrase 'it's raining cats and dogs' means it's pouring outside.”

It was all easy for her to say, she grew up around those sayings – it wasn't like she was a foreigner or an alien like Bluestreak was.

“Oh, and to answer your question I was over in Savannah, Georgia which happens to be the city I was born in so it was nice being well...Home I guess you can say.” Her shoulders shrugged as she glanced over at him, her brows raising for a moment or two. “So, how does that...Avatar thing work anyways? You can seriously tell me the basics cause well, honestly I don't know if I'm breaking some sorta unspoken rule like asking a woman how old she is.” God, she felt overtly chatty – and she had just called him a chatterbox not too long ago.

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak was enjoying himself. The road slipped under his wheels; the warmth of the pavement allowed easy grip for his tires. Later on in the blazing afternoon, he wasn't as keen on the surface sometimes; it felt almost sticky. Great for corners, not so great for straight stretches of road. Easily, the mech slipped around a car full of tourists; hey, California plates, and he knew now that most of those were from rental car companies. They were sort of easy to spot, they didn't know the turnoffs and they tended to be gawking instead of driving. Not that he blamed them, he did it too. Lots to gawk at.

Collins filled the silence with words, with conversation. She wanted to talk about things and he was delighted to listen.

"Huh," the man replied finally as he leaned back comfortably against the seat of the car. "You know that's sort of funny, we sort of don't ask how old someone is either, mech or femme. I mean, you get either that look, you know, the one down the nose--"

His avatar demonstrated this effect and then laughed. All he had to do was think of Ratchet for a moment; not a good idea to ask him how old he was either, nope. Not that he'd ever done it, he thought a lot of the time when he'd sort of overheard something like that, it was because someone was just poking the medic verbally, and that wasn't something Blue personally deemed good for his health. "So got it, don't ask humans their age."

He brought his hand up to rub at the back of his neck, shifting his long fingers easily on the wheel. "Okay, and yeah, I heard the raining cats and dogs thing - which is weird, because I know cats don't like to get wet, right and no, haven't heard that other one but I know that's a swear word, heh - don't say that in polite company, but I had no idea about the Greek thing. That's kind of neat, I like that, it makes sense, foreign language goes right over your head because you don't understand it. But we have universal translators for that sort of thing, so it helps... until it doesn't help. Nuances, I mean, you have to live a place for a while to pick up the little things."

A smile. "Erk, yah, Prime is... pretty tall, now that you mention it." Optimus, she called him Optimus. Whoa. For a moment it threw him. It was less formal and more
conversational. Something he'd never do himself, because it felt awkward to him. Like, he was a Prime in all ways, and carried the weight of this war on him more than anyone. It was just respectful to address him by that, gave him a distance maybe from the rest of them, but it was a distance Bluestreak was comfortable with.

Unsure how to continue his thoughts about that, he simply left them, and bounced back to the conversation. "Oh yeah, these?" he said, and extended his arm between them as he shifted his place again on the wheel, remembering. You keep one hand on the wheel at all times, oops. "The avatars, right, right, sorry. I'm not a tech mech, you'd be better off asking someone like Ratchet for all the details but... yeah, they're Holomatter tech. It's-- well, okay, it's not just like we use them for getting around on your planet. I mean, you can pretty much set it up to do anything, kinda? I mean, it sort of is useful back home too, when you had to get into smaller spaces and stuff, and for some work. Different sorts of levels on them too - like mine's solid, right?"

He turned his hand gently. Surprisingly, the avatar even had tiny gold hairs on the arm that seemed to catch the light like any man's would. "Some aren't. It depends on the power draw, too and what you use them for. I mean, I've used mine to scout places that would have been dangerous to walk up with my weight on other planets, right? Also, you can be something that blends into the environment better. Lots-- er, lots of folks across the galaxy aren't keen on us."

A frown touched his features at that. It was a little wistful and sad, but he quickly caught himself and shook his head. "So it makes it a bit less stressful on everyone just to negotiate for stuff as someone not Cybertronian sometimes. Make sense? Honest, like I said, not the best to ask about this stuff."

He rolled his shoulder and chuckled, then looked over at her with eager interest.

"Savannah? What's that like? Where is it? More desert, kinda? Isn't that what a Savannah is?"

[Deleted]

Hearing that it was also frowned upon to ask how old someone was when it came to Cybertronians made her smile, especially the look that was demonstrated. A snorted laugh left her. “Yep, that's the look.” She replied back. “Course you'd also get the whole 'you shouldn't ask such things' speech too.” There was another laugh from her, though this one was a little lighter and not snorted out.

“Well you can, just some people really don't want to tell people how old they are. I don't care, my brother and my dad don't either. Plus in some situations? You have to ask how old someone is. Like..You have to be eighteen or over to buy cigarettes, twenty-one and older with alcohol...At least that's the law here in the U.S.” The mechanic explained with a small shrug of her shoulders. Though really, it was bit of a crap shoot if Bluestreak here knew what she was talking about – but one could never know.

Besides, if he didn't know what the hell she was talking about? Nell had a sneaky suspicion that he'd just ask. He seemed like a straight forward sorta guy, one to ask or a little clarification. Or rather, that was the feeling he put off.

Her eyes shifted towards one of the tourist filled cars they passed, she smiled a little as it looked like one of the kids pointed at one of the rock formations. Even she had to admit, it was pretty cute how the boy seemed excited by it all.

As Blue started talking again, Nell laughed a little and glanced back over at him. “Well, it's just one of those sayings – who knows who came up with it but I think it's rainin' so heavily, and so violently, it might as well be cats and dogs goin' at each others throats.” She shrugged a little. “But like I said, who knows who came up with it, and who knows the exact meanin' of it too.” Course the swear word mention made her smile a little more. “I tend use 'em even in polite company, I don't have the cleanest of mouths to be honest with ya.” Nell brought up with a light chuckle.

“Must be nice, having the translator though – even if the little things go sailin' over your head. I actually speak two other languages besides English, and I'm still picking up some of the nuances.” She explained before taking another little sip of her coffee. Though, speaking of nuances...Was it just her or did she just said something that was surprising?

Eh, whatever. Blue didn't seem offended to her, just caught off guard. Then again, she didn't know all the ins and outs of the whole 'Prime/Primus/thing' that Cybertronians knew. “Granted, ya'll probably are tall by human standards. We're probably ants to you guys...” Her voice trailed off a little, thinking about what she just said. Really, they were puny and rather squishy compared to beings made up of metal. Thus the sense of sticking to the catwalks as much as possible.

The conversation shifted, probably for the better, and back to the thing that she was really curious about. Like the avatar thingy-a-bobbers. Her eyes were pretty intent on watching him and she visibly cringed when he shifted to have his hands off the wheel. “Okay yeah, knowing you're actually the car and not you know. The guy next to me takes getting used to. Probably takes a lotta concentration on your part to remember you have to sorta...Pretend huh?” She asked before listening a little closer to his explanation.

“Honestly, I think Ratchet would make a face if I even started to ask it. He probably still thinks I don't know the difference between a drive belt and a timing belt...” The specialist muttered. “I'm still showin' him that I'm not a complete idiot, he has me on basics and it's awkward as all get out asking him questions. Feel like I'm gonna ask him somethin' I feel is completely normal to ask, and he's gonna throw me out on my ass for it.” There was a slight chuckle. “Fowler know's I know what I'm doin' though, so it's really a work in progress when it comes to that medic.” Nell commented before looking over Blue's avatar once more.

“That makes sense though...About usin' that form of yours to get into places your metal self can't.” Though, what he said next made her brows raised in curiosity. “First time hearin' about that, granted it's not like Earth is really on the blip when it comes to extraterrestrials...” That husky laugh of hers left her throat easily. “We probably look like a bunch of uncivilized heathens.” Granted, who knew if there weren't other aliens on their planet outside of the Cybertronians. After all, if they could hide as cars, motorcycles, and planes...what was stopping some alien from imitating a tree or a piece of trash?

Annnnnd that thought just made her feel like some sorta conspiracy theorist – like the wino's shouting it was end of days and Jesus was coming for them all or some shit like that.

Thank god he couldn't read minds, or hopefully he couldn't and the Cybertronians were keeping that talent oh so secret. Oh well, Nell still laughed as he mentioned he wasn't the best to ask about this sorta stuff. “Naw, it makes sense enough and honestly? Not like I have that much use to knowing about it outside of the whole blatant curiosity thing.” She pointed out to him.

Another laugh was soon leaving her, though this time? Her head tilted back a little and her head shook. “Fuck no.” She told him. “You're getting Savannah and Sahara mixed up there. The Sahara is in Africa, it's a big ass desert. Savanna on the other hand well...” She thought of the best way to put it for a moment or two. “You know how the weather is pretty dry here and all? Where I was born and raised, it's humid you stick to your cars seats and summers are so hot and sticky you feel like your skin might as well melt off into a damn puddle.” Nell told him.

“It's not as bad there as it is more inland, because it's a coastal city so sea breezes can be felt in a few areas.” She explained before taking a long sip of her coffee. “It's green too, remind me to show you pictures one of these days.” She told him with a small smile. “But anyways...On where Savannah is, it's in Georgia state which is on the east coast. It's a little south-east though, if you want to get technical, and Georgia is right in between Florida and South Carolina too.” Looking away, she had her eyes on the road.

“Alright, you want to make the turn onto Exit B. It's gonna come up on your right here soon....” Nell told him, knowing that once that turn was made? There were going to be few cars to pass but it didn't mean the road was untraveled. After all, every military person stationed at Black Rock either took this road or the one coming from the East in the opposite direction that connected with a different route. If there were civilian cars down this road? Well, Nell knew it was safe to say they were simply lost tourists. Who knew how many times those lost folks would find the check point, and had to reluctantly ask for directions towards Vegas, Salt Lake City, or Reno.

{omfg I'm so so sorry or the long winded post DDx}

[Bluestreak]

"Exit B," Bluestreak's avatar echoed. "On my left, got it."

He listened raptly to all of her comments, to her voice. She talked and it was wonderful; she talked about all manners of things.

He'd taken to leaving the radio station on as he drove. He liked the music, the voices, someone else taking up the quiet spaces so his brain didn't have to do that. He could sing along now to some of them; memorized the words, and sometimes he used those to fill silences, late at night when he couldn't quite shut down, maybe.

Right now that radio was on so low it was barely audible. A soft twang of guitar filtered out of it here and there. It wasn't needed. He'd left it on mostly out of habit.

Underneath Nell, the silver Nissan smoothly switched lanes. He flicked on his blinker, waited for a few seconds so that the driver behind him was warned before making the move. The silver mech left exactly the proper amount of space between him and the other cars. His motion was perfectly smooth, swift acceleration that held that same uncanny feeling one got driving in an electric car. No sudden rumble of engine, or that drive from the rear wheels that nudged passengers forward until the press of speed settled you back into the seats. There was barely any road noise within the mech's interior; no rattles or hum, no whirr of a fan, even though cool air was blowing gently out of the vents.

Bluestreak finished his perfectly adjusted merge, settling between an old truck and a soccer-mom's minivan. Inside the window of the other vehicle, Nell would get a quick glimpse of two little boys playing with action figures.

Apparently there was an unspoken rule that Spongebob beat Superman in honorable combat.

Bluestreak had seen them too, and his avatar smiled. His expression was quietly fascinated; to be honest, he was with children. It was fascinating to him how humans here started small and helpless and then poof, you added food, water (and apparently a good amount of money if he was following the idea correctly) and you had something like Miko or Jack or Raf. They grew into their personalities. He still had a million questions he wanted to ask someday; did they start with those personalities? It seemed like such a short time to develop experience with the world, and become such an individual. Well short as far as Cybertronian time went, he supposed.

"Oh," he said, and went back to pondering that bit she'd explained about age. "Yeah, I saw there were a lot of age rules here," he replied. "I remember reading that in the driver's info, you had to be over a certain age to drive a car. I guess it makes sense. I mean, it's got to be tough to reach the pedals when you're that tiny."

He tapped his fingers on the wheel. The leather bracelets on his wrist slid against each other. "I can see why a lot of things would have age caps. It's a totally odd concept to me, I'll admit it, but I can follow it. Neat."

He inclined his head and looked thoughtful again. "Aw, no, you're bigger than ants. Ants are super tiny! Not even close, nope."

A pause. "Gosh no, no, no. You don't look like uncivilized heathens, well, not to me, I guess. I think you're pretty darn civilized, at least what I've seen. I mean, humans-- you're so nice, like super helpful. I've been given directions from strangers, when I put on my blinker and go to merge, people let me in - well, mostly. I figure those ones who speed up are in a big hurry to get somewhere. I mean-- heck, I met this amazing woman a bit back, and even though she'd had a rotten awful day, she invited me back to her house, and it was the nicest little house, so clean, but lived in, you know? I like things like that, where you can tell someone takes care of them because they mean a lot to them. Like your car, I mean, you take really good care of it, it's beautiful and it's tuned up and it's an old car, right?"

He looked over at Nell earnestly. "So, yeah, I could tell, you know, that she really loved that house. I really liked it too. There were windows in the garage. That's a luxury, back home. Er, the windows, I mean, and--"

Bluestreak abruptly looked concerned. "I promise. It's not bad, the avatar. It's yeah, I have to pretend a little but it's not like I can't, I mean, I can process both things at once, it's not much of a power drain. It's kind of like ummmm--- talking and walking at the same time, really, I can do both and keep things together. If you ever worry about it, tell me, remind me."

Then he rolled a shoulder and chuckled. "Aw, Ratchet? He's a good guy, honest. Fantastic medic, it's just that I think he... hmm, I think kind of at times he just- he gets overwhelmed by everything and everyone. It's tough being a medic. Not a job I'd want, it can be pretty thankless, keeping everyone up and running. I mean, it's got to hang over your head, you know, when you can't fix something," the mech offered.

"Hahah, oh gosh well I don't know the difference between them either," Bluestreak told her and then his brows knitted. "Ask the questions. They're not dumb ones, they're ones that you can build off of How are you supposed to learn anything if you don't ask about it? Besides, I'm still showing folks I'm not a complete idiot and I'm a whooooole lot older than you. Wait, I'm not supposed to ask you your age, sorry, right, got it. I'm pretty sure I'm a lot older."

"He's not going to uh, throw you out," he said. "Seriously. He just doesn't like things that- uh, what's the term here, that rock the vehicle? Something. Rock the shark? Wait, no, rock the boat, right, right, rock the boat. Haha, boats rock a lot, because of the ocean, right, I remember that. If Fowler thinks you can do the job, then I know you can do the job, and Ratchet could use the help. So be on basics. I started out shooting stationary targets, and then slowly moved up to moving targets, and I still have a ton to learn. And shooting things is totally easy, compared to fixing someone so they don't offline permanently. Show him that you can advance to the next level, you'll do great."

The exit loomed up and the silver car shifted into the lane and sped up. He took the loop with ease; Nell wouldn't even feel that slight rock. Funny enough, his avatar leaned a little into the corner as the wheel moved under his fingers. He let it slide back through. His boot shifted on the pedal; he only took his foot off the gas as they hit the apex of the turn and then reapplied it. No brake, just using the natural momentum as he accelerated out of the turn.

"Ohhhhh," he laughed. "Isn't Sahara a casino too? Wait, no, no, that one closed, didn't it? Okay, right, it's a desert in Africa?"

"The weather sounds weird in Savannah," he mentioned. "I guess I need to go see more of it. I mean, erk - not bad weird, but just weird. It's dry here, but the first time it rained, wow, I'd never seen it do that. Like that kind of humidity, then, but all the time-- oh wow, yep, I'd love to see pictures. Georgia? I'll look it up on line. It's online, right?"

He eagerly glanced over at her and then looked sheepish. "See, now that was a dumb question, huh? Everything's online, haha. But seriously, you moved out here from there? Do humans do that a lot, move from city to city?"

[Deleted]

“You got it.”

Really, there wasn't anything else to say about it outside of it. After all, it wasn't like Blue was so new to Earth that he barely had a grasp on the road system. It was far easier to talk about where she was from, the questions she had for him, and how she certainly didn't feel like asking Ratchet too many questions.

Every now and then, when she stopped talking and before he replied – she would catch the twang of a guitar or some lyrics. Who'd of thunk it that an robotic alien liked country of all things. Granted, while she liked other music more, it wasn't a half bad choice to fill the small bits of silence.

As the Nissan switched lanes, it was crazy how smooth that lane change was, her eyes caught sight of the two boys playing with their action figures. She also caught the smile on Bluestreak's 'face' too, and it was infectious in a way. Really, if he had asked about the personality thing – well Nell would of told him it depended on the kid. When it came to herself? Well, her father would easily say that she had always been a tomboy and that she always was a bit of a scrapper. She didn't exactly have many memories of when she was incredibly young, outside of snippets of the 'big' things or being told about events that there were photos of.

“Well also this - a little kid would think they could do the Hotwheels thing, with a real car. Can't have them thinkin' they can actually drive on a rollercoaster and do a loop-de-loop.” Nell explained with a small laugh. “But there's also that too, granted some kids have made the news by stealin' their parents cars too.” She commented with a small shrug of her shoulders.

There was another laugh from her as he talked about ants being super tiny and of course how humans didn't look like uncivilized heathens. “That's good to know, granted there are a lot of friendly people out there – even if there are a lot of jackasses on the road.” She mentioned. “I mean, those who tailgate and cut you off are just...Ugh, I hate people like that.” Her nose wrinkled a little, though her brows raised at him when he mentioned a woman.

A smile slowly stretched across her face. “Sound's like you got a crush.” She joked, with how he went on about the woman's house. “But yeah, my car is on the older side and I take care of it like it's my flesh and blood.” Her Cheshire cat smile slowly eased up into one that was a little more sentimental. “I fixed her up with my dad actually. He bought her when I was around fifteen and just learnin' to drive – it took three years to get her in workin' order. Practically a lost cause of a rust bucket but he got her for cheap. At the time I thought he was goin' through some mid-life crisis and was tryin' to capture his youth or that he was doing an under the table job for some extra money.” Nell explained.

“Just some shit like that, well...When I graduated from highschool he tossed me the keys and told me she was mine, said I needed a proper ride and all.” She couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped her throat. “My brother was jealous as hell, but it was actually his idea that I got a classic that needed a whole lot of work. His first car was this old truck that smelled like somethin' died in it for years while it was getting fixed up – he was probably hopin' I'd get the same fate with the Camaro.”

Her eyes were back on Bluestreak again, and she couldn't help the laughter. “Really does sound like you got a crush on that girl though, never met someone who can talk that much about someones house.” There was a shit eating grin on her face now. “But that's good, about the avatar. I wasn't sure how it works if you seen out your head lamps or your avatars eyes, or however it works.” She explained. “I think you'll be just fine though.”

As for Ratchet being a 'good guy', Nell did look a bit skeptical about that one. “Yeah, I can get that but god fuckin' damn – he started me off on doin' errands around the base. Checkin' pipes and electrical circuits, in other words – stuff I'm not exactly trained for. I was seriously expectin' him to hand me some old car engine or a motor, you know...Somethin' I actually knew my way around.” She shook her head a little. “I think he might find it fun, sendin' the human into the tiny little cracks and crevices that the Silo has.” Though with that remark, she let out a light snort of laughter. “Well, I'll show him that when Fowler said I was a 'robust' – he meant it.” Her shoulders shrugged a little.

“Mm, maybe. I need to get a list together to be perfectly honest. I just don't want to fuck things up around him.” Her nose wrinkled as she thought about it. “Mainly I don't want to disappoint Fowler, he looks like he has a lot of faith in me – when I think he really shouldn't.” The mechanic admitted before she glanced at him. “Who knows, I'm gonna be twenty-seven in August – and if your Avatar is anythin' to go by? You're around my age.” Her eyes narrowed at him a little. “That being, if your age rate is the same as ours – but I got a feelin' it's not.” That would likely end up being another question for Ratchet down the line, how long do Cybertronian's live for anyways?

The answer would likely make her head explode.

But back to other things, and he made her chuckle likely. “Also, rocking the boat can cause it to tip over into said water – no one wants that.” She replied before giving a little sigh. “Yeah, I guess – if he'll ever accept it despite showin' I'm ready to advance already. I have a feelin' he's gonna be a tough nut to crack.” And nothing Bluestreak said was going to change her opinion on that, because it seriously felt like that was going to be the case when it comes to the old medic.

On the topic of her home town, Nell smiled a little. “Naw, it's fine. I get it. You're not used to the weather patterns here. And I dunno about the casino, but you'll find out there's a lot of...Similar names to places like...There's a Washington State and a Washington D.C.. Same goes for people, but doesn't mean it's the same thing or person, just similar names.” She explained before she laughed a little more. “Oh yeah, it's online. Everythin's online like you said too. Even things you wish weren't online and make you think 'what sick fuck would do that?!'.” She stretched in her seat a little, her eyes looking forward towards the quieter road in front of them.

“We'll be there soon, ten more minutes if I remember right. The road we need to head onto is on your first left, and you'll likely sorta see Black Rock too.” Her attention turned back to him, thinking about her answer to his last question before nodding her head 'yes'.

“Yeah I did and honestly? It really depends on a persons situation. Some people live in the city they're born in all their lives, others will make one single big move from one to another – I know a friend from high-school she moved to New York City for college, she lives there now and only goes back to Georgia every now and then.” As for herself... “With me being in the military, I move a lot depending on where they want me. I've lived in Washington State, Illinois, California, South Carolina, and of course my home state of Georgia. I've also been stationed over in Iraq.” Nell explained and glanced over at him.

“It's not uncommon for military families to move around a lot either, but like I said...It just depends on a persons situation. I mean, when I was a kid I moved a lot around Savannah but well...Financial reasons more than a real want to move, we didn't get a more stable environment until I was in high-school. I think my childhood was a big reason why I can handle getting notice I need to be at x base by x time, I'm just used to it.” Her shoulders shifted into a shrug. “My brother on the other hand...He likes being in Savannah. Has a nice apartment with a nice view of the ocean he's the opposite of me really, he likes the stability of being in one place.”

Looking away from the avatar, she pointed a little towards the left. “See that speck? That's Black Rock...We're gonna come up on that road soon.”

[Bluestreak]

At Nell's right hand side, the car's mirror tilted a bit. Not just the glass, but the whole mirror- it shifted down and to the left.

The landscape around them had changed. When Bluestreak had first been driving in Nevada, he'd been utterly confused by something. The sides of the roads were covered with red rock that appeared to be brought in specifically for that purpose. At first he'd thought it was simply decoration; that it was like the animal statues scattered here and there, or that overpass that had the big metal snakes and plants bolted to it.

Bluestreak could admit the effect was artistic even if he sure avoided driving on it. Luckily that was one thing nice about the area, you could get a lot of places without bridges. Detours were easy; it was mostly flat in the city. No tunnels, no bridges. It gets a bit tight downtown Vegas, he thought, but that's because of all the traffic there. Great place to go and just gawk at cars and humans though. Usually he left his windows rolled down, letting the sounds of the day thrum through his audials.

It was nice to lose himself for a moment in the movement and bustle of a busy, thriving, living city. Especially when he'd had a rough night.

"Oh..." he said. "I hadn't even considered that. About the kids wanting to drive a car like a rollercoaster."

He'd seen the one in Vegas. Nope, not a safe way to drive for sure. No one in their right mind would drive a car up one of those, but he kind of wanted to try it. Er, ride it, that was. Not that it would ever happen, he'd never been in one of the casinos. He'd been in the garages though, maybe that counted for something.

The dashboard lights dimmed and brightened as he blinked over at her. The avatar frowned slightly and then looked utterly concerned.

"It's not okay to talk about someone's house?" he asked her, worried. "Oh. I'm sorry, I thought it was like a totally conversational thing, like it is back home where I'm from. Whoops. I mean-- I just like seeing living spaces, they can tell a lot about someone, does that make sense? Or am I doing it wrong? If I'm doing it wrong, tell me, because that's the kind of thing I don't know. I mean, that home channel- I watch it sometimes late at night- everyone talks about their houses?"

"Like, you walk in and talk about the granite countertops and the curb appeal? No? That's not right?"

He brought up his hand to rub at his chin. The rear view mirror tipped and tilted before he put both hands back on the wheel. Oh wait, the car. Right, that was a lot safer of a place to talk about, so he gratefully grabbed onto that, cars he could talk about, cars were great, cars were perfect, because he was a car, and that had to count for something, right? Right. Sure.

"You did all the work on your car?" he said, and looked incredibly impressed. "No wonder Agent Fowler thought you could work with Ratchet. Aw, haha, they send everyone to check the pipes, heck they send me to check the pipes, and trust me, I don't know a darn thing, probably less than you."

"But I get not wanting to mess up," he murmured sympathetically. "I don't like disappointing anyone either, especially someone you look up to, right? It-it's tough. But you just have to think hey, if they have faith in your skills, it means you should too, but we're always hardest on ourselves, right? Because well, uh, when someone depends on you, and you don't do it right..."

His gaze became a bit distant, pensive. The man's hands shifted on the wheel again and he looked as if he was going to say something else, but then he immediately shifted conversations again. "How long do we live for? Ummm... gah, I dunno." He lifted a hand and counted on his fingers before glancing over at her again with a sheepish grin. "Millions of years. Earth years, anyway. I'm still learning your time system a bit, I may be totally wrong. Ask Ratchet, seriously. If you want to learn about us, there's no one better I can think of."

The radio softly jangled in the empty spaces when he paused for a moment. It might have gotten a bit louder, but then it quickly toned back down. "Ten more minutes, right. Road's on the first left, and then Black Rock. We're making good time, didn't want to be late. Not with Agent Fowler, I'm uh, yeah, I don't want to disappoint him either."

"Oh, military, right! Yeah, I guess you do learn to move a lot as military, us too, same thing. On the go until you stop but it's never long. Oh, wow. That's a lot of very different places. Also, that's confusing, two Washingtons? How do you know the difference? Like do you -- Wait, he has an apartment by the ocean? Seriously? That's awesome, I'd totally love a--oh, erk, am I not supposed to talk houses? Is talking apartments okay?"

He grinned over at her.

"Neat. Does he surf?"

[Deleted]

From the corner of her eyes, she spotted how the whole mirror shifted. A brow raised before the mechanic decided to just ignore it, and she was chalking it all up to fidgeting – because god only knew how she did it when she was bored and needed something to do with her hands.

“Eh, it was a random ass thought and thinkin' what a kid would possibly want to do, you know?” She asked with a shrug.“Really they just don't have the maturity that it takes to drive a car and not get themselves, or anyone else, killed.” Another shrug of her shoulders before she joked around about the whole 'crush' on the girl he was talking about started.

The look on his avatar's face was priceless and Nell couldn't help the laugh that left her, or how it grew when he spoke. “Chill.” The woman told him. “It's just typically when someone notices little..Details about someone like that – they tend to well...Like 'em.” She explained before chuckling a bit more. “But if you know too much about decoratin' and remodelin' you might get asked for a helping hand.” Her lips curled into a smile. “Which honestly sounds like it'd be funny to see...” Nell mused for a moment or two before he commented about her doing all the work on her car.

Her smile widened a bit, into a proper Cheshire cat smile. “Yeah, I did. Well, with the help of my dad. He's a mechanic too, taught me just about everything I know.” There was a certain...Tone in her voice. Sentiment wasn't something that popped up with her often but, it was hard to not get sentimental when it came to her car and the hours spent getting it working again. “And I guess, it's sorta second nature junk to me to be honest with ya.” A shrug, and then a laugh.

“Seriously, they had you check pipes? Like you know about Earth plumbing.” Okay, that was funny, and Nell shook her head as she laughed again. “Did you come out of it lookin' like a damn drowned rat though?” She asked. “One of them burst while I was checkin' it out, my other pair of boots are still dryin'.” Her head tilted a little as she looked at him or a moment or two, her smile was fading slowly.

“Yeah, I get it, probably more than others. There were a few close calls while I was overseas, got lucky more or less. Could of lost some good people.” Thankfully, there was a shift in conversation and she stared at him for a moment or two. “Holy fuckin' shit, that's well...a long ass time.” Or was he pulling her leg? She didn't think he was though, so that meant he could have been a lot older than he was letting on more or less. “I mean, I think humans as a species been around for only...I dunno? A couple million years so the fact you guys can live so long...Mind bogglin'.” God, her brain was starting to hurt just thinking about it.

“Good idea, add it to the list of 'Ask the Doc'.” Really, she'd just have to buck it up and ask the old battleax the questions that were forming bit by bit. She noticed the radio though, for a brief moment at least, and she smiled faintly about not wanting to disappoint Fowler. “He's actually a bit more...Chilled out than you'd expect from others.” Nell explained, and she honestly liked that.

“Well, the state? It's on the west coast. Washington D.C. Is the capital. It has a lot of nicknames too, like 'D.C, 'the District of Columbia', etc...And it's on the east coast.” She started. “Paris, Texas is in Texas for example, while Paris, France is welp...In France is another one.” A laugh left her when he asked about her brothers apartment. “ADD much?” Nell asked before nodding. “It's fine, you can talk about 'em. View's pretty nice too. One of my own apartments over there I could feel sea breezes, no view worth a shit though.” And the question about surfing thrown her for a loop. Her brows raised at him and she shook her head at him.

“Not at all, that's honestly not Eric's style to be honest with you. But then again he was the more...Book smart one? He was on the track team though, that was the only sport he was really into.” Her eyes on the road she nodded towards the upcoming turn. “There's the left I was tellin' you about...” The mechanic muttered lightly.

“So, what do you think Fowler want's us for?”

[Bluestreak]

Somewhere during the time Nell started talking and the time she got to the bit about being a mechanic with her dad, the driver's side window of the car had rolled down. Already the Nevada air was warm; not the stifling heat it would be around noon, but hot enough. Their speed made it pleasant though, and surprisingly, the interior of the Autobot didn't make that odd vibration that most cars did with one window open and the other shut.

Bluestreak rested his avatar's elbow on the sill and then stuck his hand out slightly. For a moment there was the same delight one might see on a four-year old who had just figured out that the air outside of a moving car made your hand flap, and he lifted his forearm and stuck out his palm against the pressure, playing with it for a second before he glanced back over at Nell and realized what he was doing. He grinned over at her and settled his hand back down.

His fingers couldn't help but wiggle though.

"Oh," he said thoughtfully. "I see. I never thought about that, I guess, but yeah, you're right, I guess noticing the details about someone can be totally that maybe, but you know I also notice the details on the other side, when they're not so nice, haha -- hey, you know, now that I think on it, I'd totally like to remodel a house. Putting things back together, upgrading things you like, and not getting rid of them just because they're old - I'm all for that. Some of the stuff they do is so amazing. I kinda like Yard Crashers too... but I have no idea what the heck those guys are thinking when they put in big fire fountains. I guess ambiance. No clue. I don't think having a burning ring of glass chips seems all that relaxing to me, but I do like the water features! Those are super nice."

"Aw, you sound like you spent a lot of time with your dad. He's a mechanic? It's great to have someone to work on projects with," he agreed. "I think mechanics have to be second nature, I mean, you've got to understand those problems and be able to troubleshoot them correctly, because systems tie into systems and all that. If you don't have the mindset for it, it's not going to work."

"Yah, they had me check pipes and heck no I know nothing about Earth plumbing!" Bluestreak laughed. "I know nothing about plumbing in general. Heck, I just know you go 'hey, this is leaking' then call someone else in to fix it and hand them all your credits and sigh about the bill, haha. I just noted what was leaking and said, so not touching a thing, no way. I know better. I like surfing but I don't want to try it in the silo, nope, nada. I dunno if that's even possible. Maybe it's possible. It might be possible. I guess it could be possible but the cleanup afterwards, I'd be sad about."

He glanced back over to her and immediately caught her sobering tone.

No, he didn't want to talk about losing people either. It settled him back in his seat- himself? Something like that, and he was happy when she bounced over to the other part of the conversation. "Aw, well, hey, time's all relative. It's- I guess it's a long time, yeah. To you. But to me it seems pretty short. Some of these guys down here have been around a lot longer. Seen a lot more than me. I'm okay with that."

Gently, his car mode avoided a bit of a rut in the road and smoothly slipped back into his lane.

"Oh the same names for different places, wow, that's going to be so confusing. I mean, you don't even have designation numbers, I guess it's all context as to how you know where you're talking about and -- ADD?"

"Adding, right? I'm okay at math," the man offered with a bright smile. "Sounds like a nice place to live, but-- oh, not a surfer. Bummer. I was hoping, I'd love to talk to someone sometime who's actually done it someday."

"That said, I love views. I... I always have, you know. I had a-- and oh, the left, right. I mean the left, and right, I've got it."

Immediately the car shifted up into gear. Bluestreak put on a little more speed. Red rocks flashed past them. Beside the roadway the dry grass flattened in the whip of the wind; he was into the turn and easily straightened back out of it. In the distance, the speck of the base began to steady on the horizon.

"I dunno," he admitted, looking over at her with confusion. His side mirror tilted. "I thought maybe you knew. I mean, I'm not a frontliner or anything."

A laugh escaped him. "So not a mechanic, either. So you don't know? He didn't tell you either? That seems a bit odd, you're part of his unit, right?"