Ep 2 - Big Dreams, gangsta (Flatline and so many regrets)

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Well, he wasn't exactly being truthful. He was a medic. He wasn't THE medic of the ship. And he probably had panicked. After he'd kidnapped them and learned about the treaty. And they didn't want them on the ship. Even if that would have been brownie points. Roulette doubted Megatron wanted the bothersome things on the ship anymore than the rest of the crew. Ugh, it'd be like an infestation. Bad enough that the planet was teaming with them. 

So..he was telling half lies. That was something Roulette could respect and deal with.

"Primus no," she scoffed and shifted her stance as if she could care less about them or the medic. "Why would we want to bring you on the ship? That'd be like bringing one of us back to your house. Can you fathom how uncomfortable that would be? Not to mention the logistics." She debated going for the dumb femme route but didn't have the spark to follow through with it. She doubted the bratlets were that stupid if they stuck tight to the Autobots. The only limitations they had was their size and their age. She wouldn't be surprised if that didn't give them some sort of aid that the Cons hadn't figured out yet. 

"Not that I wouldn't love to have a heart to heart with your precious Prime, but can we just be done with this, already? What will it take to get you three to to part on amiable terms?" The thought of the Prime made her antsy. The last thing they needed was to involve the big guy. He tended to wreck slag rather thoroughly when he thought a member of his team was being persevered against in any way. 

As if the Decepticons have it so easy. Tch.

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Jack opened his mouth. Miko answered before he could say anything. What he was going to say, he wasn't sure. Raf wasn't contributing in any way but to dart his eyes from human to bot to human to bot like this was a sporting event. Unfortunately, when it came to shooting out replies at a quick fire pace, Jack couldn't compete with Miko. Which is why the answer to the femme's question was a quick, solid answer that left Jack's mouth hanging open.

"We want fuel." 
"Miko!" 
"What?! It's a good trade!" 

The two squared off with each other. Jack wanted to reach across the distance and physically shake her with his both of his hands. There was demanding an apology and then there was toeing the line. Miko was trying to jump over the limit as if they had the advantage here. It would be very easy for the entire situation to go south. The Cons weren't doing anything to them at the moment but that didn't mean they couldn't. Or wouldn't.

"No, hear me out. It'll show they're sincere." She turned to address the two Cons with her small hands on her hips. "You trade us a ration of fuel a piece and we'll forget about the whole thing." 

It was no secret the Con ship was likely better equipped than the Autobot base. They had access to fuel resources and refinement the Bots did not. That still didn't hit Jack as a great idea. Useful to the Bots? Yes. But...

"And how are we going to explain how we got two cubes worth of fuel in the desert?!" Jack ran one hand through his hair, fluffing up the locks like a cockatiel crest. 

"We'll say we startled some Vehicons. Or something." 

Or something. 

[Flatline]

As stupid and simple and small as it was... the fact Roulette didn't instantly throw him to the mercy of the children by revealing they had him by the throat really meant a lot to him. He nodded in agreement to her words, and even gestured to her with open palms while looking down at the humans, punctuating the fact that he was right, and that she was confirmation on this fact. He couldn't manipulate what she said, and he couldn't tell her what to say! Or... as far as he thought the kids new... He didn’t know if they were aware about comms fully, which could be a nail in the gear, but oh well...

Flatline's calm demeanor shifted however when Roulette brought up the Prime. His plating pulled up tighter against his body, and his stance got a bit more ridged and stiff. To pair with this motion the harpoons on his back let out soft whirring clicks, longing to try to activate in some kind of self defense against a threat that wasn’t there, and if it was? He couldn't stop it anyway with such little weaponry.

The idea that the Prime could get involved was a huge 'nope' to him on many levels. Not only would they be in trouble for what they almost did ((Roulette was now looped in as 'they')), but it would then get transferred to Megatron likely to let the warlord deal with it himself. He didn’t like the fact Roulette even OFFERED the name out, so it was on the children's minds, scared they'd use it as leverage now... only to hear what the female child said.

Fuel!?

They couldn't hand over fuel!

"We don't just carry spare Energon around with us, and you can imagine stealing from Lord Megatron and using the Bridge more than we need to will cause issues."

Flatline pumped up the anxious act a bit more, which was easy considering the Prime was brought up, and the fact he didn’t want to be backhanded by a gladiator. He wasn’t nervous about the human's demand itself exactly, and he was about to spout off some more lies, but boy howdy he seemed sincere in the way he cupped one hand over the other, rubbing his fingers in an anxious motion. He also looked away from the children again, to try to appear that much more passive. There were other clues to his false fear, the way his spines were folded down, and his passive field, but that wouldn't be something the kids could observe.

"Our fuel is sharply rationed out; you would have us starve for a mistake?"

He could stop talking then; try to see if Roulette had any ideas, but he didn't know if it was fair to throw this all on her. It is because of this he continued to speak, choosing his words carefully.

"It also would indeed cause more questions than solutions... what if we answered a few things? Perhaps about Cybertron or the war? I am sure there's dirt the Bots won't divulge or things they hide from you."

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::Bold little guttersnipes, aren't they?::

Roulette was torn between amusement and outright irritation. The situation had went from hilarious to aggravating fairly quickly as dealing with humans usually did. She was starting to understand just why Flatline called for backup. Not to help manage the little brats. But to stop him from smashing them into paste on the ground. Problem was, the temptation to step on them was rising. Or at least kick them across the barren landscape. 

Not a lot. Just a small kick. A punt, really.

At Flatline's words, she nodded in fervent, if not entirely honest fashion. She did have fuel on her. Not a lot, of course. A ration she kept on hand for emergencies. Every time she went planetside it seemed something horrible happened and she might need the contingency plant to survive. The fuel wouldn't do more than give her a small boost but it was better than imbibing the planet's disgusting crude sludge. But she wasn't giving her fuel to the Autobots. Not because she disliked them. But for the principle of the matter. 

"Yes, we could try and answer any questions that wouldn't give them an undo advantage. That's only fair." She paused and shifted her weight to the other hip. Time to poke them down the right path. If she knew the Bots well enough, she had an inkling as to how they treated the pet children. "...that is if you're mature enough to handle such things. There are some things in war that aren't for the faint of heart..." 

Let that fester in their mind like a wound.