Ep .5 - 'Girl's Night' - Closed

[Deleted]

Arcee shifted uncharacteristically nervous in one the base’s numerous empty backrooms. She was far from her usual sure self. How? Just how did she let herself get dragged into this? Arcee would insistently state she wasn’t the social type. Bumblebee, Jazz, and Bluestreak dominated in that area. The blue femme was flabbergasted at the suggestion of bonding time for growing femme portion of Team Prime. Arcee was straight up what the humans would call a ‘tomboy’, working and dealing with the roughest, toughest mechs of Cybertron’s enforcer class.

“Just pick something everybot can loosen up with. Everything else will fall into place after that.”

Arcee huffed –yea right-, irritation crackling through her field from Jazz’s ‘helpful’ advice.

The two-wheeler glanced warily towards a set of plain, smooth, and reinforced steel poles located at one end of the abandoned storage room. Arcee had intently left out a few details, when she got permission from Optimus for this ‘girl’s night’. It was the only activity Arcee could think of that she could loosen up doing, but none of the mechs on base needed to know about her, not-appropriate for enforcer class, hobby from her younger, wilder cycles.

Still having plenty of time before any of the other femmes arrived, Arcee whipped through a few quick warm up routines, easing out some of her rustiness. She shifted a bit, feeling odd in the slimmer fitting performer plating after so long, rather then her normal combat armor. The performer plating added very little bulk to her frame and only covered her protoform. Her SCAT unit glyph engraving now appeared visible on the lower back portion of her neck, right in the protoform.

Arcee walked away from the poles, marginally more comfortable with this ridiculous plan of teaching the other femmes how to pole dance. Passing the remaining minutes before everyone arrived, she fiddled with the various homemade and created energon concoctions spread across the table, making sure to hid the more potent stuff for a little later.

Now, if everyone would just hurry up and get here, she could settle her fragging nerves!

[Deleted]

Shadow stopped outside the door of the room which had been designated the location for "girls' night". It wasn't that she found the idea strange, precisely; there had been times that she, Phaseshift, Interlock, and Tundra had shut themselves away from the rest of the team, choosing to turn to one another for maintenance and reassurance. She simply wasn't entirely sure what Arcee might have planned, given that the invitation - orders by any other name - had specified a back room rather than, say, the firing range.

It was the sort of uncertainty she normally would have avoided, except Jazz had suggested - and his suggestion was a suggestion the same way Arcee's invitation was an invitation - that it would be a Very Good Idea if she went.

Even then, she might have refused if Arcee hadn't promised high grade, with the air of someone who expected to need it as much - if not moreso - than her guests. Shadow could understand that kind of uncertainty, and for that alone she was willing to give Arcee a few breems of her time.

Also, Bluestreak had been rather insistent about the matter, and Shadow had a difficult time telling Blue no over anything.

With that resolve, she opened the door to the storage room turned meeting place, and nodded to the two-wheeler who was - understandably - radiating nervousness. "One down," she said, tone and glyphs filled with wry understanding. "Three more to go."

[velocity]

Velocity thought that this was just the silliest of ideas and that it wasn't exactly going to make any of them closer. A 'girls' night, practically forced down their throats would only make tensions tighter and others less inclined to be friendly. Not that she wanted to be all that friendly in the first place, she was always all business. Still she was going to participate in this farce of bonding just to get it over with and so she could earn her 'happy fun time' badge of whatever they wanted to call it and move on. The mechs here had some funny ideas, maybe they should have a bonding night as well. In fact, she was going to insist on it after this.

Walking into the backroom with a purpose she paused over the threshold at the sight of the poles. Really now? Were they supposed to go all 'femmes gone wild' in this room? Funnily enough Velocity knew how to do that, dance and gyrate her frame along poles like those. It was something the Senator had insisted she learn saying it would help her later in life, even though she knew that wasn't the reason she had still had fun doing it. However it had been far too long since she had her servos wrapped around a good sturdy pole, maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad after all.

“Hello you two. I will be frank and state I think this is a silly idea making gender differences but I am still here so we should make the most of it.” With that she showcased a large bag she had been holding and set it on the table in a clear spot. “I have soft rags, fancy waxes, special files...you name it and if I can be pampered with it then I own it. By tomorrow the mech's won't even be able to recognize any of us and their jaws will be on the floor. It will serve them right.” Her mouth slides ever so slowly into the most wicked of smiles.

[airazor]

"Well, I'm certainly not going to complain about a night of pampering," Airazor said, entering the room just after Vel. "I appreciate you sharing your stash, Vel; I haven't seen a decent batch of wax in more vorns than I care to think about."

Her quick glance around the room took in Shadowrunner (back against the wall with typical spec ops paranoia), the poles, and Arcee's lighter plating. She arched an optic ridge at the latter two.

"I take it there's going to be entertainment in addition to the pampering," she said, with just a flicker of amusement in her field. "And if there's any chance Rattrap got wind of that, we should probably sweep the room for cameras before we do anything else."

[Deleted]

Bluestreak was not technically a femme bit ou wasn't a mech really either and really details like that weren't going to stop the little grey gunner from having a little fun. Besides ou;d puppy optic-d poor Shadow into going the least ou could do was show up.

And show up Bluestreak did. Arms full with bags and crates full of energon sweets of varying consistencies and of course ever party needed highgrade. Ou;d managed to beg some of Leauges stash and of course Plenty od the paint thinner in disguise from Ironhide and Blukheads still.

"I made it! I was going to ask Bee for help to carry this all here but he would have begged for some of the goodies and of really, can't go letting him know the secret location of this get-together....Can some one help me set this down?"

[june]

Out of self-defense, June had done a couple shots and two fingers of whiskey before requesting a walk-in ground bridge from her garage. The Autobots had the interior wall of June’s garage locked as a point of entry so sometimes she literally drove home, pulled into the garage, called a ground bridge and strolled into base. Saved a lot of gas money and the Autobots from having people driving into their base at odd hours. It was odd hours now as June made her way, duffle in hand, to the designated party room. She saluted Bumblebee who cycled down the groundbridge and chirp-whirred something that could have been friendly or it could have been obnoxious. It was hard to tell with him. He looked like he was on monitor duty though.

Optimus appeared to be reading something over with him. He inclined his head only slightly at June in greeting before going back to the screens.

“Party at the Autobot base,” June murmured, leaving the control room for the back halls. She shortly spotted Bluestreak staggering eagerly under crates of snacks and followed the sniper bot down a hall to one of the back areas. Coming in on Blue's heels, she caught the tail end of Airazor’s words and all of Blue’s happy androgynous piping. Full house. Blue of course, Shadowrunner looking all dark and edgy, Arcee… sporting… oooh, had she changed ‘outfits’ as it were? Then Velocity all haughty and fabulous, followed by slender, bronze and dusky-armored Airazor. June was feeling warm and happy as she strolled in, unzipping her duffel.

“Hullo, girls.” Ostensibly girls. June was too relaxed to give a damn. She extracted a martini mixer and a bottle of Watermelon Pucker from the bottom of her bag and grinned. “Whose got the music and the booze? Because it’s my opinion that no bonding is going to happen until we’re all nice and tispy.”

[Deleted]

Arcee did a brief double-take at June waltzing in. A surprised smile creased her faceplates. Somebody started to party-hardy early. Poor Jack…if only he knew. Well, what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.

Also, rather then have poor Blue accidentally drop hir party supplies, Arcee pointedly gestured to Shadow to leave her corner now and assist.

She leaned against her pole of choice, visibly still apprehensive, waiting for the rest of the Autogals to get settled and comfortable, if it were indeed possible right now. Finally, Arcee invented deeply, resigned to get this over with. Clapping her servos together, the blue femme called out loud and clear, resting her servos on hip plates and posture demanding all attendees’ undivided attention, speaking rather bluntly.

“Alright, fembots, listen up. We’ve got our orders. Bond and have fun. We’ve got regular high grade and a few mixed concoctions I’ve pulled together located in the back. Help yourself; I’m sure we’ll all need some before the night is over. Also, I’ve painstakingly set up these,” she gestured to the poles behind her, “covertly from the mechs, for an icebreaker activity,” Arcee made quotations with her servos at “activity”, ‘which everyone is going to take a turn at.”

“So if you don’t know what to do with the pole, I’ll show you,” Her voice dripped with traces of sarcasm, “I’ve swung my way around them many a time, back in the day.”

Hitching her posture forward, Arcee stepped to the back of the storage room and swiped a high grade canister off the table. Chugging it back in rough-neck enforcer fashion, she wiped her lip components, feeling the high grade her fuel tanks with a hard jolt. A maverickish smile crossed her faceplates briefly.

“Before we start the fun and games though,” Arcee stretched a few more kinks out from her linkage, “there’s one more topic we need to cover…”

Arcee’s voice dropped to a dangerously low hiss, brimming with deadly intent, “If anyone slips a word outside this room to the mechs about me providing poles and lessons, they get to deal with me. Comprende?”

[Deleted]

Shadow resisted the urge to toss an insolent salute at Arcee when the other femme gestured for her to help Blue with the array of party supplies ou was juggling. "Go a little overboard, Blue?" she asked quietly, smiling at the smaller bot as she began transferring containers of treats from Blue's overloaded arms to the tables. She pulled an energon gummy from one of the trays and popped it into her mouth, arching an optic ridge. "Did you make everything here out of high grade, or are there at least a few things that will leave us conscious?"

Once the treats were laid out, she settled in beside Bluestreak, arms crossed over her chassis and field brushing comfortably against the sniper's. Their 'orders' might be to bond and have fun - and there might be barely enough high grade present for just that - but right now it was helping immeasurably to have someone she knew and trusted nearby. Particularly when Vel was openly skeptical and June was...definitely not her usual composed self.

Frag, Arcee wasn't her usual self, either, though when Shadow thought about it, this bearings-first approach to dealing with her discomfort was fairly typical of the femme's approach to life. At least Airazor appeared determined to take the evening as intended, a zen island of calm perched atop a stack of crates, and Blue was, well, Blue, cheerfully enthusiastic about everything.

Shadow snaked an arm out to snag some of the high grade Blue had brought when Arcee announced their 'icebreaker activity'. Maybe she'd been wrong about there being enough to get them through the evening; maybe she'd be able to escape on a high grade run later. Of course, if Jazz caught her he'd just send her back.

And speaking of Jazz, even if only in the privacy of her own processor...

She opened a private comm line with Blue when Arcee issued the ultimatum about keeping the pole dancing lessons secret. ::Jazz is going to be so disappointed when we refuse to tell him what happened in here. He may never forgive us.::

[velocity]

Oddly enough the stoic and definitely snotty Velocity cracked something of a smile toward Airazor as she entered and spoke with her. "Everyone deserves a little...no really a lot of pampering after everything we get put through." The towerling was big on waxing and maintaining a flawless sheen whenever possible. Though buffing oneself up could be difficult at times, especially if your frame was as intricately detailed as her own was. How wonderful it would be if she could get close with someone again, close enough that they could do these things with one another. The thought was a nice one but she wasn't about to linger on it too long, daydreaming was not her thing. "Dear Primus I hope Rattrap doesn't even have a clue this is going on at all."

That was when Bluestreak came in and Cyan optics lingered on the smaller bot as ou placed everything on the table Arcee pointed out the table and everything was placed as well as possible. There was a lot of goodies and drinks to be had now but Vel remained away from all of it. She was either going to drink far too much and make a complete fool of herself or not touch it at all and remain clamped down tight and prim and proper as she usually was. The eve was still young so she wasn't sure how this was going to go.

There was no containing her surprise as the human, June Darby, came walking in. One of these things is not like the other played in her neural net and she managed to not laugh outright though there was a grin on her face plating. "Hello June." Her tone was neutral, like it was with everyone, just shy of being too haughty.

Looking around as Arcee clapped her servos together Velocity was struck with how different they all were. Long arms crossed over her heavily armored chassis, claws clicking rhythmically on her own arms, though quietly. The word orders had her sneering but she listened politely in spite of it.

"Pole dancing as an ice breaker? I can only imagine how bad this is going to get once everyone is well and truly tanked then." Her sharp venting could only be taken as a scoff but she made no move to leave. "I understand all too well what to do with one of those, despite what I may come off as." Flipswitch...ugh. The Senator she had worked for and with had demanded so many things from her, her skill sets were incredibly varied but there were a lot of things she didn't talk about, to anyone...ever. The thought of the smaller femme, though obviously deadly anyone, threatening her had her optics widen and mouth quirk up into a smirk.

"I have no intention of talking to anyone about anything. Same as I always do." It wasn't agreeing or even acknowledging the words as how they were said but just stating the obvious. Velocity kept to herself and wasn't one for conversation or friendly talk, with anyone.

[airazor]

Airazor chuckled, though a part of her felt bad for the others. With the exception of Bluestreak, there was a definite air of "we will have fun if it kills us" in the room...and a high expectation that it would kill them.

"How bad it gets depends on your definition of bad, Vel," she said lightly. "Unless you're talking about how many of us are going to fall right off the poles once we've over-indulged, and I don't think losing a little dignity will kill any of us."

[Deleted]

"No there isn't and if we're going to have fun there's no such as overboard."

Hir load all finally all set down on the tables the little sniper popped a gummy in hir mouth before looking to see everyone there. Feeling particularly happy to see Shadow and June there. It'd be good to get to know Arcee, Airrazor and Velocity too. Grinning broadly as ou saw the poles and realized what Arcee's
plan was.

"Between Jazz, Blaster and Rattrap I seriously hope you've done a complete bug sweep of this place."

:: Jazz will just have to learn to deal with it. It'll be our little secret.::

[june]

“Awww, Vel, don’t be a party pooper just because Jazz is doing weird team-building exercises,” said June, stretching her arms a little and wandering over to the nearest likely looking supply crate, hopping on top of it with her bog ‘o booze. “In fact, you should be pretty damn happy you have a softie like him for an officer,” declared she, unscrewing the top of the Watermelon Pucker. “I know for a fact, and maybe this is just human military just tell me, but one of the first things new officers do to their units is run them through PT and drill them until they can’t stand up straight. Forge friendships in strife. Nothing builds friendship like suffering and all that… stuff.”

‘All that jazz’ sounded too punny when one of the mechs on base was named ‘Jazz’. Jazz. Heh. That was a funny name. Jazzzzzz. “Anyway, the point is, forcing you to schmooze and booze rather than run and jump seems like a less exacting chore. So… loosen up, have some fun, and if you’re scared of pole dancing while sober, let’s play Truth or Dare until we’re drunk. S’a human game. I’ll teach you all.”

June examined the Pucker, then drank straight out of the bottle.