We are a literate, intermediate to advanced AU Transformers RPG Based off of the first season of TFP with dashes of other incarnations sprinkled here or there. Characters from any continuity are welcome however must be restyled to match the TFPrime universe.
Active, with ongoing plotlines, we are always willing to integrate new characters into storylines once incorporated into the setting.
Zoom-Zoom gave an unbothered shrug. It would have been great had Carbine fallen for it but in the grand scheme of things? The minibot didn't particularly care one way or the other. It had been a one-off, let's see how far I can take this and there was no point in lying to Carbine if he was going to make the mech believe something boring. No, it had been go large or not at all.
The minibot was almost tempted to repeat his statement but changing femme to mech since Carbine had told him to put some truth in it. Then he decided, ah what the frag, let Carbine continue to operate under that assumption. Besides, the helibot hadn't challenged Zoom-Zoom's name change so one out of two wasn't that bad.
"I never said it was the truth," Zoom-Zoom reminded Carbine blandly. "I said that's what I heard. Honestly, I don't really know all that much about Mirage. 'm normally, you know," the minibot gestured vaguely at their surroundings, "Brushing up on my mineralogy. You asked me what I could tell you about some bot I've only seen in passing, you're only gonna get hearsay and rumor."
The minibot paused then added with total nonchalance, "Why can't you just ask Mirage what you want to know?"
"I like to have a bit o?f? ?in?form?atio?n? before I dive after something. You know, leap b?e?for?e ?you loo?k and all that nonsense."
Carbine was oblivious to his wording flub, but the thought was here. He did not like the idea of just blindly charging forward with this situation. You only had so many mistakes and faults, before someone paints you in their processor as a complete horror to be around, and at that point it’s a difficult uphill climb to surpass the expectations, and go so far the past affronts were forgotten and abolished. Funny bit was, he probably already crossed the line of no return with Mirage about... five weeks before he even arrived on Earth... somehow...
It was then a thought occurred to him, and he cocked a hip out momentarily while raising a hand to rub at the undersize of his jaw in contemplation. The hooked near claw like cones of each fingertip, clicked down against the structured metal, before sliding up to almost itch at the bottom edge of the visor's glass. Did this mech before him have no clue about such things? Did he think running up and asking was smart?...
"It is like you have ?n?ever e?ven acted upon the fi?n?er? points ?o?f trying to woo!"
Carbine barked this out suddenly, absolutely amused at the fact, before he strolled forward a bit more. Hydraulics hissed as he dropped down into a sort of squatting posture, eased to be more along the minibot's height range. It was a casual approach, and nothing about it said aggression, because Carbine truly wasn't looking to lay harm down upon him, at least not at this point. He though the little geologist was adorable and already painted him as clueless in his processor.
"Let me te-?t?e-t?-guide you a couple tips for ?p?u?r?sui?ng? your target."
Not that the minibot asked... but oh well...
"You have to sco?u?t t?h?em o?u?t, watch how they move, and make sure that? th?is ?goal is really what you are loo?-?l-l-view for!"
If permitted, if Zoom-Zoom hadn't moved away or put too much of a distance, Carbine would loop an arm over their shoulder and pull them close into a half embrace, tucking their helm up nearly parallel with his so he could see where Carbine was looking. Carbine's free hand would brush ahead at the distant mountains, painting some imaginary picture. If ZZ just avoided it outright, the motion at the mountains would still be made, but more of a flicking action with a hand.
"If you gain your target, then you tal-?ta?-?t-speak to their peers, trying to figure out if they are taken o?r cla?i?me?d i?n any way. Then you bash th?ei?r hel?m in?t?o ?a wall? to assert dominance, and- no wait, that’s Garrus-1 talking there..."
He had sounded so serious before this, as if he believed his words a hundred and ten percent, only to let out a cackled wheeze of a laugh, revealing he was pulling the geologist's chain from the get-go. He knew damn well that Garrus rules didn’t work here, and he sure as hell wasn't going to try to throw Mirage up against a wall to show off his strength and fighting capabilities. In Garrus such strength would have been used to then PROTECT said smaller mech. In that mutated world of distorted logic, being beaten up by a possible suitor was an assurance said individual would be there to in turn use that power to fend off others.
Okay, so Zoom-Zoom could see the value in gathering intel before making a move. Then again, he also preferred intel to come directly from the source and disliked making do with second-hand accounts. Who knew if someone had decided to add in something screwy? Case in point, the current situation.
"It is like you have ?n?ever e?ven acted upon the fi?n?er? points ?o?f trying to woo!"
Zoom-Zoom didn’t bat an optic. He already knew what Carbine was up to. Although, he supposed Haematite hadn't been there for that first meeting between Carbine and Mirage. Hmm...he was debating the finer points between letting Carbine believe his secret identity was utterly clueless about relationships or disabusing him of this notion when the mech actually decided to give him a lecture on the topic. Horrified, because the idea of Carbine trying to educate anyone about this just struck him monumentally as a terrible idea, the minibot backed up when the helibot attempted loop an arm over his shoulder. Zoom-Zoom wasn't touchy-feely at all in the best of times and he had no desire in general to let Carbine into his personal space after that first encounter. He also had no desire especially for the mech to touch him when he was trying to teach about...wooing, of all things.
He found his voice again when Carbine broke down in laughter. "You have problems," he stated simply, though he was tucking away the mention of Garrus-1 for later. There was a big mech he knew who had serious problems even at the slightest mention of the word…
The minibot decided to beat a retreat before Carbine could think to continue this lesson. "Well, it's been fun, my mech," he said airily, backing up a bit and making it clear he was going to leave.
It hadn't been fun in any sense of the word.
Except when Carbine had been attempting to fly. That, admittedly, had been funny.
The attempt to loop an arm over the smaller mech landed in about as much success as Carbine's proposed dating advice would in a real situation in the outside world. It didn't seem to deter him however, the arm swiping over through the air and flowing into a change of direction to motion at the environment, trying to play it off as if that was his attempt all along. However he wasn't hiding from it, he wasn't trying to mask the fact he failed, he simply just had a knack for motioning while speaking and he'd be damned if he didn't exploit the avaible servo.
The ex-cop couldn't really explain why he found this all so funny. Maybe it was the sheer fact he knew the advice was SO BAD and would get an interesting response. Maybe it was the fact the minibot seemed absolutely lost over his words, like he was caught off guard in some way. Whatever the case, whatever was going through Heamatite's processor, it didn't matter, as the casual 'You have problems' just revitalized his cackling as if they had said a particularly on point joke.
Carbine remained knelt down, balanced upon his triangular peds as his hands clapped over the top hinges of his knees for balance during his laughter. The sound crackled in and out a moment before fading off as he wound down from the moment. But then the minibot was starting to lead into a retreat, and he fully focused back upon them again, visored helm turning to the side with a crook to peer down at him with renewed interest.
"Oh really? That is a ?s?h?am?e?. You don't want any mo?r?e ?ad?vice?? Anymore help? You seem awfully meek."
The bottom of his optics pulled up a bit, displaying a sort of smile that had to be in play in one way or another. He also ended up twisting his frame a bit, gravel crackling and grating beneath his peds in angry protest to his weight and the grinding of the ridges meant for traction. The twist turned him to face Zoom-Zoom fully, hands still clutching over his knees, though his shoulders were pulled up and head down, almost a focused predatory sort of posture.
"You could probably use s?o?me? more guidance! Some more tips! L?e?s?s? yo?u end up a forgotten little sad thing!"
"No thanks," the minibot replied firmly. It was the only thing he said.
Just ignore him, Zoom-Zoom told himself. If you keep talking to him, it'll just make him continue. And the minibot didn't want it to continue. Anything he said would just rile Carbine up and the mech would keep cackling.
It sure didn't help that Carbine twisted round to keep watch on him. The minibot wanted so badly to turn around and run off but Zoom-Zoom didn't think it was too far a stretch of the imagination that Carbine would chase after him if he did. How did the people of earth put it? Something about not showing your back or running because it'd only provoke some kind of predator into attacking. The minibot felt it was rather apt for this situation.
So, keeping a wary optic on Carbine, Zoom-Zoom scuttled backwards for a bit, putting some distance between the two. Like that time with Optimus, he kept his optics on the other mech as he inched away. Only when there was enough space, and provided Carbine didn't move after him, would Zoom-Zoom feel confident enough to swivel round and walk off.
Zoom-Zoom was clever, because without a trace of a doubt Carbine would have likely been spurred into a charge if he were to run. It was just an ingrained response from years upon years of having criminals flee from him. The guilty individuals always ran, and he often found himself already in motion before he fully processed that the individual was trying to get away. It is this that would undoubtedly had landed Hematite in the same position that Zoom-Zoom was in upon their first meeting.
Carbine watched with curiosity as the Minibot was backing up and away from him. He was not lost to the fact there was a cautious edge to it, one would need to be particularly blind to not pick up on that, but he didn't really grasp entirely why they were so nervous unless they were a true noncombatant and feared everything because of it.
In his opinions of this individual in what very VERY little he gleamed in their interactions, ((all the inaccurate information)) this mech really was too meek to really be any force to contend with out on the battlefield. He knew the height issue probably played a role, but he also knew better than to underestimate smaller individuals completely.
Belittle them? Yes.
Tease them? Oh of course...
Write them off as completely useless in battle? Noooo....
But this one before him had to have had a behind the scenes skill set, if he was creeping away like Carbine could snap him in half. Or, that was just Carbine's opinion of the matter, and he ended up standing upright once Zoom-Zoom was far enough away. The ex-cop rose entirely into a proper stand, helm held high, before he took a single step after, as if considering something.
He debated following, walking the runtling back to the base to tease and taunt a bit more, but the fact is that he had come out here for a reason. Carbine needed to desperately practice his flying, and if Hematite left, it would give him the peace needed to attempt to complete at least one flight without a near crash landing. This contradicted his 'wants' however.
He WANTED to walk after and tease, he WANTED to pick for other information. He WANTED to find out more about this odd little brown mech that could be used against them later. But... without a functioning Alt-Mode he was beyond useless out of the base. It was a choice between entertainment, and functionality, and despite backwards logic, he knew he had to do what was right.
It is because of this Carbine didn't say anything more, though his field flicked with amusement, a smile almost able to be felt in this aura. He simply watched, grinning... observing how the other retreated away.