Ep. 2 - A Mute and a Deaf Guy walk into a Bar - [Closed]

[Bumblebee]

More pathetic attempts to free himself were made after he picked up the beam just like Carbine had screeched at him to do. Bee would wriggle, squirm, trying to tense himself up so that he'd become somehow heavier for the helicopter to carry, and hopefully drop. His efforts were in vain. Nothing seemed to work, short of smacking Carbine with the beam. He wouldn't stoop that low. At least not yet.

As Carbine yelled, Bumblebee gave up his squirming. Not from fear, no.. Well, not really. Confusion. Maybe some mild terror. Mostly because he had no idea what the frag Carbine had just said. At all. Joto boy..? Round this Peter? That was a human name... What? Dead up all your time. That kinda' made sense but not really.

What the frag..

He couldn't tell if Carbine was just making slag up on the spot because he was so angry, or if this was how he talked, or if he was trying to confuse the hell out of Bumblebee. As if he wasn't confused enough. If it was the latter? Then it worked. He craned his head over his shoulder to peer up at Carbine. Maybe that'd help him understand what was coming out of his mouth, if he could look at his expression. Except it didn't. He saw the red bio lights, and figured he was just making slag up because he was annoyed. If only he'd just let Bee go, then they could get back to what they were supposed to be doing down here.

His attention shifting away from looking at Carbine's face as he heard the rumble from his internals. Should he even bother asking what that was..? Was it Carbine? Was he that mad that he was growling now? Whatever. What the frag ever. Growl away. Don't even care.

Attention turning back to face where they were heading. Something about being mostly upside down and looking the wrong way didn't sit well with Bee, especially with his brain module still fuzzy-static and recovering from the tumbles and rolls moments earlier.

As he was jabbed in the direction of the pipe, he would jab his elbow out in retaliation towards Carbine's legs once more. A futile attempt, but unlike Carbine, Bee had noticed the scuffs. Take that. Ha. More scuffs. Hahaha. Not that Bee could really laugh, he was covered in scuffs and scrapes from being slid along the floor and the tumbling that followed.

He'd pause, elbow awkwardly resting against Carbine's shin after another attempted jab as more nonsense was yelled his way. It caught him off guard, mostly because he really, truly had no clue what was being yelled at him. It was followed by a laugh whatever it was. Bee didn't find it funny.

He quickly worked out that he was being jabbed towards this second beam because Carbine wanted him to do something with that one, too. Gee, if only he could understand what 'jump the broom' meant.

Whatever, he'd play nice. Show Carbine that this pipe and this other pipe weren't a matching pair, and that this little setup of Carbine ferrying Bee around like an angry, mostly upside down crane, was not going to work. He'd shift the beam in his right servo to his left, and then reach out for the second beam.

Jump the broom? Jump the broom!? Sure. They can jump the broom.

And with that? He would smash the two beams together. Multiple times. It's not his fault he had no idea what Carbine meant.

Little slag...

[Carbine]

Carbine arched overhead, his form blotting out the illumination from the minimal hanging lights. It cast Bumblebee in shadows, and caused all of the ex-cops black armor to meld together into a dark silhouette that was only cut into by the bio-lights and sharply narrowed optics. He glared down at Bee, radiating aggression and hostility as the other's elbow strikes slammed and banged against his shin ((which was starting to sting a good bit)).

This overpowering aura of impending doom, lasted all the way up to the point in which Bumblebee attempted to bash the two components together. Seeing the two beams side by side, made it painfully apparent that those two pieces were actually NOT meant to go together, and that his guess early on had been a hundred percent wrong in every way shape and form.

"Oh, w-what do you kno̸-k͡n-́k͝-͠identify, they don't fit"

All of the ire, all of the anger and violence that had been in his voice before, was suddenly gone and vanished like some kind of magic trick gone wrong. His voice sounded chipper, and happy, like they were only having a friendly disagreement over a crossword puzzle and not some argument that had sent them skidding across the floor. It was with this seemingly sudden change of persona that Carbine instantly let go of Bumblebee, to let him face plant into the ground if he didn't move his hands up in time to stop himself.

He didn't really care if Bee plunked down unceremoniously or not, more focused on the fact that he had finally let the bot go, so the scout couldn't panic out further and call for help. Now if Bumblebee had commed for assistance than things would have not ended to well, and Carbine would have had to spin stuff around abruptly to turn the story in his favor. Alas, Bee was now out of his hands, he was innocent, he totally didn't do anything and unless Red Alert was recording this he could deny it a thousand times over.

Now having both hands free, Carbine eased back to place his palms upon his hips once more. Paired with this motion he somewhat kicked out the leg that had been getting elbowed again and again. He didn't validate Bee's attacks as actually hurting, but he did shake his leg which was close enough. He was trying to reset the sensors that were pinging him with tiny pain alerts every few pulses of his spark.

"So I think now maaayy be a g̶óo͏d̴ ti͏m͟e͠ to inform you I have Ap͝h́as̵i͘ą ̕a̵n͜d ph̷ysica̧ll̡y CAN'T read without sending my pr͠oc̷e̛ss̷or in͡to a seizure crash."

He spoke of his disability so openly and candidly at this moment, that it brought up a lot of red flags on why he didn't just say this to begin with. The truth of the matter was though, he didn't really want to, and didn't like admitting to this weakness. It made him feel juvenile made him feel like some kind of organic child. What kind of Cybertronian worth his weight couldn't even read? But sadly, this game had gone on pretty far, and he knew he had to cop out to it at some point so he might as well have said it now.

Better late than never?...

Bolo squirmed further in his dock, confused by the flipflopy emotions of his master that just sent his throttled processor into a spin. The canine didn't understand what all was happening, and was squeaking unheard protests through their link about all the dings and scrapes down his own back. The roll had punched in a couple points on the dog, but not enough to be worse than a 'bruise' on an organic. It wasn't truly BAD, so Carbine didn't need to fly completely off the handle to throw Bumblebee through a wall for hurting his dog.

Either way, after his revelation, he held his hands up in the air, and shook them lightly in a sort of 'jazz hands' paired with the happiest spring-step voice imaginable.

"S͟urpr͠i̢se͡!"

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee could sense the hostility and rising aggression levels radiating from the helicopter. But he didn't care. He wanted down. His own aggression levels in his field were probably sky-high by now, mixed in with some fear due to the fact he was still not on solid ground and was in this horribly awkward upside down position. Jabbing his elbow against Carbine's leg hadn't worked ((That he knew of)) so maybe smashing the beams together to make a noisy, immature display of how they do NOT fit together, would work.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Each and every time he smashed the beams together, it sent awful, almost painful ripples of vibrations up through Bumblebee's servos and into his arms, made worse by the angle he was being carried at. But if it could annoy Carbine with the noise just enough to let him go? Then he would call this a success. They were awkwardly heavy when he was using just his arms to lift them, so he didn't get to smash them together for very long. Probably for the best, there was too much noise coming from down in this room already for two bots who were supposed to be just building shelves, and the last thing Bee wanted was someone coming down to investigate. He was too focused on the clanging of metal, and the fact it was hurting his arms to pay too much attention to the fact the 'aura of doom' had seemingly melted away.

--I told ya!-- He squawked. He'd been saying all along that these two didn't go together!

CLA-

Wait a second. Had Carbine calmed down? He was no longer screeching. Was this a trick? No.. Something felt different. The looming shadow that had shrouded him in darkness had lifted, not that he had paid it much attention to begin with – Carbine overshadowed him anyway and this place was dark enough already. Carbine sounded... Happy?

He didn't have much time to really dwell on it because he was abruptly dropped. Servos both clutching beams, he had no way of breaking his fall. He dropped them and they clattered loudly against the floor, but it was too late. His reaction time was delayed, given that he didn't know he was about to be dropped – arms moving in front of him in an attempt to break his fall. Too late. He let out the tiniest of beep-squawks once he realized what was happening, which was quickly muffled by the floor. Face? Meet concrete. At least his face didn't have far to fall, his legs though? Landed with an almighty crash down onto the concrete.

--I said put me down... Not drop me...-- He whined this, not bothering to move from this new position on the floor. Not even bothering to lift his head. At least not until Carbine spoke, then he'd weakly glance up. Not lifting his head too high, just enough to look at Carbine's legs. Now he wasn't covered in shadows he could see that he'd actually scraped off a little more paint than he'd intended to. His elbow joint was weak and it probably hurt him more than it did Carbine. Now he was laying still, the sensors in his arms and elbows were screaming at him. He'd just lay here for a little bit until they stopped, or until he was dragged up.

--What? And ya didn't think to tell me this why?--

Carbine might've calmed down a little bit, but Bumblebee was still seething down here. His field still radiating annoyance. His temper was flared and it may take a little for him to calm down. Especially as they now had no instructions to build the shelves. At least they could get creative now, or something.

He glanced up further as Carbine threw his hands into the air, only to groan and faceplant the concrete in response. He wanted to get up and crash tackle the helicopter for keeping this information from him. If only he had just said that at the start, then none of this would've happened. But nooo. He refrained, however, laying limp and face down on the floor. Maybe he could get some pity and an apology for being dropped. Even though he'd rightly deserved it.

--So now what do we do?-- They couldn't go back upstairs without building the shelves, so there was only really one answer to this question. They'd have to work together in making sense of the beams and parts, all without the use of instructions. What could go wrong, with tempers already flaring once today before they'd even started?

[Carbine]

"I don’t know... a sy̢n͠on͜y̶m̛ for 'put' is 'nail'. I coul͝d͘ ͢ha̡v͢e slam̧-sl̸-̸s͏-rammed you to the g-ground. So count you̵rs̛e͘lf lucky!"

Carbine purred out this reply, sounding oh so smug and confident. Bee should count himself lucky Carbine didn’t try to hurl him across the room! Granted... he wasn't Thunder, and try as he might he could probably only get Bee a very short distance away from him in a dead throw. Now... if he held on and spun his entire body and then threw? The momentum could have probably helped a good deal, but he didn't want to ACTUALLY hurt Bee. As much as an ass as he was, he wasn't an ASS. Either way, he reached forward and grasped onto the back of Bee's armor again.

With a creak of some internal components that were angry at Carbine for all the dead lifting, he wrenched the scout back up to his feet. While the lifting part of all of this was done fast and recklessly, he didn't just plunk him down on his feet unceremoniously, and instead took the time to make sure Bee got his proper footing before letting go. It was perhaps a first step in making amends, though it was a tiny fleck against a sea of conflict that had been cultivated.

"Aww co̴ḿ'on̷ b̵ud̸dỳ, lighten up! Here-"

Carbine reached his hands up quickly when he said this, clambering and rooting along his back as if he were trying to itch a scratch that he just couldn't reach. As he did so an odd transformative noise could be heard, the clicking plating and hissing clank of armor flaring out and away from his body. All things considered it sounded partly like he was going into his alternative form, but the rest of his body wasn't really corresponding with this idea at all.

A few hissing, some pops of components lining up, and a small whirl of an engine booting up fully. It looked like Carbine got a grip on what he was trying to grab though, and swung his arms up and over his head to hold out in front of him. As he did so, a large black and white chunk of his own body could be seen leaving his back, it looking like he had torn off a huge piece of his armor and was now shoving it into Bumblebee's hands so hard that refusing to grab it would just end with it slamming into his chest and legs as it fell.

Except that it wasn't armor.

Not technically.

A dog was now being held in the small scout's hands, its chest nearly as big as Bee's own, but much narrower and lighter. The animal's forelegs were tucked up against its torso, little black paws curled inward passively, while its hind body just hung down below. It's back legs curled up so tight that the left foot was folded nervously over the right, small toes flaring slightly. The dog's ears were pinned back nervously, and its eyes were huge yellow panels that stared up at Bee from its near cowered stance as if it was meek and scared and needing of pets and attention. The dings and scraped of paint along its shoulders and back, only made it look even sadder and more pathetic.

Bolo was confused, but he knew what the 'act cute' command was, and despite a little bit of pain being in his meager field, he projected falsified fear and nervousness to look like the adorable little 'puppy' that just needed some love and attention to be happy again. It was a clever ploy, because Carbine didn't know a Cybertronian alive ((save for perhaps a few Decepticons)) that could stay angry when presented the very rare and essentially near extinct animal from their home world.

"-No one can be an-an-́a͞-̷upset when h̡ol̕ding̶ a͟ ̴pupṕy͜, now shut up."

Carbine abandoned the likely confused Autobot in order to start hunting for the pieces of paper. It was like an eye-spy book for the most obnoxious tiny scraps, but he busied himself with trying to collect the instructions while Bolo worked his magic. As he walked by, if Bee could look away from Bolo, the scout could see the entire dark grey spinal column and armorless panels that created Carbine's back when the dog wasn't docked. It proved that the entire backpack like construct had been a cassette this entire time and not actually a part of Carbines own body, though at the same time was.

Carriers were weird and complicated.

Bolo in turn, let out a tiny little squeak of a noise, to keep Bee's attention on him, a silver tongue licking at the end of his snout nervously.

[Bumblebee]

Lucky. There were few words Bee would use to describe himself right now, and 'Lucky' was not one of them. He hurt. His arms fizzled with the painful tingle of static, and he didn't feel like pulling himself up. The dings and scrapes he'd received from the slide along the floor and the rolling that followed were starting to sting, and now he was laying still his sensors screamed. It wouldn't require a trip to Medbay, thankfully, the last thing he wanted was to explain what'd happened. He'd groan in response to Carbine's smug comment. He was, however, silently thankful that Carbine didn't throw him to the ground. The drop was annoying, but at least there was no real force behind it.

That quickly changed. 

His optics widened as he felt Carbine's servos grab the back of his armor, and he was once again lifted. Here we go. He was about to get slammed to the ground. He tensed up as he was easily lifted, shifting into more of a brace position so that if he was dropped or thrown? At least he could break his fall properly this time. Panic briefly fluttered into his field – he was pulled up so quickly he thought for sure he was about to get thrown across the room. That this good mood of Carbine's was a simple ruse. So when he was gently placed onto his feet? He was... Confused. All this day had been so far was confusion and annoyance.

He took a couple of steps backward, lowering his arms, which he'd curled up against his chest, shaking them loosely a couple of times to try and get some feeling back into them that wasn't static. Beeping sadly in the tiniest of whines as he looked down at himself, he was covered in scrapes. Thanks, Carbine. Suddenly not feeling quite so bad about the dings he'd inflicted on Carbine's shin.

Gaze shifting back to Carbine as he spoke, optics narrowing as he continued to watch. What was he doing? As Carbine pulled part of himself from his back, his optics widened. What?

That something was then shoved at him, and he squawked in surprise – instinctively taking it before he could realize what was happening or refuse. Looking down as to what was now in his arms.

A dog?

He glanced to Carbine, then back down at the dog. What? He.. Had no idea that Carbine had a cassette, let alone that it was a dog. His field was now filled with mostly confusion instead of annoyance and rage. It was quickly melting away into calm and slight amusement. Carbine was right, nobody can be upset when holding a puppy.

He shifted his posture some, bending one leg slightly and adjusting his arms so he had a more stable hold on the dog. Why did it look so terrified? Was it hurt in the tackle and the tumbling? He hummed in thought, breaking his gaze from the dog to look at Carbine briefly, head tilted as he saw his unarmored back. Huh.

The tiny squeak quickly drew his attention back down, and he chirped happily in response. --Hey, little guy!-- He wasn't sure if it could even understand him and his myriad of beeps and trills, but he talked to it anyway. His gaze fixed on the pup as Carbine did.. Whatever he was doing.

He cradled and supported the dog with one arm, using his other to gingerly reach around to gently scratch between the dogs ears. --What's his name?-- He didn't look up at Carbine as he asked this, finding himself unable to tear his optics away from the scared pup.

For now, Carbine's cheap ploy to distract Bee with a puppy had worked. And Bee didn't mind one bit.

[Carbine]

Bolo was a pretty easy going cassette. If you paid him attention and made him feel special? He would be the best companion ever. He could also make a rather darn good friend in general to have around, since he could sense emotions rather well and aims to please. On the other hand... if Carbine told Bolo that someone was a threat, than the dog would become a worst nightmare of angry snarls and dangerously powered hydraulic jaws that could crush into arms and legs like an industrial tool. But Bee wouldn't have to worry about that right now... all he had to do was pay Bolo attention and give him any food he may have because the dog was a gluttonous pig more than a canine.

The cassette crooked his helm to the side a bit as Bee addressed him, long slender ears flicking upright and fanning out to show he was intently listening to the little beeps and trills that the Cybertronian said. The dog knew a myriad of word commands, and could understand very basic sentences, but... the noises spouting out of Bumblebee's unseen mouth was some kind of weird whistle noise that made Bolo wrench his helm back a bit as if confused beyond all else. Maybe a bit disgusted too.

With shifting and a little puzzled 'whurr?' Bolo was adjusted to be supported by one hand. Because the canine was... particularly large compared to Bee, this left his lower body to drape down at the ground with hind legs relaxing from their tucked up position from before. One limb hung to plant a rubber treaded paw down firmly, while in contrast the other stuck out at a straight angle awkwardly with all four toes splayed. This stretched leg ended up kicking a bit at the air though, when Bee's fingers started to itch and scratch behind his ears.

Now this was a language he COULD understand!

While Bolo's helm reeled up and pressed into the hand, letting out a series of garbled happy noises and kicking the air, Carbine paused in his work to glance back at the two. He had a little over half of the paperwork collected by then, and was searching for any that slipped underneath pallets or bars by flying along the stale air. He looked back at his work as he lifted an empty pallet to discover one of the half sheets.

"Bolo. He has been̸ a̸t͘ ̷m͜y̴ side s-since I onl͢ine̵d͜... or... shoul͘d͠ I say back."

He chuckled at his own stupid joke, as Bolo continued to squirm and lean up into Bee's hand. The dog made even more obnoxious sounds in a mockery of trying to talk while rubbing so hard into the scratches that it was like he was attempting to peel his own paint off. Bolo REALLY liked getting this kind of attention, and if he could angle Bee's itches from the back of his helm to the connector pivots for his ears? He would be in heaven. To try to coax this out of him, Bolo ended up crooking his head up and opening his mouth, trying to lick at Bee's face.

That was a viable form of communication... right?

Carbine at this point found all the papers he was going to find. The bottom packet had remained together relatively well, while the top had been thrown all out of order. He could try to guess and estimate what went where and what order it was all meant to go in, but he knew that would be a futile hope and that it was a job for someone who could actually read and make sense of the jumble of symbols and words.

It was with this Carbine took a few steps over, but just watched for now, amused at the dogs antics.

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee had quickly worked out that supporting the cassette with one arm wasn't going to work for long, his arm was already starting to tremble somewhat in protest. His arms still aching and staticy from the earlier antics. He didn't realize just how big Bolo actually was until he adjusted in Bee's arms and uncurled himself somewhat. Even with one paw down on the ground, Bee was still struggling.

He continued to scratch the cassette's helm regardless, chuckling as Bolo's leg kicked at the air and made those oddly adorable noises. --So ya like that, huh?-- He couldn't keep this up, the sensors in his arm were screaming at him to either put Bolo down, or find a way to support him properly. As Bolo leaned further into his servo, Bee would lower himself into a crouch. His movements slow, as not to drop the cassette. Even though Bolo would probably land gracefully, Bee knew all too well what it was like to be dropped on the floor. Eventually he would plunk down onto his aft, holding Bolo in his lap somewhat. There, now he wasn't struggling to hold the cassette and he had both servos free to give the pup the attention he oh so wanted.

He glanced up briefly at Carbine as he spoke, before his attention was quickly drawn back to the cassette because he couldn't resist.

--Bolo? Huh. Nice to meet ya, Bolo!-- He'd chirp happily at the pup. Any and all annoyance and anger had completely gone from Bee's field. Puppies really do fix everything. He even got a small chuckle out of Carbine's stupid joke.

As Bolo leaned in to lick Bee's face, he squirmed some, chuckling a content myriad of happy beeps and trills. The pups coaxing worked, and Bee found his servo angled right where Bolo wanted, right by the connector pivots to his ears, where he would continue to scratch. He'd all but forgot about the fact he was covered in dings and scratches, and mostly forgot about the fact that they still had a job to do down here.

That was, until Carbine stepped forward. Bee's optics adjusting some, noticing that the other bot had managed to salvage some of the scraps of booklet that'd been scattered throughout the room. --So.. Iiii think that we should go through the booklet... Well.. What's left of it.. Down here, and then work out a plan.-- anything to stay down here on the floor with Bolo longer.

[Carbine]

Oh boy did Bolo like it! And he would have made an appropriate butt wiggle or happy chirp in reply to tell! But... he didn't actually know what Bee was saying, and just heard the scout's own chirps beeps and whistles as some kind of playful noise that made his ears ring. The long slender posts pivoted about some as he spoke, not sure what to make of the noises other than just listening intently to try to find real words hiding within them.

That didn’t result in anything.

Which was fine with the dog, for he was way too occupied dealing with things when Bee started to move around. He didn't know why he was being lowered down, and for a moment it felt like he was being dipped like some kind of lady. One leg planted upon the ground, the other stretched out elegantly, as forelegs were tucked up against his chest, his helm was up and round eyelid-less eyes blankly stared across the room before his back leg slipped out from under him entirely and he ended up in his back on the yellow bot's lap.

Bolo's body curved a bit when he was placed in the new situation, his harness and back bowing down between Bee's legs, which left his own limbs popped up into the air. For a fleeting moment he did stretch out his forelegs and turn his helm, as if trying to figure out if he was stuck stuck, or just stuck. If he felt stuck stuck he may have yelped out a cry of 'help me', but luckily he felt confident he could get free. As such, he relaxed again.

The canine wiggled around a bit to try to settle down fully, only for Bee's hand to hit that spot behind his ears that just plucks at his heart strings. Instantly Bolo arched his back and opened his maw, twisting up and into Bee's hand. Even though the dog had no facial plating to make expressions, and couldn't even close his eyes ((instead having to dim them some to make the illusion of it)) one could almost SEE the happy smile on his face, with a silver tongue lulling out and to the side.

Carbine stepped up a bit closer when Bumblebee flopped down, eyeing him playing with Bolo curiously. Bolo seemed to really be cranking up and exploiting the 'act cute' card, and was milking it for all it was worth. He knew he could easily pick the dog up out of the scout's arms and dock him again, to get him out of the way, but Bee seemed pacified, and while he didn’t fear the little runt, he didn't particularly want a real fight fight.

"I don't thi-th̸-͜kz͟zt-believe there is a 'we' there. I̶ ́am̢ ̕ju̸st ̶h̨er͏e to do lifting and hel-͠h͞-h-́assist."

He understood his place here. Bee was the technical brain, and he would be the seizures that completely jack up everything the brain wanted to do in life. With this he held out the paperwork pieces.

[Bumblebee]

At this point, Bee could care less if Bolo was putting on an act for attention and pets. He was getting something out of it too, even if it probably wouldn't last for long. His bad mood and frustration were gone. Which meant they could finally get the shelving built and then both Bee and Carbine could get on with their day and forget that all this slag ever happened.

It could be that simple, right? With them both focused, things could get back on track at last.

Just like Bolo, Bumblebee had no real facial expressions. But his wide optics, and content happy trills and whirs were more than enough evidence that he was content right here on the floor. One servo continuing to scratch at the magic spot behind Bolo's ears, the other petting along the cassette's back. Maybe he'd have to be nicer to Carbine, if only to get the chance to hang with Bolo more. It'd been way, way too long since he'd seen anything like Bolo and had quickly grown attached to the pup.

Things were good. He was good. He was calm.

Until he was handed the pieces of paperwork.

Slaggity slag. There was the slightest twinge of anxiousness and panic in his field as he was once again faced with the overly complicated instructions, which had been made twenty times more complicated due to the fact he'd.. they'd torn them.

Keeping Bolo in his lap, one servo still scratching behind the cassette's ears. He couldn't stop that now! That would just be cruel! The other reached out to take the scraps of paperwork, and setting them down on the floor to his side.

--Is this all of 'em..?-- he whined this, leaning over just slightly to look at the shredded papers on the floor. It didn't look like much now the pieces were in front of him.

Was there even any point in trying to work out which scraps went where? It'd surely help, considering they hadn't even started building anything yet. Some of the pieces were bigger, and he'd awkwardly use the tips of his servos to gently rotate the paper scraps on the floor to try and make some sort of sense of them. This wouldn't be too hard, right? Just work out which ripped pieces went next to each other.. Lay them out flat... 

Except they were torn from a booklet.

They had two sides. Even if he worked it out he'd have to re-assemble them to show the other side when needed. This was so much work. Too much work.

The panic in his field was all too quickly turning into annoyance once more.

Keep calm, Bee...

He kept scratching Bolo. Focusing on that. Can't do slag if you're angry. Maybe he could work it out from the bottom part of the book that was still mostly intact. He would awkwardly hold it down while turning the pages. Two servos would be better for this task, but that meant stopping the petting of Bolo! Which was not happening, at least not now.

--Alright..-- He started, his tone indicating he wasn't exactly sure, and was probably winging this. More page turns, more whines. Again he'd try to rotate the shredded scraps to make some kind of sense, but there was none. --Well ya were right.. The bits with the flared end go upright.. I set 'em aside already.. Uh.. I think there should be some more parts that...-- Keep. Calm. Bee. He'd pick up the bottom half of the booklet and stare at it, pausing the scratching on Bolo while he focused on the craptastic little pictures that were far too small to make any sense of. --That slot into them. To make them taller. Are there tools? I think we need a wrench or something for the bolts.-- They hadn't found tools. Not that they'd looked. Maybe they were on the original pallet where they'd gotten the instructions.

There was no end in sight.

[Carbine]

Bolo was absolutely delighted about all of this. He settled down into a new position, and placed his forepaws against Bee's leg so that he could get some leverage in leaning back into his hand. This left his back legs still sticking up in the air a bit awkwardly, but he didn't seem to mind too much, especially when his ears were getting the attention he truly desired deserved.

Slender posts that served as his ears were folded back happily, while his mouth was held open almost gaping. The silver tongue was lulled out and to the side to drape with gravity, while his optics were dimmed to a point they were nearly offline. It would not take someone exceptionally clever or knowledgeable with canines to know that Bolo was quite happy, and was attempting to convey his version of a smile.

"Hey I am pr͏e͝tty̢ su̢rȩ, but they really went fl-f̧l-f̵-͡soaring so who knows. I ̶di̕ḑn'͞t͘ exactly count them."

Carbine was indifferent but also playing passive for now. He was not being overly antagonistic, but still held plenty of his patented snark that would ruffle anyone's plates the wrong way. What he said had been true however, and he legitimately DID try to find them all. But when it was the equivalent of picking up confetti, he was bound to possibly miss one somewhere along the way. Hopefully it would be some information that wasn't terribly important.

"Slag right k͜͟z̴̧̛źt̸͟t̵͠͝ I was straight!"

Carbine barked this out with a laugh when Bee declared he had guessed the correct part entirely on whim. Lucky him!

"I have an ͘inn͝ate̢ ͘s͏k͜i͏l͡l in being able to slag my w̡a͡y th͠r̨óugh stuff as if I know what I am d-doing."

He was grinning behind his visor, lower eyelids pulled up to indicate a smile that was definitely there, that is until there was mention about tools.

Carbine did not unpack the pallet as it had been something Bumblebee had done on his very own without him. If the little yellow mech didn’t know where the tools were, than that wasn't a very good sign. He should KNOW where they are, and if he didn’t? That just meant that they didn’t come with any at all. The Carrier didn't really make a direct comment on this, but did give Bee quite a look paired with a displeased ripple through his field.

"Yeah h͜er̴e̕ ̡let ̴me pu-p-̵p̕-̸wrench some out of thin air! Whoopy doopy woo!"

He flicked his hands around as if he was trying to summon some kind of magic, Bolo pausing in what he was doing to look up at his master. The dog seemed amused at this, and started to bay out a whining yodel of his own to pair with the stupid noises Carbine had made. It all only lasted a moment, before Carbine laughed and flicked a hand forward dismissively.

"Nah nah.. let me just go get a fraggin ̕s͏po̴t͝ ͏wȩl̛d̶er. We can staple this glitch t-t-together h̢ow̧ev̵er ͢wȩ ͝wàn͠t̛ then."

He would then turn to try to leave and find the aforementioned tool.

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee sat still as Bolo shifted position, chirping curiously at him as he moved. As the dog settled, Bee would chuckle a whir of a beepy trill. Smart dog was smart, this way he could receive optimal pets and scratches behind his ears, and it looked a little more comfortable than the position he was previously in. Bee was just thankful that the cassette wasn't too heavy, given the dog was now sprawled over him somewhat.

It kinda' made Bee wish he had a cassette or a pet of his very own. How awesome would that be! Bee's own optics dimmed some as he'd continue to scratch Bolo, trying to keep his field calm and not stress too much about the seemingly near impossible task before them.

It wasn't working too well, especially with Carbine's snark.

--I wouldn't say that slagging your way through stuff is a skill...-- He grumbled, the tone of his beeps a low drone. His optics widening as he tilted the half-torn booklet this way and that as he peered at it, occasionally glancing to the beams that were strewn everywhere. Carbine getting lucky with the first step wasn't exactly rocket science or a feat to be applauded for, so he wasn't sure why Carbine seemed so pleased with himself. He didn't even have to look at the helicopter to know he was grinning.

Again the thought of getting Raf, or at this point anyone, down here to help crossed his processor, but a mixture of pride and stubbornness meant he wouldn't even dream of calling over the comm.

He tore his gaze from the booklet as Carbine looked his way, his own field still oozing annoyance and quickly rising irritability. As Carbine flicked his servos around being a dramatic moron, Bee would sit up a little straighter, hydraulics hissing as he did so.

--Or.. I don't know. Crazy idea. Ya could look for the wrench on the pallet instead of.. What?! A spot welder..? Seriously?!-- He didn't sound amused, his beeps no longer an annoyed low drone, and instead were a much higher, faster pitch. Carbine was lucky that Bee was sat on the floor or he'd march over to the pallet and find the tool himself and hurl it at Carbine. The tool was probably there. He just no doubt missed it, like the instructions when he first entered the room and they'd both been too distracted to even look. 

--But alright. If ya want a spot welder I aint stopping ya.. Good luck explaining that to everyone else though.-- A spot welder for shelves. Primus he had half a mind to ditch Carbine and leave him to build the stupid shelves himself if that's how he wanted to do thing. This was a simple shelving unit. With simple human instructions. Yet they were seemingly incapable of building them.

He would turn his attention back to trying to piece together the shreds of booklet as Carbine turned to leave, one hand still scratching and petting behind Bolo's ears contently. He meant it when he said he wouldn't stop him. But he wouldn't be the one explaining why they needed such a tool for such a basic shelving unit.

[Carbine]

Carbine was so pleased with himself for bullshitting, because he chose to be. He figured that individuals had to have SOME fun with what they do, and take it all for what they were. He as such took joy in the fact he had guessed right, and Bee wouldn't be able to take that from him no matter what he chose to say or bleepity boop out. Because of this the scout's words didn't even seem to faze him, as he continued along with his classic attitude.

"Yes a spǫt ̵we̡ld̕er͘. Because... because... now hu̧mor̢ me now..."

Carbine held up his hand, finger outstretched as if he was trying to silence someone that was attempting to talk over him, even though that wasn't the case at all.

"Now, now h̵um̷o͠r̵ ̢me... What if, j͡ust what if the wrench to go with th͢is͘ pro͞ject, is scaled like the instructions? Hrmm? Just MA̷Y̶B̨E maybbbeeee... th̛ey ̵a̢r̡e͡ silly tiny and we would effe̶ctįv̀ely be building with toothpicks? So mayybbee a spot w͘el̵de̴r̸ w͜oulḑ make it all more s͡ècure͏ to carry the burden of ̨Cyber̢t͝ro͡ni͝a̵n tech?"

Throwing his arms out to either side once he was done, he did the stance equivalent of dropping a microphone as if he had made some grand point that simply could not be argued with. While he did so, he was taking a few long steps backwards, before pivoting around upon a heel wheel to leave. He didn't really give the scout much time to respond, though it wouldn't stop him from yelling anything as he made his way out of the room.

...Leaving Bumblebee alone with Bolo.

Bolo perked up a bit when Carbine had left, his mouth closing and helm raising up to look in the direction he had gone with a bit of confusion. Was he meant to follow? Or perhaps stay? This made his tiny processor click and fumble along, before he looked up at Bumblebee expectedly. He hadn't been told to stay specifically, yet, was also not told to follow... so it could only argue that he was being told to do what he wanted and what he wanted was to do what he wanted...

Dog logic.

Easing forward to put his weight on Bee's legs, Bolo placed his back peds down on the ground between the scout's limbs and stretched up into a stand. His back arched in a sharp angle into the air, causing the metal harness attached to his frame to rattle and flop up a bit towards his head, before he leaned forward and flexed his back the other way, back legs stretching out behind him. Tiny gears and cables could be heard creaking as he pulled on them, before he sat back down with a clanking thwump and looked at the other Cybertronian expectantly.

Did he have food...?

[Bumblebee]

...Okay, so maybe Carbine had a slight point with his reasoning behind wanting a spot welder, as much as Bee didn't want to admit it. The tools, if there even were any, were probably tiny, human sized tools and would therefore be a struggle to use. Still, a spot welder seemed a bit like overkill.

Bee would scoff with a hiss of hydraulics as Carbine spoke, the 'dropping the mic' action that followed made him whir in displeasure. Whatever. His optics would narrow as he watched Carbine leave.

--Just hurry up! Sooner we get this slag done the better!-- He would call out after the other Mech, before turning his attention back down to Bolo once more.

He sat still as Bolo adjusted his position, pausing the petting as the pup arched his back. His head tilted, optics widening some as Bolo sat down and peered up at him. He.. Wasn't sure why Bolo was looking at him like that. Was Bolo expecting Bee to follow Carbine? Was he worried that Carbine had gone?

--Ya okay little buddy? I'm sure he wont be gone too long!-- He'd resume the pettings, gaze briefly shifting up to look at the doorway that Carbine had just gone through. It wouldn't be too hard to find a spot welder right? Surely the bots had one laying around the Omega Base somewhere. He'd stop trying to jigsaw together the silly booklet, turning all his attention onto the pup now they were alone. 

--We can play a game if ya want? Uuhh..-- His beeping would taper off as he glanced around. --Ya know how to play fetch?-- He couldn't see anything that he could really throw for Bolo.. Maybe one of the smaller parts of the shelving unit would do..?

[Carbine]

Bolo didn't understand Bumblebee, and only heard his words as a slurry of beeps trills and whistles. They skittered out at happy tones that didn’t seem angry, but it was still noises to the animal that made him look back at the yellow mech with confusion. When Master had been there, Bolo had just continued with his play cute command, and didn't really pay the sounds much heed, but now that he was gone and Bolo was free, he had to actually process this.

This was a lot for him to process.

The canine's processor was simple and tiny because it was nestled inside his chest and thus had to share space with a lot of other components. He... didn't have the brainpower to know Basic, and only had known some English words because Thunder helped Carbine install the new information in him manually. Bolo did know some whistles though. Master had used some to do basic comands in the past, but... this was too many tones too fast and he couldn't keep up with the conflicting information.

Black ears flicked and fanned out to either side the longer the mech spoke, Bolo struggling to put together what was being said. There was a short version of the whistle to come, but... he was already there! There was a noise kinda sounding like 'look' but, that was also contradicted because he WAS looking! Getting a bit frustrated, Bolo's ears rotated back, and he made a short huffing sound while wiggling in place. A moment later, he was standing when even more information slapped him.

The coiled energy of stress and confusion, bubbled up until he sprung up to his feet and hop jumped a short distance backwords. This motion made soft scraping noises and a couple squeaks of rubber against concrete, before Bolo reeled about once as if he were chasing his nonexistent tail. This motion halted the second it started, and he squared off fully with Bumblebee and changed his state very quickly.

Faced with confusing commands and things he couldn't understand, Bolo went on the defensive, which for an attack dog was often just going on offense. His forelegs splayed out on either side for stability, as the long sloping rings of his shoulders hissed and crooked up into a higher setting upon his ribs. His back arched down towards the ground in a slope, leading to hind legs that were now bent in preparation to spring forward if needed. His ears were back, and helm down, maw parting a bit in a threatening display.

The large optics of the dog that had looked so innocent and cute a moment later, somehow changed. They were still the same glass lenses, still perfect circles almost like goggles that were nestled in their sockets, but somehow it was different, the wide eyes staring Bee down with frustrated aggression that made them look savage. Paired with his parted maw and a low warning growl that rumbled out deeply, and things took a fast turn somewhere unwanted.

Bolo was... fast to anger... He was one to have immense pride and capable of wrath, a perfect reminder that this was in fact an extension of Carbine himself, while also being independent. It was a careful line the dog walked with his Master, and it was one that skirted the debate on just what Bolo was. Was the dog a full functioning cassette with its own hopes and dreams, able to do things completely on its own? Or was it a true puppet extension of Carbine that was just a copied sliver of the mech but simplified, a duplicate program that could merge when docked? Or some kind of mix? Whatever the case Bolo was frustrated, and staring down Bumblebee in a way that suggested he was willing to bite if his little processor wasn't soothed.

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee still hadn't caught on that Bolo didn't understand a word he'd been saying this entire time. He thought that due to the fact he was a part of Carbine, the cassette would at least have some grasp of Basic. Sadly this was not the case, so as Bolo's ears flicked and fanned? Bee took it as him listening intently and understanding.

As Bolo sprang to his feet and jumped backwards, Bee's field radiated excitement instead of the annoyance that had filled him only moments earlier. This meant Bolo was ready to play, right?

--Fetch? Yeah!-- he beeped happily, tone chipper. He looked around quickly from his seated position on the floor, trying to find something he could use to throw for the cassette. There were a few smaller beams that could probably work. Carbine could take as long as he wanted, Bee would keep himself and Bolo occupied with games of fetch.

Or at least, that's what Bumblebee hoped would happen.

Bee's gaze settled on what he thought was the perfect sized beam for throwing, and glanced back to the pup to see if he was ready.

Oh.

Bolo's state and posture had changed dramatically in the few seconds it took for Bumblebee to look for a beam and back at the cassette. Bee's optics dilated as he made the mistake of making – and holding - eye-contact with the now angry dog who was squaring him off only mere feet away. Bee didn't know the first thing about cassettes, or dogs, or how to handle them when they were angry. It didn't take a genius, however, to work out that Bolo was now mad.

But why?

Bumblebee's field was still radiating excitement, maybe this was part of the game? Maybe Bolo just got really competitive about playing fetch? Bee himself was competitive about most things, especially when it came to games and racing, maybe the cassette was the same.

The low growl that rumbled from the pup told a different story, however; and Bee's optics dilated further. Confusion filled him, and he quickly scrambled to his pedes. Not that it helped any. Bolo was almost as big as he was. But at least if Bolo were to lunge at him, Bee might be able to get out the way. Maybe. This whole thing felt wrong suddenly. How did the pups mood change so fast? Why did it change so fast? Bee hadn't done anything. At least not that he knew of.

--H-Hey! What's wrong?-- He held up both servos to show he meant no harm at all, keeping his gaze stupidly locked on the pup, which he didn't realize was the absolute worst thing to do. --We don't hafta play fetch if ya don't want!-- Was he mad that Carbine had gone and left him with the Scout? Maybe Bee should call the helicopter back on the comm, or at least tell him to hurry up.

He didn't quite grasp the seriousness of the situation. All he knew was that the happy pup was now very, very angry.