[ti]Ep 2[/ti]Anything He Can do, I Can Do Better

[Knock Out]

Knock Out didn't give two slags if the paint stripper landed on Soundwave. Well, no, he did. Or he would, once it sunk in that it'd hit the Spymaster and that Knock Out would have to be the one to fix him up as well, anyway. But for right now? Everything was about Knock Out, and Knock Out alone. He'd instantly gone into fight or flight mode when he'd been splattered by the chemical, opting to fight – then being scared by Soundwave and forced to back down into flight.

Which for Knock Out? Meant sorting himself out first. Was it the right thing to do? Not at all. Was it the ethical thing to do? No. Definitely not. Would he get in trouble for it later? Probably. But he had his reasons. It wasn't just a vanity thing – well, no, most of it was – but he was panicking. His appearance, his frame and looking good meant everything to him! He knew damn well what that stuff could do to a mech – and all things considered? Skywarp had gotten off very lucky considering how long he'd held his arm under the spraying chemicals. Knock Out had gotten off even better – the potency of the stuff had been nulled considerably. But he didn't care, nor was he thinking rationally at this point. To him, it was like the end of the world.

Of course, it was just his luck that Soundwave had laid witness to it all.

To the two others, it may have looked like Knock Out was being overly finicky and overly careful with how he polished and cleaned himself – when the reality was that he was rushing – not only so the chemical wouldn't eat through his paint, but because he knew that he did have to assist Skywarp. He'd spray himself down on all the spots he got hit, and then wipe with the rag. Most of the chemical had gotten onto his arms, with the occasional stray splatter onto his chassis – and while it hadn't eaten through the paint quite as badly as it had to the Seeker? The brilliant cherry-red had faded and discolored ever-so-slightly in the places that it'd made contact. It was barely noticeable at first glance. Heck, even second or third glance it'd be hard to tell.

But Knock Out knew it was there.

“It's fine, really. A mistake. Be more careful in future!” He grumbled as he patted one forearm with the cloth in his servo. His voice didn't sound quite so strained this time, almost as if he realized that he'd gotten off lightly and that he was being completely irrational over the entire thing. Or maybe it was because Soundwave moved once more and he was a little scared.

He'd pause his actions as the Third in Command moved toward Skywarp, and frowned as the Seeker was led back to the shower. Knock Out was smart enough to not speak up or ask Soundwave just what he thought he was doing, and would simply watch curiously and quietly. He couldn't quite see the Spymaster's face from this side of the room, but he could see him pointing to Skywarp's arm, then to his visor. Was he teaching him how to use the shower? Primus, was that even really needed? Well that was a silly question, given the earlier proceedings. It was needed - but he couldn't help but wonder why it hadn't been taught earlier. Like way earlier. Everyone else just seemed to know how it worked.

He'd glance down to himself and grimace slightly. Ugh. That was about as far as it went though in terms of a reaction, and as much as he wanted to retouch his own paint and get himself looking fabulous once more? He did have to tend to Skywarp first.

“There. That'll stop it eating through my own paint, at least.” He'd comment quietly, as if vocalizing it out loud would lessen any form of punishment that Soundwave had planned because of him rushing off to look after himself. He couldn't possibly be expected to work and concentrate while his own paint was being eaten away now, could he? “Now I can focus on fixing you up without distraction. Once you're done over there, I'll take a look at your servo and get you repainted – you'll be as good as new!”

With that, he'd set down the chemicals and the rags, and would make his way over to the cabinets that were filled with the various buckets of paint – hoping that the black had mostly been untouched by Skywarp's earlier finger-painting session.

He sighed in dismay at getting a closer look at the sheer mess that the Seeker had managed to inflict on this side of the room in what'd felt like no time at all. Surely cleaning up this mess would be punishment enough...

[Deleted]

Even Skywarp had clued into the weird atmosphere floating above the occupants of the med-bay. He shifted a little, optics glancing between Soundwave and Knock Out. Technically speaking, this was the medic's domain and he had a measure of authority here. But Soundwave was TIC. And also Soundwave and thusly terrifying.

His hand was burning but he wasn't certain whether Knock Out was going to help. Indeed, the medic seemed quite pre-occupied seeing to himself first. And given that it was Skywarp's own fault that had caused the damage, well, he wouldn't be surprised if the medic left him to deal with it. With Soundwave watching, the seeker wasn't about to attempt to wheedle the medic into helping him.

Though it seemed from Knock Out's next words, that the medic was calming down. Skywarp didn't have time to appreciate this because Soundwave was heading towards him.

Uhoh.

Cold fingers, like three icy pinpricks, pressed against Skywarp's upper arm. The seeker didn't flinch but it was a near thing. The command was clear, the seeker could remember been given plenty of directions as such during his early days. Irritated scientists, with little patience for his slow, dim-witted thoughts, leading him this way and that, while his mind existed in a painful haze. Skywarp stooped his head as he turned to follow Soundwave though he was furiously trying to figure out what this all meant. It was not helped that the communications officer brought him back to the shower, the thing that Knock Out had been yelling for him to get out of.

The confusion was clear on Skywarp's face, deepening when Soundwave turned round, an image projected on his visor. Three dials. Okay. Skywarp raised an optic ridge, then a glance past Soundwave showed the controls of the decontamination shower. Alright, so the dials were for the shower.

The seeker straightened up, paying more attention now. The clip playing out on Soundwave's visor moved on. The first dial meant...Skywarp squinted a little. He could see the chemical make-up, which elements composed the liquid produced by the dial but it meant little to him. But it was also labelled as a neutralising agent.

That...sounded like a good thing, given the stinging he was experiencing. The second dial was bigger than the rest so it had to be important and interesting...no, it was just water. The third one...the confusion had been clearing from Skywarp's face with the second dial because water was easy. Now his face was deeply puzzled because he had no idea what the third one meant.

He did not flounder long. Soundwave pointed at Skywarp's hurting arm then back at the third dial. It took a moment then-

OH.

That was the cool but hurty liquid! Right, right. The communications officer indicated the first dial again, before the display on his visor changed completely, showing an arm inside the shower with a countdown for ten seconds. Once that had passed, Soundwave tapped the middle dial, this one had a countdown for 30 seconds but the screen went dark soon after and then it was slightly unnerving to be staring into Soundwave's expectant face.

Skywarp ran it all through his head. The first dial. Ten seconds. Then the water for thirty. First dial. Ten seconds. Thirty seconds for water. He went over it a couple of times, a look of utter concentration on his face before he finally nodded and moved past Soundwave. Skywarp paused as he reached for the first dial when Knock Out spoke up, he'd all but forgotten that the medic was in the other corner of the room. Once the seeker was done here, Knock Out would actually take a look at his hand.

He turned the dial for the neutralising agent, causing a liquid to spray down. This time Skywarp was more cautious about sticking himself in there, pulling a face at the stench that seemed to permeate the decontamination shower. With some trepidation, he moved his left arm into the spray and then counted down the seconds inside his head. The seeker then reached for the controls again, turning off the first one and then rotated the second dial.

At least this was just water. He was less cautious about holding his arm in there. Once the thirty seconds had past, Skywarp turned off the second dial and took a step back. He hesitated for a moment there, he was meant to go over to Knock Out now but…

"Thank you!" he blurted to Soundwave, then scooted away from the communications officer as quickly as possible. Skywarp was so relieved to be away from there that he didn't register the mess that he'd made earlier and that Knock Out now stood in front of. If he hadn't been so focused on Soundwave, perhaps he'd have put together that the paint splattered everywhere surely had to upset the fussy medic.

[Soundwave]

Processing.

Figuring it out.

While this took time that was allowing the chemical to continue to chew at Skywarp's arm, it was going to end up better in the long run. When training a mechanized animal how to do something, you put it through the steps one piece at a time. You didn’t push them through the actions, then expect them to understand the nuances and strides taken to reach said goal. All they learn is if they follow your lead? They get praise or food or in this case, the pain stops. No. They had to be shown, had to do it themselves entirely. It just took a bit of patience.

Skywarp seemed confused, not really grasping why he was brought back to the shower that started all of these problems. Soundwave knew the mech had been chastised for being in it just moments previously, so it was not really a long shot that there could be some reluctance. That said, he carefully showed a series of graphics, and spelt out the situation in as simplistic of terms that he could think for the moment, to show that the shower could both bring pain when used improperly, but could also reverse said issues.

Light clicks upon a slick faceplate, a few moments of thinking on things... Skywarps' processor was churning through the dilemma for a good moment before he seemed to come to the conclusion and settle on what had to be done. Decisive movements, a plan set in place, the teleporter only faltered slightly in his goals then when Knock Out spoke up to try to smooth things over and explain himself. Soundwave's helm turned ever so slightly to the red mech then, though his frame was mostly in Skywarp's direction just in case, keeping the corner of his field of vision upon the dials to make sure the paint stripper wasn’t summoned again.

While the shower turned back on, and Skywarp tended to his forearm in the proper way, Soundwave took in what was happening across the room just as Knock Out was going to rummage around through his paints and what could be salvageable there. That had to be agonizing on its own, as the mech prided himself on the more superficial things in life. To have his collection of paints mixed and sullied with other colors, was a grave affront. This in itself could be a punishment for previous actions, knowing how much it tortured the medic, but it was so mild from an outsider's perspective. Alas, bringing down punishments in such broad and direct approaches as to do something now, was not the spymaster's way. He would find a job or other task to send Knock Out on later.

Looking down, Soundwave peered at the cylinder that was nestled in his free hand, the small glass vial carefully caged within his narrow fingers. He wavered a bit then, a small sway of movement as if he were going to take a step forward, as if to depart, before Skywarp blurted out an abrupt thank you, and pulled him from his thoughts.

Ah well... points had been made, things were settled, Skywarp was already heading over to seek help. Really, he wasn’t truly needed here any longer, but it brought up the question if repairs would be properly made if he were to go, or if Knock Out would cut corners to spite. As such, he remained where he stood, looking over at the others while his arms sloped back down to his side in a smooth arch.

[Knock Out]

Time seemed to stand still as Knock Out stared down at the paints. His servos would slowly move to his hips, and he'd take it all in, one ruined bucket at a time. His gaze shifted slowly from each bucket of paint to the next as he assessed the damage. He wanted to scream. To yell in frustration. To berate Skywarp and tell him exactly what he thought; he wanted to teach him a lesson! But he did nothing but stare in silent dismay. The silence was probably to be expected. The Chief Medical Officer was in shock, no doubt, from all the mess. Or he was being quiet because Soundwave was still looming and judging.

How. How could one mech make so much mess in so little time? Sure it was Skywarp, and sure Knock Out had been a fool for giving him so much semi-unsupervised freedom, but his directions had been clear enough, and he'd assumed Skywarp would've been able to follow. Or at the very least had the ability to take some initiative as to wash the paint stirrers after each use...

Then again, he couldn't even work the shower to wash himself off. What hope did basic tools that belonged to someone else have?

The lesson here, one which Knock Out sadly already knew, was never to assume.

At least, it seemed, that the paints hadn't been mixed too badly. There were some splatters of color in buckets that did not belong, but with some careful scooping – and Knock Out would be so very careful – the risk of ruining the rest of the paint was probably slim. Or at least that's what he garnered at first glance. As much as he wanted to fix himself and his paint collection up? Skywarp would come first. If only to get him out of here so Knock Out could have his private meltdown that they probably all knew was due.

One silver lining in all this though, was that the paints that were on display weren't the... Ah, nicer ones in the Chief Medical Officers collection. The cherry-red and gold that Knock Out used on his own frame were not over by the others, nor was the blue that colored Breakdown. If those had been touched? Well, even Soundwave lurking wouldn't have deterred that tantrum.

The sound of the shower switching on once more would draw his attention away from the disaster that was his paint collection, and he'd turn to watch with optics narrowed judgmentally. His gaze would soften some as he watched what was going on, and it seemed that Skywarp was actually doing things right. Then again with Soundwave looming? It was to be expected.

Now came the question of would Skywarp remember how to do this in future should he need to? That remained to be seen.

With a brief shake of his helm, he'd turn back to the paints. Thankfully, Skywarp's servo was black – and so even if that paint bucket had been contaminated with another color? A quick stir and it would've blended right in. He'd untuck a piece of cloth from under his chassis, and would use this as a 'shield' between his servo and the bucket handle as he picked it up. The paint really had gotten everywhere, and he didn't want some random color paint smeared onto his servo.

Holding the bucket at arms length, he would move over to one of the many workbenches in the room, before setting it down onto the floor.

“Come over here, and put your arm out with the palm of your servo facing up – please.” The 'please' was simply for niceties sake, even if Skywarp didn't really deserve the usage of manners after everything he'd done, Knock Out was the bigger mech here and so would remain to be civil. He wasn't quite sure why Soundwave was still lurking; as petty as Knock Out was, he wouldn't do a half-assed job of fixing up the Seeker. That'd just land him in even more trouble, and that was something that he was trying to avoid.

That, and he prided himself immensely on his work, and retouching paint was usually pretty cathartic. Doing a terrible job of something so simple? Well, he'd never hear the end of it from Flatline.

As Skywarp moved into position, Knock Out would move over to one of the cabinets that held various medical supplies. As he did, his gaze shifted briefly to Soundwave – almost as if he was checking that he was still here. Yup. He was. He hadn't forgotten that Soundwave had taken something, and he'd squint some as if trying to work out from a distance what it actually was.

Ah.

Well there went any and all inkling he had to ask Soundwave if he needed any help. The Third in Command had in his possession a tranquilizer, which on its own wouldn't be so bad – but this specific one was for the... Ah, rather more unruly, aggressive members of this ship.

Maybe it was for someone else? But then proper protocol would've been carried out, surely. Paperwork and the like would've been filled out, and Knock Out would be the one to administer said tranquilizer... It would've been done in the controlled environment that was the Medical Bay.

Was it for Soundwave?

Mm. Knock Out didn't really want to know. All he knew was that if it was for the Spymaster, who never actually showed any form of emotion? Then he'd have to be on his best behavior. Soundwave was scary enough as it was, without him being outwardly aggressive.

He'd quickly avert his gaze, focusing on the task at hand and opening up the cabinet infront of him to start looking for what it was he needed.

“Did you want me to bring over a datapad for you, Skywarp?” He'd ask, although didn't look over his shoulder at the Seeker. “I'm sure I have one with crossword puzzles or something to keep you busy while I work on your servo.”

His demeanor sure had changed since he'd realized what cylinder Soundwave was holding, but other than being exceptionally nice all of a sudden (which could be played off as keeping the Seeker occupied so he didn't fidget and make life hard for everyone)? He wouldn't draw attention to it. Skywarp didn't need to know what it was, and nor did anyone else for that matter.

Knock Out would just be that little bit more wary of his actions around the Spymaster, is all. Which anyone in their right mind would be doing regardless.

[Deleted]

Soundwave was still here and it was weirding him out.

Skywarp wouldn't have minded if the communication's officer had left, in fact, he'd vastly prefer it. Never mind that the mech had intervened on Skywarp's behalf, preventing Knock Out from berating him. The big seeker had been yelled at plenty of times and no doubt there would be more in his future. So even if the medic starting ripping into him the moment Soundwave departed? Skywarp would have been okay with that.

Instead, there was the uncomfortable knowledge that Soundwave was somewhere behind him, silently watching and staring. Skywarp kept his optics firmly ahead of him, watching as Knock Out picked up a bucket of paint and gingerly transferred it over towards a work bench. He followed Knock Out's direction, moving towards him and placing his arm flat on the workbench, with the palm upwards.

The doctor headed over to one of the cupboards. Skywarp craned his head to keep watch as Knock Out fetched what he needed. The seeker blinked, startled by the question directed at him. The offer was quite unexpected, he hadn't expected the consideration from Knock Out. He was prepared but not looking forward to being bored, that he'd had to stand still as the mech repainted his arm.

Though a word game...

"Um…got anything mathematical?"

[Soundwave]

Soundwave may not be a social individual, but he was not blind. He knew well when he was not wanted around, and when others would vastly prefer he departed. It was a typical thing all things considered, no one really WANTED Soundwave around, unless he was finishing up something to assist them. He was a hindrance, a snag, something that blocked or slowed individuals less than... ideal... plans, and was a direct link to the Warlord. Alas, this particular situation no longer needed him, so he was a bit more aware of the fact he was going to become a nuisance, even if he just intended to keep a metaphorical eye on Knock Out.

Skywarp seemed uncomfortable, awkward, keeping aware of his surroundings on some level to keep tabs of him, while the medic? Well... Knock Out became far more kind and subdued, his aggression bleeding away abruptly as if he had been told something that was going to benefit him later on. This brought up some questions, WHY was there the abrupt change, and what had sourced it? In the end though, it didn't matter... they were playing nice, and really, he shouldn't be too concerned about retribution at this point. Besides, it isn't like Soundwave NEEDS to be present to find out if anything went amiss...

Without a single gesture or motion, nor a displayed graphic or note of any kind, Soundwave turned and began to slowly walk away from the room. Each footfall, each step, it bled away into the ambiance of the Medical Bay, creating a silent retreat that was only punctuated when the door to the room slid aside with a louder hiss. With a few additional footfalls, and the doors spiraling closed once again, the third in command simply vanished from the scenario.

[Knock Out]

Knock Out kept himself busy, gathering the tools and supplies needed to do what should hopefully be a rather simple repair. The paint stripper had eaten through the outer layers of paint on Skywarp's servo, sure, but it wouldn't have done much damage internally. Granted if he'd held in there for a few moments longer, it may have been a different outcome but... He was rather lucky, especially with how potent that stuff could be.

He found himself almost hyper aware of his movements as he worked. He'd sidestep to the various shelves, pulling out small trays of supplies, picking through them until he'd found what he needed. With Soundwave still looming, he wanted to be as professional as possible – even more so now that the Third in Command had helped himself to a tranquilizer.

What was probably more terrifying was that Knock Out knew he'd have to follow that up at some point.

But not today!

He'd swivel on his heel, holding in his servos what looked to be some basic cleaning supplies, as well as a small vial of something – a simple numbing agent, and nothing more. The last thing he wanted was for Skywarp to flinch and flail his arm while it was being painted because it tickled. Knock Out had been covered in enough already this evening, and wasn't about to get himself spattered in black paint as well.

“Mathematical..? Uuh, well...” He paused his movements, and his voice trailed off some at the almost unexpected movement from Soundwave, it was almost as if he couldn't finish that thought process due to being distracted. He stood, with his mouth hung slightly agape as Soundwave silently moved from the room.

The tense feeling in the air bled away almost instantly, and Knock Out shook his helm quickly as if snapping back into what was going on.

“Mathematical. Right. I believe so – just give me a moment to, ah.. Here,” He'd move over to the berth where Skywarp was, setting down the supplies. He was still being friendly – just on the offchance that Soundwave was still lurking or listening in, but anything to keep Skywarp distracted did work in his own favor, so that was no doubt a lot of it. Once he'd set those down, he'd move over to the table with the half-assembled drone, leaning over to pick up one of the datapads. With a long, taloned digit he'd swipe a few times, typing in something and then waiting, tapping the side of the screen absentmindedly while whatever it was loaded.

“This should do.” He hummed in approval, before moving back over to the Seeker. The display looked to be nothing special – it was a big 9x9 square, with lots of little 3x3 squares in a grid formation. Every few squares, almost randomly was a number. “What you have to do here is... In each three by three box you need the numbers one through nine. But you also need the numbers one through nine in each LINE of the big square. The catch? You can't have the same number twice. So no two of number 'four' in one line, for example.” He tried to explain it as simply as he could. “If that's too easy for you, there's a 'jigsaw' variant, where instead of boxes, they are in random shapes.”

He set the datapad down on the bench - on Skywarp's free side, so he could easily lean over and play it with one servo while Knock Out worked on the other.

“Hold still for a moment, just going to numb the general area so you keep still...” He murmured as he picked up the vial of numbing agent once more, gently easing a small innocuous line from the crook of Skywarp's elbow – hence why he'd asked to rest his arm palm up - and injecting a little of the contents into it. It would feel icy cold for a moment as it worked, but any uncomfortable feeling wouldn't last long. It wouldn't take long to come into effect, nor would it numb Skywarp's entire frame – just the arm in question.

[Deleted]

Skywarp studiously pretended to be engrossed in studying the damage done to his arm. Wait a second, cross out the pretence, he was fascinated by his arm. Initially he had ducked his head to examine it so he could ignore Soundwave but the gleam of silver metal turned into a real distraction.

Maybe he could ask Knock Out to paint it some other color. Blue! No, no, that wicked cool acid green. The seeker's thoughts flickered over the colors he'd tried out earlier, never settling on one for long. It didn't occur to him that it had only a few minutes ago that he'd grappled with exactly the same dilemma. Or that it had led into his current situation. Nope, Skywarp had in fact craned his head around, to stare at the mess he'd made and figure out which colour he'd like on his arm.

Looking around reminded him of the presence of the very thing he'd been trying to ignore on the first place. Skywarp froze at the sight of Soundwave, the beginnings of a request to pick a new paint job for his arm dying in his mouth. He was not given long to stew like this. Fortunately, it seemed that whatever business had brought Soundwave into the med bay was now concluded. The mech headed for the door and slipped out as quietly as he'd come.

The seeker relaxed once the med bay door slid shut again. He jerked his head towards Knock Out, startled by the medic's words. Skywarp had all but forgotten the shiny mech and what they were up to and why. He squinted in confusion before remembering that yes, he'd asked for a maths puzzle game and that's why Knock Out was talking about one. The confusion cleared but Skywarp's optics narrowed into slits as the medic went on and explained it.

Yes, yes, he knew how the puzzles worked. Even just glancing over the datapad screen and skimming over the boxes, Skywarp was able to quickly grasp what was missing. Numbers were the one thing he got on at intuitive level. Mathematics was the language that had been branded literally into his processor before he'd even onlined for the first time. In fact, there was very little room for anything else inside his head.

"I got it," Skywarp said impatiently, itching to get at the datapad. But there was still more for Knock Out to say when the datapad was right next to Skywarp and come on, he could already see what numbers were missing from the puzzle… Even asking for a different colour paint job had left Skywarp's mind.

Absently, he kept holding out his left arm as directed, not really paying attention to what Knock Out was doing or what he was saying. Then there was a small, brief prick in his arm followed by a rush of cold that quickly faded. Skywarp knew what that meant, and while he didn't particularly like it, he wasn't alarmed as he lost sensation in his arm.

Finally. Now that Knock Out could work in his arm, Skywarp began to tap at the datapad's screen with his free arm. Swiftly, he began to fill in the boxes. There was no hesitation, each number Skywarp entered was done with the confident knowledge that it was absolutely correct.

[Knock Out]

While Skywarp was occupied with the datapad and waiting for his arm to numb, Knock Out would turn and move over to a small basin just to the side. While he wasn't going to be doing any kind of major surgery, he did like to keep things clean and sterile when he worked – and the first place for that would be his servos. He'd apply a small amount of a clear looking gel to the palms of his hands, and would smear it over his long, delicate digits.

Once it'd taken a few seconds to dry, he'd swivel back and...

“Well, that was fast.” He chuckled some in amusement. “Perhaps starting you on the easiest difficulty was a mistake, hm?”

He quite often forgot that even though Skywarp acted like a child the majority of the time, he had his moments of genius – and it showed in the fact he'd completed the puzzle in absolutely no time at all. It was on easy, though, and Knock Out was curious to see how he would fare at the harder difficulties.

“If you tap one of the buttons at the top there, you could probably put it onto expert and see how you go with those. They're a good challenge!”

He moved back over to Skywarp and would lean down to get a closer look at his arm. While it looked gnarly due to the way the chemicals in the shower had reacted with the paint, it didn't seem to be all that bad – thankfully. It could've melted clean through his arm if he'd left it long enough, and he was so very lucky that no inner mechanisms had been damaged.

Still, the choice to numb the arm was one that Knock Out would stand by – as he'd have to remove the gloops of paint that'd lingered, as well as some of the surrounding paint that hadn't been affected – just so he had a completely blank and level canvas to work with. The stiller and un-flinchy that canvas? The faster he could work. Plus any lingering feelings of discomfort from the initial paint-melting would hopefully be canceled out by the numbing agent – so it wasn't just for his benefit.

“If you get bored of that one, there are other games – although I'm not sure what you'd find interesting. You'd have to look and see if anything tickles your fancy.” He'd hum as he moved to sit on a small stool. This was delicate work and he'd need a steady hand, as such he didn't want to be standing and hunched over. He'd tap firmly in a few spots on Skywarp's arm to see if there was any kind of reaction, and when satisfied that there wasn't? He'd get to work – using a rather basic looking tool, something akin to an inch scraper, to start easing away the globules of half-melted paint.

“While I assume you can't feel anything, just let me know if I hurt you at all. Try not to flinch though, the last thing I need is you smacking me in the face.” He'd add, just for good measure. Skywarp had done enough damage for one evening, and the sooner Knock Out was done with this? The sooner he could fix up his own paint and lament the partially ruined paints across the room.

[Deleted]

Skywarp had been completely focused on the puzzle. It was soothing, sweeping over rows and columns, keeping track of what number was missing and where. There were only a certain number of possibilities for each missing number based on the surrounding information. He would hold onto one number for a particular cell then examine how that would slot in with the other candidate for the other empty cells.

All in all, it wasn't a difficult task.

He arched one optic ridge in disgruntlement as Knock Out interrupted with a comment. Yes, it was easy. This better not be the most difficult puzzles on the datapad or he was going to be bored while Knock Out worked on his arm. Thankfully, this was not the case and he followed the medic's instructions to load a higher difficult puzzle.

Skywarp kept his focus on the datapad as the medic bustled about, taking a deeper look at his arm. With a disinterested shrug, the seeker adjusted his arm so it was easier to get at. He still had no sensation where Knock Out had applied the numbing agent, which he personally thought was overkill. It was just a new paintjob. Yes, the chemical agent in the shower stall had stung and burned where it had eaten into his hand but on the ground scale of the injuries Skywarp had received over the war, it was really mild.

Still, whatever made Knock Out happy and more likely to finish his job faster. Then they could go their separate ways and Skywarp could put this incident behind him. Things really hadn't gone the way he'd expected when he'd chased his drone down the corridors. The loss of his drone was a tragedy but he'd gotten to play with paint! And conduct a science experiment in the shower.

But he'd also attracted a great deal of attention from Soundwave and Knock Out aaaand he really could have done without all of that. One's prospects always looked better in the Decepticon ranks when their superiors weren't looking at them.

…just like he could do without Knock Out's chattering. Skywarp had a puzzle to work on and the medic wouldn't stop talking as he took a seat on a small stool beside the seeker. Skywarp did perk a little at the mention of other games, though he didn't divert his attention from the one he was dealing with.

"Hmm, okay," he replied, distractedly. He was making good process on his puzzle and really wasn't paying attention to what Knock Out was up to, ignoring the medic as he tapped on Skywarp's arm.

“While I assume you can't feel anything, just let me know if I hurt you at all.”

The seeker rolled his optics. Between the numbing agent and Skywarp's pride as a warrior, it was unlikely that he was going to admit to anything hurting. And really, all Knock Out was doing was scraping away at the melted paint. It was irritating at most, a distraction but ultimately, completely minor.

"It's fine," he grumbled with exasperation. "I'm sure I'll survive whatever you do to me."

[Knock Out]

Knock Out gave a quiet hum of thought as he inspected Skywarp's arm a little closer. While he knew it was almost definitely just superficial damage, he wanted to be absolutely thorough with it – if only because Soundwave had laid witness to everything, and would no doubt be following up on how the repair went.

That was mainly why he'd been – and remained – so calm about the entire thing. Of course now that Soundwave had departed, there was nothing stopping the small cherry-red Mech from flipping his absolute slag over what'd happened; Primus knows he wanted to. But again, the thought of Soundwave finding out prevented from what could've been a full scale meltdown. At least for now.

Part of him wanted to watch Skywarp tackle the harder difficulties of the game – just to see how quickly he could do them. Knock Out was good at puzzles, that much was true, but he often found himself taking his time with them - giving them thought and being overly pedantic in how he went about solving them. Unfortunately he did have a job to do, and the sooner it got done? The sooner he could shoo Skywarp out of here and get on with his totally justified meltdown.

He tsk'd softly at the roll of the optics, but would continue his work at scraping away at the melted chunks of paint – silently thankful that Skywarp had turned his arm to make this even easier for him. The numbness was a god-send, the last thing he wanted was for the much bigger Seeker to flinch and send him flying across the room. Skywarp wouldn't be able to feel a thing, maybe the occasional rough nudge as a particularly melted point needed a little extra elbow grease to remove, but it wouldn't be a painful process at all.

Nor would it take too long, thankfully. Knock Out had done things like this many a time before, and was quick and effective with the inch scraper. Once the bigger globules of paint had been removed, he'd scrape them into a small metal dish, just for easier disposal later.

“Ah, I do love a fresh canvas.” He chuckled. He missed the days before the war sometimes, where all he did was utilize his creativity and artistic flair to make people look almost as good as he did. Medical work was fun and all but it wasn't quite the same, he couldn't go to the same liberties or do any real modifications on people – as much as he wanted to sometimes.

“How are you going with that puzzle?” He cast a wary glance to the screen as he wiped off his servos on a mesh cloth, setting down the inch scraper to the side. After a moment he'd lean over to pick up the can of black paint he'd set aside earlier, and would set it on the bench beside Skywarp's arm for easy reach.

“This shouldn't take too long. Just continue to keep your arm still and I'll be done in a jiffy.”

With that said, he'd reach across to grab a simple brush and would dip it into the paint – starting the process of getting Skywarp's arm as good as new.