[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Brawler Season (Flux, Cintra)

[Starkrieger]

It hurt. By Primus did it hurt…

But, it wasn’t a wing, and his senses didn’t cut out from just any pain.

When she used his arm to jerk herself up, the grating of parts not meant to touch within the joint grated, stalling his vents briefly. It was hard to strategize, as few had the right size or ability to so use his own frame against him.

While she lorded her victory over him, ‘towering’ above him, the Seeker had a brief respite, and gathering himself, responded to her positioning. His wings remained low, unmoving to avoid attracting her attention. He hadn’t looked back, didn’t need to, as he’d never lost track of her.

His upper chassis was sore, having borne the brunt of the inertia not taken by the popping of his joint, but halting the twisting had preserved his backstrut. As she moved in, he straightened up, freeing his left hand as he arched back into her, to limit her leverage. Her words, still fresh in the audials, serving to help drown out the muffled grating.

“I don’t take what belongs to someone else” Instead of a whine, she was gifted with a growl, his vocals low, defiant despite the strain contorting his voice. Perhaps he’d wronged them, he'd yet to be convinced; regardless, he took exception to her insult to his character.

Then came the proof.

At first Krieg didn’t immediately recognize Flux’s intentions. He was trapped by the femme’s mass and grip, restricted in the confines of the hall, it caused his former quarry’s shout to hit wrong. Optics narrowing, his wings spasmed in an effort to flare that was killed instantly due to Cintra’s continued presence. If not for a Seeker’s quick processor, if not for his sensors making him keenly aware of exactly how far and fast the Brawler advanced, he might have done something really stupid. Instead, it gave him the chance to realize that Flux’s ire wasn’t aimed at him. The mech wasn’t turning aggressive and teaming up with the little pitspawn.

It was this exchange, the exasperation, the sense that Flux seemed used to this sort of situation that confirmed what Cintra’s rage had left vague. They were attached to each other, likely for quite some time. That was his conclusion, anyway. He had wronged them then. Not that he was in a mood to be overly generous about it. At least he kept his mouth shut, waiting to see where this went. That didn’t mean he wasn’t monitoring their every move, deciding on how much additional damage he would be willing to cause to himself to vie for a better position… if it came to that.

[Cintra]

When Flux yelled, there would be an expectation Cintra would perhaps duck her helm and hike her shoulders and finials up in a sort of grimaced surprise. A child getting caught doing something they were not meant to. However, instead of doing such a thing, the pink femme simply eased back a small amount, rocking her weight from being evenly distributed between both peds, over onto one so that she could crook her hip to the side, no longer putting any pressure on Starkrieger's arm.

Cintra seemed offput, disgruntled that she was being stopped. It was truly for the best, but she would not be herself if she didn't live off immediate feelings and act with true passion and drive behind them. Lines had been drawn by the larger mech however, and a snorted huff of air flicked through her vents, fingers drumming once in a thoughtful motion atop the back of Starkrieger's hand as if she were thinking things out and what she was willing to risk this day. With her limited choices evaluated, her palms made a click, the suction cups disengaging before she flicked her hands up to either side as if she had a gun faced at her and was giving up.

"Alright! Alright."

Mulling over the fallen flyer's words, Cintra turned about face with a half spin, her lifted ped clunking down onto the Seeker's hip to use it as a springboard, throwing her weight into it before hopping over his lower legs to meander back towards Flux with a casual and borderline bouncy gait. She repositioned to the larger mech's side, arms flinging out post straight before clapping over his lower limb in a sort of protective cling. Her triangular fingers clipped down over some panels of metal, and her suction cups then engaged once again to clutch and hang off him.

"That’s good!"

A simple reply to Starkrieger, still protectively holding onto Flux as a display of possession that should not be challenged. Perhaps her firm grip however was also a means to help keep her from charging him... though... should she really feel slighted no pitiful attempt for self-control would do much. While she seemed overall much calmer, her body posture and motions seeming more at ease... her eyes still held a fierceness within, locking down onto the mech intently to watch what he may do next, offering nothing to help him to his feet.

"I'm Cintra, this is Flux, we are new here, and you...?"

Forced pleasantries, introducing herself again, while reiterating Flux's name which likely had already been offered by him. Cintra figured she may as know the name of the individual who wronged her, the corner of her lips twitching back into another grin.

[Flux]

Orange optics would narrow into a rarely seen scowl at the tiny femme, as if trying to enforce his own point in that her behavior was simply uncalled for.

He would not move, however, opting to stand here for the moment. Should this require further intervention he would do so, but he was willing to give Cintra a chance to back off and away on her own.

Starkrieger’s words probably helped, some, and there was a feeling of relief at the snorted huff of air - that was a good sign indeed, and he’d watch as she-

Damnit, Cintra.

At least any damage from her spring boarding her pede to his hip would be minimal - or so he hoped. That arm, though? Flux was admittedly worried. For such a tiny femme she certainly had a fire behind her at times, and with that came strength that she probably didn’t realize she had. Not helped, of course, by the fact the Seeker hadn’t resisted much of anything and had been in an awkward position.

A quick glance down to the femme was given as she moved over, though he wouldn’t reciprocate her clingy gesture.

“It was a misunderstanding.”

Cintra had arrived at quite possibly the worst time, jumping to conclusions and flying off the handle the only way she knew how. While he wouldn’t change her for the world, now they were among others they did have to try and fit in some, which meant not picking fights and causing scenes. High Command were at this outpost, and they had to be on their best behavior.

As Cintra gave their designations, Flux would take a slow and steady step forward. Knowing that the femme would cling to him no matter what, and was in no danger of being trampled, he would continue until he was a mere step away from the downed Seeker.

His posture and approach was relaxed and non-threatening, and he made a point of turning himself just slightly at an angle so Cintra couldn’t get in an ‘accidental’ kick - or at least, not easily.

He knew her well.

It was then he’d silently offer out a servo to the other mech. While Cintra wouldn’t offer to help him up after he had wronged her, Flux was different.

However, even despite the good intention of his gesture, he was wary - ready to protect the femme at his side should Starkrieger use it against them to lash out in an attack of his own.

[Starkrieger]

Mech and Femme squared off. The battle of wills unfolding until, eventually the Brawler won out. Though, Starkrieger suspected Cintra could have raised the Pit if she’d had a mind to. As the pressure on his limb was relieved, sharp pain subsided, till it was spiking sporadically throughout a deeper, thrumming ache.

Eh, he’d continue to function.

Her pede nearly caught him off guard. Cintra's movements had registered, but her unique style left hardly any time to process the unfamiliar motion. With less than a fraction of a click, he braced for the impact at his hip. Rather than respond with aggression, the Seeker’s optics followed her with an interest that lacked the hard edge of anger.

It was a pity they were attached. How amusing it would have been to further provoke her. To have the opportunity to learn to anticipate the way she moved, adapt his technique, and perhaps one day best her? Sure, there’d be plenty of aft kicking and suffering involved, but the results would have been well worth it. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.

“Krieg”, he answered easily, despite Cintra's stilted introduction, not about to bypass her introduction a second time.

He’d waited to sort himself out to allow the femme move at her leisure without unintentionally causing them to go on the defensive. It was just as he'd considered picking himself up that Flux began to approach. Delaying taking action, Krieg’s gaze rose to meet the Brawler’s. Wings slowly elevated to their proper place.

Now what was he up to? Oh, extending the proverbial olive branch?

Krieg wasn’t dense. The signals they each gave off in this moment spelled out the significance of his response. Cintra remained tense, suspicious, and rightly so. Flux’s gesture was one of goodwill, serving the purpose of conveying intentions, while also assessing his. Accepting or rejecting that offered servo the wrong way could be problematic.

Offering the mech a half smirk, his weight shifting, as he adjusted his extended leg into a better position.

“Appreciate the gesture… but I think for the time being, it’s best I keep my servos to myself.” His vocals lowered in amusement, as if the incapacitated arm wasn’t awkwardly hanging at his side. They’d all been at the war awhile now, had gone through worse, no doubt. Casually lifting his good servo, he waved off assistance, before bringing a knee up to see to himself.

As he stood, the Seekers wings twitched stiffly, but he was trying to keep them relaxed, to project calm.

“Cintra…” His optics slipped down to properly acknowledge her. There was a brief pause as his processor went over what he’d experienced of the pair so far. “I suppose I owe you.” He left it at that, speaking evenly. Poor thing, she’d have done better to find someone that wasn't a military construct indebted to her. His non-combative skill set was limited, making it unlikely she would ever get anything interesting out of him.

When his focus returned to the big guy, he chuckled softly. Krieg was outnumbered, out of his element, and already injured; and yet, they were still concerned he might turn hostile? How flattering, if he'd been the sort to lure others in with the figurative white flag.

“Relax Flux. I promise didn’t I?” He lifted his chin as he drew his chassis up to straighten his frame. “However it turned out…”

[Cintra]

When Flux stepped forward, Cintra's forced grin faltered a second, her peds grinding against the floor below to try to firmly root down and not let the bulky mech approach. This was paired with her grip on his arm tightening while her chest pressed flush against it suddenly, ready to really put some greater oomph into her clutching action so he didn't pop free. As to be expected however, this was effectively useless, and her planted down peds let out a squeaked scrape as they were sheered sideways with no perceivable effect on the larger Mech's advance.

Furrowing her brow at this, Cintra's leading leg would lift before thunking down ahead of them, trying to get a new grip on the floor that she was hoping would be slightly more effective in producing results. Thankfully, Flux had stopped on his own however at this point so she didn't have to face failure again, and as such the pink femme's helm whipped around to look back at Starkrieger with disdain. It was only by the grace of Flux's forethought that kept her from being foolish, for her mind did skirt past the thought of taking another sucker-punch of a strike.

Orange optics bore up into Flux when he offered his hand, watching intently a second to try to read his facial expression, before her gaze snapped back down to the other mech with irritation.

Don't you smirk at him you trash

Thankfully, Starkrieger took the intelligent approach of denying the offer, which may make Flux possibly feel rejected a slight bit... but it was exactly what Cintra hoped for. At this, her irritated expression shifted to joy with a good speck of boasting victory on top, watching as the flyer fully eased upright. She was keeping a good bead on his actions once he stood fully, waiting to see if he looked down at her because of her stature, or if he was looking down at her because of her stature. This meant she was half preoccupied mentally when he said he owed her, so the statement slapped her sideways and her expression blanked out.

Why did he owe her? What did she do for him that was helpful? Did she somehow magically pop his arm into place when it had been snapped out of the socket before their one-sided fight? No... what... huh?...

Cintra seemed confused, her processor clipping through its thoughts like a broken record, repeating the same train of thought into the mental dead-end where it made no sense, before going back to square one and walking down the same path. Any vague attempt to PERHAPS aim somewhere different to a new concept seemed to fail. This meant her gaze somewhat hazed out, not really focused on Starkrieger any longer while trying to piecemeal how she had HELPED him enough to be indebted to her?...

This left Flux able to take control of the situation more, her brows furrowing as finials pulled back a bit.

[Flux]

Flux would remain towering over the downed mech, arm held out and servo outstretched. A gentle bob of his helm as the Seeker spoke his designation, and he found himself wondering if this was the first he’d heard the name, unable to recall if it’d been spoken earlier in the rec room.

No matter. He’d try to remember it, and even if he couldn’t? He was sure the ire his partner felt toward the other mech would be a constant reminder somehow.

The smirk and movement caught him a little off guard - normally when a servo was offered, it was either accepted, or in some cases? Swatted aside, sometimes in annoyance - sometimes playful. Neither happened, only a polite declination paired with a passive gesture.

“Suit yourself.” a smirk of his own as he spoke, voice neutral - no disappointment to the fact his offer to assist had been rejected.

As Starkrieger shifted to his pedes, Flux would take a cautious step back - then another. Not only to give the Seeker some room to maneuver, but to put some distance between the other mech and Cintra. While it didn’t seem like he was out for revenge, or was going to lunge in for a surprise attack - especially now with her clinging to him - he was always wary.

Especially when he spoke her name. Optics narrowing just slightly, he’d cast a glance down to the tiny femme at his side, and it was then a servo would carefully plunk down atop her helm, being cautious of putting any real weight onto it in case he had to move.

While he could only assume her name being spoken was to formally acknowledge her after their initial meeting had been… well, a mess, he’d never been good at social cues and so there was a look of confusion for a moment that shifted into a quirked brow at the mention of a promise.

Had an agreement been made that he’d already forgotten? Had he said something on the way here? While he could remember the majority of the conversation and how Krieg had pushed his luck slightly with his comments - now that he looked back on it, anyway - he couldn’t recall a promise being made.

“A promise? Uh- Ain’t really sure what you meaning by that. Feel free to refresh my memory.” a twinge of annoyance laced his tone, though it was more at himself for apparently forgetting more of the conversation than he realized.

[Starkrieger]

He’d confused her, that much was obvious by the way her gaze lost focus, her finials projecting as his wings would. It made the femme an easy target, but Krieg didn’t have to put in an effort to resist the impulse. It wasn’t the sort of thing he was prepared to insult her over. Surprisingly, it appeared she wasn't the only one struggling.

Flux had remain genteel, but alluding to his previous words seemed to have thrown him. Odd, Krieg never got the impression he hadn’t been fully engaged as they conversed. Did Flux not recall what he’d said? Curious, but his inability to remember, and therefore trivialize the 'promise' might set Cintra off again. The Seeker chose to prioritize ensuring the peace rather than evaluating the mech.

“Oh, nothing interesting.” He offered absently, optics calmly on the brawler. “Simply that I wouldn’t be offended by how things turned out.” The vagueness sounded suspicious in his own audials, emphasizing the way the encounter had evolved. He was outnumbered, with neither a plan nor a familiar scenario to dictate his options. Starkeiger shifted his weight, favoring his right, as his wings drew back.

“When I was waiting to see what you would do, once you caught on to what I was suggesting.“ His vocals were smooth, unconcerned as he lifted a servo in a casual palm up gesture. It was no big deal. Yet, despite efforts to appear at ease, he realized that probably wasn't the right thing to say. He was making it worse, he was sure he was. Primus, was it really better if they knew he’d enjoyed Flux's confusion? Probably not.

Reaching up to rub at the back of his helm, Starkrieger’s optics slipped away briefly as he tried to figure out what he should do. Whatever the result of the game, actual talking was never part of the equation, and recalling his behavior earlier, now knowing that Flux was attached to someone?

Frag just… yeah.

Slipping that hand down the back of his neck to compliment the arching of his backstrut in a pointedly languid stretch, he cut the resulting wince from his jostled shoulder short. The whole situation spiraled out of control, and not in a good way. Time deploy a quick exit strategy.

“Well” Clearing his vocalizer with an audible reset, he let his arm lower to vaguely indicate his chassis and the sticky mess of energon. “As you can see, I have a small matter to attend to. So, if you’ll excuse me.”

He turned on a heel, mindfully keeping his field in check. It took every bit of restraint, and a constant mantra of precisely who he was (not a youngspark cadet to be undone by some heavy hitter Triplechanger and his pretty little conjunx, thank you), to keep his wings from bristling. Turning his back on them was unwise, unnatural. Hostiles shouldn't be allowed to assume a flanking position, but he would not show weakness.

If permitted to leave, without signs that they were going to take advantage of his vulnerability, Starkrieger would do so. Along the way, he noted the dropped cube, and easily dipped to reclaim it with his available claw. Touching it's surface did lift his spirits, wings twitching higher in remembered amusement. Today hadn't been a total loss.

[Cintra]

Just like the first time Flux decided to move, there was nothing that Cintra could do to stop it.

The same scraping sound echoed in the hall once more, the pink femme drug back and away with the larger mech's arm as if she were made of tinfoil. She fumbled her grip some at this, not from her hand slipping, but more to keep angled right so she could still see what was going on and not get stuck behind the larger mech’s limb. Other than this movement, there was no attempt made this time to stop him. Her legs didn’t kick and scrabble to find purchase on the floor, nor did she really lean her body to try to do anything in resistance. She was too busy trying to piece together what the HECK this other mech was saying, and how she had helped.

She didn't understand.

She truly didn't.

This confusion kept Cintra nice and quiet while the other two spoke, even after Flux's palm was plunked down atop her head. He may not have meant to put any real pressure, but his hand of course had some mass despite this, causing her helm to dip down along with posture crooking some beneath its weight. She could barely see Starkrieger then, gaze staring out between the gap between fingers with an angry orange glow. Yet, she didn't seem to really be seeing him at first at all, a distant look that started to gradually focus back in on what was going on in the NOW and not what was going on in the not-so-distant past.

Thankfully, Cintra had been so consumed in what she was trying to figure out, that she didn't fully catch on to what had been spoken of. It was for the best however, as a nice reminder of what the Seeker had wanted to accomplish could have set her off again. While she knew she couldn't get away with a physical assault now that Flux had his hand on her head, she could have at least belted out some verbal lashings and not so hollow threats. She didn't cue in soon enough though, watching as the cube was picked up, her eyes narrowing into a thin luminous glare.

"Yeah! You better run!"

As if suddenly waking out of her trance, Cintra barked these words out, a level of confidence behind it that bordered the edge of idiocy, if not flying right over it. Paired with this, her right hand unlatched from Flux's arm, swinging up in a slap to grab one of his fingers in an attempt to push it back and up to lift her new 'helmet' off her so she could see clearer. Riled up and ready for a brawl, Cintra bristled some, her free hand swiping down to try to smear some of the dust off her that was kicked up in the scuffle. It did about as much as to be expected... as in... nothing at all to remove the film.

"Some people..."

A snorted scoff formed after this.

[Flux]

Flux had never been the best at reading people - yet there was something about the vagueness of the Seeker’s words that got him thinking there was almost certainly something missing here.

Though he couldn’t remember what - which… given Cintra’s reaction to everything? Was probably for the best. If he couldn’t remember anything about this interaction in a few hours, then the tiny femme would hopefully move on from it as well. Finding some other annoyance, or distraction to keep her attention.

“Ah, gotcha…”

He wasn’t really sure what to say that wouldn’t set Cintra off again. Any suggestions that Starkrieger made would’ve been smacked aside - probably both verbally and physically once he’d worked out what was going on. The tiny femme having nothing to worry about there, even if he was a little insulted that she had taken it upon herself to stop things.

This could’ve ended better. Awkwardly, probably, yes, but now the Seeker was injured and- Seekers meant he probably knew Starscream. The last thing he wanted was for them to get in trouble, especially here where High Command resided, though he’d be ready to stand in for any punishment that Cintra was due for all of this mess.

He could feel Cintra shift under the weight of his servo, though didn’t let up any. He wasn’t putting any real weight behind the action, just enough to keep her from lunging forward now that things had calmed.

Clearing his own vocalizer as Starkrieger did, he could only nod.

“I ah- yep, yep. You go get that looked at.”

He wanted to say sorry. To apologize for what Cintra had done - though he did not want her to turn her anger onto him for doing so, and could only grumble quietly - muttering it so very quietly under his breath to the point it no doubt went unheard.

He wouldn’t move as the Seeker turned to depart, making sure that his servo was secure on Cintra’s helm so she didn’t take this moment to charge and dropkick him while his back was turned. The yell was expected, and Flux could only grumble in response.

“Cintra…” his voice tired, and it wasn’t until Starkrieger had put some distance between them that he allowed his finger - and servo - to be pried up and off Cintra’s helm.

“You need to learn to be nice. C’mon, let’s go find a washrack so you can get that dust off yourself, eh?”

Not giving her much of a chance to respond, he would carefully loop an arm around her - turning her so they could head in the opposite direction to Starkrieger.

-Fin