[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Hitchin’ It (Open)

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Yikes not a science museum.

While that might interest someone like Mitch who was kind of a nerd he could already tell it wouldn’t do the job for Miko. But still, he couldn’t help but shrug a little. Vegas car shows were probably fun but he’d heard conflicting things about it. “Yeah, I’ve heard they’re pretty cool. But science museums can be fun too,” he said matter-of-factly. “When I was really little my dad took me to one where they had a 3D model of the whole solar system you could walk around. It was pretty legit.”

He had a feeling from the silence that her dad was kind of uncomfortable but tried to simply be calm about it. The Wreckers though? He didn’t think he could think too hard on it at least. Since he didn’t know anything about them. “Huh? That’s cool, I wonder if they’re my style of music?” He asked. “Maybe I’ll hit them up on google next time I’m at the library.”

He was... A little more surprised when she laughed off his alien bit.

Honestly he felt his cheeks go red from embarrassment. Maybe sometimes he was too much of a sci-fi nerd but still... “No, no. I swear as weird as it sounds he swears he got video of one. It was this giant metal thing... Like a robot! I don’t know he said he saw something similar on the net before but it got taken down?” He said. Trying to cover his tracks on this one. Definitely didn’t want to look like some sort of weirdo. “Honestly, I thought it may have been photoshopped but the video was pretty wicked anyway. I wish I had a cell phone so I could show you, but it uh... I left it at home today.”

God he was rambling. Shut up, Mitch you’re just looking weirder he told himself.

[Miko Nakadai]

"...I let Miko get away with far more than I should."

Miko could only nervously chuckle at this statement, settling both hands onto her lap. She was positive she had a lot of explaining to do when they were back at Omega One, including promising a billion times over that she hadn’t told any (big) lies to Optimus in the past about stuff!

All of this had been to help the Autobots keep their cover, and she hoped Optimus could understand! She didn’t want to be disrespectful or rude but he was awful at natural conversation, and if it was left up to him to talk to Dane? He’d be outed in a SECOND!

Because of this worry, she made a mental note to talk to Optimus more back at base, maybe he simply just… wasn’t used to talking to humans, or didn’t realize that the way he was coming across was so very awkward.

Luckily she had things handled.

“Aw see, a 3D model that we could walk around in would’ve been soooo much better than what was at this museum. It was a complete snorefest.”

At the mention of music, she’d quirk a brow and grin.

“Depends on what kind of music ya like! They’re really heavy metal, which ain’t for everyone! I’m surprised mr classic rock over here can tolerate them!”

Another little lie, trying to humanize Optimus more - even if she would probably get into trouble later for it. Op seemed the type to at least genuinely like classic rock - or country, ew - so hopefully it wasn’t too far from the truth this time.

Did he even listen to music? Another mental note made to ask Optimus later.

She noticed Dane blush as she laughed, though would think nothing of it. Her expression remained neutral as he spoke about giant… metal… robots, though she could feel her heart pounding in her chest at just how right he was. She knew there were websites out there with Bumblebee on them - Raf did his absolute best to scrub the images and whatever videos before anyone saw them, but obviously the little guy had a life and so couldn’t monitor every single website in existence all the time.

Meaning that people like Dane saw them for the few moments they were up.

“Giant metal robot aliens?” she scoffed “See, when I think alien I think little gray dudes with biiiiig eyes who say ‘take me to your leader’” she put on a bit of a voice to say that last part, followed by a chuckle.

“The video was probably just CGI or something, there’s some really good ones out there of like, Bigfoot and stuff that look totally real!”

She had a cellphone, she loved her cellphone - the thing was practically an extension of her arm at times, given how she never let go of it - but she would keep it safely tucked in her pocket, not even thinking to bring it out so Dane could ‘prove’ these claims.

“Does the dude who saw stuff have a website? Maybe I could check it out later!”

Sure - check it out and make sure there were no Cybertronians on there, and get Raf to try and work out where in Jasper this dude lived so they could avoid that area forever, anyway.

[Optimus Prime]

It wasn't so much that Optimus didn't know how to talk to humans, it was more... Optimus had never been a particularly graceful speaker in social situations all the way back to the days of Orion. He could articulate speeches and directions, he could cut to the point to get across what he wanted to say, but it was often geared towards factual means to not fill out a conversation with things that could get misinterpreted. The times he did have to get more elaborate where when he was trying to inspire others for a mission or goal, then he could put more passion behind it all, speaking from the heart. When it came to chatting idly however, filling time, that is where he fumbled some.

For countless years of war he never even had a need to, time being dominated by trying to organize and send out troops across multiple stations on multiple planets. Considering strategies, consulting with others for their advice, coming to terms with the fact that any single decision could end with death easily... No, it wasn’t until the Autobots got completely scattered that there were ever lulls where he could be stuck in scenarios such as this one.

As socially awkward as he could be however, Optimus did catch onto the play on words, calling the Wreckers a heavy metal band which could almost pull a roll of the eyes.

Staying quiet, the Prime didn't really interject at all to the discussion of aliens, focusing on the road ahead. The sooner they got to KO Burger, the sooner things could return to a semblance of normality, whatever that may be. However, they were just about to enter an intersection when time seemed to suddenly slow down.

The Holoform's head turned, brown eyes lifting from a glance he had cast at Miko and Dane to look out the side window at the traffic perpendicular to them. He had the right of way, the other individuals should be stopped at their red light, and yet a silver car was roaring forward with no visible sign of even remotely intending to change its advance. It was a highly concerning moment, questioning if they would abide by the light, realizing they didn't seem to... realizing his own momentum was already set into solid motion... what was in actuality only a fleeting second or two felt like an eternity, the Holoform's expression twisting from blank neutrality to an alarmed look of stress with teeth gritted.

Brakes slammed active at full force, wheels wrenching to a stop before a loud squeal roared of rubber scraping against asphalt. The trucks engines grated with an abnormal growl, systems trying to heave everything to a halt while pulsing brakes enough to attempt to stop the skid and bite onto its surface. Momentum was a serious issue however, large vehicles not halting at the drop of a hat, and as such, try as he might Optimus still slid forward past the crosswalk.

The car narrowly missed.

Crooked at an angle in the middle of the intersection, the red and cobalt semi-truck let out a snarled hiss as the brakes relaxed, engine rumbling at a low growl of annoyance. The man slowly turned his head to the side, looking where the vehicle continued along as if nothing had gone amiss and they were in the right, while the few other sparse drivers were stopped looking confused on if it was alright to go back to moving. The man's face held an edge of anger to it, gaze focused, the grimace from before no longer present.

Should it have just been himself? Optimus would still be annoyed... but to have two kids tagging along?...

"Are you both alright."

A question with stilted inflection.