[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Finders Keepers [Closed]

[Flux]

Flux could only smile at seeing that his attempt to free Cintra had actually worked. It'd taken him longer than he'd of liked to get up here, but now that he had? Things had worked out, and been way easier than he'd thought.

It seemed like she was happy, too, which was always a plus. Hopefully, she wouldn't hold the fact he'd taken forever to traverse a simple hillside – and suffered an embarrassing tumble in the process – against him, though even despite her almost hyperactivity at times, she was always so patient with him, and as such he wasn't too worried.

Casting his attention back to the rock he'd hurled, he watched with almost smug satisfaction as it hit the ground hard. The power behind the throw, plus the weight of the rock itself added to the momentum for a rather satisfying noise as it made impact and took out several shrubs and plants in the process.

That rock wouldn't be messing with anyone again, that's for sure!

A glance was given to Cintra as she moved toward him, his frame not even flinching as she used his arm as a stepping stone to clamber onto his shoulder. It was something she'd done thousands of times by now, to the point it often felt weird without her sitting or standing there - the smile not leaving his face as she screeched the cry of victory, and then a request that he probably should've seen coming.

"Another one? A'ight!"

It was a good thing he'd paid attention to where the first one had landed, though a quick glance down to the small trail of destruction would've given it away anyway.

Carefully easing himself down – slowly and surely, if only because of the slope – he would grab the other half of the offending rock that'd been left behind. He didn't worry about adjusting his position for the femme, knowing she was more than capable of keeping her balance, and with another hard wrench, he pulled the rock free.

It was kind of poetic. Or it would be, should it actually hit its mark - with the same rock ending up alongside its other half.

Pulling his arm back, squared digits curled around the rock - he wouldn't move for a second, almost as if he was trying to work out the logistics of the throw. Just as before, his left arm jutted out to the side, angled slightly so he could keep himself steady. With Cintra here, obviously he wanted to show off and actually hit the damn thing, though any sort of nerves from the pressure of doing so weren't shown.

Then, he would heft forward, taking a step - and being careful of his balance. With this movement his arm thrust forward, releasing his grip on the rock in the process.

It flew. Oh, how it flew. This hadn't been a random throw like the first time, and as it sailed through the air it was evident that it was heading on a similar path as the previous half.

And then it hit the other rock.

It wasn't direct, clipping the side of it by the looks - but it was pretty damn accurate. He wouldn't say anything, letting Cintra have the first word, though found himself steadying his frame as he watched the rock roll before settling into its new resting place.

[Cintra]

The fact that Flux had humored her asinine request was a perfect example of how well they worked together. The frenzy-like energy of one, met halfway by a calmer force that was more than happy to attempt to bridge the gap while acting as a grounding element. It was a dynamic that worked well for them and with his amused acceptance of the challenge? Well, Cintra only got that much more amped up, his actions adding fuel to an already raging fire and zeal of an overly aggressive femme who had been released upon this unfortunate world once more.

As Flux moved to pick up another rock, Cintra would comfortably lean her weight back and to the side, her tendrils easing over as well to help counteract the motion. She didn’t show even the faintest of flickers as though she were going to fall, instead finding such a familiarity it was as though she had known exactly how he was going to move previously. It was during this action that she saw just which rock was being picked up, and it appeared to bring her a profound amount of joy. He could have grabbed the one to the left or right, or even turned to grab a different one behind him... but no. He took hold of the other half of the stone that had trapped her previously, a barely restrained laugh strangled out as she wrenched over to stand on his other shoulder so that her weight didn’t impair the swinging motion of his arm.

A toss.

A soared shape.

A hefty BANG.

Cintra let out another cackle, this one almost maniacal as Flux had managed to throw the boulder accurately enough to hit the offending rock. While she was hopeful, she hadn't really expected it to work, figuring that it probably would have missed. Maybe she'd ask for him to toss another... maybe she'd want him to go down there and stomp it a couple of times for good measure... yet it had actually HIT! And that created another surge of joy, the high-strung femme thrilled beyond belief. It simply was too much energy for her to contain any longer, her perch upon the other mech becoming a new form of cage.

With little to no warning, Cintra kicked off from Flux, launching airborne a second before she struck the ground hard against a heel on a rock further down the hill, momentum far too much for her to even try to stop. Not that she wanted to. She continued, a hopped stride almost a sprint until there was a drop that was a little larger, the tendrils in her wake hooking forward dangerously to hit the ground first and act as a buffer so she didn’t fall. She was a fast individual, and in just a few moments she was down at the side of the rocks, getting a first-hand view of the damage that had befallen the stone.

The impact site of where it hit was abundantly clear once up close, a large scraped scuff of white dust and grit cored out on one side, while a fissure ran along a seam line between the ridged layers. The strike was strong enough that it even embedded the first stone down into the ground more, a feat that was profoundly impressive given just how compacted the earth was before its newfound trauma. The secondary rock was thrown off to the side a short distance, its own momentum letting it carry onward a little further in response, leaving its own set of gored mars through the greenery... or... brownery?

"Lookat that you really did it!"

Cintra threw both arms up with a cackled 'woo!', her voice yelled up at Flux where she had swiftly abandoned him, its volume echoing around the immediate area.

[Flux]

The cackle from Cintra was pretty much the best noise ever. To some, it could probably be seen as off-putting, along with her crazy energy levels in general - but to Flux? He wouldn't change it for the world. It made him smile, and even though it was simply because of something so stupidly small like throwing and hitting a rock? He hoped that he'd be able to remember this moment somewhat.

He knew he probably wouldn't. Within a few hours, most everything they'd done today would be a fuzzy mess of static that could barely be recalled should someone ask. But here, in the moment? He'd cherish it, not that he was one for being sentimental – that wasn't really how Decepticons did things, after all – but he enjoyed being able to spend time with his partner, and was thankful they were on a mission together.

So used to her movements, he didn't even flinch as she kicked off from him - optics narrowing ever so slightly in concern as she landed below. Upon seeing that she hadn't landed weird on the rocky terrain, and kept going without issue? He'd relax again, though wouldn't move to start following. If he started going? There'd be no way in the pits he'd be able to stop, plus it meant climbing up all over again which… yeah, no, that wasn't going to happen.

So, he watched - waiting for the verdict once Cintra had done her inspection of the rock that'd been thrown.

And judging by her reaction? It was a good conclusion indeed, and he couldn't help but grin as she threw her arms back in celebration of what he'd done. He copied the motion, though not quite as eagerly - given he was still on the all too troublesome slope - making sure to keep his balance.

"Yeah yeah, I'm pretty good." he smirked. "That's what it gets for messing with you!" he laughed, lowering his arms as he slowly turned to start making his way up the rest of this stupid hill. He knew Cintra would have absolutely no issue catching up, and would probably overtake him and then some on her way past - hence why he wanted a head start.

[Starscream]

After sending the pair on their way, Starscream had made his way back to his office with haste. His frame had been tensed as he moved, almost as if he'd been expecting an immediate ping from Cintra with a thousand questions as to what they were actually supposed to be doing.

But it hadn't come.

In fact, there had been no news nor word at all - and the silence had been blissful indeed. While it was probably cruel to send them out into what was practically the middle of nowhere for absolutely no reason, such things did work out for the best sometimes. The undisturbed terrain, for example, could hold Energon reserves that hadn't been logged before.

Perhaps they would be lucky, though the odds of that happening were fairly slim.

Regardless, even though he knew damn well there would be absolutely no sign of any Autobot activity out there, to keep up the facade that they were doing something important, he figured he had at least better check in to see how things were going.

Venting out a gentle sigh, as if to psyche himself up almost - a servo would raise to the side of his helm.

As Cintra was 'in charge', she would receive a quiet ping from her comm, followed by a simple question.

::Status report?::

[Cintra]

"That's what it gets for messing with you!"

"Damn right!"

Digging the tip of her ped beneath a smaller rock, Cintra would swiftly kick it with a hard TWIP to strike against the side of the larger boulder, the impact sharp, causing the stone to ricochet into the air somewhere. It was one last little 'eat shit' before she turned and started to head back up the hill in the direction Flux was going, noting that he had opted to continue the climb, which she didn't know was a good idea or not. She wished that he had flown a little higher earlier to look over and see if it was even worth it, though he hadn’t thought about it as he was too consumed by a rescue mission, and she was in too much of a frenzy to have suggested it while he was.

Would it be a waste? Would he be going to so much effort only for them to need to turn back anyway? It made her feel a little bad, and as such what started as a casual stride picked up as the earth started to ramp up again into the rocky slope, one larger leap followed by another hop, until her tendrils rammed down and took over her progress, each blade of metal striking down with noisy clinks against stone, and the occasional more muffled strike into the compacted dirt in-between.

Using these cables for transportation was effectively their entire purpose from her construction. While originally geared towards scaling the exterior of buildings in a more vertical motion, using the same mechanics across the sloped mountainside was hardly a stretch, and as such she was making great progress catching up. Despite this, Flux had enough of a head start he may actually crest the hill before her, so there was perhaps a new form of competition taking shape then, a want to 'sprint' up to beat him to the top!

Then her run instantly halted.

::Just surveying the landscape!::

Barked out a little too fast and a little louder than was necessary in reply, the comm from the Skylord not at all something Cintra was expecting at that moment. She may have known they were on a mission; she may have known they needed to get back on track and that they were heading in that direction, yet having the individual who ordered such a thing check in? Well, it caused a surge of fear to form momentarily. Not fear in the sense of self-preservation. No. She did not expect to get in REAL trouble with true repercussions because they got sidetracked momentarily... especially when she had gotten stuck and there was no way around that... yet what she did fear was the idea of already being a disappointment. Giving a very poor first showing on their first real mission.

She didn't want that.

::Had a small hiccup but we are on track again!::

Still energetic with a tiny dash of frenzy, in comparison this secondary statement was more 'relaxed', if such a word could even be used. It was while this was occurring she momentarily fidgeted in nervous energy, before she started her makeshift run once more, hollering up at Flux with a question that was perhaps a little late given she had already replied.

"Starscream is checking in on us! What do I say?!"

[Flux]

Chuckling at Cintra's words, Flux gently shook his helm as he continued with his slow and steady trek up the world's worst mountain. It wasn't even really a mountain in comparison to others, he was sure, but one thing he did know was that he hated it - and hopefully, he'd remember this hatred the next time he was faced with having to traverse one.

He probably should've flown, it would've made life a hell of a lot easier, not to mention faster – slow and painful transformation aside – but he'd never really favored that altmode to begin with, especially not when he was with Cintra, who opted for a ground vehicle.

He heard movement from behind, then, and while he didn't fully turn to look over his shoulder, he spared a momentary glance back to see Cintra had begun her climb as well. It wouldn't take long for her to overtake, he was sure - she was making this entire thing look so effortlessly easy, and upon seeing that she was moving, he gently smiled - continuing on at his own casual pace.

But then, her movement stopped.

He heard it in an instant, so used to the gentle sounds of her frame, of metal against rock as the blades from her tendrils made impact as she moved. So when that ceased? He found himself immediately concerned, sparing another glance - though he did not stop walking forward.

Was she stuck again? Had she somehow, in a cruel twist of fate, gotten a blade lodged once more? She wasn't acting like she was trapped, there were no wild flailings or yelps for any sort of assistance, she just seemed to have… uh, stopped.

"Cin?"

He spoke, the single word no doubt conveying he was asking what was wrong - hoping she spoke up sooner rather than later, as while he was worried, he was actually making decent progress in his climb.

Still watching her, still waiting for answers, he took note of the weird fidget before she pushed off once more. He'd put quite a bit of distance between them – not enough for her to be left behind or stranded, of course – meaning she had to yell up at him to be heard.

Wait. Starscream? He hadn't heard anything, his own comm hadn't pinged with any sort of communication - though in a way he was glad, as while he knew they were out here looking for something, he couldn't exactly remember specifics and wouldn't be able to go into any sort of detail in regards to their mission.

Turning straight ahead, if only to collect his thoughts and to make sure he was still going the right way and not about to walk into a boulder, he grumbled.

"You just left him on hold? Could start by saying hello for one thing!"

Primus, Cintra, you can't just leave someone from High Command on what was effectively 'read' - though it certainly explained why she'd seemingly frozen back there for a second.

Easing up to the top of the mountain, orange optics peered out over the considerably flatter landscape. There were more of those weird tree things up here, and in the distance were more dreaded inclines. They were only halfway up? Oh man…

But what was that over there?

"Whoa, wait- wait wait. There's… mm." glancing over his shoulder to see just where Cintra was, he continued. "-There's like a couple weird cloth building things in the distance over there. Could prob'ly tell him that?"

There were no jutting spires of Energon, no signs of Autobot activity, and certainly no ocean - though it seemed some lunatic humans had made their way up here and set up a small campsite. From here, he couldn't tell exactly if they were even around, or if they'd heard or seen him - though given his earlier actions of transforming into a helicopter, it probably didn't bode well.

Not that he was thinking about that.

"Ain't sure if anyone is home though. Maybe we should go look?"

[Starscream]

Even though Starscream had been more than expecting an instantaneous and overly loud response, he hadn't expected it to be quite so intense, to the point he actually grimaced. Thankful that he was alone in his quarters so nobody had witnessed him reacting to seemingly nothing, a quiet grumble escaped him as he leaned back in his chair.

The second statement came before he could reply - and should he have cared too much, or should this have been an actual mission, he probably would've read further into the fact she seemed far more rushed than usual – which was saying a lot.

::Surveying? Well, anything of note?:: he droned this, and while she couldn't see him, he vaguely gestured with one servo as if looking for further explanation.

::What kind of hiccup?::

Primus, they'd been sent to literally the middle of nowhere - how could there be any sort of hiccup when there was absolutely nothing around?

He wasn't exactly surprised, though would wait for an answer before judging too harshly.

[Cintra]

"I didn't just leave him on hold!"

Cintra cried this back at Flux's accusation, her arms throwing out at either side almost in a 'bring it' motion, though it was hardly meant to imply such a thing. It was more an energetic toss of her hands to expel some energy that the mech probably wouldn’t even see to begin with on his perpetual hike up the mountainside. This gesture was fleeting before she went back to her own climb, a cursory glance given back down at the rocks that were getting all the more distant as she tried to think how to articulate what happened without making a fool of them both. With this in mind, she hesitated ever so slightly at Starscream's question, which was good given the fact Flux had then handed over something to even tell him.

Launching herself up the last few stretches of the climb, Cintra's peds would solidly land down beside Flux, her tendrils whipping behind her with a sharp movement as though they were trying to shake off any grit that may have gotten stuck in the seams. After this flick, the cables would spiral back together into one unified mass, her frame easing upright so that she could survey the landscape as well to be able to put things into her own words, which... she should get into sooner rather than later as the Skylord was waiting.

::We can see some tents in a ravine thing, looks like humans are out here::

Humans were the only sentient things, right? Cintra couldn’t honestly remember off hand, wondering if there was a secondary species also around that she just misidentified. It probably didn't matter if it were or not, unless whatever other species there was were some kind of shoot on sight situation... In which case they were lucky that the pink femme had blanked on their existence, as she would be halfway down there already with her normal energetic psychotic zeal.

::The hiccup?::

Cintra panicked again.

::Flux isn't really built for climbing::

This was a true statement, and was indeed part of why they didn't get further with their adventures! When she got stuck, if he could climb, she would have been freed far sooner and then they could have more to share with Starscream. It also was a statement that was simple enough without needing a possible explanation as to WHY he was struggling given they were dropped in the wilderness. General navigation over the rocks may have just been the problem to begin with. Should they have taken the road to the city and explored there? Probably. But they were here now.

She then spoke to Flux, confused.

"If they are there and see us, won't we be in trouble?"

[Flux]

Scoffing at Cintra's words, Flux would repeat the gesture back to her - playfully, of course. He didn't want to rile her up to the point of annoyance, Primus only knew she was probably headed that way anyway since it'd taken them so long to get up here, though he hoped now that some progress was being made, she would start to settle a little.

Maybe. Though maybe not. With Starscream reaching out to her directly, maybe she'd be even more stressed out - and he was kinda thankful that he couldn't hear the conversation going on between the pair.

Turning around to look at the small campsite again, there were still no signs of movement even despite the fact he'd made enough noise to probably draw some attention his way. Now that he took a second to actually look, he could see small wisps of smoke from next to the tent. Following these curled trails down, he noted the smoldering remains of a small campfire, its embers glowing faintly as the light breeze caught them, preventing them from fully going out, though it was hard to say just how long it'd been like that.

Sparing the small femme beside him a glance, heavy shoulders would heave into a gentle shrug.

"Prob'ly? You're the one talking to Starscream. Ain't like they can really run far to tell anyone we're here though, right?"

A servo would move, gesturing toward the tent.

"Ain't been no movement at all. Maybe they're off… uh. Doing whatever it is they do."

What did the natives do? Why were they up here in the middle of nowhere anyway?

"I'm gonna go look. Stay behind me, yeah? Just in case."

He couldn't even remember what the natives even looked like, to be fair. Maybe they were as tall as Megatron himself, though then again, surely he would've seen them if that were the case.

Easing into a slow walk, given his momentum had all but fallen off the second he'd stopped, Flux began to make the short distance toward the weird building made from cloth.

[Starscream]

::-looks like humans are out here::

::Of course they are.::

The optic roll that accompanied these grumbled words could practically be heard in Starscream's voice. Not out of annoyance toward Cintra, no- just that the native pests seemed to be virtually everywhere on this annoying little planet, even areas that he'd assumed to be completely devoid of their presence.

::I'm sure it's nothing, however should it be MECH, feel free to use whatever force is necessary to dispose of them.::

If it were MECH, he doubted Cintra would've been able to respond to the comm at all. The signal blocked, both her and Flux taken without word nor sign - and should he have been a better mech, perhaps he would've felt a little guilty for sending them to their deaths. Though the chances of it being their human enemy out in the middle of practically nowhere? Well, the chances were almost zero.

Leaning forward and propping one elbow upon his desk, a vented sigh was the only response to what the hiccup actually was - though he did not broadcast this over the comm line itself.

::Well, as long as it was only a hiccup- then I'm sure it hasn't ruined your mission, mm?::

Climbing? He had questions regarding just what they were actually doing out there, though did not want to waste the time in asking, so would continue.

::Given you may have company, I will leave you to it. Should you require assistance, you know how to reach me.::

He wouldn't immediately hang up, knowing Cintra probably had more to say- and he'd much prefer she get it out now, rather than calling him back a half-second later to finish whatever thought she had.

[Cintra]

::umm...::

Starscream didn't seem to be concerned there were humans around... though she supposed that came with experience on the matter. Then again, how would he have experience given the fact he was a jet? No. That was a stupid question. He would know reports from others and how previous interactions with them went in the past. Just because he couldn’t go into cities himself didn't mean he didn't know how to interact with the local species in one way or another. Maybe. She didn't know... but what she did know was that he seemed done with the discussion and was brushing her aside.

::Oh! Uh, yes sir!::

Chipper, trying to verbally imply a salute with her tone of voice. While it was not visible to the Skylord, Cintra did pause in her walk, a sort of momentary freeze as if she was seriously thinking about doing so, only to remember that it couldn’t be seen even if it was the best one ever done. This pause was fleeting, giving Flux that much more of a head start, before she tuned into what he was saying, calling out after him.

"We can't just go look!"

A quick barked reply, that then stalled uncomfortably a second.

"...can we?"

What DO they do if humans saw them? Was it one of those situations where they just kill them and move on with their lives? Or would that cause some sort of alarm if their family saw that their life signature vanish? For all she knew it was better to be seen, and just bank on the person sounding psychotic if they tried to tell others just what they had experienced. She didn't know. Both had some major pros and cons, and while she wasn't opposed to killing, she also had the forethought to think that a loss of life would be investigated far more than someone spouting off that they saw giant robots in the desert.

She should have asked Starscream. The mech was right there, able to be contacted, and yet she hesitated because she didn't want to make a fool out of herself more than she already felt. After all, the answer should be straightforward, she would think. Yet here she was, trailing after Flux letting him take the lead when he probably didn't even remember what the local species were called at this point. That was an uncomfortable idea, though he had as good a mind as she did when it came to figuring out the best solution.

As in they were both probably useless.

Trotting forward quickly, Cintra would catch back up to Flux, jumping as though she were going to launch past him on his right, only to slap her arm out and grab onto his shoulder instead. The motion wrenched her around from the side so that her momentum and weight would be a push from that direction, rather than striking him straight on the back where the impact could make him lose his footing on the slope and advance. It was a bit of consideration, attuned to his quirks before she would prop herself up, clipping the flat bottom of her knee guard over a ledge of armor on his spine.

She would kneel here behind the plated junction between shoulder and neck, peering ahead while using him as a shield.

[Flux]

All Cintra would hear after the 'yes sir' would be the gentle click of the comm disconnecting.

Meanwhile, Flux continued onward at a gradual, yet purposeful pace. No motions were made to pull out his rotary gun, at least not in this immediate moment. He knew about humans, vaguely - Cintra had more than drilled into his head about MECH and how dangerous they were to the point he knew they were to be avoided, though this didn't exactly give off a military-esque sort of vibe.

He heard the smaller femme moving behind him, scoffing gently at her words.

"Dunno. But I am."

He wouldn't flinch or pause in his movement as she jumped and grabbed into his shoulder, wrenching herself around and settling into a kneel. While he knew she would probably jump off him again within moments, it put his processor at momentary ease knowing she was there and safe as they made their approach.

Everything was still, with no sign of anyone nearby. There were no muffled, whispered conversations from within the tent - no brave displays of force with a human jumping out ready to try and defend their meager belongings. Just the tent, the small campfire with its wispy smoke – and a whole lot of silence.

But the pair of Cybertronians certainly weren't alone, and should Cintra pay attention to their surroundings some, rather than what was directly in front of them like her partner was doing, she would spot a lone figure and a small animal companion standing around 50 yards away, give or take. It seemed that he was on his way back from a walk, which explained the smoldering fire - though rather than making a scene, he simply stood quiet, trying to work out just what it was he was seeing.

Whoever it was didn't move, nor did he look particularly threatening - a male, wearing a pair of lightweight black cargo pants and a teal sun hoodie, the hood of which hadn't been pulled up. His brown hair was scruffy and unkempt, because who cared about that kind of thing while camping - and he had a touch of facial scruff. One hand slowly raised to shield his eyes from the sun as he stared at whatever the hell was at his camp, the other tightening some on a leash - a young border collie on the other end that seemed confused as to why they had suddenly stopped.

[Cintra]

Cintra settled somewhat upon her new perch atop Flux's back, letting out a sort of 'tsk' when he declared that he was going to look into it anyway despite her previous words. Would they regret this choice? For all they knew it was some sort of trap and they were walking blindly right into it... or, if it wasn’t a trap and it was simply some human, then they could get in trouble for causing a panic of some sort. The local species had phones that could take and send videos and pictures, yeah? She wasn't sure exactly what made her think she knew this, but maybe it was simply an expectation because they themselves had datapads that could do much the same, and humanity didn’t look THAT primitive for it to not be an option. She didn't know what the right thing to do was, so she merely stayed quiet to let things pan out, her stance pushing up a little higher as they approached so she could see everything, which... wasn't really that much.

A simple little campsite with a tiny little fire that was still smoldering and nothing else to be seen. It made her question her previous thoughts on technology, as this was... sad looking. There was no saying just what lay within the tent however, and as such Cintra dropped down at Flux's side again, moving around so that she could approach it head-on, kneeling when she got close with a curious look over its front to see how the opening worked. The long tendril that draped away from the back of her helm and shoulders slowly flicked to the side behind her without touching the ground, an almost passive indicator of her curiosity, this interest resulting in her lifting her hand as if she was about to try to see what was within. It didn't matter to her if she needed to tear its seemingly thinner material to do so... though things didn't get to that point, movement caught from the corner of her eye.

Instantly standing upright, Cintra panicked when she saw the small thing on the top of the hill, the finials on either side of her helm crooking up with her rigid stance.

What do they do!? Do they transform!? No, it was too late for that! Uhhh.... do they kill it? Was it bad to kill it? The same thoughts from before on life signatures and investigations flipped to the front of her processor, and as such instead of going into murder-mode, she backed off, tucking almost partly behind Flux's arm as though she were scared of the newcomer, despite not feeling anything like it in any way shape or form. She didn't fear the native species... but she feared doing the wrong thing, and as such she spoke in a low hiss.

"Flux there's a human!"

To help indicate just where it was, she pointed up at the man and his... dog? Is that what it was? She hadn't really seen a dog before. Animals were such weirdly rare things even before the war kicked off to a point that the only ones that she saw were those portrayed in shows or seen on the news for one thing or another. While this was no Cybertronian version, very far from it, it looked like it had a similar body shape that was just bound in fur or whatever shaggy hair that was.

Cintra continued to loudly whisper.

"What do we do!?"

[Flux]

Easing into a gentle stop as Cintra jumped down, he let her take the momentary lead in investigating the camp. Should this be some sort of trap, he was more than ready to make quick work of any one or any thing that dared try anything against the femme, though with how quiet everything seemed to be? He wasn't too worried - content to watch, ready to show some sort of interest should Cintra find any sort of cool treasures hidden within the small camp.

Though, while there was a reaction - it wasn't the one he'd hoped to see. Narrowing his optics, it took him a moment to realize she'd spotted something. His own attention had been on her and her alone, though while he hadn't been watching the surroundings too closely, he had certainly been listening.

…Which was probably why he hadn't even heard the human approach. Even without trying, the human's footfalls had gone completely unnoticed by the Triplechanger.

It was lucky that Cintra was paying attention.

Immediately, Flux would tense - gaze snapping in the direction of the offending intruder, arm easing out some to shield Cintra as she moved to stand behind him and point out exactly where the guy was.

"Is it MECH?" his voice a quiet rumble, knowing it would no doubt carry due to the openness of the terrain and his size, though he did his best to keep his voice soft.

He knew the name of their human enemy, Cintra had done well to drill that into his processor at the very least, though wasn't sure just what that actually entailed in terms of what they looked like. It was just one guy standing there with some kind of creature, he didn't appear to be any sort of threat, nor was he doing anything that set off any sort of alarm bells, other than uh… noticing them to begin with.

That was probably frowned upon.

Then, came the question he wasn't sure how to even begin answering. How was he supposed to know what to do? He'd only encountered a human once before, and he couldn't even remember how that'd ended.

"Don't kill it, unless o'course it attacks us first… What's that with it? The furry thing?"

He wouldn't move his arm, keeping it firmly held out as a means to protect and shield the femme, staring down at the human.

[Flux]

What the…

The hand that'd raised to shield his eyes would move, smearing through his hair before moving to rub at one of his eyes as if trying to make sense of just what he was seeing out here in the middle of practically nowhere. This had to be some sort of dream, right?

At least whatever those things were, they weren't… doing much. However, he couldn't work out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps they were waiting for him to make the first move. Had they been going through his camp? It wasn't like there was much there… a sleeping bag, some meager cooking supplies, a book on foraging as well as a rather generic sci-fi novel just to pass the time.

He wanted to run, honestly. Everything in him told him to, yet he found himself unable to look away - hand moving to block the sun once more as he kept his gaze on them. The smaller pink one seemed to be scared, as upon noticing him she'd– was it even a female? – moved to hide behind the much larger, scarier-looking one.

"Hold on, Ella." a quiet word to the dog who seemed to want to take matters into its own hands, turning its head to grab the slack of lead and try to get things moving.

Right. First move.

A wave never hurt- and so that was what he did, raising his free hand once more, he somewhat awkwardly waved to the pair.

"Hello!" he hesitated, clearing his throat- realizing the initial greeting may have been a little too quiet.

"M-My name is Otis! That's my camp, did you need anything? I don't have a whole lot!" he raised his voice, just so it could be heard across the distance - trying to sound confident even if he was inwardly terrified.

Instantly he found himself wondering if he'd asked the right thing, not really knowing how to deal with the fact he'd stumbled upon two giant alien robots.