damned_institute | Day 42, Afternoon: Morris Park

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Day 42, Afternoon: Morris Park

With the early morning’s embarrassment out of the way, Depth Charge had decided to devote a chunk of the day to familiarising himself with Doyleton: its ins and outs, the stores, the street names. Anything that could prove useful if he ever managed to escape- that, and having something to keep his mind busy after the incident in the used car place. Not only had he looked stupid, he’d looked careless and stupid, and neither of those were looks he really wanted to go for.

Finally he drew his circuit of the town to a close in a run-down park just off of Kelley Street, and boy did it ever look like slag. There was something oddly refreshing about it after the squeaky-clean stroll he’d taken around Perfectville, and anyway, he could hear the sound of a stream in the distance. Good enough for him.

The paper bag he’d been given on the bus was starting to feel irritatingly heavy to him, so it didn’t take long to pick a bench and sit down to eat. Depth Charge opened it up. Ah-hah. There it was. His old adversary. The orange fruit.

What was it Mori had done? Peeled the top part away? With the care of a ‘bot picking the wires on a ticking bomb, he began to strip the outer layer off of the fruit. So far so good. At this rate he might even be able to eat the slagging thing...

[What light through yonder window breaks? Tis the East, and Lugnut is the sun!]

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Likewise, it wasn't until a rather large, rather familiar shadow fell across Depth Charge's path that he realised he wasn't alone. Automatically he stiffened, hands freezing around the orange; after the run-in he'd had with Scourge 'cons were the last thing he wanted to have to think about, but at the same time he knew that he and Lugnut needed to talk. Cybertronian to Cybertronian. Scary stuff, but it had to be done. Knowing where they stood with each other had been difficult enough before, but now there was a Megatron of some sort strutting around the place like some kind of human-ised Primus. And just about everyone in the Institute knew how Lugnut felt about that.

Reluctant to let up just yet, though, Depth Charge settled for cool indifference and answered without turning around. "You. Haven't you got a puppy to be kicking someplace?"

[yeah, it is~ though he's down to one crutch instead of two.]

"... No?" Lugnut replied, rather blankly. A puppy? Wasn't that some small organic creature? Why would he kick one...?

He was silent for an awkward moment, staring at the Maximal, and shifted his weight onto his good foot.

... never mind. Sarcasm wasn't just lost on this guy, it was dead and buried. "Forget it."

Depth Charge turned to face the Decepticon- and promptly realised that, sarcasm or no sarcasm, kicking was probably out of the question. Just what had he done to his foot? "Slag. Is this what happens when I'm not there to save your skidplate?"

Lugnut looked down at his broken foot and shrugged, again awkwardly. He'd broken it opening a door for Blitzwing, but... that was kind of... embarrassing, yes, that was the word. And he didn't want to look weak in front of the Maximal, damaged by an inanimate barrier.

Changing topics before they could get onto that one, Lugnut said, uncomfortably leading, "Scourge said you have it out for him," and left it at that, the "why?" unspoken.

Ouch. You could almost hear the clang of Lugnut's words hitting him straight in the ego. This was gonna follow him everywhere, wasn't it? Depth Charge let out a soft, hissing breath and ran a hand through his hair aggravatedly. "That's scrap. I just lost my cool is all. 'sides, I thought he was with another 'con."

Lugnut blinked rather blankly at that explanation, then shrugged again. "You, uh.... might want to... not get into fights. With Decepticons," he added hastily, glancing down at the ground and looking incredibly uncomfortably awkward. After all, if Depth Charge caused trouble, Megatron would probably order him destroyed, and he was outnumbered by a lot.

(Not that Lugnut cared if Depth Charge was destroyed, except that he was in debt to the Maximal for his own life, from that first night. That was all. Depth Charge just needed to stay online long enough for the debt to be paid.)

Depth Charge hesitated. Was that concern or logic he was hearing right now? Either way, Lugnut was looking about as uncomfortable as he was uncertain right now. "Tch. I can take handle myself just fine. I've just been a little... tense recently."

It was strange to think it- stranger still to hear himself say it out loud- but it was true. After Forte's death... well, just sitting around like this he could feel every muscle in his body tightened just in case. He wasn't going to get caught short again, no way. Still... Lugnut wasn't going to try anything. Yet. Maybe he could try to unwind, even just for five minutes or so. "You gonna stand there all day or what?"

Lugnut made a noncommittal little noise, weight shifting a little more onto his good foot. "... Do what you will," he mumbled, after a moment. After all, Depth Charge wasn't his concern, right?

Well... standing was actually getting a bit uncomfortable. If he shifted his weight over any further, he'd fall over. "... Is there somewhere to sit?" He looked around for a bench or something, and spotted a kind of worn-looking one a little past Depth Charge to answer his own question, so he shuffle-hobbled over to it and sat down on one end

Not that he was purposefully leaving room for Depth Charge, any more than he cared about Depth Charge's continued functioning.

And now old Luggers was practically offering him a seat- one next to him, no less. Crazy. Depth Charge took it with a raised eyebrow but said nothing, perching awkwardly on the opposite end to the Decepticon. Now. To get down to business.

There was a long, awkward silence. Summoning the words for this was a lot harder than he thought he was going to be. On one hand, he didn't want to sound like he was expecting anything, but on the other... well, a naive part of him Depth Charge hadn't realised still existed in him kind of was expecting something. Not much, but...

"So. You found yourself a Megatron to kiss up to," he said eventually, keeping a detached, even tone. "Does that mean you're gonna slag me next time we meet or what?"

With a vaguely irritated noise, Lugnut shot a blank almost-glare at Depth Charge and declared, "I do not kiss up to the glorious Lord Megatron! He is truly worthy of all praise and devotion, and my life is his to do with what he will." He paused, subsiding, and looked down at his human hands, flexing them absently. That... still left Depth Charge's question...

"And I will carry out any order he gives me, no matter what it may be, or what debts I may hold, for my debt to him is infinitely greater," he said, slowly and quietly. It wasn't a "yes" or a "no," perhaps, but it was the truth.

There it was. Ladies and gentlemen, Lugnut had left the building. Thank you and good night.

Depth Charge sat back and moved his hands behind his head, staring up ahead of him. The feeling wasn't so much one of disappointment as one of slow, thudding futility. Looked like gears really did only turn one way. "Figured as much." He glanced sideways at the 'con, face unreadable. "... you know, you don't owe me anything."

Lugnut clenched his human hands unconsciously, a dully miserable feeling bubbling up in his fuel tank, like low-grade lead-heavy fuel. "You helped," he mumbled, "I owe you for that. And..."

He glanced sideways at Depth Charge. "My liege hasn't... ordered anything, yet. And... and if you keep your head down..." The words came out slowly, Lugnut dragging them out of himself by force of will. It wasn't... disloyal, telling an Autobot to not make trouble, it wasn't....

Hold up a klik. Was that an encore he could hear? Depth Charge didn't move, looking back to the sky thoughtfully. Slag. That was advise he was hearing, wasn't it? Lugnut sure didn't sound too happy about giving it, but he was... grateful for it? Hah. Yeah. Honest-to-Primus, he was grateful.

Now that didn't happen every day.

"Keep my head down, huh?" He snorted, a hint of a smirk visible in profile. "Yeah. Not my style. We both found out how good I am at it this morning. But if it means not getting my skull kicked in..." Depth Charge let the sentence tail off, giving Lugnut another glance. "... we'll see."

Lugnut relaxed a little. That was... not good, of course not good, he would never be happy about the continuing existence of any Autobot (regardless of what they called themselves, or how much they might have helped him), but the dull misery was subsiding a bit, leaving him to feel....

"Hate this place," he growled, discontentedly, but without any real heat.

So it was settled, then. In spite of himself Depth Charge found himself chuckling low and husky under his breath, if only at the absurdity of it all. "Can't argue with you there," he agreed with a cheerless smile. "Making deals with 'cons and liking it... this place does some pretty strange things to you."

The orange fruit still sat in his lap, half unpeeled. Stretching his arms out lazily he picked it up and continued to pick at it again, just to keep his hands busy.

It wasn't deal-making, it was... making his life easier, yes. Any energy that could be devoted to killing Depth Charge would be better-used towards escaping, or killing Starscream instead.

Still, he didn't correct Depth Charge. Let the Maximal think what he will; Lugnut knew why he had done that, and he didn't need to explain himself to anyone but Lord Megatron. So he grumbled something under his breath in reply and watched Depth Charge out of the corner of his optic, uncertain if there was anything else the Maximal wanted.

There it was, sitting in the palm of his hand, freshly shelled and ready to eat. If he really wanted to, that is. Depth Charge eyed the fruit critically for a moment, almost daring it to be sour. "By the way," he said, not taking his eyes off of the thing, "tell Scourge it wasn't what it looked like. I have better things to do than spend my day stalking him."

And, just to ensure that there wasn't going to be any sort of embarrassing follow-up to the matter, he peeled a segment out of the fruit and held he out. "Want some?"

Lugnut hesitated; "not really" was probably the wrong answer, even if he still wasn't overly-fond of consuming human fuel, but his body was starting to complain of neglect again, and it would be... well, he wasn't sure what it would be if he took fuel from the Maximal.

Still... it wouldn't be wrong, would it?

Gingerly, he took the segment of orange organic stuff and bit into it, wincing slightly at the aggressive brightness of the taste.

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Day 42, Afternoon: Morris Park

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(I won't be posting anymore today, due to being two-some hours away from the computer. ^^;; Sorry!)