In the Doldrums

[Slugslinger]

OOC: Month 2, Week 1, Day 2. Open.

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Slugslinger is somewhat torn on rock room watch, he decides on his way out. His expression looks bored rather than thoughtful, which is exactly how he wants it, and his stride is neither jaunty and quick nor sullenly slow as he makes his way through Ship. It makes getting past him more of a bother than it should be as he walks with his body squared to take up as much space in the corridor as he can make it. He seems oblivious to the nuisance he's making of himself.

On the one side of it, he thinks, gesturing with his left hand as if sketching out his thoughts in the air, he's stuck in a room with one person, who might be a raging bore, for the duration. On the other side, and now he gestures with his right hand, he pretty much has command's blessing – nay, orders – to sit there and do nothing for the duration unless something interesting happens. And sometimes – here he grins – interesting things do happen. Really, the pros far outweigh the cons. Rock watch may well therefore be his favourite duty rotation. It's the perfect blend of entertainment and irresponsibility.

Unfortunately, his next rotation is a cleaning detail. That thought deflates his good mood considerably and his grin wilts to a moue of disappointment.

"Like I signed on to pick up after the slobs on board," he grumbles to himself, swinging by the galley to pick up his rations, then making tracks for the rec room since it's cosier and more entertaining. He's always restless when the high of a good battle wears off and he's deep into the subsequent doldrums like this. Trouble is there's nothing left but the routine with minor diversions. Diversions like games, and his expression lightens somewhat as he fingers the deck suddenly in his free hand. He takes in the lounge with an eager, calculating gaze, trying to size up likely takers from the off-duty layabouts present.

[Swindle]

At least one of the off-duty layabouts is suffering from a minor case of depression, slumped in an armchair and staring off into space. They're no longer on Pz-Zazz! With every passing moment the star belonging to that glorious smoggy brown orb gets smaller in the rear viewports. Yes, Pz-Zazz, where the morals are loose and the exchange rates are favorable. Swindle will miss it.

He perks up when the jetformer appears in the door, a smile crossing his face. "Why, Slugslinger, is that a pack of cards you have there? Are we gambling?" he asks, a twinkle in his eye.

[Cannonball]

Cannonball is not laying about for once, but he was working on it. After all, restoring one's previous colors can be hard work.

At least, he was working on it until he found himself staring at a jet's back. He scowls, then prods Slugslinger in the shoulder with a finger. "Oi, oi, you gonna stand there all day, or do others get to use the doorway?"

[Slugslinger]

Slugslinger returns Swindle's good cheer with a winning half-smile of his own. He waves the deck just a little from side to side, mimicking an admonishing waggle of the finger.

"This is a Praxus Fold 'Em deck," he chides the glum little car in an airy tone. "It's made for–" And then he's interrupted by a jab from behind and a good deal of grumbling. His smile, as Swindle can readily see, shifts easily to a disgusted scowl as he shifts his weight onto one leg and peers over his shoulder at the offending party. "Can't you see I'm talking here?" he demands, supercilious. He takes in the paint job, complete with eyepatch, and the contorted side of his mouth turns his expression to a sneer as he adds, "Or does half an optic band mean half a central processing unit, too?"

[Swindle]

It's too bad Slugslinger already has a deck of cards to play with. It would be very suspicious for Swindle to suggest that they play with his own (marked) deck.

"Cannonball, buddy! How're you doing, you old space pirate? Repaint's coming along nicely, I see." The arms dealer smiles, waiting patiently to see how the pirate and the jerk will resolve their petty door-related differences.

[Cannonball]

"Aye, I see you talking, and you can do it just as well somewhere that ain't blockin' the way. Now, how about you move your skidplate before I move it for you?" Cannonball's not wavering a bit, nor caving to the base jab.

Cannonball peers around Slugslinger as best he can to see Swindle on the other side. "Yeah, after that crazy egg business, I 'ad to get back to bein' myself, y'know."

[Slugslinger]

Slugslinger doesn't move, but he does blink dramatically – at what Swindle says, which he makes clear by turning toward the mercenary merchant, not at Cannonball. Then he turns back to the pirate, left optic narrowed in as close to a squint as he gets. This is the wrong angle to see very much of the markings he was led by rumour and secondhand description to expect; all he can make out are some snatches of ghoulish detailing on the doors. And the pirate's been repainting himself? Scepticism is in order, thinks Slugslinger, with a touch of awe. He continues to block the doorway as much as he can, but his expression reads confusion now, not hauteur.

"Cannonball?" he repeats as if he can't believe it. And he can't quite believe it, so there's true incredulity there. "As in the Dread Pirate?" And if this is true, what, for the sake of little green Energon stars, is a legend – myth? – like the merciless, seemingly ageless pirate captain Cannonball doing blowing his time around here?

[Swindle]

"So you're all back to normal, then?" Swindle asks, leaving unspoken the fact that Cannonball's strangeness around the Egg extended further than his paint job.

The arms dealer shifts in his seat, hanging an arm over the back of the chair. "You ladies going to get out of the doorway so other people can use it, or what? Hurry up and get in here so I can take your money."

[Cannonball]

Cannonball looks about as surprised as Slugslinger is about who he is at actually being referred to as such - on a first impression - and not with sarcasm!

"...by Unicron's beard lad, you've 'eard of me? There's finally someone in this outfit that knows of me?" Cannonball's voice rises in tone a bit, but he catches himself and swallows back his elation, switching to an egotistic facade. "The one and only, lad!"

"Yeah, back to normal as one can get on this boat. Buncha right loons on this crew, y'know - an' if they're not cuckoo, then they're often dumber'n a sack of rocks."

Cannonball then makes a motion toward the rec room after Swindle beseeches them. "You 'eard the merchant, get goin'!" He peers around Slugslinger. "You'd be wise to be careful 'ow much you take from me - remember, I know where you sleep!"

[Slugslinger]

It's Swindle that Slugslinger brushes off this time, flicking one hand at the arms dealer without looking at him, optics fixed squarely on Cannonball.

"I'll get to him in a minute," he says. Though he owes Swindle for that ladies crack. "But you – the heck is a guy like you doing in this dump? I'd've thought you'd be running the joint!" Idly, as he leans back against the door frame, he wonders if Cannonball is the squirming sort. There has to be a reason the dread pirate captain isn't in control of the ship, after all. A curious, crafty bot would ask why; Slugslinger maintains with seemingly innocuous observations.

[Swindle]

"Normal is relative. Anyway, I know where you sleep, too!" Swindle says with a grin. The smile only widens when the subject of Cannonball running the joint comes up. He privately wonders just how ambitious Slugslinger is about that sort of thing. And there's nothing quite like a good game of Praxus Fold 'Em to get to know a 'bot.

"Don't stroke his ego too much, now. He might overload if his opinion of himself gets any higher," he teases.

[Cannonball]

Cannonball scowls, shaking his head. "I'd like to be, but when you show up in a place where nobody's bloody 'eard of you, all one's talk and clout don't mean a glitchin' thing."

He looks at Slugslinger and smirks. "Though, a minor inconvenience - With the right associates," he starts, looking over at Swindle. "Some luck, and a little work, I can get right back on top."

Then Swindle opens his yap. "Oi, shush it up in there, lad! I finally get someone 'round 'ere who knows who I am, and you gotta try and clam 'em up!" His tone is just as teasing.

[Slugslinger]

OOC: Cannonball posed entering the rec room with player's permission.

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My, thinks Slugslinger, but that is a very curious answer! Then Cannonball is all bluster, is he? If talk and clout don't work, surely then it's on to brute force, yet the pirate makes no mention of that, merely alluding to a partnership of some kind with Swindle.

"But – you're Cannonball!" Slugslinger insists lamely with a gobsmacked look on his face as he follows Cannonball into the rec room. "Can't you just… I dunno, that thing you do with the laying waste singlehandedly to entire crews? What about that time you sacked a port and razed it to the ground in one night?" Slugslinger stops then and gestures helplessly, not quite shrugging nor throwing his hands in the air. "You're the captain who fought a battle on the event horizon of a black hole and sailed out again!" he exclaims.

Now why, for a bot who has achieved such feats, is Cannonball not sitting in the captain's chair?

[Swindle]

The thing about pirates, Slugslinger, is they're pirates. They're thieves who operate out of a ship. They tend to be well-armed and very scary. This is to intimidate the civilians they rob into not putting up a fight. Ship is full of soldiers.

Swindle grins. "Now how come you never told me about any of these adventures, Cannonball? A battle on the edge of a black hole? Sounds like a heck of a tale," he says ingenuously. At the same time, he reaches into his drawer and pulls out a transparent green dealer's visor.

[Cannonball]

Cannonball snorts at Slugslinger. "Ah, you bring up a valid point, lad" he says, taking a seat at the table with Swindle. "As do you," he says to the arms dealer.

"It's just like playing a card game - you don't show your 'and before you're ready." The pirate leans back in his chair, arms on his abdomen, hand lightly gripping the end of his gun barrel. "When I arrived, no one that was here had heard of me. Everyone seemed to be 'appy to follow Starscream, or Shockwave later on. That's 'ow it goes with you Decepticons - you follow the 'bot in power."

Cannonball tilts his head side to side a bit. There's a bit of a frown on his face. "All well and good, but if I -was- to seize power, these lots wouldn't be loyal like me crew back 'ome. Some bugger would eventually try to seize it from me." He shrugs again. "I do want to get 'ome, but I don't want to leave without takin' a share of loot from this universe. I want a crew of like-minded fellows - not a bunch of soldiers prattling on about some empire or whatever."

Cannonball leans forward on the table, resting on his elbows. His voice goes low. "Simply put, boy, I'm biding me time until it suits me."