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Post by Kup on Nov 23, 2010 22:49:54 GMT -5
"Emirate Xaaron," Kup answers. Then, figuring that might not be clear enough, he adds, "I told you I'd have to fess up, since he knows now? Except he didn't know about it. He knew that you were hotter than you should have been, and that you hadda be fitted with an external coolant system, but he didn't have a clear explanation."
Kup sighs and rubs his forehead. "Says he's pretty sure he'd have figured out soon, anyway, but he didn't know already."
Kup looks up at Swerve and shakes his head faintly. "I'm... I'm sorry, Swerve."
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Post by Swerve on Nov 25, 2010 19:02:31 GMT -5
Swerve blinks dumbly at Kup for a second or two before what the oldtimer says sinks in. He thought Xaaron knew, so the revelation that he didn't is baffling.
"But… he did?" Swerve wonders, still groggy. "Coulda sworn… he saw me." Stiffly, he pushes himself upright where he ends slouched, one leg dangling off the bunk with the other folded sideways, foot against the opposite thigh. The movement makes his head swim and he freezes briefly, holding his head until the sensation passes. "I mean," he goes on, "he was there… saw me." He remembers Xaaron standing there, after all. So if Xaaron didn't know and Kup told him, but Swerve thought the old showroom piece knew… Swerve grimaces and shakes his head. He's too worn down to make any sense of it. "What're you sorry for?" he grumbles instead.
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Post by Kup on Nov 25, 2010 23:16:52 GMT -5
Kup sighs. "Yeah, but your cooling unit was busted. Anyone would be overheating some. It's more... he suspected, but didn't get anyone spelling it out before me."
Then the veteran frowns at Swerve. "I'm sorry because I told you I wouldn't tell no one else unless it looked like someone was going to be in danger over it." Just because Kup is not as compulsively honest as Swerve doesn't mean he's happy about having accidentally broken his promise!
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Post by Swerve on Nov 27, 2010 9:26:19 GMT -5
Swerve just stares at Kup. It isn't that he didn't think Kup would keep his word; Autobots, as Swerve has learned, tend to do things like that. It's the apology that baffles him because he'd already figured Xaaron knew and he'd said as much. Yet Kup is still bothered because he betrayed the exact promise he made.
If it was me, Swerve thinks, I'd still be torqued up wrong too. He rests both elbows on his thighs and puts his head in one hand. "Okay, fine," he murmurs.
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Post by Kup on Nov 27, 2010 14:56:58 GMT -5
"Not really, no," Kup disagrees, tone mild and... tired. He stands up. "But it's done, and there's no undoing. I just... figured you should know." He turns to head once more for the room's exit, pausing a moment.
"I'll let you get back to your rest. I should probably fix... this," he gestures to his scratched, gouged, and acid-worn paint job, "anyway."
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Post by Swerve on Nov 28, 2010 23:56:03 GMT -5
"H-hey." Swerve starts to get up, reaching after Kup as if to grab him by the arm and stop him, then sits back down again when his knees wobble dangerously at the sudden movement. He still looks up at the oldtimer, worried, unsure, and grateful all at once – like he expects this all to be unreal somehow. "Look, you…" he starts to say, worrying his hands together instead. Don't have to go. I'm not that mad. He twists his fingers, looks down at them and back to Kup. "You stuck by me. That… I mean…." He turns his head to the floor but looks sidelong at Kup. There's a tattered, grudging shadow of a smile on his face, one that tugs uncomfortably at the seams near his optics. He rubs the back of his neck and adds quietly, "Thanks."
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Post by Kup on Nov 29, 2010 0:47:00 GMT -5
Kup stops at the door as Swerve protests. He turns back in time to catch... by Vector Sigma, is that a smile?
Kup's own is more obvious.
It's tempting to answer, 'Don't mention it,' and normally, he would. But this is Swerve, and mentioning it obviously took an extraordinary effort. So instead he just answers, "You're welcome."
He hesitates a moment. He does have to go, eventually. He wasn't kidding about needing to fix his paint job. But... that could still wait a little longer. "I... s'pose I don't need to head of just yet. If, erm... if you'd feel more comfortable, with, well... I mean, sometimes, it's just better to have someone else in the room, even if they're not saying nothing. Know what I'm saying?"
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Post by Swerve on Nov 30, 2010 13:38:59 GMT -5
Swerve, in fact, doesn't really know just what Kup is saying and his expression gives that much away. It's been a long time since he was comfortable having anyone near him while he's injured and when he was comfortable with it, he never really felt a need to have someone there. Now, though… now, having someone there seems to make it more real. Sitting by himself, still mulling over the second chance he has, feels dreamlike.
"Not really," he murmurs. "But it's… all right." There are better ways to describe it than "all right", but it was the first thing that came to mind.
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Post by Kup on Nov 30, 2010 18:04:36 GMT -5
Kup stays by the door for a long moment, studying Swerve thoughtfully. Finally, he comes to the decision that Swerve may not know what he's talking about but... he should stay, at least for awhile longer. He'll have to leave eventually. He's still got things to take care of today. But for now...
"Eh, I guess there're still a few more reports I should be going over," he observes, heading to his desk. He activates his terminal and brings up a file.
OOC: Fade?
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Post by Swerve on Dec 1, 2010 10:56:18 GMT -5
Swerve follows Kup as the oldtimer returns to his desk and for a split second, that worn old shred of a smile that pulls so uncomfortably at his facial seams turns vibrant – and more grateful than his one little word can sound.
"Sure," he sighs, smile already gone and groggy, weary expression back in full force. He shifts himself to one side before lying back down; his whole body seems to creak, ping, and tick as he settles his weight, suddenly feeling his age again and then some. He doesn't immediately fall back into defrag; he watches Kup instead.
OOC: Good with a fade.
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