Slugslinger
Minor
And if it weren't for this blasted coin…
Posts: 388
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Post by Slugslinger on Oct 27, 2011 9:09:50 GMT -5
Slugslinger puffs himself up to maximum display, ignoring Crankcase for the moment to be Angry Thug Number Two.
"I was walking through the doorway!" he protests with his shoulder vanes quivering in rage. "You got no right to try tackling me just 'cause I don't walk fast enough for you, ya impatient blockhead!" Now he looks to Crankcase – and wonders, privately, how people can call him ugly when eight-eyed monstrosities like that are running loose on the ship. Is it the asymmetry? It's a valid contemplation. But he likes his half and half face; he certainly won't change it just because it might not be the most attractive. It's just so himself. He can't picture his face without the contorted side.
Not that he thinks it much matters to the dreaded wonder over there. He gives Crankcase a sullen glare and points at him.
"You know what I mean, right?" he demands.
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Post by Crankcase on Nov 1, 2011 19:09:06 GMT -5
"No problem," says Crankcase with that same rough voice but in a more disarming tone, even holding up both hands in a conciliatory gesture. It just figures he'd bungle into a pair of hotheads. "Heard the noise. Came to look." Observation is what he does. His gaze slides from Duskwing to Slugslinger, but he doesn't dignify the latter with an answer. The unvoiced question simmering behind his eight optics is, Why in the name of good sense are you two fighting over a doorway?
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 3, 2011 14:29:14 GMT -5
"There is a problem," Duskwing growls, half at Slugslinger and half at---WHAT THE SLAG IS THAT? oh right, it's Crankcase. Both fists are clenched. "The problem is dat someone here is askin' to be slugged, know what I mean?"
Anger, frustration, and disappointment have Duskwing wound tighter than steel wire caught in a submarine's screw--but Slugslinger is too big to bully, and keeps dancing away from the edge of an honest-to-Primus brawl. Crankcase hasn't done anything to annoy Duskwing yet, but he is smaller than Slugslinger, isn't he? On the other hand, if Slugslinger's being a glitch at Head-Tentacle Guy, Duskwing's sympathies are apt to swing Crankcase's way.
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Slugslinger
Minor
And if it weren't for this blasted coin…
Posts: 388
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Post by Slugslinger on Nov 6, 2011 8:25:16 GMT -5
"I already asked that!" Slugslinger growls at Duskwing, turning that imperiously extended finger from Crankcase to the Seeker. "You quit copyin' me!" And while he doesn't have to feign all the irritation – he's somewhat sincerely annoyed with how spectacularly dense the other jet proves he can be, though it also makes Duskwing delightfully easy to mess with – the hard part is not cracking up. It's all so absurd.
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Post by Crankcase on Nov 6, 2011 9:37:26 GMT -5
Now they've both asked the same question. They are, essentially, asking him to take a side of the argument. Crankcase hates being put into this position.
"DON'T KNOW," he says abruptly to both jets, unwilling to agree with either and reverting to his habit of short-message form in his discomfort. He takes a step backward, dreads rattling across his chest with the motion. He shouldn't have gotten even this much involved. His mistake. "WHAT HAPPENED." Maybe he can get somebody to explain the situation before they start shooting again. Maybe he can stall until somebody better at mediation (hopefully) shows up.
To the broadband, he pleads:
//OUTSIDE MEDICAL. SLUGSLINGER AND DUSKWING FIGHTING. SHOTS FIRED. OFFICER NEEDED.//
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 6, 2011 18:11:14 GMT -5
Duskwing gives Crankcase a puzzled stare. "Whaddaya mean, 'don't know'? Slag, it' ain't mad science to figure out. Did you ask to be slugged? Don't think I heard dat. Am I askin' to be slugged? Not by me, I ain't got that kinda kink. So think about it--who does dat leave?" He turns his head to glare at Slugslinger.
"And nothin' happened. We was just havin' a difference of opinion. His was stupid."
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Post by Starscream (Movie) on Nov 6, 2011 19:33:54 GMT -5
Starscream is, one might charitably say, a little perturbed that he has to break up some sort of argument between Duskwing and Slugslinger, mostly because he despises having to be in the same room with either of them.
The Decepticon second-in-command appears rather suddenly around a bend in the hall, the only warning that he's coming being his footsteps and his fingers gripping the bulkhead as he turns the corner.
"I want an explanation, and then I want a list of reasons why you aren't more valuable as spare parts. You first, then you. If either of you interrupts the other one, I'll shoot you," he growls, pointing first at Slugslinger, then Duskwing.
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Slugslinger
Minor
And if it weren't for this blasted coin…
Posts: 388
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Post by Slugslinger on Nov 7, 2011 7:25:51 GMT -5
A wild Starscream appears! So Crankcase doesn't have the lugnuts to handle an argument himself? Slugslinger gives his fellow freak a sidelong glance before turning to Starscream, still belligerent. At least he gets to go first!
"I wasn't walkin' fast enough for Dumbwing there," he declares loudly, one fist raised to shoulder height while he points to Duskwing with his other hand, "so he tried tackling me outta the way. Then he got mad that I was mad! And that's when pigtails there showed up, and he went cryin' for you, and now we're here." He throws up both hands in as grand a frustrated gesture as he can, then lets his hands drop to his sides with a clang. After a pause he thinks is appropriately long, but not too much, he brightens his optics and stands up straighter, adding, "Oh! Right, you want a list. Well, that's easy." Slugslinger props his right fist on his hip and proudly jabs himself in the chest with his thumb. "I'm the best flier you've got," he pronounces, smug. "My parts don't have my skill or experience."
Was that too smart a response? Scrap. No, thinks Slugslinger, he should be fine. It's nicely literal.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 7, 2011 19:40:42 GMT -5
Duskwing glares briefly at Crankcase before turning to face Starscream. Gee thanks for bringing High Command into it!
"Yessir!" Duskwing straightens up and gives Starscream an almost snappy salute.
"We was just havin' a difference of 'pinion like normal guys and the little guy gets all freaky about it!" Duskwing jerks a thumb towards crankcase; his tone is surly and belligerent. Everyone is trying to spoil his day today! "Don't see what the problem is, besides Sluggy here bein' stupid and Octo-optics bein' stupider."
Then he glares at Slugslinger. Oh no you don't! "Sluggy's full of recycled lube oil and it's leaked into his CPU. He ain't but fourth or fifth best, maybe. I'm better than he is, and Fleetwind, and probably Misfire, except Misfire can't shoot straight--but he flies real good, and you, sir, gotta be one of the best or you wouldna been Air Commander. Me, I can fly real good and shoot straight, and Sluggy is right 'bout that, ain't none of our parts can do dat demselves." Always suck up to senior officers, they love to hear how great they are--that's one of Duskwing's heuristics for survival.
By all rights, Duskwing should be a quivering, terrified wreck, faced with the ire of a senior officer threatening to execute him on the spot. However, he's still mad at Slugslinger, and his CPU hasn't gotten around to processing through the implications of his situation.
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Post by Crankcase on Nov 7, 2011 20:02:33 GMT -5
Backlash from the squabbling jets be damned; Starscream has every ounce of Crankcase's gratitude in this moment for saving him from having to try and that rescue matters more than their little tantrums. He does, however, step back respectfully now that the vice-commander has a handle on the situation. He eyes Duskwing from the corners of his eyes, wondering where the thick-wit gets little guy from when they're very nearly the same height. Does a handful of inches make that much a difference? Is this some kind of status-grabbing lubricant match where the tiniest perceived advantage matters?
This is why involvement is such a headache. Crankcase reminds himself to just… stay out of it from now on.
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Post by Starscream (Movie) on Nov 10, 2011 9:31:27 GMT -5
Starscream has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. It'd be almost cute to see the grunts jockeying for dominance in their own little hierarchy if it wasn't so annoying.
"Correction, Slugslinger, I am the best flier we have. You are simply the most annoying." He glances over at Duskwing when the Seeker pipes up. At least the idiot knows how to tell his superiors what they want to hear.
"You both misunderstand. I could care less about why you two walking malfunctions are arguing with each other. What are you doing breaking into the spare parts locker?" he asks, pointing an accusing talon at the blasted lock.
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Slugslinger
Minor
And if it weren't for this blasted coin…
Posts: 388
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Post by Slugslinger on Nov 10, 2011 10:56:51 GMT -5
Being the most annoying is still the best at something, and Slugslinger keeps the grin to himself, stifled and locked away in a private little corner of his mind where he can delight to his spark's content. It's so nice to know his work doesn't go unnoticed. Outwardly, at Starscream's rebuttal and then the subsequent question, he frowns, shoulder vanes lowering at odd angles. This, he thinks, is exactly why he let Duskwing blatantly take the lead this whole time.
"He told me to open the lock the quick way," Slugslinger says in a grudging, halting manner. He clearly baulks at having to admit involvement; after all, they're in trouble. He sets a reminder, while he's thinking about it, to harass Crankcase about this later in some way that also shows his gratitude for getting Starscream involved. "Somethin' about souvenirs."
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 11, 2011 15:25:52 GMT -5
Ruh-roh. Duskwing suddenly grasps that he might be in trouble here as his face goes through contortions of dull surprise, uncertainty, to finally settle on surly stubborness. "I thought Sluggy was smart enough to know I meant 'Could he unlock the fraggin' door, or override it or somethin'. Not 'Oh, I'll just blast a hole in it!', 'cause dat is stupid. I may be not no officer-grade genius, but I ain't dat dumb!"
Sure, throw Duskwing to the wolves; he'll judo toss you the same way. "So he goes an' blasts a hole in the door, and gets all mad when I tells him he's a moron for breakin' stuff. It wasn't dat important." Duskwing shrugs after shooting a glare at Slugslinger. Slugslinger is so not on Duskwing's list of people to invite to a 'breaking & entering & salvage" session again.
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Post by Crankcase on Nov 17, 2011 12:57:04 GMT -5
And now the arguing. None of which strictly concerns Crankcase, so he retreats to an unobtrusive distance not far from Starscream's side with a slow, smooth movement, seeming to slide more than step. He is ready at the vice-commander's word if Starscream requires.
OOC: Skippable, but will respond if addressed or such. Lost track of this one, guys; sorry.
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Post by Starscream (Movie) on Nov 19, 2011 17:36:41 GMT -5
Slugslinger and Duskwing are making Starscream want to scream at a wall for a while, and then have a good long soak in the CR tank. Or kill them both.
"I don't care about the idiotic details of your little escapade, I want to know why you were here in the first place, breaking into a spare parts locker you are not authorized to access," he says slowly, emphasizing every word.
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