SV, Autobot HQ, Homebrew Round 2

[dens-extra-pups.livejournal.com]

Ratchet: *Arriving back at the plant, a bit puzzled by how empty it seems* *pauses for a moment, before taking the opportunity presented, will go work on his old car for a while*

Cragbuster: *nearly silent as he steps to leave the hallway just as his father steps to come into it* Ack!

Ratchet: *Startled, steps back*

Cragbuster: *looks at the older bot with a slight frown but none of his usual crabbing* ...

Ratchet: *Cycling air for a few moments* *Grump* What's the big idea?

Cragbuster: *frown deepens a bit* Big idea of what?

Ratchet: Sneaking around like a spook! *Gruuuuuuump*

Cragbuster: *lifts a brow plate, and then offers him a can of something that does NOT smell like oil*

Ratchet: ... *Raised brow ridge, will scan what he's being offered as he reaches for it*

can: *holds energon. High grade energon with a pleasant sweet/sour scent*

Ratchet: ... Where did you get this?

Cragbuster: *rubs his nose, and then looks up again* I started it back when Terrion was in pieces.

Ratchet: ...About that...

Cragbuster: *takes another can from a six pack holder twisted out of wire and opens it, then has a sip and says what he usually says when Ratchet gives him what for for that incident. Only he says it without snark today* So I ducked. She should have too.

Ratchet: *Quietly, and probably not what Cragbuster is expecting him to say* I'm sorry....

Cragbuster: *blinks and then squints one optic* Come again?

Ratchet: *repeats himself*

Cragbuster: *doesn't blow up at Ratchet for 'trying to get all mech bonding' this time. Instead he just shrugs and drinks*

Ratchet: *A bit puzzled by Cragbuster's response, will hesitantly taste the contents of the can*

energon: *goes down smooth as fine oil, and then playfully kicks him in the head and leaves a deep but mellow buzz*

Ratchet: *blink blink, was expecting something a bit harsher*

Cragbuster: *amiably pushes past him and sets three six pack holders on the coffee table, then goes to the kitchen corner to start making a stack of softboil sammiches*

Ratchet: *will move to go work on his car then*

Cragbuster: How many sammiches you want, old man?

Ratchet: One's fine for now...

Cragbuster: *doesn't look away from his work* Grab a seat. You might as well help me get rid of that evidence while Terrion's out.

Ratchet: *Raised brow ridge as he moves to grab a seat* Why would we need to get rid of evidence?

Cragbuster: *adds another sammich to the stack on the plate* Because she caught a whiff of it the other cycle and was trying to find it.

Ratchet: ... And that would be bad?

Cragbuster: She'd send it to her head office, and they'd probably use it for personal transport fuel.

Ratchet: ... Head office?

Cragbuster: Yeah. IGP. *last sammich on the pile and puts the makings away*

Ratchet: .... So she's IGP?

Cragbuster: *brings the plate over and sets it by the six packs* She's an automated parole officer, so they don't have to keep me in the slammer all the time. *flops on the end of the couch and grabs his drink, then takes a long pull*

Ratchet: ....Oh, slag... *Facepalm*

Cragbuster: *brow quirk over his drink can*

Ratchet: *calling himself ten kinds of foolish*

Cragbuster: If she was going to charge you for it she would've done it already. *drink*

Ratchet: ... Are you sure?

Cragbuster: She's never charged anybody else when she got caught in a fight. Except that one slagger, and she busted him as soon as they put her back together.

Ratchet: ...Which slagger was that? *anticipating a good story, will finish off his first can of homebrew and reach for a sammich*

Cragbuster: This cross-wired glitch of a Grumposaur. He decided it'd be funny to steal a smoked bone Terrion had bought to send to some boss or something and then taunt her with it. I gave him a little tap for his pains and the next thing you know the entire bar got into the spirit of the thing.

Ratchet: *Snerk* Why am I not surprised?

Cragbuster: *thoughtfully* Y'know, I don't think I got any more stellar cycles for that fight, either.

Ratchet: Heh...

Cragbuster: *sets his empty on the table, and then takes another can from its holder and gets himself a sammich with the other hand. Feet up on the coffee table*

Ratchet: *reaches for another can* *considering look, will tell Cragbuster about one of the times Wheeljack nearly blew his own can off*

Cragbuster: >_o You're turnin' my crank.

Ratchet: I wish.

Cragbuster: Even I know those two chemicals react violently! *driiink. Nommasammich. Quiet burp* Excuse me.

Ratchet: What's worse is now, 'Jack has a couple of kids just like him....

Cragbuster: *sputters his sammich and gives his father a long look* Whose bright idea was that?

Ratchet: Wheeljack's.

Cragbuster: He hasn't got a keeper?

Ratchet: He does now... Bluestreak's his bondmate.

Cragbuster: And who's that? *washes sputtered sammich down with drink*

Ratchet: *Describes the little femme* Eclipse looks a lot like her... but there's no denying the sprog's Wheeljack's...

Cragbuster: *shakes his head* Huh...

Ratchet: It gets better... Bluestreak's spark budded after they bonded... *Long pull from his second can* Wheeljack likes to see what Solar Flare will urk up next...

Cragbuster: ... *sideways look at Ratchet*

Ratchet: *Names off fuels he's seen Wheeljack feed the mechlet, and the various reactions to said fuels: anything from hyperactively running about to projectile vomiting*

Cragbuster: *and now he's shaking with silent laughter*

Ratchet: You laugh, but you've never had the glitch aim the kid at you.

Cragbuster: *laughs even harder*

Ratchet: *wings the can in his hand at your head, 'Buster*

Cragbuster: *catches it, looks in it, and stuffs it under the coffee table, then gets another full one for himself* Do we have any of those chemicals?

Ratchet: I'm not sure... We might... *Pause* Why?

Cragbuster: I haven't had the chance to properly combine them in a few hundred vorns. *drinks deeply*

Ratchet: Combine them for what? *Will take a long pull from a fresh can*

Cragbuster: What do you think? *saaamicch*

Ratchet: ... *Facepalm*

Cragbuster: *finishes sammich and pushes to his feet* Where do you keep them?

Ratchet: *considering look as he thinks* *tells*

Cragbuster: *goes. Comes back. Sits down and mixes up two utterly vicious drinks that in any other reality would have been invented by Ironhide and called a Chromia*

Ratchet: *Looks intrigued*

Cragbuster: *carefully hands over one can of the explosively fuming mixture, and then settles back once more with his feet back up on the table to savor the other*

Ratchet: *hesitantly reaches for the drink*

Cragbuster: *snerks as an explosion sounds somewhere inside him, then has another sip*

Ratchet: *Scans the drink*

Cragbuster: *snort* Just drink it, old man.

Ratchet: Nag, nag, nag.... *Will have a long pull from the drink*

Cragbuster: *snerks as Ratchet's drink blows up on the way down*

Ratchet: *looks pretty rattled by that*

Cragbuster: *holds up his hand* How many fingers?

Ratchet: *looks* ... Too slaggin' many.

Cragbuster: *chuckles and empties his can in one long chug session*

Ratchet: *eyes his drink, before having another long pull from it*

Cragbuster: *going to mix himself another one* You'll have to show this to your friend with the sparklet cannon sometime.

Ratchet: Sparklet cannon? *And then another series of explosions is going off in his tubing and tank*

Cragbuster: The kid he aims. *settles back to drink his second boomy drink*

Ratchet: *Snerrrrrk.... Tips over backwards*

Cragbuster: 0.o *sets his drink down and leans over to poke the older mech*

Ratchet: *overcharged as he hasn't been in awhile*

Cragbuster: *thinks about this, and then finishes the boomy drinks up before slowly going and hiding all the rest of his moonshine in Sharpshot and Hound's room. Returns and conks out on the couch with a sammich in his hand and a grin on his face*


An hour or so later


First Aid: *blinking wearily as she leans against Optimus' arm. Can't remember now if he told her where they were going, but thinks that this looks like home*

Optimus: *Gentle reassurances, blink blink when he sees Ratchet and Cragbuster, both out cold* Er....

First Aid: *looks up at him, and then looks from the couch to the easy chair. Puzzled expression as she looks toward the ceiling after hearing what sounds like thunder*

Cragbuster: *source of some of the thunder. Is still grinning in his stasis*

Ratchet: *Is another source of thunder*

First Aid: *quietly, in the apologetic voice that she often uses lately* I... don't understand.

Optimus: ... I think... they decided to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day a little early...

First Aid: *blinks* We had... Is the thunder coming from them?

Optimus: I think so...

First Aid: *looks very alarmed as she tries to remember what could cause such sounds to come from a bot* We... I... Let's bring them to the medilab?

Optimus: I think it would be better if we leave them be....

First Aid: *startled* Really?

Optimus: *small nod, will offer to bring her to their quarters for a nap*

First Aid: *follows her mate trustingly*

Hound: *comes in shortly after Optimus and First Aid have left the main room, two chattering sparklets in his arms* *over his shoulder* You sure you don't want me to carry the parcels instead, Sky?

Sharpshot: I'm sure. *can barely see over the tops of the parcels*

Ridgeback: *Happy chatter!*

Sunhalo: *chatting right back, despite bubby's thumb in her mouth*

Hound: *chuckle* You've got something for me in there don't... *hears thunder and looks up, then looks over toward the living room area* ...You. What the heck?

Sharpshot: *attention going to the thunder* What the....?

Hound: *brow quirked* Buster and Ratchet've got some kind of internal combustion going.

Sharpshot: .... *tilts her head to peek at Hound and raise a brow ridge*

Hound: *nods toward Cragbuster as something explodes quite distinctly inside the yellow and white mech*

Sharpshot: ... *Attention goes to Ratchet as she hears a similar explosion*

Hound: *shakes his head and turns toward the hall* I wonder if they went to the Black Dog while we were gone.

Sharpshot: No idea.... *moves to follow her wordmate*

Ridgeback: *Squeaks at the explosions and chatters happily as he leans to get Sissy's thumb*

Sunhalo: *shares thumb* ^_^ *chat chat click*

Hound: *up the steps and then down the hall toward their room, only to stop short right in the doorway and look around with a frown*

Sunhalo: *quizzical look at Daddy*

Sharpshot: ... *can smell something that doesn't seem right*

Hound: Somebody was in here. *slowly moves out of Sharpshot's way as he looks around the room*

Sharpshot: *Moves to set the parcels down so she can search for the source of the smell*

Hound: *has noticed it too now* What the...

one whole and one partial six pack: *tucked into Hound's footlocker*

Sharpshot: *Low growl as she discovers the high grade*

Hound: What is it?

Sharpshot: Homebrewed high grade. *Slightly twitchy now*

Hound: You're turning my crank. *steps closer and looks* Huh. I thought Ratchet gave up on that hobby after that time you kissed him. *has heard this story told a few times*

Sharpshot: This isn't Ratchet's....

Hound: *surprised and puzzled look* Yeah... why would he stick his moonshine in our servolocker?

Sharpshot: *slight twitch that she tries to hide* I don't know...

Hound: Well, I'll set it out in the hall so you can put stuff away. *sets the sparklets on the berth and comes over to get the cans* Hey, there're minerals in here too.

Sharpshot: *'Hrrrm's absently as she moves to put parcels away*

Hound: *puts the cans and minerals out, and then pulls the door shut so the bitties can't escape*

Nightwish: *walks past the door, bringing Calypso upstairs to the creche room so that the Aquabot can get the forgotten toy that is turning the field trip to pandemonium*

Calypso: *pauses when she sees the cans* What do we 'ave here? *Curious, moves to grab them*

Nightwish: *looks over her shoulder* It looks like the stuff Cragbuster's been making. And the minerals that go into Chromias.

Calypso: Stuff Cragbuster's been makin'? Chromias?

Nightwish: Yes, 'Cromia' is the name of an explosive drink I've seen made in the Nexus. And Cragbuster brewed that back when Terrion was damaged and has been hiding it from her since then.

Calypso: Hrrrm... Best not keep these where the sprogs c'n find 'em... *Stowing the cans and minerals in subspace*

Nightwish: ... Do you want the recipe?

Calypso: Aye. *smirk*

Nightwish: *databursts it, and then continues toward the second flight of stairs* Let's get Mudflap's toy before 'Kiddyland' is past saving.

Calypso: Aye, cap'n. *moves to follow, chuckling as she recognizes items that she already has stowed back at the warehouse*


*Plant settles to silence after the two femmes depart from the roof, and then a few hours later is bustling with the usual happy supper confusion*


Bumblebee: *his new sulky pout is still firmly in place, but a bit of his old optic twinkle is back as he pokes at the softly snoring Ratchet* Y'know what? He's totally drunk off his big fat rusty caboose!

Showtime: *soft sigh as Shia toddles over to join in the poking of the elderly medic*

Ironfist: *coming in from the hall* WakeJumper, do you have any idea why the harbor is lit up over by your place? I'm sure I heard explosions, too.

((co-written with random_xtras))