sgv and the Nexus, Various Locations around Detroit and Tarantulus' Apartment, Halloween

[dens-extra-pups.livejournal.com]

Tarantulus: *Inspecting each and every part of the facility that he found on Dinobot Island, and mourning the loss of the majority of his cloak, courtesy of Grimlock. It's a pretty windy evening, so he's having to stop his inspection every so often to check whether anyone's approaching the island. So far, he's been lucky, and nobody's noticed him here...*

Sentinel: *giving Elita reproachful looks as the femme quietly notes that if they find the Dinobots he'd better let her speak to them. Still can't believe she let that big green oaf back over him with his massive alt mode*

Desinex: *making herself useful by scaling the nearest tree to get a better view of things, and to watch for Swoop*

Prowl: *inspecting a set of tracks in the soft soil along the main path*

Elita One: *To Sentinel* I mean it... The Dinobots don't exactly like outsiders in their territory... But they tolerate Desinex, Prowl, and me...

Sentinel: *sourly* ...So that old saying about bots of a plating is true.

Desinex: *didn't just drop a pine cone on your head, Sentinel, she's too busy trying to get a better look at something up in the sky*

Elita: *coldly, narrowing her optics* At least I know they won't badmouth me if something happens to me... *moves down the path after nodding to Prowl*

Sentinel: I can't believe you're still dragging up that ancient history. If Optimus hadn't been so stupid he'd still be here, loyally serving as my right hand bot. But he was, and he's gone, and it's over.

Elita: *ignoring you now, Sentinel. She knows the truth, and that's all that matters*

Swoop: *is that caw from far up above*

Desinex: *waves to Swoop, will now keep an optic out for Grimlock and Snarl, since they're more difficult to deal with than the pteradon-bot*

Sentinel: *pauses as something small and soft hits him in the head. Gives Desinex a stink eye, but then goes 0_0 as a positive rain of flowers comes down on him* AHHHHHHHHH! Get them off, get them off! *ants in pants dance*

Prowl: *raised brow ridge, snags one of the flowers* Hmm.....

Sentinel: Get them offfffffff! *flail flail*

Prowl: It would appear Swoop has been raiding gardens again... *remembers when Desinex and Elita were presented with bunches upon bunches of flowers and how upset some of the humans were*

Elita: ... *sighs* We'll have to remind him about that....

big cactus mum: *lands on her head and sits there*

Elita: ... *reaches up to grab it, chuckling softly*

Sentinel: *bounces off a tree and lands on his back* Ahhhhh.....

Desinex: *GLARES at Sentinel as he makes her tree shake*

Swoop: *drops a last batch, which covers Sentinel nicely*

Desinex: *soft snort, moves deeper into the woods to try and find the remaining Dinobots*

Elita: We'll have to be careful not to get off the main path... There're a lot of places that a bot could get lost here....

Sentinel: Mrrrph. *spits out a flower and grimaces, then sits up shakily*

Desinex: *is gone. There's no sounds to indicate which way she went*

Prowl: *heads off in a seemingly random direction*

Elita: *pauses near the head of the path* *To Sentinel* If you're coming, hurry up.

Sentinel: *grumbling as he rises to his feet, then shakes off all the flowers and picks his way through them toward her*

Swoop: *'poop'*

Sentinel: *blinking through new mask of green paint*

Elita: *looks up* Swoop, that's enough. Glasses-Ladybot won't like it if you keep picking on people.

Swoop: *squawks and vanishes from sensor range*

Sentinel: *growling and grumbling about primitive mechanisms*

Elita: *simply shakes her head and moves down the path. Since it's such a wide path, it should be fairly easy to keep up with her, right?*

Sentinel: *gets lost, of course* *standing and looking both ways with a perplexed frown, and then starts in the wrong one* Elita!

Elita: *If she's heard him, she's not showing any sign.*

Wind: *Gusts hard enough to make tree branches groan in protest overhead*

Sentinel: *turns toward the groaning, his circuits shivering* Elita! This isn't funny!

wind: *more gusting, and a few branches snap*

strange building: *just visible through a few gaps in the trees up ahead*

Sentinel: *muttering and shivering and blustering as he heads for that building* Elita!

wind: *will blow some of the clouds covering the moon away, revealing the clearing that the building is in. There seems to be fresh footprints in the dirt...*

Sentinel: *knows nothing of tracking in dirt. Instead just blunders right into the building* Elita... if you don't knock it off and come back you're going in for insubordination!

building: *silent aside from the wind howling just outside the door*

Tarantulus: *looks up from something he was inspecting. He thought he was alone in here... Better go check it out...* *tries to remain silent as he moves towards where he thinks the sound is coming from*

Sentinel: *arms wrapped around himself as he shivers and looks about as wimpy as a bot can look*

Tarantulus: *Startles as a branch or something else heavy hits the roof of the building, backs into a room, optics turned towards the ceiling*

Sentinel: *shivering as he backs away from those scary moaning sounds. It's the wind... right?*

Tarantulus: *Didn't realize the wind could sound so scary... or that it could make things rattle like that...* *Continues to back into the room*

Sentinel: *back back back....*

Tarantulus: *Freezes as something bumps into him from behind*

Sentinel: Eeeeheeehee!

Tarantulus: Ack! *Whirls around and socks the perceived threat*

Sentinel: *staggers back and then returns in a fierce low tackle*

Tarantulus: *Knocked back about a yard, but his helmet goes even farther. He's a bit shaky as he gets to his feet, and it takes him a few seconds to chase away the stars that are dancing in front of his optics*

Sentinel: *snaps on the high beams in his optics and then gasps at sight of that battered and scarred visage* Optimus???

Tarantulus: *Freezes for a few moments, then he's scrambling for his helmet and vanishing in a flash and swish*

Sentinel: *can't help it. He screams shrilly and bolts for the door*

Elita: *heard that from clear over on the other side of the island, is that sound of snapping branches fast approaching*

Sentinel: *down on his knees and one hand, the other hand pressed over his spark as he shudders and fights his processor's attempts to shut down and reboot*

Desinex: *Drops in from above, landing in a crouch as Elita breaks through the thicker undergrowth*

Elita: Sentinel!

Sentinel: *startles and yelps, then stares up at the yellow and blue femme with wide blank optics*

Elita: *moving to gently touch his shoulder and check him for injury* What happened?

Sentinel: *flinches* *quiet and dazed* Optimus....

Elita: ... You saw him?!

Sentinel: G... g... ghost!

Desinex: *Raised brow ridge, glances to Prowl when the ninjabot arrives, then they're both heading inside the building*

Elita: Where was he?

Sentinel: Room.... *facesplat as the fight against fear is lost*

Elita: ... *Sighs and calls Ratchet and Bulkhead for help*


Meanwhile, in Tarantulus and Showtime's apartment in the Nexus...


Showtime: *Cycling air and trying to keep calm while her mate has a royal freak-out*

Dahlia: *watching Dad with a deep frown from where she's sitting on the edge of Mom's bed*

Tarantulus: *Shaking and cycling air as he paces around the room*

yOp: *knocks on the front door of the apartment* Tarantulus? Showtime?

Mira: *lovebombs Dahlia as she moves to snuggle Aunty*

Tarantulus: *Flinches before he can help it* D-Door's unlocked...

yOp: *appears in the bedroom doorway without having opened the front door or walked across the living room. Concerned optics go from Tarantulus to Showtime* What's wrong?

Showtime: *Answers for her mate, since he's still too worked up to give a coherent answer* Tarantulus had a run-in with Sentinel...

Oppy: -Clobbered him on accident! 'N got clobbered too...-

yOp: *winces* In the Black Dog?

Dahlia: No. That's stupid.

Tarantulus: *headshake*

yOp: *goes over and puts an arm around his brother's shoulders* Come on. You need to calm down before the sparklet separates early.

Oppy: *Snuggles yOp and Tarantulus* -Tarantulus 'n Sentinel made Primus facepalm!- *Finds this amusing*

yOp: I wondered what that was. *emoting calm and comfort toward Tarantulus*

Tarantulus: *Cycles air and focuses on trying to calm down* *Continues to cycle air* *Quietly* Ran into him when I was checking out the facility on Dinobot Island... There's a wind storm going on there right now.... *is still a bit shaken up by the unexpected encounter*

yOp: Well just take it easy. He can't follow you here. And from what I've seen of most Sentinels, he won't try.

Showtime: *trying not to snicker as Mira shares the reactions of some of the messengers*

Tarantulus: *continues to cycle air*

yOp: *grins as he feels Showtime's amusement, then moves to shove Tarantulus down so that he's sitting between her and Dahlia* Try to calm him down. I'll be back. *vanishes with a slight shimmer of red and blue sparkles*


Tarantulus and Showtime's home reality, Autobot base...


yOp: *arrives, but isn't visible as he scans the old building*

Elita: *In the med bay with Ratchet and Sentinel*

Desinex: *in a discussion with Prowl about what they found inside the building*

Sentinel: *Has finished rebooting, is arguing with Elita about what he saw in the building on Dinobot Island*

yOp: *watches for a moment, and then checks to see if it's alright for him to become visible. On getting a nod from Primus, he steps forward and into sight*

Sentinel: *Startled yelp, takes a topple off of the repair table he was on*

Elita: *Startles, but relaxes when she sees just which Optimus is visiting*

Desinex: *small smirk, recognized yOp as soon as she's gotten over her surprise at him suddenly appearing*

Prowl: *nods a greeting to yOp*

Ratchet: *Boggling a bit at the sudden appearance of a mech he doesn't know*

yOp: *nods to Elita, then looks at Sentinel with a slight frown that that mech will probably recognize as his deep thought expression*

Sentinel: *Regarding yOp with a positively terrified expression on his face. It hasn't even registered in his processor that there's no insignia on the red and blue mech's shoulder*

yOp: *dryly* I can just imagine what Ultra Magnus would think if someone sent him a holo of your face right now.

Ratchet: *picks his jaw up off the floor, will attempt to scan yOp to see if the mech's got a mod that kept him hidden from view and sensors*

Elita: As amusing as that'd be... How's Tarantulus? He had to have been pretty spooked....

yOp: -He's going to be alright.-

Sentinel: *Attention going back and forth between Elita and yOp*

Desinex: *Signing* "Prowl and I found this when we went to see whether there was anything in Meltdown's old lab..."

Prowl: It seems Sentinel Prime wasn't seeing things... *holds up something that has Sentinel boggling*

Elita: *Frowns as she catches sight of the piece of Tarantulus' cloak* ... *is going to trust yOp's word about the mech that cloak belongs to, however*

yOp: Not like that day on Archa Seven, hmm? *frown for Sentinel*

Sentinel: *Frowning, a bit wary now* What do you mean?

yOp: *wordless mental acknowledgement to Desinex and Prowl even as he speaks to Sentinel* I mean Optimus didn't die. And he knows whose idea it was to go to Archa Seven.

Sentinel: *Looks like he could go pale*

yOp: And I know you were jealous of him because he was Ultra Magnus' favorite.

Sentinel: Th-that's not true!

yOp: *just Looks at him*

Sentinel: *Feeling pretty well freaked out*

yOp: Ratchet, did you hear about Rodimus Prime? How he'd been the favorite for the next Magnus?

Ratchet: *soft snort* If you can believe all that "chosen one" slag....

yOp: *quietly* Do you know he's in the hospital in Iacon with cosmic rust?

Ratchet: ... *sharp intake of air*

yOp: I can get you the ingredients for the antidote.

Ratchet: ... Won't do any good here...

yOp: I can take care of that too.

Ratchet: ... *small nod, has a determined glimmer in his optics now*

yOp: *quietly* You have to wish for it.

Ratchet: ... *Raised brow at being told he had to wish for it, but will give it a shot* I wish I had the ingredients to make the cosmic rust antidote, and that I were where it would do the most good for Rodimus Prime.

yOp: *lifts a hand as though holding something, and then fills it with red and blue sparkles*

Ratchet: *Watching, is a bit wary, but there's just something about yOp that makes him seem trustworthy*

Desinex: *slight headtilt as she watches*

Elita: *Trying to get Sentinel to stand up and act like a grown mech*

Prowl: *watching without saying a word*

yOp: *sparkles coalesce into the ingredients for the antidote, and he offers them to Ratchet, mentally asking in the meantime if it would be alright to let Ultra Magnus know what really happened back on Archa Seven*

Ratchet: *Quietly thanks yOp as he accepts the ingredients*

yOp: *nods, and then makes a datachip and offers it to him* Will you give this to Ultra Magnus?

Ratchet: *nods as he reaches for the datachip* *looks to Elita* Stay out of trouble.

Elita: *chuckles softly* Who're you telling that to?

Ratchet: The one who gets into the most trouble.

Desinex: *slight huff, is amused because she knows he's talking about her*

yOp: *quirks a half smile, and then surrounds Ratchet with sparkles*

Ratchet: *Surprised by this*

yOp: *and then sends the old bot to the hospital in Iacon*

Desinex: *small quirk of a smile before she heads off to bother Bumblebee*

Elita: *prays quietly that Rodimus Prime will be alright*

yOp: *turns back to Sentinel, his expression slightly grim*

Sentinel: *backing up a few steps, uneasy*

yOp: *quietly* I'm Tarantulus' guardian. *takes the bit of burned cape and closes his fingers around it* If you ever try to cause trouble for him, or for anyone belonging to him... we will have words. Do you understand?

Sentinel: *nods, positively terrified. He won't be any trouble*

yOp: *contempt and pity come to his expression, and he stares for a moment at the alternate of the friend who nearly died rather than leave him behind. Then turns away*

Elita: *moves to gently patpat yOp's shoulder* *Quietly* We'll make sure he gets back to the Elite Guard's ship...

yOp: The Steelhaven. *looks elsewhere for a moment* I wish I could help him, but it's not time for him or the Orion yet. *sighs and rubs his face* When do you want to come meet Dahlia?

Elita: When Tarantulus isn't so spooked... How is Showtime doing?

yOp: *mouth corners twitch slightly* -She'll be due soon.-

Elita: ... *Boggles* //I didn't even know she was carrying!//

yOp: *smile shows a little more* -Not many bots do. Tarantulus is a little over protective.-

Elita: ... *Soft chuckle* //That doesn't surprise me in the least...//

yOp: *wry light in his optics* -No idea why he's like that.-

Elita: *Gives him a Look, amusement twinkling in her optics* //I wonder why?//

yOp: *chuckles, and then glances over his shoulder at Sentinel, his expression dropping again* -The bot I knew nearly died with me.-

Elita: *lip components thin for a moment* //He stopped me from going after Tarantulus...//

yOp: *quietly* -And I stopped the Sentinel I knew from going after our Elita-One.-

Elita: *soft sigh*

yOp: *turns away* -Sentinel was the only survivor.-

Elita: ... *Gently squeezes yOp's shoulder*

yOp: *sighs, but then perks* -Rodimus is going to be alright.-

Elita: *relaxes* //Thank goodness...//

yOp: *turns toward the door* -And Ratchet's going to be drunk.-

Elita: ... *Facepalm*

yOp: *reaches a little further with his thoughts* -Tarantulus?-

Tarantulus: -Hm?- *relaxed and content, is snuggling Dahlia and Showtime, and being cuddled by Mira and Oppy*

yOp: *chuckles* -Are you up to a visitor? Elita wants to meet your family.-

Tarantulus: -Sure... I'm kinda buried in a snuggle pile right now...- *Sounds amused*

yOp: *more chuckle* -That's a good way to be.- *thinks of his quad mates and of evenings spent tumbled together in the nest in the corner of the common area living room, shares this thought with his brother*

Tarantulus: *Quiet chuckle*

yOp: *looks at Elita* *quietly* You can come now, if you want to. The little free sparks are there too.

Elita: *Small nod* *As Bulkhead and Desinex come to get Sentinel* Let's go...

yOp: *offers her his hand*

Elita: *reaches for his hand* *surprised at the sense of just how alive yOp feels*

yOp: *pulls her a little closer... And then they're standing in Tarantulus and Showtime's living room* Tarantulus?

Dahlia: Awww, go away.

Mira: *Gigglefit, snuggles Dahlia*

Showtime: *lifts her head to see who Dahlia's telling to go away, small smile*

Oppy: *over to see yOp and Elita*

Tarantulus: *slightly muffled* Dahlia, be nice...

Dahlia: Yessir.

yOp: *greets baby brother with a snuggling feeling as he lets go of Elita's hand* *softly* -Dahlia's a stickler for the rules, like one of her code doners.-

Elita: *raised brow ridge, has a hunch she knows who one of Dahlia's code donors is*

Oppy: *tells big Oppy about how Aunt Show kissed Tarantulus till he relaxed*

yOp: *laughs* I just hope Dahlia doesn't try that on any of the bots in the bar. *leads the way toward the bedroom*

Dahlia: *sits up curiously, her optics going toward the stranger who's there beside Uncle Oppy*

Showtime: Hello, Elita. *moves to sit up with Tarantulus' help*

Tarantulus: *snuggles mate, soft ack as Mira pokes him in a ticklish spot*

Elita: *nods to Showtime, her attention lingering on Dahlia for a few moments. Then she's snerking and shaking her head at Tarantulus' ack*

Dahlia: *considering look for Dad, and then leans on him and turns her attention back to the visitors*

yOp: *chuckling as he goes to get a chair from the living room for Elita to sit on*

Mira: *Telling Dahlia about Elita*

Tarantulus: *Content to snuggle Showtime and Dahlia*

yOp: *back with the chair, his optics going from Elita to Tarantulus and Showtime as he wonders at the silence. Sets the chair down and goes out again*

Dahlia: That's Mom's reading chair.

Showtime: It's alright if Elita sits there, Dahlia.... *Doorwings up slightly, then she's chuckling softly*

Elita: *Thanks yOp, before settling in the chair, attention going to Showtime* Is something wrong?

Tarantulus: *headshake, small smile* The sparklet's awake...

Dahlia: *optics quickly to Showtime* Is he talking?

Showtime: *nods, fluttering her 'wings slightly as she listens*

Dahlia: *watches her mother for a few moments, and then turns suddenly to Tarantulus* Dad, you're supposed to feed visitors. *gets up and heads out of the room*

yOp: *comes back in a moment later, his optics going quizzically from one silent bot to the other* *quietly* I fixed a few things, Tarantulus.

Tarantulus: *attention on yOp* ... How so?

Elita: He helped Ratchet help Rodimus Prime....

yOp: And I sent a letter to Ultra Magnus. *offers Elita a disk style PINpoint, already set for her reality and her room in the plant*

Tarantulus: ... *small nod, had thought about doing something similar, but he hadn't wanted to be away from Showtime for too long*

Elita: *stands and takes something out of subspace... And then she's offering the bundle of fabric to Tarantulus* Sari helped me get this....

yOp: Elita, if you leave before Dahlia comes back with the energy she'll be upset. She likes having things go according to the rules.

Elita: I'm not leaving... I forgot that I had something in subspace till just now. *moves to sit back down*

Tarantulus: *feeling the soft texture of the cape, is surprised Elita went to the trouble*

yOp: *grins as he watches Tarantulus. He'd known the femme's intentions, but his young alter daughter's anxiety hadn't let him stay quiet*

Showtime: *quiet contentedness*

yOp: Are you going to try it on?

Tarantulus: *chuckles and moves to try the cape on*

cape: *is made from a soft material that has a bit of a swish to it. It's also a deep, rich dark blue color*

yOp: Nice. *chuckles* Is it big enough for everyone else that's in there?

Tarantulus: *Acks as Oppy and Mira get into a tickle fight in his shell*

Showtime: *Snerks* Guess that answers that question...

Elita: *snickers from behind her hand*

yOp: *big grin, and then looks toward the door as Dahlia comes back in with a large tray in her hands* *brightens* Oh wow. Elita, are you ready to try something new?

Elita: *blinkblink, attention goes to Dahlia* Sure... Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Dahlia: *into the bedroom, and sets the heaping tray on a night table* Smoky gummi ham sammiches with musterd and botsup, and Norton salad. *grins*

Elita: *headtilt* They look like some of the things Sari eats for lunch... *amused chuckle*

Dahlia: And here is some botslaw and some garlic flavored pickles.

yOp: *perk!*

Tarantulus: *perks, and then Oppy's little shell that can taste things is perking as well from where it'd been sitting in the corner*

Dahlia: *guest first* *a bit shyly as she looks at Elita* What would you like on your sammich?

Elita: *Considering look* Well... *a bit confused, since she's never even heard of any of what's being offered before today*

yOp: *gently* Try giving her a pickle, first.

Dahlia: Oh, alright. *presents one of the purple delicacies, her grave smile in place*

Elita: Thank you... *Will have a taste of pickle*

yOp: *watching to see what she thinks, even as he thanks Dahlia for the sammich and plate of salad with pickles on the side that she gives him*

Elita: *Coughing a bit, has found she doesn't care for garlicky flavors*

Dahlia: *attention back to Elita* What's wrong?

Tarantulus: *attention on Elita, concerned*

Elita: *Cough* That's... *more cough* a bit strong...

Dahlia: *offers her a drink of sparkling energon*

Elita: *Thanks the younger femme before having a drink*

Dahlia: *gives her salad and a sammich instead, and then serves Mom and Dad and the little Oppy*

Showtime: *thanks Dahlia*

Oppy: *Happy sounds as he tastes the pickle*

yOp: *waited only long enough to bow his head for a moment before stuffing half a pickle in his mouth* ^_^ -Thanks, Dahlia.-

Dahlia: *replies aloud to the thought* You're welcome, Uncle Oppy.

Tarantulus: *eating carefully and neatly, and then his attention's on Showtime as she cycles air quickly*

Showtime: *fighting down a sudden rush of nausea and vertigo*

yOp: Oh oh. *attention also on sister in law*

Showtime: *Circulating air. Even though she and Tarantulus were told that she had another week or so, the sparklet seems to be thinking about separating a bit early*

yOp: *sucks in air and sets his plate down, then focuses on the newspark even as he concentrates on shielding Showtime from the pain. Checks to see how developed the new Cybertronian is*

Dahlia: *has stopped short and is looking at Mom worriedly*

Elita: *moving to get up to see if she can help*

newspark: *is pretty far along in his development, but could probably benefit from a few more days of staying attached*

yOp: -You should stay close to your mother, little guy.-

newspark: *curious about what's going on outside of Mama's spark chamber, unintentionally presses against the circuitry that controls Showtime's alt-mode lights*

yOp: *gently explains with feelings and thoughts why it's not a good idea to do that. Urges once again that the little one should hold on a little longer*

newspark: *meeps and apologizes to Mama, snuggles close to her*

yOp: *checks to see if separating has stopped*

newspark: *has ceased in separating, but he could separate completely within the next few days*

yOp: *focuses on the bots around him again* *softly* He could separate completely any time during the next few days.

Tarantulus: *concerned, will focus on gently rubbing his mate's back*

Showtime: *Cycling air and trying to stay calm*

yOp: He's strong enough to make it if he does come out, and he's really curious about the world outside of Showtime's shell.

Tarantulus: *Small nod* *Quietly* Good... *the urgency of getting a shell for the newspark is just starting to sink in...*

yOp: *blinks* You haven't got one yet?

Tarantulus: *Sheepishly* We thought we had more time...

yOp: *shakes head* Make a wish.

Showtime: *Quietly, as she cycles air* I wish for a protoform for the newspark that I am carrying.

yOp: *concentrates and makes sparkles*

Dahlia: *watches*

Elita: *concerned for Showtime, but is also curious about what yOp is doing*

yOp: *is concentrating hard so that he ends up with an empty protoform and not a new bot*

Elita: *Prays silently*

yOp: *softly* Whooops...

Tarantulus: Whoops? What whoops? *concerned*

yOp: Well, here's your protoform. *offers brother a nice tall one, is holding something in his other arm and looking very sheepish*

Tarantulus: *Gently teasing* You did it again, huh? *moves to set the protoform on the cot that's near Dahlia's berth*

Elita: ... Did what again?

yOp: *shifts the smaller protoform in his other arm so that he's holding it cradled* *very sheepish* Made somebody new.

Elita: ... *Raised brow ridge*

Showtime: *Soft chuckle* He kinda has a tendency to do that on accident....

yOp: *offers the new bot to Elita* ...Primus says you could use someone.

Elita: ... *Boggling slightly* A-are you sure? *hesitantly reaches for the new bot*

yOp: *nods* I'm sure. And I'm sure they're only Cybertronian, and not Guardian Fae this time, too. ^_^;

Tarantulus: *Didn't just snerk. That was a cough to clear dust from his intakes!*

yOp: *gives brother a mild look*

newbot: *moves a bit and looks at Elita* ...Hi.

Elita: *Blink blink* Hi.....

newbot: Who're you? *tries to sit up in her arms*

Elita: My name is Elita One... What's your name?

newbot: Um... *looks around* I don't know.

Elita: *Reassuringly* I'm sure you'll think of something...

Dahlia: He can be Drift, like that guy that came in the other day. He's so little he needs a cool name.

newbot: Little??? D:

Tarantulus: Dahlia, be nice...

Showtime: He's bigger than some of the regulars at the Black Dog....

Dahlia: ...I wasn't nice? *wibble*

Tarantulus: *Gentle patpat* Some people are sensitive about their height....

Dahlia: Oh. *looks at the newbot* I'm sorry.

newbot: *blank look as he tries to figure out what to say to that*

Elita: *Soft chuckle* *Quietly* Tell her you accept her apology.

newbot: I accept your apology. *hopeful look with his big optics*

Dahlia: *happy again, offers him a sammich*

newbot: *has a pretty good idea what it's for, but makes a royal mess as he tries to put it to that use*

yOp: Ack! *tries to wipe the youngster off*

Elita: *helps with that*

Dahlia: Well, how about Secret for a name?

newbot: I like that Drifter thing.

Dahlia: ...Drift.

newbot: But I like Drifter better.

yOp: It's a good name. *gentle arm around Dahlia's shoulders* I like it.

Elita: *once she's certain Drifter's cleaned up, she's chuckling softly*

yOp: *looks at Tarantulus to see what his brother is doing*

Tarantulus: *is gently rubbing Showtime's back as she dozes*

Elita: *notices that* *Quietly* I'd better get going...

yOp: *smiles* If you press the button on your PINpoint it will bring you and anyone you're touching back to your room at the base.

Elita: *Small nod* *To Drifter* Let's get home, alright?

Drifter: *around mouthful of sammich* Home?

Elita: The assembly plant in Detroit... It's the Autobot base in Tarantulus, Showtime's, and my reality...

Drifter: Mine too?

Elita: There's more than enough room for you there, if you want to stay with us...

Drifter: *glomps her, thus dressing her nicely in sammich*

Elita: *Acks and then she's chuckling softly and making plans on swinging by the car wash after she gets home*

yOp: *offers her the needed datachips for a youngbot* Thanks for coming.

Elita: *nods and accepts the datachips* Try to stay out of trouble... *yes, she's teasing you, yOp*

yOp: I don't get into trouble. *slight smile* I keep others out of it.

Elita: *more chuckles* *will bring Drifter home*

yOp: *checks and makes sure they made it alright, and then turns and looks at his brother* Is there anything else you need, Tarantulus? Showtime?

Tarantulus: *headshake* *Quietly, as he moves to tuck Showtime in* I'm just glad everyone's okay....

yOp: Alright. I'd better get home then. Disturbia's up to something again.

Tarantulus: Uh-oh... *soft chuckle*

yOp: *grins. Hugs Dahlia and lets her go, and then goes home*

Tarantulus: *Will make sure everyone's refueled and comfortable before he goes back to cuddling Showtime while she sleeps*

((Co-written with random_xtras))