![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redtwinbluetwinRumble and Frenzy were about to go inside and get some energon when they heard the very distinctive sound of an angry cybercat--a cougaraider, specifically--and decided without exchanging a word that they were not, in fact, all that hungry.
"Uh-oh. You think Ravage found out--?"
Frenzy shook his head. "That is not the kind of noise that Ravage would make because you broke her laser rifle. That is the kind of noise that Ravage would make if you broke the Boss."
"I did not break her laser rifle! It was defective!"
"Whatever," said Frenzy, "she won't believe that. Didn't she get that from General Strika?"
Rumble scurried up one of the tall trees at the edge of the Wilds. "I was engaged in important experimentation," he said. "You think we'll get to see Predaking out here tonight?"
Frenzy rolled his optics. "You mean you were testing the limits of the anti-violence field again, and you broke Rav's gun shooting at something that wasn't dumb enough. What was it? D'you even know?"
Rumble shrugged. "One of those dumb things that goes around making the same noise all the time. Man, I hate those things! One of 'em zapped me! It wasn't the zappy yellow kind though. I thought it was a plant."
Frenzy bounced a rock off Rumble's helm. "Don't shoot at things that talk, dumbaft. If Rav knew you did that she'd hang you by your pedes off the guard tower and shake till your brain module booted. And she definitely wouldn't claim diplomatic immunity for us. And chances are they'd blame me."
"What's the good of having an embassy if we don't have diplomatic immunity," Rumble grumbled under his breath. "Anyhow yeah so I broke Rav's laser rifle, it's not like she won't get another one ever. Boss'll buy anything she wants."
Frenzy groaned. He was starting to feel responsible, which meant that he needed to do something crazy soon, preferably within the next breem. He took off into the underbrush. Rumble jumped down out of the tree and followed him.
"So if that ain't Rav, who is it? Howlback doesn't screech like that," Frenzy muttered.
"Glit, probly." Rumble shrugged. "Who knows, when he's drunk? Maybe it's Naoko's birthday again."
"That was last month, dumbaft," said Frenzy.
"You're a dumbaft," said Rumble. "I feel bad for him. Megs fragged him forward and aft. I mean, not literally, but..."
Frenzy shrugged. "Coulda just done what Megs said," he suggested.
Rumble snorted. "Y'think Megs is really in love? I heard Rav tell the Boss so. Man I can't believe Megs is clanging a squishy. Where is it gonna go?"
"Well Rav's his amica, dumbaft, I guess she'd know. You really worried about Glit? I mean he's probably just drunk again," Frenzy said. "Glit has a lot of feelings I don't wanna know about. Shut up. I think I hear something weird."
"I hear Glit and that is definitely weird," Rumble muttered to himself.
Frenzy picked up a rock, and not a laser rifle, and tossed it in the direction of the rustling.
"HEY!" came an offended little voice. "That went right over my head!"
Rumble and Frenzy stared at each other. There was only one person in the entire household who spoke Cybertronian that badly.
(Except for the dinosaur.)
"Lotor?" they both said in unison.
"You're not allowed in the Wilds--" Frenzy started.
"You're not allowed out this late--" Rumble finished.
"How'd you get out here? Do Mom and the Boss know?"
"I was watchin' HV with Clobber an' Glit and something reached out and grabbed me and I don't know!" Lotor snapped, and then said a few things in Galran that the twins reckoned probably weren't polite, but that was okay because neither Soundwave nor Ravage nor Esmeral were there to say anything about it and wouldn't have known what any of it meant anyway. "But I didn't wanna go! So I yelled and hit it and screamed till it let me go! Vrepit sa!"
The twins had no doubt that this was the truth. They had seen Lotor throw tantrums before. It was epic. It would never have flown on the Nemesis. But as the Boss was constantly reminding them, they weren't on the Nemesis anymore.
"Damn." Rumble let out a low whistle. "Something grabbed you out of the building? No wonder Glit's mad."
Frenzy glanced back at the house. "Better get him inside. Even if she does find out about her rifle, you can probably get away with it right now."
"Uh-oh. You think Ravage found out--?"
Frenzy shook his head. "That is not the kind of noise that Ravage would make because you broke her laser rifle. That is the kind of noise that Ravage would make if you broke the Boss."
"I did not break her laser rifle! It was defective!"
"Whatever," said Frenzy, "she won't believe that. Didn't she get that from General Strika?"
Rumble scurried up one of the tall trees at the edge of the Wilds. "I was engaged in important experimentation," he said. "You think we'll get to see Predaking out here tonight?"
Frenzy rolled his optics. "You mean you were testing the limits of the anti-violence field again, and you broke Rav's gun shooting at something that wasn't dumb enough. What was it? D'you even know?"
Rumble shrugged. "One of those dumb things that goes around making the same noise all the time. Man, I hate those things! One of 'em zapped me! It wasn't the zappy yellow kind though. I thought it was a plant."
Frenzy bounced a rock off Rumble's helm. "Don't shoot at things that talk, dumbaft. If Rav knew you did that she'd hang you by your pedes off the guard tower and shake till your brain module booted. And she definitely wouldn't claim diplomatic immunity for us. And chances are they'd blame me."
"What's the good of having an embassy if we don't have diplomatic immunity," Rumble grumbled under his breath. "Anyhow yeah so I broke Rav's laser rifle, it's not like she won't get another one ever. Boss'll buy anything she wants."
Frenzy groaned. He was starting to feel responsible, which meant that he needed to do something crazy soon, preferably within the next breem. He took off into the underbrush. Rumble jumped down out of the tree and followed him.
"So if that ain't Rav, who is it? Howlback doesn't screech like that," Frenzy muttered.
"Glit, probly." Rumble shrugged. "Who knows, when he's drunk? Maybe it's Naoko's birthday again."
"That was last month, dumbaft," said Frenzy.
"You're a dumbaft," said Rumble. "I feel bad for him. Megs fragged him forward and aft. I mean, not literally, but..."
Frenzy shrugged. "Coulda just done what Megs said," he suggested.
Rumble snorted. "Y'think Megs is really in love? I heard Rav tell the Boss so. Man I can't believe Megs is clanging a squishy. Where is it gonna go?"
"Well Rav's his amica, dumbaft, I guess she'd know. You really worried about Glit? I mean he's probably just drunk again," Frenzy said. "Glit has a lot of feelings I don't wanna know about. Shut up. I think I hear something weird."
"I hear Glit and that is definitely weird," Rumble muttered to himself.
Frenzy picked up a rock, and not a laser rifle, and tossed it in the direction of the rustling.
"HEY!" came an offended little voice. "That went right over my head!"
Rumble and Frenzy stared at each other. There was only one person in the entire household who spoke Cybertronian that badly.
(Except for the dinosaur.)
"Lotor?" they both said in unison.
"You're not allowed in the Wilds--" Frenzy started.
"You're not allowed out this late--" Rumble finished.
"How'd you get out here? Do Mom and the Boss know?"
"I was watchin' HV with Clobber an' Glit and something reached out and grabbed me and I don't know!" Lotor snapped, and then said a few things in Galran that the twins reckoned probably weren't polite, but that was okay because neither Soundwave nor Ravage nor Esmeral were there to say anything about it and wouldn't have known what any of it meant anyway. "But I didn't wanna go! So I yelled and hit it and screamed till it let me go! Vrepit sa!"
The twins had no doubt that this was the truth. They had seen Lotor throw tantrums before. It was epic. It would never have flown on the Nemesis. But as the Boss was constantly reminding them, they weren't on the Nemesis anymore.
"Damn." Rumble let out a low whistle. "Something grabbed you out of the building? No wonder Glit's mad."
Frenzy glanced back at the house. "Better get him inside. Even if she does find out about her rifle, you can probably get away with it right now."
