| abstract | - It's that time again. Lifeline heads for the closest market, one of those necessary evil errands that she does every so often -- checking for useable or salvageable parts and bartering to purchase them. She's carrying a smallish crate of surplus useful items that she's refurbished for this exact purpose. Robustus sometimes comes to Cubricon to partake in the local bar scene, just for a change of pace from the Tina. Though that is not what brings the mech to the city today. He hovers up to the market and transforms to walk into it proper, on the search for possible parts he could make use of himself. Lifeline skirts around a pair of Neutrals squabbling over some random piece of supposedly high-end armor plating and looks for one of the vendors she works with the most. The mech has earned her trust with reliable supplies in decent condition and no attempts to artificially inflate the prices. She hasn't yet noticed that Robustus has decided to join today's market. Robustus pauses to study a few parts in one stall, considering them carefully then asking about the price. Given it, he looks thoughtful and asks for it could be bettered at all. The seller states it would be a firm price, so he hands over the payment and places the parts in his subspace. He moves on to the next stall, finding nothing he could make use of there. So onto the next, which happens to be the same stall that Lifeline is in. "Good cycle." he offers to the femme medic. Lifeline glances over and nods. "Robustus." She picks up a hydraulic fitting and turns it over in her hands before putting it back. "Are you just browsing, or are you looking for something in particular?" Robustus smiles to the fellow medic. "Browsing for particular items." he replies, "How are things in your clinic?" he asks, picking up a power coupler to give a look over. Lifeline says, "Getting back to normal finally. Have you been doing well enough?" Robustus inclines his head, "Oh yes I would say all is going well enough. I took your advice and have been going slow with my lady." he holds onto that coupler as he picks up part that hooks into a hover engine to help stabilize the motor. "Though I did have a bit of a run in with some bad mechs." Lifeline says, "Really. What sort of bad mechs?" She sifts through a bucket of tiny circuits, holding a few back in her hands they pass her inspection. "It's been quite enough here, thankfully." Robustus speaks to the seller about the two parts in his hands, then pays the price without haggling for it. Putting them into his subspace he replies to the question, "The sort that capture you, imprison you, then freeze you in your vehicle form before placing you in an arena where a huge vehicle is set upon you." Robustus pauses and notes, "As I recall, you were there." Lifeline ohs. "Right. I guess I didn't get that far into their 'system'. " Robustus cannot resist a slight chuckle and steps around you to examine some seeker type parts, crouching down to look through them. "Well I did. That is why I was out in the arena. Luckily their freeze didn't work on me so I was able to move." Lifeline ahs and nods, setting the tiny circuits down for the stall vendor and spends a moment haggling over them, clearly bartering with the items in her crate instead of using credits. Robustus finds a few parts he can make use of and gathers them up, asking for a price and paying for them. "So your browsing for patients you tend to have or looking for anything in particular?" he asks curiously, stuffing the additional parts in his subspace. Lifeline says, "Some of both. There are things that I'm always needing more of." Like the smaller, less sturdily made hinges and joints that so many of the neutrals have in their arms and legs. She and the vendor finally come to an agreement, and Lifeline trades a new-looking light fixture for the handful of tiny circuits which go into the bottom of the crate." Robustus inclines his head to that, "My offer for medical supplies is still open should you ever find this market or other trade avenues lacking." he intones with a smile. Lifeline nods to Robustus. "I appreciate that." Though she'll more likely barter with him for the harder to come by energon stores. Robustus looks through the circuits out of curiosity and gasps at a couple he pulls out, "Oh wonderful, been looking for these for some time." he murmurs, then glances over to Lifeline, "It's my pleasure, after all we only help out each other and the world we live on in the long run. I may wear the symbol of the Emperor, but I do not share his vision for our world." That's actually a very good thing to know, considering that Lifeline has already found herself rather violently opposing Megatron on more than one occasion. Lifeline says, "True. I hope we get to keep helping each other." She doesn't see anything else offhand at this stall to catch her interest, and steps over to the next one. "What became of that poor mindless brute from the arena, anyway?" Robustus pays for the chips he found, putting those in a slightly different part of his subspace. "Hmm getting full in there." he notes with a chuckle. "But never hurts for a mech to carry his own spare parts, never know when I'll need them." He looks over the rest of the stall then moves with the femme to the next, "You mean the vehicles? I believe they were last seen getting very far away from their masters." Lifeline says, "Good." Perusing this booth takes very little time -- what pieces are here are almost entirely cosmetic. "Wait, you call ALL of your spare parts with you at all times?"" Robustus hrms softly at the cosmetic parts, but he knows exactly who will need them.. ah seekers and their little vanities! "I do indeed, within my subspace, a set of my parts. I have another set in storage inside Polyhex medical bay as well. I like to be a well prepared mech and now I'm better maintained as well." Lifeline shakes her head slightly to herself. It's not a gesture indicating she thinks Robustus is crazy, instead, it's just silent boggling at the concept of having THAT much subspace available to access. Robustus smiles at that shaking head then takes up a good number of the cosmetic parts and pays for them. They also get put into subspace. He turns toward the femme and says, "I have been thinking of a way for you to contact me without arousing any suspicions, just in case you did need a part in an emergency situation, but as of yet I am drawing a blank and I dare not ask any questions without having someone wondering what I'm doing." Lifeline nods. "I guess I'm lucky that I don’t have that kind of restriction. I come and go when I want, where I want, and with whom I want." Robustus stands beside the femme as she looks through the next stall, inclining his head a bit. A hand coming up to stroke at his beard. "I had that freedom once myself, and in a way I still do. Just I have to be careful about it. Megatron is not a mech you would wish to get angry at you nor one you would wish to willfully cross." Lifeline hmphs faintly. "Already done both, and next time he WILL get a wrench through the back of his head. I /don't/ forget easily." Robustus frowns to that news, then states, "I will remember that should he come back to med bay complaining of a CPU ache and a ding in his helmet." the frown turning quickly into an amused smile. Lifeline glances at Robustus and actually offers an EVIL little smile. Then she looks at some metal sheeting in the next booth and promptly starts talking with the vendor, trying to haggle a fair price for the badly needed pieces of plating. Robustus watches on quietly, listening to how she deals with the vendor and considering something. "Lifeline. Would you be adverse to plating from ibex?" he asked. Lifeline pauses the haggling to look at Robustus. Probably not the best time to mention that, bud. "... Probably not. Why?" Robustus just gave this sort of mysterious smile, stepping back a bit from her, "Finish your deal with the vendor." Lifeline huffs in annoyance and turns back to the now rather displeased vendor. More haggling ensues, and Lifeline finally settles on a price -- though this vendor insists on credits instead of accepting something in exchange. Robustus idly fingers a credit of significant amount, then flips it toward the vendor. "Consider that a down payment on us bartering in the future Lifeline." Lifeline has her credits halfway out of a storage compartment when Robustus tosses out that pricey credit for her. She looks startled for about three seconds, but then levels a displeased glare at her fellow medic. "I am quite capable of paying my own way, Robustus." Of course, this leaves the vendor uncertain of what to do with the valuable credit piece. Robustus hmms softly, then offers his palm to the vendor. "Very well." he states, knowing better than to question it further than that. Once it is given back, he nods to the femme, "I best be back to Polyhex." then walks away.
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