| abstract | - Although a quiet evening would never describe the El Sleazo Cafe, it describes the mindset of the small femme sitting at the bar, idly swirling her index finger in her full glass of enerhol. Swivel sits with an empty stool on either side of her, and there's the usual rabble interspersed throughout the room. Goa nudges his way warily into the shack like usual. He didn't really want to be down here, it was starting to crack his logic boards a little. That stuff Depth serves hits hard ... but first off, he had a debt to pay. And second off, he couldn't remember much, but Swivel had been downright /spooked/ the last he remembered seeing her. He slips up behind the femme and taps her on the shoulder. Slipstream follows in after Goa some minutes after, making it look like they didn't come together. She takes a booth spot to watch him quietly with the other femme. Swivel starts a little at having her shoulder tapped, and she glances over her shoulder to find its source. Seeing the familiar visage of Goa she lights a smile onto her lips, the malleable substance of her faceplate pushing up under her purple optics. "Goa," she greets in a pleasant tone, seeming much more herself this cycle. "Have a seat, but, uh, don't order anything too strong for both our sakes, hey?" She teases lightly, unaware of being observed. "Nah, I'm good. Not ridin' the last-drink-for-a-long-time wave this cycle," Goa says, while pushing himself up into a seat. He leans forward over his knees, "I'm not sure what happened last time I saw you, but uh, you doin' alright?" The Decepticon glances over at the stairs. And at the seeker femme that just walked in. "You didn't show up either time I went to pay ya." From afar, Goa (gooey)'s spark is colored slightly irate. Slipstream relaxes in the booth, the darkness around it only allows those magenta optics to be visual. Even those are slightly dimmed. Long distance to Goa: Slipstream chuckles softly over the link, From afar, Goa (gooey) grumbles weakly before the bond fuzzes out to an idle state. Swivel shrugs her shoulders, idly removing her finger from the concoction and putting it into her mouth as she listens to Goa. She laughs a little as his first remark and then takes a dainty sip. Boy did she learn her lesson well. Still smiling she responds "Naw, no worries. I'm fine. We all had a lot ter drink, and let it affect us in our own ways, yanno?" She swings her legs a little as she takes another sip. "I jus hadn't been in here 'coz I had jobs elsewhere." You paged Goa with 'Don't be like that. You came back from patrol drunker than I have ever seen you. Then after you wake up you come back here. I'm worried.' From afar, Goa (gooey) struggles for coherency. Goa nods understandingly. Though he'd have to figure out how to deal with that. Balancing trades down here and his duties topside made scheduling ... difficult. He hadn't even had a chance to completely fight off last cycle's hangover. "Heheh, own ways..." the mech drifts off, first pleasantly, but a twinge of irritation crosses his dimmed face before he clicks back to attention. "Trust 'Depthy' didn't give you too much trouble. But have you got a bit? Mostly free this cycle, can get that hazard pay to you." The mech sits up on that note. Slipstream's magenta optics narrow slightly, her gaze remaining on the two as they chat. You paged Goa with 'What about him?' Psykeout walks through the door, still sore about the fight with Depth, but is willing to put it behind him. There's too much to be concerned with, the fact that a neutral could get under his armor was a bit frustrating. Regardless, he takes note of Slipstream and walks towards her, intent on trying to 'play nice.' Swivel takes a few more sips from her drink, and sets down her credits to pay her tab, which was very light this cycle. "That works fer me," Swivel says with a cheerful tone. "I'm free as anything right now, and best make good on our deal 'fore one of us forgets. However, first, I have this here drink ta finish! No more, no less!" She seems blissfully unaware of the walking sore spot that had entered, as her attention was not on the coming and going of patrons. Slipstream's optics look toward the approaching mech, the narrowing only increasing slightly. The blackness of her armor matching with the shadow of the booth she sits in. She says not one word to him, waiting to see what his gambit is going to be this time. "Sounds good to me, Swivs." With that, Goa clams up a while to let her finish, and turns around to face Slipstream, initially to glare -- then he eyes Psykeout. Oh boy. His square roof is blocking Swivel's line of sight, fortunately. Psykeout slips into the booth across from Slipstream, offering Swivel a passing glance. There is more than enough time to mess with her. He knows that he needs to make peace with his fellow Decepticon. The waitress walks over and smiles towards Psykeout, as it was the same one he had the other cycle. Psykeout informs her that he would like the same thing as last time and orders another drink for Slipstream. Whatever she had...just an additional one. From afar, Goa (gooey)'s implied voice wavers slightly. You paged Goa with 'I don't like this one bit.' "Thank ye kindly fer yer patience, Goa," she says in a bubbling, carbonated tone. She quietly nurses her drink, a thoughtful look upon her face, and only a little smile upon her silver lips. After a moment, when she was nearing the end of her drink she glances back over to Goa. However, she resists the urge, with much effort, to strike up more casual conversation, as it will only slow her from finishing their drink, therefore taking up more of Goa's time than would be polite. So after just giving him a look, she picks up her drink, and tips the last of its contents into her mouth. Her tab already paid she stands up, stretching and making an 'aawwwwww' noise. "I'm ready when you are." Slipstream looks at Psykeout in silence, not moving. There is not a drink in front of her, but the waitress knows what the femme seeker prefers and has it delivered with the mechs drink of choice. Then she looks back toward Swivel and Goa, watching. Goa hops from his seat along with Swivel, looking neurotically between her and the other femme. "Aaaactually," he draws out, "Not ready just yet." He keeps his optics locked on Slipstream and Psykeout as he pulls a data pad from his cab as slowly as he can without being too awkward. "Sit back down. I wanna go over the routes, first. Some of 'em may not be there, or well," he scratches the back of his helmet. His optics have still not left Slipstream's booth. "Not really friendly to my kind." Goa whips his face back toward Swivel, smiling apologetically as he powers the tablet screen up. Psykeout puts his hands on the table and laces his fingers together, "Slipstream. I know that I have been less then...erm...pleasant with you as of late. There's been a lot going on and some things have come to light. The reason I bought you a drink...was to apologize. I'm sorry for the way things have gone between us and I would like to have a fresh start." He casts a glance over towards Swivel and Goa, fully aware that they may be listening. Slipstream's optics narrow even more now, nearly slits as she gazes at Psykeout with utter suspicion. Her voice is several octaves low when she speaks, "If you think a drink is going to patch things up Psykeout, then you have woefully underestimated my mercy and willingness to forgive. You will have to do better than this if I'm ever to believe one word coming out of your mouth." Swivel blinks a few times, a little bewildered for a moment as Goa stalls. She watches him for a moment, his glancing about not slipping her notice. However, she just continues to wear a smile and doesn't react to this behavior, but does cast a quick glance about the room. A cursory glance is all she needs to find the reason, but her smile does not vanish, nor does she exhibit the same panicked behavior of the prior cycle. She calmly sits back down and nods to Goa. "That would probably be a fine idea," she says, forgetting to slip into her dummer, slanged-out speech. She waits patiently for his tablet to power on, putting her hands in her lap, facing Goa fully. The waitress returns with the two drinks and places them between the two of them, noting the obvious tension between them. Psykeout clicks off the credits for the two drinks, as well as a rather sizable tip. He looks back to Slipstream and hangs his head slightly, "I figured that you would say something like that," From sub-space, he pulls out a recorder and places it on the table. Pressing a button, Shred's voice emanates from it, "I do not offer my friendship easily, but I am willing to try with you, Psykeout..." Psykeout presses a button and looks up to Slipstream, "I have made amends with Shred. We are now equals and have a mutual respect for each other. I am well aware that there is going to be more required of you, but...I am willing to work for it." He takes a sip of his drink, concentrating on Slipstream and her reactions, more than anything going on in the bar. Even Swivel and Goa's presence has escaped his mind. The femme's speech changes hadn't completely slipped Goa's audial before. Plenty of mechs did that with customers, make them feel more comfortable ... he just forgot to pay it any mind. "Right," he sighs, setting the data pad up on the counter. The Decepticon starts tracing patterns on it with a stylus that pops forward from his arm guard. "This one, I can't check up on, obviously." He's traced a path from Tarn to Iahex. "It was pretty relevant back in the day. Less traffic if you bypassed the great freeway entirely. But it might be a good way to get in and out of the camps without drawing attention." Goa pauses furtively... then seems to have decided not to say anything, waiting for Swivel instead. Slipstream's optics widen a little as the recording is played, but her gaze remains firmly upon the mech opposite her. He has most of her attention now, "If you truly wish to make amends, Psykeout. You shall begin with the slights that you have verbally lambasted me with for whatever sick, twisted reason you had.. and ask for forgiveness for each of them." her tone is cold, nearly a hiss as she speaks in that low tone toward the mech. Swivel keeps her optics keenly on the tablet as Goa traces and describes, nodding her head attentively. "mm-hmm... yes goin' there'd be suicide fer ya I imagine... an' even if ya got out alive, I figger ya'd be in trouble with higher-ups. 'Sides, I can't be totin' 'round your kind when I'm in those areas," she says, then leans in closer to Goa, speaking a little quieter. "I mean, since I work for clients of all, uh, 'colours'." She leans back a little, but is still close enough to see what Goa is doing on the pad. "Go on..." Psykeout sneers at the comment, but tries to keep his temper under control, "Slipstream. To be completely honest, I can't remember the specifics of what I have done to you. Over the centuries, most things have just...meshed together. I remember mechs and femmes, though not always their names. I can remember the screams of horror and pain, as well as the hurt on the faces when I delved too deep," He pauses, leaning back in the booth and taking a sip of the ener-drink in front of him. Content with the pause that was there, he continues, "To ask me to apologize for each individual transgression is like asking Megatron to remember every mech he's cannoned or Primus to remember each individual mech or femme that he's created. It's...impossible. I can apologize for the way that I've treated you, but to ask me to apologize for each individual item...is ludicrous." Goa smiles, blowing air from his sides in a sound a lot like 'phew', then starts deftly tracing out more paths, some of them almost looking like beelines ... until he puts the map into the third dimension. Some of the leaps required look more like the domain of a seeker than any wheeled vehicle. "I'll getcha a data chip with these, but here's the other thing." He pans to another part of Cybertron entirely, where he's marked several points around Polyhex. "You need to find a Decepticon, you wait HERE. Not topside. I wasn't there, the seekers would've dive bombed you in a breem." He glances over at Psykeout, shaking his head before turning back to Swivel. Slipstream smirks a bit at his sneer, she got under his armor with that one. Good. Not so high and mighty when someone verbally accosts him. She reaches out to take the drink in front of her, peering over the mug at him as she sips at the contents. The mug is set back down gently as she licks her lips. "Then ask forgiveness for the one transgression that had me begin my utter contempt for you Psykeout. I'll be specific for you.. when you had a laser scalpel in your hand and told me I was about to die and Shred along with me." Psykeout leans forward and places his hands on the table again. A forearm on each side of his glass and his fingers laced together in front of the frosty beverage. He stares Slipstream directly in the optics, his face somber and his voice high enough to be heard, but low enough not to disturb the other patrons. There is no possibility that he is trying to downplay his role in this situation. He knows that he got himself into something that he may not be able to get out of so easily. His mouth opens, then claps shut again. Cannot be so impulsive. Have to think this out. A few nanoclicks later, he nods to himself, "Slipstream. I apologize for holding a scalpel to you and threatening to end your existence. I realize that there is nothing that I can do that will make you forgive me, nor is there anything that I can do to help you to believe what I have to say. But, what I can offer is the fact that Shred and I have become...friends." The last word rolls off his tongue, as though it's leaving a horrible taste in his mouth. But, it's not that. It's something more. The word is almost foreign to him. He understands the concept of friendship and has studied it for megacycles on end. But, the mere fact that he's using it in reference to himself and another is...odd. Swivel follows up with the obligatory head-nods and 'mh-hmms' at the right moments to show Goa that she is listening, as the routes become clearer to her. When it becomes 3-D she exaggerates the look of someone impressed a little much, but for Swivel, such exaggerated expressions were hardly uncommon. However, as she listens more, her smile seems to drain away to just its barest form, and perhaps he doesn't have her full attention, despite never taking her optics away from his map. Very little escapes her audial receptors, after all. However, when Goa points out her previous error, she shrugs a little, her smile widening again. "Well.... it DID get me extra pay.... not that I was playin' on yer goodness or nuttin'" she says sweetly. "I know better than ta do that around 'cons, if ya don't mind me saying so." She lifts her chin. "But, yeah, credits ain't worth gettin' blasted inter oblivion, I spose." Once more Swivel's smile seems to undergo some strain to be maintained and her optics grow dull for a moment. "Huh.... maybe I'll take a data chip ta go..." she murmurs. From afar, Goa (gooey) nudges, tersely. Goa shakes his head again, stashing the tablet. "I'll get you a chip, but I believe I promised a tour." The mech rises to his feet, again giving the booth a long look ... though this time it's aimed at Slipstream, and the mech gives an ever-so-slight nod. He smirks back at Swivel. "My... goodness? Heh. Sure, Swiv, sure." Motioning toward the door, he adds, "There's a couple tunnels in Cubicron most everybody 'cept the turborats have forgot, too." Slipstream studies his optic silently, trying to read if he's telling her a bold faced lie or the truth. There's a drum of her fingers against the table in front of her. The silence draws out for awhile, letting him cook in his proverbial juices just long enough that she hopes he's uncomfortable. "That's a start." she says neutrally, then takes another sip of her drink. She doesn't acknowledge Goa openly, but he would sense her mental nod back to him via their link. Psykeout knows that he's treading on the proverbial thin ice and one misstep would send him back into oblivion. During the silence, he stares at her intently. His optics don't move. They don't flicker. Nothing. When she finally speaks, his only response is a nod. No other body language. No other movements. He continues to stare at her, questioning whether it was really this easy. After a few moments, he finally speaks, "I understand that it will take time and I'm not asking for instant forgiveness. All I ask is that you understand that I am trying to turn over a new leaf. I am trying...to be a better mech." Swivel rises to her feet as soon as she sees Goa stand. She stretches and then rolls her shoulders, finally letting her arms swing a little at her sides until they slow of their own loss of momentum. "Right, fine, a tour! Gettin' out on the road is always a pleasure for me," she says no absence of enthusiasm in her vocalizer. A few of the routes she'd been aware of already from her own daring explorations, but she politely not making that known, since there were many more she wanted to learn and use to make her a more efficient femme. Besides, no one likes a know-it-all. Swivel walks ahead of Goa, heading towards the exit, but pauses a moment, turning to look upon Psykeout. Her smile remains, and her optics flicker for a moment before half of her smile grows larger into a strange little smirk and she shakes her head before heading towards the door. "Tch." Slipstream's own body is unmoving again, keeping her gaze firmly upon the mech in front of her. If he can read anything in her optics, it’s that this will not be easy for her or for him. "I'll be watching you Psykeout, listening and watching. You have ingrained something deep into my core being and it will be a long while before it is smoothed over. You may have cajoled Shred," she then leans close, optic twin burning stars of deep magenta, "but mark my words mech, you do anything to her, to me, or anyone else I happen to care about.. I will make sure that you suffer a cannon from Megatron. Do I make myself clear?" Psykeout hangs his head slightly and nods, "Yes, ma'am. I understand completely and I have no intention of hurting those you...or I...care about." This time, his voice isn't wavering. It seems that he actually does feel something for Shred. He...understands her and she understands him. Leaning back in the booth, he seems to relax just a shade. After taking a sip of his drink, he stares at his interlaced fingers on the table, then back to Slipstream, "The pain that I would suffer from hurting Shred is worse than the pain that would result from Megatron's cannon. Do I make /myself/ clear?" His voice is still neutral, much like Slipstream's. If one were to stare intently and had any psychological training, they would realize that there is something inside of that mass of hatred and bitterness. A little gleam of hope, if you would. Slipstream inclines her head a little as she picks up her drink, takes a sip, then offers to Psykeout, "Clear as a starless sky." That seems to settle it, she's able to physically relax a bit and try to enjoy a drink with the mech. Psykeout raises his glass and nods towards Slipstream, "I am glad we're on the same page." He drinks deeply and cranes his head around, "Swivel...Swivel, Swivel, Swivel. Not even polite enough to come over and say hello?" Static comes strolling into the joint. Looking around a couple times, never changes, now does it. He makes his way over to the bar, glancing over at the stage. Slipstream remarks, "Goa is good at distracting her from doing so. That much I'm sure of.." Psykeout turns and smiles towards Slipstream, "I'm not sure you understand the history between myself and Swivel. You see, she knew me before I was a Decepticon..." He drifts off, catching the words that came out of his vocoder. A slip of the tongue, that could get him into more trouble then he's willing to deal with. He shakes his head, "Never mind. Regardless...Swivel and I have a long history together. She was almost one of my first test subjects, but managed to slip away from me time and time again." Slipstream hmms softly to this, "Right.. the whole torture for screams and pain thing. What's up with that? Do you get off on watching others in pain, hearing them scream and beg for mercy? Is that what you hoped out of me that day with a laser scalpel, to beg you not to kill me?" she asks. Static sits up, as he watches the stage. "Ah, good...a show tonight." A femme moves out onto the stage, and scans the crowd. She gives a shrug of her shoulders, and starts into a dance routine. Had been all but out of the establishment, halfway through the door, when she hears her name said four times consecutively. This causes her to stop and turn around. Wearing her smile like an identity badge she walks briskly back into the bar and strides over to Psykeout, placing her hands down at the table he is sharing with Slipstream. "Oh yes, how VERY rude of me, Psykeout," she says sweetly. "I forgot to say hello, and I practically ignored you the last time I saw you just the other cycle. I forget myself sometimes, but good thing I have you to remind me of my manners." She ignores the experiment comments, or rather, just has nothing to say about that. She straightens up and places her hands behind her back. Psykeout brings his hands off of the table, bringing the clasped appendages underneath his chin and stares at Slipstream, "I will be more than happy to explain that at a later time, Slipstream. However, given the current...company, I doubt that this is the proper time," He turns to Swivel, "How nice of you to join us." His vocoder is starting to show the amount of energon is more then he has ingested in quite some time. He used to have quite the addiction to it and gave it up, but now...it's hitting him rather hard. His speech begins to slurr as he continues, "You did ignore me, Swivel...but, I'm willing to overlook that." Finishing the drink that he has in his hand, he motions to the waitress for another. Patting the seat next to him, he offers a half-smile to Swivel, "C'mon..siddown. Bring yer friend, Goa too..." Goa sighs as Swivel swivels right back around. This was going to be colorful. The Decepticon hovers over the femme's shoulder, a quizzical look at Psykeout. And narrowed optics. He'd heard what he was saying, too. Goa glances over his shoulder, eyeing Static a few moments before turning back forward. He recognizes the slurring in Psyke's voice, too, and that grin he briefly got last cycle returns. But he doesn't make any motion to sit, deferring to Swivel instead. Slipstream hmms to that, then inclines her head. Bringing up a history like that could get ugly, and she's not in the mood to cause emotional issues for a fellow femme. She sips on her drink, waiting to see how the two interact. Goa's optics are sought in a glance, a mental nudge given as if questioning if he's sitting or standing there. Static shrugs as things get kind of boring. He snaps his finger, and the dancing femme on stage bursts into flames. Swivel stares at Psykeout for a moment, her grin staying in its place defiantly. She glances at the place offered her for a moment, then checks over her shoulder to see if Goa followed. Seeing him behind her she looks back at Psykeout. "How good of you to overlook my poor behavior towards you. It's appreciated from this lowly little femme...." Swivel says, but she casts a glance over at Slipstream before looking back at Psykeout. "But... I would not want to intrude between you and, uh, your company. Besides... we seldom kept each other's company in public. Perhaps we can catch up with each other another time, Psykeout. Now you have fun making new friends and remember your curfew." Goa hears a crackling sound from behind, so he looks over his shoulder again. ... interesting. But, uh ... well, fire can't be that bad. He turns back around with a somewhat more befuddled look. "Alright," The Decepticon narrows his optics. "I'm asking. Psykeout, you're overcharged. Swivel, you two go back, and that's relevant to my interests. And Slip," he grins at the femme a moment, "You've been stalking me all cycle. What the slag is going on?" Goa quickly adds, in a sort of double-take, "And Psykeout. You're /overcharged/. That's just... that's wrong. Somebody run over your pet cyber fox?" Goa hears a crackling sound from behind, so he looks over his shoulder again. ... interesting. But, uh ... well, fire can't be that bad. He turns back around with a somewhat more befuddled look. "Alright," The Decepticon narrows his optics. "I'm asking. Psykeout, you're overcharged. Swivel, you two go back, and that's relevant to my interests. And Slip," he grins at the femme a moment, "You've been stalking me all cycle. What the slag is going on?" Slipstream looks toward Swivel and says, "I do not mind if you wish to sit." gesturing for her to take a seat with the mech. She finishes off her drink and sets the empty mug down. She looks toward Goa, "We'll talk about it later." she states, not wishing to air out anything in Psykeout's presence. Things he could use against her and Goa are out of the question in her mind. Psykeout looks up to Swivel and smiles in a half-hearted way, "We may have had our differences in the past, but I am willing to put those behind us. We may not have interacted in the public eye, but there's no present like the time, right?" Obviously, he's had a bit too much. But, he doesn't seem to care. Even Goa saying something only seems to help him to realize that Goa is actually present. The smile plastered on his face grows even wider, "GOA! Nice of you to join us! I was just telling Slips about...umm...what were we talking about again?" The burning femme runs off stage, screaming. Goa sighs and pastes his toothy grin back on, edging into the booth, bumped up against Slipstream right under her wing. "Actually." Goa leans forward on the table, "You could talk about whether you've found any of that crystal or not." Swivel raises her optics ridges, looking bewildered for a moment, before she quickly begins to laugh. "Awe... nothing like the effects of enerhol..." she murmurs. Swivel idly wonders how many insults she could throw at Psykeout and get away with, but decides against that course of action. Insult slinging was not her forte, and it'd be fairly lame attempts on her part. She was cute, adorable, loveable Swivel after all. Therefor, any offbeat comments had to be delivered in her jovial ways. "Oooooh..." Swivel purrs, "I think you and this pleasant femme here were talking about how you used to experiment on me, you know, the good old days.... hee hee... you darndest little sadist. At any rate, enjoy your drink and company, and I have an errand to run... unless... unless..." her optics go over to Goa, "...you'd rather postpone our outing?" Slipstream glances over at Goa's nudging under her right wing and hmms, "I thought it was all retrieved by now?" she asks curiously, then glances at Swivel, "He doesn't want to discuss it in front of you, I'll allow it." she notes with a shrug. Psykeout's head lolls a bit as the waitress brings him another. Not like he needs it or anything. Somehow, he manages to turn his head up to Goa, "I told you, Gooey, I didn't find anything and I didn't take anything out of you. How many times do I need to repeat myself?" His head lolls back to Swivel and back to Goa, "Sho...you gonna answer the lady?" "Hey, it's been two cycles. I'm just askin'. I know how industrious you are." Goa holds his hands up, and leans back into the nice alcove behind him. "Course. Swivel, I've got 'Con business here," he grabs a small disc from his subspace, offering it to the femme, "You sure you don't wanna stay?" His voice lowers to an ineffective whisper, "This is gold." Swivel shrugs her shoulders listening to Goa. Then she makes a 'hmm' noise, bringing a hand up to her chin. The cheerfully femme finally throws her arms up in the air. "Why not? I'll stay if you all want me to, and it's nice to feel wanted! It's not like there's anyone I dislike in this room; that'd be impossible for me because I'm just a bundle of love and happiness and joy and... just good things. I'm a good femme..." she trails off and takes the disc. She then plops down in the seat that had been offered here. "Wait... if it's 'con business, shouldn't I be elsewhere? Not that I'd spill anything, because I'm a good girl." Slipstream ignores how Goa leans against her wing, able to take down the receptors in it enough so it dulls any discomfort. The drink she had is beginning to process through her system, which helps even more so. "Trouble maker." she murmurs into Goa's audio. Psykeout waves a hand, "'sides, if I actually did take some out of you, I'd run the risk of being infected. I'm not stupid enough to try something like that. There's protocols for things like that..." His head begins to loll back and forth, while he attempts to take a drink. About half of it makes it into his gullet, while the other half rolls down his chin and onto the table. He barely registers that Swivel has sat down next to him, staring at the drink in his hand, as though it holds the answers to all of life's questions. Then, suddenly, he brings the glass towards his mouth. Of course, instead of actually making it there, he shatters it on his face. Minor cuts and such now adorn his face, with bits of fluid starting to drip from where his chin should be...if it weren't cut to ribbons. He's barely able to get out two words, "Oh, Primus..." Goa shakes his head at Swivel. "Nothing meaningful comes through the Sleazo." Chortling at the tickle on his antenna, he turns back to watch Psykeout ramble, his lips flattening a bit as he keeps talking about the slagging crystal. They both know full well that isn't how it behaves. But he knows better than to try to add anything in edgewise. About the time he's made that decision, Psykeout manages to shred his chin... Goa's antennae flit backwards, and his only response to the entire situation is a downplayed, sadistic smirk. Swivel raises her optic ridges up at Psykeout smashing the glass against his chin, and then she makes a 'tsk' sound and then puts on an exaggerated expression of pity. "How it pains me to see you so... discoordinated..." Swivel says, dragging out the last word meaningfully, her optics going narrow for a moment. However, she resets her face to its cheerful default and whips a stained rag out of subspace. She offers it to Psykeout. "This is yours anyway, I think." She then peers at Goa. "I guess you're right. You'd all have to be quite silly to discuss anything sensitive here." Slipstream winces slightly as the mech manages to break his mug on his face and cut himself. "Well, that will have him closer with Shred than he intended." she notes, a weak attempt at levity. "Perhaps you better go find her and get that tended to Psykeout." Psykeout suddenly grabs his chin and pushes by Swivel, grabbing the rag from her hand and rushing for the door. Somehow, he's able to mumble through his hands, "Mmph--sorry about the mess--mmph..." In nanoseconds, he's through the door and is gone into the night. Goa's optics flicker. "That was a trip." He looks over at Swivel, trying to gauge her expression. Swivel is nearly jostled over by Psykeout bumping past her, but she quickly puts a hand out to the table to steady herself. She watches him go, and though her lips are curled up into a smile, her expression seems somehow indifferent due to the lack of joyful glimmer in her optics. Once he's gone she lets out a long sigh, and for a split second it seems as though she'd deflate into an expression of relief or even anxiety, but instead she ends it with a small laugh. Her expression is difficult to read as she miles and laces her hands together, setting them upon the table, saying nothing. Slipstream fully relaxes now that he's gone, "I don't think I was hard enough on him." she relates to Goa softly, then looks toward Swivel, "And whatever he did to you ... he probably won't give the full details of either." she states. Goa shrugs. "I still don't know who did what to who and what... when..." he lays his helmet back against the seeker's wing, "See, Slippy, this is why I get so much trouble with those profiles." He splits two of his fingers apart with his nosecone, digging them into the sides of their respective optics. "However, I can remember, that I'm gonna punch Depth for this processor ache next I see 'im." Swivel looks up at Slipstream, giving a little shrug. "Yes... well.... him and his experiments... he likes to keep a lot to himself... but I'll speak plainly. I've heard the lines "I'm trying to become a better mech" before from him." She slouches forward, breaking the embrace of her two hands to raise one fist up to set her chin upon. "I overheard you two talking, and a femme with her wits about her is right to be skeptical. But..." she raises her optics and looks down at the other hand which had remained on the table. "...he might be honest this time. S'what I kept telling myself each time, anyway..." She idly taps the table and doesn't look up to Goa when she says, "Count me stars lucky I ain't got a head splitter." Slipstream idly notes, "Maybe you shouldn't try to know it then Gooey. There are just some things that are unknowable." then a chuckle, "Oh? What did he do, force you to drink? I think not." she muses. The looks toward Swivel at her words, inclining her head. "He is not going to get off easy with me. I do not take kindly to my life being threatened because he had a issue with a friend of mine, who he was also threatening the life of.. the fact he even got away with it by sweet talking Megatron grinds my gears." Another mech might've cracked something about Swivel's possession of a processor TO split. But a mech that's been fairly swindled out of his credit reserves knows better ... Goa just smiles, and turns away, scraping at the table idly. "You have gears?" Swivel allows a lazy sprawl of a smile to cross her face and she lets out a slow, effortless chuckle, as her optics grow distant for a moment or two. She begins to draw invisible circles on the table with her finger, staring down at it. "I don't know much about this Shred.... but I honestly fear for her. But if she's as... uh.... crazy as I've heard..." she pauses, giving a furtive glance to Goa before staring back down at the table, "...maybe she'll be fine." She straightens up and looks across at Slipstream again. "I'm sorry... I don't think we've been introduced. As you already heard by now, I'm Swivel, the delightfully cheerful nobody." Slipstream turns her head and nudges at Goa's shoulder with her hand, "You used to grind on them too, so don't even go there." she notes in a soft teasing tone. She turns her gaze back to the other femme, "Shred isn't crazy, it’s more of a regression to her days before being with the Decepticons." then she smiles slightly to her. "Slipstream." she offers. Goa shakes his head from side to side, his downturned helmet obscuring any other expression. "Mech's unstable. That's all I'm gonna let myself know. Shred's stable, she just got bad timing." He didn't catch the look. When Swivel gets around to introductions, Goa sits up again, smiling over at her. He runs a hand over Slipstream's canopy as she speaks. "Used to? I'm off the ball," he grins and clasps his hands in his lap, motioning with his helmet back toward Swivel, "Slipstream's uncrazy enough." Swivel inclines her head and repeats Slipstreams name. She shifts a little in her seat and then tucks her legs underneath the booth. "I see... well hopefully all turns out for the best," Swivel says with no surplus of sweetness, but just a genuine chord of kindness. "I guess it isn't my place to say much more than I have.... and even that wasn't really my business." Swivel trails off. Not her business? Of course it was. Anything to do with Psykeout was personal, and therefore, her business. She tilts her head to the side, looking beyond Slipstream with a somber expression. Then Goa gets her attention and she smiles again. "Well... sometimes I'm not sure it's the sane people who survive. It's... it's sort of like being too sane makes you... hum.... brittle. Whereas just a wee little bit of insanity..." she says, bringing up a hand and holding her forefinger and thumb just centimeters from each other to illustrate her statement, "...makes us flexible. Too sane, and something too bizarre or traumatic happens and you just fall apart. A little not-right-in-the-noggin helps you deal." Slipstream smiles to Goa's touch, "Someone has to be the sane one." she notes softly to him, "Or at least sane enough." she finishes, then nods a bit to Swivel, "I don't know about that, I've had no issues as of yet." Goa steeples his fingers on the table. "You helped me trade data with Autobots, Swivel. You'd think being in the place to say things doesn't apply around me," he takes a long glance over his shoulder, "Or Slippy." His processor trying to practically buzz inside his cranial frame robs the mech's smile, but he still manages to listen to Swivel's point. Swivel laughs at Goa. She certainly showed signs of appreciation for his playful, laid back antics. However, she shrugs her shoulders and rises to her feet. "Well each to their own. I'm a good femme, but I cannot own to being sane..." she says, then mutters under her breath, "...thanks to someone I know..." She laughs a little and nods her head. "At any rate, I'd either like that tour now, Goa, or I'd like to be on my way and we can resume another time. I just need a change of scenery. Staying on one place too long makes me restless."
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