Beeps and Buzzes

⚔️ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 2

　　　
　　　
For five, blissful seconds you were allowed to take in a big old calming breath. Just for (five seconds later) a barrage of cluster bombs went off behind you. Flinching, head whipping back towards Hound, somebody with a nasty habit of manufacturing such bombs in-house.

"Yooo!" shouted Jimmy, emerging from a shack that made your camper look tacky. Acting as Cade's glorified intern, applying for a nonexistent job before being effectively kidnapped after a ten minute interrogation.

Guy didn't even get paid, hating every second of this sudden isolation from the outside world.

"next time ease up on the breaks!"

"It's the way I roll; I like to make a statement when I arrive!"

"Well, you're getting dust all over the campus!"

"This ain't no campus, it's a Junkyard"

Without feeling particularly inclined to intervene, strolling in a leisurely fashion towards the shack intent on grabbing a drink. It was a hot day, and you had metal body parts, which made this heat close to unbearable. Wasn't like you had a built-in cooling system.

Drift did suggest (innocently enough) digging a pit to collect rainwater in for you and the mini-dinosaur to cool off in. Leading to Cross's followup snark, advising you may as well drown in it to 'get rid of unnecessary baggage' (Which went onto a brawl between him and Bumblebee).

Didn't matter though. Cade shut down the idea, and you agreed to keep some semblance of peace.

Weaving between two cars, ghosting past Wheelie who you are happy to have back on the team, as Brains low mood lifted oh so slightly. Plus your whole friendship thing.

He'd become a little clingy, just not to extremes. Often or not winding up close by, stubbornly refusing to make conversation or offer anything of substance. Having no idea what kind of shit he went through, there wasn't any point in moaning about it. You were still friends at the end of the day, and despite it all you stuck by your friends.

Crouching down, raiding the mini fridge for a drink, cap removed in one swift action and soon after you started to head back out towards the front. Relishing the cold sensation rushing down your body, sighing in relief, drying your mouth before propping yourself up on the boot of an old car.

"Jimmy!" door slamming shut, attention going to Cade storming out his Doom buggy and towards a certain Dinosaur who was currently gnawing on a car.

In response, the bespectacled male rebutted "Hey man, don't take out any aggression on me!"

"Dammit, Grimlock! We're guests here!"

"You get into shit there?"

"Yeah! Neck deep!"

So that's why the Sheriff stopped him. You thought it was a bit weird - Cade didn't really stop for many chats these days, least of all anyone outside the immediate team. Probably a stress response thing, totally relatable. 

Perhaps some time in the woods might help him cope, or make things significantly worse. Perhaps convincing him to get more sleep was a smarter choice, considering he'd turned into a night owl and functioned exclusively on caffeine and paranoia.

"Cade, that's what you get for taking the yellow bugger. You need a real leader out there, like me!"

Oh, you could already feel the headache blossoming. Was that the sound of a tiny, miniature violin playing?

Jimmy's pleading eyes certainly didn't help, boring into your very existence keen to believe you were nigh in vulnerable. That somehow, flinging yourself between metal behemoths was just child's play to you.