"Hmm..."

Dhow crouched, her jaw still half-distended on one side, the obnoxious lump pressing out from the base of her neck plating. From within the seams a sunny biolight poked out. Even standing back a ways Starscream could sense the distress pulses from it. He scratched at a spot on his shoulder housing, frowning.

"Endo could probably dislodge that easily," The jet mech staggered back as the huge beastformer scooted forward and nodded. "Though it would be a while to extract it at his size. Longer if it fell further in..."

"You know what, I bet that I could--" As the ex-Con stepped forward and raised a taloned hand the background tension seemed to switch; Dhow jutted her entire helm back with a growl rattling her frame (and the floor). Starscream halted, denta gritting. Stupid, he thought, she could tear off my arm and probably wants to. Just fetch Endo, get him to pull it out. She doesn't want my help, why should I give it out?

Still... The Seeker took another baby-step forward, forcing a smile with hands raised. As expected Dhow's optics narrowed, brows furrowed, the heavy denta poking out taking on an extra sheen of menace.

"Easy, Dhow, I'm merely offering help." At this Dhow snorted, one brow raising. "I know, I know, you don't want these within three metrons of you, " he wriggled a few of his razor-sharp claws. "I have very sensitive motor controls. The only way my claws could damage you is if I wanted them to."

Dhow blinked and snarled, throat twitching--probably trying to speak but finding her vocal air vents compressed shut by the foreign object. Starscream figured her meaning anyways, stepping a bit closer with a slow nod.

"That's the problem, isn't it? You don't trust me," he vented a sharp sigh, smile turning wry and cold for a moment, "But then, the others don't exactly trust you either. You could try to find a bot in this base besides me and besides Endo who would willingly reach into your mouth. You could try. And I'd expect to find you still trying joors later."

Dhow's faceplates twitched. A soft snuffle reached the jet's audios, and he winced. He'd had far too much practice being persuasive on the negative end, it seemed. His claws lowered to half, sharp tips curling under and tucking against his palms.

"Erm," One more step and now he was in easy arm's reach. "I didn't mean to upset you..."

Dhow gave a sharp hiss, shuttering her optics rapidly to clear them. Starscream's brows turned upwards, his own optics narrowing into a cringe.

"I did anyways, didn't I," he grumbled. "I'm sorry. Look, if you'll just... er, your mouth, you know... and we can just forget about this--"
It surprised him when her jaws parted wide before he'd even finished rambling off his pitiful excuse for an apology. He found himself staring: Her biolights and optics' amber yellow color carried over to the globular nodes in the sides of her maw and in a spiraling pattern down her throat. Her tongue was a slick gunmetal shade, strongly blue-tinted like his own. Partway down the blue shades started to become a dull bronze, the internal lighting making it look as if she were golden inside.

And then, not that far into her intake tubing, the light was harshly cut off by a disk-like, dark object. The lid from the energon canister, its thin edges caught sideways between the plating and stretching out the internal seam. With a start the Seeker realized Dhow was staring at him quizzically (and impatiently), no doubt noticing his gawking.

"A-alright then..." He shot her a nervous grin, flexing his talons one more time before probing forward into her oral cavity. "Just stay relaxed, and hold still. This won't take long."

It didn't. The Seeker concentrated as his entire hand and wrist slipped past the much larger bot's intake valve, blocking off his visual with the foreign object. He went by feel from there, eyeing the pulsing distention in Dhow's neck plating to avoid looking her in the face. His first two digits and thumb poked forward like an ant's antennae (if Dhow was ticklish to this she put on a stoic performance) until her felt the clink of contact with different metal. With a grunt of effort he pressed down on her intake, stretching it just enough to slide the edges of his claws under the trapped object. A soft tug brought it loose again, held tightly between his digits as he started to draw his arm back out.

A look at himself made his faceplates heat up in a bright flush; as he pulled the lid free of Dhow's gaping maw he turned away, hiding it. The beastformer's vocal vents were finally open again, but still not one hundred percent functional. She coughed, cycled air deeply, and gave the Seeker a curious look-over.

"Er," The jet mech dropped the lid to the side, keeping his optics trained to his own arm (and the coating of robotic saliva that had advanced almost completely to his elbow joint...) to continue avoiding Dhow's gaze. "You're welcome. I... well, I'm going to clean this off before someone sees..." He turned on his heel struts and nearly scurried out as he trailed off. Dhow half-choked as she cycled air again, left alone and puzzled by the turn of events. She massaged her neck plating where the lid had been, shaking her head at the ex-Con's odd behavior and at her own in a situation that could have gone far worse.

---

^w^; More fun vorish sketch with fun vorish mini-story attached to it! XD To be honest, the story's probably waaaaay better than the drawing--that's just a doodle that inspired it. >u<

Yay! Building friendships--one accidentally-ingested energon canister lid at a time! <w<;