So much for a race

[Soundwave]

Laserbeak nodded and looked up to the sky for a moment. //~"Master, Knockout requires your... assistance."~\\ he called through the bond to Soundwave, then looked back to Knockout. ~"My Master comes."~ he assured the red sports car, then looked to the human again. "Best get out, little girl, unless you wish to be... forcibly extracted from the vehicle when my Master arrives." he trilled with a slightly sadistic chuckle, turning and arching his wings a bit like a bird getting ready to pounce or attack something.

//~"Soundwave acknowledges, arrival imminent."~\\ he replied and transformed to his jet form, plunging through the atmosphere towards Knockout. It didn't take him long to get there, as fast as he was, and upon arrival, pulled up and transformed to his full twenty-two foot height, his feet touching down as if in mid stride, walking up to Knockout. He regarded the red car with a slight tilt of his head for a moment before he spoke in his typical deeply modulated monotone voice. "Human evacuation required." he stated evenly, merely looking at her with deep red optics as he approached. He then carefully scanned Knockout to determine the source of the malfunction, his array of thirty two cyber tendrils reaching out from his upper back in four groups of eight, one set over each shoulder, one set around each side under his arms as he reached down and gently grasped Knockout's bumper, lifting his front end and putting the vehicle at about a 60^o angle, his tendrils slithering over Knockout's front end and underneath to reach into more vital areas, locating neural clusters and linkages in order to access Knockout's transformation protocols directly to trigger them into activation. One thing that Soundwave knew, during a forced transformation, any passengers would be crushed in the process, unlike when a mech willingly transforms and can control how his parts move and transform around the passenger safely. He waited for the human's response and action before triggering it, however, not so much for the safety of the human, but knowing that Knockout would be most unappreciative of having human fluids and internals spread all over his interior and chassis.

[Knockout]

"Hey Soundwave, sorry to have to have you come out here but I've kind of run into a snag as you no doubt know." he said, opening his door for Jasmin to be able to get out "I shouldn't take to long Jasmin just. . .play nice if you'd be so kind, maybe you can talk Laserbeak into letting you pet him." he said with a small chuckle, knowing that was pretty unlikely, hoping the tone would give away that he was joking. ~"Sorry Laserbeak, the joke was there, I had to."~ he added to the avian in Cybertronian.

When Soundwave's tendrils lifted him up however, he went silent, those tendrils slithering all over, prodding parts that normally weren't touched, as a medic Knockout knew well that such had to occur sometimes and it was just a case of doing what was needed, his body, however, couldn't help but become slightly aroused at the sensations, a slight shiver going through his frame though he tried oh so hard not to let that show. OK, he admitted it to himself, he did have a thing for Soundwave, had for a while, at least of what he could remember, and that just brought this little situation to a whole near level, though he kept his mouth shut, at least until one tendril hitting a certain part made him flinch a bit "Careful, that spot's a bit ticklish." he said, hoping Soundwave wouldn't use that against him, at least not when company was around. Once Soundwave found the right area for forced transformation, what was expected did occur, his frame shifting and reforming into the hansom mech that hide under the car's guise. He shook his head briskly, having ended up on his rear due to just how weird that felt "OK, I've done it to others before, now I know what they mean when they say forced transformation feels like your head and your aft have a rough meeting." he said, looking up to Soundwave and smiling "Thanks Soundwave, I should be able to do the repairs I need now that I have hands again."

[Jasmin Cornejo]

Jasmin rolled her eyes a bit at the request to 'play nice.' "I'll play fair, how's that work for you?" she answered as she exited the vehicle through the now opened door. She kept an eye on Laserbeak. She found it unlikely he would actually do anything to her but just in case she had to be ready to move. She stood there with her backpack slung on her back once more and watched Soundwave out of curiosity. So far he hadn't done anything to indicate she couldn't trust him, unlike Laserbeak. The tentacle thing might be a little freaky on some accounts but if it got the job done and Knockout didn't mind who was she to judge? She looked over at Laserbeak again with a smirk. "So seeing as how you can talk why don't you just tell me the sweet spots now? You like being scratched under the chin?" she said half jokingly, but if he was going to treat her like a little girl then why shouldn't she treat him like a pet? As she saw it, by being degrading towards her he degraded himself.

[Soundwave]

Once Knockout was finally transformed into his robotic form, Soundwave retracted his tendrils with a single, silent nod to the medic. He then looked over at Jasmin and Laserbeak as the avian hissed at her and brought his wings down hard, lifting his frame up off the ground, talons reaching forward towards Jasmin with the intent to do something very nasty to her indeed. Soundwave was quick to act, however, and through the bond he ordered his symbiote to stand down. With a snarling screech, Laserbeak complied, lifting himself higher before turning in mid air right in front of Jasmin, whipping his tail around with the intent of smacking her to the ground before flying up to perch on Soundwave's shoulder, giving the human a dark glare. "I am no one's pet, insect child, and no one touches me but my Master." he churred, and Soundwave brought a hand up to sooth the temperamental avian, who nuzzled into the much larger mech's hand. Soundwave simply ignored Jasmin, considering her completely unimportant, his focus more on Knockout. ~"Further assistance required?"~ he asked Knockout as he lowered his hand again and Laserbeak settled on his shoulder more fully.

[Knockout]

Knockout looked up at Soundwave, smiling just a bit ~"I should have it from here, thanks Soundwave, I owe you."~ the red medic said, looking away a bit so he didn't end up awkwardly looking over Soundwave's frame as he was prone to do. He had to admit, as scary at Soundwave could be to other bots, Knockout just couldn't see what about that body could be scary. He pushed the thoughts from his processor for the time however, he needed to see to his systems, thankfully now he had hands to actually do so. He looked over to Jasmin then "It may take a bit, but I need to get my systems working right again." he informed her so she knew it could be a couple hours before they could be mobile again, it was then he opened up a private com to Soundwave <~"Hey Soundwave, hate to be more of a bother but my little glitch seems to be happening more lately, even as a medic I can't find the cause. Would you mind, maybe, later helping me try to figure out what is causing it? Every time I try to diagnose that specific issue my systems start shutting me out. Not a pleasant experience let me mind you. A third party may be able to help more. That is if you don't mind, after I drop this girl off at least."~> he asked, glancing up to Soundwave for a moment. He knew the mech wasn't that bad, after all, Soundwave had taken in Wavelength as his own and Knockout, unlike most of the Decepticons, knew just how much of a sweety Wavelength really was under that act, considering Soundwave had taken him in, Knockout figured asking for such assistance couldn't really hurt.

[Jasmin Cornejo]

Jasmin reacted as she saw Laserbeak get aggressive, her knees bent and ready to spring into action should a fight ensue. He may be one of Knockout's friends but if he attacked her she had every right to defend herself. She sprang back agilely as the tail swung at her and landed in a crouch, the very tip of the tail catching her arm and leaving a decent gash across it. She returned the glare to the avian as he perched on Soundwave's shoulder. "And I'm no child. Am I not allowed to joke? Do you think that just because I'm smaller and not made of metal and supposedly weaker I'm not allowed any personality or free will? A mindless drone that should just cower at any sign of danger? Well sorry, but that's not me. I've met plenty of people who act just like you and I've beaten them too. The thing that makes me different is that I don't use my strength as an excuse to act superior to others."

She then stood straight and moved to stand beside Knockout as he addressed her. "That's cool, I understand. Don't want any more issues to come up and get us in worse trouble. Speaking of..." She slipped the backpack off and dug around in it a bit with her uninjured arm, finally pulling out some small bottles with herbal ointments and some bandaging to wrap her arm. She did not need that wound infected, or for it to get worse. Plus between how long she'd been awake and the current lack of nourishment in her body blood loss would not exactly be a good thing right now. Once she had seen to her own injury she turned back to Knockout. "Any way I can help? I know I don't really have much in the way of experience but sometimes an extra pair of hands can help a lot."

[Soundwave]

Soundwave nodded once when Knockout told him he could handle things from there now that he was in his bot form, and Soundwave turned and had taken about two steps when he got the private com from the red mech. He stopped then, turned to look at Knockout over his shoulder for a moment. He was rather a bit surprised at the request. Most would shy away from being in close proximity of him, let alone being touched by Soundwave or his tendrils, but to actually have him enter their neural cores for any reason? Most were outright terrified of it knowing what he could do to a mech from the inside, even within their own neural cores. He regarded Knockout curiously for a moment, then finally nodded once. <~"Request acknowledged and approved."~> he replied simply, as was his way. He had to wonder why the medic trusted him where no other would, that is, no other except his own family; Laserbeak and his twin brother Buzzsaw, Frenzy and his big brother Rumble, Ravage and the microcon gestalt hive he carried with him called Gauntrix, Ratbat, Aria, and Wavelength. He knew that Knockout and Wavelength had interacted, Soundwave was very careful to closely observe Wavelength's interactions with others, especially any Decepticons, to be sure his adopted son was safe and unharmed, and most knew of Wavelength's strong connection to Soundwave and none dared harm the young mech for fear of Soundwave's wrath, the same reason none dared harm his symbiotes or his daughter. Soundwave had to wonder what Knockout gleaned from those conversations with his young son, or why he seemed to trust Soundwave as he did, but he would learn the answer in time. Soundwave was eternally patient, he knew all things came to him in time, and usually just how he planned them to.

Though Soundwave could not deny the growing tremor within him, the pleasure he had felt when he had Knockout wrapped in his tendrils, and now the surge of anticipation he felt knowing Knockout actually wanted him to not only touch him again, but to actually enter the red mech's neural core, even though both were to help with a malfunction. But any contact with him, even the smallest touch, had become a secret thrill to the oft distant and unreachable Soundwave, and though he never dared express the desires that dwelt within him, he found himself wanting the medic more each time he was near. It confused Soundwave, these desires; he had long ago locked them away after the death of one he had loved so long ago, swearing off such intimacy and need for the rest of his life, yet here he was, inexplicably drawn to another, wanting to be so close to another. He couldn't fathom why.

All these thoughts ran through him in a matter of nano-klicks, and with a faint venting sigh, suppressing the urges rising in him, his hands curled slightly as he forced himself to turn away from Knockout for now, his stride appearing like his usual confident, deliberate pace, yet to those who truly knew him, they could detect the almost undetectable hesitation and stiffness in his movements, though even if others did notice, they'd most often mistake it for anger or something similar. Laserbeak, he merely hunkered down and nuzzled his master's neck reassuringly, though most simply saw such a gesture as just a symbiote's affection towards his Master.

[Knockout]

Knockout smiled hearing the reply from Soundwave, nodding a bit "Thanks Soundwave, I'll owe you one." he said, watching the larger mech turn to walk away, though he tilted his head slightly at the sigh, the fists tightening. Did the quiet communications officer not want to leave for some reason or another? His voice had been the same as always over the coms, nothing that would be truly upsetting had occurred, so what was it that prompted that reaction? Unless it was leaving that made Soundwave react in such a way. Knockout almost, almost let a hope rise up in him, did Soundwave really want to be near him? Though he pushed it from his mind right now, he would assume nothing without proof, to do so could be dangerous, and potentially spark breaking.

Knockout looked back to Jasmin then, smiling once more "I do have my holoform to reach what I need to, but some help is never a bad thing." he said, moving to sit against the tree once more, though he got an idea, he knew well that Soundwave could hear just about anything, so he searched the airwaves for something, just to test. He found Lonely by Cascada on one station and lowered the volume of his audio systems before letting it play through, the volume very, very low, well softer than human hearing range so Jasmin couldn't hear it, but he knew Soundwave's audio receivers were sensitive enough to catch it. If he was wrong, well, it could easily be played off as him liking the song, Knockout was known to listen to some human music at times, it was a test after all, and for that reason Knockout did keep watch on Soundwave from his peripheral vision.

Knockout's holoform activated then, moving across his own frame to get a panel of his armor off, the panel that the circuits he needed to fix were under, his true form pulling his tools he would need from a section of his armor in his forearm that opened to show a compartment. "Jasmin, there's a bundle of wires I'll need you to help hold out of the way for me, it'll avoid them getting damaged due to this awkward angle." he said, the currently open panel was right under where his chest armor even, not quite at the interface equipment thankfully, but a couple feet above it.

[Jasmin Cornejo]

"You got it, dude!" Jasmin said with a nod before climbing up onto his thigh so she could reach comfortably. She looked inside the now open panel on him and spotted what looked to be what he was talking about. "This one here, right?" she asked as she carefully and gently took the bundle of wires in her hands and slowly moved it aside and held it there. As she had mentioned before she wasn't exactly experienced with medical things when it came to Cybertronians so she wasn't exactly sure how fragile those wires were. She figured they wouldn't be too fragile but better safe than sorry. "How's that?"

[Soundwave]

After a dozen or more strides, Soundwave paused a couple hundred feet away, letting Laserbeak head off to parts unknown by any save the avian and Soundwave. Then he turned his head slightly, almost as if listening to something, and for an instant he froze as the words came to him. He could feel his Spark pulse a bit harder in his chest and he looked back at Knockout for a moment, only to feel his laser core crack at the sight before him, watching the medic with the human. No, he decided, the song was not meant for him, and the hope he once had faded to nothing within his chest as he vented softly again and lowered his head slightly. He then turned and transformed, launching himself in the air, though he did not quite exit the atmosphere, merely flying among the clouds. He knew better than to dare to hope, and perhaps the friendliness was merely to remain on Soundwave's good side, if he had one. Quietly he let it go, burying the feelings once more, burying the hope, the dream he thought he could one day have and literally threw himself into his usual work until he was directly called for again. Though he could not help but keep one lens on Knockout, wondering what was real and what really was just his own imagination born of being alone for far too long.

[Knockout]

Knockout nodded to Jasmin then "That will do just fine, thank you." he said moving to get the the needed circuits, he was silent for a while as he worked, thinking mostly, though when the song he had been listening to, he switched it to The little things give you away by Linkin Park , still low, still so Jasmin couldn't hear it, in truth he forgot it was still being played to where anyone but him could hear it, forgetting he had routed it to his sound system even though extremely low. His true form gave a sigh then, pulling the defective circuit out and replacing it with a new one. "Alright, that should do it, thanks for keeping the wire out of the way." he told her with a smirk as his holoform dissipated.

He would of course wait for her to be in the clear before replacing the armor panel, though as he waited for her to get back down, his gaze when skyward for a moment before he shook his head and looked to the human girl "Hey Jasmin, I know I just met you today, but can I ask you something? What do you do when someone doesn't return affection to you? I mean, when you like someone and they act as if they barely know you exist when you actually try to give them a hint?"

[Jasmin Cornejo]

"No prob, glad I could help!" Jasmin said with a nod as she carefully placed the wires back where they were before and jumped down from his leg. She noticed his glance up at the sky but was a bit surprised at what he asked her. "Well..." She let out a sigh, looking down a bit. "Honestly, I don't know. To be completely truthful I've sorta given up on the notion that someone could like me that way. Back where I came from I was just the crazy ass bitch and something of a vigilante on top of it since the law wasn't doing all that much in the way of helping people like me, I was running from the cops about as often as I could've used their help so eventually I said 'fuck it' and took matters into my own hands. Thing is, that doesn't exactly make for dating material. The closest I ever got to that sort of thing was-" She stopped, shutting her eyes tightly and trying to push the horrid memory back. "It wasn't affection at all..." Her voice was lower and darker than it had been before. "I guess the point is you're asking the wrong girl for relationship advice..." she stated as her voice began going back to normal. She looked up at the sky where Knockout had been looking, where the other mech had disappeared to. "It's him isn't it?"

[Knockout]

Knockout looked down at the girl when she asked if it was Soundwave he was referring to, he leaned over slightly, a hand resting on the ground next to her to support his weight "Is it that obvious?" he asked, his voice lowering a bit before he smirked "Yea, he acts so cold, but there's more there, I can tell. It's the little things I see that clue me in." he said before sighing, moving to stand and take a step back before transforming back into his alt mode "Now about that meal you need." he said as his holoform appeared in the driver's seat. This girl was pretty cool, but he still wasn't letting her drive on the first 'date'.

[Jasmin Cornejo]

Jasmin looked back at Knockout with a smirk. "It might not be obvious to everyone but, like you said, it's the little things. I don't know him myself and he didn't exactly stick around long but if you say there's more there I'll believe you on that. There tends to be more to people than they make apparent more often than not. I can already tell that's true of you." She twisted back and forth and stretched her back a bit, knowing she would be sitting in his alt mode again soon and likely for a while which meant much more restricted mobility. "But yeah, about that food thing, there's no rush but I ain't gonna bitch when we get there." she said as she got in his alt mode again.

[Soundwave]

Soundwave watched them, though he had to wonder why he insisted on tormenting himself. He meant to turn away then, but then he caught something in their mannerisms that made him wonder just what precisely they were discussing when the human looked to the sky. Was she looking at where Soundwave had gone or simply looking at the sky in general? He couldn't hear what they were saying, he was too far away and there were no audio devices nearby he could access. He remained there high in the clouds however, watching, wondering, curious, yet both hopeful and fearful. He had been a young mech, long ago before reunification, when he had loved another only to see her killed, never having bonded with her. Now he felt himself drawn to another after so many thousands of years alone and keeping his own emotions buried as far out of reach as he could. Even so, he cared for his Symbiotes, loved Wavelength like a son, and cherished his daughter Aria. But Knockout was never meant for Soundwave; he was an Autobot, or at least he used to be before the Decepticons got a hold of his mangled chassis and not only rebuilt him but also reprogrammed him as a Decepticon. Soundwave knew of the procedure, he had watched it from a distance yet remained well out of the way. Inwardly he scolded himself for letting his own loneliness override logic; even if Knockout looked on Soundwave favorably, it was most likely the result of the Decepticon programming that had been implanted in the sleek and beautiful mech. And as such, there would be no truth to any feelings that might come of any interaction between them. Venting heavily, Soundwave remained out of sight, waiting for the call when Knockout would ask him to come and repair what was causing the glitch in his systems, though Soundwave already suspected the source of the problem and knew that it would not be such a simple fix...