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[buffthis]

Who: Knock Out and Breakdown
Where: The Decepticon warship medibay
When: March 9th, eveningish
What: Knock Out finally attaches Breakdown's new arm.
Warnings: ROBOT SURGERY. it's probably gonna get a little gay

It had taken some time for him to gather all of the materials, but after a little careful theft of human technology and with Gemini's help -- and he'll acknowledge that, if a little begrudgingly -- Knock Out finally has all of the materials and the tools necessary to build Breakdown a proper new arm, one his partner deserves. It takes him the better part of a day to finish constructing it, and for once the Decepticon medic isn't out and about in the corridors of the warship or playing truant in the city. He's more or less shut himself up in the medibay, murmuring and humming lightly to himself as he labors over his worktable.

By Sunday evening, it's ready for implementation. Breakdown doesn't bother second-guessing Knock Out when he preps him for sedation, doesn't even look worried, and that confidence, that trust alone brightens Knock Out's spark. Breakdown has nothing to worry about, because they've done this many times before. This is far from the first time Knock Out has replaced a part of Breakdown, let alone one made by his own hand. Of course, Breakdown's never gone so long without proper treatment, and Knock Out's never had so little to work with...but it doesn't matter. This is familiar, by now.

The surgery takes some time, because Knock Out is thorough, if nothing else. He works diligently at seamlessly connecting cabling and articulators, carefully soldering plating, and by the time he's done, he has to stand back to admire his own work for a moment. There's a certain beauty in the symmetry he's managed to achieve -- oh, you can tell it's not Breakdown's original arm if you look closely enough, the materials aren't quite right...but there'll be no doubt about its functionality. Knock Out had even managed to match the paint fairly closely to the rest of Breakdown's plating, although it's a little off, more so for the fact that it desperately needs a good buff and wax. Even Knock Out knows there's no point in polishing before a surgery. He'll take care of that for Breakdown later.

When the sedative wears off and Breakdown comes to, Knock Out's at his side, carefully cleaning the last traces of energon from his hands with a cloth. His optics flick to Breakdown's face and he smiles, pleased.

"Ah, and the patient is awake," he says lightly, though he's watching Breakdown intently. "Try not to move too much just yet -- your welds are still fresh. How do you feel, hmm?"

Comments

[buffthis]

Knock Out's optics light up even more as he watches Breakdown lift the operating berth off the ground. Breakdown really shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting so soon after surgery, yes, but Knock Out's spark still swells with proud satisfaction. Ah, he's really outdone himself this time.

"Have a little patience, Breakdown," he coaxes, smirking. "TRIDENT will get theirs in due time, I promise. Besides, we still need to wait for our little friend to get himself up to par...and by the time you're both ready, TRIDENT won't know what's hit them." He grins, showing teeth. He's planning on doing some damage of his own, of course, but it'll be a good deal more...up close and personal. He's certain he could do with removing a few non-essential parts from those filthy humans before he kills them would be in order -- an eye and an arm, perhaps.

[buffedthat]

He sets the berth down and is again glancing around for something heavy — his eye falls on Knock Out, brightening all over again with a fresh idea.

"Oh, they'll know. I'll make sure they know just who it was." He steps over to Knock Out, sets a hand at each side, and lifts him fully off the ground. It comes with a broad smile and a showy spin, only half to convince himself he can do it. The other half is definitely for his audience. So much for taking it easy with his new arm. "This whole planet'll know better than to mess with us!"

[buffthis]

If it were anyone other than Breakdown, they wouldn't have gotten away with a move like that. Grabbing him bodily like that without warning? That's usually grounds for a saw blade to the arm. But Knock Out has always made exceptions where Breakdown is concerned, and all that happens is that his optics widen slightly as Breakdown spins him around, and he resets his vocalizer with a prim little noise once his feet are on the ground, as though to maintain some outward sense of dignity. "Watch the finish, now," he says mildly, but there's no real weight to it, and he's still smiling.

"We will make them regret what they've done to you," he adds in a promisingly menacing tone, crossing over to a storage compartment in the medibay to retrieve his buffer. Breakdown can say what he wants about the finish, but Knock Out's not going to feel like his work is done until that arm shines. There's a glint in his optics, hard and intent. "Make no mistake, Breakdown...I've got more than a few ways in mind to make them suffer for it."

[buffedthat]

He grins happily after him, amused that his roughhousing got such a mild rebuke. Not that he really would have expected otherwise, not by now. And... well, fine, is buffing is apparently unavoidable, Breakdown may as well settle down and enjoy it. Sure, it's just going to get immediately scuffed up again anyway, but if it'll make Knock Out happy. He leans back against the berth.

"Yeah, I bet you do." Breakdown may leave greater swaths of destruction in his wake when he really gets going, but that doesn't mean Knock Out isn't just as devastating, if in a different way. It's one of the many things Breakdown appreciates about him. "I'll have front row seats to it."

[buffthis]

Knock Out sets the buffer and his personal stash of wax on the edge of the berth, a polishing cloth slung over his shoulder. He chuckles darkly, smiling viciously at Breakdown. "Oh, I guarantee it," he says, just a touch of a growl to his voice. "You deserve to watch, after all. It's the very least I can do after all that time you spent rusting in a TRIDENT cell without my even knowing about it."

With the slightly guilty, uneasy look that flits across his face for just a moment, it's about as close to a sincere apology as Knock Out usually gets. With a look of absolute resolution, he picks up the cloth to dab away a few smears of energon he'd missed earlier before he fires up the buffer.

[buffedthat]

His smile is grim, but no less pleased — until he notices that uneasy look in Knock Out. It takes him a few seconds, but it's not a difficult connection to make. Not knowing Knock Out like he does. He holds out his arm for the buffer, taking a few seconds as he does to figure out how to put words to his thought.

"You couldn't have known, anyway," is what he eventually settles on. "The first thing they took offline was my comm link." He lifts his other arm, giving Knock Out's shoulder a nudge that's meant to be jovial, but comes out a little softer than that. "So don't worry about it."

[buffthis]

Breakdown's assurances mean more than most. Still, though he might not come right out and say it, part of him does feel responsible for Breakdown's extended stay with TRIDENT. It's the only thing he's sincerely sorry about. He doesn't feel particularly bad about his Decepticon truancy beyond the immediate consequences at Megatron's hands. But Breakdown...well, they've always looked out for one another, and Knock Out had dropped the ball in a bag way.

"Mmm," is all he says, rather noncommittally, as he runs the buffer over Breakdown's arm, falling silent for a moment as he just focuses on the task at hand. Then he smiles slightly, that hard edge still in his optics. "Well," he says lightly then, "it's in the past now anyway, isn't it? We'll just have to make sure we make up for lost time."

He thinks the lives of the TRIDENT scientists responsible for Breakdown's condition when they'd met up again should be a nice start.

[buffedthat]

"Yeah, exactly." He watches Knock Out a while longer though, wondering if he'd gotten his point across well enough. He doesn't blame Knock Out. All he cares about is that, when he finally got out, Knock Out was there. He drops his hand again, resting it against the berth next to him as Knock Out works with the buffer.

Maybe he didn't say it very well, but he can still prove it with actions. Those always came easier to him, anyway.

"Hey, after this — want to drive?" It's been a while since he could really go all out, without worrying that his makeshift spare would wobble off. Surfing down a few dunes sounds pretty good right about now.

[buffthis]

Knock Out finally smiles at that -- slow and small at first, but it's clear he likes the idea. He runs the buffer over the blocky curvature of Breakdown's shoulder, leaning forward and rising a little on his feet just to reach. "I think I do," he says decisively, his optics lighting up a little. Yes, a nice drive with Breakdown -- a proper drive -- that does sound like it'd brighten his spark a bit. It's been a long time since they had a real drive together. "Yes, I'm sure you could use an opportunity to use your once again complete alt mode. And you know I never say no to a drive."

[buffedthat]

"I was counting on it," he says with a renewed grin, even as he stoops and leans one shoulder down to allow him better access. It's good to see one of those smiles that Knock Out actually means on his face. Not that he doesn't appreciate the malicious ones — just, this one means he said the right thing. He's content with that.