Scalpel’s recharge can best be described as “selectively fragile”. She’ll wake up instantly for certain things; medbay alarms, explosions, anything even resembling pain, restraints,the sensation of someone looming over her, that sort of alarming thing.
Small mech in her berth? Not really one of those things.
So she doesn’t wake up until it registers that her berth is not person-shaped.
One would think that somehow squirming around until her entire lanky frame is tucked on top of another person would wake her up, but evidently not.
Nope, it’s the gradual realization that something just feels… not quite right.
Optics snapping open, Scalpel hisses softly and pushes herself up, attempting to get up onto her pedes just in case something is wrong-
And entirely fails, as she doesn’t know to allow for the mech under her.
Yelping in alarm, the skinny medic shifts from “get to pedes and look around” to “NOT FALL” and just barely manages to catch herself, knees ending up clamped around his hips, both servos planted on his chassis at the realization that a person is here.
Fortunately for Crosscase, he doesn’t register as a threat. An Unexpected Thing, yes, but not a threat. Still, unexpected.
Optics narrowed, winglets askew, Scalpel aims a sharp fingertip at Crosscase and hisses down at him. “Explain.”
Crosscase groaned, pulled from sleep by something moving around on the berth. Getting up was the last thing he wanted to do right now, but it seemed that the choice had been taken out of his hands. He opened his optics and blinked blearily up at the tall, pointy person on top of him, it took him a moment for his processor to catch up and inform him that he didn’t know this person. He quickly looked around and didn’t recognize the room. Nothing in his memory helped him either, as there was a noticeable blank in it. Last he remembered he’d been in the lab, but now he was in some stranger’s berth. If only he could say this was a first.
“Um, I don’t really have an explanation. I honestly don’t know where I am, or how I got here.” Crosscase answered, clearly confused.
Scalpel’s hackles settled at the realization that he was equally confused, but she kept her knees clamped tightly against his sides, hoping to maintain what few shreds of control she currently had.
A quick glance around showed the almost-alarmingly-lumpy tarp draped over the wall to her side, covering a series of irregularly shaped objects hung against the wall. Okay, yes. This was definitely her room.
Now… first logical conclusion here was that she’d acquired a berthmate last night. Hm. Did this mech look like her type? He kinda did, cute little thing. But… no stickiness anywhere. Had they gotten tired before anything could happen?
Relaxing just a bit, Scalpel loosened her grip around his waist and placed both servos on his chassis to illustrate that, yes, she was stronger than the stranger (perks of being a medic-frame), and lowered her winglets in an “I will not murder you right now” gesture.
“You are in my quarters, off the medbay. My current theory is that I found you at a bar somewhere and… apparently we… fell asleep, or something of the sort.” she mutters, deciding to clarify the situation slightly for the confused mech she’s sitting on. “Now who the Pit are you?”
“Oh uh, I’m Crosscase.” He said quickly, deeply concerned about his current situation. He was with some stranger, a very strong stranger apparently, in someplace he had never been before, and no memory about how he got there. It was a little unnerving. Unconsciously he pulled his limbs close to his body, tucked his head into his down and dropped his wings as far as they’d go while pinned between him and the bed. Making himself appear smaller without meaning to do so.
“And ah, you theory sounds plausible. It-it wouldn’t be the first time actually.” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck and thoroughly embarrassed by the admission.
Scalpel’s optics narrowed at the gestures, then her winglets fluttered slightly and perked into something of a softly dominant pose- not all that dissimilar from a Seeker’s mannerisms. She wasn’t going to hurt this mech… he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Easy, now… ‘m not gonna bite you.” she hummed, lightly patting Crosscase’s chassis plating, then shifted off of him and moved to sit next to the small mech instead of pinning him. “I’m Scalpel. And, hm- yeah, you do kinda look like my type. Usually, though, when I bring strangers back here, I end up fragging them. Which does not appear to have happened, we aren’t nearly sticky enough.”
Deciding to find some energon, Scalpel stood up and took exactly one step-
And crumpled to the floor with a startled yelp as her leg gave out under her.
Crosscase relaxed slightly when the person on top of him backed off a little and wasn’t menacing right over them. When this Scalpel person moved off of him he followed them with his eyes, still not a hundred percent sure about the situation he found himself in. Though his misgivings were quickly forgotten when Scalpel crashed to the floor.
“Oh my gosh!” Crosscase exclaimed as he sat up and scrambled to the edge of the berth. “Are you okay?”
He climbed down next to Scalpel with the intent to help, but was very clearly at a loss for what to do in this situation.
Swearing in at least two languages, Scalpel curled into a ball to get her working pede under herself, her plating bristling in an anger/stress display as she tried to figure out what was happening and why her leg hurt. She didn’t respond to Crosscase for a moment, but, when she did, it was a soft, unhappy growl. “Hm. Not… sure about that.” she growled, both servos tracing down her leg in a search for the problem, then relaxed considerably when she found a set of neatly done welds down her lower leg.
“Ah. This… would explain it. I tend to react.. a bit oddly to sedatives. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve tried ta drag someone in here. Usually Patches, though. Guess he wasn’t around.” she muttered, carefully pushing herself up to stand on her uninjured leg. “Where were you, then?
“Oh geez, do you need to go to the medbay? I might be able to help you get there, or I can get someone bigger who can lift you or something.” Crosscase said, the words tumbling out of his mouth faster than usual while his voice pitched higher. What if something was seriously wrong with her? He wouldn’t be able to do squat! He was a chemist not a medic! Was there a proper way to move an injured person? Though her explanation did at explain part of the situation they woke up to.
“I honestly don’t know. Last thing I remember was being at work and now I’m here. What happened between then and now is a mystery to me, so your guess would be as good as mine there.”
Scalpel’s plating was a bit askew still in a relatively minor stress display, but she was starting to calm down. The initial stab of pain from putting all her weight on a limb that was not ready to bear weight had eased, and the stranger in her berth was very clearly not a threat. Propping a servo on Crosscase’s shoulder so she could get back to the berth without using her injured leg, she limped over and sat back down, taking a few deep vents to settle her plating further so she could try to calm the concerned mech.
“No, I do not need to go to the medbay, and I absolutely do not need someone to carry me. For one thing- it is right out there. Because I am a medic. I am fully qualified to decide if I need medical attention.” Scalpel declared, lying back down on the berth, then gestured slightly to Crosscase. “Get up here where I can scan ya. If I was in th’ medbay earlier an’ I brought you back in here, you were prob’ly in th’ medbay too, so we oughta figure out why.”
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