Video; Episode 1: the one where swerve gets space bridged

[friendquest]

[The camera is shakey as Swerve tries to get the hang of using it on his wrist, squinting at it through his visor as it clicks on before a small whirring beep sounds off as he realises it's online.]

Eyy! Brilliant! Got this thing working. [he's going to finger guns at the camera with his spare hand] So, hey there crew of the Moira, aka Swearth 2: Return of the emotional trauma! Quester, bartender, and all round awesome guy Swerve at your service. Gotta say, this ship is kinda smaller than the Lost Light--your hallways could use some expanding for us taller guys. I mean, not for me, but you know. Other guys. There are other guys here right? [he waves his hand dismissively, seeming to drift off for a few moments.]

Anyway, off topic, I know. But it's been a while since I've had a captive audience, let alone one with so many organics! I've seen dozens of you squishy buggers! You're everywhere! And that's so cool! I gotta get my holo up and running so I can be one with you.

So, two main things I wanna know:

One, where's the nearest alcoholic establishment, a guy could really use a stiff glass of high grade right about now, and two--or, actually, well this kinda is part of one, since I need to know if you people even know what high grade is or how to distill it and last time this happened I was sort of human so I didn't even need to fuel up with energon, I just ate a fragton of pizza and drank good ol' fashioned beer in a can which was a weird but awesome experience, I can tell you that. Wait, where was I going with this again?

Oh! Right! Energon. You lot know what it is, or am I gonna starve slowly and painfully? And without even getting overcharged. That would be an awful way to go, nobody should have to live out their last moments in life without getting completely wankered. Not that I intend on dying, but you know. You never know what's around the next quantum jump!

[he starts getting distracted, looking off screen at something, and mutters to himself:] Slag, Quantum Leap--do I even still have that data slug on me? Gotta finish that episode before I forge--

[the recording abruptly shuts off as he slips his fingers over the device.]

Comments

[onlytwoexpressions]

...Very well, Swerve.

But I'm not going to leave you alone.

[friendquest]

[He looks up at Minimus from his spot on the floor, lip quivering as his vents stutter and struggle. He buries his face in his hands and shudders.]

... I'm not very good company right now. I know, impossible, right? [he laughs weakly, but seems to have gotten his crying under control.]

What... What am I gonna do?

[onlytwoexpressions]

If you'll remember, I wasn't very good company once.

And you still stayed with me.

I intend to do the same.

And as for what to do...? For now?

Let it out...

[friendquest]

[Swerve gives another weak laugh, curling in on himself.] Only because Rodimus threatened to not give me back the bar if I hadn't...

[It's muttered, and half meant as a joke, but. Swerve had been pretty selfish about that. And then he goes quiet, picking at chunks of paint on his servos that were peeling from shrapnel from the fight.] Maybe I should go back to making jokes not friends. This feels infinitely worse than my own self loathing ever did.

[onlytwoexpressions]

[There's an uneasy silence between them as Minimus struggles with what he wishes to say.]

[After a few minutes, he begins cautiously.]

I...am not an expert at making friends, Swerve. In fact, I am the furthest from.

But...if I may say so. I have always been a little envious of you. Maybe you're not the best at making friends either...but you try with a level of earnestness that...I greatly respect.

I sometimes wish I was as outgoing as you. Capable of witty retorts and amusing anecdotes.

I think you sell yourself short, but that does not diminish the level of appreciation I have for you being a part of the crew.

[friendquest]

[It takes everything in him to bite back a witty, self deprecating retort. He's trying to listen, trying to take everything Minimus is telling him, but he's never been good at taking compliments. Mostly because he never believes them in the first place. If people actually liked him, he would've been found long before degrading in his own filth and fluids in his room. If people actually liked him, he wouldn't be left alone at night, in his large, empty habsuite. And it's his own fault. He's the bad person here. He's the one who's obnoxious and won't shut up and who makes jokes not friends. Swerve struggles to see where the line of decency is drawn in the sand, and constantly jumps over it, stamping on it and kicking the sand so the line is nowhere to be seen. Honestly, he's surprised that more people haven't tried to off him yet.

Swerve shifts uncomfortably as Minimus talks, actually looking up at him nearer the end of his speech, fidgeting with his fingers, pressing his lips together.]

Well, I guess that makes one of you. [He laughs weakly, rubbing a palm against his faceplate.] I guess the rest of the crew didn't really share that opinion, what with the mutiny and all that.

[onlytwoexpressions]

I can't speak for the rest of the crew. But...I can say this.

Do you remember what Getaway said? About how no one remembered talking to him about a mutiny? That if you weren't prepared to stand with him when the time came, he would use his Nudge Gun and quietly erase the memory of the conversation?

You were with us on the Necrobot's planet, Swerve. Which means that you weren't prepared to stand with Getaway.

That tells me all I need to know about you. That you have a level of integrity that almost no one else on the entirety of our crew possesses.

You were prepared to stand with Rodimus, with your friends.

[Minimus heaves a shaky sigh as the memories of all of the faces, of all the people on the crew that left them for dead, former friends and allies, flashed through his mind.]

And for that...? I am truly thankful for you.

[friendquest]

[Swerve stares up at Minimus from his spot on the floor, frowning through his visor as the other minibot talks. He wants to interupt him, to argue and provide witty narratives for what he's saying but the seriousness of the situation seems to stop that from happening. There's very few people that Swerve has actually opened up to--and Magnus is on that list. But Swerve feels overwhelmed by it all, which is why he can't help the weak grin appear on his face and the nonchalant shrug he takes.]

You all have open tabs. Wasn't about to leave it like that. [Internally he cringes, kicking himself for making a joke as Minimus pours his spark out. What a jerk. What an idiot.

Silence takes them for a few moments, Swerve trying to find the words he's looking for in response to Minimus' outpour. But instead, something else fixes in his mind.]

I heard that Riptide's here.

[onlytwoexpressions]

[He pats Swerve gently on the back.]

I would not skip out on my tab, I'm sure you know that.

As for Riptide...yes, he is here.