When Rumble entered the room, he could have noticed many things.
One of the ceiling lights was flickering in a way that suggested its imminent death; the window revealing the ocean was dominated by an organism resembling a neon squiggle; the number of datapads stacked neatly on Soundwave's empty desk suggested a new mission in the works; Ratbat was hanging from an assortment of thick wires in a hole in the wall; Laserbeak was recharging whilst using a berthpost as a perch, and his position was growing steadily more precarious.
Mildly interesting though these displays might have been, Rumble did not notice any of them.
What he did notice was that Ravage had stolen his berth. His berth. Last night he had stolen Frenzy's. That was fine; this was most definitely not.
"No," Rumble informed the room at large.
Frenzy rolled over lazily, one arm still tucked behind his head. "No... What?"
Rumble pointed accusingly at the black feline cassette. "No," he repeated with a scowl.
Ravage had the grace to look up once before turning on his side and ignoring the twin completely. His tail twitched in what could have been construed as a "shoo" motion.
"Slaggit, Ravage!" Rumble snapped, striding forward, fists clenched at his sides. "I just came off of a shift with Scavenger. Scavenger! Do you have any idea how annoying that mech is? All I want to do is recharge and forget." He flailed his arms for emphasis. "Recharge and forget!" The twin kicked the edge of the berth in retaliation to a reply that Ravage hadn't even made. "You, kitty, are impeding the forgetting."
"Why impede the forgetting, kitty?" Frenzy reiterated unhelpfully as he stretched.
"Yeah..." the blue cassette agreed, elongating the syllable. "Why impede?" Rumble reached over Ravage, trying to force the feline to face him.
Ravage simply raised his head and clamped his jaws shut on Rumble's outstretched hand. He let the fact that he was biting the twin sink in for a few moments before releasing him and lowering his head once more.
"You..." Rumble stared at his fang-punctured hand in bewilderment. "You bit me! You sonuvaglitch! You bit me!"
The red twin shook his head. "Why bite, kitty?"
"Shuddup, Frenzy!" he snapped, flipping a datapad in the air and kicking it at his brother.
Frenzy batted the datapad away before it could make contact with his face. He gasped and looked mock-offended. "I was only asking an innocent question."
"Feh!" Rumble exclaimed. "Like any question you ask is innocent."
"It could be!" the red cassette retaliated, defensively. "You don't know!"
"Bro..." Rumble waved a hand back and forth, indicating the two of them. "We basically are each other. I do know."
"Oh yeah, well..." Frenzy fumbled over a retort and came up with nothing. "You have a cat in your bed!" he shot back, rolling petulantly to face the wall.
Rumble stared at him, speechless. Then, with his hands raised beseechingly to the ceiling, he let out a wordless yell of frustration that dissolved into an extensive string of curses.
A squawk of protest cut through the exclamation as Laserbeak was jolted out of recharge and slipped sideways off his perch. There was a moment where it seemed he wouldn't catch himself, but his wings spread at the last moment. He landed neatly on Soundwave's desk, eyeing Rumble tetchily.
"Don't look at me like that," Rumble growled. "You should know better than to try and recharge when Frenzy and I are awake." He dodged the brief burst of retaliatory laserfire.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Ratbat watched in amused silence.
His position in the wall ensured his safety, but he stayed quiet and alert on the off chance that someone decided to remove him from said safety. He was focused exclusively on Rumble's tantrum, so he missed Laserbeak's abrupt interest in him.
It was only when Rumble dove, yelling, at Ravage and was subsequently tackled to the floor that Ratbat noticed Laserbeak's stare. The red and black cassette was so quiet that Ratbat might have overlooked him completely if Rumble and Ravage's grappling bodies hadn't passed in front of the desk.
Ratbat's optics narrowed suspiciously.
Then he understood.
If Laserbeak had deemed the berthpost unworthy, then the most desirable locale in the room had suddenly become the hole in the wall.
Ratbat's wings opened threateningly. Rumble might be inadequate enough to loose his berth, but there was no slagging way that he was going to lose his perch. Sure it had only been his for a couple of cycles — Soundwave hadn't gotten around to fixing the hole from Rumble and Frenzy's last brawl — but he'd grown fond of it. Laserbeak was not stealing it.
The buzzard's optics brightened with a near demonic fervor as he inched closer across the desk.
Unsettling, but Ratbat would persevere.
Then the light hit Laserbeak's talons, and it became increasingly clear how very sharp they were.
And, come to think of it, he was a pretty good flier...
And he had laser cannons...
Ratbat hesitated. It was just a hole in the wall...
No! He would not be intimidated. His optics narrowed threateningly, and he readjusted himself in the wires, pulling himself upright. If Laserbeak wanted to take his perch, he was going to get scrapped in the process.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Frenzy had given up trying to feign disinterest. The scene in front of him was far too entertaining.
When Rumble yelled "Ravage!" and tried to tackle the feline... yes, tackle the evil, deadly, sleeping feline, because that's intelligent... Frenzy found a comfortable position against the wall and got set to enjoy the show. He grabbed a cube of highgrade from the shelf over his berth, and took a swig. Yes, the cube had been there for a few cycles... so what?
Frenzy let out a shriek of laughter as Rumble tried to run and Ravage pounced, slamming the twin to the floor. Rumble rolled onto his back with apparent difficulty and kicked the black cassette off of him. The answering snarl was enough to make Rumble reach for his blaster, but Ravage leapt, catching the twin's forearm in his mouth.
Rumble shouted, trying to shake the panther off. "Augh! He's eating my arm! He's eating my arm!" He slammed a fist into the black cassette's muzzle to no avail.
"Bwahaha!" Frenzy clutched at his sides, legs kicking. "Why eat his arm, kitty?"
Ravage shook his head furiously, yanking the blue cassette to the floor. Rumble clawed at the metallic tile as he tried to crawl away.
"The floor's slick, bro! No traction!" Frenzy advised over the rim of his highgrade.
"Slaggit, Frenzy! Help me!" the blue twin snapped as he was pulled backwards.
"Hmm..." the red cassette tilted his head in consideration. He took in the enthusiasm with which Ravage was shredding his brother. "I don't think so. You look like you're doing okay."
"Gah!" Rumble yelled as he finally got his arm free. "I'm gonna slagging kill you!"
He mock-toasted him. "You might want to re-examine your situation first, 'cause I see a few snags in that plan."
Just when Frenzy thought it couldn't get any better, he heard Laserbeak shriek. He looked up just in time to see the flier dive-bomb Ratbat in the wall, knocking him loose from the wires. The two tumbled through the air, Ratbat disconnecting himself in time to crash to the floor. Laserbeak circled, waiting for his foe to right himself. He didn't have to wait long. Ratbat was in the air again, ready for battle, before the buzzard had finished two rotations. In truth, Ratbat wasn't a very skilled flier, but he was tenacious to a fault. Laserbeak was going to have his talons full.
Frenzy tilted his head. "They're fighting over a hole in the wall... Dumb, but funny," he commented conversationally. The red twin whooped before cupping his hands around his mouth. "Get the slagger!" he shouted encouragingly, leaving it up to the others to interpret who he was rooting for. To his delight, his siblings' efforts doubled.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Soundwave could tell from the end of the corridor that he was not going to be pleased when he reached his quarters.
The hall that normally housed the cassettes' accommodations, when they weren't residing in his chest, had flooded the previous week. Scrapper had informed him that it would be at least a month before the Constructicons would have time to complete repairs. The resulting chaos was both physically and mentally excruciating... but the cassettes were his subordinates, and even though they weren't his creations, he viewed them as such. So, exercising the patience gleaned from years of dealing with mechs such as Starscream, he altered his quarters and allowed them to share.
To put things more concisely, he had welcomed hell into his home.
Soundwave paused outside his door, sweeping the room on the other side with his telepathy. It was as he suspected.
The telepath sighed. He had approximately six breems to recharge before he would be needed at a debriefing. It appeared he would be denied said recharge unless something drastic was done.
He typed in the access code and began to channel his telepathic energy. The moment the doors parted, he released a barrage of clairvoyant power that lashed across the cassettes.
Rumble and Frenzy yelped. Ravage hissed and jumped back onto the berth. Ratbat and Laserbeak fell from where they were dueling in the air.
"What the slag was that for?" Frenzy whined, rubbing his head. "I didn't even do anything!"
"Somehow, I find that hard to believe," Soundwave intoned evenly. He walked through the doors, checking his quarters for any newly sustained damage. Besides strange looking claw marks on the floor, everything appeared to be intact. He shifted his gaze across the cassettes, noticing with some frustration that four out of five would need to visit the Constructicons.
"Ravage stole my berth!" Rumble accused as he picked himself up off the floor and brushed off his armor.
Soundwave crossed in front of the twin on his way to his desk. "It's large enough for both of you. He's your sibling, make room."
The twin scoffed. "He ain't my brother! The only sibling I've got is this idiot," Rumble jerked a thumb in Frenzy's direction.
"Then sleep on the floor," Soundwave suggested dismissively as he flipped through the datapads. He always found it rather trying that despite the cassettes' closeness and rare camaraderie, they seldom acknowledged it.
Rumble crossed his arms, fuming, but remained silent.
"And as for the issue of who gets to use the hole as a perch..." Soundwave raised his blaster and fired at the wall. "Now there are two."
He turned back to his desk, searching for the specs of a military warehouse that the Decepticons would be raiding the following cycle. "At this time, I suggest you all recharge before I am left with no choice but to force you into unconsciousness."
There was an instant of silence while the cassettes evaluated their options.
Laserbeak flexed his wings and lifted off, momentarily hovering over Soundwave's shoulder. Soundwave stroked the buzzard's neck and then directed him towards the newly created hole in the wall. The first hole was already occupied by a disgruntled and dented Ratbat.
Rumble climbed into his berth, careful of Ravage's outstretched and lethal paws. He laid down without looking at the feline, obviously content to seethe in silence.
Frenzy downed the rest of his cube and rolled onto his side, optics darkening. He smirked.
They'd wait for Soundwave to leave and then pick up where they left off.