pullmeoutalive | log > how are these two so darn cute?

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log > how are these two so darn cute?

It had been an admittedly strange situation they had all been in - shopping mall, zombies, black outs - it was like a horror film gone wrong.

No one had any explanation for their sudden appearance in the mall, nor did anyone have an explanation for their sudden disappearance from the mall. Just as no one had an explanation for the blue Chevrolet Volt currently parked outside of B.A.B.E.L. headquarters.

For his own part, Jolt was doing what Autobots did best (aside from kicking Decepticon skidplate), and that was hiding in plain sight. Asphalt and sunshine, he decided, were preferable to zombie-laden carpet and the near-darkness of a mall without power. He just didn't like having to wait while Naomi was inside - no doubt trying to explain where the frag she'd been all this time. Jolt'd had a similar problem relaying his whereabouts to - of all mechs - Ratchet. (No doubt the medic thought he was glitched for insisting he'd been fighting off zombies all this time.) But, after much instance, and pleading for Optimus' permission, Jolt was allowed to stay with Naomi for the time being.

The Autobot sighed inwardly. He was still waiting, and he still hated it.

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Judging by the look on HoloJolt's face, he wasn't too fond of the thing either. "Huh," was all he said in response. The whole concept was a little scary - what if someone could make some kind of device to keep him and the other Autobots from transforming out of their altmodes? It wasn't a happy prospect, and Jolt was quick to clear it from his processor.

And perhaps it was fortune that they were quickly approaching the bar.

About to respond to a one-syllable reply as best she could once Jolt stopped, Naomi paused when she saw the doors of the bar fly open. In a matter of minutes, the car was surrounded by no less than fifteen leather-clad burly men on gleaming motorcycles, all eyes narrowed beneath their shades.

"Who the hell would be enough of a dumbass to butt in on our territory--" The largest began irritably, but broke off when the door opened, and Naomi hurried out.

They stood for a long moment, the girl and the gang, locked in a staring contest of sorts. Then she broke the silence first with a delighted cry of "Everyone!"

With just that, there was a joyous "Naomi-chan!!" and the smaller esper disappeared beneath the mass of bikers all fighting to be the first to hug her.

Oh Primus- Naomi had a gang of bikers. Naomi had a gang of bikers. Somehow, Jolt was both unsurprised and very, very amused. He was content to just sit there, laughing to himself, and let the reunion commence - maintaining his hologram until Naomi said it was okay to do otherwise.

Naomi had a gang of bikers. That would never be not funny.

It was inevitable that the attention would soon stray to the stranger that Naomi had hauled along with her. Out of respect to the girl who had singlehandedly faced them only in the defense of a bullied middle-schooler, no one broke out the pipes or the brass knuckles, but they did eye the "driver" rather suspiciously.

"Ah, Jolt-san..." Naomi smiled sheepishly, turning towards the hologram. "These are my friends. They've been very supportive of me. Everyone, this is Jolt-san. He's my..."

Here she hesitated, deciding against "giant robot companion", but she couldn't just call him a hologram, either. He wasn't her chauffeur, so that made him...

"... He's someone very important to me, so please treat him kindly," she concluded.

There was another little laugh from the Volt, and the door opened. The hologram stepped out of the car, as would real person, and leaned against it rather convincingly. "Nice to meet you all," he stated, shifting slightly.

The hologram shimmered, briefly - blink and the movement would have been missed completely - as it shifted from a simple hologram to what had been coined as a "hard light" holo. The older mechs had yet to make use of the technology, but the younger generation (Jolt, Sideswipe, and the twins, most notably) were outfitted with it to begin with. He was, in fact, physically there - tangible and solid - though maintaining the form was difficult and he didn't dare do it for too long. But, it served it's purpose at the moment. Jolt somehow doubted Optimus wanted him babbling about their existence to and group of humans he came across, and in order to keep up the facade, he offered a hand to the nearest of the bikers. "Any friend of Naomi's is a friend of mine."

While a flash of surprise crossed Naomi's face, the simple act didn't serve to arouse anyone else's suspicion, and so the biker extended his hand to clasp Jolt's. Finding it to be just as solid as he'd expected (and why wouldn't it be?), he nodded approvingly and stepped back.

"You'd better take good care of her, or we'll hear about it, and you'll have hell to pay for," he informed him, which apparently served as a greeting.

"I already like him better than the jackass of a supervisor!" Someone else called out, to a chorus of raucous laughter. It was obvious that they were a good bunch, if... very rough around the edges.

"Duly noted," Jolt replied easily. He was used to Ironhide's company, and no one was more rough around the edges than the old soldier. Jolt wasn't bothered by them or their attitude - and was somehow grateful for their lack of cannons.

Jolt couldn't help but laugh as well, giving Naomi a quick wink. It was obvious he approved of her friends, as they seemed to approve of him. Of all the people to make an escape from that mall with, he was glad it was Naomi. He knew it in the very core of his spark that this is where he should be, and didn't see himself leaving any time soon.

"So, do you wanna drink, or--"

"We really can't stay!" How Jolt was able to make himself tangible was something she didn't quite understand, but Naomi wasn't about to test his limits. And alcohol had to be bad on an Autobot's system somehow. "I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay, and to introduce you all, but I've still got a lot to show him!"

Jolt's eyebrows shot up at Naomi's little outburst, but he didn't remark on it. He merely flashed that grin again. "Guess that's a no, then." He couldn't eat or drink in this form anyway, and Naomi had saved him the trouble of having to explain himself. "It's been my pleasure, but the tour must go on."

They were reluctant to let the esper and her escort depart so quickly, but Naomi looked so apologetic that they couldn't bring themselves to complain, and sent them off with well-wishes and cheers.

So it was that Naomi resettled herself in the seat, stretching slightly. "They're good people," she commented. "Even if we had a misunderstanding at first, I'm glad we could work things out."

The hologram settled itself in the seat, flickering slightly as it reverted back to its original, less solid form for the sake of conserving energy. "You never cease to amaze me," he remarked as they pulled away from the bar, waving at Naomi's gang of friends.

He pulled out onto the road, not really going anywhere in particular until Naomi told him one way or the other.

"H-huh?" If one thing could be said about Umegae Naomi, it was that she had very honest reactions. If something startled her, she displayed that surprise quite vividly, and right now, the wide blue eyes and slightly open mouth said it all.

"There's nothing amazing about me at all!" The protest didn't take long, and she was already waving her hands about. "I-I mean, being a psychokinetic is unusual, but you must have seen all sorts of amazing things before you even met me, Jolt-san!"

Jolt laughed, a sound that came more from the car than the hologram currently seated in it. "You are," he insisted. "You're the most amazing organic I've ever met." Not that Jolt had met many, and he held the soldiers and Sam in the highest regard, but there was just something about Naomi that set her apart - not in ability, but in personality.

She was turning red-- she could tell it just by the way her cheeks were heating up, but she couldn't help it. When she'd been a little girl, she'd been called a great variety of things, differing from "cute" to "weird" to "that poor girl Tanizaki's got his eye on" (although it took her a few years to understand that one). Now that she was older, she received more compliments, but she'd never actually been called amazing before.

It took some more tiny bouts of stammering before she could actually form a sentence, but by the time she could manage such a feat, a warm smile had formed.

"Well, you're the most amazing Autobot I've ever met-- and even if I meet more, I know that won't change."

At least cars don't blush, he told himself. Because if he'd been able to, he would be. Idly, he wondered when this girl's opinion had come to mean so much to him. The hologram, however, merely flashed Naomi a grin, flickering into hard light just long enough to reach over and muss her hair. "I know," he quipped, "I'm awesome."

The ruffle was met with a barely-controlled yelp, and she gave her head a shake, fixing the hologram with an indignant glare that might have been called a pout, but she was an esper, dammit, and the only thing she might ever pout about was how she just couldn't win against curry udon.

"You made yourself solid just for that?" She couldn't resist asking, swatting at his hand.

"It was totally worth it!" There was that laugh again, reverberating through the whole vehicle, and the hologram made itself un-solid just in time for Naomi's hand to go slipping through its own. Maybe it was cheating, and maybe one day, for the sake of her pride, Jolt might let Naomi whack him. Today, however, was not that day.

As much as she liked his laugh, did it really have to be at her expense? Naomi might have tried another glare, but her phone ruined the plan, buzzing urgently in her pocket until she slid it out from a pocket to answer it. From there, her expression went from disgruntled to confused to worried and, finally, to a grim sort of determination.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain," she said quietly, pocketing the phone, "but there's a mission I have to get to. The Children are out reversing a prediction, and they need a high-level psychokinetic on the scene as soon as possible, so I'll have to fly."

Jolt arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Can you seriously fly faster than I can dive?" Certainly, he was no Sideswipe - who's altmode could go from 0-60 in about .2 seconds, and topped out at 400mph - but he liked to think he was fast enough.

Besides, he wanted to see what it was she and the others did. He would do his damnedest to stay out of the way - even though it went against every impulse in him - but this was Naomi's turf. Naomi's mission. He wouldn't interfere unless there was a Decepticon to deal with. (Or maybe if Naomi got in over her head, but after seeing her deal with those zombies, he thought that day would be a long time in coming.)

"I..." She could have answered affirmatively, but honestly, Naomi wasn't sure. Jolt had proved himself ten times over that he wasn't to be underestimated and, while she could fly at speeds where tracking her with the human eye was impossible, it was better to conserve her energy for the mission.

That decided, she sighed. "Why don't we try that out now, and then I can answer your question later?"

"Fair enough," came the reply. The engine gave an excited little rev. Oh, this was going to be fun. So his alt wasn't the fastest around, but he had a degree of maneuverability that a normal car just didn't. "Where to?"

She provided the directions easily enough, a route to a large bridge. Normally nothing too bad, but predictions came quickly these days, and things could change in the blink of an eye. As for the details the briefing had given her... well, there was no point in worrying her friend. It would have been easy with another psychokinetic, but the newest member of her team was still undergoing training, and Kaoru wouldn't be there.

Jolt whipped around, and shot off to their destination without further comment. Thankfully, the traffic was minimal, and the Volt pushed his speedometer to the limit. (It was good fortune that there weren't any cops around - or perhaps the Autobot had a few more tricks up his proverbial sleeve, but for the moment, he'd just let Naomi wonder.)

He skidded to a stop at the scene, turning sharply to give Naomi a straight shot to where she needed to be.

She'd meant it when she'd called him amazing; he was practically flying, driving so smoothly that it almost took her breath away. The fact that there didn't seem to be cops in his vicinity was unusual, but not something she particularly wanted to question.

The instant the car stopped, Naomi was on the move. The door opened and she took off, one second hovering there to flash him a grateful smile, and the next already a tiny speck in the sky intent on locating her objective.

He decided one of the first things he would do was find some way to communicate with Naomi when she was out of sight - because if waiting outside of B.A.B.E.L. had been annoying, this was downright torture.

I will not get involved, he told himself. I will not get involved. I will not get involved. I will not-- Naomi was fine. He needed to chill. And he was never, ever going to tease Bumblebee for worrying about Sam ever again.

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