((OOC: Urgh, finally unburied myself from RL.
))
Computer LabSkids smiled gamely at the engineer. "Don't worry about it, Wheeljack, I know what a cruel god physics can be. I'm grateful for all the help you've been giving me." He took the pad from Wheeljack and looked it over. "I'll run this by Ironhide and get back to you, thanks."
After setting his station into a "standby" mode with the regulation device recording passively, he headed out carrying the pad, deciding that now was as good a time as any. Even if Ironhide was busy, Skids reasoned that he could simply ask to speak to the commander later. Ordinarily he would handle such a matter over the comm system, but he figured it couldn't hurt to get out of the labs for a change. Besides, it might give him a chance to find out what had been going on while he'd been preoccupied...
CorridorsBut the more Skids looked over the pad, the more uncertain he felt about the whole matter. On the one hand, the thought of being able to do his job even more thoroughly appealed to him, and it might also be useful to the other 'Bots who sometimes needed to monitor what was happening up on the planet. On the other hand, he could certainly still do his job perfectly adequately with his current equipment - especially with Wheeljack's new refinements - and he didn't like the thought of the base possibly being in danger due to one of his personal whims.
He spent a long spell of wandering the halls and pondering, before he finally decided to go ahead with his original plan of asking Ironhide regardless. After all, it was the commander's job to decide what was best for the mission, wasn't it? He sighed as he headed towards the nearest lift and wished, not for the first time, that the war could be over. That he could go back to the days when the worst you had to worry about on a cultural study mission was, say, accidentally saying the wrong thing and ending up being sold, married, or insulting the honor of the local leader's maternal parental unit. There'd been that one awkward but intellectually interesting time on Episilon IV...
Command DeckHe roused himself from his reverie as finally reached the command deck, stepped out onto it, and looked around a bit nervously. He seldom came up here, feeling far more at home in the labs or out in the field. Neither command nor fighting were things that he particularly desired or came easily to him.
Screwing up his courage to the sticking point, he made his way over to
Ironhide's chair and stood with his hands clasped behind his back holding the pad in a polite demeanor. "Ah, sir... I was wondering if I could speak to you about a possible project whenever the current situation is settled."