Dancing with the Stars

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After the major kerfluffle recently in Maccaddam's, a few workers are still restoring the broken portions of the building -- one of the shot-out windowd is currently being replaced. Arcee has come here to help put the proprietor's fears to rest that there will be any further problems here. So she sits up at the bar, drinking something extremely lightweight and duty-friendly, because she is here on business. No more violence is going to happen here if she can help it -- even if that means pulling Blurr out of here to go demonstrate some racing techniques on a rural roadway just to stop him from getting blast-happy again.
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Speaking of trouble, peering in through one of the broken windows is a Decepticon. He looks a little out of place and perhaps somewhat lost. "...Hello?" Phantom asks, "is it open?"

The reparations going on around the bar seems to have made him doubt whether Macadam's is taking patrons or not. Eventually, he decides to come in anyway. He steps cautiously through the front door, appearing grieved over the damage caused. "This is so bad..." he says quietly.

Swindle is here, too, and helping supply some of the equipment and furniture to replace the broken ones. He's got a few connections that have gotten him access to the perfect replacements somehow, how handy! He stands by the bar watching the installation.

Arcee has decided that for the time being, she's going to 'make nice' in order to keep the irate Maccaddam appeased, because it wouldn't be a good development if he were to close the place because of being fed up with the conflict. Swindle's gesture doesn't escape her notice, but she can't help but wonder if this is going to end up to be a rotten deal for Maccaddam. Even so, she isn't going to mention her thoughts about it aloud. Mission is keeping the peace. She nods to Swindle agreeably, hoping he isn't in a mood to begin throwing blame around or rehash the recent Blurr-related mess.

She notices a doubtful customer at the door that she doesn't recognize, so Arcee encourages him to enter. "Pardon the dust, there's a little remodeling happening, but yes, they're definitely open," she tells Phantom, gesturing him inside.

Phantom studies Arcee carefully, giving her an odd look. Then he shakes his helm, as if trying to shrug off an uncomfortable thought. "Oh," he says a bit distantly, "thank you.. I have never been here before. But I heard really famous things about it. It doesn't.. look very famous."

He looks around, appearing disappointed. Then he glances back at her, examining her again. "Is it normal for all girls to look like you?" he asks finally, "you know, like a male, with so much armor.."

"It looked a little bit better before it got damaged recently," Arcee admits to Phantom, watching Swindle out of the corner of her optic while she's seated up at the bar. She turns back toward Phantom curiously, glancing at him for any obvious signs of allegiance. His questioning struck her as odd, but maybe he was a colonist. He definitely wasn't from around here. "Well, I wasn't always this armored, not until the war really started in," she tells him. "In my line of work, the armor may not be fashionable, but it's definitely a spark-saver."

Swindle peers over at Arcee and the other mech, but returns to watching the construction while sipping at a drink. A Nebula chaser, swirling sparkling and purple, fizzing slightly. He's already mentally conjuring an image of swimming in credits like Scrooge McDuck.

"Sure was nice of you to help out Maccaddam," Arcee says to Swindle sweetly, knowing full well that Swindle does absolutely nothing out of the kindness of his spark. Maybe Maccaddam was paying him 'protection' money...

Arcee is currently up at the bar, keeping a watchful optic on the place. Swindle's here, too, and he's apparently ordered new furniture for Maccaddam. How nice of him. Arcee is pretty determined to keep things peaceful tonight no matter what. If Blurr shows up, she's already made it a plan to drag him out of here.

Swindle grins at Arcee with his trademark winning smile. "Of course! What kinda businessmech would I be if I didn't help one of Cybertron's favorite energizing holes get back into business as quickly as possible?”

Phantom nods slowly, watching as the repairs are being made, a brow arched.

"It's weird," he tells her immediately, and Arcee may notice now that he has a slight accent that's difficult to place and very outlandish sounding. "For a girl," he adds, "and, you must not be a medic. That is also another thing that is really weird here," he says.

He glances over at Swindle, frowning. "Huh, I wonder where he gets all that stuff, it's wartime, isn't like a guy to have all these things so easy..."

"So I guess femmes have different functions where you're from?" Arcee notes to Phantom. "...Where /are/ you from, if you don't mind my asking? That's a rare accent you've got."

"It's better, for a girl to be a medic," Phantom says, "that way, they can fix themselves, and not have to die." He ignores her other question and changes the subject, having noticed an old jukebox in the corner of bar. Surprisingly, it still looks functional and apparently, isn't damaged despite all that had happened at Maccadam's prior. His optics widen, and his expression changes into one of childish excitement. "Oh, they have one here, after all!" He gets up and moves over to the jukebox, examining it.

Arcee watches Phantom curiously. His bizarre behavior almost makes her believe he's tripping hard on circuit speeders, only his speech seems calm and he isn't twitchy like a typical addict. Perhaps he's just one of the local eccentrics. "Do they have music players where you're from?" she asks.

Starscream shoves the door to Maccadams open suddenly and walks in. He pauses for a moment to make sure everyone can see that /he/ has walked into the place and then heads to the bar. As the Air Commander sits down he recognizes a few faces in the room but for now acts like he has seen no one. With a quick motion of his hand Starscream signals for a specific drink and then pulls out a high end enercig, lights it and turns to look out into the room.

Phantom glances over when Starscream enters the bar, acknowledging him with a grin, despite the spiteful report written prior. He turns to Arcee, his silver optics lighting up cheerfully. He grins widely, looking excited.

"Yes, yes of course!" he says to her. "There are many, many. Music is a pain reliever, did you know that?" He fiddles with the jukebox, and a moment later, it starts cranking out an old familiar upbeat electronica tune. "Ah! This is a good one, even though I don't know it," he exclaims, reaching for her hand.

"Come, come dance with me, for dancing frees your soul~" he chants in a sing song voice.

Arcee watches as Starscream darkens Maccaddam's doorstep. Fan-tastic, she thinks to herself. And then, the very oddball Phantom is wanting to dance -- she still isn't entirely convinced that he's not a crazy street mech, but at least he's a friendly one. So now she has a choice: hang around at the bar with Mr. Attitude problem, who will probably bring up Blurr, or dance with the cheerful, fun-loving weirdo?

It takes Arcee all of a split second to join Phantom. She'll take her chances with the possible street crazy. Starscream receives his drink and takes a long sip of it as he stares at Phantom's grin at him and then Arcee join him on the dance floor. A wing twitches. "Well I guess if you can't fight at least you can dance..." he mutters and could care less if anyone hears him or not.

Phantom seems delighted and doesn't hold back. Grabbing her hand, he swings her in a fast paced manner to the beat of the tune. She'll learn quickly he certainly isn't shy, and has zero reservations.

They're the only people in the bar dancing, which will earn them a few skeptical and disdainful stares, but he doesn't care. He's laughing, optics bright, having the time of his life. "Hey, you're not bad!" he says.

Starscream is right, at least, to an extent. He's /quite/ decent at dancing, and certainly knows how to lead a lady. He smirks at him, thinking that the seeker looks lonely and bored at the counter.

"Don't be jealous, 'Air Commander'," Arcee tells Starscream with a smirk as he heads over to shake a move with Phantom. She's a bit unpracticed at first, as it's been quite some time since she's done anything like this. But she figures...what the heck, right? It isn't like she can convince Prowl to take her dancing.

After a short time, she's keeping up with Phantom quite well. Arcee knows they're probably goofy-looking doing this, but they're the same judgmental mechs who join impromptu talent shows when they're overenergized. "And you dance like you do this all the time!" she exclaims with a chuckle.

Starscream swings his chair fully around and leans back against the bar counter. With his drink in one hand and his enercig in the other he studies the two on the floor dancing for a few moments. "I'm not jealous." he says finally, "I can dance better than either of you that's for sure."

Phantom grins, impressed. "No, /you/! It seems like this comes so easy to you, my dear!" He dips her, then pulls her back up, quickly. "Ha! This is so fun, don't you think?" He twirls her, optics bright and wide.

He arches both brows at Starscream, "Ah, then I want to be impressed by you! Look, you are sitting all alone looking bored, come over here and let me see you dance!" He motions with his free hand for the seeker to join them, before turning back to continue dancing with Arcee.

Arcee has to admit to herself, she is indeed having a lot of fun. And this mysterious, fun-loving mech who is twirling her around is confounding her attempts to figure him out. He's definitely a strange one, though. She's beginning to think he's either a newspark, or a colonist. But she's leaning towards the latter. Still clinging to Phantom post-dip, she tells him, "I don't think Starscream dances. He thinks he's 'above' that."

Starscream listens and watches and then he finishes his drink and sets the glass on the bar. Will he come off the barstool and show them he can dance? "What's in it for me if I show that I can out dance you, Phantom?"

“Ah," Phantom says to Arcee, "we will see!"

"Does everything have to have a prize? Mech, come on! The prize is you will have fun instead of being lonely and grumpy by yourself over there. I do not care if you are better than me. The more people dancing, the better~" Phantom taunts Starscream.

He turns back to Arcee with a grin, "Tell me, what is the name of the beautiful and amazing dancing queen?" he says, taking both her hands and rotating her in and out.

"Wow, I can't believe it, you actually convinced him," Arcee chuckles as Phantom manages to get Starscream to at least consider the prospect. "Keep working on him, I think he might just cave in." She smiles warmly at her mysterious dance partner. "It's so nice to meet such a charming mech. I'm Arcee," she greets. "It's been a pleasure to meet you...?" She looks toward Phantom in the hopes of getting his name.

Phantom laughs, waving a hand dismissively at her. "But not as much as you! Really, all you need to do is stand on top of a tall building, say some of those magical words like you were saying before and most importantly, do your dancing! If everyone saw you, the war would be over," He says in jest, grinning and winking.

Her hopes are going to have to be quashed, though, he doesn't offer her his name. However, he does take her hand and pull her closer, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "It is very nice to meet you, Arcee! Haha, even though you look like a male at least your name does not sound like it!"

Swindle sips quietly as he watches mechs and Arcee dance, momentarily taking his eyes off the renovations. He quirks an optic brow at the entire scene, but doesn't comment.

Starscream frowns, "What is it with you and /magic/? There is no such thing as /magic/. You do know this don't you?" and his dancing could end the way eh? Well only if he was the one controling Cybertron when it was over, that would be cool.

"I'm...called a lot of things, but I don't normally get mistaken for a mech," Arcee chuckles, grinning bashfully as Phantom kisses her on the cheek. She gives the lovable and mysterious oddball a warm hug. "Thank you for the fun," she tells him. "Finding fun is like finding a rare jewel these days." It would seem he's a bit shy on giving personal information, but she's okay with that. She has the feeling she'll run across him sooner or later.

"Really, Starscream, you should give it a try," Arcee tells Starscream coolly. "If not for any of us, then...I don't know, for yourself, I suppose. Might actually make you a better mech." She might be stretching the truth there, a bit.

He notices her bashfulness, and he suddenly becomes embarrassed, taking a step back, holding his hands up innocently. "OH! Oh no.. I am sorry! It is my habit -- is that normal here? Where I am from that is how you are supposed to traditionally greet a female in some cases...I forgot..."

Phantom grins at Starscream, looking amused. "She is so right, you know! And guess what!" He steps over to Swindle and grabs him by the arm, dragging him towards where he and Arcee had been dancing. "Look! This guy is gonna dance too!" He grins. "Don't worry," he whispers to Swindle, "I will buy you another drink after this ...."

Starscream has his refill arrive and he just shakes his head. This mech so ignored his question but then again he's been good at ignoring Phantoms questions too so turn about it fair play. "Me dancing will make me a better mech? You guys are nuts." he huffs and takes a hit off his new drink.

Swindle is hauled up onto the dance floor, but doesn't lose his cool. "Sure, I can dance," he says, after all who is he to refuse free booze? He starts doing a dance that if humans were around, they'd call it 'the monkey'.

"No problem at all, I can tell you're new around here," Arcee reassures Phantom. "But since you asked...that is considered flirtacious." She grins slightly and heads back over to the bar area. "You're such a crabby stick in the mud, you know that?" she tells Starscream. "Even Swindle's giving it a go. Probably for free booze, but hey."

He stares at Arcee curiously. "Flirt..tatious....?" The word rolls off his vocalizer awkwardly, as if he's never said the word before. Apparently, he's clueless.

When Swindle starts dancing, Phantom grins. "Oh, hey! Look at this guy! He's great! Ha, for that, he deserves two drinks!" He makes his way back over to the counter, and when no one is looking, he pickpockets a drunk and unsuspecting patron who's practically passed out, then uses the money to buy a round of drinks for all of them. Except for Starscream. Whom he reprimands with, "Aha, you see. /That's/ truly magic. When you say something is nuts, and cannot work, but then, it does, that can also be magic. But you have to be brave enough to try it first." He shakes a finger at the seeker.

Starscream stares at the Combaticon as if he's got a hand growing out the back of his head or something. "I'd rather be a stick in the mud then move like that in public." he says and seems happy to say it too. He takes a sip of his drink and smirks. "You obviously dont think Phantom is a stick in the mud though, shame he's the enemy..." And then the mech comes up and spouts off some more. "Are you accusing me of not being 'brave'?" he nods toward Swindle, "That's not brave, thats ridiculous. I'm not ridiculous."

Swindle grins. Two drinks? WINNING! He glances over at Starscream and shrugs.

When Starscream mentions that the oddball but sweet-mannered stranger is 'the enemy', it gives her pause for a moment, and she stares back in Phantom's direction. Was he really a Decepticon?? She couldn't even fathom him being involved in the war -- he seemed like he wasn't even aware there was a war going on. But she knows Starscream isn't a liar about everything; he's a strategic liar, not a serial liar. So now she knows a bit more about the strange but likeable mech she went dancing with before. After finishing her drink, she leaves some shanix for the bartender. "I'd better go," she says to no one in particular.

"Enemy ? Enemy of you!" Phantom scoffs, "I see what you are trying to do, make me hate you. Now, I don't know why you want me to do that, but I will not let you win! Besides, it's not working. I am a nice guy, so guess what, I forgive you! Haha!"

He shakes his helm. "You know why, because you are afraid like that shuttle guy! You don't want to look bad! You will sacrifice your own happiness to look good. That isn't good for you. And look at him! He's so free, and guess what? He gets two free drinks." He grins and winks and Swindle, giving him a thumbs up.

Swindle grins back at Phantom. He's really starting to like this mech. “I wanna grab one of those drinks now, all that dancing made me thirsty."

Starscream stares at Phantom incredulously, "You are a Decepticon, right? That femme is an Autobot -- enemies. And don't worry about my happiness, mech, worry about yourself and your duty to me and your new orders." he glances at Swindle and shakes his head. At least the Combaticon knows how to hustle a drink, he has to give him credit for that.

Phantom just arches a brow ridge at Starscream. "So what? Don't be like that. You know this is like a white flag territory, it doesn't matter if she is an Autobot, or homeless, or neutral, or Decepticon. Here, you forget about the war. It is a place where you can escape reality for a little bit, then you go back, after you have had all the fun you need to have. That is why, I think it is not good for you to be sitting here, brooding and thinking about things that make you mad, because this is not the right place for it."

He grins at Swindle, and pushes the two drinks over to him. "Yes, yes, of course! Anytime you decide you want to dance with me, I will get you two free drinks." He pats the Combaticon on the shoulder.

"Ah, you are crazy, jealous guy. I don't need to worry about myself, or my new orders. Why should I worry about them when it is no problem to me? And who are you to tell me what to worry about? You can't control my mind. Besides, I am just trying to help you!"

"What?" Starscram snaps. "Help me? How? By leaving in the middle of the mission the other cycle? How is that helping me? And how could I possible be jealous of /you/?" that just makes no sense to him.

"No!" Phantom says, shaking his helm and looking annoyed. "No! I am talking about right now! I am helping you /right now/. You are in a funk, not wanting people to think bad of you, so you sacrifice your own happiness, that is what I am saying, and I am saying it is bad for you! I am saying, who cares what anyone thinks about you? If it makes you happy, then don't worry about what anyone else is thinking!"

"I am not so sure what you are jealous of. But you are jealous, that's all, I know it."

Starscream just stares at Phantom, his optics flaring, "Shut up." he says finally, "I don't need you worrying about my happiness or whether I think about what other people think of me or not!" why is he even explaining this to this mech?

Phantom gives Starscream a sly look. "Or do you?" He smirks a little. "Ah, I see, you only like for yourself to think about it, that is okay. But, if several vorns from now, it is still this way, and you are still in your funk, maybe you will change your mind about not needing me to worry about it, haha!"

Starscream downs the rest of his drink and slams the glass on the counter, "Why do you act like you care anyway? Why is it so important to you?"

Phantom waves his glass at Starscream, "Because," he says, "it is good for my karma. And, if you have very bad karma, which you do, it will start to leak out to everyone, even me, because you are the second guy from the top. So, I will try to fix your bad karma, yeah? Hey, you should say thank you to me, that's a good thing!"

"Where do you get this stuff from anyway?" Starscream asks in a huff. Karma? What is that suppose to be? Well yea he's read some theories on it in the past but it was just that; theories. And now here's a mech who honestly believes in it. "What proof do you have that Karma is real?"

"What do you mean, where do I get it from?" Phantom says, looking incredulous. "It is just common sense, what else? You reap what you sow. If you are always doing bad to people who didn't deserve it, all the time, then what else is gonna happen? They are going to hate you, and come back to bother you. And even if they don't, fate has a funny way of giving it back to that person with bad karma, anyway! I've seen it a lot."

Starscream motions for a refill on his drink and says, "You're just trying to guilt trip me about your new orders. Well it's not working so you might as well stop with this."

Phantom stares at him, frowning. "Okay," he says, holding his hands up, "you are just a crazy guy. You are the one asking, what is karma? So, I answer you and you think that I am trying to make you feel bad?! What is that?! You are the one who wants me to feel bad, and to hate you! Guess what, I am saying the same thing to you, it doesn't work!" He gets up, shaking a finger at the seeker. "It is no use to argue with you."

Starscream is getting a headache. He sneers slightly, "No I can't be argued with. I could have told you that when all this first started." he works on his drink and plans on getting another one and get quietly drunk.

"Oh, then, we gotta do this dancing thing more often," Swindle says, grinning as he gets his first free drink."

"Sure," Phantom says, "but that would not have stopped me from saying everything that I said, I would have still said it, because, I like finding out things for myself, to see if that person is right or wrong." He shakes his helm, and glances at the exit of Maccaddams's, thinking of leaving.

He nods amiably at Swindle, grinning. "Yes! I will tell you the next time we should go dancing..."

Starscream huffs a bit, "I'm never wrong." he works on his drink some more and motions for the extra refill he knew he'd want. Then he looks back at Phantom and Swindle. "Why don't the two of you dance now?"

"Right, right," Phantom says disingenuously. He smirks. "Because," he says to Starscream, "I do not have anymore money with me to buy this fine brother two more drinks, so we will come back another time." He heads for the exit of Maccaddam's, shaking his helm. "It is not my problem, if you missed your opportunity." And before Starscream can get another word in, Phantom transforms and takes his leave.

"And I never dance on a full fuel tank," Swindle says, uttering a belch.