[The Arrival, Saturday Afternoon]
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
Bumblebee transformed as soon as Sam got out and pulled his bags from the trunk, standing up with an almost nervous feeling of anticipation. The sun was already beating down on them, tickling Bee's sensor array as he looked down the causeway at the island.
"Movin' on up, to the east side - to a deluxe apartment in the sky."
Sam
(carsexual)
"You've never seen the inside of a dorm, have you?" Sam asked, mostly occupied with keeping himself between a barking Chihuahua and Bumblebee. "No, no, bad Mojo. Deluxe it's probably not." Although Sam kind of hoped it was; otherwise how was the Autobot going to deal?
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
"No, I haven't," Bumlebee confirmed, glancing over Sam at the diminutive canine. He vented air in an approximation of a sigh; hopefully Mojo would get used to him at some point, but spending several days with an opinionated chihuahua was the tiniest bit wearying. "But if there is a problem, I can always stay outside."
Ratchet
Ratchet's engine growled softly in answer to that, though he offered no comment just yet.
Sam
(carsexual)
"Yeah, we'll figure it out," Sam said confidently. Hey, he'd kept Mojo from peeing in Bee the whole way out here. He could do anything. "Maybe I should put him back on the painkillers. He's quieter when he's stoned."
Ratchet
"Perhaps he is suffering from stress. They may have a tranquilizing effect that could be beneficial," Ratchet suggested. He'd spent some of his free time analyzing all the medical information he was able to download - and obviously not just human medicine either.
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
"I have become comfortably numb," Bee put in, not particularly helpfully.
Sam
(carsexual)
Sam couldn't imagine why the dog might be stressed. Oh wait. "Or he could just be a crackhead."
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
Bumblebee made a burst of electronic noise that passed for laughter before gesturing with one hand to his charge's baggage. "There is supposed to be a picnic to welcome new students," he said. "I think it begins soon."
Ratchet
"By all means, go," Ratchet added. "I will relay to Prime that we have arrived without incident."
Sam
(carsexual)
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "We definitely don't want to miss the picnic." Because at the picnic there would be free food, and he was a teenaged boy. Read: bottomless pit. Also, he really, really, really wanted to see how people reacted to Bumblebee. He slung on his backpack and grabbed the handle of his wheeled suitcase. "Let's roll out."
Ratchet
"Good luck," Ratchet told them. In a silent transmission to Bumblebee he added, ::Keep me updated on your health. And let us know if anything happens.::
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
Bumblebee whistled in assent and turned to follow Sam, taking small steps as they moved onto the causeway.
Passing some unseen boundary, the Autobot suddenly found himself looking at Sam's back from a height much closer to that of his companion. There had been no accompanying sensation to the change, just the shift in perspective, and Bumblebee stopped in his tracks immediately upon noticing. A quick internal diagnostic showed nothing sinister, and Bumblebee relaxed, chirping Sam's name to get his attention.
Sam
(carsexual)
"What?" Sam asked as he turned. "What's the--" oh. "--matter," he finished before his mouth caught up to his brain. He hurred back to Bumblebee. "Oh, no, oh man, what just happened? Was that supposed to happen? Are you all right?"
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
Finishing a quick reassurance to Ratchet, who had observed the phenomenon in action, Bumblebee nodded excitedly. "I'm fine, I think," he said, examining his hands a moment before looking at Sam - at him, instead of down at him, for once. "I don't feel any different, just smaller. A little over two meters, it seems."
Sam
(carsexual)
"Yeah, you're kind of. Mini." Sam blinked. "Hey, you'll fit through doorways now!" Mojo was barking his fool head off. Sam ignored him in favor of the shrunken robot. "That'll come in handy."
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
"I think there will be many more opportunities for me to become involved here now," he said, very pleased by his tone. "I may even be able to experience the dorms for myself."
Sam
(carsexual)
"You sound so excited about that," Sam observed. "This must be a robot thing. Is this a robot thing?"
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
"I had thought I'd be more of an outside observer," he explained, still excited. "This will allow me to participate as you do, inside buildings even."
Sam
(carsexual)
"Huh," Sam said. "Hey, yeah. That's pretty cool." It occurred to him that he had probably just lost use of his car, but the island was apparently pedestrian-only anyway, so he'd been prepared for that. Except-- "Hey, you don't think it's permanent, do you?"
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
That thought seemed to give Bumblebee pause and he glanced back towards the mainland, slightly subdued. "I hope not. Though we should test it, to be sure."
Sam
(carsexual)
"Right," said Sam, bending down to scoop up the barking crackhead dog in the hopes that would shut him up. It didn't. "Right, because we're scientific and stuff, and because cool as this is I really don't want you to get stuck this way, man, no offense."
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
"I wouldn't be much use as your car this way," he agreed. Turning, he began walking towards Ratchet, more slowly this time.
Reaching the same area, he passed whatever barrier separated the island from the mainland and was almost instantaneously his normal height again. Bumblebee stopped and regarded the distance to the blacktop before giving Sam a relieved chirrup over his shoulder.
Sam
(carsexual)
Sam beamed with relief and shot him a thumbs up.
Bumblebee
(lil_yellow)
Returning once more to Sam's side of the barrier (and pausing very quickly to look at himself again as he shrunk down), Bumblebee moved to join his friend with renewed anticipation. "I think we are good to go, as you say."
Sam
(carsexual)
"Awesome," Sam said happily. "Look out, boarding school. Here we come."
Mojo barked agreement. It was probably agreement.
[OOC: So all you really need to know is that Bumblebee? Is about 7' tall. So much easier to have conversations with, yes?
ETA: ALSO, Bumblebee will be using music along with his own voice, being used to using media to express himself when he was mute (though now it's been fixed, mostly). That'll be indicated by words in italics.]