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Buster Gallon was sick.
Black Hook was quick to notice. The moment Buster Gallon’s engine stuttered once, Black Hook was already calling up Edo, Mega Ambler, and even Crest.
“I mean come on it ain’t that bad.” Buster Gallon said, with black smoke practically billowing out from his engine.
“Yer clearly sick with somethin’ matey,” Black Hook stood 6 feet away from the green inventor. “Yer not gonna be walking around with an engine like that. Yer gonna lay down on ye berth and think about what ye done to get sick like this.” The ship huffed, statement final. The inventor probably overworked himself to the point that his frame gave out.
Edo, close to the crew’s living space, stopped by and examined Buster Gallon’s engine. Black Hook was starting to ask if Mega Ambler was available for a second opinion, when Edo looked at him like he offended the guy’s entire bloodline. Black Hook decided that it was best to shut up and let the man work. No one liked an angry Edo.
“It looks like a case of incomplete combustion.” Edo said, a grim look on his face.
“Is it serious?!” Black Hook feared the condition was something terrible with that look Edo was wearing.
“Huh? Oh no, it’s repairable but I need a couple of days to obtain the tools to fix this.” Edo’s face crumbled “I also need to buy more supplies this week, Buster Gallon you need to refuel more if you aren’t going to clean out your vents.”
With that, Edo left the shed where the Black Dans lived and set off to put another hole in his wallet.
Black Hook sighed in relief. Huzzah! Buster Gallon ain’t dying!
Truthfully, Black Hook was concerned for the inventor. He knew that the engineer could take care of himself, but Black Hook couldn’t help but hover over his two crewmates, they were practically his kids! Even though he was well aware that they were both mature adults, he still saw the small little cardling’s he took in all those years ago.
Wait.. did Edo just say that Buster Gallon needed to fuel more? Did he just say that he wasn’t cleaning out his vents?!
“BUSTER GALLON!” Black Hook knew it! He should have been placing more attention on this workaholic tractor! Now, he’s sick with some combustion thing! “Ye ha’n’t been refueling properly? When’s the last time ye cleaned out yer vents?!”
“My refueling’s normal. I never changed my refueling schedule.” The inventors tone was unbothered. He might as well have sighed. He turned and walked back to his desk in the back of the building.
“Ye like I’ll believe ya now huh?” Black Hook watched as Buster Gallon picked up a piece of metal and reached for a tool before Black Hook stopped him.
Black Hook sighed, he started pulling the inventor toward the berth closest to them. Buster Gallon followed, unsure of what the captain was doing.
Black Hook grabbed some of his own pillows and Buffalo Crushes pillows and placed them on the berth, attempting to make the boxes underneath a little more comfortable.
“Here, lay down an’ rest.” Black Hook waved his hand to get the inventor to lay down. Buster Gallon sat down and leaned back on the extra plushness of the berth.
“I told you, I ain’t starving meself, nothin’s wrong.” Buster Gallons voice betrayed him, his slight accent making itself known.
Black Hook narrowed his eyes, searching deep into his crewmates expressions. He knew that Buster Gallon’s speech would occasionally slide in an accent, but it only happened when the inventor was “In his feelings”. The tractors mask of indifference was slowly slipping. He could see how Buster Gallon looked more tired than ever, he saw how his eye twitched a little, he could see stress practically radiating off of his frame.
“Hmm..” Black Hook muttered. He started wrapping Buster Gallon up in a large blanket Jun gave everyone when they were first sealed. He wrapped the other up in a way that was similar to the days of Machina. Back then, he would always wrap Buster Gallon up in a soft tarp and lull the kid to sleep when he was feeling down. His two crewmates were so adorable when they were little, he had pictures from back then. He promised to share them with Gigantrex later, he set a mental reminder. For now though, he made sure Buster Gallon was as comfortable as possible.
“Now ye listen here lad, yer old enough to take care of yerself, an’ I respect that and yer wish for personal space. But, if I need to look after ye again for whatever reason, or if ye find yerself stuggling with somethin’, I be here for ye. Don’t hesitate to ask.” Black Hook softened his gaze on the green bot.
Buster Gallon’s face slowly turned shocked, he wasn’t expecting such tenderness or softness from the pirate captain. That look tugged at Black Hooks spark, he decided that he needed to set up a little bonding time with the crew later.
“Look, I only forgot to clean out my vents, I was planning to clean them out later.” Buster Gallon shifted a little, his face returning to his usual calm. “You can ask Buffalo Crush, we refueled together at a local gas station yesterday.”
Black Hook considered it. If what Buster Gallon said was true, then he has nothing to worry about! But that still didn’t really reassure him, he sent a message to Buffalo Crush asking him to come back to base. Buffalo Crush immediately responded with a couple of ‘emojis’, or that’s what he called them, he learned them from Yuri, the meaning of these strange symbols were beyond him.
“Well then, we’ll wait for Buffalo Crush to confirm, but if I figure out that yer lying to me, I will monitor yer refueling sessions for the next two months. I will also be helping ye in cleaning out yer vents. Ye understand me?” Black Hook was dead serious, eyes trained on to Buster Gallon’s own.
Buster Gallon nodded his head, slowly.
Buster Gallon was struggling to keep himself awake. The extra cushioning on his back and limbs were heavenly, and the way Black Hook wrapped him up was nostalgic to the core. It gave Buster Gallon a sense of coziness and warmth.
He had to admit, his engine was bothering him a lot. It was a strange buzzing sensation that stuttered every so often, causing him issues in his vehicle mode and just a little pain every now and then with his transformation sequence.
He felt himself close his eye for a second and then just darkness, before he shook himself awake again. Jeez, just how long did Buffalo Crush plan on keeping them waiting? His internal clock was telling him that it had been a little over 15 minutes.
“Ugh..” Buster Gallon started to feel mucky. All he wanted to do was tinker around with his projects, and feel better while he was at it. He hadn’t really cleaned out his vents recently, but it was because he didn’t want to stop working on the vaccine for the beast virus. He assumed that his engine started puffing out black smoke from the lack of air with his vents, which would lead to him burning more fuel than normal to sustain him. The suggestion Edo made would have been a good temporary solution, but he only had made Black Hook worry with the way he worded it.
He didn’t really mind all that much. He could understand why Black Hook got so worried. The Black Dans were always somewhat of a family on their own. They each cared about each other deeply. Buster Gallon just preferred to do his own thing most of the time, and he cared in his own way. If he got told that Buffalo Crush or Black Hook were hurting, he’d try to help in anyway possible too. It was just a little awkward and clunky being so caring, with other people watching. But he truly did care about the crew.
Buster Gallon suddenly felt himself get pulled up.
“Huh..?” He slowly opened his eyes to the sight of Black Hook sitting next to him, moving and pulling him to lay down.
“Oh shush, I can see yer face, yer tired. Rest.”
Black Hook leaned back and pulled Buster Gallon down with him. Black Hook shifted, making sure Buster Gallon was more comfortable. It took a moment for Buster Gallon to fully accept the welcome. It was just like when he was a kid, same old embrace and everything, only just missing Buffalo Crush. The combined warmth of the pirate captain and the blanket was quickly becoming a familiar feeling. He would never admit that he missed the feeling and quickly melted into the hold.
Then, Buster Gallon jolted as the doors of the shed opened with a snap. He was about to fling himself to the other side of the room when Buster Gallon saw who it was.
It was only Buffalo Crush. Buster Gallon sighed in relief, he would never live up to this if someone else walked in on such a familial moment.
“Black Hook explained things to me through the comms. I do confirm that you refueled with me yesterday.” Buffalo Crush said in a hushed tone. “But why didn’t you clean your vents when you had the chance?” He added, a troubled look forming in his face.
“Hmm? Oh I was going to get to it eventually.” Buster Gallon mumbled, flopping back down to his comfortable position.
Black Hook only chuckled at the action, he could see how tired the crew was.
The pirate captain held out an arm for Buffalo crush, a silent offering to join them. Buffalo Crush walked with quick pedes, laying down and moving to a snug spot with the two.
It felt safe, just laying their with what he considered his closest family. Buster Gallon decided, just for tonight, he would allow himself to relax with the crew. Just for tonight, he would allow it.
“Ughh.. Edoooo, why do I have to take you all the way here and carry all of this junk!”
“Shadow X, Jun and I already told you this before. You recked my car, so you have to make up for it.” Edo got out of the purple helicopter’s cockpit.
Boy he was tired. After checking up on the Black Dans, Shadow X accidentally jumped on top of his truck, destroying it completely. As the helicopter couldn’t pay it off, Jun proposed a solution. Letting Shadow X fly him around to his destinations. The ninja was not happy about that. For the past day and few hours they’ve been together, all Shadow X did was whine, whine, and whine. Welp, Edo would just have to tough it out.
As Shadow X transformed into his root mode, Edo made his way to the Black Dans shed. He had gotten lucky with the tools needed to repair that engine, they were on sale! 59% off, that was a steal! He was immensely joyful about the discount, and the free overnight shipping.
Edo got to the front doors and clicked it open. The sight that greeted him was a rare moment that he was sure he would never see again.
“Edo wait up!” Shadow X quickly made his way to the mechanics side.
“Oh wow…” the ninjas eye widened and his pupils shrunk a fraction before his face slowly twisted into a wicked smile.
“Hehe this is gonna be great..”
What they saw was the three members of the Black Dans all cuddled up asleep together. What a familial moment, Black Hook held the other two on his sides as they curled up around him like little cardlings.
The sight before them was an endearing sight, if not for the fact that one particular mech would find the situation embarrassing if it were leaked to the whole team.. oh man sure hope that won’t happen..
Shadow X made sure to take at least 5 pictures in different angles and great lighting. Then sent them all to the team group chat.
Life was great Shadow X decided. Edo was thankful that Shadow X stopped complaining.