He grew uncomfortable watching the creature’s jaw split like that. It was obvious that Nitro had little to no good things to say about Swindle. Which was fine, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, even the undead. Nitro might have had good reason to dislike Swindle, Prowl wasn’t going to pry but he was going to answer his questions.
“I asked him some questions about you and your needs,” answered Prowl. “Lockdown, your ah… master? Before he was taken he never got the chance to tell me how to take care of you, to ensure you don’t perish?” Could Nitro die due to starvation? Could he die due to anything other than outside interference?
“I also wanted to apologize, for not feeding you while Lockdown had been missing. I wasn’t aware of your ability to communicate nor what alternative methods of feeding you were,” explained Prowl. He had locked his door wings into place the second after his door wings had twitched the second time. His confidence still held strong in the containment units Nitro was currently staying in.
Prowl still didn’t understand why Lockdown kept Nitro if he didn’t like him, Swindle had said that Nitro hurt him, Prowl wanted to know how. Prowl wanted to know all he could about Lockdown, they both had parts of their past they didn’t like talking about, but he knew better than to ask Nitro what had happened.
Prowl stood waiting for an acknowledgment of the apology he had given the other. He wasn’t sure if the other would say anything or just ignore his apology. He calculated that Nitro reactions most lily to be either an angry outburst or more questions centered around Swindle or Lockdown.
His head tilted like that of a bird; a jerky tip to one side but his optics stayed focused. The hazy remained still but he listened, processed the information at a much slower pace than he would have years before. Though it had been the name--Lockdown--that relaxed the tense creature, his palm resting flat against the glass and all tapping stopped.
His optics dimmed and stayed that way, even after the apology that he barely understood why he was receiving. He stood slowly, beginning to pace the length of the glass on uneven pedes and dragging the feelers behind him.
“I couldn’t sense them.” It was a gurgled admission, one that didn’t feel like it fit into their conversation. “I couldn’t pick up their scents. New scents. Unfriendly, fearful of what lurked below. Thought he sold me like he did the other one.”
He stopped and his servo went to the glass again. He kept his sights focused on the other mech’s visor, remembering the days in which he’d starved and clawed at the ceiling. The way the hunger dug its claws into his processor and frame, worse than what was normal--the agony and hunger were always there, regardless of how much he fed.
He’d curled his digits to claw at the glass briefly, then tapped his knuckle against it. “You didn’t know,” he replied simply, watching for the former officer’s reaction. “There is nothing to apologize for. You will not be forgiven if it happens again.”
He sat again, folded neatly in front of the glass with his feeler lifted and clicking. “Master is home. Do you know where he went? I missed him. He makes the noise leave, he made the other one leave.”