outer_divide | [Video]

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[The video fizzles on to a pair of bright blue, glowing eyes framed in white. Sure does look like a giant robot. A very confused giant robot.]

Rodimus? Rodimus. Please come in. This isn't funny anymore. I mean it was funny at first in a sort of ironic way, but now it's... not? Anymore?

Anybody...?

Maybe this is a dream? But then usually Ultra Magnus is talking backwards and Wing shows up to tell me that I forgot my front plating and I have a test to take...

Uh. Is anyone here?

Helloooooooooo?

[Maybe he's finally somehow found the Knights of Cybertron?! ... No. His luck is rarely that good.]

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Of course. That's usually how I can tell...

But. It is...

[He reaches into a gap in his plating and tweaks a few wires.]

Ow! I-

Huh. That's odd.

[He does it again. Harder.]

Ow ow ow!

[So much in those words that just wrench at Wing's spark. But then.... ]

...what are you doing?! [Why are you hurting yourself? The almost tearful glister leaves his optics.]

Are you by the ship? I...wait for me. Please.

Just a pinch? To wake up? Ow. Still no.

The shi-

[He turns around and takes in his environment.]

I... I guess? Wait you're, coming? Wait! Hold on! If I'm not dreaming am I-

AM I OFFLINE?!

[And now the happiness has faded entirely from Wing's face. ]

Please don't. Drift. You're not asleep.

No! NO! Drift. Please. You're not dead. You're just...here.

[He sounds nearly frantic.] Just wait. Please. I'll be there. I can explain. _{I hope}

[Calmness, Drift. Find your happy place.]

... Alright. I will. Sit here then.

[Which he does. Do that little I-have-a-sword-getting-in-the-way crouch. Looking really lost. And worried.]

I'm okay.

[ 8| ]

[The look on his face tugs at Wing's spark. Drift. He couldn't even put into words what Drift meant to him. ] I'll be right there.

[He's not that far away: only over at that sector where he'd dragged the dinosaur carcasses. He races over, as fast as his propulsion nacelles could carry him, landing lightly on his feet by the ship, letting momentum carry him forward to where Drift was. He stops, hands outstretched, wanting to touch, but almost afraid.]

....Drift. [He just wants to say the name forever.]

Wing!

[That forlorn look is instantly replaced with surprise when Wing does show up. He looks so real. A part of Drift's processor can't really... well. Process it yet, but his face does certainly light up into shock and then excitement and he's on his feet, darting over in a sort of dash-hop. He stops, just short of Wing, sort of wanting to hug him but then thinking-

Would that be too awkward? So it ends up in a kind of weird not-going-to-hug-you-but-looking-like-I-might dance. He instead, circles him like some excited dog, looking him over. He makes a full circle before standing in front of him.

And then with a very serious expression... prods a finger into the front of his chassis, slowly, just to test his solidity or... something.]

[Drift looks...different, except for the helm. Even the face seems different, more used to smiling than he remembered. It was a good change. Drift had always been striking, but now he was...beautiful.]

[He watches, bemused, uncertain of his welcome, as Drift moves around him, his gold optics watching the finger as it moved to tap his chassis.]

[It was solid. He looks up, offering a grin in return, before sweeping forward, pulling Drift into a sudden hug. ]

[Solid enough for you now?]

A-aah!

[Well that's plenty solid right there. His hands hover for a moment more before he locks his arms around the other mech and seems to be set on squeezing the life out of him.]

Wing... It really is you!

[He doesn't know how. How he ended up in this weird place with someone who was most definitely dead the last time he saw him... but this is much more vivid than any dream he's had. And wow.]

[Wing doesn't mind the, uh, strong hug. He's comforted by the touch as much as Drift is. ]

[And he had been so very alone here. It was more than he could express how good it felt simply not to be alone anymore.]

It is. [He allows himself to bury his head in Drift's shoulder for a moment, just taking him in through as many senses as possible: sight, touch, hearing, smell. ]

[He doesn't know what to say, where to begin. Right. Priorities.]

Are you well?

[This is definitely dizzying. There are a lot of times he thought about what he would say to Wing if he were somehow magically alive again. And none of them were "AM I DEAD?".]

I'm good.

[His voice cracks, not quite ready to let go yet. Yes, good one, Drift. Meet up with the guy who made the biggest difference in your life- who you got killed. You can do better than that.]

It's been a long time.

[Wing gives a soft, almost shuddering laugh.]

You always were good.

[And he knew it wasn't what Drift meant, but he meant it as a tease, the fragile bond, stretched by time, between them. He could only hope it wasn't stretched beyond breaking.]

[He doesn't pull away much, merely lifting his head to meet Drift's gaze, one hand stroking gently over a shoulder.]

Not for me. [How does he even begin to ask?]

[He wilts a little, suddenly feeling that wash of guilt he knew was coming. He's running the full spectrum here, Wing. Excuse him. His face ducks into white armor and there's sort of a pathetic, mournful sound.]

Wing. I got you killed.

[He doesn't even know where to begin. "Sorry" doesn't cover it, but damn he'll try.]

I'm. So glad to see you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[Wing finds himself clinging to the red and white armor, cradling the helm against his shoulder. ]

No. Drift. No. You didn't get me killed. I had the honor of fighting beside you in combat and I have nothing but pride from that.

[He had seen how much it took for Drift to admit his mistake to the Circle, to bear Dai Atlas's stubbornness and wrath. That was nothing that deserved the label of guilt.]

I am glad to see you, too. So much.

I just wish the circumstances were better.

[There's that pathetic, sad sound again. Yeah, Wing was of course, way too forgiving. He always had been. To have tolerated his ungrateful Decepticon self for that long... and have paid the ultimate price and still accept it with such grace. Okay Drift, pull yourself together. You're in a titanium-plated glass case of emotion, here.]

Nnngggffffffhh-

[Okay maybe just a little more hugging and being a pathetic puddle. Right then. Okay. He lifts his head and tackles the next question, trying not to sound really super lame.]

Where are we?

[The sound found an echo in Wing's vocalizer, and his arms tightened around Drift again, wishing he could offer better comfort. ]

[He would hold Drift for as long as the other needed. He'd starved for contact: he needed it almost as much.]

[One hand strokes over the red spaulder of Drift's shoulder, fingers exploring the contours, learning them.]

We don't know the name. But we've all been stolen from our homes, our lives. And thus far we have no way home.

[Nothing can make the bad news hurt any less. He wishes he could offer more than a hug.]

But you're here... and I'm here. There are others?

Time and dimensional displacement...?

[He sounds damn absurd as he tries to analyze this with a still tearful voice. And honestly he can't really remember the last time someone hugged him. Well. Okay he can, and that was Wing and many, many years ago. It's far better than he cares to admit.

But this is getting into the realm of not hugging anymore. Embarrassed, he reluctantly pulls away. No need to look like a needy invalid in front of Wing. He shuffles awkwardly, trying to recover some of his dignity after that outburst.]

Mmm... maybe. But at least we're not alone? I'm sure we can figure something out.

[Rodimus will come for him. Maybe. And then he could take Wing back with him? Would that work? He's no physics expert...]

We are the only Cybertronians. There are others. From 'Earth'.

[He's never heard of it himself.]

That's what we've decided. [A smile: the 'we' is definitely involving a lot of others. When he'd arrived, he'd thought he was dead.]

[He lets go of Drift very reluctantly, his hands lingering over the strange armor.]

What we've figured is that we were somehow supposed to be weapons in a war over long ago. And the ship crashed, and we were forgotten.

Oh! Earth! I've been to Earth. So they're humans?

[He grins. Yes I know some of these words! But he's pretty wary of most humans.]

Weapons?

[He looks mildly offended.]

But... you mean I've been in there all along? Oh... oh no!

What if they found the Knights of Cybertron without me!

[And here comes your heaping helping of crazy right on schedule.]

You have?

[Oh. Of course, Drift has lived without him, gone beyond the narrow circle of Crystal City. Wing fights a pang of envy. ] Yes, humans and some who call themselves mutants.

As near as we can figure, yes. We were intended to be pawns in their war.

[Imagine how Wing feels about the idea: to be used to fight a war against a people he's never met.]

...the Knights of Cybertron? [Dai Atlas's obsession and now Drift's? ]

Oh yes. After I joined the Autobots we-

[Right. There's so much ground to cover. Wing doesn't know anything about what happened after. He winces.]

That's... hm. [Not unfamiliar to him, but to think of someone using Wing like that makes him bristle.]

Yes. That's where we were- the ship I was on previous to coming here. We were searching for them.

[LET HIM TELL YOU ABOUT HIS THEORIES, WING.]

[Wing laughs, partly to release the tension of his own discomfort, and he reaches out to squeeze Drift's arm.] It sounds like we have a great deal to catch up on.

[And he wants to hear all of it, every detail, as much as Drift wants to tell him.]

You, the Autobots, looking for the Knights of Cybertron? [He's...not sure how he feels about that. ]

[Every bit of contact brings back old memories to mix into the slurry of thoughts running through his head already. He's half-tempted by another hug, but he refrains, smiling in his shy, awkward way.]

Yes. It's been... quite an adventure. But it's great! We've seen so much. Remind me to tell you about the Spark Eater incident sometime.

[He wishes sorely that he could show Wing how far he's come. But words come hard right now. He quiets down again, never quite making eye contact.]

But. For now... what do we do?

[It's such an odd mix of elation and anxiety.]

Spark Eater? Like the...? [He can't help the fact that his optics drop to Drift's chassis, as though he needed some reassurance. Silly, what distance and worry does. ]

Now, we try to stay safe and protect the others.

Yeah. [He puffs up kind of proudly.]

Rodimus took care of that one.

[Stay safe? Protect others? He can do one of those things well, and it's not the first.]

Right. Got it. Do you uh. Have a place to stay?

[Wait! Don't invite yourself to Wing's assumed-home just because! That's rude.]

You know. So I can perhaps. Know. Where. You.

Are?

[NICE RECOVERY. Not.]

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