#it's just skywarp is in wonderful mood | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

keaalu · 1 year ago

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Secondary Trines

Everyone thought the fallout from TC and Pulsar’s affair was dealt with, but it turns out Skywarp is not so easily satisfied. (And Pulsar has a big mouth – but everyone knew that.)

Set a few dozen orns after [How Long] . Nothing explicit, fade-to-black etc., but some element of mature discussion (plus lots of manufactured melodrama and authorial fiat, WOO).

Reminder: Pulsar is a bike. As a natural consequence of this, she has a big mouth, which often runs away from her and gets her into trouble.

As a natural consequence of Skywarp being Skywarp, this is a good thing; winding her up until she blurts out something embarrassing and/or incriminating is the usual end game.

Today, the trouble is associated with an interesting revelation.

Second little reminder: Pulsar is a little femme (like, just a smidge over half Skywarp’s height). ((What can I say; I like a bit of size difference.)) (((She is also unrepentant. The fact it makes her a useful projectile at times is just something she’s had to learn to deal with.)))

---------

Night had already secured a foothold in Deixar, dressing the house in deepening shades of indigo. Everyone else had already retired to their private suites, leaving just two residents to monopolise the furniture in the atrium.

Pulsar had been dozing comfortably on the couch, sprawled out with her head on Skywarp’s shoulder. Initially reading, while he watched something she’d seen a dozen times before, until her attention began to wane and the wafer slid from her fingers, disappearing out of reach… and she decided fetching it back was too much effort and she was just too comfortable, right now. She’d let her optics go dim, all her senses softening into idle mode, and a handful of dormancy protocols had begun to come online when-

A sharp sensation in the tip of one aerial startled her bolt awake.

“Stop that!”

Skywarp huffed but obediently took his lips off her antennae. “What did I do wrong this time?”

She noticed the entertainment system had all gone offline already, and wondered how long he’d been watching her snooze and waiting for her to wake up on her own. “There’s other ways to wake me up that don’t involve biting me-”

“Yeah, but they’re not so much fun.”

“-and I was comfortable!”

“You were offline.”

“That was the point!” She brushed a hand up over her antennae, checking for new kinks; finding none, she settled, trying but failing to find that cosy position again. “I was actually enjoying just snuggling up with you, for once.”

“Enjoying it so much, you couldn’t stay awake.” He raised his voice over her protests. “It’s fine, I get it. I’m boring, now.” He was quiet for several loaded seconds before asking, in a deceptively offhand tone; “was he better than me?”

It was Pulsar’s turn to be quiet for a second. “What?” She glanced up at him.

“Thundercracker. You’ve been in a funny mood since you two finally fessed up about fragging each other.” He was staring up at the stars, sprinkling the sky above the huge glass roof. “Got me wondering if you were just trying to save my feelings, by saying it was a fling and you didn’t think about it any more.”

“…the slag did that come from, Skywarp?” She propped herself on an elbow. “I was enjoying your company! How did you get from that to, oh, I bet she’s thinking about my best friend, now.”

Lips pursed, Skywarp let his gaze drift down to meet hers. He didn’t look particularly serious about it, though – no doubt his usual flavour of insincere windup – which succeeded in rankling her temper.

She squirmed out from under his arm. “It’s not a funny mood if I just want to be able to enjoy your company without slag like you biting my aerials. It wouldn’t kill you to be tender, every now and then.”

“Like Thundercracker would be, you mean.”

“Oh, shove off, Skywarp.” She stood to face him, bad-tempered. “He’s got nothing to do with it.”

He sat up as well. “Musta been a good frag if it was twenty vorns ago and you’re still thinking about him.”

“Primus, what is your malfunction, this evening?” Pulsar threw up her hands. “I’m not thinking about him! And I’m not comparing you against him, either! Let alone based on how good a frag you think you are.” She glared, and added; “or think you aren’t, apparently.”

“Not denying that you do think he’s better than me, then.” Skywarp vented a melodramatic sigh. “Anyone else would wanna take the chance to prove me wrong.”

“Mercy!” She covered her face with one hand and growled something incoherently obscene. “You're both gorgeous and I'd have the pair of you at once in a heartbeat if I didn't think I'd lose both of you just by suggesting it-!”

She visibly stiffened at realising what she’d blurted out full volume, optics brightening to such a humiliated cyan-white it was a wonder they didn’t short out altogether.

They just stared at each other for several long seconds, with the words just… hanging there, between them.

Skywarp’s brows had come up in a very steep arch, but his expression otherwise remained inscrutable.

Pulsar let her head hang. “Guess I'll go make myself comfy in dorms.”

“Hey. No.” Skywarp caught her arm before she could disappear. “Just… run that past me again.”

“What? No!” She jerked backwards on her arm but couldn’t quite get enough co-ordination together to extract it from his grip. “Are you telling me you didn’t immediately commit every word to your long-term memory? I am not repeating myself.” Her field felt scorching hot. “Certainly not for your amusement. Now let me go.”

“Aw, but I thought you liked it when I embarrass you,” he teased, pulling her into the circle of his arms.

“That’s different.”

“Howso?”

She closed her fingers into fists against his armour. “I'm trying to be serious here.”

“Uh-huh, me too.” He strummed a thumb down over her antennae.

She sighed, frustrated, and let her helm bonk down on his chassis. “You’re an infuriating glitch, sometimes. Being annoyed with myself and not in the mood to play with you doesn’t mean it’s because I suddenly want to get intimate with your wingmate instead.”

“…again.”

“Will you just stop.” She gave him a thump. “That’s not fair. I know we hurt you and I’m sorry, but you were dead, when it happened. Please stop making me feel like you want me to choose between you.”

He gave her a look with the most theatrically hangdog expression she had ever seen. “You do love him still, then.”

“Of course I do. We went through a lot together. I’d have never got out of Egypt in one piece, without him. He’s one of my best friends. But it’s not the same sort of love that we have.” She huffed hot air in a frustrated snort. “For one, he doesn’t send me obscene images of what he wants to do to me, or find the most inappropriate time of day to do it.”

Skywarp didn’t quite manage to successfully swallow the little triumphant ha! that leaped unbidden to his vocaliser. He made an abortive attempt to cover it with a cough of static.

“And that wasn’t what I meant, anyway, you obnoxious fraghead. You know you’re the one who wriggled his way under my armour, for reasons I absolutely cannot fragging understand, right now. You know how important you are in my life. You changed my life in a million amazing ways and I wouldn’t change you for the universe, but Primus if you aren’t the most frustrating aft I have ever met at times as well.” She stepped back half a pace, leaning into his laced fingers. “Now are you going to get off me, or do I have to sock you properly.”

He offered an exaggeratedly woeful little sigh and let his arms drop to dangle at his sides. “Fine. You wanna go be melodramatic, don’t let me stop you.”

She stepped free of his grasp, and resumed her flounce to the door.

He called after her; “What you said before. About the… both at once part… Do you ever actually… you know. Imagine doing it?”

She hesitated near the doorway. The silence clung on for long enough that it gave all the answer anyone could have needed, but she finally spoke. “…occasionally.” She flashed him a glare, optics like icy chips of temper. “But it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a stupid fantasy. All right? It’s stupid. I’m stupid.” She barged the door open with her shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”

Disappointed, he watched her go; the streetlights glittered against her neon chequers and turned her into an abstract little ghost in the gloom.

Clearly this was not the good sort of embarrassed. He’d have to fix that.

-----

Night had fully sunk its teeth into the district when the boring square outline of Central station finally loomed up in front of her. Pulsar stomped past the front desk and ignored the desk sergeant’s attempt at a friendly greeting, and ducked into the dormitory block, going straight to the registry to see what options were available.

…aaaand it looked like home for the night was going to be whichever spare chair she could find.

Again.

She sighed, turned away and trundled wearily down the empty corridor. Had this stupid fragup happened earlier, she could have stood a chance at one of the spare berths in dorms. Mid-shift, though, and everywhere was already occupied.

Next time, she’d just… deactivate her vocaliser altogether, she figured. Rather than get needled into losing her temper and letting her big mouth run away from her. Again.

The couch in the corner of the officer’s mess was thankfully empty. (She wasn’t sure where else she’d have gone, if not. She was absolutely not going to camp out behind the intake desk in custody. Or in an empty cell.)

She let her motors unwind, plopping heavily down on the reinforced foam with a low whoomph of air. As couches went, it was… well, comfortable enough. So long as you weren’t hoping for too much. Someone considerably senior to her (and evidently never having been forced to recharge here) had ‘generously’ got it reupholstered, as well, so the cushions were annoyingly harder than she remembered. Not beaten to yielding softness by vorns of abuse from her friends and colleagues.

She scrunched a foil around her shoulders and tucked up into the corner, setting up a proximity alert so if anyone sat on her she’d have proof it was intentional; then shut off her optics, and initiated the first of her recharge protocols.

The last thought that flashed through her awareness before she successfully managed to switch off was of two pairs of wings, turning away from both her and from each other, and of being completely incapable of working out which set she should follow.

-----

Thundercracker was first to rouse, when morning finally rolled around. Skywarp followed him down not long after – unexpectedly alone.

It was… unusual, to have an empty seat at the table, but perhaps Pulsar had been called in early. Thundercracker didn’t pay it much attention; wouldn’t be the first time. The quiet made a nice change of pace, anyway. He called up the news on his wafer and got comfortable to read.

He got halfway through the headlines before the silence grew a little too heavy. Skywarp was never normally this quiet unless something was on his mind.

Thundercracker glanced up, and found his wingmate watching him, unexpectedly; optics subtly narrowed, head propped on one hand, twiddling a cube on one of its points with the other. Said cube was still almost full so he was obviously preoccupied.

“Is everything all right?” Thundercracker prompted, warily. “What’s with the intense scrutiny, this morning.”

“Had a lot to think about, before I managed to get offline last night. Still working through it at the moment.”

Thundercracker put the news to one side. “Did you want to talk about it? Maybe I can help.”

“Depends. Maybe.”

It was apparently one of those mornings. “Well you obviously do, or you wouldn’t be looking at me like that.”

“Fine.” Skywarp let his cube drop flat against the tablet again. “I was just wondering, if I look at you long enough… I might be able to spot what it is that Squeaky sees in you.”

“What?” It took an instant to parse the words, but Thundercracker visibly drooped. “Aw, come on, Warp. I thought we were done talking about this? We told you, we separated long before you came back. We’re not interested in pursuing anything intimate.”

“That’s why she said she wanted to interface with you again, huh.” The challenge in Skywarp’s voice had grown more overt.

“Uh.” Thundercracker licked his lips, uneasily. “…she said that?”

“Last night. Uh-huh.”

Well, that would explain the empty chair, at least.

And yet in spite of being his usual belligerent self, Skywarp didn’t seem angry. Just sharp, and challenging, in that way he got when he was determined to get an answer out of someone.

That someone wasn’t usually Thundercracker, though.

“I don’t know what to say to you, Warp. I can’t speak for her, but it’s never come up in conversation since you first found out. There’s been no reason for it to? We were being honest when we said we hadn’t continued anything.” But the longer the teleport stared silently into him, with those pursed lips and narrowed optics, the more off-balance (and slightly cross) he felt. “This is ridiculous, Skywarp. It was vorns ago! You know we wouldn’t suddenly choose to go behind your wings now.”

“Not denying that you’d like to though, huh. Interesting.”

“What? Primus. How did you get there from what I just said?” Thundercracker put his hands up. “You know what, this conversation is over. I can’t speak for Pulsar, and I don’t know why she said that, or if you’ve just… misinterpreted her, again. But I’m not playing along and letting you box me into a corner about something I haven’t done. Or said. Or thought. All right? Now if you’ll excuse me,” he turned his attention back on his flask, “I’d like to finish this? Because some of us have work to go to.”

“Sure, sure.” Skywarp watched as he picked up the wafer and glared thoroughly at the headlines, just to make it clear how extra done he was with this conversation. “Okay, anyway, fine. Confession time.” The teleport leaned forwards onto his elbows, features softening just a tiny bit. “I might not have been completely honest with you.”

Thundercracker paused with his flask midway to his mouth. “…go on?”

“I was trying to get her a bit fired up, right? I guess I thought I was just teasing, and she’d be all, right, time to prove him wrong! And she kinda… came out with something I wasn’t expecting.”

“I will never understand your idea of foreplay, but fine. Situation normal. What turned that into… whatever this big drama is?”

“So, what she actually said. Was.” Skywarp studied his interlaced fingers, where they rested on the table. “I'd have both of you at once, if the option was there.”

Thundercracker promptly choked on his energon.

“And yeah so ok, she didn’t really say it, as much as just…” Skywarp wafted his hands. “Vomit the words out and instantly look like she wanted the planet to swallow her.”

“So why are you telling me?” Thundercracker finally wheezed, once he’d managed to cough the last few drops out of his air intakes.

“Beeecause… I guess…” Skywarp offered a see-sawing sort of shrug. ��I wanted to see if you wanted to?”

Thundercracker stared at him for a very long time.

Eventually he came up with a very inadequate: “What?”

“I thought it was a pretty straightforward question.”

Thundercracker made sure he’d put his flask down, just in case of any other bombshells. “After that time we spilled our sparks to you, and absolutely put ourselves through the mill in the process… You’re asking me if I want to interface with her. With your permission??”

“Not my permission, mech. With me. Together.”

In spite of it being physiologically impossible, it still looked like Thundercracker had paled. “…what?”

“You sure you should be downstairs yet, mech?” Skywarp waved a hand in front of his wingmate’s face. “Not really woken up yet, by my reckoning.”

Thundercracker grabbed the distracting hand and pinned it against the table. “With me. I did hear you right, right? With me. As in, both of us. At the same time.”

Skywarp smiled disarmingly. “Right. Humans call it a threesome.”

“A three-…” Thundercracker opened and closed his mouth a few times but nothing adequate seemed to want to come out. He quietly sagged against the chair’s backrest. “We’ve been trine for millennia. Is-is this something you’ve thought about before? Like, are you only just now telling me… you’ve wanted to do this… all that time? And I’ve just… what. Missed it? Never spotted it? Not even a hint?”

“Naw.” Skywarp’s features creased in that silly smile that crinkled his nose (and Thundercracker knew usually got Pulsar swooning. It… was kinda attractive). “I’d have told you long before now if I had. I guess she just got me curious?”

“Curious.”

“Yeah? I mean, why not? I know we’re both gorgeous.” Skywarp flattened his hand against his cockpit, fingers splayed, and Thundercracker couldn’t help the little snort of laughter. “You’ve never been interested to see what it’d be like?”

“Well-… no, honestly? You’re trine, Warp. The idea of interfacing with you has not once ever crossed my processor.”

One brow came up in an arch as if to say oh really. Skywarp sipped (intentionally causally) at his cube.

“I mean it!” Why did he suddenly feel so flustered. “A-aside from maybe… once. Thousands of vorns ago. We weren’t trine then. And then a war got in the way. Remember that part?”

“Pssh. Plenty of romantic trines out there, even if we never did.” Skywarp paused for effect. “…yet.”

Thundercracker rested his head against his folded hands. “I can’t believe you’re actually genuinely trying to talk me into this.”

“Why not?” Skywarp shuffled his chair closer around the table, and claimed one of his wingmate’s hands with his own. “It’d be fun!”

Thundercracker gave him a flat look. “‘Fun’.”

“Yeah. You know. That thing neither you nor Screamer know how to do any more.”

Thundercracker gave him a shove.

“Seriously.” Skywarp scooted back, and closer, this time. “So what if we’re wingbros. This is a thing we like doing, and you’re our friend. Pulse might not have suggested it on purpose, but friends share nice things with each other, and I thought: yeah, okay.” They were almost nose-to-nose, by now. He dropped his voice an octave or so. “…and you really are pretty attractive, into the bargain.”

Thundercracker snorted a laugh. “Colours aside, we’re identical, you vain glitch.”

Skywarp snickered. “Yeah but I never normally see me from this angle.”

“Are you sure Pulsar is all right with it?”

This time Skywarp did look a little sheepish. “Well I, uh, kinda haven’t seen her since she got mad at me and stomped off last night. I think she stayed in dorms. I haven’t actually told her I was gonna talk to you, yet.”

“Only because she’d have told you not to,” Thundercracker growled. “And you better not be using me as a way to apologise to her, either.” He sighed and let his forehead come to rest against his wingmate’s. “…can I think about it?”

“Sure.” Skywarp kissed his nose, playfully. “I can wait.”

-----

When Pulsar was uncharacteristically late to the daily pre-shift briefing, their boss dispatched one of her siblings to go looking for her.

Following her private signal, the eternally-elegant Longbeam tracked her down in the canteen. Pulsar looked somewhat frazzled; antennae askew, optics not quite at full brightness, and still covered in yesterday’s scuffs, contemplating her energon as though hoping to glean the meaning of life from the depths of the flask.

Longbeam slid into the chair opposite. “What happened to you.”

“No spare dorms. Stayed on the couch.”

“And there was me thinking you had a massive house – and a bunch of pretty seekers to go with it – out in the nice part of the city.”

Pulsar glared up from under hooded brows. “Those ‘pretty seekers’ are why I ended up sleeping on the couch. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Oh-ho.” Longbeam’s optics twinkled. “Say no more, sister. I wondered why you still looked so tired.”

“And what exactly do you mean by that.”

“Nothin’.” The tall bike gestured airily with her long, slim hand. “Crash with me and Vecks, next time. If nothing else, our couch is infinitely superior. You can fantasise all you like and no-one will interrupt.”

Pulsar swatted her hand away, and her sister snickered. “Why are you even here, Beemer.”

“Because you’re late to work?”

…Well done. Go draw a bit more attention to yourself, why don’t you. Idiot. Pulsar vented a long sigh and let her head clonk down against the table.

“So preoccupied that you flat out forgot why they make us come to this dump on the regular, huh,” Longbeam drawled. “Need me to go make some excuses to Nightsun for you?”

“No.” Pulsar’s words came out muffled by the tabletop. “Pass me a lid for my flask…”

In reality, nobody paid the two bikes the slightest bit of attention as they navigated the busy corridors, but Pulsar’s imagination was already in overdrive, (un)happily assuming everyone was talking about her. Why’s she still so scruffy / didn’t take a bath / stayed here overnight / have they separated / what did she do to upset him / really hope I don’t miss out on the juicy gossip. She kept her shoulders round and avoided eye contact.

Nightsun pinged a quick greeting as Pulsar slunk in and found a seat at the back of the meeting area, but otherwise didn’t break his flow, assigning cases and talking through the orn’s operations. She appreciated the discretion.

When Thundercracker drifted past on the way to his office, looking… distant, and distracted, for reasons she strongly suspected she knew… she slumped all the way down on her chair until she could hide behind Longbeam, and quietly took her beacon right off the grid. Just while he was in the vicinity. Just to avoid any awkward conversations in public. Just until she’d squared things up in her own mind.

This is such a screwup.

Eventually Pulsar’s shift ended and she’d run out of data to upload and reports to write and there came a point where she couldn’t justify loitering purposelessly at work any longer. And Longbeam kept giving her funny, knowing looks, so it would only be a matter of time before Pulsar ended up giving her an incriminating punch in the head. She left the building the most circuitous way she could find and skulked home with her tail between her legs, rehearsing over and over in her head what she was going to say to Skywarp. She’d not heard from him all day and didn’t really know what that meant.

I love you and can we forget I said anything.

…You spent all day thinking about it and that was the best you could come up with?

She settled uncomfortably in their lounge, on the edge of the couch under the house-maple, trying to concentrate on her datapad. She’d never really been that bothered that her feet didn’t reach the floor until now, when it felt like it might impinge on her ability to make a quick exit.

Across the room, the news unexpectedly clicked on, making her jump. Footsteps approached.

…and it wasn’t Skywarp. She swallowed the curse before it could escape.

Thundercracker settled intentionally nearby. She tried to ignore his proximity – and the way he was watching her read – but there was something off about his manner that was making the back of her helm prickle with a sort of anxious anticipation.

It was when he shifted slightly to artfully prop his head against one hand, still watching her, that she realised the game was indeed up.

She looked up and met his gaze, and immediately deflated. “…he told you,” she said, flatly.

At least he was smiling – and not in a mocking way, but a small, affectionate smile. “He did.”

She muttered something quiet that Thundercracker didn’t manage to parse, but sensed was probably pretty vulgar. “I might kill him.”

“I might hold him down for you!” He chuckled. “After I figure out which bit of this ridiculousness surprises me more – the fact you thought he might not, or the fact you’re surprised he did.”

His fingers drifted down over her antennae, trailing imaginary sparks all the way, and her fans hitched. She jerked her head away, frustrated. “This wasn’t fun to start with but it’s definitely not fun now you’re both sucking my sump.” She slid off the chair and made a break for the exit. “I thought better of you.”

He put out a hand and blocked her way as she went to pass him. “Didn’t you only just get home?”

“Yeah.” She looked down and watched as his fingers came up to softly encircle her wrist. “If I go now, there might still be some spare berths left. I’m not spending the night on that nasty hard couch again. And definitely not going to crash with Beemer, who can’t wait to rub it in-”

He kept his grip gentle – made sure she knew she could have stepped away any second she wanted, if she genuinely wanted out – but didn’t let go. “Why?”

“Really?” She gave him a tired glare. “Come on. Warp gets me to blurt out stupid, embarrassing garbage, shares the worst of it with you, and you wonder why I feel like I can’t face you right now. The last I need is for you to join in with mocking me.”

“I’m not teasing. I promise.” His smile widened, just a touch. He gave her hand a very gentle tug and she sagged into his lap.

“Well this isn’t fair,” she said, flatly.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m trying to apologise.” Her fans had already picked up speed. Her antennae prickled, like someone had connected them to a lightning rod and a thunderstorm was brewing outside. “I get it! I have a big mouth and no filter and I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Maybe.” Thundercracker lowered his voice to a particularly pleasant rumble. “But I’m glad you did.”

It felt like someone had stolen all the air from the room. “…what?”

Pulsar realised she’d wound her field so tightly around herself, she almost missed it when the third person joined the room. A bolt of electric alarm shot right up her back and she froze.

Skywarp sat down on his knees in front of the couch, caging Pulsar at the centre of a circle of arms. “So are we doing this, or what.”

She refused to meet either of their stares, shocked and stiff. “Doing what.”

“Well someone said something about having us both at once.”

Oh mercy. Pulsar covered her face with both hands; felt like her field was on fire. “You’re a teasing pair of glitches.” Her words came out strangled and staticky. “You shouldn’t say things like that unless you mean it.”

Thundercracker leaned down; let his helm bump gently against hers. “Who says we don’t?” he said, softly. “We know you want to.”

“Just because I want-… I-” She let her head turn subtly to the side, until she could just meet the muted garnet of his optics. “I don’t want to hurt you. It was a stupid, unguarded comment-”

“We’ve all said something stupid and unguarded at some point. But now it’s in the open, and we can do something about it.”

Skywarp was leaning in, as well, now. “You left me plenty of thinking time when you flounced last night. Me and TC discussed it…”

“…and that made for an interesting orn…” Thundercracker added, dryly.

“…and we decided, yeah. We’re both up for it. Let’s see what it would be like.” Skywarp pressed in closer “I think it’ll be fun.”

“But you can say no. That’s fine too.”

They were both so intoxicatingly close she could barely think straight. There was no way this could be real. Perhaps she was still offline, scrunched up and uncomfortable and stress-dreaming in the canteen. She scrambled for something that might bring back reality. “This can’t-.. I-I don’t want to hurt you. What if it makes things… awkward, or you fall out, or-… I would never forgive-”

“It won’t.” Thundercracker dipped his helm, until his lips were microns from hers, easily close enough to steal a kiss. “After forgiving all the slag we’ve done to each other during the war… why would an expression of love hurt us like that?”

She could feel the subtle movement of the air as he spoke. So close.

So close.

“But, if you really don’t-”

“Yes.” She dimmed her optics, and breathed the words against him. “I do. Please, Primus; yes.”

Skywarp snrk-ed, then leaned all the way in and tightened his grip on them both.

A sensation of cold and freefall and of being in two places at once-

-and suddenly the lounge was empty.

-----

The first subtle blues of early dawn streamed in through the crack in the blind, slicing the room into a collection of shadows. Pulsar was first to stir, nudged awake by an internal alarm, and the reluctant knowledge that she had a shift coming up. She allowed herself an indulgent few seconds of stillness, to figure out exactly where she was – and more importantly, with whom.

It hadn’t been a dream, then.

Sensation slowly came back to her tired processors, as each individual module booted reluctantly back up. She felt sore, and stiff, and… weirdly stretched… and completely powerless to move, sandwiched between two large, heavy, affectionate bodies.

And… she found she really didn’t care, actually? It was a good sore. It came with quiet and calm and contentment, all folded up in a soft nimbus of protection and affection.

Would be nice to stay like this forever, actually.

She called up her memory record, just soaking in the remembered pleasure, for a little while. Thinking about those careful, cautious little experimental touches, working out each other’s boundaries and individual hotspots… Of trying really hard to give as good as she got, but also of being trapped at the epicentre of a tornado, swept along, ultimately able to do nothing except surrender control and enjoy the ride.

Then, when she was too sore and exhausted to do anything more, just… laying to watch, and purr contentedly, enjoying vicariously as they explored each other, in ways that were simultaneously completely alien (those wings, oh Primus those wings), and also so unbelievably familiar she could almost feel it.

Yeah; mmh, that had been good, too. Particularly good. She shivered at the memory, filing it carefully away, wondering if she’d ever be able to get Warp making those same soft little noises of pleasure and need that he’d wrung from Thundercracker.

She turned her attention quietly to her berthmates.

Skywarp was an untidy sprawl, of course, because when wasn’t he. Limbs and wings at all angles, as though he’d just been dropped there from a great height. His cheek pressed heavily against the top of her helm, though, and the arm on which she lay was bent around just enough for his fingers to rest on her hip.

The smudge of blue on the other side, in the periphery of her vision, was a less familiar sight to wake up to, but… welcome. It also revealed the source of the weight resting on her shoulder. One big wing protruded into her field of view, like a shield against the world. Thundercracker’s free arm stretched all the way across both of them; possessive, protective.

She managed to wriggle one arm free, and stroked the pale cheek pressed against her shoulder.

It took several seconds for Thundercracker’s optics to respond, and they remained dim, but his features softened into a smile. “Good morning.” His voice was thick, and distorted, but comfortable – as though he’d quite happily let his mind slip back into idle and stay that way for the whole orn.

“Very good morning, from my perspective.” She kept her fingers against his cheek and purred quietly as he leaned into the touch. “I was worried I just dreamed it.”

He harmonised his purr with hers. “I’m glad you didn’t. Thanks for including me.”

“Thank you, for agreeing to come.”

Thundercracker gave an involuntary little snrk, and they shared a tired giggle.

“Those were some interesting noises he got you making last night,” Pulsar added.

A little flicker of mixed amusement and embarrassment danced through the blue seeker’s field. “All that practice he’s had with you probably helped.” He stretched his shoulders, subtly, looking for a slightly more comfortable position. “…and I guess I needed it. It’s been a while.”

She pressed a little kiss to his brow. “I’d like to think maybe this doesn’t need to have been a one-off,” she suggested, carefully. “If you’d be interested.”

He brought his own hand up, and coaxed her closer for a proper kiss; her fingers threaded between his, pulling tighter against him.

“Definitely interested,” he murmured, letting his lips linger close to hers when they finally parted. “And flattered that you’d like to share.”

Her words came out underlaid with a subtle static. “You’re absolutely worth it.”

He chuckled. “And how long have you been fantasising about Warp and me together?”

Pulsar smiled and glanced away, optics brightening. “I stand by my assessment. You look so good,” she husked, drawing little wispy fingertip lines against his helm. “But who wants to just watch. Being involved with the two people I love most in the universe is better.”

He hummed his amusement, and let his head come back down onto her shoulder, at just the right angle to encourage those pleasant little doodles to continue.

All too soon, a reflected beam of strengthening sunlight had found its way through the nearby buildings, and lanced straight into his optics. Thundercracker grimaced and flinched his face subtly out of its line of fire, then sighed. “This is probably fate’s way of saying I should be starting to think of going to work, about now.”

“Call in sick,” Skywarp said, muffled and distorted; Pulsar hadn’t even realised he was awake, and if his volume were anything to go by, he was only just.

“Thank you for the tip, but some of us are meant to be setting an example.” Thundercracker pushed himself partially upright, and grunted softly. “Oof. Even if they’d rather stay here all orn. Until all their cable tensions rebalance.” But he soon succumbed to gravity, sagging back to his elbows. “Primus, ow. I am amazed you two can ever walk, if this is what the two of you get up to on a regular basis.”

Pulsar felt her optics brighten, and audibly rebooted her vocaliser to cover the embarrassed giggle. “Practice, remember?”

“They’ll survive without you for half an orn, TC,” Skywarp added, sleepily. “You’re the boss. You write the rules.”

Thundercracker dithered for several very long seconds, under the expectant weight of his friends’ combined stare.

“Maybe just another couple of breems won’t hurt,” he accepted, tiredly reorganising his bulk so he wasn’t pinning them quite so completely – but keeping that possessive arm around them.

…by the end of the first breem, he was clearly dozing contentedly again, growing heavier as systems went dormant, and by breem two was completely offline again, fans cycling with a low, quiet purr of satisfaction.

“So much for setting an example,” Skywarp observed, quietly, voice still muzzy. “I guess he never said what sort of example.”

“Aw, leave him in peace. He deserves at least one morning off for once in his life.” Pulsar gave his nose a little flick. “What about us?”

“Stay here as well, I guess.” Skywarp grunted and after a little ineffectual squirming managed to fold her a little deeper into his arms. “Seeing as we can’t get up anyway, looks like we have the boss’s permission for a lay in.”

“Probably imprudent to go to work with paintstrikes in his colours, as well.” Pulsar examined a little azure scuff on the teleport’s obsidian enamel. “Would you take a bath with me?”

“Guess I can indulge you, this once.” Skywarp remained silent for several loaded seconds before speaking again. “And fine. You were right.”

“…What?”

“…He is a better frag than me.”

Pulsar tried unsuccessfully to smother him with a pillow.

---------------

If you need a soundtrack to this, I guess it’d be this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSRYvYN1ayw (Górecki, by Lamb. One of my absolute favourites of all time)

(Yes OK I posted this to AO3 MONTHS ago. I’m still catching up with posting stuff here...)

#skywarp #thundercracker #pulsar #trine #short fic #blue au #transformers #there's probably better tags but i don't tumblr well

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artobotsrollout · 2 years ago

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Skdjfkg oh that is A MOOD, I leave sentence bits all the time. What are Thundercracker and Skywarp like? What are some things they like and dislike? I'm so so SO happy you're bringing Star's trine in!!

[I am so so sorry this has taken me so long to answer. I was so pumped to answer then I over thought my answer then I was worried because I wasn't sure if some things I said about them were going to be canon or not and then other drafts overtook it and made it hard to navigate to. 😢 I seriously appreciate your asks.]

Woo for half forgotten sentence bits!

And I'm so glad that you and other peeps are excited about the inclusion of Thundercracker and Skywarp in The Harbingers AU!!

Things may change as more of the story is developed but have my current thoughts on them.

Answers to your questions and a WIP sneak peak at Skywarp's design below the Readmore.

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Before I begin I'm gonna get the obligatory 'This is not canon compliant nor other continuity compliant' general warning out of the way. (It's not aimed at anyone specifically I'm just covering my bases here. Also cause I'm ignoring fanon and a lot of canon unless I think it fits and like it. )

ONTO THE QUESTIONS!

------------------------------------------------------

What are Thundercracker and Skywarp like?

What are some things they like/dislike?

Skywarp and Thundercracker play a pretty big role in the Harbingers storyline so I'm P excited about em.

-Starscream is resilient, adaptive, cunning, unpredictable, brilliant, regal, precise, and dangerous. Hard to kill. Stubborn. He's not Megatron's second in command for a large chunk of time for kicks.

-Thundercracker is diplomatic, creative, hard to read, reliable, heavy hitter, perceptive, and a touch eccentric.

-Skywarp is mischievous, fast, a glass canon, hard to hit, hard to pin down, chaotic, intuitive, clever, and ruthless.

Thundercracker

A mech of few words and lacking in many exuberant expressions, many wonder what mysteries said mech hides. Some people pity him for Starscream and Skywarp 'stealing the spotlight'. Some think he's the real 'brains behind it all' and is too busy 'reigning in' his trine mates to live up to his true potential. Truth is that Thundercracker actually dislikes the spotlight and loves the energy that Skywarp and Starscream have (even if he gripes about it sometimes). Starscream is the brains, but he does run some things by TC when he needs another opinion. He really wishes that people would stop coming to him and putting his trine mates down just because they are energetic and expressive! He loves their energy and personalities! No one needs 'reigning in' and saying otherwise isn't alright. Those who work closely with the lead trine usually learn real fast not to disrespect any of the trine. Except Ramjet. Ramjet is stubborn and refuses to stop being a little shit about everyone even though he's punished with terrible duties every time he does so. The only ones allowed to insult his trinemates are him and his trinemates.

Many assume Thundercracker must be the straight man to Skywarp's nonsense upon acquaintance but they would all be very wrong. TC just gives off less of an outward obvious energy compared to Skywarp and Starscream. Between the three of them he's basically the best with people and most diplomatic. Can be manipulative if a situation requires it. Kinda has Grimlock from Cyberverse energy. (my headcanon Grimlock in my AU is the Grimlock that's in RiD15 because that's peak him IMO) For a Decepticon he's considered rather polite. The fact that he's the one people usually approaches first annoys TC to no end.

He limits how much he talks, outside of the company of mechs he actually likes to talk to, to save energy. Helping Starscream keep the mechs who follow him happy and helping to find solutions for arguments requires a lot of diplomatic skills and patience which can sometimes leave him exhausted. On his off time he usually sticks close to his trine or hides in his quarters.

He frequently plays the moral centre when situations get outta hand. Closet theatre kid. Some people have made the mistake of calling him "soft". But the whole Trine holds such a high rank in the Decepticons for a reason. And Starscream would not have trined with just anyone.

I'm still kinda figuring TC out so the above may change as time goes on. His personality and deeper motivations are just not coming to me quite like Skywarp's, Ironhide's, and Jazz's did. I think I need to write some head trine shenanigans to really figure his whole deal out.

Likes

Stories in any form. (He comes to really enjoy cartoons, comics, and musicals.)

Watching awful movies and shows with Skywarp and Starscream and mocking it mercilessly.

Writing and art

Cute things

Earth animals

Discussing nerd art and literature stuff with Starscream

Helping Skywarp plan his pranks

Dislikes

Megatron

Having nothing to do/boredom

When Skywarp and Starscream argue about something small and unimportant.

Headcanon Voiceactor Potentials:

Markiplier or ProZD

Notes:

Has a small superstitious streak that Skywarp has been known to abuse with his pranking.

A closet theatre nerd

Has a great singing voice and secretly wishes someone would break into song with him.

Skywarp

Lil sneak peek of my Harbingers Skywarp design!!

I've been tweaking things about his design for awhile now and I'm still tweaking but I'm finally getting somewhere sncjek. Fun fact about his design!! For some of his proportions I'm referencing ferret anatomy.

Does a lot of cackling while he fights. Switches between rough front line scrapper to sneaky stealth attacks.

Skywarp is the sort of person who is more than meets the eye. I'm sorry I HAD to 😂.

Skywarp is very high energy with a mischievous streak a mile long. He is unapologetically himself and gives exactly zero frags about what most others think of him. Besides the whole cackling like a gremlin at everything and causing problems on purpose thing, Skywarp is pretty easygoing temperament wise. He isn't afraid of change or the new and unusual. He let's things go quickly so he's almost impossible to prank or insult back in any satisfying way since he really isn't bothered by much. He really doesn't care that he has a reputation of not being the smartest cause it means people underestimate him. He's more patient and skilled than he lets on. He and Thundercracker are two of Starscream's closest right hand mechs for a reason. But he's not self conscious about this perception and sometimes will actively play into it. An enemy who underestimates you is a more easily beatable one. Skywarp is still loveably head empty no thoughts though. He reserves his patience and smarts for pranks and the battlefield. He has zero brain to mouth filter and is impulsive 70% of the time. Oddly drops wisdom bombs on occasion.

Skywarp's hijinks also kind of puts him in a role similar to a court jester. He acts goofy because that's just who he is a person but the upside of that is some people don't take him as seriously as they should. So he overhears a LOT of conversations from mechs who assume he's not listening. This makes it handy to give Starscream inside information.

Another upside of people underestimating him is it makes it almost laughably easy to get the drop on people. Don't be fooled by his goofiness this mech can be dangerously patient. His impressive agility, surprising patience, and ridiculously good hand eye coordination make him unpredictably deadly for foe and prankable ally alike. He can play the long game.

Likes

Pranks

Dumb dad jokes and puns.

Watching awful movies and shows with Thundercracker and Starscream and mocking it mercilessly.

Copying stunts he saw in a movie once

Saying or doing things wrong on purpose purely to annoy his trine mates

Watching horror movies and laughing every time someone dies an easily preventable death. Is frequently overheard whispering "Get em!" at the monster/serial killer.

Dancing

Dislikes

Starscream and Thundercracker having loud philosophical arguments discussions when he's trying to sleep

Being nitpicked

Musicals

Headcanon Voiceactor Potentials:

Bradley Cooper (Similar voice he does for Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy)

Again I'm so sorry this took so long!! I was actually planning on waiting till I finished their rough references but I'm STILL struggling with TC and I don't want to postpone this any longer so Ill just post the refs when I finish them. Thank you so much again for the questions you send in! I love and appreciate them and they are always a blast to answer.

#Harbingers au #The Harbingers au #My aus #Skywarp #Thundercracker #H!Skywarp #H!Thundercracker #harbingers #harbingers continuity #autothots continuities #autothots aus

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ask-prime-starscream · 4 years ago

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Now what? - The future of this blog

Currently I have five Alternate Universes float around in my head and maybe you’ll like them to come to life here? I plan fanart, comics and maybe some graphic novel style with art and written text. Please share your thoughts and opinions. <3 I. How to raise your sparkling - TFA AU

After Starscream got captured by the Elite Guard, they start to experiment with his CNA to create Autobots with flight ability. However, Starscream manages to free himself and out of spite he snatches the two protoforms right out of their incubator. But he doesn’t feel pleased with himself for long. On the run and with now two demanding sparklings craving his attention, killing Megatron and ruling the universe isn’t such an easy goal anymore...

II. Metroplex Asylum - IDW1/Cyberverse AU set after TAAO

Based on the scrapped idea for Starscream to return with amnesia, after his Quintesson form got destroyed. I would let this take place in the Cyberverse universe, but IDW1 provides so much better world building and consequences, so it’s set there. Windblade fights Vigilem alone in her own head until Starscream logs in to help. During the procedure, Vigilem manages to almost totally override Starscream’s brain-module which forces Airachnid to call a halt before it’s too late. She fries the unwelcome foreign pattern inside Starscream’s head, causing irreparable damage. When Starscream wakes up again - something they didn’t even hope for - he has only a fleeting grasp of some events (mostly early war), tends to terrible mood swings and is obsessed with Windblade, who feels responsible for him, but can’t handle his unfiltered feelings towards her. In the end they have no other choice, but to put the Chosen One, the leader of Cybertron, into an institution full with other bots with mental health issues. While Starscream bends over backwards to make sense of his surroundings and is generally at peace with himself, the past, present and future won’t stop haunting him.

III. Endless Utopia - IDW2 AU

I already started this comic until I put it on hiatus last year. However, I have nine pages in the making and plan to update this soon and hopefully at a faster pace. This AU is based on the idea of a “Nicescream”. Even though his life is more than complicated, he found his own little happiness. But pre-war Cybertron won’t leave him alone.

IV. Moon City - No specific universe with a pinch of Armada

Decades after the war between Autobots and Decepticons ended, earth is a mostly unhabitable place thanks to climate change and World War III. The only flicker of hope for the average human survivor is Moon City, a base built on the moon with artificial atmosphere and Cybertronian technology. While it provides a life in luxury and first of all health, not everyone can enter and the cost of living is sky high. Alexis Thi Dang got the grades to be accepted at the Moon City Academy, but scrapping the money together to keep studying is a daily struggle. Desperately searching on the network for ways to get benefits, she stumbles over the possible solution: In this city of the future, humans who are partnered to a Cybertronian are extremely privileged. Especially the winners of the war, the Autobots, are highly demanded partners. The Council of Humanity even runs a secret project to create a techno-organic mix-race which is supposed to be the answer to the new living conditions in space and possible colonies in foreign atmospheres. Anybody contributing to this goal has their place in Moon City ensured. Alexis however, is among the population just an average Jane, so she cannot even dream of finding a Cybertronian who wants to hook up with a human. Therefore she surfs the dark net and finds a fishy organization willing to provide her a partner... Starscream is on the run since the war ended and hides in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter where he scratches together all the energon he can find. One day he gets roused by humans searching for the same... and Cybertronian spare parts. Barely able to flee, he looks for a safe haven and meets Swindle who is into some not so legal businesses and makes Starscream some not so confidence-inspiring promises to smuggle him into Moon City, the only place of Cybertronian standards he can reach for now. Desperate, Starscream agrees... and gets paired up with Alexis. The beginning of a “wonderful” partnership.

V. Starscream the Movie - No specific universe

I once wanted to create a canon divergent Bumble Bee the Movie fic. This was born out of the idea that both Bee and Starscream are stranded on earth, but I rewrote the whole thing into basically “What could a movie about Starscream look like?” So, we got everything. His creation, his place among the Decepticons, his relationship with Megatron and of course his flock, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Slipstream... a benevolent doctor called Knock Out and the joys of being a giant robot thrashing planets with primitive species and Autobots trying to protect them. Starscream’s winning streak goes to his head though and results in his fall from grace. He is basically degraded to hunt down insignificant Autobot bases and his first target is Bee on earth. This is probably my most ambitious project and that’s why I can’t reveal too much.

(VI. A forgotten grave - IDW1)

Short comic about Megatron who wants to meet Starscream one last time before his execution. Based on this:

Q: How did the LL crew - specifically Megatron - react to the deaths of Optimus, Soundwave, and Starscream?

A: Let's specifically focus on Megatron - he would've been conflicted about all three. Would've been most cut up over Starscream's death, because there was a lot of unfinished business between him and Starscream, and the reformed pacifist Megatron never got to meet Starscream. That probably eats away at him. Closely followed by Optimus. Would've been incredibly interested in what Soundwave had done and would've been proud of him. Imagine he would have been bitterly affected by all three deaths in slightly different ways.

While Megatron shows NEVER any regret about how he treated Starscream in the comics, I’ll just take this word of god here and do something with it.

---

Well then. Any thoughts? ;D

#Starscream #TFP Starscream #TFA Starscream #IDW Starscream #Jetfire and Jetstorm babies

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tarklesbehindthescenes · 4 years ago

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Hi, Tarkles! I've got a rarepair request for you. G1!Megatron/Ratchet. Any length you like and any circumstances you like, but maybe how they might end up getting to know each other. I hope that was specific enough, sometimes I'm not sure the amount of detail folks might need. Have a great day!

Ho-kay! So I went a little overboard! Word count capping at 1,360. Hope this falls in line with what you requested!

The Decepticons were a crafty bunch. Everybody knew this. Despite not having the smartest bots among their ranks, they made do with what they had or could get their hands on. Today was a case where they had to steal what they needed. Megatron sat within his quarters in his desk chair, optics offline, head resting on his right fist while his left tapped its fingers against the arm of the chair impatiently. Just how long were his soldiers going to keep him waiting?

Soundwave’s voice cut the silence through Megatron’s commlink. “Blitzwing and Skywarp inbound with the target.”

“About time,” the warlord grumbled in return. “Send them straight to me.”

Within five minutes, Blitzwing and Skywarp knocked at Megatron’s door, then stepped in once he bade them enter. Megatron flicked on his optics and turned his chair to see a furious and chained Ratchet gripped between the triple changer and grimacing seeker.

The commander raised a brow. “What is wrong with you, Skywarp?”

“Nothing, mighty Megatron,” Skywarp grunted through gritted teeth, shifting his legs with notable discomfort so they pointed slightly inward.

Blitzwing cleared his throat and gave Megatron a brief salute. “Target captured, sir!”

“You have ten seconds to explain why these brutes made a mess of my medbay and abducted me!” Ratchet snarled at him, staring with absolute loathing. Such a fiery temper. If Megatron had been in a better mood he would have been amused by it.

Instead he addressed his soldiers. “Remove his binds, then leave us. Skywarp, you will return to your duties. Blitzwing, you stand outside the door and keep guard.”

Skywarp threw Ratchet a wary look and winced when the medic returned it with a piercing glare. So it was up to Blitzwing to carry out the order while the seeker beat a hasty retreat. Once Ratchet was freed, Blitzwing stepped outside and shut the door behind him, leaving them alone.

“Well?” Ratchet demanded.

“I will get to my reason in a moment. You were unharmed, correct?” Megatron checked, remaining in his seat.

The Autobot before him huffed and placed his fists on his hips. “Aside from some mild aches, no. I sustained no injuries. Why?”

“Because this meeting—”

“Kidnapping.”

“—is happening under a white flag.” The Decepticon commander finished.

The ambulance scoffed with a roll of his optics. “And what are the terms of this ‘meeting’?”

“You solve my medical issue, we will return you to your team unharmed.”

Ratchet squinted. “You want me to fix you? You’ve got Hook. You’ve got Soundwave. Get one of them to do it.”

Megatron glowered in return. “Do you think I would have my mechs bring you here if I hadn’t expended my resources already?” He hissed. “This is beyond their knowledge. Will you assist under these terms or won’t you?”

There was a thick silence that fell between them as the medibot thought over the request. Just as the warmonger was about to lose his patience, Ratchet huffed and lowered his arms to his sides. “Alright, what’s wrong with you? Aside from everything about you.”

“The humor in your sarcasm is lost on me,” Megatron said. “I find my stabilizers are not functioning as they should. It is not a matter of a broken part. Hook and Soundwave both confirmed that.”

Ratchet made a gesture to encourage Megatron out of his chair. “Get up. Let’s see it.”

“I said solve it. You do not need to see it.”

“Do you want my help or not?” He snapped back. “Let’s get one thing clear, Megatron. You summoned me here as a last resort. You have confidence that I know what I’m doing. And I do. Nobody does a medical job the way that I do it. If you want my help, then you will do things my way.”

This no-nonsense attitude was irritating, but at the same time Megatron had to admire it, if only slightly. The other Autobots all talked tough, but when it came time to combat him, few of the warriors had the nerve to face him alone or bark out orders at him like Optimus Prime did. Their cranky medic, however, clearly cared little about Megatron’s capabilities and stood right next in line to Prime in that aspect.

With reluctance, Megatron got to his feet and wobbled a bit. He put his arms out at 45 degree angles to his sides, working to keep balance as he took a few steps forward. He wasn’t able to walk straight in the slightest, teetering from side-to-side before finally tripping on himself and collapsing on his side with a surprised shout.

This appeared to attract Blitzwing’s attention as he came bursting back into the room. “Megatron?!” He yelled.

The commander shot him a furious look as he struggled back to his feet. “Did I give you permission to come back in?!”

The triple changer shrunk back a little, looking confused.

Ratchet proceeded to grab Megatron’s arm and guide him toward the door. “Yeah, there’s something janky, all right.”

“What are you doing?” The warlord demanded.

“You don’t expect me to fix you with no tools, do you?” The medic pointed out. “Where’s your medbay?”

Humiliating as it was to be paraded for his army to see in this condition, he had to admit it was a necessary evil. He should have just put himself in the medbay in the first place, all things considered. What tugged at Megatron’s mind, though, was the fact that as they traveled, it wasn’t Blitzwing helping him stay upright. It was Ratchet.

When they entered the medbay, Ratchet threw his gaze around it with growing frustration. “Hook leaves his work space in this condition?”

“No,” Blitzwing answered. “It’s the other Constructicons whenever he’s not looking. Just to annoy him the next time he enters.”

Ratchet muttered under his intakes as he deposited Megatron on an empty table before he began looking around for the needed tools. “Take off your helmet,” he barked over his shoulder.

Before doing so, Megatron shot the triple changer a warning and dismissive look. Blitzwing took the hint and scampered out of the bay, shutting the door behind him again.

“It’s a wonder you Decepticons have even lasted this long,” Ratchet continued to gripe. “You need to get yourselves a bot with real medical training!”

“We’re a little spread thin, at the moment,” Megatron grunted. “Even back on Cybertron.”

“All I hear is an excuse.” The ambulance returned to Megatron’s side and opened up a panel in the back of his head and plugged in a cable attached to a handheld console. With deep concentration, he made use of the console in silence until he finally said, “Aha. Yep. That would do it.”

“What? What would do it?” The Decepticon leader asked, turning his head to try and see.

Ratchet just forced him to face the front again before removing the console and walking to one of the few computers in the room. “Your BIOS isn’t playing right. It isn’t shooting the right hardware address for your systems to find the stabilizers. Just needs an update, that’s all.”

Megatron stared at the back of Ratchet’s head. He made it sound so simple. Like it should have been found immediately. “Why didn’t Hook or Soundwave figure that out?” He scowled.

“Because they didn’t go to medical school and haven’t been doing repairs like this for twelve million years. You need to know where to look.” The medic returned to standing behind Megatron and plugged the console back into his head. Words flashed across Megatron’s vision telling him to standby as an update was being downloaded and installed. Approximately thirty minutes. “There.” Ratchet said. “We’ll just give that time to put itself in.”

The room fell silent as Megatron processed the new information he’d obtained about the Autobot medic through this ‘meeting’. The attitude, the confidence, the disregard of factions simply to provide aid to a bot in need. And… he’d put fear into the spark of one of his seekers. How? This medibot was certainly drawing the warlord’s interest. Perhaps… he should ‘meet’ with Ratchet for any future health issues Megatron develops.

Yes.

#Asks #AO3 #short story #I had fun with this #Transformers #MegaRatchet #Megatron #Ratchet #G1 #maccadam

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taiblogcomics · 4 years ago

Text

Crossovers Are The Right of All Sentient Beings

Hey there, uncaught refrigerators. Well, I finally got a new shipment in! It's the first new comics I've read since the pandemic hit, and I think we're all in the mood to read something other than terrible Titans reboots and spinoffs, and whatever the fuck you want to call Heroes in Crisis. We need something nice and fun and gentle, so of course we're immediately going back to ponies. But not even just going back to the regular series, that's not good enough for you guys! Nah, let's do something special for our return. Let's do something... transformative~

Here's the cover:

Oh yeah, this is real. After My Little Pony was left out of the Hasbro franchises united in Revolution, they just had to make up for that grievous error. Anyway, Leadership, Friendship. It's some sort of Matrix regardless, I'm sure. After becoming a princess, becoming a Prime is obviously next on Twilight's list. Though I think Pinkie may have beaten her to the punch~

youtube

We begin in Equestria, where Quibble Pants is buying a comic book from a news stand. He sighs in disgust that it's another crossover, and wonders where in continuity he's supposed to place the story. The news-stand operator replies that he thinks it's probably just supposed to be for fun, and I love that sort of meta commentary. It's what us fans really need to keep in mind for things like this. Anyway, it suddenly begins to storm heavily, and Quibble asks for a replacement issue, since being rained on has ruined its value. The cause of the rain is Queen Chrysalis, free once again and with a team of minions. She's using some sort of spell to bolster her army by finding changelings in other dimensions...

Meanwhile, on the planet Cybertron, the Autobots and the Decepticons are embroiled once again in their eternal struggle. In this case, the Decepticons have attacked this faulty space-bridge (the primary long-distance transport in the Transformers universe), and the Autobots know whatever their interest in it is, it can't be good. Shockwave has tapped into some sort of inter-dimensional signal. Before either side can stop him, the signal grabs them and they're teleported away. Grimlock shows up too late to get in on the crossover, alas~

Twilight and a flock of Canterlot guards swoop in to foil Chrysalis' storm-causing plans, but the gateway has already opened. The enormous forms of the Transformers fly through, and are scattered around Equestria. The only two still nearby are Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, and clearly they can't fly. Twilight dashes off to lend aid, leaving Chrysalis alone. Only not quite alone, because she soon encounters Megatron. They both have the same reaction to each other: what are you, and how can you be of use? Ah, it's always nice to see kindred spirits forming a bond~

Optimus tries to contact Windblade, but she's out of range, over at the Wonderbolts' territory. With few other options, Optimus asks Bumblebee to cling to him, so he can shield Bee's body with his own on impact. Fortunately for them, Twilight swoops in. She's impressed with their friendship, and uses a levitation spell to prevent them from dying by fall damage. Their heroic intentions even in the face of death convinces Twilight that they're not what Chrysalis intended, and they agree to work together. Unfortunately, Optimus theorises that they're not the only ones making alliances, and we see Chrysalis riding atop Megatron, who is in a tank alt mode. That's way more impressive than a gun~

Meanwhile, over in Manehattan, Starscream has declared the property around him to be his new kingdom. Rarity and the employees of her boutique are attempting to appease him, mostly to keep him from shooting up the rest of the street. Rarity's not stupid, after all. She can tell it's easier to feed this guy's ego and wait for help to come, rather than attempt to oppose him and risk the lives of everypony around them. Fortunately, they don't have to wait long, because all of a sudden, Arcee drives up and does a flying jumpkick to hit Starscream in the face. Nice~

Arcee fights off Starscream, and he retreats, swearing vengeance. Seems very typical. Arcee then stops to help assess the damage. The pair of them bond over each other's reaction to the event. Arcee admires Rarity's decisions to protect her friends, and Rarity likes how Arcee kicks ass. Though of course Rarity is no stranger to adventures herself, and they both bond even further on the notion that neither of them would get as far without their friends to rely on. And now the pair of them have become friends too.

Just in time as well, it seems, because here comes that returning vengeance Starscream promised. He's also got Thundercracker and Skywarp as backup, so it's definitely threatening. Arcee tells Rarity to take cover, but there's no cover for herself. Rarity won't accept that, and instead uses her magic to conjur up a diamond-like wall to protect Arcee as she shoots down Thundercracker. Using the distraction from Arcee's shots, Rarity then uses the large bolt of cloth that Starscream was using as a cape to tangle the two remaining Decepticons together. Skywarp warps out, true to the name, and Starscream just flies over the horizon and crashes. That's a victory for the two new friends~

This crossover is definitely a lot of light-hearted fun, so I encourage you to seek it out if you’re a fan of at least one of thse franchises--better still if you like both. I predict the remaining issues will also follow this pattern: a leading story with Twilight and Optimus fighting Chrysalis and Megatron, while the second half of the comic will be a backup each featuring a different teamup pairing. I’m definitely looking forward to future issues to see how it all plays out~

#comics #reviews #My Little Pony/Transformers #Taiblog

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demonsdaughtertf · 7 years ago

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Starscream was up to his usual tricks again. Megatron often wondered why he kept the little menace around, so often coming close to ending his pathetic little existence. And yet he never truly murdered him. Sure, he brought him close to death and made sure his punishments were brutal, but the warlord had always found enough control to hold back.

But he was being tested for a second time that week, Starscream up to his usual antics. He was desperate to become leader, the silver gun-former snarling at that. Starscream couldn’t lead ants to a picnic if he tried, let alone command an entire army.

The brute took a seat in his command chair, knitting his digits together before settling his chin on them. He gazed out into the depths of the ocean just outside his sunken starship, a frown etched into his stern faceplate. How was he supposed to destroy the Autobots when they were underwater and even more disorganized than usual? Soundwave was doing his best to stop everyone from getting out of control, but he and Megatron were two against a good hundred or so.

Megatron grit his dentas when he heard a crash somewhere outside his command room, a shout from Skywarp going up about how ‘that wasn’t fair’ while Rumble and Frenzy laughed about some idiotic prank they had pulled. The silver mech’s mood deteriorated fast after that, getting a com from Onslaught that Vortex had gotten his leg stuck in a sliding door for frags sake and later Ramjet apparently knocked himself out stacking energon crates.

“Imbeciles,” he hissed, trying to work on a report for Shockwave who still remained on Cybertron.

@cha0s-and-guns

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robotnik-mun · 7 years ago

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TaleSpin/Transformers crossover pitch/concept

Here’s the pitch/initial concept for the TaleSpin/Transformers crossover. Credit goes to Prowl-Mun for the original crossover idea between TaleSpin and Transformers! Credit also goes for the titles!

Now for the Ninja Kasuga pitch on this lovely concept:

TaleSpin/Transformers:

Wings of Freedom (Or Wings of Change)

Where to begin? First up for a change up; the Ark-bots are NOT the introduction Transformers; in fact they’re still MISSING and the starter Transformers have come to Earth as this is where the Ark and Nemesis’ trail ends. Powerglide lands near Louie’s and skulks around until he spies an aircraft of the right size to assume an alt-form which happens to be the Seaduck. After scanning the plane, he ends up replacing it after a freak accident with the fuel pump by one of Louie’s new attendants, well blows up the original plane; and the Autobot quickly does a switcheroo after scuttling the flaming hulk out of the lagoon and into the deeper ocean off the island. As far as Baloo, and Kit are concerned they got lucky after Louie’s attendant came screaming into the bar that he blew up the plane; and the attendant is lucky he still has a job but will see three months of his wages halved to buy a new pump and to replace the dock. (Before anyone asks, there wasn’t any cargo on the Seaduck so there wasn’t any lack of it to raise eyebrows; but Baloo would end up wondering where the heck his emergency sandwiches and soda pop went.)

This coincidence becomes rather fortuitous for the Autobot air scout as Higher for Hire ends up taking a job with cargo intended for the Cape Suzette museum that includes an unearthed Cybertronian artifacts as well as passenger Katie Dodd who led the uncovering of said artifacts. As usual the Air Pirates make an appearance to try and loot the cargo. However both they and the ‘Seaduck’s’ crew are surprised by the planes improved performance, and at times; it seems to react faster than Baloo can pilot it. After the pirates beat feet, Baloo and Co. head back and soon as they dock he asks Wildcat to check his precious plane out but nothing comes of the check up aside from Wildcat giving the ‘Seaduck’ a high grade on her maintenance. Meanwhile Katie takes her discoveries to the museum and Rebecca is in a good mood due to the on time delivery, and the generous payday.

During the night Kit wakes up to hearing a strange sound and upon looking out the window sees the seaplane is missing and informs Baloo who promptly flips out and calls Rebecca and the Cops. Meanwhile Powerglide makes his way to the museum but almost being caught a few times disrupts his attempts at stealth. Suddenly motorcycle rolls up to him but instead of being caught to his relief it’s fellow Autobot Arcee who gives him a little chewing out, before resuming genuine pleasantries at finding another Cybertronian in the city. The two discuss their current investigations with Arcee dropping hints other Autobots are in the city or making their way here, but everyone’s still pretty spread out and there’s been no clues about the whereabouts of the Ark, sans the recently recovered artifacts. Arcee being slightly smaller if just slimmer and lacking Powerglide’s plane bits manages to sneak in to examine the artifacts but aside from a busted datalog, and some unknown refractor crystal, the rest is just scrap; putting them at square one unless they can fix the datalog.

With Arcee’s help Powerglide arranges to be ‘found’ floating near a pier by the Cops; who’re baffled by how the plane wound up where it was given there was no signs of being hot-wired; especially since the keys were still in Rebecca’s locked desk drawer. However the plane is returned, no damage, nothing else was stolen so Rebecca is fine along with the Cops to write it off as hoodlums playing a prank. Kit remains suspicious as the strange noises he heard were NOT the norm but he keeps this to himself for now.

While this is going on, a Decepticon scout ship lands on a deserted island. Led by Starscream and his Seekers, the mission is to find the Nemesis, but Starscream is more inclined to see if the planet is exploitable for his own ends. As for why Starscream isn’t on the Nemesis; he was ejected during the Spacebridge collapse along with Soundwave, Thundercracker and Skywarp. They were found by their current shipmates (Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, and a few other misc Cons) and began pursuing the two starships across the cosmos. While Soundwave continues the true mission to find Megatron and the Nemesis; Starscream takes to observing the planet and seeing aerial dominance and its growing influence; he takes it as a sign this world is ‘perfect’ to be conquered and made his own fiefdom. After all Megatron can have the rest of the galaxy… for now.

Eventually Powerglide is forced to reveal himself to Baloo, Kit and Rebecca and after dealing with some fainting, screaming and yelling (especially when Baloo discovers the real Seaduck is scuttled slag at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Louie’s); a pact is formed as Powerglide offers to continue being their ‘cargo plane’ while he and his fellow Autobots look for the whereabouts of the Ark. To butter the deal to Rebecca’s liking, Powerglide convinces some of his friends to ‘help’ Higher for Hire in ways to expand the company’s abilities. Such as newly arrived HotRod getting a fancy sportscar alt-mode to be used as Higher for Hire’s ‘business car’, and Bulkhead as a freighter truck allowing Higher for Hire to do land based deliveries within the city. Arcee remains a ‘free agent’ scout to explore the city and tap into the police radio band. Katie who also is on the secret and excited to get to know actual life-forms from another world; offers to try and find more artifacts and let the Bots have carte blanche to eyeball any new discoveries that could help them with their mission. To that end she has Kup and Hoist join her since Kup’s long history of exploring the galaxy since the exodus from Cybertron and Hoist having assumed the alt-mode of a drilling truck.

From here a menagerie of shenanigans begin as the Autobots and TaleSpin plots coincide until the first run-in with the Seekers happen and things get more serious as more Bots from each side start to trickle to Earth.

From there, the sky’s the limit so to speak. I personally think keeping Megatron, many of the other Con heavies, Optimus and most of the main Ark Autobots offscreen will allow for keeping the story from getting too heavy too fast. Megs and Prime both have a heavy presence as do many of the ‘veteran’ Bots n’ Cons. Allowing Starscream to be the ‘starting villain’ as opposed to lesser known Decepticons is mainly due to the Seekers plane alt-modes fit the setting and as we all know, Screamers own ego makes him his own worst enemy and derides his ability to be as fearsome as Megatron…most of the time.

And that about does it for this initial ‘pitch/concept’. Aside from some start up stuff; I kept future plot ideas vague as well; that’d take a looong time to lay out and it’s fun to see what others come up with in conjunction to one’s own ideas. ^^

Finally got around to this, and I got to say that this is a pretty solid premise you got going on. I particularly like the touch of leaving out most of the Heavy Hitters to focus on some of the more second tier Autobots and Decepticons. It feels rather fitting, especially given the setting.

So yeah, what can I say? Two Thumbs Up!

#Transformers #Talespin #Crossover #submission

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keaalu · 7 years ago

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Remember Me, chapter four

Title (chapter): Remember Me (04)

Series: Transformers, G1-based “Blue” AU

Rating: PG-13

Notes: In which Slipstream realises just how big this thing might be that he and Dash are caught up in, and Starscream finally gets back from New Vos to a hostile welcome.

-------------------------

The command centre on Nemesis was every bit as sickly purple and ostentatiously oversized as Slipstream remembered it.

He didn’t remember ever seeing it from this angle, though.

“Show proper respect to your new master, scum!”

The shove to one shoulder made him stumble and fall to his knees. Before he could recover, scramble clumsily back to his feet, something heavy – and hot; someone’s thruster? – pressed down on the back of his neck, forced him to bow his helm.

Slipstream snarled in pain and bucked, trying to squirm his way out, but the bigger mech just kept increasing the pressure on the back of his neck until he was almost crushed flat to the floor. Ultimately it hurt too much to keep struggling, and he went limp. The scorching weight on the back of his neck disappeared.

“Good boy,” a condescending voice cooed, close to his helm. Felt like Dirge. “Keep this up, and maybe we won’t feel forced to use you as target practice… quite so much.”

The ripple of unkind laughter which simmered through the crowd was quickly replaced by a weirdly expectant lull, broken only by the sound of mechs jockeying for position, and the sound of approaching footsteps.

A new voice spoke up, somewhere just above and in front. “I should admit to being impressed, Ramjet. Your trine have actually done well, for a change.”

Well, there was no mistaking those gravelly tones. Suddenly, Slipstream didn’t really want to get up, any more.

“Thank you, mighty Megatron. It is an honour to serve!”

There were jeers from the rest of the assembly. An honour to serve! Get up off your belly, Ramjet; who’d you think you are; Screamer? Yeah, well done for kidnapping a sparkling.

Someone caught a hand under Slipstream’s shoulder and hauled him upright. He had to work hard to restrain a flinch.

Barely an arm’s length away, Megatron sat scrutinising him – elbows propped on his knees, leaning down towards him. The warlord looked good; not the scruffy, half-starved bundle of desperation the youngster had expected, from the disparaging way his family had taken to describing him. Poor Megatron, stuck on the wrong side of the spacebridge, squabbling with Autobots.

No, the mech sitting staring down on him looked clean and capable, well-oiled and powerful. Every inch the nightmare that could flatten everything on Cybertron, if he wanted.

“Slipstream,” he said, at last. “Considerably larger than last time we met.”

Slipstream didn’t recognise his own voice – thin and fracturing. “Yes, sir.”

Didn’t hurt to be polite, even if you did feel like purging a tank, right?

“I did expect more from you,” the old warlord finally said, at last, relaxing back in his chair. “As a sparkling, I could see the potential in you. A small mirror of your sire, who had been loyal to me for a very long time. With a little…” He wafted a hand. “…coaching, in the right direction? A little reminder of why this was the only faction that would ever truly understand you? The two of you could have been valuable assets in my campaign.” He elaborated a sigh. “Instead, I see just another unimaginative, whining Autobot, with the lack of ambition that comes as standard.”

Slipstream bristled. The words might have still been faint, but they were out before he got the chance to evaluate whether they were actually sensible to say; “I don’t think I asked for your approval.”

The blow came out of nowhere – an almighty, needlessly violent kick to the head, it sent him skidding across the deck. He fetched up against someone’s legs, puffing softly in alarm.

The bellow chased him across the floor; “Watch your manners, dirtcrawler!” Only just able to pick up the words through a haze of distortions, he wasn’t even sure who was yelling. The owner of the legs used their feet to hustle him back to the centre of the room.

He could feel a trickle of… something… begin to ooze down from his temple. His diagnostics couldn’t make up their mind on what they thought it was. He hoped it was only energon.

Megatron watched with a smirk. “Please don’t kill our guest before we’ve had the chance to make use of him.”

Dirge chose his moment perfectly. “Don’t worry, sir. If that one gets broken, we just use the spare.”

When the blue jet didn’t immediately elaborate, Megatron lifted his head briefly off his hand, and waved his fingers, impatiently. “Go on.”

Dirge waited until he was sure every optic was on him before opening his cockpit and extracting something small. He strode through the centre of the mass and with a flourish, placed it into Megatron’s hands. “First-instar sparkling,” he said, for the benefit of anyone without optics.

“Well this is very interesting,” Megatron purred, holding the small body up in front of his face; Skydash curled up, facing away from him, hugging her knees. “Dirge, I am very impressed.”

Dirge preened at the praise, thumbing his nose at the jeers from his comrades. “Thank you, sir.”

“Now. Where did you come from, I wonder.”

“Well, the little superstar here…” Dirge gave Slipstream a little shove and knocked him sideways, “was meant to be looking after it. Wasn’t counting on us coming along to spoil his orn, I guess.” He snorted and waited for Slipstream to wobble back to his knees before pushing him back over. “I figure they were so disappointed with their first effort – I’d be disappointed; I mean, not only a dirtcrawler, but an Autobot, too? – they decided to try again? That or Skywarp just never understood the concept of protection.”

“Always disappoints me when I realise you might be right. There’s grounder in it, again,” the warlord said, disappointedly. “Just can’t keep from polluting his code, can he? I can’t tell if it’s desperation leading to this lack of standards, or he’s just that easily swayed by a pretty face.”

Thrust leaned closer to his wingmate. “Does this mean you’re gonna lay off with the Primusawful Pit-screech, now?”

Dirge flattened his hand over his wingmate’s face and gave him a shove. “That’s one noisy little scrap of tin. Next time, you can try flying with it caterwauling in your cockpit.”

“She’s not caterwauling. She’s scared,” Slipstream spoke up, quietly. “I’m surprised a bunch of cowards like you don’t understand that. She’s had no part in your squabble, leave her out of it.”

“Did you forget the part we’re at war, you worthless nonentity?” Dirge closed a fist on the antennae spreading from the right of Slipstream’s helm, and dragged him halfway up off the floor. Slipstream squeaked in pain and scrambled to get his feet underneath himself. “That makes everybody fair game.”

Thrust folded his arms and glared. “Good going there, scrappy. He was almost in a good mood, there. Now I’m gonna have to put up with him sulking all night.”

Megatron set the sparkling down on the arm of his chair; Skydash stayed huddled in the smallest ball she could manage, but looked too scared to try and escape. “Oh, I have a very specific reason for wanting you, Slipstream. I’m not going to make either of you fight.” He propped his chin back on his hand. “No, there’s one thing I know I can always get from your kind of pathetic, snivelling coward. You make excellent bait.”

Slipstream stiffened. A very large penny had apparently dropped.

“I know your, ah… family… will feel obliged to rescue you. Starscream won’t be able to resist the urge to try and show me up. Skywarp won’t be slow to follow, since he doesn’t have the brainpower for anything else. As for Thundercracker, well, when has that ditherer ever made a decision on his own, hmm?” Megatron sighed and shook his head, as though in regret. “But when I have finally destroyed all three traitors, in full view of the watching planet, no power in this universe will be able to stop me taking back what is mine.” His lips curved into a smirk. “It was so kind of that fool Starscream to do all the work for me, even if ultimately all he has created is another bloated, stagnating Autocracy. Waiting for me to step in and develop it to its true capacity.”

“They won’t come here. They’ll know it’s a trap. They’re not stupid!”

Megatron actually snorted. “If thousands of vorns of war has taught me one thing I can rely on with absolute certainty? It’s that your sire is most definitely stupid.” He gave the smaller mech a flat look. “Disappointing that it appears to run in the family.”

* * *

Starscream made remarkably good time back from New Vos, but didn’t appear to have the most appropriate target for his frustration in mind, as evidenced by the raging scarlet ball of temper that appeared in the empty infirmary doorway, wings hiked high on its back. “Remind me why I seem to be the last person to find anything out, around here?!”

“Excuse me?” Skywarp rounded on him so fast, Starscream actually flinched a step or two backwards. “I told you within a handful of breems of finding out for myself. You shut me down, saying I didn’t understand how important what you’re doing out in Vos is. Now you’ve apparently decided I wasn’t being a total moron for interrupting you, I should have told you faster?!”

Starscream puffed himself up, trying to avoid the need to admit Skywarp’s unexpected pushback had made him jump. “You know that wasn’t what I meant.”

“No? Educate me.” Skywarp leaned in. Their faces were almost touching. “What did you mean.”

A soft, fracturing voice broke through in the brief silence. “Guys… please?”

With one final glare at each other, they turned to find Thundercracker perched on the edge of the empty berth, looking surprisingly small and sick, helm propped in both hands, wings drooping.

“You’re both being kinda loud right now. I think this is gonna turn into a migraine and I really don’t want to be laid up for five orns, again.” He drew in a long stabilising sigh of cold air and shuddered, wingtips trembling. “I haven’t even started to think what I’m gonna tell Lara.”

“Primus, dude.” Skywarp leaned down and bumped cheeks, briefly. “I’m sorry. Lemme find you a cold pack or something.”

“That’d be good. Thank you…”

The medical supplies in the adjoining office weren’t strictly for machines to help themselves to, but most staff had learned that Skywarp wasn’t the sort to be put off by rules and regulations, and making things hard to obtain just increased the likelihood that he’d make an unholy mess while searching. Thundercracker’s personal supply of icepacks were in a small easily-accessible chiller just inside the doorway; his ‘migraines’ were thankfully infrequent, but fairly infamous as well, and having an icepack on hand sometimes made the difference between it lasting one orn, or six. And him being able to still see.

Skywarp helped himself to two, and waved a threatening finger under the nose of the mech that had followed him into the office. “Don’t. Even start.”

Starscream put his hands up in defeat. “I wasn’t going to. I’m sorry, all right?”

Skywarp grumbled wordlessly through his vents, but appeared somewhat mollified. “What then?”

“I was going to say, once we’ve got TC comfortable, maybe we should go home.” Something dark passed through the smouldering scarlet optics. “Someone wants our attention. I don’t feel inclined to keep him waiting.”

#remember me #blue au #sbm4 #starscream #skywarp #megatron #transformers #slipstream #skydash #thrust #dirge

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keaalu · 7 years ago

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Aviation ’Flu

(The other day, I caught a cold. I’ve been lucky and not had a bad one in years, so I suppose it was due. On the bus on the way home, Skywarp came out in sympathy. Misery loves company?

“Aviation Flu” is courtesy of a colleague who accidentally called avian flu that a few times; I used to like to wonder if it was what you caught if you worked with aeroplanes? But actually, maybe it’s what you catch if you are an aeroplane.)

-------

It was obvious from the moment Pulsar came online, to find her Seeker venting excessively warm air and with pumps that seemed to be buzzing, that Skywarp wasn’t in particularly good health, that orn.

“Warp?” She pushed herself upright and leaned over his chassis, propping herself on one arm. “Is everything all right?” She waved a hand in front of his face, then gently patted his cheek. “Hey in there. Skywarp?”

His optics came online much more slowly than she was familiar with, and he stared murkily through her for several seconds before managing to focus. “…uuh?”

“How are you feeling?”

“…uuh.” He lifted a shaky hand and passed it over his face. His voice crackled with more clicky static than should have been normal for bootup distortions. “G’roff, Squeaks. Too hot in here.”

Pulsar hastily scrambled off his wing, so he could sit up – or at least attempt to. He swung one leg over the edge of the mattress and boosted himself partially upright with shaky arms before apparently running out of oomph; she caught one hand and dragged him the rest of the way.

For several seconds, he looked like he was going to continue on and tip all the way over in the wrong direction, but (with a little alarmed help from his bike) finally managed to curtail his forwards momentum before falling clean off the berth.

For a few seconds, Pulsar just watched and waited. Skywarp… didn’t look good, at all. He might not have ever been the most graceful of Seekers, but right now he looked obscenely heavy and slumping, wings sagging, head drooping as though it were too much effort to keep it up. Definitely sick.

She stepped closer, so he could sense her static envelope, and caught his dangling hands in both of her own. “I don’t think you should be going to work today.”

He stared through her for a few seconds more, then offered a meaningless grunt and let his head plop down on her shoulder; she staggered briefly under the unexpected weight and had to push extra charge to her wobbly knees to hold her upright.

“You’re really not processing things very well, are you, spark?” She brought one small hand up and stroked the side of his helm.

“Feel slow,” he agreed, at last, in clicky, almost staticky tones. “N’rough. Head’urts.”

Everything seemed to be running with a lag. Things that should have happened instantly took distinct seconds.

She knew it was pretty obvious, but she said it anyway; “I think you might have caught a virus off someone.”

“Mmh.” He shifted subtly, so his helm could rest better on her shoulder, and folded his arms loosely around her. “Prob’ly. Firewall’s like slag.”

It felt like given half the chance, he’d have drifted back into dormancy like that, using her as a support. Heat radiated off him; she could hear his fans wallowing slowly in his chassis, like they’d never been oiled. No wonder he felt so hot.

“Stay like this, huh?” he mumbled into her enamel, confirming her guess. “Nice. Cool.”

“No-o, we can’t stay like this. I’ll eventually fall down, then you’ll squash me, and then we’ll both need a doctor.” She manoeuvred him backwards. “Come on. Let’s get you cooled off.”

She encouraged him to lay back down – not that he needed much encouraging, flopping back hard enough that she felt the impact through the floor – then directed the air conditioning at him, turning it down as cold as it would go.

Skywarp made a little noise of relief and leaned in towards the chilly blast.

Leaving the dark jet to continue his incoherent praise of the gods of air-con, Pulsar headed downstairs, quietly cursing whichever inconsiderate fragger had managed to upload the virus. And Skywarp for slacking off on getting his firewalls patched.

Thundercracker – thank Primus for small mercies – looked fine. He sat quietly reading the morning news, the remains of a flask of energon by his hand, almost ready to head out for work.

Well, at least that was one less person to have to worry about. She ducked under the wall of blue wing and went straight to the big chiller cabinet next to the main energon dispenser.

Thundercracker picked up on her sour mood almost immediately – frag, the whole house could probably feel the irritation simmering in her electric field.

“I won’t say good morning, because it feels like it might not be?” he said.

She ignored the implied how are you. “What’s the lowest grade refined fuel we have in stock?”

Bemusedly, Thundercracker watched her ferret through the assorted cubes and canisters in the chiller. “I think we may still have a little of the SuperLight we got for Dash, for when she was big enough to start taking fuel instead of relying on just an outside power source. Why?”

“Because some useless fragging pitglitch-…” She reined in the invective and covered her eyes briefly with one hand. “Skywarp’s come down with a virus of some kind. He needs something simple, that won’t tax his systems.” She found a handful of small cans hidden in the back of the cabinet, and scrutinised one’s label for a second. “This should work. I can’t be dealing with cleaning up if he purges a tank.”

Thundercracker straightened, concerned and ever-so-slightly peeved. “He told me his firewall was up to date.”

“So Skywarp’s full of slag; who knew?” Pulsar shrugged elaborately and gathered up as many of the small cans as she could carry. “Where’d we put the cooling blankets?”

“Not sure. Far as I know, Footloose had them last?”

Pulsar cast her gaze to the heavens and vented a small curse at her untidy offspring. “So, treasure hunt then. Great.”

“Let me finish this, and I’ll help you look. Maybe I should see if Panacea will be able to pay a visit later.”

She snorted. “I think he’s past the point where a psychiatrist can help him.”

Thundercracker found a small smile. “Maybe. She’s still a doctor, though. I’ll give her a call.”

By now, Starscream had picked up on the increasingly irritable field saturating the building, and appeared in the doorway. He watched as Pulsar slipped past him, barely even needing to duck her head to get under his wings. “All the SuperLight?” he challenged.

She didn’t respond, disappearing into the lift.

He looked instead at his wingmate. “What’s wrong with her?”

Thundercracker covered his face with both hands and vented a long suffering sigh. “Oh, nothing. Only the little matter of a virus apparently going around on the station mainframe, that nobody seems to have informed me of? Which Skywarp has apparently picked up and is now incapable of working for at least an orn, and I have to find cover for him somehow?”

Starscream helped himself to a cube from the dispenser and slipped into the chair alongside him. “Oh, that. Yes, I had to ground Skyshout yesterday. I didn’t want to see what would happen if one of her parts broke formation with the rest while she was airborne.”

Thundercracker remained silent while he processed the words. “So… you knew about it, and just… didn’t bother telling me?” he managed, at last. “Or Warp?”

There was that sort of… very long, guilty pause that Thundercracker had become expert in spotting – the sort that usually preceded a storm of protests about how it wasn’t his fault that the rest of the universe was incompetent and if people just did what they were told, it would all work perfectly.

This time, Starscream just pursed his lips and slid a sidelong glance in his wingmate’s direction. “…ah. Possibly?”

Thundercracker gave him a shove and muttered something hideous. “Pit sake, Screamer. Some days I wonder if you and Warp were forged from the same badly smelted piece of old slag, because neither of you are normal.”

Starscream straightened, indignant. “I was trying to save you from worrying, because I know that’s what you do best. I checked the server logs, you’d already been online and gone home. And when does Warp ever bother linking up to actually upload anything?”

“And what about everybody else? You already admitted that Skyshout has it, how many others am I going to find out have come down sick since the night shift?” Thundercracker despaired. “I’m probably going to have to quarantine half my officers and somehow still find enough cover to run an effective service.” He stood up, sending the chair clattering away behind him. “So thank you. I know what I’m going to spend most of the orn doing, and it probably isn’t being an effective superintendent!”

“…I’m sorry?” The nonapology followed him out of the room.

Thundercracker dedicated a breem or two to speaking to first Panacea, who happily agreed to visit, and then to his deputy, to find out precisely what chaos awaited him when he finally made it in to the station. It wasn’t actually as bad as he’d feared, seeing how Skyshout had obediently gone home and made absolutely sure that everyone in her dorm – not just her room, but the whole damn building – knew she was sick and needed sympathy. Disease control techs were already on site, working on isolating the malicious code.

Satisfied the world wasn’t about to implode without him taking immediate personal charge of the disaster, he headed upstairs to check on his wingmate.

Skywarp watched him come in – well, kind of – from surly maroon optics that probably couldn’t actually discern anything except a big blue blur against the pale blurs of the wall, and commed a greeting that was completely incomprehensible. He lay sprawled over as much of the berth as possible, presenting as big a surface area as he could to the cold air coming from the air vents. His fans still hiccuped and hitched, but he looked… well, vaguely comfortable. Mostly offline, completely motionless, and obviously sick, but not completely mortally ill, either.

Pulsar had apparently given up in her search for the elusive coolant mantle. She knelt on the floor at the end of the berth, shoulders close to where Skywarp’s hand dangled over the edge, apparently having been trying to cannibalise a set of coolant fans, but hadn’t been having much success if all the clipped bits of wire scattered across the floor were anything to go by. She sat glaring tiredly at the mess, hands in her lap, a scuffed pair of old pliers held loosely in her fingertips.

As Thundercracker approached, she stirred and glanced hazily up at him. He sank to one knee beside her. “Don’t tell me you’re coming down with it as well.”

She half-smiled. “I think I’m safe. The only thing Warp and I shared in the last few orns has been the berth.” She vented a small sigh and glanced at the slack features of her sick jet. “D’you think they’ll manage without me, today?”

“Sure. Nightsun has everything under control.” Thundercracker brushed his fingers lightly over her antennae, and felt her lean in to his hand. “I thought I better come see if you needed help with the malingerer before I left. I just didn’t think I’d get here to find you taking the house apart.”

The bike made an incoherent little noise of frustration, muttered something that sounded like can’t even do something as basic as link a few slagging fans together, and cast the pliers down into the mess of wire clippings. “Footloose better find that coolant mantle or I’m going to end up destroying more than just the air conditioning,” she warned.

“Well, that’s one good thing about all the little Skywarps in the family; they always know exactly where things are. If she hasn’t still got it, I’ll send one of your sibs over with one from work.”

“…thanks.” Pulsar settled back against the mattress and felt Skywarp’s fingers drift onto her shoulder; she put up her own hand to cover his.

“Failing that, I’ll bring you a cool pack. Having a personal chiller full of them does have some perks.”

“Are you implying looking after Skywarp is going to give me a migraine?”

“I’m implying, you need all the help you can get…!”

#skywarp #thundercracker #pulsar #starscream #blue au #ficlet #aviation flu

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