Ep 1.5 Juvenile Delinquency (closed)

[Deleted]

The answer to that question was a rather blunt reminder of Megatron's ongoing frustration. "Very little."

A few practice spars; one illicit drinking session; one expedition to the repair bay; too much television with Fairwinds; and enough reading to make his processor ache had been the sum total of how he'd been spending his time. There was more he could do on the Nemesis, even restricted from involvement in the war effort and confined to the ship, but it didn't feel natural.

It wasn't the solitude or the abundance of free time that he was finding problematic, but the fact that he couldn't do anything useful with it. He had sporadic urges to write, twisting phrases and individual glyphs about into measured rhythm and clear meaning, but without the context of his memories -his emotionally-lived experiences- it all came out stunted and flat. That, somehow, was worse than not having any words at all.

None of this he particularly wanted to share with Skywarp, amiable as the Seeker was.

Megatron touched two clawtips to the space between his shuttered optics, vents issuing a low, short sigh. "I'm medically mandated to 'interact' with the crew to expedite the recovery of neural pathways, though I'm beginning to doubt the validity of that claim as all I seem to achieve is a processor ache and mutually awkward encounters. Clearly I do not usually do this."

He lowered his hand and fixed the mech with a very dry expression. "You are welcome to move along before this conversation takes some sort of disastrous turn."

[Deleted]

To Skywarp's non-surprise, it turned out he was right. Soundwave had restricted Megatron to a slim few things. Ugh, just talking to people? How boring.

"Clearly I do not usually do this." 

The big seeker's processor to vocaliser filter was pretty much non-existent. And Megatron was always correct about what he said. Except Megatron might not know that anymore. Which was why Skywarp piped up with a blasé, "Yeah, you're absolutely right. This is very new for me."

"You are welcome to move along before this conversation takes some sort of disastrous turn."

Skywarp blinked his optics at Megatron, confused. Give up rare, precious one on one time with his master? No way. Even if it was just talking and Skywarp knew he wasn't all that good at that.

"Oh but, I don't think it's going to go bad," he blurted. "And if it does, it probably wouldn't be your fault but mine." Skywarp did another gesture and thumb jerk at his helm with an unbothered shrug. "Throttled, remember? I can barely steer a conversation the right way on a good day."

"Besides, we've both got nothing to do right now. We'll just go back to being bored, only separately."

The words had just barely escaped Skywarp's vocaliser when a small form rounded the corner ahead of them. It was moving pretty fast but Skywarp was able to make out Fairwind's form just before she came to a dead halt in the air, hovering right in front of her master.

"Heya Windy," Skywarp chirruped in friendly greeting.

[Deleted]

Megatron shutter-blinked in surprise at the sudden arrival of his cassette. The bright red streak had darted along the hallway before he'd found the name for it.

Fairwinds' hover was clearly intended to be short-lived. Her legs were already curved out, talons open to perch, and it was her polite pause that had Megatron nodded his acceptance. The cassette was outlandish and brash in her demands, but she always seemed to reign those more spoiled elements of her personality when her Master had company. He wondered, momentarily, if this was normal, or a concession due to his injury.

She settled on his left shoulder, facing Skywarp, and Megatron suppressed a twitch as her tail feathers skimmed against his backstrut.

"Yo Skywarp!" she replied with a bounce.

Two skilled, violent and throttled Decepticons framed him, each one seemingly drawn to satisfying their need for immediate gratification and amusement. The two of them together, Megatron realised with a curdling sensation, must be something unholy.

Fairwinds sagged a little on the big mech's shoulder, her big optics fixed on Skywarp.

"Sorry if I'm here crapping on your fireworks, but you are, like, the most fun dude on this ship when it comes to mischief and hijinks. So when I got a little tap-tap that you guys were talking, I had to rock on by and stage an intervention before you took Lord Megatron to Vegas or Mars or TGI Fridays."

Megatron guessed that the 'tap' was a comm. message from Soundwave, and clenched his jaw so as to outwardly repress his reaction.

Fairwinds did, at least, sound a little remorseful for it. She also seemed to sense the renewed tension in his frame, because she nudged her beak against his helmet and prattled on. "By the way, Master, cuz I don't know if how much you hate squishies is blocked off: don't eat chicken wings. They do not mix well in the tank, no matter how fun crunching the bones is. Knock Out has a whole trolley of nightmares dedicated to putting stuff you shouldn't in your fuel intake." She made an awkward whistling sound, optics distant in uneasy recollection. "Hoo-boy..."

Megatron frowned at her, not entirely certain how to respond, before he settled on nodding a little. "Noted. Now, if you're quite done-"

"Sorry, Master, but Soundwave wants you." Fairwinds pulled a face and fidgeted her talons on his armour. "Probably got ten seconds today he can't account for that he wants to ask about."

Megatron gave Skywarp a look that was simultaneously apologetic and deeply wearied. Clearly he would rather stay here despite confirmation that the Seeker was going to lead him astray.

"If you'll excuse me, Skywarp."

[Deleted]

Skywarp beamed openly in response to Fairwind's greeting. He'd fallen silent and watched the cassette's interaction with Megatron respectfully. Even though he didn't want it to end, something told him Fairwinds' interruption meant his time with Megatron was almost up. No doubt she'd sought out Megatron for a reason.

The seeker was a little surprised though to learn that the reason was him. Surprised and a little flattered. "Mars," he said, picking the place he recognized. "Definitely Mars." He didn't know a lot about earth yet, but he did know the planets of the solar system at least. That was the red one without an atmosphere.

Skywarp liked Fairwinds a lot, which was why he didn't resent her interrupting his unexpected one on one time with Megatron. She was one of the few throttled individuals that he knew of and she had a wicked sense of humour. Nonetheless, he matched Megatron in uncertainty and squinted at her when she recommended that Megatron should not consume 'chicken wings.' She'd done what now? And Knock Out had a collection of what?

Whatever the cassette had done, if it ended with you at a medic's mercy and them pulling stuff out of your intake, then it was definitely not fun, in Skywarp's opinion.

"If you'll excuse me, Skywarp."

"No worries boss!" Skywarp gave a cheery wave and watched the two depart. For a long moment, he stood, uncertain what he was going to do with himself now. Then he remembered the trolley stacked full of crates, which was probably still where he left it. Now that Megatron was gone, well there really was nothing stopping him from blocking the doorway to the storage closet again.

END