Two more days

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: Maybe I can help with that, likely not tonight, but maybe in time. *studies WJ a moment* You ever share your berth with anyone? *he's been helping traumatized mechs for a long time, he knows a number of "tricks" that may help with nightmares...*

WJ: *glances up at him with a /flinch/, looking /supremely/ guilty as he looks away - it's a moment before he can make himself answer, softly*  One . . . sometimes . . .

SZ: *not sure what to make of the look WJ gives him* ....Did it ever help ease the nightmares?

WJ: ..............yeah...a-a lot...actually.  */buries/ his face in his arms suddenly with a soft huffsob, how much he MISSES Ratchet suddenly squeezing his chest and making it hard to breathe*

SZ: .....Homesick...? *leans down to gently hug WJ as best he can...*

WJ: *huffs*  ....yeah... *only half-convincing - he misses /all/ of his friends, of course, both here and among the Autobots, but times like /right/ /now/ are when he feels like he /needs/ Ratchet...*

SZ: *starting to guess that....if WJ doesn't have his mind on a mate, then it's on a close friend. He hesitates, not wanting to assume too much, to push himself on this mech he's only just met. He'd not intended anything more than to help....so he pulls back enough to shift and lie down by WJ, gently pulling the Amin to him and hugging him. He's shifted up enough that WJ's head will easily tuck to his chest/shoulder*

WJ: *flinches back, looking up . . . making /sure/ he's not misunderstanding . . . b-but then . . . can't . . . just /can't/ resist, and /tucks/ into the Human with another soft huffsob, trembling*

SZ: *ready to pull back, ready to apologize and assure WJ he's done nothing wrong, but then WJ tucks in and he hugs a little tighter, softly petting at him. Only when WJ seems to be calming down a bit again will he speak, voice soft* Try to get some more rest, Wheeljack. I'll be right here.

WJ: *finally /loses/ it for a few minutes, /sobbing/ brokenheartedly...but quietly, at least . . . when he quiets, it's to /apologize/ again...*

SZ: Shhh. Shhh. Don't apologize for grieving, Wheeljack. It's okay. *petsnugglelove* Try to relax, rest some more.

WJ: *n-nodnods, snuggling in - if nothing else, because /he/ needs it...and h-he...he /does/ feel safe and supported and cared for, and that's.../so/ what he needs right now*

SZ: *will let his hands go still, arms around WJ to just comfort and protect. He'll doze lightly so long as it seems WJ might sleep a little more.*

WJ: *the nightmares take a little longer this time...but soon he's /whimpering/ in his sleep again, flinching and shuddering and faintly pleading*

SZ: *without really thinking about it he manages to at once loosen his grip on WJ and still keep him firmly and protectively held. He murmurs softly in WJ's ear* You 're safe. It 's okay. I 've got you, and I won't let anyone harm you. I'll protect you. You're safe.

WJ: *whimpering pleas turn to pathetic apologies as he /curls/ in on himself, trembling /hard/*

SZ: Shh. Shhh. You don't have to apologize. It's okay. You're safe. I've got you. I won't let anyone hurt you. *hands start to softly move, petting, loving*

WJ: *sobs harder till he finally wakes himself up with a harsh gasp and pulling back in alarm from whoever's got hold of him!!! . . . takes him a moment to recognize SZ and then he collapses on himself, sobbing again*

SZ: *lets go, enough that WJ can pull away.  He gives the Amin-mech a smile and huggles him close again* It’s okay....  *he’ll snugglelove for a bit then coax WJ to sit up*

WJ: *reluctant, wanting to just disappear into himself . . . but doesn't resist*

SZ: *once sitting up he huggles WJ close, just loving on him* It’s still afternoon, would you care to try to eat a bit more...?

WJ: *rubbing at his eyes with huge, awkward paws, gulping air trying to calm himself back down, still /shaking/ hard . . . doesn't trust his voice yet so he just nods*

SZ: *will snuggle and comfort, not rushing him at all* Take your time, Wheeljack.  It’s okay.



((*tosses this up and goes to bed*))
 

Comments

[derpjack_ftw]

WJ: M'sorry...m'sorry... *still trying to calm himself down, finally manages with a last HUFFcough before going still*

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: It's okay. It's okay. You have /nothing/ to apologize for. *HUGS* C'mon. *he'll get up, gently guiding WJ to come with him*

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *easily goes with, though stiff and slow - he still hurts, which isn't helping his psyche right now*

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: *once WJ sits he’ll tuck a cup into his hand with a soft command to drink all of it* It won’t taste good, but it will help with the pain.
SZ: *settles by him and will accept two plates of food from Terris, holding WJ’s until he’s drained the cup of medicine.*

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *starts to drink it . . . and BUCKS back, nearly dropping it, coughing and sputtering and giving them a /pathetic/ look before making himself obediently choke down the rest*

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: *sympathetic look* I know. It will ease your pain, though.
SZ: *can’t help a soft snerk* It does work, really well too, like a good dose of signal suppressants, but Pit does it taste like slag.
Terris: *once he’s gotten it down he’ll take the cup and give WJ another* Here, this will help wash the taste from your mouth.

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *trades cups, giving the new on a suspicious look before tentatively sipping at it*

LOL At least he was honest that it wouldn't taste good. XD Gave him warning. X3;;

[socrowdedinhere]

*The new drink really is good, sweet without being overpowering, and will easily wash the bitter, spicy taste from his mouth.*
SZ: *will offer a plate to WJ* Here. I know you’re hungry, there’s more if you want when you’re done with this.

"it won't taste good" and "HOLY SHIT WHAT /IS/ THIS!?" are two different things. XD;;;

[dragondancer5150]

((Not that WJ complained or refused...just taken off-guard, even with the not-strong-enough warning. XD))

WJ: Thanks... *quiet and withdrawn, but easily compliant . . . and he is but isn't hungry - too many things on his mind and heart*

LOL XD Yeah, true.

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: *will sit with an arm around him, softly rubbing at WJ’s lower back as he eats with his other hand.* Is it just you here?

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *shakes head* There's one more. * glances at SZ, suddenly questioning that* Um, that I know of. Another Autobot.

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: *nods* Was he captured too? *does he need to track down that caravan and save another?*

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *thinks about that, trying to remember.....and CHOKES, s-shaking his head as he /curls/ again...*

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: *softly* Wheeljack...?

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: A-amory. I...I think Amory got 'im outta there. He was hurt. B-badly. We've got healers... Primus, he better'a made it back in time! *the last comes out a soft, choked sob*

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: *snuggles him* We’ll just have to believe for now that he’s okay. Whereabouts have you been staying? *glancing at Terris – this is his area of knowledge*
Terris: *listening, can’t be /too/ far....WJ said he doesn’t know how long he was on the caravan, but considering how traumatized WJ seemed even by the time SZ got him here, he’s thinking it could have just been days...*

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *nods dully* Vashti. Lady Vashti Alvierda. She's been lettin' us stay with her till we can get back home. Her manor's outside'a ((name of town)).

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: That town is four days from here. Give yourself a day or two to heal and we’ll make sure you get back safely.
SZ: *nodnodsnug*

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *looking between the two* Thanks. For everythin'. *to SZ* You're welcome ta come with me. Can't guarantee we'd be able ta getcha back ta Cybertron itself right away, but ya could at least come with me an' Bumblebee when we find a way back ta our own dimension.

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: *the look on his face says so much before he looks away. He misses home, so very much, and he’s /worried/ for everyone he “abandoned”......and it’s been thousands of years, have they even survived the war...Cybertron itself was on the verge of death the last he knew....He doesn’t know if there’s anyone left to help back home....while here....he knows he can help....* Will....you tell me what’s become of our home? The war? How do things stand now?

*REALLY WISHING for the ability to answer as she'd like...*

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *starts to tell him he doesn't have to, if he's happy here....when asked, he'll...answer the best he can, as fully as he can, food forgotten*

If you want I can make note of the tag and you can expand on it once home...or I can jump to Bee...

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: *listens, his own food forgotten* *he pulls a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh* I think I should go. Who knows if I'll ever look like myself again, but...but it's time I do something to help our own people again.

I can go ahead and expand on that now...?

[dragondancer5150]

WJ: *there are a number of things he starts to say, but the one that comes out...* How long ya been like this so far?

Yeah, go for it!

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: .....*glances at Terris, kind of making sure he’s got the timeframe right* Five years...? *when Terris gives a nods he nods in response* I first ended up on this planet about five thousand years ago, I tried everything I could think of to find or make myself a power source, but I was already running on low and had only about a day before my systems forced me into stasis. It was four thousand years later when I woke again, but not as myself, not in body anyway. Terris found me then, and helped me. That was five years ago now, or there abouts.

[derpjack_ftw]

WJ: *starts to tell him he doesn't have to, if he's happy here...but then...it's his turn to look away, curling in on himself - he puts his plate down, suddenly not hungry, and it's a long moment before he's able to respond, his voice soft* Cybertron . . . i-is all but dead. There's very little energy left /anywhere/. We've fought the Decepticons as best we could . . . but it's /cost/ us. It's . . . cost /everyone/. I . . . I doubt ya'd even /recognize/ our home anymore, Subzero. ...About four thousand years ago, Optimus Prime ordered an intergalactic ship built. bunch of us worked on the design an' construction. Her name's the Ark. The idea was a group of us would leave Cybertron ta try ta find some sustainable energy sources we could then bring back with us. Only . . . */scowls/* . . . the Cons followed us. Managed ta get the drop on us by attackin' us out of an asteroid shower. They boarded straight onta the bridge. Both ships went down on an uncharted organic planet... *his voice has gone soft and distant by this point* W-we . . . all of us, we . . . lay in stasis, broken an' scattered across the deck like so much refuse, for four thousand years, until . . . the mountain we crashed into was apparently a volcano. It developed some minor activity, but the tremors were enough ta knock our systems back online. Stupid Teletraan I, it couldn't tell 'Con from Autobot an' repaired one'a /them/ first - Skywarp, I think it was - who then had all his buddies repaired. Includin' Megatron himself. Another tremor later knocked Optimus inta reach of the bridge's repair bay, an' he had the rest of us, as many as we could, repaired an' revived. We've been on a planet the natives merely call "Earth". Humans are the only sentient, dominant species. They're like the ones here, only their technology is higher than here. They've got the same /plethora/ of animal an' plant-life too. *he closes his eyes, curling up again with a soft murmur, /guilt/ in his voice* W-we . . . we brought our war with us, ta Earth. We couldn't stop Megatron back home, but now we /gotta/ find a way ta stop him! We can't let Earth get decimated like we did Cybertron!

*edits SZ's initial reply just a little*

[socrowdedinhere]

SZ: *listens, his own food forgotten* *he pulls a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh* I think I should go. Who knows if I'll ever look like myself again, but...but it's time I do something to help our own people again....and this other planet too from the sounds of it. Sounds like the Autobots could use all the help they can get.
WJ: *there are a number of things he starts to say, but the one that comes out...* How long ya been like this so far?
SZ: .....*glances at Terris, kind of making sure he’s got the timeframe right* Five years...? *when Terris gives a nods he nods in response* I first ended up on this planet about five thousand years ago, I tried everything I could think of to find or make myself a power source, but I was already running on low and had only about a day before my systems forced me into stasis. It was four thousand years later when I woke again, but not as myself, not in body anyway. Terris found me then, and helped me. That was five years ago now, or there abouts.

=3

[derpjack_ftw]

WJ: *studies him* Ya . . . ya don't hafta, ya know. You're Neutral, right? Ya decided ta stay /outta/ the war? I mean . . . not that we couldn't use the help . . . but so can /this/ world, ya know? Like . . . like ya helped me . . . *gaze drops* Of course . . . w-well, I dunno about whatever power's been keepin' /you/ like this, but supposedly ours - mine an' Bee's - is supposed ta wear off in a few months or less. An' before that, Sirrah was sustainin' us. She's a friend of ours, an' a pure energy bein'. She's able ta generate an' transfer power to us so we don't starve inta stasis. She's also the one lookin' for Cybertron, or Earth, ta get us back there.

[socrowdedinhere]

Just so I'm not confused...This?

SZ: *listens, his own food forgotten* *he pulls a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh* I think I should go. Who knows if I'll ever look like myself again, but...but it's time I do something to help our own people again....and this other planet too from the sounds of it. Sounds like the Autobots could use all the help they can get.
WJ: *there are a number of things he starts to say, but the one that comes out...* How long ya been like this so far?
SZ: .....*glances at Terris, kind of making sure he’s got the timeframe right* Five years...? *when Terris gives a nods he nods in response* I first ended up on this planet about five thousand years ago, I tried everything I could think of to find or make myself a power source, but I was already running on low and had only about a day before my systems forced me into stasis. It was four thousand years later when I woke again, but not as myself, not in body anyway. Terris found me then, and helped me. That was five years ago now, or there abouts.
WJ: *studies him* Ya . . . ya don't hafta, ya know. You're Neutral, right? Ya decided ta stay /outta/ the war? I mean . . . not that we couldn't use the help . . . but so can /this/ world, ya know? Like . . . like ya helped me . . . *gaze drops* Of course . . . w-well, I dunno about whatever power's been keepin' /you/ like this, but supposedly ours - mine an' Bee's - is supposed ta wear off in a few months or less. An' before that, Sirrah was sustainin' us. She's a friend of ours, an' a pure energy bein'. She's able ta generate an' transfer power to us so we don't starve inta stasis. She's also the one lookin' for Cybertron, or Earth, ta get us back there.
SZ: *he gives a shrug at the first, but then sits quietly for a moment after the rest* I stayed out of the war because of a number of mechs that had no way of getting by in a war. They were the abused and outcast of our kind, the ones whose creators should never have tried to spark a life because they didn’t know what they were doing. They were the runaway slaves, and the broken, and the unfinished, Wheeljack. I and a small number of others were all they had. Most weren’t /physically/ capable of looking after themselves, let alone getting caught up in a fight that most of them couldn’t even understand. *he’s dropped his face into his hands. He’s grieved them, knowing that if someone else didn’t step in when he vanished, they all died vorns ago* If I go back now, it’ll be to help in the war, because my reason for staying out of it....*his voice runs out. He just...can’t say it...*



or this?

SZ: *listens, his own food forgotten* *he pulls a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh* I think I should go. Who knows if I'll ever look like myself again, but...but it's time I do something to help our own people again....and this other planet too from the sounds of it. Sounds like the Autobots could use all the help they can get.
WJ: *studies him* Ya . . . ya don't hafta, ya know. You're Neutral, right? Ya decided ta stay /outta/ the war? I mean . . . not that we couldn't use the help . . . but so can /this/ world, ya know? Like . . . like ya helped me . . . *gaze drops* Of course . . . w-well, I dunno about whatever power's been keepin' /you/ like this, but supposedly ours - mine an' Bee's - is supposed ta wear off in a few months or less. An' before that, Sirrah was sustainin' us. She's a friend of ours, an' a pure energy bein'. She's able ta generate an' transfer power to us so we don't starve inta stasis. She's also the one lookin' for Cybertron, or Earth, ta get us back there.
SZ: *he gives a shrug at the first, but then sits quietly for a moment after the rest* I stayed out of the war because of a number of mechs that had no way of getting by in a war. They were the abused and outcast of our kind, the ones whose creators should never have tried to spark a life because they didn’t know what they were doing. They were the runaway slaves, and the broken, and the unfinished, Wheeljack. I and a small number of others were all they had. Most weren’t /physically/ capable of looking after themselves, let alone getting caught up in a fight that most of them couldn’t even understand. *he’s dropped his face into his hands. He’s grieved them, knowing that if someone else didn’t step in when he vanished, they all died vorns ago* If I go back now, it’ll be to help in the war, because my reason for staying out of it....*his voice runs out. He just...can’t say it...*

[dragondancer5150]

((Sorry . . . the second one. With other things to concentrate on, he wouldn't sidestep to ask how long like that. 9,9 SZ's already said once that he slept for a long time [can't remember if he side /how/ long] and woke up like this.))


WJ: ............m'sorry... *voice soft as he looks away - he doesn't know what else to say to that*

[socrowdedinhere]

Thought so, but wanted to make sure.

And outtie. I'll poke at you when I get home.