If any human could understand how cramped and pained it must be for a caterpillar during metamorphosis, it was Gavin.
Having curled up on the chair and fallen asleep, his bones felt like rock and as if some kind of nonexistent forcefield was keeping him squished up into a tiny ball of human.
He didn't even check for any other person in the room before letting out a painful groan as he pushed his limbs outwards.
He hoped there wasn't anyone else about as he flopped to the side and promptly fell off the chair.
The floor was hard and cold and damn was Gavin feeling sensitive as what wouldn't have usually been a big pain felt like his whole body had inverted.
His breath felt strained as he scrambled to his feet, grabbing the closest thing he realised it was the control panel set out before the two chairs.
His legs refused to stop shaking as Gavin allowed himself to stare at the controls, a dull throb trying to smother his mind with thoughts about his pain but didn't manage to eclipse the brief worrisome thought about whether or not he had pressed something he shouldn't have while pulling himself up.
Glancing around quickly, Gavin found the room to be empty.
Being unwatched brought about a heavy sigh of relief and he found himself slowly straightening out as his body finally got used to being upright and mobile again.
Growling from below reminded Gavin how he went to sleep hungry, and how there was food in his room.
The door to the command room was thankfully open to him, as it slid away quickly when he touched the panel next to it.
Giving a look upwards Gavin examined the triangular symbol on the doorframe.
It was present in Swindle's ship as well.
Must be the symbol of the apparent 'Decepticons'.
Looking around the place bleary-eyed Gavin took another few moments to take it all in.
This 'floor' of the ship seemed to be composed of few rooms; the piloting area, the small corridor he was in that had a stairway on one side and then the other mini-hallway which had two doors on either side.
Doors Gavin could only assume lead to other bedrooms.
Gavin cast a glance to the worn, well-used door, he wondered if he was the only one awake here, Cyclonus did look extremely tired but at the same time, he seemed capable of bouncing back from injuries very quickly and Gavin doubted the pummelling he received would put him out for long.
Quietly trying to take in as much information as he could while he had the chance the only other thing in the tiny corridor was a hatch on the floor.
He wondered if he could hide in it.
He then promptly got rid of such thoughts and shuffled into the room that was, for now, his.
It was as messy as he'd left it, with blankets and food-like items scattered about.
Curiosity lead him to the alien fruits.
He could have oranges any time while he was on Earth.
Dragging a hand through the bag Gavin pulled out the first thing that touched his palm.
It looked like a small bundle of leafy celery, but with the texture of sea shells and the colour of rhubarb.
Smelled okay though.
Plucking off the leaves Gavin went to try those first.
Bubblegum.
The damn stuff tasted like bubblegum, that obnoxiously 'fake' taste bright blue ice lollies and ice cream had.
Reeling from the outright bizarre flavour Gavin tried the stalk, hoping for something a little different, or more 'sensible'.
It didn't come as the crunchy stalk tasted just the same as the leaves only slightly milder.
It didn't exactly make him want to vomit or empty the contents of his gut through any other means so it was good in Gavin's book as he took a few other stalks of the stuff and finished them off.
He made sure to leave a few, of the vegetables? Fruits? Things, Gavin might have to use it as a visual aid.
Half an orange chased off the last twinge of hunger and quelled his thirst enough to ignore it.
He should probably ask about something to drink, oranges are probably not a good long-term replacement for an actual drink.
This is also a good time for Gavin to really look at himself, not physically as there was no mirror in here, but just to think about things.
He was sat on the floor of a bedroom in an alien craft, somewhere out in a part of space humans probably won't reach for another few millennia.
Certainly at the rate humanity was progressing last time he risked the headache that was world news and politics.
He spared a thought to wonder if it was any better or any worse now, maybe he could imagine something better now he was likely to die before he ever set foot in the same galaxy again.
More perturbed by the thought of politics and world news on Earth than he was by the morbid thoughts of dying before he ever reached there again, Gavin ended that mental train of thought.
He ran a hand through his tangled hair, or at least through as much as he could manage and felt it a day.
Well, morning.
Not giving the alien bed a glance Gavin slipped out of the room, wondering if he was still alone or not, maybe some conversation would be nice.
Curious, he knocked on the worn out door.
"You awake?" He asked to it, voting that grumpy company was better than no company.
Nothing.
He knocked again and this time got a quiet voice
"Give me a nano-klik"
Oh. He had no idea what that was but it was likely a minute or second.
At those words, Gavin hopped back a few steps, unsure at the state of the pilot.
If he could see through walls or was Cyclonus right now, he'd know he'd need a bit more than a minute to get up and out.
On the other side of the door, Cyclonus had responded with those words automatically despite still being in bed.
He stared droopily at the ceiling going in and out of focus as he thought about nothing.
He did wonder how long he would've spent in bed doing that if the human had not disturbed him.
Even so, he was still tired and stiff but at least managed to sit upright and swing his legs out of the bed.
Without a need for clothes or much in the way or morning preparation, Cyclonus was quickly at the door to his room.
Gavin, on the other hand, was getting quietly intimidated by the silence and time, shuffling further back from the door.
When the door finally thumped open Gavin would be lying if he didn't jump a little himself, the knee-jerk reaction was only tempered when he noticed Cyclonus's sudden awkward movements too.
As if not expecting him to be standing right at the door Cyclonus stumbled slightly to move out of the doorway and hit the panel to close the door trying to bar any insight into his bedroom.
It was like a meeting of the awkward meerkats as both stood upright and uncertain at the dual moments of stupidity. It was only not quite so charmingly silly as one was huge and spiky.
Nothing was helped as neither spoke but stared a little awkwardly.
"Ugh, so, I don't know if you need that shit but, you got any water or something here? I mean, kinda need some fluids to go with solids? … Y'know?" Gavin broke it finally acknowledging that the Oranges were an awful answer to thirst and a lingering dryness was creeping around his mouth.
Cyclonus grunted and stalked off down the hallway but turned down the stairs rather than heading to the control area.
Following the alien like a shy puppy, Gavin followed him to a room that had clearly been repurposed.
Well, he thought so because it seemed like something large and heavy used to be in here but was removed. One-half of the room had cupboards and a counter, on one side there was a crate with a thick wire coming from one side and disappearing into the wall. The other side had another square appliance with a door in and some dials.
It was familiar enough for Gavin to recognise it.
There was a sink, some implements on the counter and another few square things below it.
Even a small table with one chair on the opposite side of the counter.
It was a kitchen.
Pulling out something that looked like a glass made from wood Cyclonus filled it with water from the sink and dropped it on the counter and did nothing else.
Frowning a little Gavin had to stretch slightly to reach it but said nothing as he shuffled to the side with his drink, somewhat curious to see if he could observe proceedings on an alien craft, if but for a moment.
Regarding him, with little more than another grunt, Cyclonus reached into a compartment, that could be compared to a fridge, under the counter and pulled out a small weasel. Or at least something that closely resembled a weasel.
Gavin eyed the dead alien animal with some interest to see exactly how something like this counted as a 'breakfast'.
He found himself quickly wanting to slip out the room when Cyclonus swung it up and promptly chewed it's head off.
Feeling mildly queasy at the wet crunching noises Gavin didn't need to keep watching to know Cyclonus simply continued eating until the tiny body was gone.
With the 'weasel' gone Cyclonus quietly wandered out the room, leaving Gavin to quickly chug down the last mouthfuls of water.
Putting the cup on the counter he quickly scuttled out after the alien as he quickly strode back into the pilot's seat.
"Oh gee, so you're a straight-up carnivore?" Gavin frowned slightly as he sat himself down, given his sharp appearance it wasn't really a surprise but once again useless words fell out of him to quell the silence.
"Eh?" Cyclonus looked confused at the word "I eat meat… mostly"
"Yeh" Gavin nodded "So not a total Carni- eh, I guess you just answered that you just favour meat… and bones"
Cyclonus made a grunt in response before speaking again
"Yes"
Ignoring how it felt like a double-answer Gavin rubbed the back of his head.
"Where are we going?" he asked
"To where I'm leaving you" Cyclonus responded.
"Ah, yes you've made your intent to get rid of me clear" Gavin felt bad, not because he was being dumped somewhere but because the feeling felt 'normal' "But where?"
"Ugh" Cyclonus leant backwards and rubbed his eyes, staring at the panel before him as he tried to think through the human words he did know "We won't get there until… morning? Not today…"
"Even with the space bridge thingy?" Gavin frowned, the transportation they had been taking seemed somewhat instantaneous.
"Yes, will take time to get to a space bridge to get there"
"Oh" Gavin found himself frowning, a full-day here on this ship, with nothing really to do and an alien who might not entertain an entire day of questioning.
But he really couldn't think of anything else to do.
"Uh, alright then, say, uh, when Swindle talked about his combat-buddies-whatever he named someone called 'Onslaught', met him? Sounds a little like they had a disagreement" Gavin tried prying for a conversation while thinking over Swindle's little rant.
"Disss agreement…" Cyclonus hissed slowly rolling the word out carefully to ensure it's correct pronunciation "More like he will kill Swindle… He stole off all the Combaticons and sold their things, they were not happy"
"Hm, sounds like something he'd do" Gavin agreed, hardly a day around him and he could just see it happening like he was there.
With that, the room plunged back into silence and Gavin had to rake his brain for something to do or say.