Title: Oblivious
Warnings: some fluff maybe, gen
Continuity: G1
Characters/Pairings: Brawl, Blast Off
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing is mine.
Summary: Brawl is oblivious to the general theory of relativity, but not so much to reading Blast Off.
Beta: ultharkitty :D
Note: Written for the LJ Community tf_speedwritingand the prompt: Oblivious
Oblivious
Brawl tilted his head, his optics flickering.
Swindle and Onslaught were on a mission while Vortex was somewhere; probably on a quest to finding new and creative ways to damage himself… and Blast Off…
Blast Off sat opposite him, staring blankly, and huffed. "Because time is relative."
Brawl didn't remember how this discussion started, just that hewas the one who'd started it, and now he was getting his comeuppance.
"Look," Blast Off continued with this condescending tone of his. "Time is a variable while the speed of light is one of the constant quantities; of course there are exceptions, but there are always exceptions to rules. The speed of light is a constant magnitude while time depends on the gravitational field of a mass that…" The shuttle stopped there, raising an optical ridge.
Brawl didn't do anything at all, just kept looking quietly; but he guessed that his clueless expression could be read even with his battle mask hiding his face.
Blast Off sighed, and shook his head, uttering his annoyance like he always did.
"Okay…" the shuttle began anew, speaking more slowly and clearly. "The speed of light is a constant and everything else depends on it. If there is a celestial body with a certain mass, this mass generates… some sort of 'dent' within space. A 'dent' which the light ray has to… 'fly', too and because it can't 'fly' straight over it, it has to make a 'detour'. This detour causes the light to slow down, and so timeslows down, too…"
Brawl kneaded his hands under the table. He knew Blast Off was trying to use words he understood - and it wasn't as though that he didn't understand them - it was just, he had no idea what they meant all together. And honestly, Brawl would rather go outside and shoot stuff than try to understand these scientific things.
He didn't, though.
Brawl kept sitting and listening, because shooting stuff was loud, and it would make Blast Off leave, and Brawl didn't want Blast Off to leave. He didn't want to be alone in the base.
And so he tried again, asking uncertainly, "uhm...But how can the light be pulled down? You know, in the dent. I mean… It's not, you know, solid, right?"
The shuttle rubbed his face, apparently tired. "No, light is not solid, but… It's not the light which is 'pulled down', it's space which changes, and…"
Brawl shifted nervously on his chair.
"You don't understand it, do you?"
Brawl shook his head.
Blast Off sighed in defeat.
"Well, do you agree with me that time is relative?"
Brawl nodded, hesitantly.
"Fine, then let me continue reading," the shuttle mumbled, and his optics dropped back to the datapad.
They stayed sitting in the rec room in silence for the next klik; Blast Off reading, and Brawl trying to understand the - for him absurd - theory.
"You're looking tired," Blast Off said after a while, with his usual indifferent and calm tone. His gaze met Brawl's for the slightest of moments, before he looked again at the pad. "You should refuel."
Brawl nodded once more, and stood up as quietly as possible. He didn't want to be too loud; he didn't want Blast Off to leave.
He didn't want to stay behind at the base. Alone.