Title: Coming Home
Continuity: G1 (part of the Dysfunction AU)
Warnings: fluff
Characters: Blast Off, Vortex
Rating: PG
Summary: Vortex comes back from a mission and is so very tired. Why is Blast Off talkative right now of all times?
tf_speedwriting Prompt: scenario: trying to stay awake after hard work.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing.
Beta: ultharkitty

Vortex entered the rec-room, scuffing to the energon dispenser, his rotors wilted.

He was so very tired.

With his energon cube in hand, he sat down opposite of Blast Off.

The shuttle didn't even look up from his datapad when he greeted him blankly. "You're back."

Vortex nodded, knowing that this unnecessary statement was the other's attempt to start a conversation. But this time it was Vortex who didn't feel like talking much. He shrugged and withdrew his battle mask to sip from his cube.

Blast Off's head slightly tipped to a side as he glanced up. He was probably frowning. "Are you all right?"

Vortex didn't bother to wonder about this question. He shrugged once more. "Just tired," he answered, but it was an understatement.

He'd been on a surveillance mission for the last few days and he hadn't recharged at all. It hadn't even been exciting or involved flying. For the past few days Vortex had sat inside a crate that had been shipped from one continent to another – on Broadside, this Autobot triple changer.

That wouldn't have been too bad, but Vortex had to report to Soundwave every four breems throughout the entire time. There hadn't been time for rest, or entertainment, and Vortex' processor was at its edge. He now knew for certain that he wasn't built to stay awake for over 80 joors.

He also knew that this mission had been a punishment because he'd messed with Soundwave's cassettes before.

Vortex briefly asked himself how Blast Off could stand those surveillance missions, let alone stay awake for even longer.

Speaking of the shuttle, he'd tried to start a conversation, which meant as much as he was in the mood to talk which didn't happen very often. Vortex should make use of that.

"So," he said, trying not to sound too exhausted. "What are you reading?"

Blast Off's visor brightened for the fraction of an astrosecond. There was a pause in which Vortex guessed the shuttle pondered if Vortex was really interested.

"I'm reading about the early astronomical achievements of humans," Blast Off began, and shifted on his chair to get more comfortable. "It's actually impressive. While they had some very naïve religious believes in the beginning, they figured out most of their star system without even having electricity."

Vortex raised an optical ridge. A life without electricity was hard to picture when their own race basically functioned on it in one way or the other. Cybertron without electricity was a very weird imagination. "How did they do that?" Vortex muttered. It wasn't a really question since he doubted he'd get the answer, but Blast Off didn't seem to mind.

"They did it by optical observation only. That way, they figured out even the sizes of neighbour planets and their moons, and…" Blast Off babbled on, and his words morphed into an incoherent blah-blah. But it was okay. Vortex liked Blast Off's voice, and the shuttle looked really excited right then.

Vortex grinned drowsily, his optics dimmed. It'd been a long time since Vortex had seen Blast Off like that. The shuttle would always be a scientist, he thought, and was a little in awe of the curiosity and him finding things interesting that Vortex couldn't care less about.

He did care about Blast Off gesturing with his hands as he tried to explain what he was talking about, his tone not as blank and flat as usual. That way, Blast Off was actually kind of adorable for the lack of a better word.

Vortex suppressed an amused huff – only to almost make his vents stutter when the shuttle addressed him.

"You're not listening."

Vortex was sure that he imagined the disappointed edge in the other's voice. Raising himself – when had he'd sunken down like that? – Vortex glanced up at Blast Off. "I do," he insisted, and re-listened to his audio memory file. He didn't want Blast Off to become angry at him. "You were talking about humans being quite tough for organics."

Vortex' optics flickered. That didn't make much sense to him, but if he'd listened closer, he'd have probably known what Blast Off had meant.

Blast Off huffed, but he wasn't angry when he replied with a shake of his head. "Drink your energon. You need to refuel."

"Oh," Vortex mumbled. His cube was still full. His arm was weirdly heavy when he raised it and started drinking. He emptied the cube in one go.

Blast Off started talking again.

Vortex looked at him with a drowsy smile. Later, he really should listen to all those memory files. It was always good to learn something about Blast Off, even though it meant learning something about things he wasn't interested in.

Resting his head on his crossed arms on the table, Vortex still glanced up. His optics dimmed further, because the ceiling light was so bright. Maybe if he sat next to Blast Off, the shuttle would cast a shadow over him? Yeah. Yeah, probably. That'd be nicer.

Vortex was going to do that. In a bit. Just a little while…

Vortex stirred. He was moving, but his legs weren't. His optics booted up, and for the first moment, he had no idea what happened. The ground was beneath him, and those feet didn't belong to him.

There was touch at the small of his back, and he had to reboot his optics twice for the visual input to make sense.

"Huh?" he uttered, a lazy smirk building on his lips. Blast Off's aft was in reach, Vortex' arms dangled down the heat-resistance shield covered back. But they just didn't want to listen to him, and all Vortex did was hanging over the shuttle's shoulder unable to move.

There was the sound of a door opening, and the lights from the hallway vanished once Blast Off stepped into the room.

Before Vortex was able to look around, he was weirdly gently put on the berth. He could tell from the blank ceiling that it were the shuttle's quarters.

Oh neat, that was promising. Vortex uttered a sigh, and turned his head. He saw Blast Off sitting down next to him, leaning his back at the wall at the head end of the berth, and taking out another datapad.

That, however, wasn't so promising.

"Thrusters?" Vortex asked, but didn't explain what he wanted.

Blast Off looked up in surprise. He huffed, a sound that hinted to a grin. "Go back to recharge."

Vortex wanted to protest. If Blast Off wasn't going to initiate something, then he would. He shuffled his rotors down, and rolled to his side before he edged closer to the shuttle. It was an effort.

Pressing close to Blast Off, Vortex put an arm over the shuttle's lap, but his hand was so difficult to move, and maybe he could just leave it there. Blast Off's energy signature was all warm and comfortable, and the shuttle's large hand patted his helm.

Vortex curled against Blast Off's leg, and sighed. Only a little longer, then he'd flare his field and do things. That sounded like a good plan, Vortex thought. He enjoyed his current position for another klik before his systems gave in to recharge.