Crusted Neon
by SMYGO4EVA
"So uh... you think I can manage with this?" Smokescreen asked hesitantly.
Ratchet sighed and nodded to the young Autobot. "It appears that you can use the phase shifter; it just needs some adjusting, is all."
Smokescreen handed the relic to the older Autobot. He sat down slowly, keeping his optics down and on the relic. It was indeed a useful object; it granted the user the ability to pass through solid objects. What bot didn't want to use that?
"As I suspected, it just needs some fine tuning," Ratchet started, sounding both curious and questioning. "The modulator in this parcel is a bit off…what secures how you pass through—"
"Um, I'm not sure what you mean, Doc," Smokescreen cut in, looking up with wide eyes and a confused expression. "It's one thing to understand it, but it's quite another to actually work it."
"Oh for Primus' sake, if the phase modulator isn't adjusted, then it won't work the next time. I assumed that you would need it the next time around, that's all!" Ratchet responded, his vocal gears louder than expected.
Smokescreen raised his eye ridges, embarrassment over his faceplate. "O-oh, I get it. Sorry, Doc."
Ratchet realized how he sounded. He then looked away from the fellow Autobot for a moment. "I'm sorry – it's just that…this relic is very valuable. We wouldn't want anything to happen to it, so it must be taken care of." The medic said, finally looking at Smokescreen in the optics, with the device in his servos.
Smokescreen smiled slightly. "It's all right – I know that it's valuable, and it's helped me out of a lot of jams. I owe it that much."
The medic couldn't help but smile back at the young Autobot. He still had a lot to learn, as much as Smokescreen had learned a bit too. "That's good to hear."