Reconstruction

Chapter 2

The Iacon University dean was the largest mech that Resonance had ever met except for the one he saw in his own mirror every morning. He, too, was a shuttle, with gleaming white paint, upswept wings, and a serious face that was occasionally warmed by a smile. Most mecha would not have met the dean when enrolling, but Skyfire and Wheeljack were old war buddies. When Wheeljack had entered the university's enrollment office, Skyfire had coincidentally been walking through, and he had greeted Wheeljack with a firm handshake and a quick grin.

"Your placement test results were very good," Skyfire said, after personally reviewing Resonance's application. "It appears that the only area you will need to catch up in is in combat skills. I know we are at peace, but all students are required to attain a basic minimum level of competence in martial arts, marksmanship, and military protocols. As a flight frame, you will also be required to learn air combat skills and pass a flight skills test."

Resonance nodded understanding. "From my study of Cybertron's political situation, I doubt that we are at much risk of another civil war -"

"Not enough mecha left to fight one, for starters," Wheeljack growled.

"- but we are vulnerable to attack from outside forces. Quintessons, and other galactics, are not our friends and we are currently weak a potentially attractive target. I have no objection to learning combat skills, though I pray I will never need to use them."

Skyfire nodded. "Your application indicated you have studied a bit of hand to hand under Wheeljack, and that Jazz, Blaster, and a few other Autobots have tutored you when you met with them."

"I have learned what I can. I'm afraid fighting is just not a skill that comes naturally to me." Resonance shrugged. It wasn't for lack of trying on his part.

Wheeljack nodded agreement. "And as far as flying goes - he's never met another flight frame before in his life. The first time he went up in the air as a sparkling, a human was in his pilot's seat just in case he got in trouble. Since he's gotten big enough to carry me, I've taught him what I know - as you know, I'm a licensed pilot - but I'm also a grounder. I think he's got the basics down, but he's definitely no Starscream. -So, anyway, who teaches the flight classes?"

"Starscream."

"I should have guessed." Wheeljack rolled his optics.

"He's not as obnoxious as he used to be." Skyfire said, tone amused. "He might be able to fly circles around me in the air, but I can kick his scrawny aft from here to next week on the ground. However, he actually loves teaching, and for the right reasons. I very seldom have to pull a Megatron on him."

Wheeljack started laughing at the "kick his scrawny aft" comment and by the time Skyfire was done, he was practically doubled over, headfins flashing brightly with genuine amusement. A couple of university staffers, discretely listening in, grinned or snickered quietly from their nearby desks.

"Don't worry," Skyfire waved casually in Resonance's direction. "He'll be nice to the kid. Resonance is Starscream's type."

Resonance, mortified, said over the sound of Wheeljack's choking laughter, "I would never expect to be treated differently because he likes my frame type!"

Wheeljack just kept chortling. Resonance did not understand what was so funny, and stared at his guardian with dismay.

Skyfire simply ignored Wheeljack and said, "Introductory Air Combat is obligatory, and Starscream has a slot open. You indicated an interest in medicine, so we can put you with Ratchet ..."

Wheeljack finally struggled his way to coherency. "No-no offense, Skyfire, but d-does First Aid have a spot open for Intro to Emergency Medicine? That'd be a good starting point for him, and if we do end up squabbling with the Quints, that would give Res a useful skill set. I want to keep him from being flying cannon fodder."

"There's a prereq of Basic Cybertronian Anatomy and also Intro to Structural Engineering ..." Skyfire objected, though he didn't sound particularly determined.

"He's my kid." Wheeljack said, firmly. "He's helped me with structural engineering since he was knee high. You saw his test results. He can handle it, and frankly, as much as I love Ratch, I ... well. You know what he's like. I'd hate to have to kill the good doctor because he made my kid cry."

Skyfire snorted. "Yeah, I can see that."

"I would not cry!" Resonance objected, vaguely offended.

Both adults ignored him, but Skyfire entered him into the Emergency Medicine class.

Wheeljack peered over Skyfire's shoulder as Skyfire scrolled through the classes that still had openings. He said, "I'd like him to carry a light load for his first semester ... give him time to get used to living with other mechs. And he's young, he should get a chance to check out the social scene, have some fun. How about - Cybertronian Lit 101 with Kup?"

"Done." Skyfire tapped the screen a few times. "And, uh, what about something artistic?"

Resonance said gravely, "I am not much of an artist."

"... claims the kid who designed his own paint scheme," Wheeljack said, as he reached up and flicked the tip of one of Resonance's metallic red wings with a finger.

Resonance lifted his wing out of Wheeljack's reach and shot his guardian a dark look. "I happen to like red."

"And gold. And any other bright color. He wanted blue flames."

"Well, flames do work for Rodimus," Skyfire observed, with a small shrug.

"... not blue flames on red armor." Wheeljack said. "Not with his height and his voice."

"Oh. Indeed. I see your point." Skyfire tried to keep a straight face, failed miserably, and finally laughed.

Resonance, who never liked being the butt of anyone's joke, folded his arms across his chest and announced, "As soon as I reach my majority, I am getting flames."

"Just ... not blue." Wheeljack clapped his hands over his optics in mock horror. "You'll look like a winged version of Optimus Prime and everyone will stare. It would be sacrilegious."

"Gold, then." He certainly didn't want to be stared at. He and Wheeljack had this discussion before, however, and he failed to see why people would see any resemblance between them. Optimus Prime had been a convoy class heavy transport, heavily modified for combat. Resonance was a large flight frame, with only basic armor and no weapons.

"Fine, gold. When you're old enough that I can't stop you and you have the money to pay for it yourself. Primus." Wheeljack scrubbed at his face with his hands. "And I believe this discussion is truly proof that Resonance has zero artistic sensibility."

"And I believe I should now be offended." Resonance folded his arms across his chest and glowered down at his guardian. He wasn't actually offended, but this was an old joke between him and his guardian. It felt good to fall back on familiar banter in this unfamiliar world.

"And I don't care." Wheeljack grinned back up at him. That, too, was familiar.

Skyfire said, "Ahem. Wheeljack, I have missed you. - Resonance, there aren't a lot of other classes with openings, but we do have an internship in the archives that you can get credits for."

"Oh, that's perfect," Wheeljack nodded approvingly.

"What would I be doing?" Resonance said, intrigued. He loved books, and anything related to them.

"Mostly conservation work - cataloguing and restoring old texts. You would likely do some field work, too, retrieving files or hard copies from libraries that were damaged during the war."

"Sounds interesting."

"You'll enjoy it." Wheeljack gave his ward a fond smile.

Skyfire made several swift entries in the terminal, then toggled to a new page. "So - is he going to stay with you, Jackie?"

"I've got an apartment on campus, but I think Res is more than old enough and responsible enough to live on his own. It's time he had a bit of independence and met other students his age. I was hoping to get him a room in one of the residence halls. Money's not an issue, but the socialization would be good for him."

Skyfire sighed. "I wish you'd gotten here a few vorns ago. Most of the rooms are full, including all of the singles. There's a handful of doubles with an opening ... let's see. Ack, no, we can't put him with Harmonic, he's bigger than Resonance and they just wouldn't physically fit in the same room without denting each other. Starscream's kid is a brat - I wouldn't wish him on my worst enemy, and I certainly wouldn't inflict him on Resonance. Err. Sure you don't want him to stay with you for the first semester?"

Wheeljack frowned. "There's no other open rooms?"

"Well ... there is one option." Skyfire sighed. "He's had problem in the past, and we were going to let him have a double to himself this semester, on the quiet."

"Problems?" Wheeljack said, suspiciously.

"Not his fault. Anodyne's a good kid. He's just a carrier, and Anodyne tolerates bullying about as well as most carriers do, particularly where his symbionts are concerned. He's had a rough go of it."

Wheeljack said, optics lighting up with comprehension. "Yes, that could be a problem. Humans have a saying: 'Don't mess with the mama.' I think our version should be 'Don't mess with the carrier.'"

"How many symbionts does he have?" Resonance asked, remembering Blaster's - he'd had his two mechlings and Steeljaw with him when they'd met.

"Two, though it might be four, shortly. They're well behaved, they don't take up much room and they're all good mecha. Honestly, if you don't have a problem sharing a room with a carrier ..."

"I don't," Resonance interjected, firmly.

"And one of the symbionts is also very highly empathic ..."

"That will not be an issue," Resonance insisted.

"... then Anodyne might work well as your roommate. He and his symbionts really are responsible and decent mecha, and," Skyfire nodded at Wheeljack, "they'll look out for Resonance."

"Sounds perfect." Wheeljack glanced over at Resonance. "What do you think, Res?"

"I am looking forward to meeting new mecha." Resonance shrugged. Perhaps he would make some new friends. And if it didn't work out, there was always Wheeljack's couch. However, he was looking forward to a bit of independence and to meeting more of his own kind. This seemed like a promising start.

Anodyne walked through his dorm room's door, and then stopped short. Alarm thrilled through his circuits at the sight of a stranger in the room. Last semester, he'd been attacked in his own quarters twice.

Primus slag it, he was certain this year would be better. After all, he'd beaten his enemies into the ground enough times by now that nobody sane should want to mess with him. Also, the university's administration had promised death preceded by dismemberment for anyone who tried bullying him this year.

"Oh, hi." The stranger said, with a disarmingly bright smile. "I am your roommate."

The strange young mech had clearly claimed the right-hand berth. Half a dozen crates and boxes were piled upon said berth. Anodyne relaxed, a bit, realizing that a mech bent on assaulting him would not have brought luggage along.

The mech was flight frame and he had the brightest paint Anodyne had ever seen short of Rodimus Prime. He was metallic red, with the struts under his armor painted gold, and amber biolights illuminating his wings. His thrusters and hands were matte black, and his optics a brilliant electric blue. However, behind the bling, everything about his frame indicated extremely high quality construction.

The flier said, brightly, "You must be Anodyne. Sorry to surprise you."

Anodyne blurted out, "They told me I wasn't going to have a roommate this year."

"I'm sorry?" The kid said, his tone making it a question. His optics were suddenly sharp with worry, and his wings hiked up just a fraction.

"Carrier and all." Anodyne indicated his own boxy brown and black frame. "Nobody wants to room with me."

"That's a silly reason for not wanting to room with someone. A good reason would be if you had a bad temper. Or were messy. Or you have glitchmice. You're don't, do you?"

The other's tone was sarcastic and teasing all at once.

Anodyne replied, with relief flooding his system, "I'm housebroken and vermin free, I promise."

"That's good to know." The flier said, briskly, a bright smile replacing his look of mock concern. "I'm Resonance, by the way. I am very sorry that they surprised you with a roommate when you weren't expecting one. I just arrived here a few days ago, and I enrolled late."

"You ... did you know they were rooming you with a carrier?" Anodyne tried not to sound prickly, and failed.

"It was mentioned. The dean suggested I'd be a good fit as your roommate." Resonance shrugged with both his wings and his shoulders. "You don't have a problem with rooming with me, do you?"

"Uh - no." Anodyne blinked rapidly. "You know it's not just me, I have a couple symbionts, right?"

He could feel his symbionts approaching at a run. They'd felt his thrill of alarm. He sent soothing feelings their way, not wanting them to create a disruption by bolting headlong through the residence hall's corridors.

"They told me that. The symbionts don't bother me, but why did they say you didn't have a roommate when you have two symbionts with you?" Resonance asked, sounding genuinely curious. "Not that I mind. I'm used to being around smaller people - I grew up on a base full of humans."

Anodyne snorted. "Because they're symbionts. They don't count for anything as far as most people are concerned."

The mech's casual mention of being raised around humans was a relief. Anodyne assumed that meant Resonance was used to watching where he stepped. The flier was huge.

"Well," Resonance said, tone mildly disapproving, "At least you don't have to pay room and board for three mechs."

"Oh, believe me, they tried. I had to appeal that all the way up to Skyfire. He, at least, agreed with me and changed the policy." He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Last year, they tried to charge us tuition and board for three, even though they were treating us as a single occupant for rooming purposes and my mechlings are only being allowed to audit the classes. They aren't actually being graded and they won't get a degree."

"That is quite unfair!"

"Very little in life is, I've learned. - So, Resonance, where are you from? I have never seen you around before." He would have remembered a metallic red and gold shuttle sized flight frame.

"Titan. It's a moon in Earth's system. I was - I was raised there by my guardian. We traveled a bit around the frontier worlds too, but this is my first time on Cybertron."

"Ah. Explains why you were raised around humans. I'm hoping to get work on Earth when I graduate." Anything, he thought, was better than remaining on Cybertron.

"It's a beautiful world."

"You've been there?"

"Quite often. My guardian has friends there, and he worked for a human corporation when he was decommissioned after the war. He's an engineer."

"Lucky you. How are you liking Cybertron?"

"I find it sparsely populated." Resonance said, tone curiously wry. "I think my guardian is very worried I will be overwhelmed by the number of Cybertronians. The reality is, there are more humans on Titan than there are mechs on all of Cybertron, and they're all jammed into a handful of domes and a few space stations. Earth itself teems with humans. Here - there's plenty of room, lots of open space, and very few crowds."

At that moment, the room's door slid open and his symbionts entered. They were a daintily built mechling and rather large - if still young - cybercat. They were followed by a much larger and far older biped. All three stopped short. The younger two symbionts gave Anodyne a questioning look, both sending him wordless inquiries about the stranger. The older mechling simply folded his arms across his chest and regarded Resonance with a frown. Slamdance wasn't yet Anodyne's, but it wasn't difficult for Anodyne to tell that Slamdance was suspicious.

"Guys, this is Resonance. He's our new roommate." Anodyne gestured at the symbionts for Resonance's benefit. "Resonance, the cybercat is Scout, and the shrimp there is Agility."

Agility gave him a look full of silent, wounded, offense at being called a shrimp. Anodyne responded with equally silent amusement. If Agility was ticked off about being teased, he wasn't worrying himself into a bundle of sparking circuits over the presence of a stranger in their room.

"And we're Slamdance." The bigger mechling introduced himself, or rather, themself, to Resonance.

Resonance frowned briefly, clearly puzzled. "You were Blaster's during the war ... I'm sorry. I'm being rude. I don't mean to pry."

"Blaster's still an Autobot." Slamdance said, easily. "We just had enough of the military life. It was never really our choice to begin with, we sorta had no choice but to join up. Anyway, we decided a few orns ago to check out the civilian life. It was a friendly parting, and Blaster's still our buddy, but it was time we moved on. So no big scandal, nothing traumatic, it's all good. We're free mechs now, though ..." here, they shot Anodyne a quick look, "... and we're courting a certain brilliant medic-to-be."

Anodyne added, "Slamdance is spark-split twins with a gestalt mode, and they prefer that you refer to them as plural. They're unusually well suited for a gestalt and they prefer to be together. Raindance and Grand Slam are their individual names."

"But if you just call us Slamdance and treat the two of us like one mech, we're cool with that, too." Slamdance shrugged easily.

Resonance nodded slowly. "You knew my guardian, Wheeljack, I believe. He told me about you."

"Wheeljack!" They said, optics lighting up. "Yes, yes, we know him. We worked with him, fought with him, he designed our gestalt mode! He's your carrier? That's so awesome. Is he on Cybertron? We'd like to see him, he's a friend, you're so lucky ..."

Dryly, Anodyne said, "Slamdance is the master of run-on sentences. He's worse than Bluestreak."

"We are not. It's just a side effect of two minds channeling through one vocalizer. We can talk separately, but then we just talk over each other and it's really confusing for everyone, and ..."

"I understand." Resonance said, with a smile. "Will I be sharing this room with all of you?"

"Nah, Slamdance has an apartment of their own." Scout spoke for the first time. "You're just stuck with me'n Agility and the boss. Slamdance just hangs with us when we've got the time."

The cybercat jumped up on Resonance's berth, which put her head even with Resonance's hip. Anodyne watched closely, wondering how Resonance would react. There were two typical responses mecha had to Scout: Either they were afraid of her, or they tried to pet her and treat her like a mechanimal.

Resonance stood very still as Scout studied him. Her nasal passages were flared, and somewhere deep in her chest, a fan whirred as it pulled air over truly powerful and elaborate chemoreceptive arrays. She finally said, "You have no fear."

"Should I?" Resonance asked, sounding genuinely curious. He leaned back against the window sill, unbothered by her scrutiny.

"Yes."

Resonance chuckled at that, much to Anodyne's relief and amusement. Scout, for her part, was mildly irritated at his gentle amusement, but Anodyne thought that Resonance's reaction was perfect. Scout liked to think she was tough, but she was young and inexperienced. Resonance said, "Thank you for the warning, m'lady."

Scout grinned at him, baring a formidable array of very sharp teeth. It wasn't entirely a nice expression, but at least she wasn't being overtly hostile.

Agility tugged at Anodyne's wrist, and Anodyne reflexively picked up the tiny mechling. Though fully adult, Agility often seemed far younger than his years. Anodyne balanced the mechling on his hip like one would a sparkling, and Agility snuggled silently into his chassis. "Agility doesn't talk much," Anodyne explained. "He's not a minor, and he's fully sentient and competent, but he doesn't like to speak aloud."

Resonance nodded. "I understand."

~Tell him about me~ Agility said, ~he's got a nice spark.~

~Love, I don't think that's an appropriate thing to say to another mech.~ Agility just didn't get innuendo. Anodyne barely managed to keep his embarrassment from flooding the bond he shared with Agility and Scout. Telling another mech he had a nice spark was tantamount to propositioning him, and that was certainly not what Agility meant.

~But it is nice. It's so old and warm and stuff. He's so calm and quiet, and he's just curious about us, he doesn't think bad thoughts or anything.~

~Ah. Can I tell him a bit about you?~

~Yeah, I like his spark.~

"Agility is a reformat," Anodyne explained, stroking Agility's back as he talked. "We don't know a lot about his history before the reformat, but afterwards was pretty ugly. Shockwave was experimenting on him. The trauma left a mark on his spark. We're pretty sure he wasn't originally a symbiont - he's got a mechling frametype, but his CNA doesn't match his frame. He and I have been together a few vorns though, and we're a good team. Anyway, he wants you to know all that, so you know why he's different."

"I see ..." Resonance seemed about to add something else, then fell silent.

"He's empathic to a very high degree due to the mods that Shockwave forced on him. He can't block it out, and it's borderline crippling to him sometimes. And by the way, he says you feel warm and he likes you, which is high praise from him."

The brightly colored flier grinned broadly, optics lighting up. "Thank you, Agility."

Resonance spoke directly to Agility, something most mecha didn't do. Agility reacted by silently burying his face in Anodyne's side.

Resonance's expression fell. He was clearly disappointed.

"He's shy." Anodyne stroked Agility's back. "Give him time."

"It's fine." Resonance sat down on his berth next to Scout. Anodyne tensed, waiting for Resonance to try to pat her, but simply reached back and pulled one of his storage crates forward. He opened it, produced a box of energon sweets, and - after selecting one for himself - offered the box to Scout. "Would you like one?"

Scout picked out a sweet, and Resonance then held the box out in Anodyne's direction. "And you?"

Anodyne was surprised when he bit into the sweet. It was very good, better than anything he'd found in Iacon. "These are excellent - here, Agility." He offered half a sweet to tiny Agility, who nibbled delicately on it while avoiding looking at anyone in the room. "Where did you get them?"

Resonance offered the box to Slamdance, who took two pieces.

The young flier explained, "I made them."

"You made them? I am impressed."

"Don't be. I learned to cook out of self defense." Resonance's expression was now wry, and a bit annoyed. "My guardian has a tendency to blow up the kitchen."

Anodyne had no idea why Slamdance suddenly bent over in a fit of giggles, but Resonance clearly found nothing abnormal about that extreme reaction. He simply flashed Slamdance a quick smile. The brief annoyance on his face vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

~I like him,~ Agility murmured.

So did Anodyne. He said tentatively, "So ... did you have any plans this afternoon? We could go out and get a drink or something."

"Sounds good to me." Resonance's smile was brilliant, baring his perfect white teeth.

Resonance sipped his drink and listened intently to the absolute novelty of live music. The band, as far as he could tell, was very good. The drink he'd ordered was a sweetened, chilled, fizzy form of mild high grade. It was something that Wheeljack would call a "frou-frou drink." Wheeljack liked his high grade neat and highly potent. Resonance, as a consequence, had avoided high grade entirely until Jazz, on a visit, had introduced him to more palatable types.

Anodyne was interesting, Resonance thought, and he hoped they would end up friends. The carrier was out on the dance floor at the moment, dancing with Slamdance. Slamdance was only waist high to the young carrier, but was more than energetic enough to make up for his lack of height.

Scout had vanished somewhere into the club's rafters as soon as they had arrived. Resonance had itched to stroke her sleek form, but the knowledge that she was sentient and would likely take his interest as either patronizing or, worse, sexual, had been enough to cause him to keep his hands to himself. She was beautiful, with sleek, glossy, finely polished black armor, and silver highlights, but he knew he could only admire that glorious frame from a distance unless invited to touch. And, he also knew, that invitation was very unlikely to be extended.

He'd met Steeljaw once, on Earth, when he was much younger. Steeljaw was an incredibly tactile mech, and he'd spent several glorious days wrestling and cuddling with the the symbiont. At the end of the visit, as he and Wheeljack were packing up to leave, Blaster had pulled him aside and made sure he understood that most cybercats would chew their own legs off before they allowed a sparkling to pick them up and carry them around. He had been very firmly warned to never touch a cybercat without the cybercat's express permission.

He'd tried to apologize to Steeljaw, who had laughed at him. Steeljaw, it seemed, liked being snuggled. Steeljaw, however, had reiterated Blaster's warning, and Eject, overhearing, had backed him up.

Agility was seated on crosslegged on the table beside him, attention focused on the music. The tiny mechling swayed in time with the beat, expression distant.

"Anything I can get you?" A server asked, padding up.

Resonance realized he'd nearly finished his high grade. He had a rather high tolerance, both because of his flightframe power plant and his size. "Another of the same."

"And you, sir?" The server asked Agility.

Agility hunched up and indicated a negative with a quick shake of his head.

Resonance frowned as the server walked away. Agility hadn't ordered anything, though Anodyne had gotten him a symbiont sized cube of high grade earlier. That drink was long gone. He suspected that Agility hadn't ordered anything this time because he was simply so painfully shy. When the server returned and left them a drink Resonance said casually, "I really like this drink. Have you ever had carbonated high grade?"

Agility looked up at him sharply, clear surprise on his face. Then he shook his head in a swift negative.

Resonance poured enough into Agility's empty cube to fill it. Agility gave him a long look, then picked up the cube and sipped it. His optics brightened and he flashed Resonance a quick smile.

He answered that smile with a grin of his own.

Agility looked away sharply. Then he craned his neck to look up at Resonance again and said softly, "Thank you, Resonance."

"You're welcome." Resonance said, keeping his tone casual, despite his pleasure at hearing Agility's voice. Making friends with Agility was a lot like befriending humans who were intimidated by his size, he thought. He just needed to put the mechling at ease, and make himself seem normal.

"Oooh, you're new," a rich, deep voice purred. Resonance jerked his head sideways and up in surprise. The speaker was another flier, a seeker, matte black with cobalt blue trim. "Haven't seen you around here before."

Agility made a peep of distress and disappeared off the table in a flash.

"They need to hire an exterminator. Too many scraplets in this place." The seeker, without invitation, pulled a chair out from the table and straddled it backwards.

"Who are you?" Resonance said, unable to keep his wings from lifting in an aggressive display of irritation. Agility was hiding under the table, pressed up against his legs. He'd have risen if he could have done it without potentially stepping on the symbiont.

"You must be the new student everyone's talking about." The seeker purred. "The one raised by a grounder?"

"By Wheeljack, yes." He summoned up a memory of one of the more formidable humans he'd known, a base commander, and said coldly, "Is there a point to insulting my friend and my guardian?"

"You have no idea who I am."

"I don't particularly care."

"I'm Quasar."

"Quasar." He searched his memory and came up blank. The seeker was likely as young as he looked. He wasn't someone that Wheeljack had ever told him about.

Under the table, Agility scrambled into Resonance's lap. He put a hand on the symbiont's back, and stroked soothingly. Across the room, out of his peripheral vision, he could see Anodyne approaching at a fast walk.

"Starscream's. Son." Quasar bit out.

"Ah. I'm afraid I grew up offworld. I'm only familiar with mecha who have done something important. Your name never came up in my lessons, through your sire - yes, of course I know of him." Resonance was being deliberately insulting, and he didn't care. Quasar rubbed him the wrong way.

"Quasar, stop harassing the newbie." Not Anodyne, but another mech came to his rescue. He looked up and smiled with relief at a slightly familiar face.

"Ratchet!" Resonance felt relief surge through his spark. Quasar was clearly hostile, but Ratchet, he knew from Wheeljack's stories, was formidable. He'd met the medic a few times when he was very young, as well, and had been duly impressed.

Ratchet grunted something that might have been a greeting, even as Anodyne arrived.

Anodyne's response was far less polite than Ratchet's casual request. "Quasar, get lost."

"Since when did you hang with flightframes? I thought your thing was sparklings." Quasar hissed at Anodyne, and pointed one finger at Slamdance.

Anodyne simply lifted one optic ridge. "Do we need to take this outside?"

Agility squeaked and disappeared back under the table. He departed Resonance's lap and fled for parts unknown.

"Quasar, leave. Now. And Slamdance is older than you are." Ratchet grabbed the seeker by the tip of one wing and pulled him to his feet. He ignored Quasar's hiss, and shoved the youngling hard in the direction of the door. Quasar started to turn, as if to fight, but then he reconsidered. Ratchet and Anodyne were both large mechs - Ratchet wasn't tall, but he was powerful - and Resonance had risen, towering over both of them. Quasar looked up, way up, at Resonance for a long, long, moment.

"Who's your sire anyway, a dreadnought?" Quasar hissed at Resonance.

"His guardian is someone far scarier. Ask Starscream about Wheeljack." Ratchet said, with a smirk. "Who, by the way, is teaching the Cybernetic Engineering class you're enrolled in this semester."

Quasar flicked his wings up. "So? Resonance is in my progenitor's course."

Anodyne scoffed, "Starscream's going to be too busy watching his shiny aft to give him a hard time. You know what your sire likes."

Quasar's hiss was vile, and laced with subvocal insults.

"Forget Soundwave's brat. You want to try saying that to me outside?" Ratchet growled, armor fluffing up.

"You're not worth my time." Quasar flounced off, wings held at an artificially high angle.

Anodyne turned swiftly to face Ratchet. "Professor, thank you."

"I hate that kid." Ratchet snapped, candidly. "Useless waste of energon. - Resonance, are you okay?"

"I am fine. Ratchet, thank you for interceding. I was not sure how to handle him."

"Handle him? I'd suggest using very, very, long tongs. He probably bites." Ratchet folded his arms across his broad chest and vented a sigh. "I'm sorry. I am being unprofessional. That kid just gets my struts in a twist. If it were still the war, we'd have slagged him a long time ago - if his own side didn't frag him first."

Apparently realizing that he was winding himself up to another moment of unprofessional venting, Ratchet grunted, exhaled sharply through his fans, and fluffed and relaxed his armor.

Resonance, amused, decided in that moment that he liked the cranky old doctor and wanted to get to know him better. He said, "Would you like to join us for a drink, Ratchet?"

Anodyne gave him a somewhat alarmed look. However, Agility popped up from under the table, and Slamdance said, "Yeah, Ratch. Have a drink, on me. We think we owe you one anyway."

"Owe me ...?"

"Yeah, for that time you covered for me while I decorated Prowl's office for Christmas."

"Oh, that." Ratchet laughed, expression brightening. "That was a truly worthy prank. - Sure, I'll have a Praxian high grade."

Ratchet knew he shouldn't be sitting at a table with two students. Aside from the fact they were students, one of them was Soundwave's youngling and the other the reincarnation of everloving Optimus Prime. This was just so many kinds of wrong.

Ratchet gave himself a strictly mental shake. It wasn't fair to Resonance to compare him to the late Prime. Or to hold Anodyne responsible for his sire's actions during the war. Anodyne, as far as he could tell, was a good kid. He was studious and responsible, and would likely be a nice friend for Resonance. Soundwave, to no one's surprise, had settled down into a quietly domestic life after the war, had found a demure little femme for a partner, and they had raised good kids. Anodyne was the eldest, but the whole family of six younglings was turning out well.

Anodyne, much to Ratchet's secret amusement, was also terrified of him. Most of the students were. Ratchet liked it that way. He'd had Anodyne in Cybernetic Biochemistry last semester and he'd done nothing to dissuade what he considered healthy respect.

Resonance was not - yet - fearful of him, however. Resonance was relaxed in his presence, optics alert and wings held at an angle that was calm and interested. Ratchet sourly thought that would change as soon as the kid got to know him, and heard a few of the stories from the other students.

"... Ratchet? Are you okay?"

He realized, belatedly, that Resonance had asked him a question. He'd been lost in thought and had completely missed it. "Sorry. Come again?"

"Getting senile, old mech?" Slamdance demanded.

Slamdance was another mech who wasn't afraid of him. Slamdance was unique, to say the least, and they had survived a pretty hellacious life. Ratchet suspected that given some of Slamdance's past history, Ratchet's temper and reputation barely registered.

"No. But I think you're getting crazier every time I meet you."

Slamdance grinned.

Resonance, meanwhile, was just sitting in silence, wings drooping.

"He asked if you wanted to dance," Slamdance stage-whispered. "You were staring at him. I think you hurt his feelings."

"No, I don't want to dance!" Ratchet snapped, short and sharp, alarm thrilling through his circuits. He couldn't. It would be so many kinds of wrong that he couldn't count them all. Sitting with Resonance, having anything to do with Resonance, had been a bad idea from the beginning. Pit. He should have just let Anodyne deal with Quasar. Why had he even gotten involved at all?

Resonance's wings pinned flat to his back in response to Ratchet's tone. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I ... well, Wheeljack said you can dance, and all the dancing I've done has been with Jackie and a few visitors - Jazz, Blaster - and lots of drones. And I like dancing and dancing with you sounded fun."

Anodyne was glaring at him. So were both smaller symbionts and Slamdance. Resonance just looked like somebody had kicked his turbopuppy. The young flier had also done a remarkable impression of Bluestreak, something that shattered the almost-like-Optimus image with complete and total finality.

"No." Ratchet said, rising from the table. "Primus. Good night."

Behind him, as he stalked off, he heard Anodyne swear softly, and then say sharply and louder, "C'mon, Res. He's always an aft. I'll dance with you."

It was, Ratchet thought, the best way to handle matters. Resonance was not Optimus, and he had no desire to be the young mech's friend.

Resonance lay curled up on his berth, motionless, back to the room, trying hard to recharge and failing miserably. He'd faked a good mood for the rest of the evening, but now that he was back in his room and it was time to power down, his mind was spinning and his spark was in a knot.

What had he said? Quasar's hostility had been understandable, if upsetting. Ratchet, however, was a close friend of his guardian and was, while legendarily cranky, not mean. At least, not according to Wheeljack, who had often spoken fondly about the former Autobot CMO.

Had he done something wrong? Had he missed a social cue? Was it something about him? First Ratchet had come to his rescue, then just as swiftly had brushed him off. That dismissal had hurt. Never in his life had anyone treated Resonance so rudely. He just could not figure out why.

A small hand touched his shoulder. He startled, a little, then recognized the faint brush of Agility's EM field, which was whisper quiet and nearly impossible to read.

Across the room, Anodyne was probably asleep. Using a very low power tight band comm channel, he asked Agility, :Are you okay?:

:You're hurting.: Agility walked around Resonance's head and sat down against his chest. The little symbiont's frame was warm and light.

:I'm okay.:

:You're not. And Ratchet is worse.:

:What do you mean?:

A small hand patted his shoulder. :Every time he looks at you, Ratchet hurts. He grieves. It makes him angry and disappointed and bitter. It wasn't anything you did, Resonance. Ratchet's spark is hurt and he lashes out because of it.:

:Why?:

:I don't know. I'm an empath, not a telepath.: Agility tucked his knees to his chest. :You're not a primally born mech, are you?:

:What? How did you know?:

Agility shrugged, his shoulders brushing against Resonance's back. :You''re a reformat. Like me.:

:... I'm vat born, but not a reformat. But you can't tell anyone. They'd never let me into the university if they knew.:

:I won't tell anyone.: Agility sighed. :But you're not vat born. You've got an old spark. Really old. You didn't know?:

:Uh - no, I'm just vat born. Wheeljack found me in a vat. I'm sure he would have checked my spark age and told me if I was a reformat.:

:Huh.: Agility twisted around to face him. The blue glow from Resonance's optics softly lit the little symbiont's delicate features. :Okay. Perhaps I was wrong. Don't worry, though, I won't tell anyone.:

:Thanks.: Resonance said, wrily.

Behind him, across the room, there was a whisper of sound. Then, another. Rhythmic rocking, creaking, clicking, quiet clanks, soft murmurs. Resonance started to roll over, and Agility stopped him with a hand on his arm. :Give them some privacy, okay?:

:... what?:

:Slamdance and Anodyne.:

:... What?: And then he realized what was going on behind him, on Anodyne's berth. Furious embarrassment flooded his spark.

:They thought you were in recharge.: Agility seemed amused. :Mind if Scout and I recharge with you tonight?:

:Uh ...:

:Just recharge, pretty boy.: Scout jumped up on the berth and promptly curled up against the small of his back. :You'll learn to ignore them. We do.:

:Uh ... I thought they were, uh, courting.:

:Maybe. Maybe they'll end up lovers. Maybe carrier and symbiont. Maybe both.:

:How does that even work?:

:Well, tab A inserts into slot B.: Scout said, dryly. :Very carefully, given the size difference.:

:I know that much!: He really, really, wished he was not having this conversation. He shut his optics off, because the light from somebody else's optics was creating rhythmically moving shadows on the wall. Pure mortification flooded his system. If the berth could have folded around him and swallowed him whole, he would have been thrilled.

:Virgin, huh?: Scout's voice was deeply, truly, amused.

:That is none of your business!: He was tempted to shove her off onto the floor, except that if he moved then Anodyne and Slamdance might realize he was awake. Somehow, if they knew he was watching - or, err, curling up in the dark with his optics shuttered and determinedly not watching - it would would be even more embarrassing.

:Let him be, Scout.: Agility's voice was surprisingly assertive. :Quit teasing him. He's not exactly had any opportunity to break his seals, y'know? Given his history and all.:

:Since when do you talk to strangers?: Scout demanded.

:I like him.: Scout shrugged, arms brushing against Resonance's chest. :And Resonance, just ignore them. Welcome to university life.:

On the other side of the room, Anodyne grunted very softly. Slamdance cried out, equally softly. It sounded as if Slamdance was in pain, but then Resonance heard the urgently whispered words, "Pit, do that again!" from the twinned symbionts.

Resonance wanted nothing more than to drop dead. He wasn't sure he could ever look either of them in the eyes again without dying of a terminal case of mortification.

Welcome to university life indeed.

Agility snickered.