Fear and Loathing (in New Kaon)
Pairing: Thundercracker/Skywarp
Universe: TFA
Setting: During and after "Transwarped", no spoilers, really.
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Night comes, eventually. The orbital cycle of the asteroid is erratic - the star it wobbles around is distant and bloated.
With no sunlight to try and glean energy from, Thundercracker orders Skywarp to recharge in their crater.
Thundercracker's vents whistle softly, the only noise to break the deathly quiet of the night. Skywarp changes his optics to infra-red, observing his fellow clone sleeping across the crater. The blue flier lies on his side, wings folded comfortably, twitching every so often in his recharge.
There is nothing else there - nothing else to give off heat, save Skywarp's own body. He stares at his shivering hands, only now realizing he has been quaking with fear and worry. A small part of Skywarp wishes the other Starscreams were here too; a guarantee of noise and movement.
He worries, now that he has a minute to worry about it, that they were all offlined. Neither he nor Thundercracker have any idea of the outcome of the battle with Megatron.
He scoots closer to the older clone, and tries, again, to sleep.
"I'm scared," Skywarp announces simply from where he is sitting.
Thundercracker cracks an optic open, rolling over to look at his clone, seeing only darkness. He prods at his optics for a moment before remembering it is still night, and turns on his infra-red scanners.
"You haven't recharged at all, have you?" he replies groggily in a matter-of-fact way, scanning the other mech. "You're wasting energy."
"I'm sc...scared," Skywarp repeats, curling closer in on himself, head between his knees and arms around his torso.
"Don't be," Thundercracker yawns, lying back down.
"...Just like that?" the purple clone asks, optics peering out in the darkness.
"Just like that," the blue flier replies, and goes back to sleep.
Thundercracker wakes up again to a noise. He rubs at his audios irritably, before listening carefully. Clattering, clanging, like a hollow tin, but soft.
"You still haven't recharged," he says, only barely restraining himself from hitting Skywarp. But there's no reply, and the noise of his shivering continues. Thundercracker sits up, an odd feeling skittering across his processor. "...Skywarp? Answer me when I'm talking to you! Skywarp!"
Two wobbling red lights blink open, staring at Thundercracker sadly.
Instantly, the blue flier drags Skywarp closer to him, pulling him into his arms. "You stupid crybaby," he growls maliciously, hoping Skywarp knows he means it affectionately really. The purple clone practically vibrates in his arms from the silent sobs and sniffles and shivers. Thundercracker pulls him to lie down together on the floor of the crater.
"Stop it," snaps Thundercracker. "Stop shaking. You're wasting even more energy that way. You need to sleep."
He can only barely make out the hollow, tiny voice that wanders up to his audios. "...Scared..."
"Don't be," the blue clone orders for the second time that night, more forcefully now. He struggles for a moment to get his overblown ego to allow the sentiments he wants to say. "There is nobody as good as protecting you as me. I'm the best, most safest...uh...protector. Yeah. You're safe with me." He nuzzles the black helm pressed against him. "So don't be scared."
Slowly, the purple flier calms, and Thundercracker just listens, ghosting a hand along the other's wing.
At last, Skywarp's vents slow. His systems whirr, soft, powering down, falling asleep in blue arms.