Title: Eden Log 3/3
Warnings: implied slash and unrequited affection if you look closely
Continuity: G1, [part of the Dysfunction AU], pre-war, set in Altihex
Characters: Blast Off, Lunar Pulse (OC)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing is mine.
Prompt: #1 Master List Prompt, and I chose: "I can do anything I want. And so can you." (Donnie Darko) [2 October]
Summary: Reluctantly, someone says goodbye to Blast Off.
Beta: ultharkitty

Blast Off was tired and restless. He lay on his berth, one arm over his offline optics.

He didn't feel well.

Blast Off never felt well after getting a program update, but this time it had been a very unpleasant procedure. It might be still the after effects.

It also might be the finality.

The new code had been installed, and there was no going back. He'd given up a part of his freedom to keep his freedom to go to space, but it still didn't feel quite right.

He sighed, and was trying again to recharge when someone pinged his door.

Blast Off's engine growled quietly; he decided to ignore it.

Not even a klik passed, before he was pinged again, and he already guessed who it was. Reluctantly, he onlined his optics and sat up. Standing with a sigh, Blast Off rolled his shoulder and unlocked the door.

As expected, Lunar Pulse stood there, looking almost abashed. He had a box with some goods under his arm, and Blast Off's first thought was that he seriously wasn't in the mood for high grade.

Blast Off didn't greet the other shuttle, and just stared at him.

To his surprise, Lunar Pulse didn't say anything about getting drunk together.

"Uhm…" he began uncertainly. "Yo, I just wanna say goodbye."

If Blast Off had paid attention, he would have noticed the shy grin. As it was, he just was glad that he didn't have to fob the other off.

"So?" was Blast Off only reaction, because he couldn't quite think of any reason for the other to make such a theatrical scene.

"Yeah, I kinda thought I should do that, you know. We were built together. Or, you know, we woke up at the same time and worked together for a time that feels like an eternity." A laugh, but even Blast Off could hear that it was faked.

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't get that update."

That took Blast Off by surprise. "You didn't?"

It wasn't so much because apparently the other shuttle had to leave, but that someone had decided against the program, and it spawned the question anew if Blast Off had made the right decision.

Lunar Pulse nodded. "Yep." A sigh. "I'm not like you. I often fly passengers and people and… You know I always had some sort of authority problem." There was another faked laugh; and no, Blast Off hadn't known, but he hadn't cared either.

There was something else, however, that interested him.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I, uhm…" It seemed as though Lunar Pulse hadn't expected the question. He changed his hold on his box, and shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe I start running logistics. I can't work for the government or research facilities, but I can work independently."

Blast Off tilted his head. This didn't sound really well thought out, but he chose not to mention it.

"Logistics?" he asked instead, and wasn't quite sure if someone could make enough money with that.

"Yep." Now, the green shuttle grinned more confidently. "Who knows, I might go to Polyhex, or Gygax or… I'm gonna leave Cybertron completely."

"Leaving Cybertron?" Blast Off didn't know what to think of that. Sure, he liked it in space, it was his home. He had been built there, and he was built for it, but leaving this planet totally behind? It always had been a good feeling to have a place he could return to.

"I mean…" the other continued, less enthusiastically, and an underlying sadness was in his tone which Blast Off didn't perceive. "Now I can do anything I want." A shrug, and a small smile. "And so can you."

Blast Off raised an optical ridge, not knowing what to answer or what the last bit meant at all.

"Anyway, you made your decision," Lunar Pulse said, and then something happened what Blast Off hadn't seen coming.

The other's free arm grabbed his shoulder, pulled him closer and into an embrace. Their chest plating touched, and Blast Off tensed, his hands somewhere in the air next to the other's waist, but not touching it. His vents stopped for a fraction of an astrosecond, and if he hadn't been frozen and stunned like this, he would have pushed the other away.

He couldn't cope well with sudden proximity, even if it was one of his batch mates.

The embrace only lasted a few astroseconds, but for Blast Off it felt significantly longer before the other decided to break away with a grin on his faceplates.

"You never change, eh?"

Blast Off frowned once more, and didn't reply.

"Well then. Goodbye."

A small nod was everything Blast Off managed, before the other turned and he closed the door without a word.

He really had to recharge now. He needed the rest; his new mission would start in a few cycles.