Marine Teals
"_" : normal conversation
'Asdsdf' : symbiotic bond
Chapter 2
Soundwave was not prone to panicking. Right now, though, standing in front of the rec room's door, his mind couldn't help but immediately switch to paranoia.
"Calm down, Boss." Rumble tried to drag him in by the leg but his attempts where short-lived. The Aerial Twins gripped his shoulders and tried in vain to lift him up, even Ravage was pushing him but they couldn't get him to budge an inch. When Soundwave did not want to go anywhere, nothing the Casseticons did could change his mind.
"Seriously, Boss, we need to refuel in the morning!" Frenzy pushed at his lower body, determined to get him through the door. "Was it about yesterday? And what in the Pit were you thinking last night? Why did you hu-"
A hand smacked Frenzy's helm and he bend down, gripping his head in pain. "What the hell Boss! Why'd you do that for?"
"Cuz you said the taboo word." Rumble looked at his twin as if he was the biggest idiot in the galaxy. They started to exchange punches and the exasperated telepath had to pull them apart.
Soundwave frowned under his mask, his thoughts reeling. He did NOT need to be reminded of the way he had acted towards a certain blue seeker last night! Primus tell, under what impulse had he decided to pat Thundercracker's helm? Worse… He even hugged him. HUGGED him. HUGGED. Last night, in the solitude and tranquility of his chamber, he had screamed mentally for two solid joors at his abnormal display of physical affection. Soundwave did NOT do physical affectionate things to his comrades, first because he did not like the contact, second because every mech in existence thought of him as emotionless. Why in the Pit did he do that? He wracked his processor to come up with a reason and nearly suffered a nervous breakdown when he realized there was none.
He just… went and did it.
It probably had something to do with Thundercracker's vulnerable state yesterday. The seeker had never attracted much attention, mostly due to the fact that he did not scream to be recognized (unlike some mech) or actively seek out battles, plus he was the most rational among his kin. It was a shock to witness Thundercracker's violent outbursts. He had seemed so distraught, so angry, so… lonely. Last night, the wings on his back hung painfully low, lower than he had ever seen. He even blasted a MOUNTAIN during his fits.
Soundwave tried to convince himself that he had comforted Thundercracker out of concern for the Decepticon cause. After all, a depressed Seeker is a less dangerous seeker. He looked at the entrance of the rec room where the subject of his inner turmoil was possibly residing and cursed inwardly with the most colourful vocabulary he could think of.
He had to get in there. Reporting to Megatron was a duty every morning. If he sent his cassettes to do the job, suspicions would surely arise. He bit his botton lip hard.
No doubt Thundercracker would feel very awkward if he saw Soundwave and so would he, which was why he hesitated to go into the rec room in the first place. But then again, what choice did he have?
He just needed to get in, report for duty, get his energon ration and get out ASAP.
Yes, that's what he was going to do. He took a moment to compose himself before striding through the door to his doom.
The rec room was not very crowded. Shooing his symbionts away to get their own rations through their bond, he went straight to Megatron, who was sipping from an energon cube while pretending to listen to Starscream. "Soundwave: report for duty." He bowed.
"Dismissed. Go have your energon and then go to your daily duties." Megatron nodded at him while Starscream bristled, visibly annoyed at being ignored.
"Acknolwedged, Lord Megatron."
Soundwave made a beeline for the energon dispenser, his alarms on high. Out of the corner of his visor, he registered a flash of teal-tinted blue and tried to ignore the nervousness pooling up inside him. He waited for his cube to be filled up, feeling an intense gaze on his back.
Out of a stubborn instinct, he whipped his helm backwards and lo and behold, Thundercracker was staring at him.
It was in one of these situations that he truly appreciated his mask and visor for they allowed him to stare back at Thundercracker impassively without betraying any of his feelings. Thundercracker simply continued to stare, not showing a bit of guilt at being caught by Soundwave.
The mini staring match dragged on for a few minutes before Thundercracker gestured to a nearby table in a subtle inquiry. Soundwave debated ignoring him and leaving the rec room but his pride won out. He did not run away from mechs, it was usually the other way around. Discomfited as he was, he still sat down, all the while watching the blue seeker slip into the opposite seat with wary optics.
"Relax, Soundwave. I'm not going to shoot you or anything." Thundercracker grunted, setting his half-finished cube down.
"Soundwave: not nervous. State Thundercracker's objective."
"I can see that." Thundercracker lightly chuckled. He even had the gall to sound amused, the stupid seeker. Soundwave said nothing and resorted to glaring at him until he fidgeted. "I just want to, you know… maybe talk a bit with you?"
"Possible topic, not welcome."
"You're not the only one who's feeling awkward here. I'm just… really confused, OK? You acted completely out of character last night and I feel like I need some justifications."
"Thundercracker, same."
"Hey, I told you everything about my fragged up day yesterday." Thundercracker's mouth twitched into a humorless smile and he looked down, his depression returning.
"Apology." Soundwave said before he could stop himself. Maybe he felt guilty for reminding the mech of his bad memories?
The blue mech seemed to be in mild shock and scratched his helm sheepishly: "You apologise? Holy Pit… I-I mean, it's not that offensive… " Soundwave let out a quiet huff. Seriously, was it that strange to hear an apology from him?
Distantly, Soundwave registered the Aerial twins pinging him, their end of the bond full of worry. 'Master, what is happening? Do you need assistance?'
'Negative. Casseticons, desert rec room. Problems need to be solved.'
'Yes, Master.'
His Casseticons left the room immediately, throwing questioning glances at him and his companion. He even saw Skywarp lingering in the background, puzzled beyond belief.
"Hey Soundwave, why did you hu-"
Soundwave's attention instantly snapped back to the mech sitting opposite him and his visor glowed ominously as he pinned Thundercracker with a glare that guaranteed death if he continued his sentence. Said mech clammed up immediately, his hands raised as a peace-making gesture. They sat in uncomfortable silence after that. Thundercracker swirled his energon cube, clearly nervous. Soundwave sipped his energon through a straw as quickly as he could without giving the impression that he was trying to choke himself. He disliked showing his face in public for many reasons, so he always stored some straws in his subspace. His nimble fingers toyed with the edge of his own cube and he was, for a moment, blissfully unaware of a pair of watching optics.
"Soundwave?"
Soundwave jerked up and mentally steeled himself for whatever question Thundercracker was about to throw at him. It was bound to be embarrassing.
"What did you mean when you said I was 'most tolerable'?"
Soundwave's faceplate flushed slightly. Thank Primus for his battlemask. He sat perfectly still for 5 minutes, struggling to come up with a decent answer that would not embarrass him any further. Thundercracker watched him calmly across the table. Just as he opened his mouth, two things happened at once:
One, Starscream glared at him with the intensity of a predator sizing up his prey, and
Two, Skywarp jumped in, grabbing Thundercracker's arm and pulling him away, all the while babbling about a flight practice and throwing suspicious glances at Soundwave.
Thundercracker seemed unwilling to leave without getting his answer but Skywarp went VOP! And they disappeared.
As soon as the blue seeker left, Starscream stopped glaring daggers at Soundwave and resumed his prattle to Megatron.
Soundwave was plainly baffled. He looked at the place where Thundercracker had been previously and tried to make sense of what he had witnessed but gave up early. Seekers made no sense. Why glare at him? It wasn't as if he was blackmailing Thundercracker or something.
He gently shook his helm, downed the rest of his cube and left for the monitors.
At least he no longer had to answer that blasted question. Hopefully.
He should've known better than to think a Seeker would give up easily.
All throughout the day, Thundercracker had tried to corner him, talking him into answering his abandoned question. Soundwave, of course, chalked up and refused to utter a word. After the tenth time though, his patience was wearing thin. Like at right this moment, with Thundercracker hovering near the monitors.
"I just want to know why you said it."
"Yesterday, what did you mean when you said 'tolerable'?"
"Soundwave… Tell me, why did you-"
Soundwave snapped.
"Suggestion: shut up." He turned to fully face Thundercracker, hands on his hips. Though he was one head shorter than the Seeker, Soundwave possibly loomed over him with menace. Said mech visibly shrank, muttering inaudibly in an annoyed manner while raising up his hand.
Soundwave sighed tiredly. "Thundercracker: why so compelled to know?"
"Why would I not? You were nice to me and that was really rare among Decepticons. I just want to know why so I don't become too presumptuous later." Thundercracker stared down at his own pedes.
From what Thundercracker had said, Soundwave deduced that the Seeker thought he helped him because he wanted to make use of him. Soundwave was suddenly annoyed. Couldn't he help a mech without having his motives questioned? Did he really have such a notorious reputation?
Then again, he never took care to dissipate such thoughts. Thundercracker's doubts were understandable.
He glanced around the monitor room. Good, nobody was around. He had send his symbionts away on an errand earlier. He carefully mulled over his words.
"Thundercracker… calm. Collected. Reasonable. Not battle thirsty. Does not constantly cause trouble or demand attention. Help solve many problems by being rational. Sophisticated." He gestured helplessly at the teal-tinted blue mech standing before him, unable to express himself further. He was surprised at his own response. "Therefore, Thundercracker's presence... pleasant."
Thundercracker did not say anything, just scrutinize Soundwave closely as if looking for confirmation or signs of deception. When he found none, Thundercracker broke into an easygoing grin, the corners of his mouth pulling up slightly, exposing gleaming denta. Soundwave stubbornly refused the tiny blush that threatended to creep up on his cheeks.
"Never thought I'd live to see the day when the Soundwave compliments me."
Soundwave glared bullets. The cheeky little bastard.
"Return to duty."
"All right, all right. I'm going." Thundercracker raised his servos up again to make peace. He tended to do that a lot, Soundwave mused.
Before he left, Thundercracker glanced back at Soundwave. "Everything you said… You didn't lie, did you?"
The blush came back full-on. "… Negative. Now leave."
Thundercracker nodded, his expressions unreadable. Then he disappeared through the hallway.
He was watching for Autobot activity when suddenly he felt anger and panic coming from Frenzy.
'Frenzy?'
'Boss, help me!'
At that moment Frenzy ran into the monitor room with Skywarp and Rumble in tow. They were shouting and yelling profanities, and Soundwave had to turn down his audio receptors at their volume.
Skywarp started chasing Frenzy around. Rumble yelled at Skywarp to leave his twin alone. All the other Decepticons watched the spectacle with amusement. Frenzy slipped from between Skywarp's pedes and dashed behind Soundwave, hugging his legs with all his might. Soundwave resisted the urge to pinch his nasal ridge. What had the little hellion done now?
"Soundwave, move aside." Skywarp snarled.
"Negative. Skywarp, problem with Frenzy?"
"Slagging hell I have a bone to pick with him. He dented my wings! The little coward!"
Frenzy stepped out from behind Soundwave, fuming: "I am NOT a coward you sorry excuse of a Seeker! Besides you started it first! You insulted us!" He planted his hands on his hips and glared at the purple seeker. It was a mistake to leave his hiding spot.
In a flash, Skywarp lifted him up by the collar and held him in front of his face. Frenzy started kicking and struggling, reaching for Skywarp's optics. Soundwave bristled and his protective protocols kicked in.
"Now I am going to give you a lesson for denting my wings you little wretch!" Skywarp said gleefully.
"Skywarp: desist."
Skywarp turned his attention to Soundwave. Guilty or not, Frenzy was still his symbiont and he would not let Skywarp have his way.
"Oh? And what are you going to do about it? Is little Casseticon so tiny and helpless that his Master has to save him?" Skywarp smirked. Giggles were heard in the room as all optics landed on them. Frenzy looked murderous.
'Frenzy: calm down.'
'But Boss-' Frenzy started indignantly.
'Quiet. Soundwave, will solve this.' He felt Frenzy sulk and pinged Rumble to soothe him, who grudgingly agreed.
Soundwave repeated his previous statement: "Skywarp, desist. Release Frenzy."
"No." The purple Seeker stuck out a glossa.
"skywarp…" Soundwave intoned threateningly. He had no time for games.
Thundercracker chose that very moment to walk in, his wings high, clearly in a good mood – at least until he set his gaze on the scene in the room. He seemed decidedly puzzled. He took one look at Soundwave and Skywarp holding a wriggling Frenzy and strode right towards them. Thundercracker plucked Frenzy out of Skywarp's grasp, eliciting a dismayed yelp from both mechs. Soundwave still hadn't understood what was going on when Thundercracker held Frenzy out at him. He instinctively held out his servos and the hellion was dropped into his arms. The room went quiet as all mechs gaped at Thundercracker.
"T.C, what the hell?" Skywarp complained.
"Skywarp, do you really want a vengeful telepath going after you for hurting one of his Cassettes?" Thundercracker sighed.
Soundwave could see the ideas and thoughts forming inside Skywarp's processor, coming to a single conclusion. The purple mech turned, grumbled under his breath and stalked out. Simpletons were easy to predict.
He looked at Thundercracker with a questioning look. Said mech simply shrugged: "I'm just repaying a favour. Your shift is up,", and sat down at the monitors. He stood there staring at Thundercracker for a few seconds before deciding not to try to make sense of a Seeker's antics. He spared a glance backwards just as he left for the command room. Thundercracker's wings were stiff on his back and he refused to look at anybody else. Was he regretting his actions?
Soundwave didn't know what to think anymore.
I've been feeling strangely productive lately. Probably because my holiday is about to end.
Many thanks to tflover2.0, TFSTARFIRE for reviewing
Tinyterror, tflover2.0 thank you for favouriting my story
Dakyloquacious, Death Scribe, Tinyterror for following my story.
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