"Your memory feels like home to me.
So whenever my mind wanders, it always finds its way back to you."
Ranata Suzuki
Once he was sure the stubborn saurian was finally down for the count, Rattrap slowly inched his way forward, slipping a "hot box" out from his kit in the process. Carefully placing the device against Dinobot's flank, he finally pulled away, waiting to see if the raptor would notice and stir. Thankfully, the simple heat emitter did the trick and Dinobot remained in recharge, his chest rising and falling with even ventilation. Letting loose a silent exhale of his own, Rattrap climbed out of the scout nest and transformed under the light of the two full moons as quietly as possible. He briefly dipped his head under the protective awning to check on Dinobot one last time before stalking away to set up a perimeter.
Normally he would have waited until morning as it would be so much easier to see what the frag he was doing (infrared scanners just weren't the same), but then he'd be dealing with a surly scouting partner. Rattrap could practically hear Dinobot's gravely ranting now: "I don't require any of your underhanded tricks and traps to protect me, vermin. Have you not bore witness to my many victories or do I have to prove my combat prowess to you first hand?" Then the big stupid lizard would whip out his sword or laser-eyes and chase Rattrap until he conceded and agreed to pull back.
Of course, Dinobot never had any qualms about enacting additional security for the Axalon, but somehow taking up similar measures out here (where they were much more open and vulnerable) was an insult to those prideful circuits of his. It wasn't like Dinobot was afraid of getting hurt or dying; that much was made very clear after his first stellar-cycle among the Maximals. But back then, Rattrap didn't really care what happened to the "reformed" Pred. If the big stupid saurian wanted to get his fat aft blasted to the other side of the slaggin' galaxy, then that was just prime as far as he was concerned. "Better dead than Pred" as Cheetor once remarked.
Only...now Rattrap had gone ahead and gotten attached to the ugly lizard and was just as protective of him as he was the rest of the team. By the Pit, maybe even a little moreso just because of how reckless Dinobot was. Cheetor could also be pretty damn careless, but the kid still had some basic survival instincts when it came down to brass tax.
Dinobot on the other hand would sooner offline himself than willingly retreat from a fight without a direct order.
So here he was, staying up way too fraggin' late to set up some traps and tripwires in the hope that dinobutt wouldn't notice and get all pissy about it. Least then on the nights where Dinobot was out here alone or pulling shift with someone a little less reliable (Cheetor), Rattrap could rest easy and still get a good night's recharge. It did mean he would be sacrificing his sleep tonight to get the whole thing finished...but it wasn't like this was the first all-nighter he'd pulled.
Rattrap had just finished setting up the last of his security network by the time the moons began to dip toward the mountains which meant morning was on the way. Letting out a tired yawn, he changed back into beast mode and made his way toward the camouflaged nest site. Inside, Dinobot was still asleep, the emitter next to him dangerously close to full depletion. Quietly, Rattrap slid down into the basin and sidled up to Dinobot. Then with a practiced sleight of hand, he replaced the emitter with his own body heat, switching it off and stuffing the device back into his pouch.
Immediately Dinobot shifted against him and Rattrap froze, eyes wide as they stared up at the raptor in silent horror. Slag, was he really going to get caught at the very end?
Thankfully the other bot just snorted and relaxed, brown tail flicking against the tarp under them. Rattrap closed his eyes, thanking Primus for his luck. He might have been a well-trained little sneak, but Dinobot wasn't an easy mark to dupe. Now he just had to hope that the raptor wouldn't discover his work for some time, if ever (though Rattrap had been sure to align the entire array to their energy frequencies, lest any other Maximal accidentally stumble into his scheme). At least for tonight, it was mission accomplished and he could finally settle in to get some well deserved rest.
For a megacycle anyway...
He didn't feel Dinobot get up, but Rattrap was a victim of gravity all the same, falling into the dip the raptor's larger body had left behind. He groaned and grumbled, tired optics onlining as he glared at the taller bot. Of course, Dinobot would be up right at dawn. There really was no shirking off so long as the raptor was in command. "Would it kill ya to sleep in for once, chopperface?" he groused with a deep yawn, stretching out his servos underneath him. Considering how tired and sore he felt, today was going to be a rough patrol. Hopefully they wouldn't encounter any Preds cuz he was definitely not running with a full tank.
Ever sympathetic, Dinobot just lifted his muzzle and hissed, "Our enemies will not wait for you to catch up on your beauty rest." Aft-hole...
"Yeah well, maybe they should," Rattrap muttered, tail flicking out behind him in mild annoyance. "It ain't like they wouldn't benefit too since they're all such ugly mother-" He yawned a second time, miserably rubbing his face into the tarp-laden floor. "'Sides, the big banana won't even check in 'til noon." It was a futile attempt, but damn, he really just wanted to get a few more cycles in.
"Better to be proactive than reactive, vermin." Suddenly his wrists were being grabbed and Rattrap flailed in protest as he was pulled from the nest and out into the bright morning glare of the sun. "Our patrol starts now."
Rattrap scowled and stood up, scrubbing over his eyes with his tiny pink hands as Dinobot stretched out casually next to him. "Y'know, one day I'm gonna get ya ta take it easy, lizard lips. Can't be a soldier forever." Though even as the words left his mouth, he knew any such promise was hollow. Dinobot would make it his life's mission to fight to the bitter end and there was nothing any of them could do about it.
Sure enough, Dinobot just shrugged and Rattrap resigned himself to his fate, following behind the raptor with a defeated sigh. Sometimes he really wished that he could go back to not worrying, but as much as he hated to admit it, he cared about Dinobot. At least enough to not want to see him hurt or worse.
But damn, it sucked some major slag to patrol on such a short recharge and Rattrap made no attempt to hide his misery. Eventually it annoyed Dinobot enough for the raptor to turn his perpetual scowl on him and snap, "You're awfully slow today, vermin; even moreso than usual." He snarled and added, "I do not plan to alter my pace, nor will I wait if you continue to lag behind."
Rattrap huffed. If only he could tell ol' scale-belly just why he was beaten down to the bolts. Ah well... "I'll keep up just fine, chopperface. You go on ahead." He lifted one paw, waving the other bot off, but the raptor's frown only deepened. However, Dinobot did adjust his speed (albeit very slightly) as they walked, slowing enough for Rattrap to keep pace despite the raptor's longer strides. Even then, by the time they got back to the scout nest for the morning comm call, Rattrap was running on little more than fumes.
As he transformed to connect their communicators to the main Maximal radio frequency, Dinobot grabbed his arm, carefully curling his sharp talons around the rodent's bicep. "Rest, vermin. I'll deal with Optimus," he muttered, gray eyes averted and striped tail flicking out behind him as he spoke.
Blinking, Rattrap quirked one metal brow and looked the other man over curiously. "Do we got anotha' clone situation on our hands? Who the frag are you and what'd ya do with the real dinobutt?"
Dinobot rolled his optics and released his arm, shooing Rattrap toward the nest. "You're so useless when you're lethargic. Go recharge and come back at full-fighting force, rodent." With that, the raptor unfolded into his mech form and connected their long-distance radio to the Axalon. Rattrap pursed his mouth, but didn't fuss, folding back into beast mode and making his way toward the nest. Once inside, he sighed, closing his eyes and curling up in the middle of the tarp. Their body heat had long since dissipated, but there were still some lingering scents: specifically that of dried blood and the cleaning fluid Dinobot polished his sword with. The mixture used to turn his stomach (which was really saying something) when he first went to bed down with the raptor during their longer patrols, but now it was familiar.
In a way, it felt safe.
It felt a lil' like home.
Admittedly, it was kinda surreal to be back in the world so to speak. It had been so long since Rattrap had to weave his way through throngs of bots milling about the sidewalks that he accidentally shoulder-checked a coupla people (and almost got stepped on by some bigger aft-holes not paying attention to where the frag they were putting their feet). Even his old neighborhood felt kinda alien despite the fact that very little of it had actually changed, the people most of all. Not that anyone recognized him with all his beast and transmetal modifications.
Cybertron hadn't changed...but clearly he had.
And how crazy was that? Rattrap had spent the last three stellar-cycles longing for the comforts of their homeworld and now that he had them more or less at his fingertips, he felt overwhelmed, practically swallowed by the enormity of the city-state. There was so much more noise than he remembered, so many more smells (though that might just be a permanent side-effect of his beast alterations) and while it was all familiar, it still felt like he was walking through a goddamn dream.
The Beast Wars had made a stranger out of him or maybe something more akin to a ghost. He could see everyone around him and yet remained invisible to them all the while.
Of course, it wasn't like he had come back expecting a hero's welcome (even if they had saved the entire fraggin' timeline), but this strange hollow feeling was not something he'd anticipated either. He'd been so excited to go home, so happy to finally leave that desolate dust-ball for some real civilization.
Yet...
Now he couldn't help but wonder if this was how the Autobots felt at the end of the Great War. Did his aunt and her squadron return home feeling like empty husks of the people they were, internally isolated from the lives they once lived after years of endless conflict and violence?
Rattrap's pensive frown remained perfectly fixed in place even as he walked to the nearest commerce station, picking up more cleaning supplies than he'd ever owned in his life before heading to the attached repair depot. Dredge had already linked Dinobot's diagnostics to the "care" file packet and he begrudgingly skimmed over it as he waited in line. Very little of it was new information as Rattrap had been there when Rhinox broke the news: Dinobot's spark was only firing at 45% of its full capacity and would require regular monitoring scans as well as special concentrated Energon that was formulated for bots who struggled to hold onto an internal charge.
This didn't mean that Dinobot couldn't fuel with normal Energon, but it would never be as effective. Without the right meds, he would just get more and more lethargic even if he was chugging the stuff by the barrel. Worse still, he'd be much more vulnerable to any electrical malfunctions, particularly power surges.
Rattrap winced. That last part was the reason they'd been forced to do emergency surgery after Dinobot was pulled from CR. The raptor's eye lasers were far too prone to over-heating and often caused minor power surges when they did malfunction. Prior to his injuries, such issues were negligible and treated as little more than an occasional nuisance.
Now...they could prove to be fatal.
So the decision was made to remove them before it ever came to that. Surprisingly, the raptor didn't try and fight their decision (it wasn't like they had any other alternatives), but his feelings on the matter were clear as day to everyone on the ship. It was kinda impossible to ignore Dinobot stomping back and forth across the deck of the Axalon like he was trying to tear a hole in the flooring for megacycles at a time.
The day they did it, Rattrap and Optimus sat on either side of the examination table as Rhinox linked up to Dinobot's system software and disabled the lasers. Then the raptor was put into stasis so they could remove his optics and pull out the actual mechanisms-
Rattrap shuddered and shook his head as the memories flooded back into his processor. It had been a real grisly sight seeing his friend without any eyes, but thankfully it was a quick job and Rhinox was rebooting Dinobot within five cycles. At first, the raptor was a little disoriented as he ran through his system's checks, but then when Dinobot finally came to, Rattrap could see something solemn in his expression.
Resigned.
Defeated.
Broken.
And frag if that didn't tear his spark all over again.
"Sir? Can I help you?"
Rattrap blinked and glanced around, realizing the line in front of him had cleared and he was next. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that, dollface," he told the pretty young femme as he stepped up to the booth and flipped the datapad in his hands over. "I'm pickin' up a prescript for my pal. The slagger's on house arrest right now, but I got his paperwork right here. What do I need ta sign over ta get his meds?" As he spoke, she lowered the protective screening glass to take the pad, reviewing the information present before downloading it to her own computer.
"Ok, you need a supply of Formula 86 for a mech of-" her optics widened. "That is a large unit."
"Heh, he's a big fella," Rattrap said with a nod, taking his datapad as she slid it back under the glass. "How often am I gonna need ta stop on by for a refill?"
She hummed and went back to typing. "Every three decacycles if you follow the instructions and measure everything out properly." She then stood and walked over to a wall of dispenser tubes, entering a long ID code into the pin-pad. Rattrap watched as various powdery ingredients were mixed together in the tubes before they were finally dumped into a medical cylinder and vacuum sealed by the machine. The femme took the cylinder and headed back to the window, printing out a label from her computer before sticking it to the side of the casing. "All the instructions are here. You'll need to mix the allotted amount to each serving of Energon he intakes. The side effects should be mild, but if he's never had this before he might feel more buzzed than usual. There's always an adjustment period." She handed over the cylinder and Rattrap took it with a nod.
"There a service fee or is it all charged to the-" She waved him off and he smiled. "Thanks, dollface. Be seein' ya." He flashed her a wink (more friendly than flirtatious) before turning on his heel. However as soon as he was a few steps away from the repair booth, his smile fell and his shoulders slumped again.
Maybe this was what his aunt had meant when he asked her about her time on Earth. She had always spoken fondly of their human allies and all the friends she'd made in her squadron, but Arcee was not the kinda bot to spit on someone's rims and call it polish. When he pressed her a bit more, she finally relented and said, "War's a file you can't delete. You can only heavily encrypt it and shove it to the back of your processor. With any luck, you'll never have to carry that weight."
And yet despite his best efforts to avoid volatile colonies, getting drafted, or otherwise dropping himself into situations that were none of his damn business, here he was: carrying that weight.
Well, at least he wasn't the only one.
When he got back to his apartment, it was strangely quiet. Rattrap pursed his mouth, locking the door behind him as he set the bag of cleaning chemicals down and stepped into the living room. "Chopperface?" he said, glancing around, not seeing any sign of the raptor in either room. Sighing, Rattrap shook his head and muttered, "How in the Pit did that stinkin' lizard manage to hide his big aft-" He paused as he entered his bedroom, immediately noticing the distinct dust trails in the shape of Dinobot's talons cutting across the torn muffler rug in front of his closet.
Slowly, he approached the door and pressed the wall switch, watching the sheet of metal slide away to reveal Dinobot curled up on the floor in recharge. Rattrap flinched and then relaxed, silently dragging a hand down the side of his face in a mixture of mild relief and frustration. At least the bastard was getting some sleep (and he must need it badly given he hadn't stirred) rather than stubbornly fight against exhaustion.
With his unofficial roommate located, Rattrap closed the door again and stepped out into the messy kitchen. Guess he could straighten things up a bit for now and when Dinobot inevitably woke, he could try shoving some meds down that toothy gullet of his.
As he mused, Rattrap felt his forearm vibrate and he lifted it, looking over the notification on his commlink. Recognizing the frequency, Rattrap frowned and then connected the line. Guess he shoulda expected a check in... "Hey boss monkey. How's the paperwork goin'?" he asked, flipping around to lean back against the countertop with a sigh.
Optimus snorted. "It's a mess, but that was to be expected. With how long we were gone and everything that happened on Earth, there's a lot of backlog that needed to be filled in. Apart from Megatron's sentencing, the aliens we encountered are the primary focus of discussion as well as the nature of our transmetal bodies. Regarding Dinobot, there aren't a lot of updates, but I can confirm that the council wasn't happy to hear about what happened to the golden disc..."
Rattrap nodded, rolling his optics. "Yeah, well...would they rather have that hunk of junk get scrapped or all of humanity? Dealer's choice," he asked, crossing both arms over his chest, making sure to increase the microphone sensitivity as he did so.
Sighing, Optimus murmured, "I did my best to explain that Dinobot had no choice in the matter, but it doesn't look good either way. Maximal leadership is still discussing it with the Tripredacus Council and they've yet to reach a verdict on how to handle the situation. There's no telling whether or not it will hurt or help Dinobot's case at this juncture."
Well, no surprises there, but it still got under Rattrap's skin. Even if you went in with the best intentions, those tired old gearheads would string you up under the letter of the "law" just to make an example out of you. Dinobot had saved more lives than any mech still in operation and yet he would never get official commendations or even a pat on the aft for his trouble. More likely, the entire war would get pushed under the rug and the remaining participants would be forced out into the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Any records of the war would remain triple-encrypted and locked under so many layers of bureaucratic slag that no one would even try to dig for it in the archives.
A typical cover-up for what was probably one of the most successful terrorist operations in Maximal history. "When do the rest of us gotta go in for testimonies and the like?"
For a moment Optimus was silent. Then, "There are no hard dates, but soon. I imagine they'll want to do a thorough examination of the transmetal samples we gave them first."
Wincing, Rattrap clicked his tongue against his teeth and said, "Yeah, gives me plenty of time to grow back the platin' they ripped off my fraggin' aft." Now that had not been pleasant, but none of them had any choice in the matter. Thankfully the presence of Rhinox and Dinobot assured the council that their forms and alterations were not viral in nature, but it didn't mean they were out of the woods just yet. "If they think they're gonna reformat us though, they got another thing comin'."
"I don't think it will come to that, however we may be stuck as lab specimens for a while. Just do me a favor and don't try to make a run for it, ok?"
Rattrap lowered his head, shaking it absently. The idea of letting himself be poked and prodded by hair-brained scientists held zero appeal. For all they knew, if the council didn't like the results, they'd all end up in recycling anyway. "Lucky you...if I didn't have dinoboob ta look after, I'd have already chartered a ship an' left orbit. I don't trust any of 'em." And it was true. As much as he missed Cybertron, everything that had happened since they stepped off the Ark's lifepod had him feeling off-kilter in more ways than one. He was definitely going to be keeping an eye out and looking for a possible escape if the need arose.
This rat was not going to be anyone's guinea pig.
"Neither do I...Unfortunately, they haven't given us much of a choice. We either cooperate or we end up prisoners ourselves."
Criminals instead of war heroes. Rattrap tightened his grip over his own elbow joints. Criminy...none of this was what he signed up for when he took charter on the Axalon. "I know, I know. You don't gotta do their job for 'em, Optimus. My aft ain't goin' nowhere." For now anyway.
"Duly noted. I'll reach out and let you know when we have more information." A small cough. "So how is Dinobot settling in?"
Rattrap winced, optics flickering back toward his room. "He's...well, y'know how chopperface gets." Honestly, he was just glad his apartment was still in one piece. Just because Dinobot couldn't transform didn't mean he couldn't absolutely wreck shit as a raptor and he wasn't exactly known to hold back his frustrations when he was blowing a fuse.
Another sigh from Optimus. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Thanks again for stepping up and taking him."
"Eh, someone had ta do it," Rattrap muttered, shaking his head absently. Of course, if this had happened a few decacycles ago, he might have tried worming his way out of the gig, but now...
"Still, I appreciate it and I'm sure to some extent, he does too."
Rattrap paused, looking down at his communicator for a moment before adding, "Heh, I'll keep tellin' myself that, fearless leader. Just focus on gettin' us through this slaggin' case and I'll keep fossil-face from doin' anythin' too bone-headed." Or at least try. After all, it wasn't like he'd be able to stop a fully-grown raptor if push came to shove.
A tired scoff, followed by a small chuckle. "We'll see. I'll talk to you again soon. Feel free to drop a line if anything comes up."
"Will do," Rattrap said before terminating the signal with a flick of his index finger. "Will do..."
Knowing his luck, a lot of stupid slag would come up and slow everything down (fraggin' bureaucrats), but he'd burn that bridge when they crossed it. For now, he needed to get this place cleaned up and attempt to drug the dinosaur snoozing away in his closet.
Lifting up the shopping bags, Rattrap pulled out his datapad as well as Dinobot's prescription. His optics flickered to the label, briefly skimming the instructions before moving to set it down on the counter. However, just before he did, another section of the text caught his eye.
PATIENT NAME: DYNAMO
Rattrap flinched and almost fumbled the cylinder in the process. Oh...now that was fraggin' weird. Even in the files provided by Dredge, the report swapped out Dinobot's previous identifiers with his current ones, but apparently his medical records were still listed under his old Predacon handle. They'd have to get that changed unless...unless Dinobot wanted to drop his current identity and go back to the bot he was before? They weren't on Earth anymore, weren't trapped between Energon surges and enemy bombardments so what was the point in sticking to their old codenames?
Then again, Dinobot likely wouldn't use his real name even if Rattrap told him. Vermin, rodent, pestilence, garbage-eater. That was what he was to the raptor.
Not Rattrap and certainly not Ransack.
Nevertheless, those thoughts haunted him as he set about cleaning, taking out the worst of the trash and packing away the more useful stuff, scrubbing windows and floors until the living room and kitchen were relatively grime-free and the stench of rotting trash was replaced with a distinctly chemical aroma. Wiping off his hands, Rattrap's optics drifted back to the cylinder and he frowned, opening up the cabinets and grabbing two glass cubes. He rinsed them, clearing away the dust that had settled in their basins before walking over to his Energon dispenser and filling them both with the glowing liquid fuel.
The medical cylinder instructed that he mix at least 12 grams into every serving and so he did just that, letting the powder dissolve until no more solid pieces remained. Then he carried both cups to the bedroom, pressing his elbow against the wall switch to open the closet. Dinobot was still in recharge (yeah, definitely exhausted), but this time Rattrap gently nudged him awake with a foot. "Ey, chopperface. I know that ugly mug of yours needs all the beauty rest in the world, but we gotta get some fuel inta you first." Dinobot groaned and Rattrap stepped back a bit as he watched the other man's systems slowly start to online, gray optics blinking open warily. "Here, drink this," he muttered, shoving the cube into the raptor's face.
Dinobot hissed and reluctantly gripped the cube between his sharp talons. "I hardly need you to-" he took a sip and almost immediately gagged. "What in the Inferno is this!?" Dinobot's eyes flickered from the cube to Rattrap and the rat sighed, sipping quietly from his own cup.
"Yeah, the doc said there's an adjustment period, but that's your new diet, lizard lips. Best get used to it." He made a mocking cheers motion and Dinobot scowled, tentatively taking another drink, only for his face to instantly scrunch back up in disgust. It was almost cute in a bratty sort of way.
"Ugh, it's absolutely foul," Dinobot snarled as he made to put the cube down, only for Rattrap to grab the bottom of it and tip the entire glass into the raptor's open mouth. Dinobot choked and sputtered, but eventually swallowed, a few dribbles of purple liquid streaming through his sharp teeth. "Insolent vermin!"
Rattrap rolled his optics. "Yeah, yeah. Whine all you want, chopperface. It ain't gonna make the meds go down any easier." He did lean over though, brushing the smears of Energon away with his thumb even as Dinobot bristled. "So, how'ya feelin'? That recharge put you in a betta mood?" The remark earned him a pointed scowl and Rattrap shrugged, leaning against the side of the closet wall as he tapped one silver finger against the glass cube in his fist. "I'll take that as a no then." He nodded and raised the cube to toss back the rest of the Energon. "Guess I need ta clean out the closet if you're gonna make this your space, though y'know the berth is more comfortable."
Dinobot scoffed, looking at the bed in question. "It's far too small," he muttered, setting his own empty cube down on the floor before curling back up in the makeshift nest he'd cobbled together from Rattrap's belongings.
Snickering, Rattrap pushed off the wall and walked over to the berth, hitting a button on the side and gesturing with both palms as it extended out into a much larger station. Rattrap then gave the raptor an exaggerated showman's bow and added, "I did use ta bring folks back ta my place before the war and it's kinda hard ta 'face if ya can't fit two bots on the same bed." Immediately the raptor huffed, scaley lips curling in a display of open disgust. "Oh don't gimme that look, dinobutt. You can get as pissy as you want, but the femmes and fellas love me."
"If you were attempting to sell me on the notion of sleeping in your berth by bragging about the many escapades that have taken place upon it, you're sorely mistaken," Dinobot muttered. "Besides, I am not sharing a berth with you."
The rat shrugged and walked back to the closet. "Eh, wouldn't have been the first time. Though that doesn't look all too comfy." He indicated the nest and then paused, realizing just what Dinobot had used to make the damn thing in the first place. "Wait...where'd you get all this anyhow?"
"These items were what was readily available," Dinobot said, finally standing up to his full height and waving both spindly arms at the bedding he had constructed. "It will do for now, but I will need to make adjustments when we have more resources."
Rattrap nodded absentmindedly before kneeling to pull at the blanket a bit. "Yeah, this ain't exactly the best material, but I guess a quilt is better than the bare floor." He chuckled and shook his head. "I forgot I even had all this stuff. Been away from home for too fraggin' long." He looked up at Dinobot who just hummed in agreement before his entire body began to twitch and seize. "Whoa, you ok there, chopperface?" Rattrap asked, tentatively reaching for one of the raptor's shaking arms. "Maybe you should sit down before your servos give out." The cylinder had mentioned that a side effect of the medication was occasional power rerouting. Primus forbid if Dinobot's legs gave out as the systems powering their hydraulics were suddenly cut off.
Not that it wouldn't be a little funny if Dinobot fell on his aft like a drunk, but he was Rattrap's problem for the foreseeable future and that meant avoiding more injuries (if possible). Plus Dinobot's pride was bruised enough as is and being so helpless was no doubt grinding the raptor's gears worse than the time they all went fraggin' blind for a day.
That had probably been the first time that Rattrap had ever seen the other bot really have a full-blown panic attack, not that he had done much better (especially after Cheetor nearly got scrapped). Still, compared to Dinobot, Rattrap knew how to handle being vulnerable and exposed. He was a small mech after all and never did like having to depend on others to get by. So he learned to adapt and roll with the punches as they came.
What was a rat if not a scavenging survivalist?
Reluctantly, Dinobot settled back into the nest, joints still twitching as his weight shifted the blanket underneath him. "I assume these are-" He winced. "-side effects of that wretched medicine?"
Nodding, Rattrap sat down as well, leaning against the outer rim of the nest as he crossed his legs underneath him. "Yeah, shouldn't be somethin' that you gotta deal with long term though. Once your system adjusts, we'll be in the clear." Dinobot nodded, still shaking like a leaf even as he did his best to remain outwardly composed. Somehow the sight of the raptor looking so miserable and borderline pathetic made Rattrap's vents tighten and he couldn't help reaching out to pet over the raptor's neck in a calming motion. Of course, the other bot immediately raised his head, gray eyes trained on the rat curiously. However, rather than apologize or remove his hand, Rattrap just continued to drag his fingers over those smooth brown scales. "You doin' ok?"
Dinobot didn't respond, but he did relax, not fighting the rat's touch as the tremors wracking his body began to dissolve into minute shivers with each passing second. It was almost domestic...borderline intimate.
So of course Rattrap couldn't let it stand for more than a few cycles before he cleared his throat and muttered, "Y'know, how I used ta say we're all gonna die every time we got ourselves into a jam?" Maybe talking about their "glory days" would get the raptor back into better spirits (one could only hope).
Thankfully Dinobot took the offered bait and he felt more than heard the raptor's scoff. "You had no faith in our operations. Your pessimism runs strong, vermin."
Rattrap rolled his optics. Like Dinobot was some paragon of optimism. "Well, yeah. But that wasn't the only reason," he retorted, shifting so that his legs were stretched out in front of him, back firmly pressed against the interior wall of the closet. "In a stupid roundabout way, I figured if I was at least callin' out the odds fer what they were, maybe the universe would try ta prove me wrong and let our dumb afts live." It might be the hope of a gambling addict, but it was hope nevertheless.
Dinobot sneered, adjusting the position of his head so that Rattrap's fingers brushed the back of his scalp with every pass. "There's no shame in dying," the raptor murmured, voice bitter and laced with venom.
Immediately Rattrap's lip twitched. So much for steering clear of dark topics (then again, there really was no such thing as small talk when it came to Dinobot). "But there's shame in livin' after not dyin'? Care ta explain that logic, dinobutt?" he shot right back, finally turning to meet the other bot's eyes in a pointed glare.
Thankfully the raptor did seem genuinely takenaback and Rattrap took smug pride in the way Dinobot silently gaped and flailed, clearly grasping for an answer that just didn't fraggin' exist. "Got nothin' huh...?" He laughed, shaking his head as Dinobot finally sheepishly pursed his mouth and averted his eyes. "Y'know, I really hate that dumb warrior code crap of yours sometimes. You cling to it like it's the only thing makin' you worthy of existin'."
Rattrap exhaled and tilted his head up to stare at the dusty lights lining the ceiling of the closet, spark sinking deep into the belly of his chassis as he spoke. "If I'm bein' honest, chopperface...sometimes you remind me of the worst parts of myself. And for a moment, it's like we're on the same slaggin' frequency." Laughing, he added, "So you see, I can't give up on your fat saurian aft, because if I do that, I'm gonna be abandonin' myself too. All the parts that feel-" He sniffed, feeling condensation building up in his vents against his will. "-guilty. Guilty for still bein' here when so many others aren't."
And just like that, his own processor was running wild and he was spilling his guts to this motorhead like a he'd swallowed a quart of high-grade rather than standard Energon. Rattrap had always known there was no point in deluding himself. He knew who and what he was and a noble-hearted hero wasn't it. Sure, he pulled his weight and kicked butt when he needed to, but he wasn't like Tigatron or Airazor. He wasn't someone who could put aside his own survival for the greater good and sacrifice himself.
He wasn't like Dinobot...
"You survived the war through your cunning and skill," the raptor murmured and Rattrap couldn't help but flinch, genuinely surprised by the rare compliment. "Those were not unearned victories."
He snorted. Victories. Like all those encounters were these grand ol' displays of battle finesse and conquest rather than them barely scraping by and almost getting offlined in the process. Rattrap huffed and shook his head. "It doesn't matter whether or not I slaggin' earned it. I just-" He paused and then met Dinobot's slit pupils, staring at his own tired reflection in the polished glass. "Look, my point is that if you go, then that's just another person we couldn't save."
Immediately Dinobot scoffed, rolling his optics. "So saving me is a way for you to assuage your own twisted sense of responsibility and survivor's guilt. I see."
Rattrap groaned, lifting his free hand and dragging it down the side of his face plates. Ugh, of course the stupid saurian was gonna just cut right through in the most blunt and tactless-
"Have you ever considered that perhaps, you are not the only one who feels responsible?" Dinobot shifted closer and Rattrap instinctively leaned back into the wall as he was suddenly cornered by a very toothy maw. "The casualties weigh down upon us all, vermin. However, we cannot allow empathy to plague our thoughts when there are far more important matters at stake."
And normally Rattrap would agree with him, but without the war, without actual concrete goals to focus his energy, Rattrap was left feeling hollow. He had done his best to act casual and play it all off, but it had been eating at him ever since they left Earth, only briefly interrupted by the excitement he felt as they reentered Cybertron's planetary field. That lasted up until Dinobot was arrested and then he was back to problem-solving with Optimus, but unlike the Beast Wars, here he couldn't just throw a grenade at the situation and run for cover. "Yeah well...now the most important thing is keepin' you up an' runnin', lizard-lips." He gave the raptor a condescending pat on the head and Dinobot snarled, exposing even more of his teeth. "So forgive me if my priorities have shifted around a bit since then."
Snorting, Dinobot settled back down, this time lowering his head to rest against Rattrap's thigh. The rat tensed, but didn't shove him off, more confused than anything. After all, Dinobot wasn't exactly known for being sympathetic, nevermind touchy. "You truly have become a soldier then, rodent," the raptor murmured, closing his eyes. "One war ends and immediately you seek a new conflict to occupy yourself with."
Despite everything, Rattrap couldn't help but snicker a little, casually laying his hand on the back of the raptor's neck. "Heh, well...it ain't as dangerous as all that, but I am probably gonna have ta make some changes. Dino-proof the place, y'know?" Dinobot growled, the vibrations shaking the scales under his palm and Rattrap just shrugged. "What? Even like this, that big ol' aft of yours is bound ta break crap and you know it. You already tore up my carpet."
"That was an accident," Dinobot grumbled as Rattrap once again resumed his petting, feeling metal joints shift underneath the textured beast-flesh. "It's hardly my fault you have so much useless debris scattered about your home."
"Hey, you're sleepin' on my useless debris right now," Rattrap pointed out before lowering his hand to pluck at the blanket's fringe. "Speakin' of settlin' in, after all this crap is wrapped, you gonna go back to...wherever you were before this whole mess?" They hadn't really discussed their plans much. Sure, Rattrap had bragged about all the clubs and bars he was gonna hit up once they landed, but no one had suggested anything long term, especially Dinobot.
For a moment, Dinobot was silent, spark-warm air trickling out of his vents as he breathed. Rattrap almost thought he had fallen asleep again, but then he finally murmured, "There is nothing waiting for me there. Megatron's actions were already painted as that of a rogue agent by the Tripredacus Council long before we arrived. And considering my defection during the war, I doubt I will be welcomed back on either side with open arms." He paused, adding, "Megatron knew this. I saw him when I was taken from the pod and he was more than pleased to see me being led away in chains."
Rattrap scowled. Yeah, ol' grapeface probably got a real big kick outta seeing Dinobot arrested on the spot (even if he was next in line to be fitted with a pair of stasis-cuffs). It was just one last twist of the knife before the warlord was carted off for his own tribunal under both governments.
But Dinobot wasn't wrong. Even if everything went to plan and they got the raptor released, there was no going back to the way things were. Dinobot had made his way in the world as a sell-sword before the Beast Wars and now he couldn't fight (at least, not to the same scale he did before). After betraying his fellow Predacons, it would be far safer for him to remain within Maximal territories rather than risk sabotage or assassination out in the Predacon controlled city-states. "Ok...what's your plan then, chopperface? If you can't go back, what are ya gonna do?"
Dinobot frowned, but the expression seemed more tired than upset. "I know no more about the future than you, rodent. Now that we're no longer in the past, we cannot alter our reality so readily." Rattrap laughed and the raptor's eyes flickered back up to glare at the smaller mech. "Did I say something particularly amusing?"
Shaking his head, Rattrap smiled. "Y'know, we really gotta sand down those edges of yours, chopperface. You're gonna cut someone with 'em one of these days." He let loose another small giggle and said, "But I get whatcha mean. Savin' the past was just preservin' the present and everythin' else that's laid out ahead of us is unknown. But y'know...we went through most of the war not knowin' when an' where we were. Was as much of a mystery for us back then as it is now."
He sighed and slumped a bit against the wall, fingers curling around the raptor's skull in a gentle hold. "At least we're stuck in the same rut. What happens, happens." He shrugged and then stood, lifting Dinobot's head off his thigh. "I'm gonna get me anotha cube. You want one?" Dinobot nodded and Rattrap bent down, scooping both glasses off the floor before making his way to the dispenser in the other room. Of course, he mixed more meds into Dinobot's glass and when he handed it to the raptor, he couldn't help but smile as the other bot chugged it down and grunted. "This helpin' any?" Rattrap asked, plunking his aft back down on the floor next to the nest.
"It is repulsive...but I do feel my energy reserves stabilizing," Dinobot admitted with a reluctant (and yet somewhat adorable) pout. "My time in captivity will not be pleasant if this is all I have to look forward to."
"Hey, you got me, don'tcha?" Rattrap said with a laugh, clinking his glass to Dinobot's empty cube. "C'mon, it ain't like this is the first time we've done this song an' dance, scale-belly."
Dinobot nodded, curling his claws around the empty cube as he stared into the glass. "Our missions and patrols were quite different." Then he let out a deep exhale and added, "I will miss the quiet. Tigatron was a fool in many ways, but his appreciation of Earth's more...innate qualities was not one of them."
That made Rattrap's smile soften into a more genuine expression, nostalgia curling around his circuits like a warm blanket. "Yeah, it was kinda nice when it wasn't tryin' ta scrap us at every turn." He shrugged and patted his thigh, indicating that Dinobot make himself comfortable again. "Gonna miss the food more than anythin' though." Liquid Energon was delicious and did the job, but his sensors really had been spoiled for choice back on Earth.
Organics were little more than delicate fleshy meat-bags, but ya had ta give it to 'em: their grub was pretty good.
"Of course," Dinobot muttered sarcastically as he laid his head down on Rattrap's leg, making the rodent shiver a bit as his internal servos rotated in their casings. Maybe another side-effect of those meds was drugging the raptor into docility (either that or he was just too exhausted to give a frag about such intimate touches).
Once again they fell into a soft silence, Dinobot laying against Rattrap's leg while the rodent slowly nursed his cube of Energon next to him. It really made Rattrap reflect on how moments like this were rare as they both usually filled the space between them with bickering at worst and snark at best.
It seemed that they finally had run out of things to say.
Or maybe they were finally at a point where putting up their usual front of playful hostility no longer made sense. The world around them had shifted and with it, everything else. Like it or not, they were two of the only people on all of Cybertron who could ever possibly understand what they'd been through on Earth: both the good and the bad.
Then he felt Dinobot sigh against him, his entire chest deflating with the motion. "Since we are speaking plainly, there is...something I have been keeping from you. From all of you," Dinobot murmured quietly. "Even now I hesitate to speak, but..." A pause. "Given our current circumstances and your expressed concerns for my well-being, it is only right that you're made aware of-"
"Chopperface, if you need ta tell me somethin', just go ahead an' say it," Rattrap said, lowering his cube as he glanced down at the raptor. "Though if it's big, maybe we should wait until we can get the boss monkey on the line?" He would need to check in again with Optimus at some point and no doubt Primal would be thrilled to get confirmation straight from the raptor's mouth.
Dinobot let loose a distasteful hiss. "No, I would prefer to not involve Optimus. I have a feeling that he may...overreact." Rattrap raised an eyebrow, definitely curious now, but he didn't interrupt again, instead letting Dinobot speak even as he could see the other bot was clearly struggling to find the words. Finally, Dinobot closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths before murmuring, "On the day I destroyed the golden disc...I attempted self-termination."
Rattrap stared down at the raptor for a moment, more than a little lost. "Y'know, overriding your stasis protocols is a really stupid move, but I wouldn't go as far as callin' it self-termination." Dramatic much? Then again, this was Dinobot...
Groaning, Dinobot shook his head and abruptly stood, towering over Rattrap and leering into the smaller mech's personal space until Rattrap was pressed back against the opposite wall. "No," Dinobot said firmly, locking eyes with Rattrap as he curled both sets of talons over the rat's shoulder joints. "This was in the morning. Before our conversation regarding my allegiances." Immediately Rattrap frowned, trying to remember that awful day as best he could, though it was kinda hard considering Dinobot almost dying had taken precedence in his processor. Though he did remember the argument...and how he felt like the world's biggest aft-hole for it in retrospect.
He hadn't been wrong to point out that Dinobot's loyalty had wavered. The raptor had almost scrapped him on Megatron's orders...
But...Rattrap had always been aware of the fact that the other man's conscious ran deeper than he let on and still poked him anyway. He'd never really apologized for it either, but at this point, it was probably a useless gesture (and one that Dinobot certainly wouldn't appreciate). It was all in the past.
Then suddenly, his processor kicked into overdrive and rerouted.
Dinobot had tried to offline himself.
Not in battle.
Not as a hero.
Just to die.
Oh Primus...this was way above his pay-grade.
Rattrap swallowed and looked at Dinobot as if seeing him for the first time and in some ways, he was. Suddenly the tired and somewhat haunted look in the other bot's optics made so much more sense and his spark fragging ached just thinking about it. Of course, he couldn't help but try and take some of the edge off, instinctively chuckling. "Heh...so you're sayin' I wasn't the one who made you wanna-" He stopped mid-joke, shaking his head. Slag, he was bad at this sorta crap. "Why are you-?"
"Because you should know," Dinobot said with more conviction than Rattrap expected from him given the delicate subject matter. "Now you can better understand my distaste for the current situation. That day, I was to prove myself worthy of the path that destiny had carved out and you denied me."
Rattrap pursed his mouth, fingers tightening around the cube clutched in his fist. "So...what stopped ya then? What brought you back from the brink, chopperface?"
Dinobot dropped his gaze to the floor, talons curling deeper into Rattrap's shoulders in a way that bordered on painful. "Cowardice...not for death itself, but for-" He shook his head. "-I betrayed my Predacon programming and my Maximal comrades all in one fell swoop. The shame of it drove me to attempt, but it was also enough to make me recoil and throw away my sword at the last moment."
Flinching, Rattrap couldn't help but conjure the mental image of Dinobot alone in his room, holding his favorite, most personal weapon and pointing it toward his spark-plate.
And to think this all happened before Rattrap had reamed into him...
He didn't even hesitate, Rattrap dropped the damn cube and dragged Dinobot down into a tight hug, ignoring the raptor's surprised flailing even as that thick tail slapped against his legs in protest. Thankfully Dinobot seemed to understand that he wasn't being attacked and relaxed under his hold even as he continued to try and extract himself from the rat's grip. But Rattrap clung on, closing his eyes and letting out a shuddering exhale. "Yeah well...I'm real glad that ya didn't, even if ya then went ahead and got yourself too burnt out for stasis-lock afterward," he rasped against the brown scales, burying his face into the crook of Dinobot's neck. "Cuz if you had offlined, I woulda chased your big aft to the Matrix an' back again for leavin' us ta deal with your...with your-"
The words died in his vocalizer and he hiccuped, overwhelmed with grief for a day that was long behind them, but could have been so incredibly painful in hindsight. All the little things that almost turned a day of triumph into one of mourning. The fact that he didn't even know just how bad it all coulda gone until now...
Decacycles later.
Dinobot remained still and silent, but Rattrap couldn't tell if it was out of shock and surprise or his own stoic need to bury any feelings that weren't anger and bloodlust down to his core. Either way, Rattrap didn't care. All that mattered was he could feel the damn saurian's spark pulsing under his organic shielding, the warm breath of his ventilation against his back. So what if they were sitting on the dusty floor of his closet surrounded by old tchotchkes and spilled Energon? Right now, he had Dinobot alive and well against all odds and that was more than enough.
"Vermin...this isn't particularly comfortable."
Well, the moment couldn't last forever. Rattrap reluctantly pulled back, but didn't let go, instead pressing his palms to either side of the raptor's face. "Better than bein' dead, chopperface," he said before playfully kissing those scaley lips (a small electrical tingle shooting down his spine as their mouths met). Dinobot went stiff, but Rattrap pressed on, not letting the raptor even have a klik to process the brief peck. "So do your ol' pal Rattrap a solid and promise me that if you ever get ta that point again...you talk ta me first?"
Considering how melancholy Dinobot had been acting since they returned to Cybertron, there was no telling whether or not he'd fall back into those dark swirling thoughts once this house-arrest period ended. It wasn't like Rattrap would be able to physically overpower Dinobot should the raptor be truly determined to end things, but if Rattrap was good for anything, it was distracting folks.
Sometimes that was all that was needed: another person who could talk them off the ledge and make them come back to their senses. Not that Dinobot had a lotta sense in that thick fossilized skull of his, but beggars and choosers or so the saying went.
Frowning, Dinobot extracted himself from Rattrap's grip and walked back to the nest, settling down onto the wrinkled blanket with an annoyed huff. "And what makes you think I'll agree to that?" he asked snidely, his expression as tight and sour as his tone.
Rattrap stood and reconfigured into his beast mode, shoving his way into the raptor's makeshift nest and pointedly ignoring the snaps and snarls he got in return. "Because you're a fraggin' Maximal and that's what we do," he said, smiling up at the other bot with his large incisors as he curled against Dinobot's abdomen. "Like it or not, chopperface, we look out for each other and right now you're stuck with me."
Dinobot groaned, laying his head down with an annoyed roll of his optics. However, he didn't try to pull away or leave which was a good sign. It was always hard to tell how the raptor would react to any level of physical intimacy that slipped past the level of teammate and trusted comrade. However, it seemed that Dinobot was willing to accept it or at least unwilling to fight it for the time being. Casual affection just slipped out sometimes and despite Dinobot's antisocial nature, it was slowly getting easier and easier to push past those stubborn saurian walls of his. Still, Rattrap considered himself lucky he hadn't gotten bit after he kissed the slagger (even if it had been worth risking the raptor's wrath).
He had almost lost the other mech to the Matrix. Was it such a crime to want to confirm with his own grubby little mouse hands that he was alive and well?
As he mused, Dinobot cleared his vocalizer and murmured, "If those are your demands, I expect something in exchange."
Rattrap hummed, raising one furry eyebrow as he laid his tail over the raptor's, slowly curling both appendages around them in a semi-circle. Ok, he'd bite. In all likelihood, the raptor would want a datapad pre-filled with all those stupid old plays he loved to quote. Or maybe a holo-combat simulator for-
"The price of my candor is for you to cease this useless self-flagellation."
Rattrap raised his head, blinking as he sputtered, "Who the what now?" Self-flagellation? The frag was chopperface even going on about?
The raptor snorted, nudging his snout against Rattrap's. "Your guilt. It's a disservice to us all, yourself included. You have done a great deal of deeds both for good and for ill, but I can assure you that none of your perceived crimes can compare to any I have wrought, nevermind those of Megatron."
Rattrap pursed his lips into a tight frown, optics flickering to the colorful blanket underneath them. "Yeah well, easier said than done."
Dinobot hissed and his tail coiled tighter around them both, pressing Rattrap up against his torso. "Words still have power, rodent. It was your accusations that encouraged me to action. Painful and pointed as they were, it was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. I was too easily swayed by the promise of assured victory that I lost sight of my true loyalties." Dinobot paused and Rattrap felt the other bot practically deflate next to him as he exhaled. "As much as I loathe to admit it, I am grateful to you, vermin. For that day and a good many more...especially in spite of my past treachery. The least I can offer in return is this small comfort." Then the raptor shifted and Rattrap was forced to meet those cool gray eyes with his own pitch-black optics. "You did not drive me to the end of my sword. I did that by myself."
Slag, an Energon knife to the chest would have been less painful. Those words, both so poetic and mechanical in their formality, somehow managed to hit him like a freight and Rattrap found himself completely at a loss. How the frag was he even supposed to respond to something like that?
And impatient as ever (or blissfully unaware of the emotional nuke he'd just dropped on the rat), Dinobot added, "As glorious as your silence is, I do require some level of confirmation, vermin. We are in agreement, are we not?" Then Dinobot actually smiled and for a moment Rattrap's processor froze in a soft-crash before finally rebooting after a few kliks. Slowly, he nodded, vocalizer stubbornly refusing to cooperate in the wake of seeing the snarly bastard actually pleased for once. "Good," the raptor said, eyes sliding closed once more.
Immediately Rattrap swallowed, thinking back to that fight and how those had almost been the last words he ever said to Dinobot. If that happened, he never woulda been able to live with himself. Thank Primus they got there in time to get him back to base even if it wasn't enough to fully restore the raptor to fighting form. The concessions were worth it.
At least to one of them.
He chuckled hoarsely and nodded, fingers nervously plucking at the blanket. "Heh, I never knew it mattered that much to ya," Rattrap mumbled, doing his best to affect more of his usual snark (and failing spectacularly when his voice cracked). "What I said anyway." He cleared his ventilators and added, "I guess I was just-. I mean...you did almost slag me."
"I know...and that day is by far the one I regret most for many reasons." Dinobot tensed against him and Rattrap frowned. "But I appreciate your continued companionship, despite my missteps."
Rattrap stiffened in turn, servos locking and freezing his joints solid. Was the surly saurian finally admitting outloud that they'd become friends (at least for the last stellar-cycle by his reckoning)? Primus, maybe someone had swapped out his Energon for some high grade... "I like havin' ya around too, dinobutt. Sometimes you drive me up the fraggin' wall, but I dunno what I'd do without ya at this point." He laughed awkwardly, shaking his head in a futile fit of denial. "What can I say? You've grown on me, chopperface. Y'know, like mold."
Immediately Dinobot snorted. "If anyone here could be likened to mold, it is you, rodent." Still, Rattrap could hear the smile in Dinobot's voice and he found himself mirroring the expression unconsciously, spark pulsing deep in his chassis. It really was crazy just how attached he had gotten to this awful mech. They had almost nothing in common at the end of the day and yet that was kinda what he liked about Dinobot. He suspected the feeling was mutual, but he'd never ask and Dinobot would surely never vocalize it. Instead they'd just continue to exist together like a set of magnets, constantly dragged into each other's orbits despite their opposing polarities.
"Still, I appreciate it and I'm sure to some extent, he does too."
Rattrap huffed. Yeah...maybe for once, Optimus was spot on. "I gotta ask though...what changed your mind? About scrappin' me?" he asked quietly. That night was forever etched into his processor and even now he could recall Dinobot's tight bitter scowl. It hadn't lasted though and as the other mech's eyes began to waver, his expression crumpling, it was clear that Dinobot didn't want to hurt him despite his many claims to the contrary. If he truly hated Rattrap with every fiber of his being, that night was the perfect opportunity to take out two stellar-cycles worth of frustration in one fell-swoop.
Dinobot pursed his mouth, silent for a moment before finally murmuring, "It's...difficult to explain, but let's just say that your life was worth more to me than Megatron's promise of victory."
Rattrap swallowed hard, spark stuttering in his chest. Well frag him...now chopperface had gone ahead and made him speechless twice in one conversation.
It really wasn't a fair fight though. Dinobot could be ridiculously eloquent when he wanted and sometimes Rattrap just wasn't prepared for the sorta almost romantic poetry that left the bastard's reptilian lips. "Damn, all this sweet-talkin's gonna get my fans in a twist." He laughed, but it was forced, an attempt to lighten the load that pressed down on him and threatened to crush his spark under the weight of Dinobot's words.
The raptor sneered. "Do I amuse you, rat?"
No, you confuse me, Rattrap thought with a small groan. "Guess I never knew if you really cared or not. Always just kinda assumed ya spared me cuz we were fightin' for the same side." As he spoke, he reached up one small hand, touching over the saurian's flank and giving it a playful pat. "Maximal solidarity, y'know."
Leaning into Rattrap's palm, Dinobot let loose a thoughtful rumble from deep within his chest. "I doubt I would have been able to kill any of the crew, but the fact that it was you forced me to rethink my motivations...as well as my priorities," Dinobot paused and then actually laughed, almost making Rattrap jump outta his fur in surprise. "You should be honored. I traded my very legacy in the Predacon Databases for you, vermin."
The rat smirked and pressed his face against the pebbly texture of the raptor's scales, indulging in the tactile touch while he still could. "Eh, legacies are overrated," Rattrap muttered. "Besides, there's still time for that crap. Ain't like you're dead." Dinobot scoffed and Rattrap rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. You think you're too slaggin' broken ta do anythin' now, but y'know, a legacy is just bein' remembered at the end of the day. It's about passin' somethin' to the next generation." He glanced down and then pulled at the blanket under them both. "Like this. I dunno who gave this ta my aunt, but she kept it and gave it ta my ma who passed it ta me."
Dinobot grunted, flicking the fringed edge of the quilt with one curved claw. "This tattered cloth can hardly be called a legacy. It's barely functional for its sole purpose."
And yet you're usin' it, ain'tcha? Rattrap tsked. "Hey, it's lasted through three generations of Autobots and Maximals. If that ain't a legacy, then I dunno what is." He did pull back though and stand up, reconfiguring into mech form as he offered a hand to the other bot. "But if you're gonna be usin' my family legacy as your new bed, how 'bout we clean up this closet and make some more space in here for that fat aft of yours?"
For a moment, Dinobot appeared reluctant, but then he accepted the rat's hand and let Rattrap help him to his feet. "It is rather difficult to get much done in this limited form. You'll have to take on most of the labor," he remarked, stepping out of the closet and stretching each of his limbs in turn.
Rattrap shrugged. He kinda figured that was gonna be the case regardless, but he wanted to at least do right by Dinobot with this if nothing else. Plus, making sure he had a comfortable place to recharge was an easy enough task. "Yeah, just remember this the next time ya try an' bite my head off over the whole house-arrest deal." As he spoke, he bent over, lifting up the quilt and folding it against his opposite arm. "Bet this thing could use a wash." He turned, but before he could make his way toward the main living room, Dinobot reached forward and abruptly snatched the cloth from his hands. Rattrap blinked, staring at the raptor who immediately balked at his own boldness and sheepishly cleared his vocalizer.
"It is...fine. Dusty, but that will air out with enough time," Dinobot mumbled, carefully clutching the fabric to his chest so as to not rip through the seams with his massive talons. "And given its age, washing may destroy the integrity of the weave."
Huh...ok then.
Rattrap shrugged and nodded, not particularly upset at the idea of crossing one more chore off his list. "Alright, stand back, dinobutt," he said, going into the kitchen to grab the bottles of industrial cleaner he'd purchased. "It's gonna get real muggy in here real fast." He flashed the raptor a smile and Dinobot pressed his mouth into a firm line, not quite returning the expression, but also not offering up one of his signature snarls either. He did continue to hold tight to the blanket though while Rattrap moved everything out of the closet and began to scrub down the walls and floors with detergent.
Once the small space reeked of nothing but chemicals, Rattrap went back into the living room and began to drag in some of the items he had salvaged during his initial clean. Rattrap made sure to built the new "nest" much bigger than the one Dinobot had initially constructed with sturdy walls composed of spare parts and storage containers he had lying around. "Lemme know if it gets too cold. I can rewire one of my hot boxes and set that up around the perimeter," he called out as he worked, welding two metal bins together so they'd actually hold against Dinobot's weight should the raptor roll over in his sleep.
"Unnecessary, but duly noted."
Rattrap shook his head, smiling to himself before stepping back to gesture at the ring of metal he'd assembled. "Well, what do'ya think, lizard lips? Might need ta pick up a coupla pillows, but I think this'll last until we get you cleared by the council."
Humming, Dinobot stepped forward, leaning over and testing the strength of the construction with one clawed foot. Satisfied, he carefully laid the blanket down in the center of the basin, arranging the trim to drape over the shallow walls. "It will do for now," he said, continuing to adjust the blanket while Rattrap began to move the more useless junk from his closet into the other room. By the time Rattrap returned, the raptor had already settled in and curled against the side of the nest, back facing the opposite wall.
"Gonna take another cat-nap?" the rodent teased with a small smirk. Not that he was all that surprised. Dinobot already struggled to let loose on a good day and being in a new place (stuck in beast mode) was probably not helping whatsoever. Plus, who knew how hard the meds were hitting his system at this point.
Dinobot let out a quiet rumble and Rattrap chuckled, putting up both palms. "Alright alright. I get it. Enjoy your nap, chopperface." He went to wave the other man off and close the door but before he could take another step, the raptor's tail flicked out, knocking hard against his shins with a dull clang.
"Stay," Dinobot growled, though there wasn't any heat behind the request. His slit pupils met Rattrap's and for a moment, the raptor looked a little...shy, but Dinobot offered him no further explanation or command.
The rodent stared at him for a moment before finally shrugging. Admittedly, he was pretty beat himself after all this running back and forth. Between the repeated trips to the security stations, getting through all the lab work required by the council, and dealing with Dinobot, he hadn't had a decent recharge in almost two solarcycles. He'd stayed up for far longer than that of course, but the stress of it all was exhausting in a way that crap like scout patrol, monitor duty, and fire-fights somehow weren't.
Pretty crazy how much more daunting civilian life felt now that he was outta a goddamn warzone. "You want me just in the room or in there with you?" he asked, casually leaning against the door frame.
Dinobot only lowered his gaze, remaining stubbornly silent and Rattrap sighed, rolling his optics as he transformed back into beast mode. "Alright, pal. You're just lucky I made this thing nice an' big otherwise this was gonna be a tight fit." He hopped over the rim of the nest and then slid to lay next to the raptor's abdomen, cuddling up as close as he could.
At least like this, the big lizard wouldn't be needing a hot box. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd been used as Dinobot's personal heater and heck, it probably wouldn't even be the last by his reckoning.
But Rattrap found he didn't really mind. Not anymore.
Because eventually they would get all this stupid political slag squared away and he'd finally get to let loose at a club and drink his weight in dirty mechfluid. It was only a matter of time before they all adjusted and then home would finally feel like home again.
However in the meantime, at least he had Dinobot...
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