Chase cradled his warm cube between his servos and simply listened. It was obvious that whatever Flicker was leading up to was important to him, therefore, it was important to the policebot as well.
It was hard not to reach for his son when the young mechâs voice began to shake, one servo had already lifted almost automatically, but he slowly lowered it when Flicker indicated that he wasnât finished speaking.
Chase felt a tiny pang of disappointment upon learning that Flicker wouldnât be joining him on the path of law enforcement, though it wasnât directed at Flicker himself, merely at the concept.
âI want you to know that I am incredibly proud of you. Forging your own path is always challenging, but, no matter what youâve decided, I will always be here to assist you in any capacity that you require.â He set his now empty cube aside and offered Flicker a warm hug.
âSo, donât keep me in suspense, what have you decided to do?â
Even though he'd anticipated it, Flicker was still relieved to know for certain that Chase would support his decision. He hugged him back tightly and remained there for a moment, grateful beyond words for having someone like him in his life.
Finally Flicker moved to pick up the energon cube he'd set down before, and he held it between his servos, looking thoughtful. He wished he would've been able to lay out a detailed plan already, but at the same time he knew he wasn't expected to figure this all out on his own.
"What I've decided to do is... um..."
The young mech was drumming his digits on the side of the cube nervously - whereas he'd been well prepared before, now he was clearly thinking out loud.
"It's... something that, uh... that may not have been done before. A-at least, maybe not in Cybertron, I don't know, but... but maybe it's something we should have."
"What happened yesterday... I'm glad we were able to help them. But, um... I realized that their situation probably wasn't unique. I-I don't mean just what was happening between them, but the way they were, you know... alone with their struggles. And I think... I'm sure there are a lot of people like that out there."
Flicker paused to refuel, and to collect his thoughts. Setting down the empty cube, he glanced at Chase, smiling shyly. He hoped he was making sense.
"So what I want to do is... I want to be someone they can share their struggles with."
Flicker got up and started pacing around while talking, seemingly unaware of doing so. His words became more confident as he explained how he could be there for anyone who needed someone's help - someone to help them with a burdensome task they couldn't do alone, someone to accompany them to a new activity they were too scared to try by themselves, someone to walk them to school to protect them from being stopped by bullies... Someone to help with struggles that didn't fall within any traditional rescue field, but were still struggles they needed help with.
"Not everyone has a friend they can turn to." Flicker stopped pacing, and when he looked at Chase, his expression was that of someone's who's just found their true purpose. "So I want to be that friend to whoever needs it."
Chase was quiet as Flicker explained what he wanted to do, he found himself nodding along and smiling at the young mechâs enthusiasm.
âA professional friend⌠Itâs a noble idea and likely to be popular. Youâll have to create schedules and figure out how to pace yourselfâŚâ The policebot gave another nod and sat back. âAnd I think the task suits you perfectly.â
















