#.....sometimes

Being on Earth again was strange. Ultra Magnus couldn’t say he spent a lot of time on this planet before they went back into space to battle Unicron, and then things kind of grew too hectic... But he always remembered this little blue planet with fondness. It was so different from Cybertron, that nothing here reminded about their war-ravaged homeworld. Here, Ultra Magnus could just enjoy the short pauses between battles. Here, it was possible to remember peace.

It wasn’t the right time for this, though, because the Decepticons were up to something. It was not a blunt direct attack, but rather a covert operation, which meant it wasn’t Galvatron’s plan. Someone else was running it.

And here he was. Ultra Magnus recognized the familiar purple space jet even against the dark storm clouds. When said jet transformed and landed in front of the ruins of some human building lost in the jungle, Magnus’s suspicions were confirmed. Cyclonus.

Well. It wasn’t the worst Decepticon to face against. Cyclonus was honorable and loyal (if to a wrong person). Perhaps he’d even be open for talking.

But, to Ultra Magnus’s surprise, when Cyclonus saw him, he ran.

Ran. Not flew. That was weird. Was he wounded? Already a little concerned despite himself, Magnus set chase.

***

He found Cyclonus in a cave – the Decepticon’s energy signature betrayed him. And this time he seemed ready to fight, his weapons aimed at Magnus and his face solemn.

Behind Magnus’s back the tropical rain started, heavy drops rapping against the thick local vegetation.

But, surprisingly enough, Cyclonus didn’t attack him. The Decepticon just stayed where he was, keeping his cannon trained on Magnus.

It was so strange that Magnus had to ask.

“Are you not going to shoot me?”

“Unless you shoot me first, Autobot.” As always, Cyclonus’s voice sounded grim. “But I would advise against it; laser fire might destroy this shelter.”

“Shelter..?” It took Magnus a couple of seconds to process that comment. “Wait, is this why you ran? You wanted to hide from rain?”

“Of course I wanted to hide from rain. Aren’t you Autobots harmed by acid anymore?”

“Acid?” Alright, he was definitely sounding stupid, repeating words like this. Cyclonus appeared to share this opinion. “But it’s not an acid rain. It’s just water.”

“Water..?”

Magnus had a strange urge to smile. Now it was Cyclonus’s turn to echo words.

“It only rains acid on Chaar,” Cyclonus said, and the urge to smile disappeared. Right, Magnus remembered. Chaar. The barren piece of rock the Decepticons called their home now. And Cyclonus was barely three solar cycles old. He has never known anything but Chaar.

Slowly Magnus raised both of his hands, showing his empty palms.

“It only rains water on Earth,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean we should go outside and fight. It’s still pretty wet.” Cyclonus didn’t attack, so just as slowly Magnus sat down with his back to the cave’s wall.

“I actually like it. Earth’s rain,” he added after a klik. “It’s calming. Makes me feel at peace.”

It hasn’t rained anything but acid on Cybertron for a while.

Another klik passed – and finally Cyclonus lowered his weapon. The look on his face didn’t change – it was always hard for Magnus to read him – but now the red optics moved to watch the rain.

“Do you have something like that?” Magnus asked, surprising himself. Maybe the rain calmed him a little too much…

“The sound of my lord’s engine when he sleeps.”

“Oh,” Magnus muttered. He… didn’t know how to react to that.

With a thump, Cyclonus sat down too in his corner of the cave. He didn’t seem to be waiting for a reply, so Magnus remained silent.