Reformed, but Not Tamed

Given what he'd endured, one would think a clinic– ANY clinic– would be the very last place he'd ever want to be. One would be correct in that assumption… but with Ratchet's clinic, he could almost talk himself into being somewhere else. There were, fortunately, differences between where he was now and the science labs he'd been confined to all that time ago. 

He paused, sensing himself for anything that would fall into those categories… he frowned.

it isn't the worst that he could have endured, and for that, ratchet is grateful. he knows what blitzwing has survived. he knows the horrors his own people put the poor triplechanger through. he will not stand by and let that happen again.

"sit down, then, and let me take a look."

the words are grumbled, but the hand upon blitzwing's arm is gentle. less of a pushy doctor and more guiding friend. his touch is light, barely a breath of contact between their platings. but enough that ratchet's own field flutters, pulsing in reminder. he's here. this is his clinic, not the autobot hospitals. blitzwing is safe.

"That's just a successful tantrum, Starscream," says a very tired (and maybe slightly amused) Ratchet.

@terrorskies  ;  ❝ you reckless fool. what do you think you’re doing? ❞ // for thrash from leah leah moment  ━  always accepting.

             the   jingle   of   nails   and   bolts   ceases,   small   bucket   tipped   above   thrash   with   intake   open   wide   when   parental   figure      (   thankfully   )      interrupts.   optics   gaze   shifts   between   the   bucket   above   and   to   leah,   who   has   disapproval   written   all   over   her   face.   terran   is   frozen   in   place   briefly,   but   soon   the   bucket   is   lowered,   and   he   turns   to   face   her   with   a   wave.

 ❝         oh,   hey   leah   !      you’ve.   .   .   caught   me   at   a   weird   time,         ❞

 an   understatement   considering   the   circumstances.   was   this   a   good   idea   ?      well,   he’s   not   really   one   to   use   forethought.

for a moment, all the girl can do is stare.

she's used to shenanigans. growing up with soundwave and the little ones, you get used to shenanigans and hijinks and other fun words that sound like they shouldn't be words. frenzy and laserbeak, especially, are known for getting into trouble just because it's the only thing they know how to do.

and, frankly, because they're kids. frenzy is, at least. and, just like frenzy, thrash is barely older than a protoform; still a sparkling to his very core. how can she deny him a bit of shenanigans?

quite easily, actually.

@terrorskies  ;  ❝ you have been disappointing me for years. ❞ // leah for megatron.   leah being iconic  ━  always accepting

             ❝         i   do   not   recall   a   single   moment   in   time   where   you   have   felt   any   other   way   about   me,         ❞

 and   he   doubts   there   ever   was.   why   she   feels   the   need   to   remind   him   is   somewhat   of   a   mystery   ;   obviously   the   guilt   of   his   inescapable   past   haunting   him   brings   her   some   form   of   satisfaction,   but   surely   leah   could   be   spending   her   speck   of   a   lifespan   on   something   more   productive.   his   former   generals   provide   all   the   haunting   he   needs.  unlike   the   courtesy   he   would   typically   show   other   organics,   stance   remains   upright   as   he   strains   to   look   down   on   her.   to   kneel   for   someone   so   disrespectful   would   injure   what   little   pride   of   his   still   remains.

"then clearly you don't pay attention!" spits the woman, venom coating her lips, her tongue. she turns to face him now, hands moving from where they once crossed her chest down to fists by her side. "you used to be everything i fuckin' stood for, megatron! fuck the system, down with the government, freedom fighting— all that bullshit you spewed when i was still a kid. and then what the hell did i wake up and find?"

her heel digs into the ground, the stiletto's tip pressing cracks into the hardened dirt. it takes all she has not to leap and claw fruitlessly at that titanium alloy. what she wouldn't give for stronger nails, a bigger gun. what she wouldn't give for a fuckin' immobilizer right now, to finish what she and the other decepticons had started. it's what they deserve.

it's what starscream deserves.

"you working for the autobots? worse! working for the american government? like, what the fuck, dude! what the fuck!" her jaw clenches so tight leah swears her teeth creak. she has to take a breath, count to ten. lower the threats and malicious plans in her head from a total nuke to something a little tamer. in the end she comes up with,

❛  so, i sort of started a civil war ...  ❜ ❛  i am so sorry for turning my back on you as my mentor.  ❜ ❛  i needed to understand what real suffering was, so i could become more compassionate to others.  ❜ ❛  what's the big idea with making me train this early in the morning? the morning is evil.  ❜ ❛  oh, i'm sorry. did i put you in a difficult position by fighting the giant force of pure evil that was going to destroy the whole world? maybe your administration could have handled that.  ❜ ❛  fighting is something the old me would do. that always made things worse.  ❜ ❛  let's go on a vacation, just the two of us. anywhere you want.  ❜ ❛  it's all right. people usually assume that i'm daddy's helpless little girl, but i can handle myself.  ❜ ❛  the world is in trouble ... i have to go help.  ❜ ❛  i'm impressed. no one has ever gotten the better of me like that.  ❜ ❛  i assure you, i have a plan. and i'm saving you for last; then you'll get your duel, and i will destroy you.  ❜ ❛  when we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.  ❜ ❛  i did what i had to do to survive and protect my little brother.  ❜ ❛  and ... what am i going to find if ... i get through this?  ❜ ❛  we should always learn from those who came before us, but we must also forge our own path.  ❜ ❛  why don't you come and find out?  ❜ ❛  if you look for the light, you can often find it. but if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see.  ❜ ❛  you need to make decisions based on what you want. don't make the same mistakes i did.  ❜ ❛  i don't know what i'm supposed to be doing half the time.  ❜ ❛  right, friends. no, no, i didn't mean to imply.  ❜ ❛  i do like the idea of putting you on a train and sending you far, far away.  ❜ ❛  you need me, but i don't need you.  ❜ ❛  you swore your loyalty to me and i gave you a chance at greatness. this is how you repay me?  ❜ ❛  i told you dating a teammate would be a bad idea.  ❜ ❛  stick around five minutes and you'll find out who's bluffing.  ❜ ❛  wait! we can't fight them all. we need to be smart about this.  ❜ ❛  you know, it's okay to be scared. the important thing is to talk about our fears, because if we don't, they throw us out of balance. i'm always here for you, if you want to talk.  ❜ ❛  what i'm trying to say is, as much as you drive me crazy ... i also think you're pretty amazing.  ❜ ❛  see, that's what i admire about you, [ name ]: your willingness to go to extremes in order to get what you want. it is a quality we both share.  ❜ ❛  ending a relationship is kind of like pulling off a bloodsucking leech. you just gotta rip it off and get it over with. you'll feel a lot better afterwards. trust me.  ❜ ❛  don't tell me you are still mad about everything that happened?! i did some good things, too!  ❜ ❛  all right, hold on. will you quit ignoring me and tell me what's going on?  ❜ ❛  how about, for now, i just promise not to show up at your house and attack you again?  ❜ ❛  what would you do, if you were in charge? help me be more like you.  ❜ ❛  i wish you were putting up more of a fight, but it was still fun.  ❜ ❛  please, just let me say one thing, then i'll never contact you again.  ❜ ❛  i'm not sure i'll ever be able to forgive you. but that doesn't mean i shouldn't try.  ❜ ❛  i came here to look you in the eye and tell you that you have no power over me. i will no longer be scared of you.  ❜ ❛  but if you had any other options, you wouldn't be here now, would you? we may have been enemies once, but for now, our interests align.  ❜ ❛  you don't have to apologize for anything. i'm just so happy you're here now.  ❜

His icy optics shifted onto Ratchet.

vitriol drips from heavy glossa as ratchet continues his work. pharma had gotten himself into one pit of a mess. luckily, it seems he hadn't been stupid enough to settle for anything but the best. even if that best is the one mech in the galaxy who refuses to look him in the optic.

he's right, though. as much as ratchet hates to admit it, there had been a time when the two of them were inseparable. where pharma stopped, ratchet started; where ratchet stopped, and pharma started. but that was millennia ago.