touchscreens | [Voice]

[And hearing Chromedome's voice is causing his spark to ache... he's still not sure if he can handle looking at him yet but he has to.]

I'd like that. [He pauses.] Wait, what do you mean rough couple of days? What happened??

[Oh for crying out loud did Spinister already break his promise??]

Let's just say I had a run-in with someone's fists. But it's over now, nothing to worry about.

I'll be waiting here for you. We'll talk about it some more when we see each other.

[And by that he means he doesn't intend to bring it up at all.]

Whose fists?? You didn't have a run in with the Decepticons did you??

[This is a really important question because if it was Spinister, there was going to be some hell to pay from one tiny little Autobot. So yeah, he's not going to 'wait' to hear this, sorry Chromedome. He knows better than to put off insisting on the questions Chromedome's trying to dismiss.]

Like I said! It's not important!

[Hilariously enough, Spinister is exactly who Chromedome is going to blame it on. He's not about to admit that he had his ass kicked by a fellow Autobot. That'd look bad.]

I deserved it and now it's done. No point in making a big deal out of it.

[Rewind doesn't want to admit that he made a deal with Spinister, that if Spinister hurt the bot there was going to be hell to pay. So he'll just let it go, and ask Spinister about it later...]

You don't deserve to be hurt.

[Rewind lets out a soft sigh.] Let's just take a walk... Where do you want to meet?

That's not a popular opinion around here.

[But whatever.]

I'll be at Magnus' place. Best take me away as fast as you can, because I asked him to go over the unabridged Autobot code with me and now he's super excited. In the usual Magnus way.

It's not an opinion.

[To Rewind, it's a hard set fact. Chromedome didn't deserve to be hurt, regardless of what he did. No one deserved to be hurt.]

Wait, wow, you actually asked him to... Geeze, Domey you don't deserve that either, you need to go easier on yourself! [He doesn't even realize that he said 'Domey'; bad force of habit.] I'll be right over.

[Rewind isn't kidding either. He is going to spare the poor bot Magnus's 'passion' as best he can, and so it's not too long before he's knocking on the door to Magnus's apartment.]

[Domey.

He could get used to that to be honest.]

Hey I think if anyone needs a nice, agonizingly long refresher, it's me.

[There's humour in his voice though. Part of the reason he's doing this is to make Magnus happy. That's worth the madness that is sure to follow.]

[Chromedome's spark jumps when he hears the knock on the door, and he almost doesn't answer it. Maybe he's doing this too fast. Maybe they should have talked over the network some more first. It's too late to back out now, so he stands up and slowly pulls open the door.

In the back of his mind, he imagines dramatic music as Rewind is revealed in the doorway.]

...Hi.

[Rewind stares up in silence at the other bot at first, optics growing wide as he takes in the sight of how beat up Chromedome's chassis looks. His spark aches horribly as he looks over all of that damage, especially since he can tell it used to be a lot worse before he was obviously patched up.]

... Chromedome, do you feel okay? We can sit down and talk if you're not up to walking. [The small mech reaches up for him almost without thinking, wanting to run his hands over the damage as if that would magically make it all go away.]

I've been through worse, I promise.

[He makes his voice as reassuring as possible and steps out into the hallway. Sure, he doesn't look good, but he can still walk so that's something. Rewind's gesture towards him makes him hesitate, completely unsure how to react to it.]

Let's do the walking and talking thing. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid trouble by hanging out with you.

I know you have. That's not going to make me worry less.

[The little bot notices Chromedome's hesitant reaction to his gesture and very awkwardly lowers his hands back by his sides. He's so used to Chromedome's body language and gestures just meshing perfectly with his own that it's kind of strange and terribly upsetting for his signals to be missed or ignored. But right, walking and talking... Something else to focus on.]

Why do you think I haven't left your side for so many years? Seems like any time we're apart, one of us gets into trouble. [Injecting, buying 'snuff' movies, sneaking around... Technically the whole Overlord incident could have been prevented if he'd kept a better eye on Chromedome. Maybe that was where they should start.] ... Let's walk down to the lake, that should give us enough time to talk about everything on our minds. [And without further ado, Rewind is already heading in that direction.] Do you mind if we start with a talk I promised we'd have before everyone thought I was dead...? How much do you remember of the incident with Overlord?

Edited (I can't TYPE) 2014-07-27 23:40 (UTC)

[Chromedome's shoulders stiffen at the mention of Overlord. Really? They're going to start with that? He wonders how much the little guy knows.]

All of it. Overlord escaped and I ended up blasted him into space. Lost my arm when I dislodged the sword that was jamming the doors.

[Which is an extremely condensed version of the story.]

What sort of talk were we going to have?

[Rewind narrows his optics at the bigger mech.]

... I don't know if you'll believe me, but I hope you give me the benefit of the doubt considering you scrambled your circuits. I'm the one who dislodged the sword. You tried to stop me, and jammed your arm through the door, so... I cut off your arm. But I guess none of that really matters now...

We were going to have a talk about why you lied to me. You promised me you wouldn't inject anymore, and then you went behind my back and started injecting on Overlord. I still don't know why Overlord was on the ship in the first place, why you were injecting on him, or why you thought it was okay to lie to me about it...

[Rewind sighs and folds his arms over his chest as he walks.]

I'm still... so upset about all of it. I need to know why it happened. I need to know what you were thinking that made you believe what you did was okay.

[OH BOY.]

...You know, on second thought I think I hear Magnus calling me.

[He stops walking and starts edging away.]

[Annnd Rewind is severely regretting this route of a topic. Maybe he should've known he was pushing his luck with asking him about this first, even if it was the one answer he was quite literally dying to know.

He stops and turns on a dime the instant he notices Chromedome inching away, rushing forward and grabbing his hands tightly.]

Stop. Please. I'm not mad at you. I'm just trying to understand. Just give me an answer, tell me the truth, and then we don't have to talk about it anymore.

You want the truth?

[He vents heavily and glances away. All of this isn't really going the way he'd hoped it go. He thought they'd be getting to know each other, not directly confronting Chromedome's broken memories.]

One word: Prowl.

[Rewind stands there in silence for a moment, looking down at his pedes.]

... That explains a lot, actually. In fact, that explains everything. You don't remember, but I was there for the argument you had with Prowl just before take off...

[So this was what that had all really been about. Obviously Rewind has more follow-up questions, wondering what Chromedome had even been doing in the first place, but he thinks he can get those details from Magnus instead. And he doesn't want Chromedome trying to run away again.

Rewind doesn't let go of Chromedome's hands, instead turning his gaze back up to him, looking apologetic.]

... Your turn. You can ask me something now. If you're still up for this.

He

He wanted me to do it and wouldn't take no for an answer. I didn't want to inject anymore I honestly can't remember why but he kept insisting. Eventually he just stuck Overlord on the ship and I had no choice at that point. You don't say no to Prowl. He doesn't care what you think.

[Chromedome has been so wrapped up in the past Prowl that he's almost forgotten his hatred and resentment towards the present Prowl. Bitterness edges into his voice and his hand tightens around Rewind's.]

I'm up for this. Just... just give me a moment.

I understand. I get it.

[And something- probably common sense- is telling him that Chromedome isn't the only person on board who was coerced. In fact, he knows that Drift was also involved. And likely several others.

Rewind looks down at Chromedome's hand clutching his own. It's so strange to think that the needles that caused both of them so much grief just aren't there anymore.]

Take your time. And let me know if I'm overstepping my bounds with anything I'm saying. I'm used to us being more... y'know, intimate.

I don't... mind.

[He doesn't either. The idea of being intimate with someone fills him with longing. As if there's a great big hole in his spark that's desperate to be filled. Maybe Rewind will be the one to make it better. His thoughts drift towards Prowl and he guiltily pulls himself away from them.

Rewind's hand, however, he continues holding onto. It feels nice.]

Okay, let's start with... favourites. What's your favourite movie? Colour? Numbers? Have you been paying your tab at Swerve's bar?

[Rewind tilts his head curiously at Chromedome. He didn't expect Chromedome to be so okay with the intimate little habits Rewind had developed over the many, many centuries they'd been to together. Well, he's at least glad for the leniency. And of course that's what he views it as, leniency, not longing.

Letting go of one of Chromedome's hands, Rewind squeezes his other, small fingers shifting to lock with his as he tugs him along, back on their walk.

His questions make him actually laugh a little. Rewind wasn't sure what he'd been expecting Chromedome to ask first, but that wasn't it.]

Do you actually care or are you just being funny? [It's a rhetorical question; Rewind decides to answer his questions anyway, because he knows Chromedome doesn't remember any of the answers. Some small part of him hopes it'll spark some kind of recollection, despite being more than aware that that wasn't how mnemosurgery worked.] Favorite color: gold. Favorite number: 1024. Both cliché answers, I know.

I have been paying my tab at Swerve's, and I made sure you were paying yours too, so if you were wondering why you ever bothered, mystery solved.

Also, I have over four million years' worth of footage on my hard drive, and several hundred thousands of movies... Asking me to pick a favorite is pretty much next to impossible. I can say without a doubt, though, that I could narrow it down to the footage that I've taken. That footage is a lot more important to me than any movies I've collected.

Hey, hey.

I'm perfectly capable of remembering to pay my own goddamn tabs!

[Most of the time.]

Okay, so tell me. What's your favourite footage? I think Magnus told me you were an Archivist, so I'm guessing you have a little bit of everything?

[Anything of them, he wonders. Of the time they've spent together? Of course there is, but Chromedome's not entirely sure he's ready to see it just yet. But he has to keep going. He wants to make Rewind happy.]

[Rewind laughs a little, shaking his head at Chromedome.]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[He pauses in response to Chromedome's question, unsure of exactly how to respond to it. Yes, he has a countless amount of footage of the two of them... if he really tried to, he probably could narrow that footage down to a favorite clip. But while Chromedome's probably not ready to see it, he doesn't think he's ready to share it.]

It's... a little personal. Sorry. [Annnd moving on from the awkward answer.] But if you'd like me to share something, I think you'd probably appreciate the documentary about the Lost Light Rodimus asked me to put together! I can even show you the version that Ultra Magnus didn't censor.

Hey, is it my turn for a question now?

No.

[He hasn't "smiled" in weeks. So this is what it feels like to be Magnus. Strange.]

[Rewind tilts his head at him, smiling back.]

Alright, fine. But you've got to let me talk to you about some of the really important stuff eventually. We can't put it off forever, as much as I know you want to. So, what else do you want to know?

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