knowhen | EVENT ONE: JUNE 21ST-28TH

Maybe if he scowled, he'd be more familiar? But now that the threat is gone, he turns to face the other, full on, his gold optics tilting as he studies the earnest face before him.

But it hasn't been that long for Wing--only a few cycles ago, he'd stood near Drift, ready to face the slavers, ready to give his life for the other's freedom. But the voice, and the finials, and the face....

"...Drift?"

Oh the scowl's still around, maybe not as deep as it used to be though. And not around Wing. It's just that all the false ideas he'd stubbornly armored himself with are gone now and he's naked and earnest before Wing, the other's light burning those scowls away now.

Drift nods, maybe too eagerly, wanting to reach out and touch, reassure himself that Wing is real.

"How? How did you..." He swallows around the static rising in his vocalizer, unable to go on.

See? It's not Wing's fault. It's the Mystery of the Missing Scowl. Which, well, he's not missing so much right now.

"How did I end up here? The same as you, I imagine. But," because if this is Drift he looks quite different, "it appears we have a lot to catch up on."

Let's just not solve that mystery, Drift likes having a face that does more than two things. And if Wing is here...maybe there's the option for a lot more things it can do...

"No I mean, you... The battle... I..."

And he just can't do it. He can't bring himself to bring that dark knowledge into this space. It tears at him and he shoves it down, not wanting to darken Wing's light with the knowledge of his own death. He'll bear that alone.

"I'm just glad to see you," he offers instead, hands hovering around Wing's arms because Drift just wants to scoop him up into a hug but stops himself at the last minute, uncertain it's welcome.

Well, fine, but only if they replace that mystery with an exploration of what new things Drift can do with his face.

"The battle?" It was a bit of an overstatement, Wing thought, to consider one tentacle beast and its admittedly annoying tentakids a 'battle' but...

"Oh. Oh." He gives a sheepish laugh, scratching the back of his neck. "I was just about to, you know, before I was here."

But Drift looks upset, for some reason. Or unhappy. Or something. Well, not all problems get solved by slicing them to deli meat. Some problems need hugging. He's figuring this is one of those. And if not, he could throw Drift across the room for old time's sake?

Drift's good with exploring. Especially if it goes...maybe...in the direction of smooching? That's a thing he can do with his face. ~~Probably more of his face than is really necessary. No accounting for skill, and all.~~

"Oh. So. You haven't been in the battle. With Braid. Yet?" He's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing just an awkward thing. Other than the fact that Wing is still alive and that's 100% all that matters. He's also 100% good with hugs, 150% even. Drift'll also take being thrown around...as long as it's not off the bridge into the pile of tentagoop three levels down. He needs a washrack bad enough already as it is.

And maybe that hug is a little bit too fierce, his arms almost afraid to circle entirely around Wing but the grips of his hands are tight as he pulls Wing against him with a muffled sound. Not only is it Wing, here, alive in this strange place, but the jet is the first of his kind that he's seen in quite a while. Not that he hadn't expected to run across other Cybertronians, he was just pretty sure they wouldn't be friendly.

A few hours ago, and he was going to his death, and now, it seems as though all of life itself has opened up before him--Drift, this place, everything. It's almost a little dizzying, so he's glad, really, for the fierce hug.

"No, we were going to face him. I'm...I'm glad you're free, Drift." What else is there to say?

It's almost like a point of solidity, grounding each other here in this storm of the unknown. At least that's how Drift sees it, and he lingers in the hug for an extra moment, trying to memorize the sound of Wing's systems and the unique smell of the oil he uses.

And then Drift pulls away with a nervous laugh, realizing how creepy he's probably being. "Sorry. It's. uh. been a long time for me. THAT IS. SinceIlastsawyou, I mean..."

Yeah. Drift is a smooth operator all right.

"I have you to thank for that. You changed everything." It's totally inadequate as thank yous go. But hey, he's gotta start somewhere.

He ex-vents a sigh as Drift finally pulls away. It probably was wise, though, not to stay too huggy right now--there may be more of those creatures out there!

"Later," he says, because he's not really sure he can handle all this truth all at once. And 'later' means they have a later, which is a treasure unto itself.

"All you have to thank is yourself for being true to your spark, Drift." Anyting Wing had done to help that didn't require thanks.

The last thing Drift needs is another tentacreep joining in on the hugging. Could it get any more awkward than that?

"I just needed some help really seeing it." He flashes another smile before getting back to the dangerous business at hand. "Right. Later, we can catch up. Promise. Right now though, where are you headed?"

Hey, don't kinkshame, Drift.

But a tentacled monster with unpleasant intentions would be an interruption here.

"We all need help sometimes, Drift. That's why we're social creatures. No one can do it alone." That's why the Circle of Light was a circle.

But maybe he can save the preaching for later, too, when things--and his own emotions--have settled down. "I was just trying to get the lay of the land here. And...maybe, trying to find a way to speak to it?"

Hey, he'll try anything once so long as there's consent and stuff! But that guy had a bad attitude. ~~And maybe Drift isn't ready to share.~~

He smiles at the sentiment. Drift's missed that preachiness, Wing, and he's glad he finally has an oppurtunity to appreciate it. "Well...you don't have to do that alone. If, you know, you want company?"

Well true, that guy was rude.

But Wing's toned down the preachiness just for you, Drift! Only because there's so much to explore here, not just Drift, that he's a little giddy.

"I'd love your company. No one else I'd rather have by my side if we run into one of...those things again." A beat. "What was that, anyway?"

Toned down is good, Drift learns a lot better these days through simple conversation, no robojudo throws as punctuation required.

"Sorry, what?" You lost him at 'no one else I'd rather have by my side'. He's off in the clouds for a moment, until Wing's next question brings him back. "I'm not sure, none of the species here are familiar at all."

Well, maybe they could repurpose the sparring to something more fun.

"Why do you think I volunteered to fight Braid with you, Drift?" All right, it was a bit more than 'you look fun to fight alongside', and Wing hopes the little smile at the end of the phrase conveys that.

"I ran into one earlier. She said she was an, uh, human?" Weird. But kind of cute.

Drift is all for this plan, whatever 'more fun' happens to be. Anything to spend more time with the jet though, whom he never had enough time with in the first place.

And maybe sparring could become fun too, more for actual sword lessons than moral ones?

"I thought..." He thought a lot of things back then, most them misguided at worst and confused at best. "I assumed you'd done it for the city..." To make up for his folly, for bringing that Decepticon into their midst, the one who'd ruined it all.

He doesn't miss the smile though, and the one Drift offers back is hopeful, that they could maybe get past all that and become something else, something better.

"Humans? There're humans here?" That's not him looking concerned. Except it is. "Was she, uh, nice?"

"I did it for the city as much as you did, Drift." See? You were brothers in arms in that as well. "But I did it because I wanted you to be free." And that's what the ruse would do, after all, set Drift free from his past.

"Well, she said she was a human? I don't know. I mean, I've never seen one." But she looked a lot less evil than Braid, if that helps? "But she was, well, she said she'd never been off their 'Erf' before." With a planet name like that, you'd think they'd be dying to leave, right?

"I wish I'd seen that sooner." And been less bitter. It had set him free in more ways than one. With Wing gone, staying had been...awkward at best. A reward he hadn't felt like he'd entirely earned. Sort of like getting one of those crackerjacker candy boxes with no prize inside.

But maybe...maybe he's earned it now? Not the city, but having Wing back in his life.

"Erf--? Oh! Earth? Is that what she said?" Drift chuckles, because at least it's something he's familiar with. He suddenly feels a little less lost. "I was there for a time. Nice people, the general populace I mean, interesting cultures. The military powers though, not so much."

"It's the past," Wing says. "There's no point ruining the future with what was simply your truth in the past." The thing that mattered, after all, was that Drift had been free, he had been changed. That was...worth everything.

And why not have the box and the prize now?

Okay, Wing will leave the metaphors to you, Drift. Maybe better that way.

"Earth! Yes, that's it." Urf? Arf? It sounded strange, like a grunt. "Were you? So you know about these humans!" You are quite the traveler, Drift: Wing is impressed!

"Yeah. Yeah I like that. Uh. The sentiment I mean. Especially you know...having a future. With. You in it." He coughs. "Maybe."

Ooookay. He needs to hush now. Because that's a runaway train of awkward sap that's gonna get sticky in the unfun kind of way if he doesn't derail it first.

Yeah no maybe metaphors are a bad thing to leave in Drift's hands. Almost as bad as say, guns.

"A little bit, yes," It doesn't seem that impressive but hey, he's just gonna roll with it. Impressing Wing? Bonus! "I spent a little time in Japan, observing. Annnnd then the Decepticons tried to take over and things got complicated." Story of his life?

"Maybe?" Wing looks around the bulkhead. "Looks like that's out of our hands so good thing we're both amenable to the idea." There's a little wink to warm the words.

A little bit is a lot more than Wing knows, though, so Drift may continue to get a bit of a chinhandsy expression from the jet. "What's a Japan?" Here's a prime example, Drift. "I hope it's still around? If the war went there...." He can't imagine any planet surviving the war.

Drift just grins, because that's a great start. A start to what, he doesn't know. But just being around the jet more? It's a dream come true. He doesn't know if it's one he deserves, but he'll enjoy it however can.

"It's a country," he chuckles, "Earthers don't have a unified government. Or if they do it's...really terrible. But anyway yes it's still around, the people of that world are quite, uh, resourceful and tenacious. Megatron couldn't complete his domination plan there."

Drift has a sizable respect for the humans because of that, but at the same time a wary uncertainty given what they did to overcome Cybertronian forces.

"Should we keep going? It seemed like there was some trouble at that cortex place?"

Edited 2014-07-14 22:11 (UTC)

It's a start to living in the future, not the past, or at least that's how Wing sees it. It's still new to think he has a future.

"These humans are clearly tougher than they look." Which isn't saying much, really, because they don't look tough at all. But still, anyone able to thwart a Decepticon plan? Formidable!

"There probably is. It's like these creatures know where to attack!"

Which is what Drift thinks he's been doing. But it's dragged down by too much of the bad parts of his past, and not buoyed enough by the good ones. Hopefully he can correct that.

"Remarkably so. I wouldn't underestimate them." He just got you back Wing, don't do getting yourself into irreparable trouble with humans or any other questionable critters.

"They know more about this place than we do. And that bothers me." Quite a lot. "But it sounds like this cortex place is important?"

It's a new start for all of them, and Wing will not allow Drift to dwell on the past. Even if he has to throw him across the room to remind him.

"I envy you having met them before." Or really done anything. Drift's life sounded so adventurous--it always had.

"It is troublesome. We need to do what we can--I don't think these invaders were counting on running into us." Yes, us. His optics glow at the word.

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