re_alignment_logs

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WHO: Starscream (SG) + Cliffjumper
WHERE: Beating down CJ's door
WHEN: 4/14
WHAT: More energon event aftermath - CJ stop ignoring your friend.
WARNINGS: Dumb robots being dumb. Looking mostly at you, Cliffjumper

Starscream thought he was being fairly reasonable and patient. It was a week since the end of the effects of the energon wore off and Starscream decided that going out with Kagerou would be a great way to escape for a little bit. Since that time, a certain red mech didn't see fit to check in with Starscream at all. In fact, Cliffjumper seemed to never be around. It was obvious that the minibot was avoiding the flier and someone was quite done with it. Yes, there were likely some issues that they needed to talk about. That within itself was a little nerve wracking and Starscream was still anxious over some of those issues...

It didn't excuse them side stepping each other. They were friends. They were comrades. Too many times had they held each others' lives in their hands to let something like this drive a wedge between them. Most of all? Starscream missed Cliffjumper's company. Like it or not, that little angry mech had wormed his way into a very important spot in Starscream's ember and it hurt a little to think that this was going on. Granted, Starscream didn't really know what was going on between them. They didn't allow that fake date to do this, but the energon did?

No, he wasn't going to think about it. He was right in front of the minibot's door, shifting about awkwardly. The flier wasn't about to let this continue. Someone needed to be the mature adult, and despite the age differences, that apparently would need to be him. Huffing, he keyed in the code for the door, something he didn't want to do, but knocking meant that Cliffjumper would likely pretend he wasn't in - even though Starscream knew that he was. Starscream didn't want to disrespect the privacy of his friend, but if trapping him would finally end this stupidity, then so be it.

Immediately he stepped inside, likely locking the door behind him. "We need to talk."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Starscream was mostly amused. Mostly. Hence the little movements of his wings here and there. He knew that Cliffjumper wouldn't be able to read them overmuch. It took a long time to even realize that his wings sometimes acted as a mood indicator.

"I didn't knock because I knew you wouldn't answer," he countered with a little huff. "Or you would have pretended you were not in and continued to ignore me."

The needling was working too. While he would be able to guess that was Cliffjumper's purpose in saying those things, the flier took no pride in invading someone's personal space. Starscream respected privacy and the ability to work out things on one's own. It was really hard to barge in this room!

He grinned then and rolled his optics, finally going back to sitting down on the other thing available to sit on beside the chair Starscream had claimed and the berth, since it was close to the desk Starscream was sitting on.

"Ya know, it's kinda hard to see through a solid door, and I make glass gas, not read people's minds," Cliffjumper said as he flopped back on the seat that was far more suitable to his size than the berth or the chair at the desk was, "though I guess it might've still been easier to just barge in since otherwise I could've tried to close the door on ya."

... He might have tried that too, just from being startled and feeling nervous, but he'd probably have opened the door again. If only because it'd be ridiculous to close the door in Starscream's face after he knew he was there and then pretend he wasn't.

He wasn't quite that prone to avoidance.

"Chances are that you would have too," Starscream grinned. There wasn't anything malicious in how he said it. Cliffjumper was just that way. This was a guy that easily got flustered about things of the 'spark' or when something threw him for a loop. What they just went through? It was both. The only consolation from this was that it ended well for them both.

Starscream stretched a little in the chair, trying to get comfortable. Now that there wasn't any need to be tense, he was trying to relax a little. The two of them were back to teasing and poking fun at each other - more or less comfortable again with one another. Whatever affection he felt for the minibot apparently didn't do anything to the fact that he still liked to mess with him a little.

Huffing at that, Cliffjumper crossed his arms over his chestplates. He couldn't really deny it either, since he'd just thought exactly the same thing. That didn't mean he'd just take the comment lying down.

"... Fine, yeah. Maybe," he finally admitted, looking up at Starscream with a snort, studying the features of the scientist's faceplate and it was strange because there was absolutely not difference between his and the other Starscream that was around here, but it was only this one that...

Realising his optics were brightening in a blush, Cliffjumper abruptly looked away.

"Would probably have opened it again right after, though, 'cause pretendin' I didn't see ya would've just been ridiculous."

"You are a bit ridiculous."

The statement was accompanied by a soft smile and a little chuckle. Starscream was no less silly in some regards. Cliffjumper took some things to a brand new level of flustered flailing. Though he knew the other was thinking about something that caused that flash of optics, he didn't know the what. He wasn't going to prod or out the minibot either. Starscream was just content to bask in the red mech's presence - his companionship.

Of course his own optics were also taking Cliffjumper in. Appreciatively. For the same reason that the minibot liked Starscream, the flier found himself just staring at the other. It wasn't that he liked the features that came from having a ground alt mode overmuch, or that he had a thing for minibots, but rather when it came all wrapped up in the little bundle that was a feisty red mech? Well he couldn't help but stare.

"I'm not! Scrappin' pit, Starscream..." Narrowing his optics at the mech, he tried not to be taken in by the smile and the chuckle, but it was hard not to. "Who are you to talk anyway, 'cause you're a fraggin' sight more ridiculous than I am."

Cliffjumper huffed and tried not to squirm under Starscream's stare. He couldn't say much about it (well, he could), because he was doing the same thing, wasn't he? So instead he crossed his arms over his chestplates and pushed away the suspicious... and the totally-not-shy embarassment that came after that.

"... ythe whole slaggin' army is more ridiculous than anythin' I've seen..." Cliffjumper muttered and shook his helm, but even if that was true he had to admit to some reluctant fondness for the whole silly lot of them.

Well, most of them.

How the slag they'd managed so well as they had so far, he didn't understand.

"I never claimed to be anything other than that," came the response, Starscream's little smile turning into a cheeky grin. Starscream knew he was a bit on the ridiculous side. He fussed over things that perhaps didn't need that sort of energy he committed to them. The flier blamed himself for many a thing and hardly ever took the credit even what it was due to him.

Now the whole 'army?' That Starscream would likely admit to that as well. Some of the situations they found themselves in weren't quite conventional, were they? An oPod fusing to Blitz's internals? Soundwave being a knight? Ravage being, well... Ravage? Their group really did comprise of such a rag tag team of various personality types. It really was a wonder that they did so well. Of course Starscream attributed that to Megatron and his leadership skills.

"You don't talk much about yours..."

Starscream was still interested in it, though he rarely pressed for details.

"Just as well. You can't really pull anythin' else off," Cliffjumper said and meant exactly what he said and wouldn't really want it to be anything else either.

... Well, maybe Starscream becoming slightly thougher, but that was just not very likely. He'd rather take this Starscream over any positive polarity one, truly.

"Huh?" Looking up at Starscream, Cliffjumper shrugged and shifted in his seat. "Eh... mostly 'cause I noticed it made people uncomfortable, beyond the initial curiosity. I mean, Ga--- Megatron and you might've found it reassurin' that there'd be other places where the Autobots weren't fraggin' genocidal thugs and looters, but most get stuck on the fact that it means there's versions of Decepticons that I was more used to."

Leaning back in his seat, feet scraping along the floor, Cliffjumper followed the pattern of interlocking plates that made up the floor.

"And you know, I can understand not wantin' to know that. I had to deal with it and slag, so yeah. Optimus is pretty similar to Megatron, though Megatron is just... more." He snorted, a slight grin on his faceplate. It was kind of amusing that a Megatron reversed from normal was brighter, more considerate, gentler... whatever you wanted to choose, than the corresponding Prime he knew.

It was amusing, and incredulous, which led back to Cliffjumper's question of how they'd managed to stand against the Autobots.

"I am electing to see that as a thinly veiled complement," the flier nodded.

He watched Cliffjumper for a moment. It would appear that his reasons for not talking much was similar to the ones that Starscream held. The scientist wasn't hiding it so much as he knew that talking to some about their counterparts would hurt them. These were people that they knew and loved and thinking about how they were twisted in another reality would just make one's tanks just churn. Starscream understood this, for the felt that in part. Most, he realized, just thought that his home dimension was weird - something he wasn't sure was a complement or if he should feel a little insulted.

That was really neither here nor there, however. Starscream just listened to Cliffjumper speak. Something he didn't miss was the slip when trying to speak Megatron's name. It wasn't the first that the flier observed this from Cliffjumper - he just never bothered to ask. Not even the scientist wanted to know too much about what the future would bring.

"I suppose I can relate, somewhat. There have been conversations where I have opted not to talk too much as I believed it would cause some people distress. Others simply find it weird and unbelievable," he admitted. Funny how that worked between dimensions as well. While his own accepted these things without question and was thankful that there were at least other iterations where good triumphed, it would appear that sentiment wasn't shared between realities. That was a little disheartening, but there it was.

"Tell me about your Optimus, if you would," he asked. Yes, Starscream was curious... This time it was more out of a personal interest.

"I've been laughed at enough, don't need to add uncomfortable squirmin' and slag, even from those that actually asked," Cliffjumper said with a nod and a wave of his hand, dismissing that part of it. He didn't mind much. Talking about the Autobots he knew when in the negative polarity reality had been vaguely depressing or frustrating at best, though of course that meant Bombshell had tried to indulge him.

'Stave off homesickness and reduce tension through that', the mech had said, but Cliffjumper wasn't sure if that actually ever happened.

"... Okay." Not that he was sure how to summarise, because Optimus was very much as 'larger than life' than Galvatron... Megatron. Scrunching his nasal ridge briefly at that, he shook his helm at himself and huffed.

"He kept us goin' early on, when the 'Cons had already slaughtered large parts of the population. Kinda similar to what Sideswipe told me of how things began for you guys. He just appeared and managed to... not just pull us together, but let us strike back."

He didn't like to think about early, because that was a metal-twisted, fire-popping mess of nothing but pain and trauma. It wasn't like they didn't have other leaders, but before Optimus had appeared, things had just been too shattered for any room to even pause to think.

"Prime abides by the rules too much, even when ya just know the 'Cons won't. Once or twice we even lost him 'cause of that. And if he's decided you're his responsibility, he won't stop just 'cause it's another planet and the threat won't get off it... Which was why he went back to Earth when we found out Megatron wasn't as dead as we thought and asked a few of us to come along."

There was so much more he could say, but if he went on he'd probably talk for a fair bit longer, so instead he just shrugged.

"As if I would laugh at you," the jet muttered, then paused. Only he did laugh at him. Once. That was about the Primus and other god like things. "Only I might owe you an apology for something else..."

For now, though, he just listened. Of course it was likely hard to pinpoint any upstanding leader figure. They all were heroes and everyone else? Their lives were important, but their leaders were everything. Starscream knew that without Megatron, no one would be able to continue where he left off. No one would be able to replace him.

"You're right... They sound very similar. Perhaps I should think we are fortunate to not have lost Megatron at all, even though we were separated."

Snorting, Cliffjumper waved a hand at that and shrugged. He didn't mind if Starscream apologised or not, that was quite a while ago now, anyway. And he'd made sure anyone who laughed after that soon stopped - he didn't have endless patience, after all.

"Err, yeah," he agreed with a nod, optics brightening slightly as he darted a glance aside, the memory of being told Cyclonus had shot Megatron point blank and Starscream's reaction suddenly quite vivid. He doubted Starscream would realise what his reaction was for, however, and shrugged again. "It ain't fun, so yeah, it's a good thing we didn't lose him to that silly multiple-deathtrap of Ricochet's."

He huffed at the thought of it.

It had been, and was, serious enough, but at the same time it'd been so very silly. Seven lethal traps in a single pit?

Seriously?

"You... You made the right call back then," Starscream admitted, ducking his helm a little. At that moment he was so out of sorts... So panicked about the state of their leader that he let it affect him. Thank goodness for Cliffjumper holding him mentally and keeping him grounded. That moment was something that Starscream would never forget - along with nearly crashing into Earth. He shrunk into himself at the thought, wings dropping slightly in shame before he shook it off.

He would act like that didn't just happen.

"I don't know if such a trap speaks of how highly Ricochet thought of Megatron's survivability or if he was just that sadistic."

Perhaps it was a bit of both.

Looking up at Starscream's faceplate after a moment, Cliffjumper snorted. He wasn't sure if it'd been the situation in general, Starscream's panicked reaction, his displacement or something else that actually made him stop and think, but it'd been a good thing he did.

"Kinda easier to think when someone else's fallin' apart, but my first reaction was to just grab the biggest gun nearby and dash off. Dunno why I suddenly actually thought about it a little further, but yeah. Wouldn't have been good if it'd happened some other way."

Then Cliffjumper sniggered, time and distance to the event having dulled the absolutely not funny lethality of the pit for the ridiculousness of it.

"Bit of both, I'd guess... and he probably wanted to show off, too, considerin' what a fraggin' show he made of the whole thing. Mighta been a distraction, but a slaggin' distraction don't need all that work put in it to be effective."

"They are negative polarity Autobots," Starscream said, using Cliffjumper's own terminology for it. That meant that showmanship was a part of their programming. Nearly all of the Autobots of his reality did have a bit of a dramatic flare to them - save Goldbug and perhaps Blurr. Rodimus certainly did. Prime too. There was also strategic value to show off such a thing as well even beyond the point of it being a mere distraction tactic.

This really wasn't the best topic of conversation, but he would power through it. A small, slow smile finally made an appearance. There was something that he was able to latch onto, though. Starscream needed to lighten the mood a bit. "Aren't you usually carrying the biggest gun, though?"

"Suppose that explains it, yeah," he admitted with a grin, because really, it sort of did. All of them were rather dramatic in their own ways, and while the Decepticons had their... quirky individuals, it wasn't on the same level as what seemed to be present in the Autobots.

"Relieved the same doesn't go for the rest of ya. Would've driven me slaggin' round the bend... And hey," pausing, Cliffjumper stretched out and poked his bumper against Starscream's foot, which he could just touch, "sometimes there's a bigger gun in the armory. Usually not, though." And he wasn't at all ashamed to admit it, especially as, for example, the rifle Starscream had made him was technically of a size better suited to someone taller.

But when had that ever stopped him? Starscream had pretty admirably made the rifle to fit him perfectly, despite the disparity.

Starscream chuckled, nudging Cliffjumper back. "I was most relieved that you still use it. To be honest, I thought you might have opted for an upgrade or something."

The scientist wouldn't fault the minibot for that either. Cliffjumper, in his opinion, really needed whatever weapon he could get his hand on. If it was better than the one that Starscream designed for him, then good. Surely that was a possibility here, given how many bright processors were constantly at work in labs or on their own.

"There's something else I didn't think to ask, but I am curious..."

"What, the rifle?" snorting, Cliffjumper shook his helm and left his foot stretched out, bumper up against Starscream's own foot. "Ain't found any as well-made as that one 'round here. Been keepin' an optic out for somethin' that might have more firepower than my cannon, but that's different."

And it really was. The cannon was straighforward, biggest boom possible for what Cliffjumper could carry. The rifle... well, he was well-aware that the rifle was more like a work of art, perfectly made for him, and that wasn't something you found every day.

"... Huh?" Optics sharpening from his thoughts as they'd wandered away into cannons and rifles, Cliffjumper focused back on Starscream, helm tilting in question.

"You just like things that make a giant crater in the ground with a large plume of smoke following the blast," he said with a snort.

Then the jet shifted in his seat just a little. Starscream cleared his vocalizer, not quite sure that he had the right to ask. It was something that sort of was on the back of his processor for a while.

"Just how long have you been here?"

Optics flickering at Starscream's question about how long he'd been here, Cliffjumper pushed it aside in favour of smirking and waving a hand in the air.

"Makes things more interestin' doesn't it? And takes care of slag far faster! Though that rifle is still a rifle; it ain't gonna leave any craters just 'cause it's big!" Chuckling, Cliffjumper then leaned back in his seat and shrugged.

It wasn't that that question was bad or wrong. It was just awkward.

"'Round two years, give or take a little. Which, ya know, I know don't make any slaggin' sense, either from your or my perspectives. Dunno how these multiversal things fraggin' work." With a huff, he shook his helm and crossed his arms over his chestplates.

"Which is why you are a little terror and I do not ever want to be your enemy," Starscream conceded, nodding. It was that sort of mentality that made both Megatron and himself pause at first. At least the little guy was on their side and had a great spark to boot.

Still, it stung just a little to think that Cliffjumper really was parted from them for so long - even if it wasn't the same amount of time in the jet's perspective. Then again, he wasn't all that alone. Megatron, Ravage, and Soundwave all had made appearances over the course of the minibot's time spent here. Blurr was around as well. There was a little part of him that worried, but it was silly.

"It makes a little bit of sense... To tear through to another world, who is to say that time cannot be ripped in the process?"

"Luckily ya don't have to worry 'bout that," he said with a grin and a shake of his helm, though the latter was both in response to that and the thought of how long he'd been here because really... friends present or not, he, strangely enough, missed them.

That was absolutely crazy and impossible, but just as true as he missed his friends from his original reality. It was kind of odd (and he didn't like to think about it much) how that had less acuteness than his wish to be back in the negative polarity.

Maybe because the latter needed him more and they hadn't been at war as long as he had and if he could help them not be... Well, why shouldn't he? And beating the scrap out of the creepy opposite versions of the Autobots was satisfying as well.

But yeah. Starscream was here now and Ravage was around, but he still missed Sideswipe... and Galvatron as much as he missed Prime, Frenzy wasn't bad either. Crasher... There were a few, in other words.

"You think so?" frowning, Cliffjumper leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms again, "I mean, I just don't get how ya can get mechs pulled from different points in time from the same reality."

"Well..."

See, Cliffjumper practically asked for that. For the next few minutes - well more than just a few minutes - Starscream provided a slew of theories and the like behind why he thought it was feasible enough. Yes, he did try to provide simple, but colorful illustrations and even explain some of the concepts. Over all, though, he would just be babbling.

For the first bit, Cliffjumper was just stunned, and thus remained quiet. Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised Starscream would take it as a chance to educate him, but... really, it was a lost cause.

Not that he didn't try, at least initially, but the longer Starscream talked the less sense it all made!

"Starscream... fraggin' pit, Starscream, stop!" He wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan, holding his hands up. "Thanks for the effort, but I don't think I'm gonna get it, ya know?" Cliffjumper shook his helm and couldn't smother his grin, exasperated and fond both.

Starscream sighed, folding his wings back a little. He sort of pouted, as he was being interrupted. Sure, the jet was rambling. It was science! A science to be explored! What sort of college graduate would he be if he didn't get to stretch his processor power just a little?

"It's not that deep," he muttered, ducking his helm a little. Sure, Cliffjumper was smiling. Starscream thought that it might be at his expense though. It wasn't like he rambled every chance he got, right?

Right?

Edited 2014-05-08 03:10 (UTC)

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