[Closed] Let's hug and buff it all out, bro

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

WHO: Ambulon, Drift
WHERE: Medbay at Solus temple, 'cause why not
WHEN: I'm going to assume shortly after a couple of big dumbs ran out on him.
WHAT: Drift needs to see a doctor and Ambulon needs to say he's sorry.
WARNINGS: N/A for now; subject to change if anything happens (though I highly doubt it)

Really! The nerve! It wasn't so much Blurr and then Bulkhead sneaking out while his back was turned, more so the fact the turbofox got inside and decided it was perfectly okay to chew up the medical equipment. "No! Damn you!" Ambulon snarled, about ready to pitch a datapad at the fox. He stormed over, quickly forcing the creature to retreat. "This was a nice scalpel!" It might have been his favorite, too, that inconsiderate little piece of--

Ambulon just growled and threw up his hands. Deposited the broken tool in a waste bin. He couldn't chase after Blurr or Bulkhead, but he was sure they'd be back. Or under the ire of another medic.

Until then, Ambulon just prepped things for the next patient.

Comments

[sword_redemption]

Drift personified dragging aft. He'd been ordered to get repairs so here he was. Following orders. So he has all the cheerful demeanor of a cat that knows its going to the vet.

But he's here, and pacing around the waiting room, when he hears Ambulon shout. "I didn't do anything!"

Someone's feeling a little guilty.

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

Ambulon looked up, optics wide, at Drift. For a moment, they probably both looked confused and a little wat about everything. However, Ambulon lightened, his expression switching back to its usual blank slate. "Hello, Drift," he said. "You've come for repairs, I see. Have you been helped by anyone yet?" Which was more along the lines of, 'Would you like someone else to look you over instead of me?'.

[sword_redemption]

Drift manages a nervous grin and an 'ohaithar' wave. He could not possibly look any more uncomfortable without looking like he was in physical pain.

"Yeah. Repairs," he mumbles. "Ordered to. But really, I'm fine."

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

"'Ordered to'?" Ambulon repeated, and his lip curled back with a matching solemn glower - oops, he picked that up from Pharma. Of course Drift would think he was fine. He'd get run over by a train and think the same. He'd be missing both arms and legs and insist they were mere flesh wounds. Ambulon felt a small flare of heat in his spark, but that quickly died.

Mostly because he remembered their last conversation, and how it... could have gone better.

"I guess Magnus sent you then? Come in," he said, finally, gesturing him over. His tone was benign enough. Ambulon moved inside without waiting for the 'bot to follow. "Let's take a look at you."

[sword_redemption]

Ambulon understood Drift far too well. As long as he can fight, he's fine. It was good enough before.

"Magnus." He nodded. "I guess. I don't know. After Rodimus, he--" yeah he didn't want to talk about that, either. He followed Ambulon, settling down awkwardly on the exam slab.

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

It was really hard to stay mad at the mention of Rodimus. Ambulon stayed quiet, however, business professional. Maybe a little too stiff. He pat the nearest exam table. "I'll run a quick scan on you, make sure everything's order. We'll get to the finer details after," he said, and maybe not just in regards to injuries and malfunctions.

[sword_redemption]

Drift frowns. He knew he shouldn't have mentioned that. It only made others uncomfortable. He learned this when Ambulon had hung up on him before.

So he settles a little uncomfortably on the table. "All right."

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

Ambulon was rather hoping the damage was only superficial. Drift looked like he could use a little work, but only cosmetically speaking. As Ambulon ran the scan - no, no of course not, things just cannot ever be simple. He scowled. "There's a small rupture in your upper left actuator. Nothing serious right now, but it needs to be taken care of as soon as possible to prevent the wound from further opening." He gently pat Drift's upper arm for emphasis, and realized it was almost a friendly touch between two good pals.

Whoops.

Ambulon drew his hand back and looked away. "Everything else looks..." He squinted and-- Sighed. Looked back. "I'm sorry," he said, simply, bluntly, but not insincerely in the least. "For... Earlier."

[sword_redemption]

Drift gave a probably ill-advised roll of the shoulder, as though testing the actuator. "Feels a bit stiff," he said, as though that were the worst of it. The touch didn't particularly bother him, except he wasn't used to being touched. Still. By anyone.

"Don't apologize," Drift murmured. "You said what you felt. That's nothing to apologize for."

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

"I'm not sorry for having spoken my mind. I am sorry that I let my frustration get the best of me," Ambulon said. "From trying to stop you from confronting Tarn, then your death, and you come back - you come back and you want to go out searching in the Badlands, and..." He stopped, all at once, and seemed to go back to his usual blank self.

"I understand. To a point. Why you went searching for Rodimus's badge. Meant... sentimental value to you. So... It was important." Ambulon frowned. He shook his head and ran another scan on Drift's shoulder. "I can refer you to First Aid or Ratchet for surgery, if you'd like. You will need to get this fixed soon. I can do it now, but... That's up to you." Usually he'd wheedle, but given the circumstances... That would probably only get them back to square one.

[sword_redemption]

Drift gives a resigned shrug. He's certainly racked up his share of frustrating other mechs. Bumblebee, back on Cybertron, had railed at him even daring to speak up. Turmoil...well, the less said about him, the better.

He shakes his head. "Wasn't just 'sentimental'. Not like a trophy or anything. I thought...I'd thought of taking the metal and...well, never mind. Because it won't work. It didn't help." And now he's frustrated at himself--thinking in symbols and signs, as though they had some elementary magic in them.

Drift glances over. "Why not you?"

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

"What..." Ambulon stopped himself. Noooot his business. He shrugged back. "To make you comfortable, I suppose. Unless you don't mind me just shoving you back and working apart your armor and dermal plating to get to the actuator." It was more along the lines of, I don't really know what to do so I'm going to just assume you'd rather be around someone who isn't awkward with this stuff.

"But," Ambulon said, and gestured Drift to lie back, "I can do it. If you're comfortable. And... Maybe. If you'd like to talk. I can... listen." He could do that easily enough.

[sword_redemption]

"I'd thought...well. Maybe it was a gutter thing. Maybe no one does it. Maybe no one should have." He shrugs, and then settles back on the berth.

"Of course," Drift says. "I trust you."

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

Ambulon gathered up his tools, prepping for surgery. Hopefully this wouldn't take very long. "I'm listening," he said, urging Drift to continue, but without necessarily forcing. Went about disabling any surface pain receptors before he could work into the seam.

Fortunately, armor wouldn't need to be removed or cut through. Fortunately, Drift received help before it did.

And it was... nice. Being trusted. Because it didn't feel like that back on Delphi. Especially after his confrontation with Pharma alongside Drift not long ago.

He said nothing, just let the silence linger for the Autobot to decide what to do next.

[sword_redemption]

He hedges, because he knows how uncomfortable Ambulon is with his past. Even more than Drift is with his own. "You know. About Decepticons, and how, uh, they get their insignia." He hopes that keeping it third-person and neutral helps. "From the spark chamber."

He still remembers, after all this time, how it had hurt.

He shifts, before Ambulon turns around, adjusting the splay of his shoulder on the slab. "I wanted to. With Rodimus's metal. To replace that. In the gutters we did something like that. With pieces of our friends who died. It was a way of honoring them. Or keeping them alive in some way." A shrug, the metal grating on the slab. "Told you it was stupid."

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

"I know about that," Ambulon replied, and oh, does he know. Not something he would care to bring up in casual conversation. Or any conversation. Ever. He continued working away, listening as Drift-- Paused. Just for a moment, really, before returning to fixing up the little rupture.

"I see." Gold star conversationalist. But-- "It's not stupid, no. I mean, it's stupid if you were to try replacing it yourself. But it's not stupid." It wasn't anything he would do, but he wasn't Drift.

Ambulon paused to glance from his repair work to his patient. His optics softened a little. "You two were really close then. As close as you are to Wing?" There was no sort of underlying hint-hint-wink-wink, more-so "if you'd like, you can tell me about your history with him/them; y'know, if it'll help".

jfc this is so late I am dying of shame orz

[sword_redemption]

"Yeah. Stupid." Eheheheh, nervous laughter. He wasn't thinking of doing that himself at all.

"I...I don't know. I thought we were. I mean during the war, he was, other than Perceptor, the only mech who even really talked to me, or listened to me, you know?"
Wow this ceiling is very interesting to look at right now. "But then he got here and...he didn't say anything to me, really."

noooo it's okaaaay! no time limit or deadline uvu

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

Ambulon fixed him with A Look. You stupid little... "Right," he grumbled and went back to work.

"Well, who - rather what - he became once the madness overtook him," Ambulon said, speaking oh so detached, "was not the real him. So, him killing you... It wasn't because he didn't like you. It's just... Well, you get where I'm going with this, right?" He tried not to shrug, watching tiny little sparks flicker from the repair site. "As for Perceptor... Don't know the guy. Can't speak for him. But, as we both know very well, people change. And... Not always for the better." He thought briefly of Pharma, a quick second, before sighing.

"You have quite a number of friends here, I have noticed," Ambulon said. "Aside from Wing and Vandal, who seem to be the closest to you, you do have people who care about your happiness and well-being."

[sword_redemption]

Drift gives a little wince. He can hear that little mental 'stupid'. And he's not one to argue.

"I just...it starts to sound like an excuse. Wing didn't mean what he did because of the pages. Rodimus didn't because of Unicron. When exactly are we supposed to be held accountable for our actions? When are we not manipulated?"

Drift is going to twitch uncomfortably. "I don't know if I do them any good, honestly."

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

"It may sound like an excuse and become quite tiring to hear," Ambulon said, "but it is the truth. Of course we need to own up to the consequences, but the blame is also shared. It all depends on what you do afterward."

He paused a moment, finishing up the repairs. "Your friends are smart," Ambulon said, setting everything back into place. "If they thought you were wrong for them, they would have left you. Told you so. But still they remain. In the end, this negative mindset's going to keep growing and growing until you may just push them away. So."

And, well, sorry Drift, but-- You get a light slap upside the head. "Knock it off." He'd been wanting to do that. It was gentle though, so at least Ambulon was sure Drift knew he meant no harm.

[sword_redemption]

"I didn't do anything! I got turned into a girl." It was horrible.

Ouch. That hurts, Ambulon. Well, not the actual hit, but, you know, the whole intent.

"...have I really been that bad?" He's going to rub his helm with his good arm.

[Not here.]

[raceme]

[IT'S NOT HIS FAULT IF THAT SCALPEL WAS THERE FOR HIM TO CHEW ON IT!

:c Better an scalpel than your leg.]

Re: [Not here.]

[rstlsslegsyndrm]

[YOU'RE DEAD FOX
YOU'RE MINE]

[Not here.]

[raceme]

[TIME TO RUN AWAY.

'GBAI FOLK.]