[Closed]

[winged_knight]

WHO: Drift and Wing
WHERE: Near the Badlands (the new/nearer patch?)
WHEN: A short time after this, during January's plot event.
WHAT: Wing returns from his 'walkabout' only to discover Drift is missing. Also, Badlands are Bad. :c
WARNINGS: None yet.



After reading the messages on the Link, Wing had sped home hoping this was some fluke, a mistake, and that Drift was just otherwise occupied. But Drift had said he'd be here when Wing got back; he'd made an appointment with Ambulon, yet he wasn't here in Haven for either of them. His concern had only grown as he'd searched all the places he could think of, only to turn up empty. Which left him with two thoughts...Tarn or the Badlands.

The jet crouches now on the highest point of Vector's tower, one hand clinging to the spire's needle while the magna clamps in each foot keep him steady on his perch. He leans out, flight surfaces shifting fretfully while he scans the surrounding territory, as if he'd see some hint or clue if only he looked hard enough. There's something about the echo of Drift's name in his own voice as it rings out over the crystal bridges and through the gorge itself... It seems like a fruitless endeavor, simply calling his name, but something in it fortifies Wing's hope and determination. His spark pulses anxiously, even moreso as he tries to reach through the old link to his former Great Sword, his last gambit, hoping desperately for some notion of Drift's whereabouts. Please, Drift, where are you..?

Wing puts everything he has into it. At first, nothing. Then the sinking notion that the sword isn't anywhere nearby, not in Haven at least. He almost falters, discouraged, but no, Drift would never give up so easily. It was one of the qualities Wing honestly loved about the mech. So he tries again, one last push... that gets rewarded. Something...off in the distance. Roughly towards the Badlands.

It's all the jet needs, and though he's only been back to Haven a matter of hours, he's gone again, striking out towards one pinpoint of light against a blanket of darkness.

Comments

[sword_redemption]

"Maybe they smelled me or something. I don't think I'm two days out." You know, like blood in the water for sharks on Earth.

Drift shrugs. "Sometimes you just need a change to shake things up so you can see what's under all the...gunk." Okay, it's a terrible analogy, but he's going to stick with it.

[winged_knight]

Wing's had enough aggressive underwater critters to last him at least a decade and he's got the bite marks to prove it. So he'll pass on sharks, thanks. "Those...things, from the first invasion. They seemed drawn to things that were living or powered." Let's add sharkticons to that list too.

It is a terrible analogy, but also an accurate one. "That's true. Though it'd be nice if clarity could be achieved in a way other than chasing my fool tail all around Cybertron." He shakes his head, rueful but amused. "I had to come home though, to you."

[sword_redemption]

Drift nods. "So maybe they could just sense me. But that means," he rolls the head under his foot. It's probably a little gruesome, but he's far more inured to battlefields than Wing probably is. "that they're getting hungrier for some reason. We might want to ask the First Forged if this has happened."

He tightens his hand over Wing's. "The world almost never listens to 'it would be nice'."

[winged_knight]

"That stands to reason." Thankfully he only has optics for Drift right now, and not the thing under the mech's foot. He's seen his share of battlefields, mostly post battle, but it's been a very, very long time. "But that doesn't explain how you got out here, or why you were passed out."

It's all very peculiar.

"This is true." A dry chuckle, because it's one of those lessons he might never completely learn. And really, the trip hadn't totally been for naught. "Listen, I realized something else while I was gone. Ah, about the conversation we had last. Some things, that I might have, well, communicated horribly."

He almost cringes; things were going so well, he almost didn't want to bring it up. But if there was a miscommunication, especially one that was his fault, he wanted to clear it up.

[sword_redemption]

Drift would rather stay with the reason than start moseying down that road of things he can't answer. "You're going to make me get looked at by Ambulon again or something, aren't you?"

"Oh. That." Right. He doesn't want to think about that. And suddenly it's time to make sure he's wiped down his blades before putting them away.

[winged_knight]

Wing hadn't thought of that but it's not a bad idea really. Still, he probably doesn't have to suggest it. "You're the one who already had an appointment with him," he grins with a shrug, "Run some diagnostics at least?"

And yeah. Wing figured this would get hard before it got easier. He draws a deep in-vent, then rubs his helm a bit sheepishly. Might as well get right to it. "I think I...may have...inadvertently implied that we'd been 'facing." But dammit, it's that word that's the problem. "What I mean is...there was a connection component to it, but we weren't lovers Drift."

[sword_redemption]

"No. I'm fine. I just...don't know what happened." Sure, that makes sense, right?

Drift looks pointedly away, mouth working. "You don't need to explain anything to me. It's your choice."

[winged_knight]

"I'm glad for that, more than I can say." He still frets a bit, because how he got all the way out here without knowing it is worrisome. "There must be some way we can figure this out."

His puts his hands out again, softly, "I don't want it to be a sore point between us. Please tell me what bothers you. I want to do something about it."

[sword_redemption]

"Honestly," and he hates admitting this much, "maybe we'd think better back at the Haven." It's been days since he ate, after all.

"There's nothing you can do about it; don't worry." His mouth is set. He really doesn't want to talk about Wing being intimate with their First Forged in a way he never could be.

[winged_knight]

"That would probably be wise." Wherever these creatures came from, there might be more.

Wing's hands lower, a disheartened cast falling over his face. "I just...wanted to be sure there weren't anymore misconceptions thanks to my...bungle." But he leaves it at that.

Suddenly he's realizing how tired he actually is. A several hundred kilometer sprint tends to do that. He sighs, "If we're going to head back I should really refuel first." He still has provisions since he'd planned on being gone a whole lot longer. He slips a few travel packets of energon from the storage in his thigh, mutely offering one to Drift.

[sword_redemption]

"Occasionally I say something smart," Drift says, tartly.

"I don't have any misconceptions," he says, quietly. "Don't try to make it what it wasn't, Wing. When you brought it up it was to tell me what you had, this amazing thing, that you gave up. It's still that."

He steps back, moving in a semi circle, like a perimeter, while Wing refuels, staring moodily into the shadows.

[winged_knight]

"More than occasionally," he replies genuinely.

"...it is. I'm sorry. I thought..." he pauses, loosing an unsettled vent of air.

"I was wrong in my thinking, that it would..._{make you happy.}" He still feels foolish, caught up in the zealotry of it, so much so that he missed basic consideration. But mistakes were still things that could be learned from, right? "Terrible timing aside, would you prefer that I hadn't told you?"

Wing's helm bows. He's not even really hungry now, but he knows he should. Running out off fuel mid-flight was a fear almost any flier had. Though he doesn't even really taste it going down.

[sword_redemption]

"Wing. You should do what you want, what makes you happy." He's trying to remember what Rung had told him--that holding on too tightly, trying to force things to happen, wouldn't work. It would just hold them both back.

He catches the discomfort Wing radiates, and he turns to him, optics glimmering. "Wing. Please. I love you. I don't want you to sacrifice anything for me though. You've already done that--too much--for me."

[winged_knight]

"There are a lot of things that make me happy. But most of all, you." His own optics flicker as they meets Drift's, the affirmation a well of warmth and comfort within him. "That's something I don't want to sacrifice."

And maybe that's where he'd gone wrong. Thinking subtraction would somehow help two people come together. "You're right. There's been enough sacrifice all around. I want to create and give and share, not...diminish things."

[sword_redemption]

Drift doesn't know what to say, or think. He just wants Wing happy. But at the same time he wants to be responsible for part of it.

He sighs. "You deserve every happiness you can grasp at, Wing." And Drift? He deserves to suffer for what he's done.

[winged_knight]

And Drift is, undeniably, a big part of it. Wing just needs to find newer and better ways to show it.

"And if I grasp at you? Is that okay?" His helm tilts, demure, while reaching out to put his hands of Drift's chestplate as if he knows the answer. Or hopes so. "I love you. More than I ever have anyone else. I want you happy Drift. I want us to be happy, together."

[sword_redemption]

"Y-yes. But." Drift frowns, and then Wing touches him, and he covers that hand in his, squeezing the jet's fingers in his. "I don't want to hold you so tightly that you feel trapped."

[winged_knight]

"Thank you, for that." He steps nearer, craving closeness, his voice soft. "There are times though, when being held that tight isn't so bad." Wing really doesn't care that they're in the middle of the wastelands, after all this he just wants to fold himself into Drift and be there for a while.

"I want you to feel safe, when you do release me. Not just that I'll always come back to you, but that you're the one I'll always need." His chin dips, optics dimming. "I want a home Drift. Not just a haven among chaos, or a shining city free from war, or even four walls simply for shelter. But a place to rest my spark. A person to give it to."

He shivers a little, because it's a bare, potent truth, brimming with emotion. It's been too much to ask, in the past with others, and he's been turned away. Maybe it's the same here, maybe it's too much to ask anyone, but Wing said he'd hold nothing back from Drift, so here he stands, wanting to find love and shelter in imperfect things, because he and the world are just as imperfect.

[sword_redemption]

Drift doesn't know what to say. It's one of those things where he can't think of the words that might work, might express what he's feeling. He doesn't know if this is one of those moments for Wing, but it is for him, so he steps closer, pulling Wing against him.

"Yes," he said, finally, his voice breaking the word into little splinters of sound. "I want that too."

[winged_knight]

Maybe it's a moment that doesn't need words. Wing falls against him, forming a shape that fits with Drift's, grasping at the plating like he can't get close enough. A soft, happy noise is pressed into the dark neck cables at Drift's response, somewhere between a sob and a chirr.

Wing's plating is covered in a gritty film and he smells of Cybertron: mineral dust and hard acrid water, but that's so far from his processor right now it doesn't even register. When the words do come, they fall trembling from his vocalizer. "...you have it."

[sword_redemption]

Drift has smelled worse--he's smelled worse himself for that matter. What does matter is Wing, here, holding him and letting himself be held.

And he could stay there forever...in theory. But his starved systems begin to protest, his limbs shivering in Wing's embrace, and he can hear, distantly, the sounds of movement in the outer shadows. "Maybe we should head back now."

[winged_knight]

And in theory, were conditions ideal, Wing would take this further and put action behind those words.

But conditions are far from ideal, and as much as he'd like to continue, Drift is right. "You'll always be my pragmatic other half." His smile promises more as he pulls away, leaving a kiss next to Drift's mouth as he goes.

"Best plan. I need a washrack and good soak; I have grit in crevices I didn't even know I had." Wing pulls a face and does and odd little wriggle, the kind when you have an itch you just can't scratch. "Are you fit to travel?"

He sees you shivering Drift. There's plenty more provisions still.

[sword_redemption]

Maybe the delay will sharpen both their anticipations. That's what Drift hopes, at least.

"Because I want you to be around to be happy." It's cheezy but sincere. And as he pulls away, he realizes, well, he's hardly an exemplar of attractiveness himself. A washrack sounds really good. And a washrack with Wing...? Oh, the jet might, if he's sharp, catch the ideas forming in Drift's head.

"Yeah, I can travel." No he can't. He's just stubborn.

[winged_knight]

It will be all the sweeter for having ripened...as long as there are no interruptions. 

Wing chuckles, "I need it sometimes, to be honest." Like right now, when he's thinking way more about the potential of washracks or wondering how deep those energon pools are and not nearly enough about the potential hazards out here.

Someone is definitely on the same wavelength though. Wing needs a good buffing too, but he fully aims to pamper and indulge Drift, not the other way around.

"Well, could you relieve me of some of this extra weight at least? I thought I'd be gone a whole lot longer than I actually was." Not that it's much weight really, but he still presses several packets against Drift's chest with an uneven grin. "Besides, you'll need your energy later."

[sword_redemption]

"Someone has to keep an optic on you." Drift volunteers. All the time.

Drift will make sure there are no interruptions. Especially for the opportunity to touch Wing. All over.

But not here. As much as his hands ache to.

He can see through Wing's ploy. Really, the jet is almost as obvious as he is. But he can't really refuse, and he is, really, hungry. "Really," he says, opening one of the packets. "You know I always win these endurance tests."