a-life-revised

[a-life-revised]

I think Miner Kant should be a sort of mixed language, spoken and felt. It should be thick and confusing to listen to, almost grumbling, rumbly.

But it should also be a felt thing, on the walls, like a sort of braille, tactile and felt with worn, rough digits, dug out in the wall to tell you 'mine shaft fall in here' or 'go left' or 'up'.

It's a hard language used by hardened workers.

It's hard to learn. It's hard to understand.

But if you do, you never forget it.

[a-life-revised]

"Because you'll eat all of them in one sitting if I don't."

He is amused. This is greatly amusing to him. But he was hardly going to turn down a lap full of truck, especially when he was warm and pouty about being denied a particular treat. "Don't be so upset, we'll have them- I just wanted to make sure they'd cooled down a little, they were quite literally molten when I pulled them out."

Is it.. wrong, to describe the look as cute? Megatron huffed at him, and reached his arm out. "Come here, don't be so upset."

"Now, honestly," Megatron started, mouth curling into something like a mischievous grin, "what would you do if I told you I'd hidden some lava cakes?"

His fins snap forward, optics bright and scarred mouth set in a… really very childish pout, all things considered. Almost purely Orion in his surprise.

“Why would you hide them?”

He’s going to scootch his way into Megatron’s personal space and start snuffling at him, barely repressing a whine. “You’re teasing me. You are laughing at me, and it’s not fair, Megatron. I love you so much but you keep bullying me.”

[a-life-revised]

Oh, but Rung has made a crucial mistake. Megatron wasn't done.

Moving Rung away from his neck, Megatron moved to cover Rung a little, effectively pinning him down, and continued his gentle kisses, making an exaggerated 'kissy' noise after each one.

"Did you think you could truly escape me? Hm? I wasn't finished-"

Hope Rung is prepared for sleepy kisses all over his face.

Sleepy kisses are one of the best kinds of kisses, especially on lazy early mornings where all they’ve got to do is cuddle.

Rung mumbles soft hellos to Megatron and accepts the kisses before shoving his face into the warm, dark space between Megatron’s neck and chassis. He is so very, very eeby.

[a-life-revised]

"I'd like to see you-"

No, no, if he responded to it, she'd just dig into him harder. ..no pun intended.

He was just going to.. act naturally. Everything was fine. "It's just a scratch, Mama," he managed, a little loftier than he meant as he nudged a plate in her direction, before gesturing at the stack of pancakes.

"Besides- Scourge told me something interesting the other day."

“So. You did a fuck up.”

Oh no.

He can't exactly hide, because he's mobile enough to sit at the dining room table, now, and he can't let her know he's embarrassed about it.

...probably a good thing he didn't take a sip of the hot oil immediately.

"Good morning to you too, mama. I'm glad to see you. Did you want some of the shocked chip pancakes?"

[a-life-revised]

“So. You did a fuck up.”

Oh no.

He can't exactly hide, because he's mobile enough to sit at the dining room table, now, and he can't let her know he's embarrassed about it.

...probably a good thing he didn't take a sip of the hot oil immediately.

"Good morning to you too, mama. I'm glad to see you. Did you want some of the shocked chip pancakes?"

[a-life-revised]

A warm, quiet presence has taken up residence in the chair next to the berth. The soft click-click of finger joints, the steady tick of familiar internal systems.

The clicking and ticking are all comforts to him, rhythmic tapping against his spark that almost sent him back into recharge. ..almost. Because while somethings were familiar, there was one little thing that... was terribly off.

Megatron would know Rung's energy signature anywhere, of course. And this wasn't Not Rung's energy signature. But there was something too.. bright about it. Like someone had taken all the broken, jagged bits of the signal and smoothed them out. It was Rung, unquestionably.

...but with whom was Megatron keeping company?

A whisper of his field brushed up against Rung's hesitantly- a question.

'Who? Come here?'

[a-life-revised]

Apologies for being away for so long!

I've had a series of bad things happen to me, unfortunately, one of which being some spinal issues.

I will be back, I promise!

[a-life-revised]

Doing things with one servo took a bit of.. finagling, but he liked to think he was quick to figure certain things out. So with one servo, he made tea, and got them on saucers, Rung's made the way he liked, just this side of too sweet, and then got a little plate of cookies, too. The citrine ones Rung liked, too.

"I suppose they're only cute if one hasn't been in your wires, before." That had been very uncomfortable. Removing it had been moreso.

Tray taken, Megatron slowly moved to seat himself with a grunt next to Rung, then bent down to receive his kiss. "You can kiss me whenever you like," he murmured, optics going soft and warm. "I am yours, all of me. If the stars know us, they know this also: until they all burn out, I will always be yours, forever."

They had time, after all. Nothing but time to be wrapped in each other fully.

"I thought I might do something instead of laying in berth all day. I know I should.. rest, but laying about makes me incredibly antsy. I dislike not doing anything at all." An injury was an injury, but Megatron was Megatron, and if he could survive without his bottom half, then he could easily do this.

"Does the mech think of the electrovole under pede?" Megatron had wobbled his way out of berth. While Optimus and Rung were busy, he'd quietly begun bustling around, albeit a bit slowly, but with a certainty about him until he understood his own weight without his arm. Even now, he balanced a tray in servo with two teas on it, and a few cookies for Rung. "It does not mean they do not exist."

“Maybe not every mech,” Rung sighs, helm still tilted to the stars— the pinpricks of light reflect off of his oculars before he turns to ease his way off the ledge of the dome and join Megatron on the flatter portion of the roof. “But I try to, now and then. They’re cute.”

He’s not so secretly pleased that Megatron is up and about of his own accord. The tank was stubborn! Even after he was cleared for light activity, only Megatron could decide for Megatron when he’d get out of berth. Rung had started to worry… Well, it didn’t matter now.

Not with tea and cookies and wonderful company.

He still reaches to take the tray from Megatron, optics lingering on the capped cover of his shoulder joint for a moment before he gestures for his conjunx to lean down some. “Let me kiss you for being so thoughtful, my treasure.”

[a-life-revised]

"...I suppose I mean to say that I.. I didn't know I had any fight left in me." Again, he knew the bite of anger, rage, the strength that came with it. He couldn't...

He couldn't begin to describe, the raw, primal strength borne out of the fear that Elegy and Compass might.. have to grow up without him. That Rung wouldn't know what happened, nor Optimus, nor Rodimus- no one. None of them were versed in digging. He would've laid there, offline, for who knew how long, and they.. they might not know.

They'd just.. know he was gone.

The fear had been more suffocating than the dirt around him, cloying and thick. It rivaled his fear of needles, even.

He was so focused on the feeling he'd experienced while being buried alive that by the time Megatron realized there was something wrong with his venting, it was, funny enough, a bit too late for him to do something about it. 'Hyperventilating', he thought he heard it called, but he was overheating, and his fans were overcompensating for it.

He felt like he was going to pass out, and he hadn't even taken a hit of the dross, yet.

There is a Swindle in his room. Staring at him with that squinting expression of 'how did you manage this?' whilst chewing on a cygarette," ... I shouldn't reward you for taking risky risks. Where was the cost benefit analysis here? But I'm gonna cause otherwise you might try to get out of bed on your own." Stalking closer to the berth, hauling himself up with a grunt," But first-" He reaches out to prod the Slagmaykr in the nasal ridge," ... H-how ya feeling huh big mech?" A little awkward, without the polish or shine he's known for. Attempting earnestness, when its not second nature to just... ask?

Swindle was staring at him, which made him... mildly uncomfortable. Not that he didn't think Swindle shouldn't be there, but mostly because he wasn't certain why Swindle would want to be. He supposed he was grateful, at least, to be worth checking up on. "I was clearing rubble- it fell. It's not the first time I've ever had something fall on me, Swindle." It's just the first time he'd been out of commission about it. He has gotten soft.

"I'm... alright, I suppose," he hedged, optics crossing a little as Swindle poked at him. "I've had worse." Nothing so much that.. had scared him, however. He hadn't even been able to call for help.

Being separated from that, from Rung, Optimus, Elegy, Compass- everyone, was.. terror incarnate. Another time, he would find it fascinating.

[a-life-revised]

choices made in anger is such a crazy image. if you know what i'm talking about

[a-life-revised]

“And you almost died, no biggie!” Jack snarks, opening the box. “Rung’s got his hands full making sure you stay all in one piece.” He sets up the board and pulls out the bag of pieces anyway, reaching inside the second to show off one of them with a basic glyph carved into it. “You use the tiles to make words, but that’s just the basics. Let’s read over the booklet, it’ll make more sense than me.”

"I have almost died before, again. How fortunate that I am difficult to kill." Wryly, Megatron shot Jack a side optic, a tad smug about it, before letting his optics fall to the game.

"I see. I suppose it runs on rules of 'larger words win', then?" If he tried, he could faintly recall another game a Gladiator taught him that was similar, but he couldn't quite remember how it went. Unimportant.

Megatron reached for the booklet and flicked it open, squinting at the small print before pulling his glasses out of subspace to put on. "Ah- they must be accurate, non-made up words, as well. The game ends when all tiles are used."

[a-life-revised]

Afraid. He was not a stranger to being afraid, however this was.. different.

"I have never experienced fear like this, before. The idea of leaving people behind has never bothered me, before, because there was no one to leave behind, not really. Soundwave, perhaps, but otherwise I had no real fear of it. This time.." There were mechs to leave behind. Things left unfinished. "I believe I faced my own mortality and didn't like it."

Megatron's optic fix on the hookah as it heated up, flickering briefly in a blink. "I didn't know what to do with it. I know what to do with rage and hatred and anger. I have even learned love. ..but raw fear like that? ..it feels so out of reach, and alien."

There is a Swindle in his room. Staring at him with that squinting expression of 'how did you manage this?' whilst chewing on a cygarette," ... I shouldn't reward you for taking risky risks. Where was the cost benefit analysis here? But I'm gonna cause otherwise you might try to get out of bed on your own." Stalking closer to the berth, hauling himself up with a grunt," But first-" He reaches out to prod the Slagmaykr in the nasal ridge," ... H-how ya feeling huh big mech?" A little awkward, without the polish or shine he's known for. Attempting earnestness, when its not second nature to just... ask?

Swindle was staring at him, which made him... mildly uncomfortable. Not that he didn't think Swindle shouldn't be there, but mostly because he wasn't certain why Swindle would want to be. He supposed he was grateful, at least, to be worth checking up on. "I was clearing rubble- it fell. It's not the first time I've ever had something fall on me, Swindle." It's just the first time he'd been out of commission about it. He has gotten soft.

"I'm... alright, I suppose," he hedged, optics crossing a little as Swindle poked at him. "I've had worse." Nothing so much that.. had scared him, however. He hadn't even been able to call for help.

Being separated from that, from Rung, Optimus, Elegy, Compass- everyone, was.. terror incarnate. Another time, he would find it fascinating.

[a-life-revised]

Huh. He and Rung had a larger hookah, but it was currently in another room, and Megatron had all but been forbidden by Rung, no less, to get up outside of repairs or washracks.

Kind, then, for Swindle to bring one to him.

He took the pipe with quiet thanks, and tilted his helm. "Any particular thing in this? Dross, or..?" He hadn't actually had Cy-bacco in a long time, but he was plenty familiar with dross. "..perhaps it did bother me. A little. But I will recover- after all, I'm not ready to leave Elegy to you just yet."

There is a Swindle in his room. Staring at him with that squinting expression of 'how did you manage this?' whilst chewing on a cygarette," ... I shouldn't reward you for taking risky risks. Where was the cost benefit analysis here? But I'm gonna cause otherwise you might try to get out of bed on your own." Stalking closer to the berth, hauling himself up with a grunt," But first-" He reaches out to prod the Slagmaykr in the nasal ridge," ... H-how ya feeling huh big mech?" A little awkward, without the polish or shine he's known for. Attempting earnestness, when its not second nature to just... ask?

Swindle was staring at him, which made him... mildly uncomfortable. Not that he didn't think Swindle shouldn't be there, but mostly because he wasn't certain why Swindle would want to be. He supposed he was grateful, at least, to be worth checking up on. "I was clearing rubble- it fell. It's not the first time I've ever had something fall on me, Swindle." It's just the first time he'd been out of commission about it. He has gotten soft.

"I'm... alright, I suppose," he hedged, optics crossing a little as Swindle poked at him. "I've had worse." Nothing so much that.. had scared him, however. He hadn't even been able to call for help.

Being separated from that, from Rung, Optimus, Elegy, Compass- everyone, was.. terror incarnate. Another time, he would find it fascinating.

[a-life-revised]

“BURIED?!” Now he’s gripping the box a little tighter. “…I’m on Rung’s side. We need to glue you to the bed more, if we can.” This is both honest and a joke at the same time. Jack is still gonna sit next to Megatron as best he can while passing over the game. “Here, it’s Cycrabble. Earth Scrabble, but bigger and with Cybertronian glyphs instead of letters. I’m not very good at it.”

"Who needs to be good at anything if it's a game?" Megatron sat himself up a little more against the... plentiful pillows Rung had laid behind him. ...they were very comfortable, though. Plush.

"Yes, I was buried. You recall I was a miner- it was not an uncommon thing to be buried, you just dug yourself out. I do not have the tools I did, however, so it took a little longer." ..at the cost of his arm. Whatever.

He focused on the game Jack had brought him. "Alright then, teach me how to play scrabble, then. If you struggle after teaching me, then we'll learn together."

[a-life-revised]

There is a Swindle in his room. Staring at him with that squinting expression of 'how did you manage this?' whilst chewing on a cygarette," ... I shouldn't reward you for taking risky risks. Where was the cost benefit analysis here? But I'm gonna cause otherwise you might try to get out of bed on your own." Stalking closer to the berth, hauling himself up with a grunt," But first-" He reaches out to prod the Slagmaykr in the nasal ridge," ... H-how ya feeling huh big mech?" A little awkward, without the polish or shine he's known for. Attempting earnestness, when its not second nature to just... ask?

Swindle was staring at him, which made him... mildly uncomfortable. Not that he didn't think Swindle shouldn't be there, but mostly because he wasn't certain why Swindle would want to be. He supposed he was grateful, at least, to be worth checking up on. "I was clearing rubble- it fell. It's not the first time I've ever had something fall on me, Swindle." It's just the first time he'd been out of commission about it. He has gotten soft.

"I'm... alright, I suppose," he hedged, optics crossing a little as Swindle poked at him. "I've had worse." Nothing so much that.. had scared him, however. He hadn't even been able to call for help.

Being separated from that, from Rung, Optimus, Elegy, Compass- everyone, was.. terror incarnate. Another time, he would find it fascinating.

[a-life-revised]

“Hey, I heard Rung superglued you to your bed. Brought you something to take the edge off the boredom.” Cybertronian Scrabble tiles rattle inside the box he holds up. “…how did you get your arm ripped off??”

"An unfortunate.. collapse. I misjudged while I was clearing out rubble and ended up buried."

..for a while. A bit longer than he would have liked. Grumbling under his breath, Megatron beckoned the younger to him. "Nothing to worry about and nothing I haven't had before. I'll bounce back. What did you bring me?"

[a-life-revised]

[I was a momentary lapse of judgement!]

There was only false outrage, in that. Truly, it was a terrible lapse in judgement, and also he'd thought that it'd look cool which, again, a terrible lapse in judgement, so realistically he should probably not be allowed to choose his own color scheme, again.

Ah- that's right, it's dinner, isn't it? Elegy is already so big and Compass, so small but growing. It doesn't quite settle him, but he did relax against the berth a little, venting out softly. The little ones are there. Everyone was there. Safe. Warm and well kept and cared for. This is... that is good.

He would not focus on his own things right now, when he could focus on that. They were here. He was here. That had to be enough.

[I'm not going anyway, of course,] is the wry answer. [Apparently, I am on berthrest for the foreseeable future as it is, which is enough on its own, I think.]

[If you have a moment for me.. I would appreciate that you wouldn't laugh upon seeing me.]

[The only thing that could make me laugh at you is if you went back to that awful purple and green camo paint scheme again.]

His fins dip back as he hears Megatron, downstairs, call up for Rung; the mech sounds exhausted, and Rung immediately stops futzing with the pots on the stove to scoop several dumplings into a bowl and pick up a thermos before scuttling off.

He frowns to himself and cuts another piece of a gellied cube for Compass to num on, and watches as Elegy gets more of her own dinner down her front than in her mouth. Ah, well. She’ll absorb it either way.

[I’ve got to settle the little ones down after they finish refueling and then I will join you.]