Jolt was a fighter, and as he valiantly fought the fever off, the rest of the night passed without incident.
But he had always been one to sleep in, and that wasn't about to change now- especially not after the long night he'd had to endure. As B.A.B.E.L. was waking up, he was still dead to the world, contentedly lying there with his arms curled around Naomi.
The inevitable breakdown that was going to walk through that door was a distant thought.
Naomi had the tendency to snuggle against whatever was close at hand, be it her pillow, the blanket she inevitably wound up tangled in... or the nearest source of warmth, which just so happened to be one Autobot in a human body.
And so she was just as peacefully curled against Jolt, just as the doors slid open and Sakaki and Tanizaki strolled in, the former perusing his clipboard and the latter doing what he did best.
Rambling.
"Naomi is a highly-valued esper and should be resting in an undisturbed environment, safe and protected from that..." He trailed off, a warning sign that had Sakaki immediately looking up to see what had silenced the supervisor so abruptly.
Just as quickly, he looked back down, but it was too late. Tanizaki had exploded in (what he felt was righteous) rage.
"FIEND!! YOU FOUL VEHICLE WHO TRIES TO BESMIRCH MY NAOMI'S CHASTITY AND HONOR, RELEASE HER AT ONCE!!!"
The Autobot, however, did. He flinched and groaned, carefully cracking open one eye. The sight of Naomi curled against him caused a smile to flash across his face, but his attention was quickly drawn to the screaming supervisor, and he made a face.
Reluctantly disentangling himself from the sleeping esper, he sat up and, in a move that was oddly automatic in this new body, ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. "What crawled up your exhaust port and died?" he remarked, shooting Tanizaki a supremely annoyed look. Clearly, he was not much of a morning person.
"What-- crawled-- exhaust port-- died?!" He parroted in a yell that bordered on a screech. "Just what do you think you're doing, taking advantage of B.A.B.E.L.'s hospitality to make a move on my subordinate?! I won't have it! Naomi is elite and far above your standards so that you could not hope to even grasp her! One day, she will sparkle in her flowing white--"
Sakaki was already groaning, and his future sparkling subordinate was automatically curling into a tighter ball, as though that would drown out the screaming trying to pull her from her slumber.
"Look, Tanizaki, he's my patient right now and an important ally, so if you could for once stop yelling about Naomi-chan--"
Jolt was out of the bed in a second flat, two more and he was across the room. He had always been agile, no surprise when one considered his weapons of choice and the skill with which he wielded them. His body, changed though it was, seemed to remember the decades of fighting that had been drilled into it, and very suddenly he was laying Tanizaki flat with a well-aimed fist.
"Shut up," he barked, glaring daggers at the other man and pointedly ignoring the pain in his hand where it had met the unfortunate supervisor's face. "You're one to talk about standards, you creep. You don't deserve her."
Poor, poor Sakaki. He didn't ask for much in life. Fine female company, a day in which Shiho didn't cheerfully one-up him, a quiet workplace... and maybe, just maybe, one peaceful morning.
But that was impossible now, given that Jolt had moved so swiftly, remarkably at ease in his new body, and now Tanizaki was on his back.
No, he amended, now he was slowly sitting up and glaring just as much as the Autobot was.
"I don't deserve her?" He snapped. "And where were you when I was the only person she could trust? Fighting your war? And where were you when she nearly died? You're just a poorly-constructed hunk of metal masquerading as human! There's no way I'll ever let you near her a--"
"That's enough."
The next instant, Tanizaki had been picked up by some invisible force and slammed into the nearest wall. This wasn't a typical psychokinetic force, either. This time, his charge was livid
( ... )
Rage flared dangerously in the Autobot-turned-human, and his powers reacted as they always had in his own body- electricity crackled in his hands, lancing between his fingers in bright blue arcs. Optimus could berate him until his vocals rusted out, he didn't care. He was going to fry this bastard-
Unless, of course, Naomi got to him first. Which she had, quite violently.
Jolt whipped around to face her, the electricity in his palms dissipating instantly. He looked shocked at first, but only because of the suddenness of her intervention, and then something like grateful.
Naomi chanced looking away from her supervisor briefly, just to give Jolt a nod of acknowledgment, while Sakaki stared at him for a little longer. So he'd already manifested his abilities, with no apparent difficulty. That was the mark of a highly skilled fighter. Nonetheless...
"Keep it contained," he warned. "You're not in your original body. Without proper practice, there's still a chance of that electricity going haywire, and you'll risk hurting others around you if that happens."
The esper half-heard this, but remained focused on Tanizaki for the most part. She had some things she wanted to address, and there was no time like the present.
"How dare you." Her voice was low, controlled, but there was barely-restrained rage in her eyes. "How dare you blame him for anything, when he's done so much for me. How dare you judge him. How the hell do you expect me to listen to you when you're preaching trust in others and accusing them in the same breath?? If I ever hear you saying anything like that again, I'll be asking for
( ... )
A small nod was the only indication that he'd heard the doctor as Jolt stood there dumbly for a moment, staring at his hands. That was so incredibly stupid of him. He had, as always, acted on impulse, and, as always, that had not been wise.
"Naomi," he approached her carefully, speaking softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have provoked him. I--" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. This morning had quickly devolved into one big mess.
The look she gave him was still irritated, but six years of fighting for B.A.B.E.L. had given her remarkable control and discipline, and it wasn't Jolt she was furious with. After a long moment of silence, she took a deep breath. Sakaki very discreetly shoving Tanizaki outside helped.
"Maybe you shouldn't have, but he provoked you first. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't the one at fault here."
"Then I shouldn't have risen to the bait." He kept his distance- she was plainly still angry- and plopped down on the edge of the bed. He buried his face in his hands and just sat like that for a very long moment. "This," he said into his palms. "-isn't how I would have liked to start this morning."
"..." To be honest, she'd had better mornings, too, but watching Jolt slump like that made her anger slowly ebb away. It really hadn't been his fault; Tanizaki had some kind of twisted talent to infuriate anyone in his vicinity.
Naomi waited until she'd fully calmed down before she sat beside him, one hand resting lightly on his back. "You've got a whole day to go to make up for it," she reminded him gently. "Try not to let this get to you."
"As sage as ever, Naomi-chan." Sakaki grinned affably, dropping a hand onto Jolt's other shoulder to glimpse his patient's health before he removed it and returned to his desk to type some things in. "You've still got that fever, Jolt, lowered as it is, so the order still stands to take it easy today. There may be some electrical discharge too; you'll want to watch out for that."
Oh, lovely. Not only did he still have a fever, but apparently he might just randomly shock people if he wasn't careful? Briefly, he was tempted to give Tanizaki a nice handshake, but he discarded the thought immediately. He didn't want to see that man again for a very, very long time.
With a sigh he flopped back onto the bed and pulled the covers over his head. "Wake me up when this gets less complicated."
"Oh, lovely," Sakaki said dryly. "He's picked up Kaoru's sulking habits. Naomi-chan--"
She smiled up at him in perfect understanding, looking for all the world as though she hadn't exploded five minutes ago. "I know. I'll stay with him. You've got reports to finish-- and that date with the Little Mice's sister, right?"
"... You're a good kid."
With a few more medical orders given, the doctor went on his way, leaving Naomi with a grumpy Autobot.
Well, she'd dealt with worse. With a little smile, she let her hand hover over the blanket-clad human, then lowered it to trail her fingers along the stomach area. "This is B.A.B.E.L. It only gets more complicated by the day."
What the- that tickled. "Hey!" He squirmed under the covers, attempting to escape from her exploring digits. "That's not exactly reassuring-" A laugh. "And stop that!"
So he reacted to that? That opened up a whole new realm of possibilities, most of which made Naomi display a smile that Jolt was probably better off not seeing. There were more complicated ways to cheer him up, and there were much easier ways. This just so happened to be one of them. "Hm?" She asked innocently, stilling her hand for a moment. "Stop what? This?"
But he had always been one to sleep in, and that wasn't about to change now- especially not after the long night he'd had to endure. As B.A.B.E.L. was waking up, he was still dead to the world, contentedly lying there with his arms curled around Naomi.
The inevitable breakdown that was going to walk through that door was a distant thought.
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And so she was just as peacefully curled against Jolt, just as the doors slid open and Sakaki and Tanizaki strolled in, the former perusing his clipboard and the latter doing what he did best.
Rambling.
"Naomi is a highly-valued esper and should be resting in an undisturbed environment, safe and protected from that..." He trailed off, a warning sign that had Sakaki immediately looking up to see what had silenced the supervisor so abruptly.
Just as quickly, he looked back down, but it was too late. Tanizaki had exploded in (what he felt was righteous) rage.
"FIEND!! YOU FOUL VEHICLE WHO TRIES TO BESMIRCH MY NAOMI'S CHASTITY AND HONOR, RELEASE HER AT ONCE!!!"
Miraculously, his charge didn't stir at all.
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Reluctantly disentangling himself from the sleeping esper, he sat up and, in a move that was oddly automatic in this new body, ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. "What crawled up your exhaust port and died?" he remarked, shooting Tanizaki a supremely annoyed look. Clearly, he was not much of a morning person.
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Sakaki was already groaning, and his future sparkling subordinate was automatically curling into a tighter ball, as though that would drown out the screaming trying to pull her from her slumber.
"Look, Tanizaki, he's my patient right now and an important ally, so if you could for once stop yelling about Naomi-chan--"
"NAOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII--"
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"Shut up," he barked, glaring daggers at the other man and pointedly ignoring the pain in his hand where it had met the unfortunate supervisor's face. "You're one to talk about standards, you creep. You don't deserve her."
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But that was impossible now, given that Jolt had moved so swiftly, remarkably at ease in his new body, and now Tanizaki was on his back.
No, he amended, now he was slowly sitting up and glaring just as much as the Autobot was.
"I don't deserve her?" He snapped. "And where were you when I was the only person she could trust? Fighting your war? And where were you when she nearly died? You're just a poorly-constructed hunk of metal masquerading as human! There's no way I'll ever let you near her a--"
"That's enough."
The next instant, Tanizaki had been picked up by some invisible force and slammed into the nearest wall. This wasn't a typical psychokinetic force, either. This time, his charge was livid ( ... )
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Unless, of course, Naomi got to him first. Which she had, quite violently.
Jolt whipped around to face her, the electricity in his palms dissipating instantly. He looked shocked at first, but only because of the suddenness of her intervention, and then something like grateful.
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"Keep it contained," he warned. "You're not in your original body. Without proper practice, there's still a chance of that electricity going haywire, and you'll risk hurting others around you if that happens."
The esper half-heard this, but remained focused on Tanizaki for the most part. She had some things she wanted to address, and there was no time like the present.
"How dare you." Her voice was low, controlled, but there was barely-restrained rage in her eyes. "How dare you blame him for anything, when he's done so much for me. How dare you judge him. How the hell do you expect me to listen to you when you're preaching trust in others and accusing them in the same breath?? If I ever hear you saying anything like that again, I'll be asking for ( ... )
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"Naomi," he approached her carefully, speaking softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have provoked him. I--" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. This morning had quickly devolved into one big mess.
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"Maybe you shouldn't have, but he provoked you first. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't the one at fault here."
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Naomi waited until she'd fully calmed down before she sat beside him, one hand resting lightly on his back. "You've got a whole day to go to make up for it," she reminded him gently. "Try not to let this get to you."
"As sage as ever, Naomi-chan." Sakaki grinned affably, dropping a hand onto Jolt's other shoulder to glimpse his patient's health before he removed it and returned to his desk to type some things in. "You've still got that fever, Jolt, lowered as it is, so the order still stands to take it easy today. There may be some electrical discharge too; you'll want to watch out for that."
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With a sigh he flopped back onto the bed and pulled the covers over his head. "Wake me up when this gets less complicated."
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She smiled up at him in perfect understanding, looking for all the world as though she hadn't exploded five minutes ago. "I know. I'll stay with him. You've got reports to finish-- and that date with the Little Mice's sister, right?"
"... You're a good kid."
With a few more medical orders given, the doctor went on his way, leaving Naomi with a grumpy Autobot.
Well, she'd dealt with worse. With a little smile, she let her hand hover over the blanket-clad human, then lowered it to trail her fingers along the stomach area. "This is B.A.B.E.L. It only gets more complicated by the day."
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And now this time she used both hands.
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