1. Lonely (Sideswipe/Optimus)
Lonely
Love
Sick
Broken
Emotion
Injured
Jealousy
Tears
Fear
Fight
1/10 Complete
Lonely:
Sideswipe/Optimus
When the comm goes off, he knows before he so much as glances at it what the message says. He knows, too, exactly what he has to do. And while he drives as quickly as possible, it still feels as if it takes too long to get to the familiar, half-empty garage. The reason he's here quickly becomes obvious. All signs of human habitation are gone - this last fight was, clearly, the last straw. He stands outside for a long moment, drawing air through his intakes to steady himself, before he lifts the door, and steps inside.
The scene is just as he'd expected. A cube is buried in one of the walls, the couch overturned, long cuts and scrapes freshly adorning both floor and support columns. In the center of the chaos, is his friend - knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around too-long legs in a defensive, wary posture Optimus has seen too many times before. Times when his friend becomes more like the juvenile 'Bot he really is, instead of the hardened, battle-ready soldier he was brought up to be. In one of his hands is the gift from Christmas - a large, detailed model of a certain black truck, one recreated from the memories of another Prime. He's looking at it with dull optics, running fingers lightly over its surface, his head lowered.
It isn't hard to guess the problem.
Optimus steps forward, and, without saying a word, sits beside the taller 'Bot. It isn't long before silver armor is leaning against his, a quiet, pained explanation threading its way free of his companion. He understands, in a way. While he is, in fact, surrounded by others of his kind, of his world, so much has gone on here, so much has changed for them, they may as well be strangers. Even those who were closest to him, back home, hardly seem to remember what they had, before this place.
And it hurts. The loneliness and isolation is a raw, oozing wound. Each new arrival, each new posting drives the hurt a little deeper, twisting it sharply. Friendly faces, new ones, are only a bandage, not a cure - keeping you going just a little longer, sealing up the breaks and leaks so you can stand again, for a time.
He understands, and he puts an arm around silver shoulders as best he can. Which is all it takes for Sideswipe to lean over completely, sprawling in his lap like an over-sized metal cat. If Optimus has any sort of protest in him, he doesn't voice it. He simply lets his hands rest on the other's armor, moving his fingers in light, vague circles where they sit. They stay like that until the tremors in Sideswipe's frame ease, until he lets himself rest, curled there against Optimus.