Spark Deep -- Chapter 4: Questions
A little Easter present to you all!
Title: Chapter 4: Questions
Rating: K+
Continuity: AU G1
Chapter 4: Questions
Bluestreak stayed in his room for three orns straight. Hound and Mirage brought him energon, and every morning, before the sun rose but after their guests had gone, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came to check on him. They never said much, and never stayed long.
The gray mech was alone with his thoughts for the long joors. He jumped between bemoaning his fate, missing Smokescreen and Prowl, and wondering what had happened to make this place, so... cursed. So dark. And to make the Twins change into those... things every day.
On the fourth orn of his self-confinement, he decided that it was about time for him to snap out of it and buck up. Prowl wouldn't have spent this long moping! Smokescreen would have already been working on a way to get out! And here he was just sitting around whining like a sparkling.
Cycling his vents quickly, he forced himself to his pedes and slowly walked toward the door. It was evening now. He could see the sun touching the horizon out one of his windows. He had time before the guests appeared.
One more heavy cycle, and he opened the door.
.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.
Finding the Twins wasn't hard. They followed the same schedule every orn. They didn't leave their wing of the manor house until about a joor after sundown. What they did there, though, none of the servants could tell him.
Girding himself, he slowly walked up the stairs and turned down the hallway leading to their wing. His doorwings trembled, and his vents were working overtime.
He had only gone half way down the hall when Sideswipe opened the door at the end and stepped out, smiling sadly at the gray mech.
“Bluestreak,” he said, blinking. “Hi. It's... good to see you up.”
“Thanks,” the gray mech whispered, shifting nervously. “I'm... I’ve got, ah, a couple questions?”
“Okay. Come on in.” The red mech stepped aside and gestured to the room behind him.
Bluestreak hesitantly moved forward, glancing around as he stepped inside the dark room. Firelight flickered over dull inlays. There were no fancy bits of random furniture as there were in his room; instead, the only objects taking up space were a wide, padded couch and a smaller, equally padded chair. Sunstreaker was sitting on the couch, staring into the fire.
“Um... take a seat?” Sideswipe said, gesturing to the chair, stepping forward and seating himself next to his brother.
Bluestreak did as the lord of the house offered, slowly lowering himself onto the well-padded chair. He took a moment to shift around so his doorwings were comfortable before staring at the two mechs sitting on the couch. Sideswipe was watching him, a curious look in his optics. Sunstreaker was staring into the middle-distance, a very faint frown on his face.
Sideswipe broke the long silence. “Well... ask away.”
“Okay... I... um... would you mind telling me why... how this happened?”
“This being...?”
“Mute it, Sides,” Sunstreaker growled lowly, rolling his optics. “You know very well what.”
Sideswipe laughed a self-depreciating chuckle. “Eh, sorry. Old habits?” He gave a little shrug. “Truth is, Sunny and I were mean to the wrong mech, and he kinda... cursed us.”
“Mean to the 'wrong mech'? Sides we acted that way all the time.”
“Mm, true, true.”
“Cursed you?” Bluestreak asked, barely believing his audios. “You mean, like, fairy tale cursed?”
Sunstreaker scowled. “Yes. Only it isn't a fairy tale. It's... During the day, we're stuck like... like what you saw. And we can't transform other than that, either.”
“What? You mean...”
Sideswipe's smirk melted into a glower. “No. No alt modes, other than... that... Which sucks. I miss racing.”
Sunstreaker rolled his optics. “We're basically stuck here, too. There isn't anywhere within an orn's walk, and... Well, you've seen what we're like during the day.”
“Yeah,” Bluestreak said with a shudder. “Okay, so you're... cursed, you can't transform, you can leave, but there isn't anywhere you can go... Where do all your... guests come from?”
Sideswipe shrugged. “We don't know. Some of them are like your cousin. Just travelers who see a light and want a place to stay... Some of them are... different. They show up, they disappear. You never see them come in or leave, they always have credits, never run out... Like they don't really exist. Some people come from the nearest town over.”
Bluestreak nodded slowly. “I guess that... sort of makes sense?”
The red Twin smiled, and his counterpart's frown softened a bit. “Good. I... is there anything else?”
“No, I think that's it for now.”
His smile widened. “Then would you mind accompanying us tonight? We haven't had someone to escort in some time.”
Bluestreak hesitated. They had done as promised, and... they really hadn't done anything to harm him. But he couldn't get the image of that sharp plating, those deadly fangs, the stalking gait they moved with...
“I... not today. I just... I'd like to, but...”
“It's okay.”
“Sorry.”
“Bluestreak, it's fine,” Sideswipe said with a smile.
Bluestreak stuttered out another apology, then a frantic farewell, then fled.
Title: Chapter 4: Questions
Rating: K+
Continuity: AU G1
Chapter 4: Questions
Bluestreak stayed in his room for three orns straight. Hound and Mirage brought him energon, and every morning, before the sun rose but after their guests had gone, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came to check on him. They never said much, and never stayed long.
The gray mech was alone with his thoughts for the long joors. He jumped between bemoaning his fate, missing Smokescreen and Prowl, and wondering what had happened to make this place, so... cursed. So dark. And to make the Twins change into those... things every day.
On the fourth orn of his self-confinement, he decided that it was about time for him to snap out of it and buck up. Prowl wouldn't have spent this long moping! Smokescreen would have already been working on a way to get out! And here he was just sitting around whining like a sparkling.
Cycling his vents quickly, he forced himself to his pedes and slowly walked toward the door. It was evening now. He could see the sun touching the horizon out one of his windows. He had time before the guests appeared.
One more heavy cycle, and he opened the door.
.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.
Finding the Twins wasn't hard. They followed the same schedule every orn. They didn't leave their wing of the manor house until about a joor after sundown. What they did there, though, none of the servants could tell him.
Girding himself, he slowly walked up the stairs and turned down the hallway leading to their wing. His doorwings trembled, and his vents were working overtime.
He had only gone half way down the hall when Sideswipe opened the door at the end and stepped out, smiling sadly at the gray mech.
“Bluestreak,” he said, blinking. “Hi. It's... good to see you up.”
“Thanks,” the gray mech whispered, shifting nervously. “I'm... I’ve got, ah, a couple questions?”
“Okay. Come on in.” The red mech stepped aside and gestured to the room behind him.
Bluestreak hesitantly moved forward, glancing around as he stepped inside the dark room. Firelight flickered over dull inlays. There were no fancy bits of random furniture as there were in his room; instead, the only objects taking up space were a wide, padded couch and a smaller, equally padded chair. Sunstreaker was sitting on the couch, staring into the fire.
“Um... take a seat?” Sideswipe said, gesturing to the chair, stepping forward and seating himself next to his brother.
Bluestreak did as the lord of the house offered, slowly lowering himself onto the well-padded chair. He took a moment to shift around so his doorwings were comfortable before staring at the two mechs sitting on the couch. Sideswipe was watching him, a curious look in his optics. Sunstreaker was staring into the middle-distance, a very faint frown on his face.
Sideswipe broke the long silence. “Well... ask away.”
“Okay... I... um... would you mind telling me why... how this happened?”
“This being...?”
“Mute it, Sides,” Sunstreaker growled lowly, rolling his optics. “You know very well what.”
Sideswipe laughed a self-depreciating chuckle. “Eh, sorry. Old habits?” He gave a little shrug. “Truth is, Sunny and I were mean to the wrong mech, and he kinda... cursed us.”
“Mean to the 'wrong mech'? Sides we acted that way all the time.”
“Mm, true, true.”
“Cursed you?” Bluestreak asked, barely believing his audios. “You mean, like, fairy tale cursed?”
Sunstreaker scowled. “Yes. Only it isn't a fairy tale. It's... During the day, we're stuck like... like what you saw. And we can't transform other than that, either.”
“What? You mean...”
Sideswipe's smirk melted into a glower. “No. No alt modes, other than... that... Which sucks. I miss racing.”
Sunstreaker rolled his optics. “We're basically stuck here, too. There isn't anywhere within an orn's walk, and... Well, you've seen what we're like during the day.”
“Yeah,” Bluestreak said with a shudder. “Okay, so you're... cursed, you can't transform, you can leave, but there isn't anywhere you can go... Where do all your... guests come from?”
Sideswipe shrugged. “We don't know. Some of them are like your cousin. Just travelers who see a light and want a place to stay... Some of them are... different. They show up, they disappear. You never see them come in or leave, they always have credits, never run out... Like they don't really exist. Some people come from the nearest town over.”
Bluestreak nodded slowly. “I guess that... sort of makes sense?”
The red Twin smiled, and his counterpart's frown softened a bit. “Good. I... is there anything else?”
“No, I think that's it for now.”
His smile widened. “Then would you mind accompanying us tonight? We haven't had someone to escort in some time.”
Bluestreak hesitated. They had done as promised, and... they really hadn't done anything to harm him. But he couldn't get the image of that sharp plating, those deadly fangs, the stalking gait they moved with...
“I... not today. I just... I'd like to, but...”
“It's okay.”
“Sorry.”
“Bluestreak, it's fine,” Sideswipe said with a smile.
Bluestreak stuttered out another apology, then a frantic farewell, then fled.