Auspex's reality. Sanctuary of Primus. Escape attempt
Requiem walks into the sanctuary and looks around for Auspex, Beamrider a quiet little beeping on his shoulder.
Auspex looks up at him with a bit of a smile from where she's sitting quietly at one of the tables.
Requiem brightens and strides over in that decisive way he has, his spark feeling bright with excitement. "I have something for you."
Auspex's brow furrows curiously; she tilts her head in silent question.
He sets a bundle on the table, excitement now coloured with pride. "Blackout went hunting, and she says this stuff is your cut."
"But... Why, what is it?" Auspex pokes at it with somewhat uneasy curiosity.
"Open it and see." He doesn't seem to notice as Beamrider moves out into sight and looks at the white femme curiously.
Still uncertain, she does so.
The bundle contains ingots of metal- not precious metal- but good construction metal, a huge double handful of credit chips, and a case that contains various electronic bits. It's not of Cybertronian origin, but is all material that could be adapted easily to Cybertronian use. Requiem's pride and excitement grows as he watches her inspect it.
Auspex looks it over in surprise. "That is indeed very generous, there are many things here! I will have to sort through it, to find what I might use, but I'm sure I can find someone who needs some of this, if I do not. Please, thank Blackout for me." There is a bit of that unspoken puzzlement about just what Blackout was 'hunting', but it also remains unspoken.
Requiem unconciously straightens, beaming. "We've got a lot more, too. The scrap yard had to give us credit because they didn't have enough to pay us with for all the metal and parts we brought in."
Auspex raises a brow, still not asking. "Very good indeed."
"Do you want me to put it away for you?" He knows his employer's strength now. A lot of this stuff is heavy. "The metal and parts, anyway."
Auspex looks dubiously at the heft of some of these things.
"That might be of some help, yes, thank you." She smiles at him gratefully.
Beamrider decides to try and draw attention to his plight then. This femme looks a lot like the bots of his own reality, and she's not wearing a Decepticon sigil, even though she seems plenty friendly with them. Requiem looks around quickly as the Minicon flies off his shoulder.
"What? Hey! What're you doing? You have to be careful in here!"
"Help!" says Beamrider, landing in front of Auspex and grabbing her hand. "I've been kidnapped!"
Requiem blinks, nonplussed.
Auspex is also blinking in bewilderment as a Minicon has her by the hand, appealing for protection. Um... what just happened here? He was sitting up there quietly a moment ago... she's missed something important, hasn't she?
"Beamrider... what are you doing?" asks Requiem again, sounding bemused. "Blackout already rescued you."
"I don't want to be a Decepticon!" The little dark blue and green mech clings harder to Auspex's hand.
"But...." Bewilderment and hurt show on Requiem's face plates and in his spark.
Auspex's brow furrows in confusion, and then she crouches by the Mini-Con's side. "Beamrider, is it? Tell me, exactly, why that is something you do not want. I'm not saying it's something you should or should not want, I merely wish to know your specific reason."
"Decepticons are the enemy. They use us and don't treat us like people. And Blackout just grabbed me and took me with her against my will." The reply is quiet, but clearly upset. Requiem's confusion increases at the tiny mech's words.
Auspex thinks about this slowly, patting the smaller hand with her thumb. "Well... Decepticons are not all alike. And yes... Blackout can be brash and ungentle at times, though she means well. Tell, me, though, where you were when she encountered you?"
"In the vehicle of some beings who collected robots and sold them." Beamrider's frowning as he replies. Requiem has fallen silent, though he's feeling betrayed and deeply wounded by the actions of the being he's come to think of as his friend.
Auspex glances up at Requiem for a moment, sympathetically, but focuses on the Mini-Con. Her optics flicker. "Well... that doesn't sound like it was a very good situation, either. Blackout probably wasn't pleased with seeing slavery, and thought to help you."
"Help me?" he repeats in disbelief. "By making me her slave?"
Requiem's spark flairs in angry protest. What is this guy talking about? He's got the same rank as Blackout's own creations!
"How have you been treated, since she took you?" asks Auspex.
"What do you mean?" The young Minicon looks up.
"Have you been treated as a slave? Have you been made to do anything you strongly object to? Has there been any indication of the sort of linking that Minicons dread, or of unprovoked warfare, or whatever else you might fear?"
"...Blackout orders us all around, and she threatened me if I tried to get away... and flipped me off the table the day before yesterday."
"She was playing," says Requiem.
"If they do not feel like slaves, why, then, do you? As for the 'playing', it unfortunately means little if he does not recognize the playfulness in the action, Requiem. That could be problematic." She frowns a bit, dismayed.
"She calls us all minions," protests Beamrider quietly, then starts and ducks down like a quail chick as Blackout suddenly appears over by the door.
"What's going on?" she asks, stepping over beside her creation and frowning down at the little Minicon, her feelings of concern for him and annoyance at him clear.
Auspex blinks up at Blackout as she arrives. "Lack of communication, apparently."
She frowns unhappily at Beamrider, uncertain as to who she is mildly exasperated with; him, or Blackout. "It seems, then, that she holds you in equal esteem with the others, who are her constructs. If it helps... I am a neutral, and I find Blackout to be... somewhat overwhelming at times, but I can sense that she means well toward you."
"He's trying to run off," says Requiem, turning his frown toward his boss.
"Overwhelming?" Blackout blinks.
Beamrider looks up at them, then turns back to Auspex. "But I'm not a Decepticon."
Auspex chuckles slightly at her friend's confusion. "You have a very strong presence, Blackout. That can be somewhat intimidating, to someone unused to your stature or your sense of purpose."
She turns back to Beamrider. "Well... neither am I. And really... if they had not openly declared allegiance to that faction, would you still feel this way?"
Beamrider looks up at the two big dark mechs as Blackout rumbles with slight amusement at Auspex's words. "I... I don't know."
"You should know, at least, that they live in the Nexus, and there, the Cybertronian civil war has very little sway with its people. They are Decepticons, but they do not fight Autobots, and this is generally true across the universes." She glances up at Blackout, again. "Have you asked what they fight for, if anything?"
"N...no. Blackout told me the war was over, and that the Autobots had won. But then she wouldn't let me go."
"I keep what I like," rumbles the big femme quietly.
Auspex 'hmm's softly. "If she likes you, she wants you to be where she can watch over you. I can see how that would chafe on your sense of freedom, and I understand that; but do you take the chance to find better circumstances, with the risk of failure, or do you stay where you are secure and see if there is a way to be content there? It is not an easy choice to make."
She doesn't really know what Blackout would do if he did try to leave, and she does not speculate on that, for now.
"Why can't I just go home?" he says plaintively.
"Your reality is gone, rookie." Blackout's deep alto is gruff.
"What?" He looks up at her quickly, optics flaring in shock.
Auspex peers up at Blackout, indigo optics troubled. "...Oh dear. How do you know this? What happened?"
"I'm not stupid," says the Decepticon. "I thought Primus wouldn't like me to keep him if he didn't want to stay, so I got his coordinates and tried to go and check out what his reality was like. It wasn't."
Then she gives Beamrider a stern look. "It's not like you're the only Minicon in the bunch, runt. Slagging little ingrate."
He tries not to cringe, though his mouth is turned down in a frown of dismay and guilt. For some reason he can't think of anything to say. He barely remembers his reality and the other Minicons; it was his sense of what's right that had lead to his escape attempt. But now he's looking at the expression in the two Decepticons' optics and it's making him feel as though he's in the wrong here.
Auspex nods slowly. "That was a good thing, to look... Well. I have little to say to that."
She turns back to Beamrider. "If you have not been with them long, I suggest staying a little longer, if you have the patience, and see what they are like, disregarding all of your prior notions of faction - that is important. If you still wish to leave, perhaps then you can make an informed decision. But I will vouch that Blackout takes care of her own, even though her ways may not be gentle."
He watches as the black femme puts a hand up to cover Scorponok, who is chittering things he's glad that he can't understand.
Then he straightens and walks over to the edge of the table nearest her, where he stands tall and awaits judgment.
Blackout quirks a brow plate at him, wary and wondering what he wants.
Auspex nearly does the same. She does blink, and give him a questioning glance.
"I'm ready to face the music," he says in his quiet way.
It's Blackout's turn to blink, and then she snorts with amusement and finger-flips him off the table.
Auspex winces slightly and sighs mentally, feeling a hint of amusement and some indignation on behalf of the Minicon. "I'm not sure he finds that particularly endearing, Blackout...."
"He asked for punishment." Blackout shrugs and rubs Scorponok's back as she looks down at where Beamrider's hovering just above the floor and staring with amazement at Tessera. "Besides, he likes to fly."
"Hmm...." Auspex shows a hint of amused smile. "Is that fair enough, in the general consensus?" She looks around at her companions, her smile widening at Beamrider's interest in the chiproach.
Requiem nods his head decisively, with the air of a young mech who hasn't thought to question his superior yet. Scorponok chitters authoritively, and Beamrider flies up to be at a level with the larger bots' heads, his optics still fixed on Tessera as she zips up Auspex's leg.
Auspex nods absently, though her brow furrows a bit at Beamrider's reaction to the little Decepticon. "What is it?" She scritches Tessera as she comes within arm's reach.
The young Minicon blinks and looks up to meet the white femme's optics, not blinking as Blackout's hand closes around him. "Yes. What is it?"
"A chiproach, lugnut." Requiem snorts.
Auspex blinks a bit. "She's a Cybertronian. A very tiny one, granted, but there are some that are...." Perhaps she understands. A Minicon did note to her, once, that the idea of regular Cybertronians under a certain size was a bit perplexing.
"...A symbiont, like Scorponok?" Beamrider looks toward his friend, then back to Auspex, leaning his elbows on the side of Blackout's hand.
The white femme shakes her head. "She is a Decepticon, and she was created to record information, to return to her creator. In war she would likely be a spy, since she can fit into some very small and out-of-the-way spaces. She asked her creator if she could stay here, and I'm glad of her company because she is very light of spark. But symbiont tech is not something we usually have in our universe, no; not in the same manner."
"Oh," he says uncertainly. "You know a lot of Decepticons.
"Do you want me to put that stuff away now?" Requiem dares to interrupt the conversation.
Auspex gives an amused duck of the head toward the young Decepticon. "If you would, thank you."
Then she nods to the Minicon. "It seems that, often, the Decepticons are in most need of emotional stability, if you'll forgive me saying." She nods apologetically at the assembled members of the faction. "The Decepticon culture does not allow for weakness, and, as a healer of the emotional and spiritual, I offer a place to be vulnerable for awhile, without consequence or judgment. Strength is a fine thing to have, but not everyone can be strong, at all times. I find that Decepticons seem to need this, more than Autobots or neutrals. I serve my share of those, as well, but their needs are not the same. Their fellows will generally forgive them, and quickly, for lack of composure. There is much built-up emotion in the average Decepticon. That is no secret, I'm afraid." She gives another hint of smile, somewhat rueful.
Blackout makes a rude sound as she opens her hand to set Beamrider free. "Her boss is bigger than me. I'm not crossing that."
He gives her a 0_o look, then flies up and hovers for a moment.
"And sometimes, there is that." Auspex chuckles, nodding to Blackout as she says, too lightly to be serious, "He's not known for striking down misbehaving Decepticons, however."
The black femme razzes her again, then looks around with a bored expression, though she feels relieved and a bit disgruntled. "If everything's alright here now Scorponok and I will go back to our bath."
Beamrider beeps as she gives him a piercing look. "Yes, sir."
"Be patient, Beamrider. I think you'll find that she means well. Otherwise, you can try the Nexus, or come here." Auspex frowns a little, not wishing to say something that Blackout will flatly contradict. She raises a brow questioningly at her.
"Hrrm, yeah, whatever." The black femme's mind is already on sun-warmed water and damp sand. "See you later. And if you need anything else tell me."
Auspex chuckles softly. "Very well. Thank you again for your generosity, Blackout. I will be sure your gift is put to good use, somehow or other."
Blackout quirks a grin, then turns and walks out of the sanctuary, talking to Scorponok about sand and fish.
Beamrider watches her go, then darts to grab something that falls from the bundle as Requiem lifts it.
"Thanks, lugnut." The young Decepticon aims a swat at him, which he dodges easily.
Auspex gathers a few of the things that are manageable for her, and helps store her new... miscellanea.
Requiem creases his optics in a grin as he settles the stuff where Auspex tells him to, though he still feels of resentment and upset. "Hey, where's Bob? Oh... does that guy ever do anything other than read?"
Auspex smiles ruefully. "He's learning to deal with his nightmares, and learning to be afraid of a thing or two less, learning to trust Primus more. There is little else I can or wish to ask of him, but he is progressing, and he has much compassion for the people who come to me with problems. He will find his place, eventually."
It's pretty clear that Requiem doesn't understand all of that, but he nods wisely, then looks around the store room. "Is there anything else you need me to do?"
She smiles again, gratified at his patience for her occupational rambling. "I don't think so, thank you. I couldn't have moved all these things, otherwise."
He grins back, and the resentment fades suddenly as Beamrider settles onto his shoulder and leans against a spike of his armor. "Alright. We'll be on the roof or up above, then."
Auspex nods, reaching to pat his arm gratefully and nod to the little Minicon. "Thank you, my friends."
The youngsters shrug and make awkwardly pleased polite sounds, and then head outside, where they're soon engaged in a rambunctious game of aerial tag. Auspex can hear them whooping and beeping as she returns to her mosaic.
((co-written with primus_seeress))
Auspex looks up at him with a bit of a smile from where she's sitting quietly at one of the tables.
Requiem brightens and strides over in that decisive way he has, his spark feeling bright with excitement. "I have something for you."
Auspex's brow furrows curiously; she tilts her head in silent question.
He sets a bundle on the table, excitement now coloured with pride. "Blackout went hunting, and she says this stuff is your cut."
"But... Why, what is it?" Auspex pokes at it with somewhat uneasy curiosity.
"Open it and see." He doesn't seem to notice as Beamrider moves out into sight and looks at the white femme curiously.
Still uncertain, she does so.
The bundle contains ingots of metal- not precious metal- but good construction metal, a huge double handful of credit chips, and a case that contains various electronic bits. It's not of Cybertronian origin, but is all material that could be adapted easily to Cybertronian use. Requiem's pride and excitement grows as he watches her inspect it.
Auspex looks it over in surprise. "That is indeed very generous, there are many things here! I will have to sort through it, to find what I might use, but I'm sure I can find someone who needs some of this, if I do not. Please, thank Blackout for me." There is a bit of that unspoken puzzlement about just what Blackout was 'hunting', but it also remains unspoken.
Requiem unconciously straightens, beaming. "We've got a lot more, too. The scrap yard had to give us credit because they didn't have enough to pay us with for all the metal and parts we brought in."
Auspex raises a brow, still not asking. "Very good indeed."
"Do you want me to put it away for you?" He knows his employer's strength now. A lot of this stuff is heavy. "The metal and parts, anyway."
Auspex looks dubiously at the heft of some of these things.
"That might be of some help, yes, thank you." She smiles at him gratefully.
Beamrider decides to try and draw attention to his plight then. This femme looks a lot like the bots of his own reality, and she's not wearing a Decepticon sigil, even though she seems plenty friendly with them. Requiem looks around quickly as the Minicon flies off his shoulder.
"What? Hey! What're you doing? You have to be careful in here!"
"Help!" says Beamrider, landing in front of Auspex and grabbing her hand. "I've been kidnapped!"
Requiem blinks, nonplussed.
Auspex is also blinking in bewilderment as a Minicon has her by the hand, appealing for protection. Um... what just happened here? He was sitting up there quietly a moment ago... she's missed something important, hasn't she?
"Beamrider... what are you doing?" asks Requiem again, sounding bemused. "Blackout already rescued you."
"I don't want to be a Decepticon!" The little dark blue and green mech clings harder to Auspex's hand.
"But...." Bewilderment and hurt show on Requiem's face plates and in his spark.
Auspex's brow furrows in confusion, and then she crouches by the Mini-Con's side. "Beamrider, is it? Tell me, exactly, why that is something you do not want. I'm not saying it's something you should or should not want, I merely wish to know your specific reason."
"Decepticons are the enemy. They use us and don't treat us like people. And Blackout just grabbed me and took me with her against my will." The reply is quiet, but clearly upset. Requiem's confusion increases at the tiny mech's words.
Auspex thinks about this slowly, patting the smaller hand with her thumb. "Well... Decepticons are not all alike. And yes... Blackout can be brash and ungentle at times, though she means well. Tell, me, though, where you were when she encountered you?"
"In the vehicle of some beings who collected robots and sold them." Beamrider's frowning as he replies. Requiem has fallen silent, though he's feeling betrayed and deeply wounded by the actions of the being he's come to think of as his friend.
Auspex glances up at Requiem for a moment, sympathetically, but focuses on the Mini-Con. Her optics flicker. "Well... that doesn't sound like it was a very good situation, either. Blackout probably wasn't pleased with seeing slavery, and thought to help you."
"Help me?" he repeats in disbelief. "By making me her slave?"
Requiem's spark flairs in angry protest. What is this guy talking about? He's got the same rank as Blackout's own creations!
"How have you been treated, since she took you?" asks Auspex.
"What do you mean?" The young Minicon looks up.
"Have you been treated as a slave? Have you been made to do anything you strongly object to? Has there been any indication of the sort of linking that Minicons dread, or of unprovoked warfare, or whatever else you might fear?"
"...Blackout orders us all around, and she threatened me if I tried to get away... and flipped me off the table the day before yesterday."
"She was playing," says Requiem.
"If they do not feel like slaves, why, then, do you? As for the 'playing', it unfortunately means little if he does not recognize the playfulness in the action, Requiem. That could be problematic." She frowns a bit, dismayed.
"She calls us all minions," protests Beamrider quietly, then starts and ducks down like a quail chick as Blackout suddenly appears over by the door.
"What's going on?" she asks, stepping over beside her creation and frowning down at the little Minicon, her feelings of concern for him and annoyance at him clear.
Auspex blinks up at Blackout as she arrives. "Lack of communication, apparently."
She frowns unhappily at Beamrider, uncertain as to who she is mildly exasperated with; him, or Blackout. "It seems, then, that she holds you in equal esteem with the others, who are her constructs. If it helps... I am a neutral, and I find Blackout to be... somewhat overwhelming at times, but I can sense that she means well toward you."
"He's trying to run off," says Requiem, turning his frown toward his boss.
"Overwhelming?" Blackout blinks.
Beamrider looks up at them, then turns back to Auspex. "But I'm not a Decepticon."
Auspex chuckles slightly at her friend's confusion. "You have a very strong presence, Blackout. That can be somewhat intimidating, to someone unused to your stature or your sense of purpose."
She turns back to Beamrider. "Well... neither am I. And really... if they had not openly declared allegiance to that faction, would you still feel this way?"
Beamrider looks up at the two big dark mechs as Blackout rumbles with slight amusement at Auspex's words. "I... I don't know."
"You should know, at least, that they live in the Nexus, and there, the Cybertronian civil war has very little sway with its people. They are Decepticons, but they do not fight Autobots, and this is generally true across the universes." She glances up at Blackout, again. "Have you asked what they fight for, if anything?"
"N...no. Blackout told me the war was over, and that the Autobots had won. But then she wouldn't let me go."
"I keep what I like," rumbles the big femme quietly.
Auspex 'hmm's softly. "If she likes you, she wants you to be where she can watch over you. I can see how that would chafe on your sense of freedom, and I understand that; but do you take the chance to find better circumstances, with the risk of failure, or do you stay where you are secure and see if there is a way to be content there? It is not an easy choice to make."
She doesn't really know what Blackout would do if he did try to leave, and she does not speculate on that, for now.
"Why can't I just go home?" he says plaintively.
"Your reality is gone, rookie." Blackout's deep alto is gruff.
"What?" He looks up at her quickly, optics flaring in shock.
Auspex peers up at Blackout, indigo optics troubled. "...Oh dear. How do you know this? What happened?"
"I'm not stupid," says the Decepticon. "I thought Primus wouldn't like me to keep him if he didn't want to stay, so I got his coordinates and tried to go and check out what his reality was like. It wasn't."
Then she gives Beamrider a stern look. "It's not like you're the only Minicon in the bunch, runt. Slagging little ingrate."
He tries not to cringe, though his mouth is turned down in a frown of dismay and guilt. For some reason he can't think of anything to say. He barely remembers his reality and the other Minicons; it was his sense of what's right that had lead to his escape attempt. But now he's looking at the expression in the two Decepticons' optics and it's making him feel as though he's in the wrong here.
Auspex nods slowly. "That was a good thing, to look... Well. I have little to say to that."
She turns back to Beamrider. "If you have not been with them long, I suggest staying a little longer, if you have the patience, and see what they are like, disregarding all of your prior notions of faction - that is important. If you still wish to leave, perhaps then you can make an informed decision. But I will vouch that Blackout takes care of her own, even though her ways may not be gentle."
He watches as the black femme puts a hand up to cover Scorponok, who is chittering things he's glad that he can't understand.
Then he straightens and walks over to the edge of the table nearest her, where he stands tall and awaits judgment.
Blackout quirks a brow plate at him, wary and wondering what he wants.
Auspex nearly does the same. She does blink, and give him a questioning glance.
"I'm ready to face the music," he says in his quiet way.
It's Blackout's turn to blink, and then she snorts with amusement and finger-flips him off the table.
Auspex winces slightly and sighs mentally, feeling a hint of amusement and some indignation on behalf of the Minicon. "I'm not sure he finds that particularly endearing, Blackout...."
"He asked for punishment." Blackout shrugs and rubs Scorponok's back as she looks down at where Beamrider's hovering just above the floor and staring with amazement at Tessera. "Besides, he likes to fly."
"Hmm...." Auspex shows a hint of amused smile. "Is that fair enough, in the general consensus?" She looks around at her companions, her smile widening at Beamrider's interest in the chiproach.
Requiem nods his head decisively, with the air of a young mech who hasn't thought to question his superior yet. Scorponok chitters authoritively, and Beamrider flies up to be at a level with the larger bots' heads, his optics still fixed on Tessera as she zips up Auspex's leg.
Auspex nods absently, though her brow furrows a bit at Beamrider's reaction to the little Decepticon. "What is it?" She scritches Tessera as she comes within arm's reach.
The young Minicon blinks and looks up to meet the white femme's optics, not blinking as Blackout's hand closes around him. "Yes. What is it?"
"A chiproach, lugnut." Requiem snorts.
Auspex blinks a bit. "She's a Cybertronian. A very tiny one, granted, but there are some that are...." Perhaps she understands. A Minicon did note to her, once, that the idea of regular Cybertronians under a certain size was a bit perplexing.
"...A symbiont, like Scorponok?" Beamrider looks toward his friend, then back to Auspex, leaning his elbows on the side of Blackout's hand.
The white femme shakes her head. "She is a Decepticon, and she was created to record information, to return to her creator. In war she would likely be a spy, since she can fit into some very small and out-of-the-way spaces. She asked her creator if she could stay here, and I'm glad of her company because she is very light of spark. But symbiont tech is not something we usually have in our universe, no; not in the same manner."
"Oh," he says uncertainly. "You know a lot of Decepticons.
"Do you want me to put that stuff away now?" Requiem dares to interrupt the conversation.
Auspex gives an amused duck of the head toward the young Decepticon. "If you would, thank you."
Then she nods to the Minicon. "It seems that, often, the Decepticons are in most need of emotional stability, if you'll forgive me saying." She nods apologetically at the assembled members of the faction. "The Decepticon culture does not allow for weakness, and, as a healer of the emotional and spiritual, I offer a place to be vulnerable for awhile, without consequence or judgment. Strength is a fine thing to have, but not everyone can be strong, at all times. I find that Decepticons seem to need this, more than Autobots or neutrals. I serve my share of those, as well, but their needs are not the same. Their fellows will generally forgive them, and quickly, for lack of composure. There is much built-up emotion in the average Decepticon. That is no secret, I'm afraid." She gives another hint of smile, somewhat rueful.
Blackout makes a rude sound as she opens her hand to set Beamrider free. "Her boss is bigger than me. I'm not crossing that."
He gives her a 0_o look, then flies up and hovers for a moment.
"And sometimes, there is that." Auspex chuckles, nodding to Blackout as she says, too lightly to be serious, "He's not known for striking down misbehaving Decepticons, however."
The black femme razzes her again, then looks around with a bored expression, though she feels relieved and a bit disgruntled. "If everything's alright here now Scorponok and I will go back to our bath."
Beamrider beeps as she gives him a piercing look. "Yes, sir."
"Be patient, Beamrider. I think you'll find that she means well. Otherwise, you can try the Nexus, or come here." Auspex frowns a little, not wishing to say something that Blackout will flatly contradict. She raises a brow questioningly at her.
"Hrrm, yeah, whatever." The black femme's mind is already on sun-warmed water and damp sand. "See you later. And if you need anything else tell me."
Auspex chuckles softly. "Very well. Thank you again for your generosity, Blackout. I will be sure your gift is put to good use, somehow or other."
Blackout quirks a grin, then turns and walks out of the sanctuary, talking to Scorponok about sand and fish.
Beamrider watches her go, then darts to grab something that falls from the bundle as Requiem lifts it.
"Thanks, lugnut." The young Decepticon aims a swat at him, which he dodges easily.
Auspex gathers a few of the things that are manageable for her, and helps store her new... miscellanea.
Requiem creases his optics in a grin as he settles the stuff where Auspex tells him to, though he still feels of resentment and upset. "Hey, where's Bob? Oh... does that guy ever do anything other than read?"
Auspex smiles ruefully. "He's learning to deal with his nightmares, and learning to be afraid of a thing or two less, learning to trust Primus more. There is little else I can or wish to ask of him, but he is progressing, and he has much compassion for the people who come to me with problems. He will find his place, eventually."
It's pretty clear that Requiem doesn't understand all of that, but he nods wisely, then looks around the store room. "Is there anything else you need me to do?"
She smiles again, gratified at his patience for her occupational rambling. "I don't think so, thank you. I couldn't have moved all these things, otherwise."
He grins back, and the resentment fades suddenly as Beamrider settles onto his shoulder and leans against a spike of his armor. "Alright. We'll be on the roof or up above, then."
Auspex nods, reaching to pat his arm gratefully and nod to the little Minicon. "Thank you, my friends."
The youngsters shrug and make awkwardly pleased polite sounds, and then head outside, where they're soon engaged in a rambunctious game of aerial tag. Auspex can hear them whooping and beeping as she returns to her mosaic.
((co-written with primus_seeress))