no one mourns the wicked

[thanksoptimus]

Who: Optimus Prime and AUTOBOTS
Where: The Autobot campground.
When: The evening/night after the dance off.
What: Orion Pax has been restored to his past and future self. Optimus Prime is NOT HAPPY. Also, very very tired.
Warnings: Injuries, intense robot ass devastation. Angry dad. Angry mom.

Optimus Prime, unlike Orion Pax, leaves no time for argument or complaint. After he's finished dealing with Megatron, he orders the Autobots to roll out, provided assistance to injured comrades where necessary. He takes no assistance for himself.

Which is stupid, because after days of starvation and torture and minus the burst of power from the Matrix he was utilizing just before, he is extremely fucked up. It's less obvious that he's on his last legs than it might be with some bots, but he is very injured and trying hard to pretend that he isn't. He drives back to base by his own means, and doesn't speak but to give the occasional order until they are there.

He wants everyone safe and tended to and organized, and he needs to have a talk with just about everyone on the team, and besides that he needs to catch up with everything he hadn't been paying attention to as Orion Pax...he doesn't see how he could possibly take a rest quite yet, there is too much stuff to do, and if he made it this far he can make it a little bit father.

More than tired, though, he is angry. He's angry at Megatron, angry at some of his team, and angry at himself. He doesn't pause to talk to anyone once they get back to camp, and immediately starts to ineffectually try to organize things with as few words as possible.

[Feel free to tag in as someone at any point in this, including later in the night or the next day. He will probably pass out in the medibay within the hour, though. Either that or Ratchet will get him.]

Comments

[thanksoptimus]

Her determination is somewhat steadying, though it doesn't impact his outter demeanour a great deal. There are too many other, simultaneous worries to contend with. This whole interaction is one of them.

"I appreciate your support," he says, even as he feels uneasy in his spark. He's been trying to ignore it, but it's working less than less. "I believe I will be fine for the time being."

He's not completely sure what he is trying to pacify here, but he tries not to think about it.

[thanksoptimus]

Optimus vents a weary sigh. They are both very tired and sore, and with Drift it is much easier to accept his earnesty. He's already thought about this, at least, and he knows enough to know Drift did not intend to disrespect her lead.

"...You will remain on field duty, but in a probationary capacity. You will require explicit permission to leave camp for any purpose until otherwise stated. Understood?"

Is that it? It seems like that's it.

[starscheme]

Oh, are they shit talking mutual enemies now? Starscream can do that. He can definitely do that just fine. Maybe this is the opening he needs to save himself

"Oh, his faults are many. He treats all of his followers, myself included of course, like dirt; he abuses us, refuses to listen to our advice despite keeping us as advisors... But you know of this already, I'm sure. Up until recently I was content to deal with it as an occupational hazard, but then his failings started to affect our overall progress."

He pauses to sigh dramatically before continuing. "After we obtained the forge and returned to the Conquest... He went and hid himself for days. It was unlike anything I've seen in all of our time together. Our troops were growing restless with inaction, and time was running short. When I addressed the matter with him, he threatened to scrap me! And that, as the humans say, was the final straw."

[worstprime]

There's a long hollow moment while Rodimus doesn't respond, letting what Optimus has said sink in. The words hurt. But he also feels a fresh anger rising in his spark.

"'Underestimate the burden of command'?" Rodimus echoes in disbelief before a sarcastic, bitter laugh bursts from his vocalizer. "I'm not so arrogant that I think I know better than you but I do know that high command makes decisions...and people die."

Rodimus knows he shouldn't be saying these things, knows he should stop, and if he could, he would probably leave now, childish as that might be. But it's too late. He deserves the berating, certainly, but the insinuation that he doesn't understand the burden of command makes' his spark burn. There isn't a day that goes by that Rodimus' own disastrous experiences in command don't cross his mind; the faces of the people he's still trying to make it up to still haunt the edges of every decision he makes, for better or worse.

He continues, despite knowing better, his fists clenched and his voice full of undirected venom.

"Maybe you'd know that too if you paid attention to your top ranks...the high command you have so much faith in. Maybe you'd see how many people they send to die in their stead for the sake if a...a....a fuel outpost If you spent more time paying attention to what matters in this war instead of your...your relationship with Megatron!"

[thanksoptimus]

Optimus doesn't know exactly where this is coming from, but more importantly he feels that it is irrelevant to the current situation. Arcee has hardly been making anyone her canon fodder - Rodimus projecting his distrust onto her is no more appropriate than anything else.

He finds the first part irritating, but largely unmoving. If Rodimus things that he is unaware of the things that happen in his army, he is misinformed. The avoidance of collateral has always been one of his most central concerns.

But he doesn't end up arguing that point, because of the fact that that last remark catches his completely off guard. His optics widen like he's been struck, before narrowing again critically.

...And then he just stares at him, his gaze absolutely piercing. There is a note of disbelief, but mostly there is just this supreme bitterness that consumes him now, an age old wound with freshly leaked blood.

There is a certain violence to his silence that seems to imply that if Rodimus allows him enough time to choose his words, he will most likely regret it.

[worstprime]

Rodimus is a little off-put by this unexpectedly intense reaction, but his statement stands, and he says nothing, glaring back at Optimus silently.

[thanksoptimus]

And then...well, it's not much like it seemed like it is going to be.

In the past, it could be genuinely ambiguous as to whether or not Optimus Prime had any kind of interior personal life, or interests outside of being a Prime and the commander of the Autobots. Nothing is ever about him. It's about the war, and what is wise, and what is decent, and in balancing all three of those things the best he can. He doesn't laugh, he doesn't cry, he doesn't do anything but work for the cause except in the rarest of moments.

He's been fine that way - content, almost - for thousands of years. And now he has no idea what to do when nothing feels fine anymore at all.

When his anger finally starts to fade, there isn't anything beneath it anymore. All there is is raw hurt - humiliation - and a complete lack of defense. He stares at Rodimus for a few more moments with that hollowed out, fragile expression, and then he just lays back down on his berth, turning his helm to look away from the other bot. It is tired, and it is resigned.

It takes a few more moments for him to finally speak, and when he does, his voice reflects that expression. It's quiet, and it holds firm, but it's empty.

"You are restricted to the medibay until further notice. Your sentence will be given once the issue has been fully accessed."

[thanksoptimus]

Okay, well, if Starscream is going to talk about this so readily he may as well get what information he can. The thing about Megatron sounds extremely suspect. What the hell was that bastard doing?

Though he really does wonder what Decepticons expect of a leader like him. It is not as if Megatron has pretended to be any different.

"If often wonder how Megatron's followers can continue to be surprised by his behaviour, given the foundations upon which the Decepticon cause is built," he says coolly. "Though hiding is indeed unusual."

[starscheme]

"What was strange is that it wasn't just your average hiding. I have known him to partake in periods of time where he prefers his solitude to wandering amongst the troops," he offers readily (pointedly ignoring that jab about the Decepticons). "The odd thing was his timing and refusal to issue any further commands. We were fully prepared to launch a follow up assault but he seemed unsually reluctant about the idea."

Well. He knows why Megatron was reluctant, or can at least draw his own conclusions based on how their argument went, but bringing that up to Optimus right now seems less than ideal.

[thanksoptimus]

And yet that is the information that Optimus finds himself specifically wanting. Honestly, from his angle, none of Megatron's hesitation and personal drama has been obvious. From his side, all if it seemed like a cold, calculated betrayal.

"Reluctant to acquire his prisoner?"

He can at least guess at that, considering that Starscream obviously considered that to be the next move, and it what the Seeker ultimately ended up doing.

[starscheme]

"Ah- well. Yes, actually..." Starscream trails off, blinking owlishly up at him. He ferventy hopes that this isn't going to become about Megatron's weird gay emotions, that is just way too goddamn uncomfortable of a conversation to have.

[thanksoptimus]

Optimus doesn't really grasp why. "Weird gay emotions" as a reason seems childish and silly as an assumption. There clearly must be something more devious afoot. Megatron certainly hadn't hesitated once Orion - once Optimus - was in his grasp.

"And he was not forthcoming as to why?"

[deadpartners]

Arcee knows the end of a subject when she sees it. She hadn't expected a full-on military debriefing, or the conversation to last very long, but even so, she can't help but feel the hints of a dismissal.

It seems an awkward place to end the meeting, though, and though Arcee finds herself hesitating, she's reluctant to just leave it at that. How often can they avoid the subject they've been dancing around, anyway? She starts toward Optimus a little, though she doesn't reach out to touch him.

"Optimus," she starts, haltingly, but there's a softness to her face that makes her look vulnerable. "About what happened before. I..."

[thanksoptimus]

Ahhhh fuck. Abort.

His frame tenses before he can stop it, all that lingering ill ease manifesting in a suddenly physical sense. There is a deep note of anxiety within him that inspires the sudden need to put his defenses up and keep them there.

"Arcee, I do not hold any of your interactions with Orion Pax against you," the words coming stiffly and automatically.

[deadpartners]

For a long, long moment, Arcee doesn't know what to say to that. She looks stricken for a second, because that is a dismissal if she's ever heard one, and it stings. She hadn't expected much -- she knows this is Optimus, not Orion, and that he's tired and angry and he's been through an incredible ordeal -- but it's not as though Arcee had been nothing to Optimus, either. She'd expected more than that.

The moment passes and she still doesn't know what to say. There's nothing to say to a response like that. Arcee pulls away from the berth, her gaze dropping away from Optimus's face. Her optics dim.

"I'll let you get some rest, Optimus." Her voice is quiet, but still plenty audible in the room. She starts for the door. "You're going to need it. You know where to find me if you need me."

[thanksoptimus]

The thing to do would be to stop her, and to amend that statement, and to try to put into words the things he has been feeling since taking the Matrix back. But he doesn't. He doesn't know what those feelings are, and out of a world of dangers, he finds that this is the thing that makes him afraid. He hasn't even considered something like it for thousands of years. And the fact that it was pulled out there, made a possibility...

He can't even quantify his own feelings in reaction. His optics follow her at first, but then they stop doing even that. His spark aches, both for her, and for whatever part of himself is feeling this.

He doesn't say anything as she leaves.

[ultramatum]

Magnus wished he could give Optimus a better reply than what he had, but he wasn't one to sugar coat the truth. This was certainly not their best outpost, but he didn't want Optimus to thing they had overlooked anything so basic in his absence.

"Our location has been secure to this point as far as we can determine, based on the fact the Decepticons never made a move to attack us here. However, Starscream was located suspiciously close to base, and we have had to share our location with the local peace keeping organization CONDOR. It may be prudent for us to relocate once everyone has recovered.

[thanksoptimus]

Optimus has his hand to his face again, but not out of exasperation or disapproval, but just because he feels light headed. He isn't necessarily concerned about CONDOR from what he understands of it, but...

"Tracks," he says, abruptly. "I left...tracks when I met with him, I am sure. I was not...I did not know to be as careful as was required."

[starscheme]

"Ah. No. No he was not... he was certainly very guarded about the matter, I can tell you that much." Once again, he's not technically lying; Megatron was definitely not forthcoming about his reasons in that conversation. Even still, Starscream avoids eye contact and fidgets at his cuffs nervously.

[thanksoptimus]

The worst fucking liar in the universe, some days. Optimus raises his eyebrow.

"Is there something that I do not know, Starscream?" he asks.

[starscheme]

"Well... Now that is an odd question, I mean I imagine that there are many things in this world that you do not know, but then again who does, know everything that there is to know, I mean. I certainly do not. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself about it though, it's a shortcoming that we all share."

Okay maybe humor isn't the best tactic to take with Optimus Prime, but it's at least fairly obvious that he's not lying out of ill intent for once in his life. He just wants to spare his own chassis.

[worstprime]

This isn't the reaction that Rodimus was expecting at all, although it makes more sense than the intense and uncharacteristic anger brewing just a moment before. Optimus seems to shut down, and Rodimus feels his spark drop like a cold weight.

"Optimus...I...." Damn it. He puts his head in his hands; this isn't what he'd meant to happen. He'd gotten reactionary, gotten defensive and now...well, he's never seen Optimus like this before. He feels sick with guilt, and even that makes him feel guilty because it's ultimately a self-serving emotion. He wishes desperately that he could be somewhere else.

[thanksoptimus]

Which means that Optimus has to know even more than he did before. So he just glares at Starscream with a look of sharp impatience.

"Commander Starscream..."

Don't waste his time please.

[starscheme]

"Yes?" He says brightly, tapping his fingers together and smiling. Perfectly sweet, perfectly innocent.

[thanksoptimus]

By the Allspark this bot is annoying.

"Starscream you are obviously avoiding a subject and I would like to know what it is," he says.