video; locked from Prime!Starscream

[redshirtrobot]

[When the video comes on, Fracas is shifting on his feet, only pausing to rub the back of his neck and let out a reedy laugh. He coughs when he finally gets control of himself, then claps his hands together and mutters to himself before speaking up.]

S-so, uhm. I... I guess everyone's noticed the new Starscream. Well, he's the Starscream from my world. More the point, I.

I need help.

He can't know there's a Vehicon here. That I'm here. I will end up dead again and I-I don't... I don't want to die again. There. There has to be some way to keep me completely off his radar, right?

... ^Right?!

[Fracas's voice cracks for a moment without him even realizing it.]

S-something. Anything. I just. I can't. I r-really can't.

Please?

[He could not possibly look any more desperate and pathetic, even if he had a lip wibble.]

Comments

LOCKED

[winged_knight]

That would be Vector Prime. He wants to keep us safe, including you. [He muses a moment. Shockwave does not surprise him, though it does not delight him, either. ] I'm certain that you could establish multiple residences in different temples near people willing to defend you. That would give you more places to feel safe.

At least until you feel confident standing up to him on your own. Because no one deserves to live in fear. So yes. I will train you. And please, it's no imposition at all. Helping another is the highest calling one can aspire to.

[That last comes with a small smile, but then he goes solemn for a moment.]

You must understand one thing however. My order preaches the preservation of all things Cybertronian: history, culture, knowledge but life above all else. Our kind's greatest folly was the misapplication of violence. If I teach you, it must be to know that you will care in it's application.

LOCKED

[redshirtrobot]

Huh. Well, I guess I should. Thank him sometime, or something. [He's not even sure how he ended up with Vector Prime's colors on his arm, really.] That... I could do that. It's not like I'm not getting around anyway.

[Fracas starts when he realizes the implication of what Wing's saying about his order, and waves his hands a little in a slight halting gesture. He's more surprised - and definitely flustered - than anything.]

Don't get me wrong, I need to know how to, but. I really don't like fighting. The last time I did in the field a centipede was trying to eat me, here. I-I transferred to the Maintenance Division because I didn't feel comfortable in Security anymore. You wouldn't believe the paperwork doing that. I'd rather not have to at all, but... well, there's monsters, and if I'm getting all this training I might as well help stop them.

Right? It'd. It'd be a waste of everyone else's time and effort otherwise.

LOCKED

[winged_knight]

Couldn't hurt. [Being polite and grateful never did, in Wing's mind.] It's an idea, for now. You could get a redeco too. But that's all hiding, which is no way to persist through life.

[The reaction surprises him, but not in a bad way. Also, Fracas uses the word 'help', which resounds well with Wing and reflects the gold in the Vehicon's glyph.]

Very well then. When would you like to start? And have you ever used a melee weapon?

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[redshirtrobot]

You'd be surprised how well hiding has worked for me over the centuries. O-of course, there were always about a thousand more Vehicons and no one could tell us apart...

[Which is terrible, he realizes, but it's also the truth. At least admitting his general distaste for fighting isn't so awful.]

I uhm. I'll need to talk to my medic about a few things, but... maybe next week or so? A-and I haven't; I'm not equipped with one but I need to learn.

LOCKED

[winged_knight]

I imagine it's a little different when you can hide in a crowd, in plain sight.

Still that's no way to live, in fear. You deserve better than that, yes?

[Try and convince him otherwise Fracas.]

We can begin whenever you like. I'll see about fashioning some practice swords, but basic hand-to-hand is where we'll start. You should always be able to defend yourself without a weapon.

[He comes from a universe where getting disarmed is a whole easier than it is in yours, if that wasn't already obvious.]

LOCKED

[redshirtrobot]

I... it was just normal. It was wasn't about... deserving things. You... you're going to be stubborn about this aren't you.

[He's not sure how to feel about that. It's kind of nice... but also really, really weird.]

Well i-if I don't have a weapon then I'm technically fighting without arms, but. That would be good to learn in case there's not time to get anything ready.

[And so that he's accustomed to close-ranged fighting since everything in the world wants to get up close and punch Vehicons in their faces.]