re_alignment | [Video]

[Mostly. It was the voice that got him first, but you don't look like the Drift he knew...this place is all kinds of strange and he's not been here more than a few hours now, and outside less than a few minutes!]

I'll wait.

Okay. Yeah, good.

[Wow he sure was bad at words today, wasn't he. Drift hesitantly ends his video. A couple minutes later, he comes barreling out of the temple in his car form and skids to a stop before transforming, keeping some distance between himself and Wing. Not his most graceful entrance ever, but he wasn't really trying to be flashy at the moment. It was made even less cool by the fact that he just stared at Wing like he really couldn't believe what he was looking at. Because he couldn't.]

Wing? But you... I saw...

[You died. Yeah. He couldn't really say that part out loud, but he was totally thinking it.]

You saw? [a prompt. No, really, he'd like you to say it. Please confirm the last thing he remembers before waking up in this temple with some strange drone giving him apologies.]

[This wasn't exactly easy for Drift to talk about, especially with everything else flying through his head right now. His gaze fell to Wing's chest.]

You were stabbed.

[As though unsatisfied with what he was looking at, Drift approached almost hesitantly, optics never leaving Wing's chest plate. His expression was some weird mix of confusion and anger, he had no idea how he felt right now. He lifted his hand as though he wanted to feel for himself where the wound should have been, but just let it hover there as though contact would just prove that this was some kind of weird illusion]

Right through the spark. You didn't make it.

[His tone is soft when he speaks.] I know.

[He shifts to bring a up a hand, fingers meeting Drift's where his hand hung in the air between them, assuming Drift didn't snatch his hand away first.] I don't know how it's possible that I'm here, but I'm not going to turn down a second chance.

How...long ago was that for you? [That Drift would be pulled through that rift in time and space does not surprise him in the least.]

Edited 2014-05-10 06:16 (UTC)

[He almost pulled his hand away, if only because he was surprised by the sudden contact. Well, this pretty much confirmed that this wasn't some kind of weird illusion. Before he realized it, he had both hands clamped around Wing's, probably a little tighter than necessary but not enough to damage.]

Years. Just. Too long. Way too long.

[He's startled by this gesture, but doesn't pull away. This is...rather strange. The time is the only explanation as to Drift's odd behavior. He knew Drift had gone through a change of spark, he'd hoped Drift had found his way, but he didn't know for sure. Now?]

[He smiles, his fingers closing around one of the hands holding his.] Well...I'm here now, and you're here. We can both be glad for this second chance.

[All Drift could manage for a moment was a nod. He hadn't always gotten along with Wing. Hell, half the time he'd wanted to bash his stupid hippy face in, but the fact remained that if it hadn't been for him, Drift will still be lost. Well, even more lost than he was now. Either way, it was a few moments before he spoke again]

...Part of me wants to smack you in the head.

[That gets a laugh.] Well, that does sound closer to the Drift I know.

[And he's ready for it, should Drift decide to try. For him it was only yesterday that he was tossing Drift around a room in their little sparring sessions. He wonders how much better Drift may have gotten in all that time.]

[The laugh earns a small, brief smile.]

I'm going to. But later.

[Drift releases his grip on Wing's hand, but the head punching can wait. For now, at least.]

I just... I don't know. There was so much I'd wanted to say to you, but now that I actually have the chance to, I'm drawing a blank.

[he felt lost again. it was a feeling he was way too familiar with. at least that meant he knew how to ignore it by now.]

[He studies Drift a long moment.]

Walk with me? [He wanted to see more of this city, this Haven, on Cybertron, an old Cybertron, a new Cybertron...and maybe it would help Drift find what he was wanting to say if he didn't have to directly face Wing.]

[And so he'd shift to walk, trusting that Drift would follow.] How about we start with this...did we win? Was New Crystal City saved? [Drift survived, clearly, but that didn't necessarily mean victory.]

[Drift did follow, falling in step next to Wing.]

We won. It took your death to spur Dai Atlas into action, but he raised the entire city. It was pretty one sided after that.

[It really felt strange to be talking about this so casually with the guy that was kind of DEAD but hey]

[Dai Atlas raised the whole city?! He looks shocked. He's at once sad that it took his death to spur the mech to action, and at the same time glad that it had finally happened.]

And the slaves? What of them?

I kept my promise.

[It was a simple answer, but Drift figured he didn't have to go into much detail about how he'd gone back for them.]

[No, Wing didn't need details. That simple statement puts a big, very please grin on his face.]

Thank you. [Because when he'd first made that promise he'd initially abandoned Wing to go straight for the ship. It really, really means a lot to him to hear that Drift kept his promise to get the slaves home.]

Edited 2014-05-10 08:11 (UTC)

You don't need to thank me for it. I owed you.

[don't grin like that you giant dork it's embarrassing. Drift crosses his arms and huffs]

I still owe you.

Owe me? You made your own choices, Drift, I just did what I could to give you a chance to make them. You don't owe me anything.

I do, though! You didn't have to drag me back to Crystal City after what I pulled! You didn't have to put up with my attitude day after day! You didn't have to do anything for me, but you did anyway, and...

[WELL this kind of took a turn for the loud and emotional. Drift pauses for a moment to collect himself, finding a really interesting crack on the ground to stare at because woooow eye contact sure as hell wasn't happening right now.]

You saved me from myself, and I never even had a chance to thank you for it! You died because of me, so don't stand there and tell me I don't owe you. Because I do.

[He didn't know what to say. Those weeks had been so hard. He'd never thought twice about bringing Drift back. He'd seen a mech in need and he stepped in to do what he could. The outcome, Drift becoming a prisoner in a sense, was not how he'd envisioned things going. Drift had been...sulky at best, Wing was very aware that Drift didn't want to be there, and yet something more than just being under Wing's watchful optics had kept him there. The fact that he'd been able to sneak out to make that deal with the slavers was proof enough that Drift could had left any time he'd truly wanted to. That didn't make it easier, even if he knew what he had to do, for the...former Decepticon's sake, even if it mean Drift hated him for it.]

[And instead Drift felt indebted.]

Drift... [He...still wasn't sure what to say.

S-sorry. Sorry.

[Drift turned and took a few steps, placing his hands on his hips. He needed a minute to clear his head, tuck some pent up emotion away. Frag this was hard.]

Sorry. I didn't mean to shout.

[apparently Drift didn't know what to say either, considering all he was managing was SORRY]

[Wing steps up behind him, off to one side. He starts to reach for Drift, hesitates, and then completes the gesture, resting a hand on Drift's shoulder.] You don't have anything to apologize for.

[Well, Drift doesn't shrug the hand off. That's a good sign. He does tense up a bit, though, but only for a couple seconds.]

I meant it, though. What I said.

[It was a very good sign. Still felt like kind of an odd one, but it was a good one. He'd been pretty good at reading Drift before, in that short span of time he'd known that mech. That was hours ago from his recollection, and it was impossible to completely disregard what he knew, to try to read this "new" Drift without trying to read the tendencies and mannerisms of the old. Still, it was a good sign.]

I know. [And he did. He was very aware that Drift meant every word.]

[Okay good, as long as Wing knew. Drift vented a soft huff and rubbed at his optics.]

This is still just... unbelievable. My aura's all out of alignment.

[oh yeah by the way welcome to hippy drift, wing. POPULATION: HIPPIES.]

.......what? [he can't help the way his optics flash in surprise and confusion. Did...he really just hear that come out of Drift? Primus the mech really had changed.]

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