re_alignment | [Video] [Transmitting from: Haven's Hub] It's a Love-in!

[Wing appears on the vid screen, the backdrop an unfamiliar sight to most everyone, but it looks decidedly like a bar. The knight himself is looking worn and haggard but he still stands tall for this, doing his best to radiate warmth and assurance.]

Hello again, people of Haven.

It probably goes without saying by now, that there's a malaise that has fallen over us. Most of you can hear it now. And I think it's affecting us all, subtlety or not.

The bar at Haven's Hub is not open yet due to some setbacks, but it's serviceable enough, and Soundwave and I would like to open its doors to all of you. As a place to find safety and comfort. To remember the lost. To hear a different tune. There won't be a lot of alcohol served, for safety sake and so we don't deplete our stock for the grand opening, but it will be available, as well as standard fuel and food for organics. Feel free to bring your own; or donate to make your ration larger.

So if you feel alone or without comfort...
If you want to remember and honor those we've lost...
If you need security, either to feel safe or to keep from straying...
If you want a voice, a tune, a sound to pit against the one within your mind...

Come to us.

[His hands and arms open, offering, beckoning.]

Each of us carries a light within ourselves, whatever we call the core of our being: hearts and spark and AI chips, alike. If we can pull them all together, we can shed that light on everyone and help us withstand this darkness.

I hope to see you, and if not, please be safe!

[Not-Really-Locked to medics and the injured in medibay.]
We don’t want anyone to feel left out or like they can’t attend, so if any of you want to come I’d like to do whatever it takes to make that possible.

[Locked separately to Vandal, Blurr, Four, Teddie, Slipstream, Starscream, Barricade, Gunmax and Yuuta.]

[Each individual message varies slightly depending on familiarity, but you get the idea. Wing really wants to keep you all safe and happy, but he can only be in one place at a time.]

I'd love to see you there. You don't have to stay but, I'd like to at least know you're safe.

[Locked to Drift]

Will you come please? And do you think Perceptor would like to?

[He'd love for you to come and definitely stay. In fact he's considering tying you up and sitting on you all night if he has to.]

((I'm lazy and not writing all those messages out. :P No need to tag here if you just want to tag the log. Log to follow soon!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's always good to have recommendations.

[He looks immeasurably happy to hear from you.]

It's good to hear your voice. How are you doing?

He's from the Lost Light. He's a good mech.

[For whatever Drift's word is good for.]

Been better. [He's propped the Great Sword across his door. Another obstacle, tangible and more daunting, to him leaving again.] Still here.

Yeah, I spoke to him earlier, he asked if I knew you. [He laughs.] He certainly does seem nice. He'll do a better job than I will it sounds like.

[Plenty good for Wing.]

Haven't we all? [He hesitates, fighting what feels like a horribly selfish and needy urge to convince Drift to come to him, and attempting to respect Drift's need to keep him at a safe distance. He has words on both matters, but they collide on the way out and leave him as a soft whine of distress instead.]

Oh. Sorry. Right. Should have figured. [He sounds irritated at himself: should have figured that.]

We'll make it through. [A long sigh.]

You should have let me go.

It's fine Drift. I thought it was cute the way he asked about you. I had no idea he could bartend though, and well, we need someone trustworthy to do it, so your reassurance is worthwhile. [There's true relief in his voice, behind the weariness.]

Yes. We have to. We've had bigger challenges than this right?

[A pause, as he rejects the first three things that he wants to say.]

But what would that accomplish?

In a way I almost envy him: he has a skill he can do after the war. A lot of us...don't.

[Drift would maybe not agree: he's bolted himself into his room because of his promise, but every minute is an agony, like a thunderstorm in his head.]

You'd be safe. And if anything happened, you ....wouldn't have to see it.

I envy him not for the skills--those can be developed in anyone--but for the passion he has for it, and by extension, the joy it grants him.

[It's a compromise, because Wing would rather be there to hold you downmhimself, and never let you out of his sight. As it is, the urge to ask for the comm link to be left open indefinitely is very strong.]

...no I wouldn't have to see it, because there'd be no body to bring back.

[It hurts him physically, to even say it. But it hurts him more to hold it back.]

Yes. That more than anything. [A frustrated sigh.] I wonder what it feels like....

[He quivers, because he hates Wing thinking things like that. It's the part of this whole relationship he constantly founders with: what do you do with someone's love? How do you not hurt them?]

Wing. I'm here. I'm trying to fight it.

I enjoy doing things that help people, but that's a result, not the activity itself. [He'd done a lot of that in Crystal City too, but none of those things had been fulfilling on their own.] Maybe we just need to try more new things?

[Wing vents heavily. He'd share his knowledge with Drift if he knew he should, but right now he's just trying not to be excessively needy. He'd be handling this a lot better if it wasn't on top of so many other bad things.]

I know. I-I'm sorry. I just...I refuse to lose you to something like this. [He tucks his chin a bit, because he can't imagine how hard it is for Drift right now.] ...thank you.

Maybe this place will let us try. [He has a thought, something that brought him joy, but, well, it involved a certain jet and perhaps a washrack.]

I refuse to lose you, too. [Which is why he's here, why he's fighting this.]

I certainly hope so. At least I intend to find out. [That's more a pasttime than a calling, but one Wing would not have an issue with doing daily.]

We will get through this, together. [Even if it's while not in the same room. His spark is with Drift, which is what matters.]

[Drift clearly needs some extra help in the 'finding happiness' thing.]

Wing. I.

I'm sorry to put you through this.

[ Wing is still gladly giving instruction on that subject. ]

Don't apologize love, susceptible or not, we're all victims in this. [ His expressions softens. ] I'm just glad you're as strong as you are.

But I'm...feeling it more than the others. Just like on Cybertron, at the end of the war.

[But the term of endearment softens him, and he sighs, managing a smile.] You're worth it.

More the victim then. [ He'll hear none of this self-flagellation regarding why it's affecting Drift more either. ] And in a way I'm thankful for it Drift, you already know you can resist it...

[ Seeing that smile means the world right now, and he finds himself returning it, even moreso for the compliment. ] ...I try. For you.