Chapter Text
you were used to being alone; having your own land, your own schedule, it was all just for you. it was nice to be where you were and not have to deal with others. while your current position was a wonderful job, it was not something you could stay on. at least, not comfortably. you were not completely alone, you had a pet snake. a pretty little guy; abright blue green tree python snake that you got on a combination of impulse and desire, with a steep price. but you loved the little guy, he was your closest friend and your little buddy. he was the diamond in the rough, and that was his name. he had everything he could ever need, a proper little home within your own apartment.
and as such, your life was generally calm. you had a few friends, but not too terribly close to you. if anything, your snake was probably the closest you had to a friend. since your best buddy had moved away across the country. communication was difficult and yet easy at the same time. time zones locked you guys behind only a couple of hours, and working retail didn't let you respond all the time anyways.
the only time your life got interesting was during the war between autobots and decepticons. but even all those weeks ago, all that you got out of it was unease, a destroyed house, no insurance covering you, and losing a car and a job. so safe to say, you didn't want anything to do with excitement anymore. your calm and mundane life was just enough for you, and what was wrong with that?
as such, your shift at work was pretty much over. only having a couple of minutes before you had to clock out for the day. but as usual, you managed to grab the one difficult customer of the day. this was your curse.
"i don't understand. why can't i use it if it's expired?" the older man spoke, confused and annoyed.
"because it's expired. even if i wanted to use it, the system doesn't let me." you responded.
while this was a normal thing in retail, that didnt mean it wasn’t any less exhausting. having to spell things out for people, grown adults mind you. and being honest? you were only here for this long because your manager was nice to everyone. if they weren’t such a great manager, you would have poofed like the wind. and yet, you would have still felt guilty for it. maybe you weren’t a perfect employe, but hey. you did the best you could, amd that was more than plenty. you may have only been a cashier, but any job is built on the back of those who are working.
"this is ridiculous! i want to speak to someone!"
"okay. let me grab someone." you spoke in a sweet tone, grabbing a walkie talkie to grab someone.
and like a sick melody, there was the line. the one thing that could either ruin a day, or make someone a gloating bastard.
after a moment, a young woman showed up. having black hair that faxed to red, down to their shoulders and the stripped black and red shirt with the vest to match. their name read on the tag as avery, and their title as well. they walked up, speaking to the older man.
"hello sir. what can i help you with today?" they asked, moving around to behind the counter.
"this person is telling me i can't use a coupon!" he said annoyed, showing the slip of paper.
to which your manager took it, before trying it out on the system. ERROR. is what it said, beeping loudly.
"okay. so it is expired. which means you can't use it. but i can provide you with a different coupon offer for a little less." avery spoke, showing the man where the date was stated in the paper.
"are you kidding me?! i couldn't get out because of the rain!"
"i'm sorry to hear that. but this is expired. it's up to you sir."
the man grumbled, paying for the item and eventually leaving. he didn't even say thank you, and didn't take a receipt.
"sorry about that. he wanted me to call you up." you spoke, sighing.
avery shrugged, logging you out of the system. "it's fine. you need to leave anyways, so go clock out. have a nice day." she spoke with a small smile.
you thanked her, walking around and making your way to the very back. helping a few customers who stopped you, but eventually making it to the break room. it was simple, with schedules posted and posters for fun events coming up! the only one that seemed to stick out was some ceremony - for an autobot human relationship treaty that was being put into notion. that was too high for your pay grade to actively care.
with the tension gone from your shoulders, you took off the vest and went to hang it. making your way over to the computer to clock out from your shift. grabbing your one and only bag, you made your way out of the room and into the store once again.
only to be stopped by an older woman this time.
"excuse me.. can you help me?" she asked, tapping your shoulder gently.
"hm? what is it?" you responded, turning around.
"i need to find something.." she said, holding up her phone into your face.
the max brightness of the phone almost blinded you, and you almost grabbed sunglasses to try and read it. but the large font was probably big enough for you to read, right?
"i'm sorry, i'm off the clock. i think we have that pet food, if you want to check you should ask someone."
"but i just saw you! you had a vest! why can't you help me?"
"like i said ma'am, i am not working. you're better to ask someone else."
the old lady huffed. "this is ridiculous! you know, back in my day, people actually wanted to work!"
"i would work for you, but unless you're paying me you're out of luck." you said with a shrug.
the lady gasped, offended, and said something along the lines of "this generation is ungrateful!" as you walked away. you really didn't have time to deal with this, you needed to get back home. you may not have had any major plans, but you had woken up early and wanted to recover some of that sweet sleep you so craved.
the sky was clear, and there was no sign of winds or clouds. the perfect day for a walk home. not that you had a choice - your car was in the shop. and you were basically forced to walk everywhere within reason. on the bright side, you were able to greet the kind, old man who sold flowers.
he was like a father sometimes; having spent many hours just talking with you. sometimes it was just you talking about the day, and him commenting about his own thoughts. he was open minded, and liked to learn.
“i don’t always understand this generation. but i want to learn about your world.”
was what he liked to say. in truth, you didn’t even know his name. but he didn’t seem to mind though. there was even times you had helped him, showing him new things. from simpler things like taking photos and focusing, to fixing his phone issues. it was a give and take type of relationship, and you loved him.
there was a sad reality that he wouldn’t always be there. he was getting to old age; having to use a cane and walking slowly. on walks through the park with him is where it was more obvious. he would get out of breath, and walk slower with each day. you were there to help him though, and the small gifts of gratitude was enough for you.
although the flowers were not needed, you kept them close to you. always having them somewhere at home, and keeping them as watered as possible. not only was a nice gift, it helped keep the place alive.
"it's lovely weather today, isn't it?" he spoke, giving a kind and warm smile.
"it really is. it's nice to be out here. better than in there." you responded to him.
"i know you're a busy person.. you work so hard and i know you deserve to be happy too." he spoke with a nod of understanding.
you paused - seemingly caught off guard. that wasn't something you heard everyday. even those words were rare from him, as he was more of a gift giver rather than saying his love. your chest felt warm, and you couldn’t help but smile at him.
“thank you. i appreciate it.” you said. “i would like to stay, but i got to get home. anakin won’t feed himself the mice.”
he nodded. “of course. you better treat that boy well. he deserves it too.”
with that, you continued down the path back home, with nothing that could ruin your mood. after such a compliment, there was absolutely nothing to ruin it.
well. until you saw the first responders right in front of your home.
you stopped, looking over the situation. it wasn't just your own home, and more like a line of houses that had been damaged. you weren't sure what had happened - as the smoke rested into the air in a slow and steady stance. there wasn't any fire, but the smoke was starting to cover the skies. you rushed over, not only in concern of your own home, but your snake was still inside.
"that thing wasn't even supposed to be in the air. how the hell did it fly? and why does it look like it just got back from a warzone?"
you heard someone speaking up, and you turned to face the direction of it.
confused by this, you looked only two houses down to see a battered and bruised F-15 resting on someone's house. from the scene alone, it looked as if it crashed into multiple houses before crashing. the edges of it's wings were practically torn off, the window to the cockpit looked like as if someone took a flame to it; it was covered in something black. the body in general was dirty as well, covered in dirt from some kind of neglect.
the fact that it was so neglected and damaged, it was confusing. but not just to you, everyone seemed just as confused. how did this happened to it? much less a show plane - whose main existence was to perform for the entertainment of others. perhaps you were a bit too touchy feely, but something made you feel for the thing. it was almost as it had an exhausted look to it. being all battered and tired, it just wanted to be laid to rest.
but what caused it to be like this?
being all emphatic wouldn't do you any good at this point. you wanted to get inside of your house - make sure anakin was okay. but you had tried to get inside, and it was no use. the authorities weren't letting anyone inside until they not only figured out what had happened, but got the jet out of the person's house. made sense. can't live with a giant jet in your own home.
a sense of panic was rising, and it felt like you were choking on water. you looked around, trying to make sense of the situation. placing your finger to your mouth, you started to knaw on the edge of your nails. biting them was a habit you thought you broke ages ago - but the stress was so intense that you couldn’t help but return to old tricks. the sense of panic was almost sickening - you felt like you were drowning in water. you could hear nothing but the sounds of emergency vehicles.
rushing past people, and even shoving a few to make it past a white and red ambulance, you made it to a police officer. you hadn’t had time to notice the strange custom symbol on t’s sides. panting and trying to breathe, you took a moment to catch it.
“excuse me - i need to get inside. anakin is inside -”
“i’m sorry. but we can’t let anyone inside.”
“i know but, he’s my pet and -”
“i said no one goes inside. now stop causing a disturbance. we have enough issues without people like you.”
ouch. that one hurt.
but you didn't care about the others. you just wanted your snake. who else would feed him? know his tics? know his quirks? definitely not some stranger who just barely got an animal license. there was absolutely no way you'd trust someone else with his life. hell, that was if he was even alive. the impact took out a good chunk of your house, and you just prayed to whoever that he would be safe.
and yet. you understood why this was happening. they just wanted people to be safe after all. but that didn’t make it hurt any less that you couldn’t see anakin. he was your best friend, and being torn away from him was agonizing. it was one thing for you and your friends to be apart; you had cell phones and social media to connect to. but your pets? they didn’t understand any of that.
you could have been abandoning him for all he knew.
that thought alone was harsh enough to stick in your mind. you didn't want him to think you would ever leave him. for that wasn’t true - there was never a place you’d ever leave him alone. and yet.. you were forced to leave him in the ashes.
but after several hours of wandering around, someone had granted you and everyone else a place to stay. you weren't quite sure - all you know was someone paid for it. the homes were still being investigated, and you were stuck here for god knows how long. granted, it wasn't a terrible hotel to stay at. but you couldn't help but feel guilty for it a little.
you were just another burden on these people.
but it wasn't your fault.
with a restless night and nothing else to do, you decided to try and do something. it was night now - at least 3am. but you couldn't think. couldn't sleep. not without your little buddy next to you. he was probably scared, if not dead. shaking in his skin as he begged for his owner to return. you had prayed he was safe. maybe he found a hiding spot!
or maybe he's dead.
no. he can't be dead.
you never know.
shut up.
you sighed, these thoughts not leaving your mind or body just yet. swarming like maggots, you couldn't help but ponder what had happened to him. a hope was left in your chest, and it just.. felt empty. a void. you didn't even feel a thing now. was this normal? was this unusual? how could you know? this was the first time you'd been torn apart from your beloved pet.
these thoughts wouldn't go away on their own though. it was like some sick music playlist; they repeated over and over again. this wasn’t a feeling you were used to having. your life wasn’t special, it wasn’t difficult. you had to reason to cry or get emotional over things. and yet. even now, as you laid in the cheap hotel bed, you couldn’t help feel a few drips of water escape your eyes.
it had been too long since you cried.
you cried for your friend - your best buddy. how you desperately wished to hold him once you returned home. was this how it felt to be separated? was it always this painful? to feel as if your whole body was torn apart, ripped into pieces and shoved back together in some.. frankenstein like mess. emotions ran high and strong, and you had the whole night to cry out for him.