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Drift had given up on meditating. Instead he searched the ground at his feet for a small stone and, after examining it’s dimensions to assure himself of its perfection, he tossed it gently into the lake. The ripples started violent then smoothed to the lake’s former, perfect glassiness. In lieu of actual meditation he imagined that his irritation was the ripples and that it too would smooth itself away to the calmness he desired.
It wasn’t working very well.
Beside him Rodimus scoffed. “You know that’s not how you’re supposed to do that.”
And that would be why.
“Ignoring you,” the swordsmech said as he began searching the ground for a new perfect rock.
“No. I’m serious. You’re supposed to do it like this.” And Rodimus demonstrated, skipping a rock an impressive six times across the surface of the lake, sending ripples out in every direction that sloshed and combined into discordant waves much like the mech himself. Drift only scowled and waited for the lake to smooth out again before tossing his rock succinctly in without skipping.
Rodimus sighed dramatically. “Look. I’m sorry. Is that what you want me to say. I’m sorry and I won’t let it happen again.”
“You’re always sorry,” Drift did not snarl. Did not let himself snarl. He imagined his irritation smoothing out like the ripples. “And I’m ignoring you.”
“You’re not. Ignoring me. I’m impossible to ignore,” unfortunately true, especially when the captain was suggesting some dubious course of action that he somehow made sound like it was a good idea when really, Drift knew better, but that didn’t stop him from going along with his friend’s plans anyway. “And you wouldn’t have answered me if you were ignoring me.”
This was also true. And because he had to acknowledge that answering did mean he was acknowledging his Captain’s existence, this time he remained completely silent as he searched out another rock. It was getting harder to find ones that met his criteria for size, roundness and composition, most of them on this stretch of beach having already ended up in the lake, courtesy of Drift’s oddly calm tantrum.
“Look. Ultra Magnus’ll be here in a joor or so and then we’ll be back on the ship and everything’ll be just fine. What do you want from me?”
Right now he just wanted Rodimus to shut up so that he could get a handle on his temper so that he didn’t ki—do something he’d regret later. It was too much to ask that Rodimus stop doing this. Rodimus was Rodimus was Rodimus and if he ever really stopped pulling this stupid slag then he wouldn’t be the mech whom had dared befriend a former killer. Drift would not ask it of him. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair when Drift pulled slag that was just as stupid and Rodimus stood by him every time. He just needed, “Twenty minutes.”
“What?” Drift couldn’t see the other’s optics, but he imagined that they were comically wide, trying to process the seeming non-sequitur.
“That’s what I want,” he clarified. With effort he managed to keep his voice as calm as he wanted to be, rather than allowing the irritation, anger, bleed into it. He wasn’t that person anymore and he just needed some time to meditate and get a handle on this reactions again. “From you. Right now. Just. Go… do something else — something that isn’t here, with me — for twenty minutes. Earth time. After that we can race or something.”
He didn’t see Rodimus blink, having bent over to pick up and examine another rock, but he could imagine it perfectly well. “Okay,” he eventually said. “I’ll… go see if there’s anything worth salvaging from the shuttle or something. Twenty minutes!” He gave a jaunty wave as he left, heading back towards the plume of smoke that marked where they'd landed a short distance away.
Perfect, Drift thought as his companion wandered off. He tossed the rock into the lake, and this time the gentle plop! was the only sound that disturbed the silence.
.
.
End