Chapter Text
The first thing that Sam noticed was the gentle sensation of fingers running through his hair, which was nice. He loved it when someone was running fingers in his hair, though he didn’t think it happened often. His mom did it, and Mikaela did it, and sometimes Bee tried to do it but his servos were kinda big and it was mostly just messing his hair up.
But these fingers weren’t his mom, or Mikaela. Definitely not Bee.
He felt warm though, and safe, which was why he wasn’t panicking. Well, that and he felt like he weighed a million pounds. He nuzzled slightly closer to the hand though, in that perfect place between awake and asleep.
“Hey Sammy.” Someone said, and Sam went boneless because that voice meant safe.
Yawning, Sam didn’t even try to open his eyes. “‘ill?” He mumbled, mouth feeling dry as cotton.
The fingers kept running through Sam’s hair and he pressed closer despite it feeling like he was moving a mountain, noting where his limbs were as he did so. He was on his side, his arm was on something warm, his cheek was also on something warm, and there was a soft breeze on his eyelashes. “Yeah, buddy, it’s me. How you feeling?” He murmured and Sam felt someone, most likely Will, press their stubbly cheek to his forehead. That explained the breeze on his eyelashes.
Sam frowned a little. “Cozy.” He decided on, rubbing his cheek on Will’s shoulder. After a second, he added. “Confused.” He admitted. “You’re here?” He wondered, because something about that was wrong, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
The fingers in his hair trailed down to his nape and gave him a gentle squeeze. “You’re okay, Sam.” The man said soothingly and Sam yawned again, limbs loose. “You had a seizure, but you’re okay now. Nothing bad happened.” He explained in broad strokes, which Sam appreciated because other than Will being here and that being good, Sam couldn’t think about much else.
“I had a seizure?” He asked, confused.
The fingers were gentle, “Yeah, Sam. You have seizures sometimes, they make you pretty confused.” The man explained.
“But I remembered you.” Sam frowned, tightening his arm around Will’s waist.
He could feel the smile that Will gave against his forehead. “Yeah Sam, you remembered me. Do you remember First Aid?” He asked gently.
Sam felt his stomach clench. “Is First Aid here too?” He asked, voice tremulous and hopeful.
Running his thumb over Sam’s nape, Will nodded. “He is. We didn’t want to startle you, but he’s got some water and something else for you to drink. Is your mouth dry?”
Sam nodded, trying to open his eyes. “Want ‘Aid.” He murmured.
“I’m here, Sam.” The medic’s voice came from behind him, Sam managing to flop his hand back and make grabby hands to the voice and was surprised to feel a human hand in his own as someone joined Will and him on the…uh, bed? It didn’t feel like a bed. It was fluffy. And supportive.
The hand led Sam’s back into a more comfortable position. “I’m here, Sam.” The medic explained and something was going on in his brain.
[Affection][care][support][concern] were brushing against him from outside of himself. “I feel weird. My brain feels weird. How are you so small?” He asked in confusion.
The hand squeezed his hand before releasing it. “That’s pretty normal, sweetspark. You remember how we said you had a seizure?” He asked.
And Sam didn’t. “I had a seizure?” He frowned in confusion. But the memory was there, buried in malasis, and as he pulled it to the surface other things came with it. “My mom helps me when I fall.” He frowned, gummy eyes finally splitting to let him open his eyes. Not that it helped much, it was very dark in the room. “Where’s my mom?” He frowned. “She helps me.” He repeated, trying to clean the memory.
The hand on his back was warm and safe. “She’s not here right now, Sam. Just Will and I. We’re here to help you, but first how about some water?” The medic asked as Sam blinked blearily.
“My mouth feels dry.” Sam murmured.
The hand that wasn’t Will rubbed along his spine. “You’re pretty dehydrated.” He sighed, and the sound was rueful. “Ratchet’s going to be mad at me.” He revealed with a playful nudge, “So drink a bit so he isn’t too mad.”
Sam giggled. “He’ll get the wrench.” He remembered, but wasn’t sure how he did. Before First Aid had mentioned him Sam hadn’t even remembered Ratchet. “My memory isn’t working right.” He announced, before seeing a pouch with a straw coming towards his mouth.
The spine hand moved to his hair, running through it as he latched onto the straw and started drinking. “No, it’s not right now. It will soon, though, and Will and I will take care of you.” First Aid explained, hand gentle in his hair.
Sam frowned, sipping the water. “I want my mom.” He grumped when his mouth was soothed, “I want Bee.” He frowned, his own hand going up to his forehead. “Where is Bee? Is he with my mom?” He asked. The memory of Bee wasn’t concrete, but it was present enough to be sure that Bee was Important to Sam.
There was a pause before First Aid rubbed his hand through Sam’s hair again. “Bee is on a special mission.” He explained.
Sighing, Sam curled closer. “Want Bee.” He huffed.
[Amusement] filtered through to him. “I know Sam. Do you think you can have some glucose? Your blood sugars are low but I didn’t want to start an IV if you could take it orally.” The man behind him explained.
Sam’s mouth moved in a twist, remembering something about the flavor that he himself didn’t. “I…don’t like it? I think I don’t like it.” He frowned.
Will chuckled, running his hand over Sam’s neck. “Yeah, tastes awful but it’s good for you. Like most medicine.” He sighed. “Take a pouch, you’ll feel better when you’ve finished it.”
Sam made a ‘blegh’ face. “Don’t like ‘em.” He repeated, but took the pack anyway. “Will?” He asked, suddenly confused. “Will, how are you here?” He frowned.
Even as he was getting antsy, the pieces not fitting, Will was calm. “I’ve been here the whole time* Sammy.” He explained calmly. “I’ve been with you a while now.”
Sam tried to push up, but he simply didn’t have the strength. “Will--” He started, frowning.
“Hey, hey, hey, shhh. Let's calm down, okay? You don’t remember anything important right now, but you’re safe. I have you. You’re going to be just fine.” Will explained softly.
“No, no, nonono.” Sam frowned. “No, somethings wrong. Wrong…wrong wrong wrongwrongworngrongwong…” He muttered, letting the packet go before pressing his hand to his eyes. “Will--” I’m scared.
Someone lifted Sam up and he was pressed close to something warm. Something hard.
The large servo on his back gave it away that it wasn’t human, but that was actually more helpful than harmful. The sensation wasn’t just warmth but also something else. Something familiar.
“Sweetspark. Sam. Shhhhhhh. Breathe with me, ok?” The large mech said.
That surprised a noise from Sam. “You don’t…breathe, like that.” He corrected.
The thumb digit on First Aid’s servo was gentle on his back as it ran down his back. “No, but we’re excellent mimics.” First Aid joked. “So why don’t you try mimicking me for a change? Just breathe with me.” The medic assured him, looking down at Sam where he was cradled against the mech’s spark chamber. Which was strategically close to his vents.
Sam, feeling weak and confused, laid his head on the mech’s spark chamber and listened to the cycling of air. “‘M sorry.” He muttered, lifting his hand to rub at his face. “I don’t feel good. So confused.” Sam mumbled.
He wasn’t even sure if he evened out his breathing before he was sleeping again.
The next time he woke up, Sam was aware that he was in one of the human dog beds, snuggled up with First Aid this time as the holoform hummed to him as he stroked Sam’s back. “‘Aid?” He asked, lifting his head and seeing the IV stand next to the holoforms other side.
Great.
First Aid slowed his hand, leaning forward to press a kiss to Sam’s forehead. “Hey Sweetspark. Are you with me again?” He asked lightly.
Sam pressed closer, tucking his forehead into the holoforms neck. “Scared.” He frowned. “I was scared. Something bad happened.” He frowned. “I remember.” He finished.
Tucking him closer, First Aid gently ran his fingers along Sam’s spine. “From your vision?”
Frowning, Sam shook his head and hid in the medic's arms. “I don’t remember.” He admitted.
Wrapping Sam up, knowing that humans in distress reacted positively to darkness, warmth, and light pressure, First Aid didn’t press, not after the last time someone pressed, and just let Sam snuggle. “You’re okay, I’ve got you, ::you’re safe::.” He stressed.
They remained like that for a while, Sam cuddled up while the pieces in his brain that had shaken loose during his vision reoriented themselves and slotting into a place. Was it their original place? Definitely not.
Through his connection with Sam, First Aid could pick up echoes, distant ones, of some of the memories as they shifted past his periphery, but context was lost and what he did see?
Well, some memories were better left unexamined.
After a while, Sam yawned. “What happened?” He frowned in confusion.
The thumb running over his spine slowed. “Do you remember that we were in a debrief?” The medic asked.
Until the medic had mentioned it, Sam hadn’t, but the memory floated to the surface, no molasses included this time. “I was talking about my world.” He frowned. “Right?”
[Pleased] First Aid nodded. “Yes. We were talking about your world. Jazz pushed you when you weren’t ready and it triggered a cascade failure in your system, which triggered a seizure and a vision.” He explained, shooshing Sam as the body against him stiffened. “But you didn’t make a ::sparkling:: this time. Our ::Prime[holy]:: was able to bleed off enough charge to just…sizzle our circuits. A little.” He smiled.
Sam, who had just been about to panic over that very possibility, went boneless. “Really? He can do that?”
The fingers moved up to his hair. “Apparently. ::Ratchet[senior]:: was aware that he could and connected you.” He felt a soft tap on his thigh from the other hand. “You healed after the tether was removed. Our ::Prime:: said he joined you in a vision, but my focus was on your care. He’d been briefing with his people after he took some time to recover himself.” The medic explained. “Though his health was improved after your connection. The ::Zeph:: has a positive effect on our systems.”
For a flash, Sam saw his world Frenzy, barely more than a drone at that point, become imbued with AllSpark Energy and reform a body where there hadn’t been one before. His eyes popped open, the memory new and fresh and surprising.
“The AllSpark can regenerate mechanoid bodies without supporting materials.” He murmured, eyes distant.
Still for a moment, Sam could see that First Aid’s mech form which had been sifting through data pads beyond them in his home office area locked his optics on Sam. “What did you say?”
Raising a hand, Sam rubbed his face. “I just…got a memory. Of my worlds Frenzy fixing himself using the Allspark. It grew him a new body out of thin air.” He explained. “It's…it’s new. I didn’t know that. Before.” he frowned. “I don't think so, anyway. It's all hard to keep in place right now. The pieces are still settling.” He sighed.
Holoform First Aid frowned, hand warm on Sam's back. “That isn't in the literature.” He explained to Sam.
There were other memories that that sparked, some not so nice. “It was, though. Just…not shared. If everyone knew that the Allspark could fix lost causes there would have been those who were petitioning for help.” He grunted, snuggling closer. “The acolytes didn't want to deal with like, miners or foundry workers so it only ever applied to high caste mech's. Genorium, for example, fell into an acid lake hunting turbo foxes and they used the cube to help him when he was too injured to reforge.” Sam recalled of the wizened senator from before Ratchet's time.
First Aid moved back to look at Sam's face. “The acolytes were aware?” He asked, looking offended.
Sam shrugged. “Some. Or, at its height only some. Leadership, mostly. Guards and technicians and the like wouldn't, but the…uh, Pope like dude--” Sam frowned, unable to say the title.
“::The Laity[highest][noble]::.” First Aid added helpfully, face pinched.
Sam nodded. “Them. They knew.” He shrugged.
First Aid ran his hand over Sam's back. “The Primusian order has always prided itself on his benevolence.” he sighed.
Sam pulled a face. “Well, the Optics anyway.” He said, before snorting. “Optics.”
[Amused][exasperated] preceded First Aid handing himself a Gainz to hand to Sam. Sam, upon seeing it, ducked into First Aid's side to hide. “Noooooooo.” He moaned, stomach completely uninterested.
“Yesssss.” First Aid corrected. “You might have blown at through your whole ::Zeph:: reserve, but you also blew through all of your other energy reserves as well. You've got literally nothing in the tank.”
Wincing, Sam growled. “I don’t like it.” He complained.
The hand was back in his hair. “Would you like something else?”
Grumbling, Sam shook his head. “Just not hungry.” He admitted before pulling back, hair everywhere and eye gummy. “Could use a shower though.”
“Food first, then shower. I don't need you passing out in the shower.” First Aid poked.
Grimacing, Sam reluctantly took the bottle. “How long was I asleep?”
First Aid’s holoform stood up and unhooked Sam’s IV, leaving the port. A gentle reminder that if Sam didn’t corporate with eating that First aid would follow up. After, the holoform evaporated in blue sparkles as the mech version sat with Sam, supervising him as he finally popped the top on the Gainz and started on the peanut butter flavored drink. “About nine hours.” He said which caused Sam to wince. “You woke a few times, do you remember?”
Frowning, Sam took another sip as he thought. “Kinda. Was Will here? I feel like I remember him.” Sam frowned.
Nodding, First Aid vented. “He was here until his other obligations drew him away. I believe he's in the debrief now.” He explained. “You've been rescheduled till after Ratchet clears you, but I don't suspect it'll be today.”
Which sounded fine to Sam. “I don't remember what happened.” Sam admitted. “The last thing I remember was upsetting Ultra Magnus. I didn't mean to.” He frowned.
Venting, First Aids fields expressed [annoyance][sympathy]. “::Ultra Magnus[commander]:: is fairly old.” First Aid pointed out.
“Bullshit, Ultra Magnus is only, like, a million years older than you.” Sam frowned, gesturing with his drink. “He's younger than Ratchet by almost that much.”
First Aid snorted. “Seeing you argue that a million years isn't that long is kind of amusing.”
Sniffing, Sam sat up with dignity. “I remember his Naming Day ceremony.” He huffed.
Tilting his helm, First Aid looked intrigued. “Oh?”
Sam nodded. “With his creche. Optimus--er, Orion was about three creches later.” Sam frowned.
Optics widening, First Aid raised a hand to press his first digit to Sam's mouth. “We don't discuss who the Prime was before they became the Prime.” He chastened. “It's not permitted.” He explained.
Frowning, Sam tried to think back but after Orion Pax became Optimus Prime no one talked about the young archivist anymore. “But that's so sad.” Sam frowned. “He had a life, you know, before he…um, I guess ‘ascended’. Like, he was just a normal mech. He had a crush on Elita-1.” Sam frowned.
The expression on First Aid's face looked like he wanted to be serious, but his fields were rippling with [amusement]. Rubbing his thumb digit against his intake, he finally vented. “Sam. It's a sacred path that one takes to rise to a ::Prime[honored]::, and it's very personal. Who he was before is not gone, but like him, transformed. We consider the transition to be permanent and a clean break between the before and after is how we, as a people, address it. Our Prime can no more go back to his old life as one who is not Prime take the role of one.” He explained gently. “It's a cultural taboo to speak to him as his old designation or of his past without necessity. One day, Optimus Prime was decanted and now he lives.”
Sam, who had known Orion Pax in a thousand different lifetimes, didn't think that Optimus would agree, but this Optimus had delineated himself from his other worlds versions already. Perhaps he too would like to not speak of his time as Orion Pax. Sam knew that the break in his lives had been extremely painful and hoped that Optimus hadn't experienced the same.
Different life.
Different body.
Same bullshit.
Sam pulled one of the blankets in the dog bed up and over his shoulders before chugging the rest of the Gainz drink, ignoring First Aid's spike in [worry][annoyance]. True, his stomach kind of hurt when he was done, these were about the size of a Gatorade bottle, but it'd settle after his shower. “So, am I convalescing?”
Huffing, First Aid rose. “That is the plan, yes. I'd like you to rest, but ::Ratchet[elder]:: thinks some light work could be permitted if you'd like to write, but only for a short time. Your episode yesterday was rather intense. The whole island felt it.”
Cringing, Sam didn't complain as First Aid helped him up only to find that his legs were too shaky to hold him at the moment. Unbothered, First Aid walked Sam from his work table to the previously unused human sized bathroom where he set Sam down for holoform First Aid to help maneuver into the bathroom.
“This is embarrassing.” Sam muttered as First Aid set him in the toilet to start the shower.
First Aid, used to this behavior by now, had already shifted his perception to the form Sam preferred so he couldn't ‘see’ Sam. “You're recovering, sweetspark.” He reminded Sam as Sam pulled his (Will's) sleepshirt off.
“I'm just…I'm frustrated. My body isn't working right or even like it did at home and it's…it's hard. To not be able to do what I used to do. Like it's, I dunno, betraying me. Of something.” He tried to explain.
The feeling of [care][understanding][support] flickered across his fields and he leaned into them, just feeling pretty beat up and raw and wanting some care and support even though he felt embarrassed to ask for it.
Still, he was at least used to having someone, generally First Aid, helping him after having a ‘::Zeph::’ depletion event. It was just…he was perpetually 17, shouldn’t he be able to do this stuff himself?
First Aid seemed to understand that he wasn’t feeling his best and quietly helped him get into the shower chair and left him to it. Sometimes First Aid would help him wash his hair if he was very tired, but today Sam needed a little space.
His mom used to help him wash his hair for him when he was doing pretty poorly. She’d also try to cut it but a hair stylist Judy Witwicky was not. They’d all been pretty awful, ends sticking out and the back too high or his curly hair clogging the clipper--
No. Not his curly hair. His hair was straight now. It had a wave, but it wasn’t as curly as it was back in his own world. In this world he took much more after his father with the dark eyes and his eyebrow shape, his hair color much darker.
He’d asked First Aid to cover the mirror so he wouldn’t see the stranger in the mirror in one of his safe spaces. He couldn’t ask Will to do that, since it was his apartment, but he very pointedly didn’t look at the mirror when he was in there. It was…it was a thing that he’d dealt with for a long time but he didn’t feel like he’d ever really addressed the issue, even after years of therapy because it’d been so tied in with everything else going on with him that it was just…just another thing. Just another thing that no one would believe from him. Another thing that wasn’t right. Easier to just put it aside and leave it alone.
He wasn’t sure why he was even thinking about it, or his mom. He got like that sometimes after a severe episode. Maybe he could ask Optimus what happened
He felt better after the shower. It was probably the evening blood sugar if he was honest with himself even if he was annoyed by it, but it was just his reality. When First Aid came in to help him redress in the super fluffy sleeping pants that he’d found in the back of Will’s dresser as a gag gift, Sam was mostly able to stand on his own as the mech supervised him pulling on his slightly ratty yellow hoody before leaving the bathroom. Rather than go back to the dog bed, though, First Aid’s mech form gently lifted him up and towards his stupid sex bed, which he kept on the equivalent to a Cybertronian bookcase when ‘not in use’, though he'd changed out the heart pillows for feather ones and a big fluffy blanket.
Which was nice. The underground space was all temperature controlled and it was always very cold.
“Gatorade is on the side table. I'm going to put that show you like on, okay?” First Aid offered, before the wall near the bed lit up with the opening credits for the British baking show that Frenzy had very leadingly shown Sam. The little monster had then started showing up with pastries to both feed Sam and categorize the flavor and sensation profiles.
For once First Aid had been on board. Sam, less so.
But the show was interesting, and neutral enough that he wasn't afraid of a spike in sensation like he still was with certain others. Not that he'd had one specifically since bonding with First Aid, but part of him still didn't trust it. He had been locked in his house for years from the pain, those things didn't change easily.
Also, the baking show went back decades so he had plenty of content to zone out to. Which he did. He didn't know how much time elapsed before there was a small scuttling noise that he'd gotten pretty accustomed to and then the blanket shifted as a little blond head peaked at him over the edge.
“Hi Frenzy.” Sam greeted, voice rough, rolling his eyes as the head disappeared only for the rest of Frenzy to slip under the covers and gopher his way up to Sam, slotting himself into Sam's side and under his arm.
“Hi Sam.” He sing-songed.
[Annoyance][resignation] barked over First Aid's bond with Sam. Very few bots--no, very few people liked Frenzy, he was an unholy terror put on Cybertron by Unicron to test the patience of Primus’s children, after all. Still, as the little mech twisted to pull out his XBS controller to continue a session that he'd apparently paused before coming in, Sam thought it wasn't totally warranted. Frenzy was a lot, but Sam didn't want him to be any less for Sam's comfort. And once he understood a specific boundary and why it existed, he usually respected it. Most of the time.
“I felt your ::Zeph:: burst.” Frenzy told Sam, head resting on Sam's shoulders.
Wincing, Sam sighed. Reaching for one of the Gatorades left for him, he unscrewed the lid before taking a sip. “I wasn't supposed to have an episode today.” He huffed.
Frenzy's fields turned slightly [feral]. Which wasn't a sensation so much as a sharpening of his current feelings. “Yeah. Rumble an’ me are gonna put sugar in Jazzes tanks.” The little mech promised.
Sam couldn't help the snort from that. It'd be highly annoying but ultimately non harmful, if they could even do it. Jazz was, you know, Jazz after all. And while it was impossible to keep Frenzy out of anywhere (evidenced by him popping up literally everywhere to hang out with Sam) that didn't mean he could do anything once there.
Though the little menace didn't seem to realize that.
“Don't.” Sam chuckled.
Frenzy looked at him almost in betrayal. “But he, like, made you do it!” The Cassette argued.
Sam frowned. “I don't actually remember what happened.” He explained. “My last solid memory is making Ultra Magnus upset. After that it's…well, like having a memory crystal crack. It's there, but the pathways broken. I'll remember eventually, but I don't know now.”
First Aid came over, tapping Frenzy. “::Let Sam[sparkling][precious] rest. He's still recovering[depleted]::.” the medic chastised, though he didn't remove Frenzy from the bed. He'd tried, a few times in different places where Sam was resting and…well…
You couldn't keep Frenzy from where he wanted to be. He's gone full feral gremlins cyber cat and hissed at First Aid while his spikes had been fully engaged until Sam had let him stay, and he'd glued himself to to Sam for hours afterward, sending [ANGRY] everytime First Aid had intimated it was time for him to leave.
Sam found it amusing.
Still, he was tired, so he simply closed his eyes and Frenzy, after a grumble, snuggled closer and tried not to disturb Sam too much as he played his game. It was easy to float like that for a time, First Aid in his office area working on something that Sam wasn’t allowed to look at (Cybertronian version of HIPAA, since Sam could read Neocybex just fine even if he had trouble writing it) while Frenzy switched games every few minutes while his little holoforms knee waved and his toes flexed against Sam.
The *ping* at the door roused him a little bit and he yawned as First Aid let the door open to find a rather curious group of mech’s at the door.
Cliffjumper and Chromia were a bit of a relief. One, because Cliff meant Honey meant Sam could be with Honey as much as he could now. Honey was growing and changing and every time Sam saw them it was like a new flower had started to blossom out of nowhere and he’d nearly missed it. He hated missing things with Honey, and though Cliff tried to keep him in the loop, the simple truth of the matter was that Sam couldn’t even touch the sparkling.
Chromia was also nice because…well, she kind of treated Sam like a housecat. A very, very beloved housecat. Where as Arcee and Elita-1 treated Sam like the other Spark Touched, perhaps a bit more gently from what he’d seen as he was as everyone constantly reminded him, recovering, but Chromia didn’t even put up the pretense. She just liked Sam and her fields reflected that and she had, on multiple occasions, taken to petting him with her digits. It was genuinely nice.
Barricade. The other twins, Skids and Mudflap, were also present with matching looks of concern, actually, everyone was looking concerned including…oh, Steeljaw was there too. Yellow optics in a sea of blue as he seemed to be assessing Sam with more concern than the others.
“Is it alright if we ‘visit’?” Chromia asked nervously.
Oh.
They wanted to see if Sam was okay.
From the kind of [smug][pleased] field that Frenzy was giving, Sam could imagine who had put the word out that visiting hours were open and gave the little mech a *nudge* across his fields, like a ribbing, only for Frenzy to latch onto Sam like a Koala. Sam gave the little blond holoform a blase look. “You’re as subtle as a brick to the face.” He told the little miscreant with a monotone.
This just seemed to delight Frenzy more. “You visit people when they’re unwell. It’s in the human culture packet.” He stated authoritatively.
It probably was. When he needed to be, Frenzy could be lawful evil. Shifting to sit up though, Sam couldn’t be upset because he did want to see his friends.
First Aid was very gracious about letting the others into his apartment. Admittedly, the Cybertronian version of an apartment was much bigger than a human sized one - Will’s apartment was about half the size of First Aid’s great room which didn’t even include his berth room. And since Cybertronians didn’t have kitchens or bathroom for themselves, not unless you had a specific need like Jolt did so that his systems didn’t overload in a normal washroom, it was all just living space.
And live they did.
Instead of the others crowding around his shelf, Sam let First Aid move him back to the human dog bed, Frenzy grabbing hold of the bigger mech's wrist to ‘ride’ him as he carried Sam across the room to his modest sitting area. Sam would have worried for a 10 year old but Frenzy looked completely elated for the experience so Sam just shook his head with a smile.
Once he was close enough Honey sent [elation][want][safe][warm][love][concern] to him in a battery of simple emotions and Sam felt something in him loosen like it always did with the sparklings regard. ‘Hello Sweetling.’ He smiled at the Cybertronian version of baby babble that followed as Honey tried to explain how their day was going, or just their thoughts on things. It was hard to tell since their grasp of language was loose but their desire to communicate was strong.
“::Little[sparkling]:: Spitfire, huh?” Steeljaw chuckled and Sam was surprised to find that Steeljaw was personally familiar with Honey. The mechanimal caught his look and gave him an impish grin. “I’ve been floating, ended up in logistics for a bit. I have some experience with pups.” He grinned.
As a Cassette, Steeljaw would have been one fo the few to be a sparkling, same as Frenzy and Rumble, but since he was older there very well was the possibility of not only Steeljaw having interacted with sparklings but possibly having either siblings or having potentially been a Guardian in his own right, though Sam’s memory didn’t provide much to support that. Sam looked curious. “I don’t remember that.” He admitted.
Steeljaw’s expression softened. “Not exactly Cybertronian pups. I ended up with the Stentarian’s for a while. They’re good folks, stuck in a war like we were.” He explained.
A memory cropped up, a bit distorted and ruby colored so not this timeline, but one not too far off. “Whirl killed their version of Optimus Prime to stop the war.” He frowned. Seeing the faces around him looking at him in startlement. “Sorry, not here. It was in a different world. It didn’t work, by the way. It, like many of Whirl’s…I hesitate to call them schemes, scheme implies that there was some kind of plan involved, well it didn’t work out. Just cleared up their stalemate. War picked up after that.” He frowned, rubbing his face. “Sorry, it’s just kind of there.”
Steeljaw, instead of being upset, looked thoughtful. “So, you don’t know about my pups but you do know about Whirl’s misadventures in regicide.” He said thoughtfully.
Wincing, Same grimaced. “I don’t really control it.” He explained.
But Steeljaw merely looked intrigued. “But you do remember things that happened to Cybertronians, yes?”
The other paused and Sam frowned, flexing his toes in his fluffy socks. “I mean, yeah.”
Steeljaw looked pretty pleased with that revelation. “So if I were to ask about where in the ::Tarn/Tesarus Peace Accord of Galactic Standard 345,166:: the disclosure about the Lithium mines--” He began.
“Article 17, subsection 42, paragraph 323. ‘It is hereby declared that the--’” He went still, though his mind kept going. That was…incredibly detailed minutiae about an accord that hadn’t even lasted the cycle. “What?” He frowned, seeing the others also look intrigued but primarily confused.
Steepling his digits, Steeljaw smiled. “Perfect memory is not a Cybertronian adaptation. We may be mechanoids, but we aren’t computers. That kind of recall is either reserved for the very few with perfect memory or those with access to a solid data memory crystal, which you don’t have.” He hummed thoughtfully.
“Or those with a stable connection to one.” Frenzy corrected.
First Aid’s fields read [caution] and [curious], “I think that’s enough about that for now.” The medic cautioned.
But now? Sam was curious.
