what am i willing to put up with today?

[screenplays]

who: thundercracker, buster, and YOU
where: the crater & then the outskirts of everything
when: WHO KNOWS
what: thundercracker and his dog realize they're back on cybertron, proceed to nope out
warnings: there shouldn't be any

I.
It dawns on Thundercracker, as he lies in the dust and the dirt, that he never actually thought he'd ever set foot back on Cybertron. Because that's where he is. Don't ask him how he knows that, he hasn't figured that part out yet, but it feels like Cybertron. And now that he's here he'd much rather be on Earth. Sure, it was a giant mudball with a species that couldn't do anything on its own most of the time, but it was where he wanted to be. At home, with his screens and his dog---

Buster.

He sits up suddenly, panic rising within him - animals can't breathe on Cybetron and she was in his arms when he'd arrived and the thought of something happening to her--

But then he hears a bark and there's Buster, tail wagging as she sits a little way off. Relief floods his face and he holds out his hands down at her level for her to hop into. "There you are, girl. Just stick with me while we're here - there's nothing good here."

Another bark, and Thundercracker shakes his head.

"Yeah, worse than Sharkticons."

Someone really should interrupt their touching reunion.

II.
After gathering his dog, Thundercracker wastes no time in getting as far away from any sign of civilization - transforming and jetting across the crumbling city until he's passed the city limits. At a comfortable distance away, he lands, careful of his precious passenger.

What he isn't doing, however, is paying attention to anyone else. He's incredibly easy to sneak up on, although the results of doing so may not be what said sneaker-upper might what.

Comments

ii.

[chickscream]

Slipstream has spent a good chunk of her days here adventuring, by which she means exploring, by which she means catching up on a year of flying that she missed by hiding under bridges and out of sight while Autobots roamed Detroit-- Cybertron is a mostly alien place to her, and since that year of not-flying had been the first year of her Allspark-given life, she has a lot of catching up to do.

Still, she's not so enraptured in the joys of flight that she can miss the familiar spike of wings on the ground, in blue, egomania--

But on a robot that resembles Optimus and Dirge and other such bots much more than he resembles her brother, whose name (if he ever chose one) she never learned in the short bit of time they knew each other. Perhaps, like with Starscream, he would be more palatable when she wasn't so closely tied to him?

She doesn't bother sneaking up; instead, she lands straight ahead of him, heels planted firmly in the ruined metallic rubble of the trashed planet and hands planted equally firmly on her hips.

"Hello there, Seeker!" she calls, tone casual and interested despite the harshness of her voice. "I don't think we've been introduced."

(Wait, was that a dog? She stares at it for a moment, then pulls her optics back up to the bot, waiting for a reply.)

[screenplays]

She has his attention the moment the word Seeker leaves her mouth - head snapping up from his intent focus on his dog to the other. He doesn't recognize her, which is odd. You learn to know everyone of your frame type sooner or later when you work under Starscream. Thundercracker makes an attempt to hide Buster from her gaze, one hand covering up the one she's in even as an upset huff comes form his hands.

Well, she can just deal until he's certain she won't hurt Buster.

"No, we haven't." Ah, yes, he is clearly winning points by being the most conversational individual out there.

[chickscream]

"No, we haven't!" she agrees, and pauses for a moment before prompting, "My name's Slipstream. Is that a dog? It's cute."

She can only halfway imagine the brother she knew keeping a dog-- she supposes he might love the unbridled affection of a pet, but caring enough to keep it alive and safe? Nah, this guy has to be different from her family, just as the Starscreams here are different from her creator, and she's willing to give him the benefit of unbiased interest before he proves himself awful, or boring, or both.

[screenplays]

"Buster," he says, and she doesn't seem to be interested in harming her. No one that would call his dog cute would be, and a small smile crosses his face as he looks down to the organic in his hands. "She's a puggle. It's a cross breed between a pug and a beagle."

Oh right, he should probably introduce himself.

"Thundercracker. Not a Seeker anymore."