robothell | ARE YOU TIRED OF OPTIMUS LOGS YET

Who: Optimus Prime and Rodimus
Where: Maccadams 2.0
When: Sometime around now
What: Optimus wants to check in on his stupid robot son and DAD NOTICES SOMETHING'S MISSING.
Warnings: Fatherly smacks upside the heads.

Keeping up with fellow Cybertronians in command was something that happened to regularly with Optimus. Maybe it was all that time around Prowl, but it had become almost second nature. But Rodimus...Rodimus had spent so much time doing his own thing, that he often forgot to check in. So if the bot won't come to him, he'll invite him on his own accord.

Maccadam's seemed like a good meeting place, and one Rodimus was well aware of. Optimus leans against the side of the wall, arms folded. His thoughts mull over Rodimus, at how much he's grown since they'd last talked. A small part of him is a little sad, that he doesn't turn to him as much anymore. That he can't provide that guidance. That the reason Rodimus is so distant is because he's not needed.

His eyes close a moment, head shaking those thoughts out. Hearing footsteps approach.

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And if those eyes could go any wider, they'd be robot-sized dinner plates. His finger trails down where that Autobrand should be, looking at it like it had been ground zero for an attack.

"You gave it to Drift..."

He didn't mind Drift. Well, personally. The crew of the Lost Light had kicked him off the ship from what he'd heard, but that seemed to be very out of character for what Drift had been trying to accomplish with his life.

Still. Giving a badge meant something, and he wonders if Rodimus...

"You two must be very close then."

"He's my best friend," he offers helpfully, his own fingers reaching up to brush where the badge was. "And after what Tarn did to him it seemed like the thing to do."

Rodimus doesn't say anything about how right it felt, or the intimacy of the moment, or anything that had struck him when he'd welded the badge to Drift's chestplate.

"Mmm." What Rodimus was saying made sense. Well, when you put it into Rodimus's own perspective, it certainly did. The bot always seemed to think with his emotions first. Not entirely a bad thing, but...

"And it was solely out of friendship?"

An odd question for Optimus to ask, but he has to be sure with what he's dealing with.

"I-- what?"

Why are you asking him this, Optimus? He shifts slightly, optics flickering away towards a point somewhere over Optimus' shoulder.

"Does it matter?"

...

Optimus's eyes slightly wander, finally standing up straight. Rodimus's reaction right there told him everything, and yet somehow, it was hard to really explain it to him. Mostly because Optimus wasn't so good with noticing/doing this kind of thing either.

"Rodimus," he starts, a hand going to his chin. "What you did is a very...intimate gesture. Very intimate."

"I know," he admits, shifting again. Are they done talking about this? Because he wants to be done talking about this. "But it's-- I needed to do it. He needed it. More than I did."

The blank space on his chest is fine, if it means it's helping Drift.

He can see this got...pretty sensitive with Rodimus all of a sudden, and he backs off. This meeting wasn't supposed to be making the bot uncomfortable, and Optimus feels a pang of guilt for suddenly jumping on the subject.

"Well. I'm proud of you."

It comes out quiet and even as he looks away, turning his head back to the table.

"It's what a Prime would have done."

Rodimus can count the number of times anyone has ever said they're proud of him on one hand, so forgive him if it makes him stop short, optics widening in surprise before he shakes his head, an attempt to brush it off.

"It's just what needed to be done, Prime. And anyway, everyone knows I'm an autobot - I don't need a badge for that."

If Optimus took notice of Rodimus's surprise, he certainly didn't show it. No need to call attention to it, except that Optimus might need to consider...showing his appreciation of Rodimus a bit more in the future. It was hard, when you didn't exactly value yourself any higher. Something to consider in self-reflection.

But he gives a soft hum of amusement.

"That is true. Your personality alone is that of an Autobot. Badge or not, that won't change."

There's something relieving in that tone.

It's that, however, that makes him smile - a quick flash of it over his face and a brightening of optics to show how pleased he is about that coming from Optimus. Sure, he's got some things to work on - okay, a lot of things - but he knows who and what he is. Rodimus, Autobot, ~~co-~~captain of the Lost Light. It fades in a second as he gestures to Maccadam's.

"I'm betting you didn't call me to ask about the badge. So what's up?"

And that face in itself was relieving to him. Maybe Optimus saw a bit of hope for the Cybertronian race in it. Rodimus's optimism and love of life were something time and loss had for the most part taken from him.

And seeing himself in Rodimus meant he saw a little of that life in him too. Hoped for the best. Maybe that was why he wanted to keep Rodimus so close.

"I simply wanted to ask that you remain in contact with me regularly while on this planet. I have no intentions of telling you what to do--we're not at war, and my title as Prime has certainly lost almost any standing. But as a friend..."

His head dips, slightly looking at that badgeless chest. Wondering if that was the right word for it....

"If you would keep in contact. I'll do the same."

A friend. Huh. Out of every word he thought could be applied to him and Optimus Prime, that wasn't it. But it's not that it's wrong, he just doesn't know what word would be better for this.

Well, that doesn't sound like it'd be too difficult to do, overall.

"Sure, Prime. I'll have Megs drop you a line if I'm busy."

There's probably another word that applies, but Optimus doesn't utter it. Maybe at another time. Family was hard to really explain to Cybertronians, especially when they're not of blood relation. It didn't work that way.

His eyes soften though, glad at least for that affirmation.

"Thank you, Rodimus. I loathe to admit it, but I can't be a Commander forever. But I'd at least like to talk. Once in awhile."

ARE YOU TIRED OF OPTIMUS LOGS YET

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