Dying sucks

[gimmicky]

Who: Trailcutter & YOU
What: This asshole found out he died and is not taking it well because he can't DRINK HIS PROBLEMS AWAY THANKS MEGOBAMA
Where: The Prom area
When: During/After Robot Prom
Warnings: Sad feels

Sometimes learning about your death can kind of bum you out. Yeah. Only sometimes. Trailcutter's one who sort of took it badly, because not only was he just starting to turn his life around, but everyone knew it without telling him. The fact that Sixshot was told...it makes him wonder just who else knew. Rodimus sure did, and suddenly all the sad stares and hugs were starting to make sense. They weren't out of genuine wanting of his company (he's upset, okay), but out of guilt that he died.

He's not sure if that's worse than what he got before or not.

So taking it upon himself, he gives himself a quiet moment to collect his thoughts, panic bubbling right around the prom area and taking a seat, looking down at the ground and making a circle with his finger, fingers reaching to claw through it and settle the dust, only to do it again. An idle motion to give his body something to do while his mind worked, trying to climb his way out of this hole he'd dug himself in. The hole called "His life".

And maybe a part of him wonders if whoever killed him did the world a favour.


Yeah he might need a smack to the head (verbally because lol that panic bubble)

Comments

[system_dp]

Hope he doesn't mind a late comer to this dumb prom thing kind of, well...

Bouncing off that panic bubble? Look, she's not used to other people having forcefields okay? So enjoy having a human-equse, minibot sized robot just kind of squating outside the panic bubble after hitting it and staring at Trailcutter with blue eyes.

"Is the Cybertronian damaged?" Because that has to be the reason for this whole thing, even if she doesn't know who he is or what his problem is.

[gimmicky]

That's okay Miria. Better late than never! Trailcutter hears her bounce off the forcefield, head tilting up from his own little enveloped world as he looks over to see her squatting by it.

He's about to answer, but the 'thunk' from before jogs his memory.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question? You're the first person in awhile who's walked into that."

Everyone said they were good for pranks. But it got old after awhile.

[system_dp]

"This Unit is not used to others having forcefields," she replies, not moving from her spot. Or she's at least not used to ones this big.

Hope he doesn't mind that she's going to cautiously touch it now.

"Nor has this Unit seen ones that went beyond it's user's frame."

Miria has also put aside her earlier question she addressed Trailcutter with, it doesn't seem that important to her now.

[gimmicky]

"Yeah, it's kind of...a one-of-a-kind thing back home too. I'm the only one I know of who can do it." You'd think there'd be some kind of pride in that statement, but no. Nothing but the sinking of his spark and his voice slightly quieting.

"It's nothing special."

[system_dp]

She hears that 'nothing special' and she is going to prove Trailcutter wrong. In her own weird way.

"This Unit would state that as false," her voice has a bit of steel to it, almost like an emotion. "As this Unit has never encountered a forcefield of this size."

And she's lightly punching it, as if that will make her point for her.

"The size is a unique factor to this Unit, as it has only seen self-contained fields."

In other words, you're pretty impressive to her.

[planate]

Pipes was just chillin', going to get some air (man, that punch hits like a horse kick to the ass. If he knew what a horse was. Or an ass.) when he noticed the giant orange bubble. Not that it's hard to miss, of course. Your brooding game is weak, Teebs.

He runs up to it, interested, then notices Trailcutter in the centre. This is very serious.

"Oh my god, something big fell on you! Trailcutter!" he bangs on the forcefield. "Hey, buddy, can you hear me? Where did this even fall from?"

[gimmicky]

He's used to brooding in private, okay. And it takes him a moment to even notice Pipes in his wallowing self pity. His hands grip tighter around his knees as he looks over, eyes wearily staring from behind that visor.

"Pipes?"

Congrats, that's the first word he's said since his conversation with First Aid.

"It's my forcefield, Pipes. You know--the only thing I'll be remembered for."

[planate]

"Remembered-- what?"

Why would he say that?? Pipes puts his hands on the forcefield.

"Trailcutter, what happened?"

Well done you win one (1) concerned minibot.

[gimmicky]

His thoughts focus on Pipes for a moment, and it takes him that time to realize--Pipes and he were in the same boat. He'd been so wrapped up in his own death that he didn't realize that he'd never told Pipes his fate either. Well...

His head rests on his knees, mouth forming the biggest indifferent expression he can.

"I'm dead, Pipes. Back home I was killed."

[planate]

It's not even so much that they're in the same boat, Pipes could be king of the universe in his own timeline and still feel terrible about it.

He goes quiet for a long while, resting his forehead on the bubble with a soft thunk.

[gimmicky]

That 'thunk' is heard, as he softly looks over at the other bot. Seeing the sadness even through the visor.

When you were the same in that area, you just -knew-.

"...Sorry. That's kind of a downer, isn't it."

[planate]

He exvents lightly a few times.

"It's not your fault, Trail. I guess we both got a second chance though, huh?"

He tries to be optimistic about all this, he really does.

After Prom

[orerrible]

The empty Forum looked as if a carpet bombing wrapped in a natural disaster had rolled through. Shockwave made a brief presence at the events that slipped the notice of just about anyone in attendance. Ghosting through festivities as more of an observer for such a short amount of time that he didn't anticipate coming back after the fact he would find things in such disarray directly after everything had died down. Except maybe not, because this was a Cybertronian event.

His massive frame cuts a long shadow over the only other person in the room. Shockwave is as imposing and overpowering as the shadow that covers-

"Trailcutter?" That massive yellow eye flickers and dilates, impassively curious as to why his former student was holed up alone here. Trailcutter had always been one of the more out-going ones in the lot.

[gimmicky]

If anything, the shadow is what catches Trailcutter's attention more than anything. Even with the Forcefield, he looks up, almost reluctantly to see just who had decided to come observe for the time being. "I want to be al-" he starts off, giving the blanket statement he'd planned on giving to people should they find this somewhat interesting (although he couldn't see why).

It's not long before his eyes widen beneath that visor, looking up at Shockwave. Surprised he'd even be in the area.

"Shockwave?" his tone is just as curious, head bolting up as he turns to stand up in his panic bubble. "What are you doing here?"

[orerrible]

"Enough noise will attract all sorts of unwanted attention." Shockwave responds with a non-answer. While in any other context coming from Shockwave that would have been one of the most threatening utterances in the universe, but here it came across as wholly self-depreciating. He is nothing if not well aware of what a horrible memory intermingled with four million years of atrocities he is to everyone, most of all to the people he should have been watching out for.

Not being cursed at or shied away from, Shockwave took that small incentive and lowered himself down on a bench catty-cornered to Trailcutter with enough space between them should his former student suffer the compulsion to flee this encounter entirely. At first, he didn't say anything but after the moment began to veer into awkward -

"I suppose this encounter was inevitable."

[gimmicky]

"Yeah...I mean, we're on the same planet and all," despite the depressive state, he still can utter a little joke. Although his tone doesn't match, its awkwardness showing through all of it. There's nothing on Cybertron that can mask the weirdness of Trailcutter chatting up Shockwave about the proverbial weather. Especially after the news he's just gotten. He looks at his hands, tapping his fingers together one by one until the palms touch, spreading them out again to the tips. Just to keep his hands occupied.

Searching for conversation.

"I didn't take you to be a partier...well--not now, I guess."

A part of him's ashamed. Shockwave WAS one for parties. But after four million years...you learn to adjust. And now switching back is harder than he thought.

[orerrible]

One hand and a deactivated ion cannon folds over his lap and his fingers are left splayed on his knee plates gripping tight. Shockwave used to talk half with his mouth and half with his hands. Always vibrant and moving. They both had that affected trait, he remembered.

The nascency of their ability to speak to one another on relatively amenable terms seemed so fragile to Shockwave that he, the infamous scientist with no moral boundaries and before that the firebrand of a senator, was reticent to continue. There was no better word for it than fear; a fear anything he said couldn't be taken back and this narrow window of opportunity to right what wrongs he could here vanishing before him.

"You look...well."

The wide yellow light of his singular optic roves over Trailcutter then falls to the floor. Ridiculous.

[gimmicky]

And that--of all the things--makes Trailcutter stand up in his own panic bubble, looking at what had been a stoic figure for so long, now humbled before him. It was a strange position swap, and one Trailcutter isn't sure he likes. Shockwave had always been a strong figure in his memory, for good or bad. And this...this was hard to see.

A part of him just wants to reach out through the forcefield. Just to touch Shockwave to see if he was real.

"I've been better." Understatement of the century. "It's good to see you. Like this, I mean."

Small talk before hitting the meat of the problem--always a good option.