"Thank you," Aftermath murmurs, taking the proffered shoulder with a sigh of relief. He looks up at Megatron then, somehow managing a smile despite the lack of facial features. "My, but aren't you a sight for these old optics. Just marvelous." And he really was. For a brief moment, the truck-former is struck with an overwhelming sense of hope- the very same feeling that'd overcome him the moment he'd finished his first reading of Megatron's first peaceful treatise.

The sadness that swamps Aftermath afterwards leaves his body feeling more numb than the pain dampener had.

"Last I heard of you, you'd donned a red badge and run off with the Autobots," the old mech huffs, moving right onto lecturing this dream!Megatron before the sudden sink into depression would really get to him. Somewhat sternly, he taps the young revolutionary's chest. "That's a terrible way to end a war. Honestly, of all the ways you could've ended it, that was the absolute worst."