These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

XXIII. Talk

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Despite the bad-news-turned-not-so-bad, Ratchet confirmed that Steeljaw was, in fact, Cybertronian through and through. While he was small for one of his kind—Quadruped mechs were apparently supposed to be much larger than humans in general, although there were exceptions—he was still a true mech, and his spark was in good shape. However, he wasn’t given the clear to leave the Med Bay just yet, as Prime had still not gotten to explaining things to the humans, and they might not approve of him for a few days. The Autobot Commander already had enough problems with just the Barricade issue, so Steeljaw would have to remain confined to the Med Bay for a while longer. Both redhead and metallic feline were reluctant to agree, but both knew it was for the best and settled with the promise Catherine would come around often.

She left then, mixed between hope and disappointment, and remained so as she trudged her way through the halls, only giving half-hearted hellos to those she passed by. Some noticed— she could tell by the flux in their emotions— but they thought better of asking and moved on. She was glad for it, not really wanting to explain her brooding. Well, at least not to just anyone. Although, it was probably better she didn’t say too much even so; she didn’t need anyone getting excited and then disappointed like she was. Still, she wanted to talk to somebody that she could just go freely with, but both of them were busy.

She didn’t know how long Jazz would be—he could be busy all night considering how long the meetings generally went—but she knew Sideswipe would be out of training in a few hours. She could wait that long, and so picked up her pace for the rest of the way to her room where she found it just as she left it, only Teletraan was pacing unhappily atop her bed. She couldn’t help but smile at the little guy and cooed at him as she sat down. Instead of his usual drastic mood swing at her presence, he sat and pouted, chirping unhappily. She laughed and apologized, picking him up to press her face against his, which immediately sent him into a happy fritz.

With that settled, she had him send a message to her silver-armored friend to meet her at their usual spot once he was done training. It only took about thirty seconds for his confirmation and blame for letting the “old mech” land a hit on him. She snickered, and, figuring what she had on was fine, set Teletraan onto her shoulder and headed out. She didn’t meet up with anyone this time, and that was fine by her. It let her reach their spot in record no-Autobot-help-involved timing, and gave her plenty of free time to lie down, her legs on the sand and her back on the pavement. It was still warm although it was now bathed with shade, and was actually quite comfortable even in the hot, dry air. It gave time to play a few games against her little phone droid, whom was getting a little too good at some of them.

Her freedom lasted longer than expected, as the sky which had still been bright blue when she first came out was nearly a dark indigo when she heard the whirring gears of Sideswipe's wheels. She could sense him, of course, but she liked to train her ears for sound as well. With a grin she leaned her head back to watch him roll over, a grumpy look on his face and a few new scratches to show for his time in the “Pit”, as the training room had become to be known fondly as.

“I see training went well,” she purred, and he gave her a prompt “shut up” as he sat down. It always intrigued her how he gently set himself despite having wheels for feet, barely making a single vibration as his metal rear hit the pavement. The way up was just as curious, but she sometimes likened it to a person on roller blades getting up, only with more finesse and style.

“Fraggin’ slagger had me do close combat with no weapons again!” he huffed, glaring down at his chest, and she assumed it had more than a few dents considering his arms did. Thankfully, that was an easy fix for their repair system, so there wasn’t any need for trips to Ratchet after every training session. If they didn’t, Catherine was pretty sure there wouldn’t be any training at all!