𝗔/𝗡: 𝗴𝘂𝘆𝘀 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
. ˚✧ "No, you're staying close to me.
My job is to protect you."
"Yeah, well, I'll stay close to you while I kick a...
Bumblebee cringed at his friend's outburst. The red mech had stopped him on his way to his berthroom, pressing him to explain what happened with Eclipse.
Personally, he had no idea how it even got back to Cliffjumper, nor did he have a chance to ask before he was randomly shoved into his room with the slam of the door following. He couldn't even begin to beat around the bush, so he simply recited the events of when he last saw Eclipse.
That only riled up the mech in front of him more.
"I was going to apologize to her." Bumblebee pouted with the purse of his dermas.
Cliffjumper narrowed his optics skeptically, "When? It's been cycles."
The black and yellow mech scratched the back of his neck cables, his tone laced with guilt, "I don't know, I haven't seen her around... I think she's busy. And I've been pretty occupied myself, so I don't blame her—"
"She's avoiding you." He interrupted, laying out the answer he was blatantly trying to avoid on a silver platter.
The scout instantly deflated as did the door wings on his back. He grew even slightly defensive because, well, he had been around her more, right? He knew Eclipse better than Cliffjumper. He'd know if she was avoiding him, and he didn't think she was.
A part of him was screaming in the back of his helm that he was an absolute idiot, but the other was trying to spare his feelings.
"You don't know that."
Cliffjumper vented, giving him a very pointed look, "Look, I know what avoiding looks like. I'm usually on the receiving end when it comes to Arcee. Trust me, she's avoiding you."
"Well, I..." The scout traced his pede slightly on the ground as he stared at the mech in front of him, "I don't know. I just didn't think it would bother her so much. She's never been bothered by what anyone else has said before..."
Cliffjumper stood there for a moment, unresponsive. From what Bumblebee could tell in the uncomfortable silence and by his dimmed optics, he'd guess someone was talking to him through his commlink, but he didn't know who it was.
His optics focused once more with a vent, "Why did you say what you did?"
"What? I told you—"
"No, I mean tell me the reason you said what you did. There had to be a reason, right?" Cliffjumper pressed.
