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[Bumblebee leans to rest his head on the arm he's got rested on the Berth, watching Whirl move those pieces of metal around lazily. The kid looks exhausted but far more repaired than last Whirl saw him, hving been seen to by Ratchet in the meantime.

He's not even sure if this is a subject he should be bringing up with Whirl, since they were sort of mortal enemies, but hey. Starscream saved his life and Megatron tried to take the place of Optimus. It's been a weird week.]

Okay, scratch that. I can't recharge. [he draws small circles with his servo on the berth, frowning at it.] It's not like I haven't tried.

[Whirl actually turns his helm to look at the kid.

...And then looks at the room when Bee looks down like he's trying to see if there is a better person for this. There has to be. Ratchet? Tailgate? Rodimus? Rung should just pop out of the floor or through dimensions to save him from this. That's what he's supposed to do, right? ~~A more adulty adult.~~

Whirl looks back down at him and vents dramatically.]

Not that I care, but let me guess. Got all that pesky conscience stuff acting up?

[He picks up the tool he'd normally be using, mostly because he's being watched and so he should probably at least make an attempt to look like he's actually going to do something.]

It's loads easier if you just tell that little voice to go frag itself.

[Bumblebee is actually surprised when Whirl gives him advice. He was expecting the bot to ignore him or tell him he's being dumb or something. But it... Actually looks like he's trying to help. And that confuses Bee way more, but it wouldn't be the first head spin he's experience since being here. Starscream and Megatron are testament to that.

He blinks up at Whirl from where he's resting on his arm.]

It's easier for you--you've been doing this forever. [He looks back at the marks he's been making.] The war is over where I'm from. It's been over for millions of stellar cycles--it's not like we need to learn this stuff. I never killed anything before--... Yeah.

[Whirl notices where a screw is loose, and actually changes out tools to fix it, using one smaller pincer to pick up the new tool while the other sets down the first. It would bother him if he left it like that. The entire point of his claw rotates in its well as he tightens the screw in place. He is actually listening, as much as it looks like he isn't. If anything, listening is why he's actually doing something, anything to appear uninterested.]

War's over where I'm from, too. It doesn't mean scrap. There are always people fighting, and there's always people making things worse. It's just the way it is. Universe is ugly, Bee. It just is. The sooner you learn that, sooner you can recharge.

[He's somehow unsurprised that the scraplet hadn't offlined anything before now. He's known mechs who onlined with more of a sense of the way things worked than this brat. Ugh. Where is literally anyone else to deal with this. Riptide's all mushy. Can't he take care of this? He vents, dramatically, and then points at Bee with a screwdriver that is ridiculously small compared to Whirl himself. It's no wonder he has to use the smaller claws to even try to hold it.]

Look. They were shooting at you, right? They wouldn't have stopped until everyone on this slagheap was grey or dead or so fulla holes nothing would've done a thing. T'me, it's an easy answer, there.

[Bee continues to watch with some interest, if only because seeing Whirl doing something so delicate and tiny is sort of fascinating. He lifts a servo to rub at his optics, squinting tiredly.]

I guess. But Optimus is always telling us that we're on Earth to help protect life... And. [he pauses, burying his face into the crook of his arm.] There was so much... Red. I never wanted to see the inside of an organic before and now all I can see is them being... Squished in Riptide's servos.

[ Whirl goes back to poking at the piece in his hands, and then turns it over to check the other screws as Bee talks. And then Whirl catches on to what Bee is saying and oh. Well. That explains why he's hearing about this and not Riptide. Ah. Okay.

Right.

Jeeze. Organics are gross. They're still in his plating. ]

Do you want me to tell it like it is or do you want me to lie to you.

[A beat.]

Cause the truth is, protecting life or protecting anything means something loses. People make the hard calls and people die. There's no good guys in this stuff. Never is. The good guys end up dead, or they end up not being not so good anymore.

[Bumblebee goes quiet as Whirl talks again, venting a shaky sigh. Everybot has been saying that it's okay, that there was nothing he could've done to stop it from happening. But nobody actually explained why in a way that made sense. Whirl was making sense, which isn't something that apparently happens often..]

Y-yeah. [his vocaliser cracks as he processes what Whirl said. He droops further down against his arm, settling to get more comfortable.] Man, the universe sucks.

[Whirl is still checking the screws, each one of them takes a full moment of his attention, making sure it's even and level and tightened. One thing wrong can mess with the whole aesthetic and function, and then where are you? When Bee speaks again, Whirl makes a sound that's probably more like a crackle than anything else, but it's a laugh.]

Now you're getting the picture.

[Whirl sounds surprisingly calm as he continues.]

I thought you couldn't be as dumb as you looked.

And you're not as much of an glitchhead as you looked. [It's not said with any particular malice or weight, he's far too exhausted to give Whirl a proper fight right now. The way that he's fixing the clock is sort of hypnotic to watch, and Bumblebee finds himself slipping closer and closer to recharge. There's a long silence as Whirl works, Bumblebee still thinking.]

Will it ever--... [He cuts himself off, burying his face into the crook of his arm.] Does it ever stop hurting?

Edited 2016-07-27 23:06 (UTC)

Nope.

[That answer is immediate.]

Things never stop. Why would they?

[He pauses, and then points at Bee with the screwdriver again.]

There are just periods of things sucking less in between periods of the universe being a horrible place.

[There's a beat, and then Whirl taps him on the helm with the end of it.]

But you're not dead. So, there is that. Things could always be worse.

[Bumblebee looks up at him from the crook of his arm, frowning when he's poked with the screwdriver.]

Gee, way to fill me up with hope.

Edited 2016-08-02 20:59 (UTC)

[Whirl vents, and there's another one of those crackling half laughs.]

Do you want me to lie to you?

[Bumblebee droops further into the crook of his arm.] Not really, no.

[Whirl's head tilts and he pauses.]

Good.

You're learning.

[Whirl pauses, freezing, and then his antenna moves on it's own for a moment. Then switches tools, screwdriver being switched for the auto-oiler, in a perfect world he'd be using a well but his claws aren't steady enough for that really even if he can get close. If it's automated he can at least get close to the right amounts. As he works he sort of begins humming tunelessly as if he isn't really aware that he's doing it, now completely fixated thanks to noticing something he could fix.
]

[Bumblebee gives a small noise before settling again, watching Whirl work sleepily. If Whirl checks on him after he's finished the latest repair, he'll notice that the small bot has fallen into recharge, right on his berth. He really was exhausted.]

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