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swordageSoooo I was sitting around going DOOT DOOT DOOT and I wrote a thing. A dream-thing! A fic-thing. I honestly don't know if anyone wants to read such a thing but it's here if you want it. I usually get annoyed at such disclaimers but I'm not saying it sucks, I'm saying stories wherein all that happens is a character dreams tend to annoy me so I'm not sure why I wrote this. ANYWAY.
Untitled
Series: Transformers G1
Wordcount: 407
Rating: G
Summary: For millions of years, Skyfire dreamed.
***
In the ice, Skyfire dreamed.
He saw the infinite spiraling towers of Vos: sometimes stretching above and around him for as far as he could see, sometimes tiny pinpricks far below. The atmosphere was thicker than he thought it should be. It pressed in on him, cold as the space between stars. They were distant inhospitable points of light all around him, a thousand million glowing optics staring with disinterest. He tried to tremble but his body refused to hear him. He couldn't move.
Everything was still. Entropy prevailed, heat-death of the universe reaching for his laser core, his very spark. He groaned. Vos groaned with him, Starscream's aerie rocking slowly under his feet. The wounded city shook its inhabitants out of their home-spires and they filled the too-thick air, falling as if through water. Skyfire could see their open mouths. They made no noise. The aerie groaned again and gravity shifted, moved sideways, and he dropped out the sky-door as if it were down instead of sideways and he fell into the midst of a hundred thousand tetrajets and they pressed against him, around him, wailing silently as their home shook out its death throes. They crushed around him and he couldn't move and everything was dark and he shivered, cold in his very spark, colder than the endless Pit of the Unmaker's gut.
Things moved in the dark. They chittered and laughed, bit at his extremities until he bled, gnawed until he couldn't feel the pain of it any longer. He couldn't see what they were. Their eyes had no glow, blind and snuffling and black. Skyfire wept in terror. One giggled near his face, and he could hear it move - he could hear it skitter closer - its sensory bristles touched his cheek but his optic glow illuminated nothing and its teeth were so sharp
The light came.
It came and he did not see it come until it was already bright, and the creatures of the dark were no more, and he groaned for the pains of his body where they had bit. The light was blue and knew his name: it spoke to him so sweetly with a voice of warmth and comfort. Its hands soothed his hurts and he could see into it, he could see Starscream at its core.
"Starscream," he said, though his mind was glacial and his voice recalcitrant. "It's you. You rescued me."
Starscream smiled.
Untitled
Series: Transformers G1
Wordcount: 407
Rating: G
Summary: For millions of years, Skyfire dreamed.
***
In the ice, Skyfire dreamed.
He saw the infinite spiraling towers of Vos: sometimes stretching above and around him for as far as he could see, sometimes tiny pinpricks far below. The atmosphere was thicker than he thought it should be. It pressed in on him, cold as the space between stars. They were distant inhospitable points of light all around him, a thousand million glowing optics staring with disinterest. He tried to tremble but his body refused to hear him. He couldn't move.
Everything was still. Entropy prevailed, heat-death of the universe reaching for his laser core, his very spark. He groaned. Vos groaned with him, Starscream's aerie rocking slowly under his feet. The wounded city shook its inhabitants out of their home-spires and they filled the too-thick air, falling as if through water. Skyfire could see their open mouths. They made no noise. The aerie groaned again and gravity shifted, moved sideways, and he dropped out the sky-door as if it were down instead of sideways and he fell into the midst of a hundred thousand tetrajets and they pressed against him, around him, wailing silently as their home shook out its death throes. They crushed around him and he couldn't move and everything was dark and he shivered, cold in his very spark, colder than the endless Pit of the Unmaker's gut.
Things moved in the dark. They chittered and laughed, bit at his extremities until he bled, gnawed until he couldn't feel the pain of it any longer. He couldn't see what they were. Their eyes had no glow, blind and snuffling and black. Skyfire wept in terror. One giggled near his face, and he could hear it move - he could hear it skitter closer - its sensory bristles touched his cheek but his optic glow illuminated nothing and its teeth were so sharp
The light came.
It came and he did not see it come until it was already bright, and the creatures of the dark were no more, and he groaned for the pains of his body where they had bit. The light was blue and knew his name: it spoke to him so sweetly with a voice of warmth and comfort. Its hands soothed his hurts and he could see into it, he could see Starscream at its core.
"Starscream," he said, though his mind was glacial and his voice recalcitrant. "It's you. You rescued me."
Starscream smiled.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-14 11:14 pm (UTC)I... yeeeeeeeeeeeeah. This is G1. It makes physics cry and beats up continuity and steals logic's lunch money.
YES THAT. He would absolutely threaten to go back no matter how happy he was, because if somebody *knows* you are happy it will eventually be removed, THIS IS HOW THINGS GO. And Skyfire would quietly be trusting and sweet and stubborn and be like 'I wouldn't stop you, but here, have some incentive to stay!'
THEY MAKE ME HAPPY IN MY SOUL.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-15 07:19 pm (UTC)FORMEDDIED LONG AGO and so he came to the Autobots and blah blah whatever, it's fun to read, but if I want SRS FIC then that is definitely not plausible.Hmm, see, I can see that Skyfire would understand that to *Starscream* it was betrayal, even though from his own point of view he was staying true to himself. I can see him apologizing for hurting Starscream, because it DID hurt Starscream. But he wouldn't have spent the whole time angsting about how he betrayed Starscream and he regrets it, because... he didn't. Not from where he stands, anyhow.
I *have* seen some stories that do them well, that bittersweet kind of affection and sense of loss. They're popular enough that decent stories do actually exist for them. XD They're just... rarer than I'd like.
oh exactly. And Skyfire would be changed, the war has hurt him too now - not as much as it's hurt Starscream, but Skyfire aches. Everything he's known is dead except for Starscream and he thought he'd lost Starscream too. But he had to try, had to get Starscream away. It's selfish, he knows that and readily admits it, but it doesn't matter because when Starscream is with him, he's SAFE. No Megatron shooting at him, no Autobots shooting at him, no Decepticons backstabbing, no power plays taking up all his brainpower, no schemes keeping him constantly wired up on his toes. Safe.
...This needs to be written.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-15 07:45 pm (UTC)Yeah, I believe that too? It would take him a little while to get why Starscream considered it betrayal, because wtf you SHOT ME, but... but he'd hurt Starscream, and that is never acceptable, and he'd be sorry for the fact that it was necessary but he wouldn't be sorry he'd *done* it, if the distinction makes sense? And yeah, he didn't betray Starscream at all, as far as he's concerned. At which point Starscream starts shrieking at him.
Yeah, the ones that do them right are *so incredibly good*, but it's... so easy to do them wrong.
Yes! He knows it's selfish, knows it's wrong of him, but... but the one thing *left* to him, and Starscream was not always quite *this* bad (always petty, always malicious, always spiteful, but Skyfire remembers moments of generosity, Starscream's voice soft on his name and Starscream's fingers skimming gentle over his wings) and if he is safe -- if he is *safe*, then perhaps he will eventually relearn what safety means.
Yes. Yes, it does.
Well, it's a start.
Date: 2010-07-16 06:42 am (UTC)"Yes, I noticed," he grumbled. Lying on his front always hurt, and being forced into that position for hours - days on end was wearing at him. "In fact, you might call it endless and incessant."
Skyfire smiled a little, just a quirk of his mouth that he tried to hide. "I could call several things on this planet endless and incessant."
"Shut up." Starscream didn't even have the energy to properly respond to the obvious slight. He knew that staring at Skyfire's hands wouldn't make the energon flow any faster, but he couldn't seem to stop. Skyfire glanced up at him, worried, before urgently returning to his task.
Starscream stared a moment longer before he realized what that look was about. He blamed his lack on mental acuity on desperately trying to ignore the fact that he - well. He was trying to ignore a thing which was difficult to ignore. It was draining.
"Skyfire," he said slowly, "my level of vitriol is not an appropriate measure of my health."
"Appropriate, no," Skyfire agreed without pausing in his work. "Accurate, yes. Ah, there we go." The little device began to hum comfortingly, the only mechanical sound other than themselves in this forsaken place. Skyfire quickly hooked it up to the power line from outside their cozy little cave and the hum increased - slowly but surely, the little cube began to fill. Starscream couldn't take his eyes off it.
"You know I'm going to kill you once you stop being useful," Starscream said, low and serious.
Skyfire watched the cube fill, then unhooked it when it was only half full. "Can you drink without sitting up?" he asked as he came to Starscream's side. The smaller mech just stared up at him balefully. Skyfire sighed, a stupidly human habit, and set the cube down. "Alright. Just don't purge it all afterward."
"Just shut up and - ah-" Starscream couldn't help letting the noise slip out, no matter how carefully Skyfire slipped his arms around Starscream. There just wasn't any avoiding the damage.
Starscream blacked out a little as Skyfire turned him over. It was only an instant of weightless relief from the pain - he rebooted hard to the sound of his own voice shrieking, and Skyfire whispering desperate, soothing things. As if that would help.
"Quickly," Skyfire said in a shaking voice, holding the cube to his mouth, "quickly, and then I can offline you, the pain will subside, there you go..."
"I hate you," Starscream gasped, clutching at whatever he could reach, digging his fingers into Skyfire's knee, into the rock. He gulped at the energon desperately, nearly choking for his urgency. He wasn't even able to drink what little the cube contained - he shoved it away when he couldn't drink any more, his throat clicking shut in self-defense. "Enough," he tried to say, but the only noise he could make was a terrible wail.
Skyfire didn't waste any more time on words, at least. His fingers dug into Starscream's neck, seeking out his medical ports, and Starscream sank into the welcome bliss of a forced shutdown.
Re: Well, it's a start.
Date: 2010-07-16 01:34 pm (UTC)"Skyfire," he said slowly, "my level of vitriol is not an appropriate measure of my health."
"Appropriate, no," Skyfire agreed without pausing in his work. "Accurate, yes. Ah, there we go."
That is kind of beautiful and perfect, and aaaaaaaaaaaagh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh, oh Starscream HONEY, oh, Skyfire, baby, *ow* -- I am sitting here in the library staring at the screen and wibbling.
Re: Well, it's a start.
Date: 2010-07-16 06:13 pm (UTC)No but really I'm so happy you like that bit. :3 I wrote another scene already, so we'll see what happens, I guess? Knowing me it'll stall out and take a few months to pick up again, but hey, it's started. XD
*whoops already wrote another 400 words this morning, how did that happen*
I like the part where Skyfire ignores the death threat. He knows he's probably toast. He knows Starscream means it. He's okay with that, so there's really nothing to say. ;_; They're so hurty and lovely and - it'll be okay! Starscream will get better and he'll stay with Skyfire! And their snark will be gentle and loving!
Re: Well, it's a start.
Date: 2010-07-16 11:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-16 07:07 am (UTC)That distinction totally makes sense. Skyfire really never could have made it with the Decepticons, not coming in when he did. Maybe if he'd been there from the beginning.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-16 01:30 pm (UTC)Here is the story! I like to amuse myself periodically by contemplating just when it is set and thus how far AU from canon it goes when.
If Skyfire had been 'Con from the beginning... yipe. He still would've defected eventually, it just would've hurt him more. He would've understood why the 'Cons were going 'this situation is untenable, we are STARVING, fuck you Overlord,' but... but not like this. They kill more than they save.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-16 04:31 pm (UTC)I don't know if he would have defected if he'd been with them from the beginning. It's easy to settle into patterns, and I really think that's where most of Megatron's power comes from - gradual changes over time, culminating in the madness we see today. I think maybe the real question is - if Skyfire hadn't crashed, would either he or Starscream have joined the Decepticons at all? I'm sure Starscream always had that cruelty in him, but not quite so sharp. And plenty of the Autobots are cruel, it's not a disqualifying trait, you know? It all seems so inevitable sometimes, but it does make me wish for a bit more insight into the beginnings of the war.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-16 11:39 pm (UTC)I... am never sure just what would have happened if Skyfire had never crashed. I don't think Starscream would've taken over Vos, which means the war probably would've started later and started *differently*, but it still would've *happened* -- of course, a lot of fanon posits that Starscream resents the Science Academy and Iacon in general for their (fanon, but plausible) response to him coming home sans partner, and with Skyfire there he has fewer reasons to resent Iacon.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-17 12:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-17 12:39 am (UTC)I... yeeeeeeeeah, G1 and continuity give me a *headache*, because while I can buy *Starscream* being the type of scientist that would have been sent on FIND US ENERGON sorts of missions -- he strikes me as being chemical engineering type work, and Skyfire has always pinged me as xenobiology and/or biological engineering, which is why they would have worked well together afaik about the subjects. But Skyfire wouldn't be useful there, and he doesn't ask *any* questions about the war that I would expect if it had been brewing -- what finally sparked it, who ended up picking which side, etc.
But that also doesn't mesh with the comic canon, in which it's kinda-sorta Starscream starting the war and Vos and Tarn and rivalry and... yeah. *hands*
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-17 11:09 am (UTC)Skyfire is SO xenobiology. I think Starscream might have multiple specialties, but chemical engineering is probably the most relevant, probably some physics and mechanical engineering as well. Maybe their mission was early enough that Skyfire was sent for a thin veneer of "ooh look actual science"? And if that were the case, it might have been early enough that there was just murmurs of unrest as the energon started to dry up rather than a full-out uprising. Starscream would still know that their mission was (relatively) just before the final falling-out, but Skyfire would have been relatively oblivious since he never made it back to see the war begin.
mmmm I love theories. Trying to make sense of something as nonsensical as G1 is... kinda awesome. XD
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-17 03:26 pm (UTC)Most of the comics background I pull in is actually Megatron and Ravage -- I *like* Ravage being an ancient mech, and I adore Megatron being tied to a black hole as the source of his power. I can take or leave Starscream.
And yes, that's my usual preferred fanwank as well -- it was just before their final falling-out, but it was just before as *they* think of it, probably at least three vorns before the whispers even started getting to a *murmur* that Megatron could eventually tap.