Waspinator sets himself to his task, which currently seems to be... digging. Furiously.

Airazor liked Megatron, and Waspinator liked Airazor. If Airazor liked him, then maybe.. Waspinator was wrong about him. It wouldn't be the first time Waspinator had ever been wrong, but it would be the first time Waspinator had ever felt guilty about it.

He nudges the gift towards Megatron again, antenna drooping.

"Waspinator.. can't be a maximal. Maybe. If everyone goes back, other Maximals wouldn't want Wasp, anyway. ..Wasp doesn't know what Wasp wants."

A pause, and his wings buzz, again. "Wasp does know he's tried of exploding all the time, though."

There's a faint knocking at the door of the Darksyde. He's not even certain Megatron would want this, but then, everyone likes a present, right? His wings buzz against his back, anxious nerves making his shift uneasily.

There was silence for a few moments before the grand door opened, revealing a very, admittedly tired, predacon leader.

His red optics scanned in front of him then down at the green bot right there. Shaking like a leaf in the wings it seemed.

"Ah- waspinator," Megatron began in that almost taunting voice of his. "It seems you have decided to show your face around here again, I thought you hated it here?" He scoffed. He's bitter.

Waspinator's plating puffed up a little, but he prided himself for not flinching back when the door opened. His wings were still buzzing away, but ah well, old habits died hard.

He does, however, thrust the box he's holding out at Megatron, antenna bobbing nervously.

"Waspinator brought Megatron something," he manages. And then after a few more moments, almost sheepishly, he murmurs, "Waspinator was.. mean. Waspinator knows he was mean to Megatron. Brought something nice? Peace offering?"

There's a faint knocking at the door of the Darksyde. He's not even certain Megatron would want this, but then, everyone likes a present, right? His wings buzz against his back, anxious nerves making his shift uneasily.

There was silence for a few moments before the grand door opened, revealing a very, admittedly tired, predacon leader.

His red optics scanned in front of him then down at the green bot right there. Shaking like a leaf in the wings it seemed.

"Ah- waspinator," Megatron began in that almost taunting voice of his. "It seems you have decided to show your face around here again, I thought you hated it here?" He scoffed. He's bitter.

Waspinator, in fact, did not know. He didn't really.. know much, about any of the gods, save for Primus and Unicron, who were the beginning and end, as far as he was concerned.

He places the gem in her palm, wings buzzing and big, compound optics flickering as he considers this. "Mmm- is any of it true?" Can a little rock like that bring anyone luck? Mostly, he thought, it was pretty, and if you processed it, it could make a nice snack.

Pap pap. Wasp gently taps her on the elbow to get her attention. "Airazor?"

" Wasp dear!" She turns with a happy trill arms open to scoop him up into a careful hug.

"Waspinator did not catch..", he trails off at the end, embarrassed, but digs through his subspace to offer out a chunk of yellow-amber gemstone. "Citrine! Lots of it, but Wasp couldn't carry it all."

He holds it up to the light, so that when it catches, it turns gold.

Pap pap. Wasp gently taps her on the elbow to get her attention. "Airazor?"

" Wasp dear!" She turns with a happy trill arms open to scoop him up into a careful hug.

"Brought Aizrazor nice thing," he murmurs, mostly into her feathers. His wings flicker, causing a vibrating sort of hum. "Wasp went hunting and found this!"

Pap pap. Wasp gently taps her on the elbow to get her attention. "Airazor?"

" Wasp dear!" She turns with a happy trill arms open to scoop him up into a careful hug.

alt mode

air-razor Hands him a snack and pets his helm because he's a good bot.

He makes a soft clicking noise, wings fluttering along his back.

"Mmmm- hello, Airazor."

Quiet crunching noises...

Airazor seems to come back to herself, and Waspinator watches for a moment, before shrugging off his fear.

Just like that.

So easily, as though it was second nature.

Perhaps he was simply used to being afraid- Primus knew he had had his reasons to be. They had been fighting for so long, he didn’t exactly know how to live without it.

He’d just.. gotten used to it.

As it is, he’s not afraid of her.

But he is distinctly aware that she could tear him up into little pieces if she wanted.

He likes to keep these things in mind. ..just in case.

“Waspinator brought back- for Airazor,” he offers, a touch she as he wanders closer, meat held like an offering.

“Airazor is ok?” He asks again, because if she is like this, she must be.. not.

" What. Do. You. WANT-?" Red-gold optics gleam from above. Feathers bristling where she's hunkered in the furthest rafters of the least used hangar. Her talons make the metal under them scream they clench.

Her wing dangles and it's ill looking. A few feathers resting rusted on the floor under her.

A bad day indeed...

Waspinator shrinks a little, wings tuck close to his back and antenna slicking back along his helm.

He holds hunks of meat in his arms.

“Waspinator hunted,” he offers, haltingly, optics gone big and round. A successful hunt, his first, real successful hunt in.. ever. He’d brought it back to Airazor because he couldn’t show Tarantulas, but..

“Airazor is.. ok?”

" What. Do. You. WANT-?" Red-gold optics gleam from above. Feathers bristling where she's hunkered in the furthest rafters of the least used hangar. Her talons make the metal under them scream they clench.

Her wing dangles and it's ill looking. A few feathers resting rusted on the floor under her.

A bad day indeed...

Brothers.. Waspinator blinks at him. There are more Insecticons. He wonders how many, then, beyond these three that there are. An entire hive, maybe? The entire concept makes Wasp boggle for a moment.

And then.. Shrapnel declares him ‘one of them’ and he turns his full attention onto the Insection, claws rubbing together. “Really?” It is not a skeptical sort of question, so much as clarification. 

There is a sort of desperate Hope in his optics.

(@metallightningbug ) Shrapnel sends him a set of location coordinates with only the brief message 'I have something for you' attached.

Shrapnel! Waspinator likes Shrapnel. Shrapnel isn't exactly nice, but he's not mean, either. He's kinda..

Waspinator doesn't know. He teases Waspinator a bit, but he hasn't hurt him. And he helps Waspinator find food without hurting himself. Waspinator trusts him, funny enough.

So he checks around to make sure he's clear before buzzing off towards the location.

Waspinator snaps out of it, after a moment, optics cycling absently. “Ah.. Waspinator is alright. ..dirty.” He doesn’t mention the.. feelings, to Shrapnel. He’ll sort them out later, when he feels a little less dazed about it, perhaps. Maybe he’ll feel a little less bad about it with a bit of recharge.

“Bombshell and Shrapnel?” He asks, instead, unfamiliar with the names. He can only assume they must be other Insecticons. What he knows of Shrapnel is that he doesn’t really.. associate with other mechs randomly. Waspinator just looks bug enough that he got a pass.

“Waspinator is alright, really. ..maybe ate a bit of cabling that went down wrong? Hasn’t eaten like this in a really long time.” And that wasn’t a lie- his tanks were certainly full, almost uncomfortably so.

(@metallightningbug ) Shrapnel sends him a set of location coordinates with only the brief message 'I have something for you' attached.

Shrapnel! Waspinator likes Shrapnel. Shrapnel isn't exactly nice, but he's not mean, either. He's kinda..

Waspinator doesn't know. He teases Waspinator a bit, but he hasn't hurt him. And he helps Waspinator find food without hurting himself. Waspinator trusts him, funny enough.

So he checks around to make sure he's clear before buzzing off towards the location.

There was a mech there, where pink stains lay. There was a mech, optics round with horror and fear, knowing they wouldn’t survive the night.

Waspinator licks the energon from his claws absently, as he stares at the spot that they were, processor sluggish. He is.. full, for the first time in his life, completely devoid of hunger, a kill he wasn’t shooed off from or called away from. All it took was nearly starving.

And doing something to someone that was, relatively very cruel. His tanks don’t turn, but there is a level of guilt building up that manifests into a hard knot in his throat, like a bit of protoform or cabling went down the wrong way. Swallowing does not help.

He’s not sure anything will, not when there is nothing he can do to fix it.

The Autobot is gone. He turns to Shrapnel, instead, wiping unsuccessfully at his face, again, only really wiping and smearing gore around, until he gives up entirely. “Waspinator has.. not eaten in a long time. ..a very long time.” His voice sounds faint, like it is far away to his audials.

He killed a mech. And he has done so, before, but only.. only ever on accident, and by then, they were dead, so it didn’t matter if he ate the leftovers. But this was.. purposeful. To look into their optics and seal their fate is a completely different experience.

...Waspinator may be full, but he isn’t sure he enjoyed it at all.

(@metallightningbug ) Shrapnel sends him a set of location coordinates with only the brief message 'I have something for you' attached.

Shrapnel! Waspinator likes Shrapnel. Shrapnel isn't exactly nice, but he's not mean, either. He's kinda..

Waspinator doesn't know. He teases Waspinator a bit, but he hasn't hurt him. And he helps Waspinator find food without hurting himself. Waspinator trusts him, funny enough.

So he checks around to make sure he's clear before buzzing off towards the location.

It really wasn’t much of a hunt, unless you count finding Shrapnel.

And even then he was given coordinates. She tweaks his antenna and it wiggles in her hold, getting her a little laugh, and then silence, again. “Waspinator wants to lay down,” he tries, hoping to avoid the whole conversation about food altogether.

“Waspinator is very full- sleepy?” He should.. probably recharge. Or try to, anyhow. If he can manage.

He is loathe to let go of Airazor, though, because she is very warm and smells nice, and while her nest is good, it is nicer when she is in it.

"Did it change you?"

" Oh wasp-" Her expression softens for the small... not predacon. Nor quite Maximal. Simply a young mech in a long war that he did not ask for. She wraps an arm around his shoulders to draw him in. Giving a careful side hug," Every day, we change. Everything that touches us. All those that walk beside us; either in opposition or in support. All these things, they change us." She gently pets his back," It is our choice in how we allow these experiences to change us. Do we build a better tomorrow? OR do we carry the burden of hatred, of bitterness. I like to think I am choosing a better way forward." Her talons are careful as they rest on his helm," For you. And other younglings that will come after you... This I swore many years ago. Before the War."

He doesn’t. She holds him close and all he does is cling to her, face nestled against her chest.

“Yes.” It’s easier to admit, when he thinks- knows, even, that she will not scold him for it. Megatron would’ve scolded him for being clingy. For wanting affection. Megatron was a self serving mech, he knew, but it was easier to listen to him and feel a part of the group, even if he was the most useless member.

She mentions him being hungry, however, and Waspinator tenses.

Freezes, really.

“Already ate,” he mutters, claws flexing a little, not into her, but against her feathers.

He did already eat. Shrapnel made sure of it, and he was.. grateful, but guilty, remembering the look of the mech when he descended, fear and horror, realization that they were going to die. He curls closer to her, and tries to shake the memory. “Airazor is hungry?”

"Did it change you?"

" Oh wasp-" Her expression softens for the small... not predacon. Nor quite Maximal. Simply a young mech in a long war that he did not ask for. She wraps an arm around his shoulders to draw him in. Giving a careful side hug," Every day, we change. Everything that touches us. All those that walk beside us; either in opposition or in support. All these things, they change us." She gently pets his back," It is our choice in how we allow these experiences to change us. Do we build a better tomorrow? OR do we carry the burden of hatred, of bitterness. I like to think I am choosing a better way forward." Her talons are careful as they rest on his helm," For you. And other younglings that will come after you... This I swore many years ago. Before the War."

That’s.. he is feeling an emotion he didn’t know he could feel.

A lot of it had been swept up in the fight, a sort of war, really, with the Maximals, seemingly endless in the way it dragged on, until it was what Waspinator knew he was going to wake up to, what the day was going to be.

When she says things like that, it makes him want to curl up and hide. It is so different from how Megatron spoke to him, nothing.. nothing with some sort of hidden meaning Waspinator missed, no anger or yelling.

He makes a small noise. “Actually.. if Waspinator wanted anything.. he wants everything to be like this.”

"Did it change you?"

" Oh wasp-" Her expression softens for the small... not predacon. Nor quite Maximal. Simply a young mech in a long war that he did not ask for. She wraps an arm around his shoulders to draw him in. Giving a careful side hug," Every day, we change. Everything that touches us. All those that walk beside us; either in opposition or in support. All these things, they change us." She gently pets his back," It is our choice in how we allow these experiences to change us. Do we build a better tomorrow? OR do we carry the burden of hatred, of bitterness. I like to think I am choosing a better way forward." Her talons are careful as they rest on his helm," For you. And other younglings that will come after you... This I swore many years ago. Before the War."