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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2023 3:36:08 GMT
Characters Appearing: Wheeljack , Clematis Location (s): Autobot City Bar Timeline: January 5th Plot Summary: Wheeljack goes to blow off some steam after a long day at work.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2023 3:41:41 GMT
It had been a long day.
Or at least his idea of a long day. Wheeljack didn't have many, to be fair, most of his work was pretty calming for him. He got to work with kids on one end,and got to do mechanics on the other. What could be bad about that, right? Well, not every day was the sunshine and rainbows that he liked. And that day, he'd had a handful of calls about bad placements, and a couple of inventions literally blow up in his face. So frag if he didn't need a drink, and fast.
So he went to the nearby bar for a high grade or two.
It wasn't often he did this. He'd tried to keep himself drinking in moderation since he'd gotten Dane as a baby. And yet, here he was on his second high grade, thankfully not a lightweight in the least. "Primus, I need to find a better coping mechanism now that Dane's older," He teased himself. He could hardly just take him out for a ride or spend time with him at every given hour anymore. "Maybe I should start bugging him about grandkids."
Of course, thankfully, he was kidding.
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Post by Clematis on Jan 12, 2023 22:51:35 GMT
The bar in Autobot City wasn't exactly a place that Clematis made a habit of venturing to, but she needed that change of pace desperately. She was in one of those mindsets where she was really beating herself up after the whole Decepticon jailbreak thing at G.H.O.S.T. HQ. It'd been her fault, or at least partially. She'd been foolish to blindly believe that Nightshroud really wanted to talk, and instead she wound up as a hostage during that whole thing so that her twin and her new friends could break in and help the Decepticons inside escape. Ones that really deserved to be locked up were on the loose now including Starscream and Soundwave.
Granted, she was the one who believed that Decepticons deserved a second chance but this wasn't what she had in mind.
Slipping inside quickly and trying not to draw too much attention to herself, the femme made a beeline for the back but as she did she couldn't help but notice a familiar face in the crowd. Scrap! Wheeljack was here.. Quietly whining to herself, Clematis did her best to sneak to a small table in the back corner to have a little privacy to herself. She wasted no time picking up the menu and trying to keep her face obscured so no one noticed her. Maybe going to a bar wasn't the best idea, but she wanted to go somewhere different and not stay locked up in her hab suite all day long.
Again.
Hopefully Wheeljack didn't notice her.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2023 22:30:10 GMT
Wheeljack on the other hand hadn't been informed of any jailbreak.
Or personally he would have been off trying to convince Dane to take a sabbatical from the marines, like right now. The last thing he really wanted was to find out that his kid was being attacked by some crazed-ass Decepticons after all. He had enough on his mind and plate at the moment, he genuinely didn't need to think about dangerous Decepticons out on the loose. What he did know, however, was that he noticed Clematis come in. Funny, he hadn't expected her to be one of the types of people to go to a bar.
Standing up and striding over to the table she was seated at, he looked at her with a curious expression and raised optic ridge. "You're comin' in for a drink? Never took you to be the type when we met." He joked.
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Post by Clematis on Jan 14, 2023 22:39:50 GMT
Scrap, Wheeljack did notice her!
Clematis whined as she attempted to duck behind the menu just a little bit more, but it was too late. Wheeljack was already approaching and there was no getting out of this awkward conversation now. The azure and lilac femme sighed, resigning herself to her fate as she hesitantly looked over the menu and up at the former Wrecker as he casually greeted her. It was pretty obvious just from the look she gave him that something was amiss, but the real question was if she was up to discuss it. She was the one that decided to come out here, and she knew there was a chance that something like this would happen. She just hopped that it wouldn't have been Wheeljack. Yet.. here she was now.
"Oh.. um.. Yeah I come here every once in while. Not often though." Clematis scooched over to give the mech more room, speaking softly. "What about you? What brings you here?"
And now she was dodging the question.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2023 4:22:16 GMT
Wheeljack could tell he'd either caught the femme off-guard or probably she didn't want to be seen.
But, well, Wheeljack got a little braver with a few drinks in him. And while he wasn't drunk or tipsy, the braver side was coming over him. To say the least, anyway. As he seated himself right by her without so much as a second thought, he put his servo on his cheekplate and looked at her amused. "You could say I needed to relieve some stress," He admitted honestly. "Fragging pit of a work week, honestly. It's always that way after the holidays though."
Or at least, it seemed to be that way. Everyone was so much more giving, and happier during the holidays. And when that generosity was thrown out the window at the end, it was time for them to pick up the pieces. "Y'know moving stuff around with the kids. Working out paperwork, a lot of dull scrap I needed to get away from."
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Post by Clematis on Jan 23, 2023 2:48:49 GMT
Seemed like Wheeljack was here to relieve some stress, and Clematis didn't want to interrupt him if he had wanted to carry on with that. Still, he was the one that approached her, and she was too nice to say that she wanted to have a little alone time.. but was that really what she wanted? A part of her deep down wanted someone that she could talk to and vent to about things that had happened more recently, but she was both too embarrassed and ashamed to discuss it without a little bit of prodding. She was all too aware that she was probably giving out mixed signals, but honestly she didn't know what was best in that moment.
"Oh.. I'm sorry work's been rough for you. It always seems difficult after the big Earth holidays." The azure and lilac femme fiddled with the menu a bit, still glancing it over a bit before deciding to order something light for herself to drink. Clematis definitely could not handle the harder beverages served at places like this, so it was light or go home.
At the mention of paperwork and dull scrap that Wheeljack mentioned, the young femme nodded. "Yeah.. I know what you mean by needing to get away for a bit. That's why I came here I guess. To.. get away from things." She knew she was being vague, but she was hoping if anything the mech would pick up on one of those cues. She was fishing for any kind of sign that he actually wanted to talk to her about what had happened, but Clematis didn't want to push either. She's already tried that so many times with Nightshroud before and it had backfired. Just the mere thought of her twin caused the femme to whine, pressing her faceplate into the table.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2023 4:49:00 GMT
Wheeljack nodded his head.
The holidays took their toll on everyone, human or Cybertronian. But for him, it seemed like he just wanted them to go on forever. At least then the world was in a good place. Now? It was the post-holiday blues. Still he hummed thoughtfully as he crossed his arms and turned to her. "It was a good holiday though. We got a lot of kids placed in time for them," He explained with a nod of his head. "And I actually got to oversee a very personal placement myself. For some good people. That's always a nice feeling."
He hoped Bumblebee was happy now that he had officially chosen to be Nick's caretaker.
He noticed the way she said her next statement and tilted his helm a little. Curious. "Everything OK? Need to talk about it?" He had a feeling that at least something was up.
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Post by Clematis on Feb 15, 2023 2:48:58 GMT
Clematis wanted to be happy for Wheeljack. He did a lot of hard work with the human kids and it sounds like many of them got to have a nice holiday, but it was hard not to think about the events that had transpired over the past few days. It was hard to get her processor off the subject that tore at her spark, making her feel guilty. She absentmindedly nodded along to Wheeljack's statement as he spoke about how the holiday had gone, not noticing that he was finally starting to catch on that something was bothering her.
And then the former Wrecker called her out. The azure and lilac femme gasped lightly, startled by the sudden question as she turned to look at him.
"Everything's.. not okay." Sighing, she crossed her arms on the table before resting her chin on them. "So.. you know about that big break out that happened the other day, right? At.. GHOST HQ? I was.. wrapped up in all of that." It was hard to find the words, but Clematis wanted to hear what Wheeljack had to say before she continued. A part of her was scared to speak more of those events, but she needed to vent to someone who hopefully wouldn't judge her. For the things that Nightshroud had done.. could she really fault her twin for taking the desperate actions she'd taken to rescue someone who genuinely made her happy, no matter how horrible they seemed?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2023 6:11:23 GMT
The breakout at GHOST HQ?
Hold on a second, no, Wheeljack hadn’t heard a fragging thing. But he felt his spark slip a beat when she said that. Had anyone been hurt? Who was now out and about exactly!? The thought made his processor ache. They’d spent so much time trying to keep the Cons from hurting people again… To build a better life for themselves and the humans…
For their kids.
The thought some of their enemies were now out. Let alone some of their worst possibly…. It wasn’t good. “Now hold up here? There was a breakout at GHOST? What happened?”
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Post by Clematis on Mar 8, 2023 2:31:59 GMT
Oh no..
Wheeljack didn't know about what had happened.. Clematis immediately winced, trying to figure out where to even begin now that she knew the other knew nothing of what had transpired. Frowning, the femme decided to bite the bullet and talk. "Yeah.. It.. happened several days ago. My spark twin Nightshroud had contacted me and asked that I escort her see someone in the GHOST jail. She swore that she just wanted to talk to someone, and I hadn't seen her so interested in doing something like that before let alone asking me to help her. So.. I did. I brought her down there and learned that she'd wanted to visit Starscream of all bots."
Sighing, she forced herself to continue. "And then one thing led to another.. and the jailbreak happened. Nightshroud slapped the stasis cuffs on me to prevent me from stopping her, and while I do feel hurt by what she did.. I noticed something at the same time. The moment she spotted Starscream, she.. almost seemed happy. I.. I haven't seen her happy in so long. Genuinely happy.." Had Starscream actually gotten through to her twin? For all the horrible things she'd heard about him, Clematis couldn't deny that Nightshroud seemed so much happier around him. Who was she to take that happiness from her? There was a war brewing in her spark. She knew that he'd been locked up for a reason, but if Starscream could actually help Nightshroud..
"I'm not allowed back at GHOST HQ. Not yet anyway.. I just spent a long time trying to convince them that I wasn't an accomplice, and they temporarily banned me from HQ. They said it wasn't anything personal but just to be safe, and I get that.. They're sending folks over for the medicine deliveries for now, but I'm not going to lie that.. for once I'm not sure where to go from here."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2023 6:06:24 GMT
Wheeljack listened intently.
But wow - that was a lot to take in. Maybe it was better that he was at the bar after all, because he already felt like he absolutely needed a drink. What the pit? Starscream? Happy? Those two things did not belong in the same sentence, but here he was. What's more, Wheeljack had to make a mental note to let Bumblebee know what was happening if he didn't already know. Primus knew that if the Decepticons caught wind that someone like that now had a son in their care...
He shuddered.
"Frag that's a tough pill to swallow as the humans say," He finally managed to reply after he'd had a second to process what the femme had told him. "So Starscream's out now? Like, out-out? That's really bad... But I wouldn't beat yourself up too hard about it. We all make mistakes when we're young. I know I sure as pit did."
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Post by Clematis on Jun 6, 2023 1:14:44 GMT
A tough pill to swallow.. Wheeljack didn't even know the half of it. At least he was sympathetic about the whole thing and didn't blame her for what happened, but Clematis still felt horrible. There was so much weighing on her processor and it wasn't even just the breakout itself as much as the aftermath.
"Yes, he's.. he's out, but." Clematis fidgeted a bit, somewhat uncomfortable but feeling like she should just get it out. Wheeljack was the one trying to get her to talk after all, and she needed someone she could talk to about what happened. Anyone. The real question was how was he going to handle what all was on her processor. "Starscream passed me a data stick, saying to share it with Skyfire before changing his mind and saying I should give it to anyone who would help. He said.. it contained proof that GHOST is torturing the captured Decepticons. He promised to get me out safely, only to apologize before using me as a hostage when Skyfire showed up. They argued, and.. so much happened." Shuddering a bit, Clematis took out the data stick for former Air Commander had given her, sliding it across the table to Wheeljack. Hopefully he would be able to do more with it than she could.
"Skyfire found out that Starscream was the one to bomb the science lab that Nightshroud and I worked at back in Uraya. I don't know if she knows, but I can still feel it.. just how much she loves him as her adoptive sire. I know he's done horrible things, but the fact that he's helped her so much from the sound of things.. I just don't want anything bad to happen to him. Nightshroud deserves to be happy, even if I can't be the one to do it. I feel so conflicted.. I want to help them, but I know that the Autobots and GHOST won't be happy about it if I do."
Clematis whined, frowning as she raised one servo to her left shoulder where her Autobot insignia was proudly displayed. "I don't even know.. if I deserve to wear this Autobrand anymore."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2023 3:32:33 GMT
Wheeljack listened to it all in silence.
Holy crap that was a lot to take in - starting with the torture. They weren't really doing that, were they? It seemed unlikely to him, at least for the most part. If they were, Optimus sure as pit had no idea, because that was always something that he would never, ever condone. But the bombing, along with the adoptive sire bit - well he could at least put his two cents in there and not get in any trouble. With GHOST, he didn't want to borrow any trouble - not yet anyway.
He could cross that bridge later.
Taking a swig of his Energon, he decided to say what he had to say tactfully. "Listen, I'm not going to pretend I understand everything going on in you or your sister's helm. But I can tell you, a lot of adopted people choose to look at the good, rather than the bad in their parents. Especially when they lose their biological ones at a young age," He explained. "While Starscream has done horrible things in the past. I don't blame your sister for wanting to look at the good. And if he really takes good care of her, then it's great that they found each other..."
He paused before his next words. "But it doesn't change what Starscream did either. You shouldn't discard your brand for sympathizing. But I think you'd regret being entangled with him at the same time," He explained honestly. "I've known and fought him many times. And if there's one thing I know it's that he is treacherous. Any dealings with him should be tread very lightly."
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Post by Clematis on Jul 3, 2023 20:05:16 GMT
Clematis fiddled with her Autobrand with a single digit as she listened to Wheeljack's advice. She should've expected the 'don't trust Starscream' spiel, but it didn't change the conflict in her spark. Yes he'd done horrible things, but did that mean he wasn't capable of redemption by any means? Humans and Cybertronians both were capable of change, and it genuinely seemed like Starscream was attempting to make some effort. Maybe he was playing the long game which if that was the case she'd be angry if he hurt Nightshroud, but she'd never know without finding out. All she knew was locking the Decepticons away in a cell for the rest of their lives wasn't the answer, but no one else seemed to think the same way aside from Megatron. Primus that was a terrifying thought.
"I know.." Clematis wasn't entirely sure what Wheeljack was trying to say. She got the whole 'dealing with Starscream is a bad idea' thing, but part of her felt that the scientist didn't quite understand just why she felt the way she did. "I feel like I'm stuck at a crossroads. I know I should help the Autobots and I want to.. but I can't just abandon Nightshroud either if I can get through to her." The fact that her twin had contacted her at all, even if it was for a somewhat selfish reason that put the azure and lilac femme in danger, already spoke volumes. The crimson seeker hadn't contacted her in so very long, let alone responded to a comm. Clematis wondered if they'd ever really speak again, and it did happen!
..Kinda.
"Sorry for dragging you into all of this, Wheeljack. I.. shouldn't be dumping all this on you."
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