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Chapter 27: Silverbolt IV
Title: Off Course
Rating: PG
Summary: Iacon is more overwhelming
than he thought
“Oh for Primus' sake..... I got lost
again.....”
The mech stopped on the corner, turning
his helm this way and that in confusion. All he saw were dozens of
brightly-coloured, mismatched signs, all declaring some sort of
important message or tourist gimmick. None though were at all helpful
to him. Huffing, the autodog tried to politely catch a passerby's
attention -but one glance at the karelian had the other 'bots
stepping back in fright before hurrying on their way entirely.
“W-wait! I only was just-”
Trailbreaker sighed, dropping his helm.
If his Auntie could see him now, she would only waggle her finger and
tell him in that scolding tone of hers, “See? What did I say
about foolish? Rushing off to a far away city that you only just
heard that mech talk about once before..... It's a reckless thing,
I'm telling you! It's sure to prompt only further trouble!”
The autodog tried not to sigh again. He
didn't want to say Moonracer was right when she had argued with him
about leaving..... but what else was he to do? He no knew other way
of finding Silverbolt, and the karelian desperately needed to see the
shih tzu again.
When Silverbolt had suddenly up and
left with his family...... Oh, the gossip that had flown around the
town could choke a 'bot. It was the biggest scandal Yuss had ever
seen. A kittycon, storming into their town, making a claim to the
blue shih tzu; revealing a fourth, small and white shih tzu as he and
Silverbolt had butted helms in the middle of the street. It was too
much for the old wives to take. They spewed hundreds of hateful,
trashing comments about the shih tzu family, using this unexpected
turn of events as confirmation to everything negative they had ever
thought about the new-comers.
Trailbreaker was sad to admit that such
provoking gossip had forced him to tuck away all thoughts and
feelings for Silverbolt. He'd pushed himself to get on with his life,
falling back on his old routine, before the karelian had woken up one
orn and realized he couldn't do it. He couldn't go back to smiling
and being happy in his little farm-country town; couldn't work, orn
in and orn out, content with the simplicity of his life while he
entertained faint fantasies about finding a nice femme and settling
down......
His fantasies of settling down didn't
involve a sweet, soft-spoken femme. They didn't include hay rolls, or
long cornfields, or even the dock down by Shepherd's lake, where
lilies sometimes grew. Everything that Trailbreaker had ever wished
for -whether constantly or even fleetingly- could be found in the one
mech that had entered his life so abruptly..... and left it just as
fast.....
…..and now he had gone off and gotten
lost in this big, winding city while trying to find that one shih
tzu.....
Great.....
“Now how am I supposed to get to city
hall,” Trailbreaker mumbled to himself, lifting his crumpled and
ragged map up to his face. “I thought if I just-”
“Hey,” a flat voice cut off his
confused musings. Turning, the grey mech found himself facing a
slender, red autodog. He recognized him immediately as Silverbolt's
younger brother. At the sight of the shih tzu (standing there
languidly, one servo slipped in his jean's pocket; the other holding
onto the strap of his backpack as he slung it over one shoulder) and
his blank expression, Trailbreaker shuffled back a step, shifting his
dufflebag.
“N-now, I, uh,” he hurried to
explain, attempting to keep the panic out of his vocalizer, but not
succeeding much, “I k-know what this l-looks like, a-and I s-swear,
I-”
“You're here to find Silverbolt.
Right?,” the youngling interrupted. Trailbreaker didn't know what
to say. “Well,” the red mech continued, starting to turn around,
“Come on then.”
It took a moment for the older autodog
to realize that he was being told to follow. Leaping into action as
he clued in, Trailbreaker grabbed his dufflebag's strap tightly,
hurrying after the shih tzu starting to weave into the crowd.
Title: The unexpected guest
Rating: T
Summary: There's a stranger in his
house
“Air Raid,” Silverbolt said,
opening the kitchen door. He made a small sound as the bags of
groceries he carried started to tip, pushing his cheekplate into the
load to keep it steady. “Air Raid, could you give me some help,
please? I-”
He heard someone push out of the
kitchen chair, walking across the room and taking the bags from him
just as they started to slip again. “Thank yo-” The rest of
Silverbolt's words morphed into a squeak as he turned his helm to
thank his brother, finding instead a large karelian smiling at him
nervously. Frightened, the shih tzu dropped his keys, slamming back
against the wall.
“W-what..... w-what a-are you-?!”
Trailbreaker frantically put the
groceries on the nearest counter, holding his servos up submissively
as he turned his attention back to the other mech. “D-don't
s-scream, p-please Silverbolt!,” he begged, “I-i'm sorry, I-i
just-”
“I found him wandering around
downtown,” a voice cut in blandly, “He wanted to see you.”
Silverbolt snapped his helm to the
doorway, feeling a stab of betrayal echo in his spark. “A-air
Raid....,” he scowled at the youngling leaning against the door
frame, sipping casually at a soda. “H-how could you bring him
here?! What were you thinking? If-” The oldest shih tzu cut himself
off, glancing up at the ceiling worriedly.
“He already knows, 'Bolt,” Air Raid
said.
Silverbolt's optics flared in horror at
that. Turning his attention back to the karelian, the smaller autodog
was unnerved to find Trailbreaker nod back to him in confirmation.
“.... e-excuse us,” he said tersely, pushing past the grey mech
and heading for Air Raid. Silverbolt grabbed the youngling's arm,
yanking him out of the kitchen and down the hall.
“Are you out of your mind?!,” he
hissed once they were in the living room.
Air Raid shook himself free of
Silverbolt's grasp, scowling up at the older mech. “No. And I don't
care for you questioning my insanity.”
“Well, I wouldn't have to if you
weren't bringing random mechs off the street back home!,”
Silverbolt shot back. “Air Raid, he -how could you tell him about
Fireflight?! Or anything else for that matter! Don't you remember
that this was supposed to be a secret?!”
“What are you afraid of, 'Bolt?,”
the red shih tzu retorted. “It's been weeks since we moved here
and, despite your beliefs, no one's coming storm in to take
Fireflight away from us. Thanks to that Onslaught guy, we finally
have a chance to be happy..... settle down.... I can tell you,
Fireflight's never been more ecstatic than now, where he's got the
chance to go out and walk freely with Breakdown. And you know what,
no one questions it, because he's not living like he's got a dirty
secret to keep.”
“Th-that..... That s-still doesn't
make you bringing him here e-excusable!,” the multi-coloured
autodog stammered in objection. “H-he-”
Air Raid sighed loudly and
exasperatedly, shaking his helm. Stunned by the response, Silverbolt
fell quiet, staring sullenly at his younger brother. “Would you
listen to yourself, 'Bolt?,” Air Raid asked. “You're acting like
Trailbreaker has this personal vendetta against you, when the guy's
been nothing but nice to you the entire time we were out in Yuss. I
mean, the slagging country mutt even came all the way out here, to
find you again. And judging by his bag, I don't quite think he's
planning on going back....”
This was news to the older shih tzu.
Confused and just a little uneasy still, Silverbolt tried to
rationalize what the youngling had just said to him, but the only
thing that came out was, “....h-how did you know he was nice to
me?”
Immediately, the red shih tzu looked
guilty. “Because I was the one that was mean to him, and got him to
stop talking to you....,” he confessed lowly. “I didn't..... I
mean, I..... I was just worried about Fireflight back then,” he
continued, “And I was afraid too. Afraid of having any more stuff
happen after Skydive took off to Iacon.....”
Silverbolt sank onto the couch in
disbelief.
“I-i'm sorry, Silverbolt,” Air Raid
apologized, looking up at his brother with contrite optics, “Really,
I am. I never thought that the mech would come all the way out here
though to see you again, but once I saw him, I knew that I had to
bring him here. For once, there was another 'bot that actually cared
about you, outside of us. I thought..... you deserved to be happy
too, Silverbolt.....”
The other autodog was still silent.
Staring down at the floor, Silverbolt tried to make sense of
everything that he had just been told; everything that he was feeling
that very moment. The only thing that was clear was that he was.....
afraid. So scared, even amongst that tiny flicker of hope. The bigger
shih tzu startled when he felt a servo rest on his shoulder plating
suddenly; looking up, he was surprised to see Air Raid smiling down
at him sympathetically.
“You should go talk to him before you
send him away, at least,” the youngling instructed.
Nodding mutely, the multi-coloured mech
rose to his pedes, walking back to the kitchen slowly. Trailbreaker
had resumed sitting at the kitchen table in his absence; wringing his
servos together anxiously and glancing at the kitchen door
frequently. Noticing the other autodog standing in the doorway, the
karelian straightened up in his seat tensely, servos curling into
fists on the table top. Even despite his nervousness, Trailbreaker
offered a small, trepid smile to the shih tzu.
Immediately, Silverbolt started warming
at the tiny gesture. Cupping his servos before himself, the shih tzu
smiled back kindly, stepping into the kitchen.
Title: Restless
Rating: PG
Summary: He feels out of place
Stay for a few orns.....
That's what Silverbolt had suggested.
Enough time to discuss more and plenty of time to allow the karelian
to rest and decide what he wanted to do next.
Trailbreaker didn't know if he liked
this arrangement. Lying in berth, staring up at the dark ceiling, the
autodog couldn't help but wonder if he was pushing himself on the
shih tzu and his family. Silverbolt's reaction had been anything but
pleasant initially, and even though the rest of the afternoon had
been spent in peaceful discussion, the karelian couldn't help but
feel he was creating a sort of tension in this household.
Maybe he should just leave.....
Venting softly, Trailbreaker pushed
himself out bed, getting to his pedes and grabbing his things. He
changed out of the old pajamas Silverbolt had been kind to offer him,
folding them neatly and setting them on the berth, before he changed
into his clothes from earlier that orn. He was just tip-toeing down
the stairs and to the front door when he heard a sound in the
kitchen.
Concerned, the autodog changed
direction.
He only caught a glimpse of a dark
shadow leaping out the window, before it was gone entirely, leaving a
lone shih tzu standing in the middle of the kitchen.
“.....F-fireflight?,” Trailbreaker called softly.
The sparkling turned slowly to the
doorway, smiling sweetly as he clutched a bottle to his chestplates.
“Hello,” he whispered back, “Is everything okay, Mr.
Trailbreaker?”
Having just found out about the
sparkling recently, the karelian was still adjusting to Fireflight's
presence. Words could not describe how sorry and anxious he felt
around the sparkling, having been told the circumstances behind why
the family of shih tzus had come to Yuss in the first place. But even
despite his feelings on the matter, Fireflight seemed content -almost
happy even- and his love for his new bornling was almost miraculous
as it was touching.
“U-umm.....,” his gaze wandered
back to the open window; brow furrowing uneasily at the implications,
“Yeah.... fine....”
“Then why do you want to leave?”
The sad question cut into the older
autodog's musings. Shuttering his optics in shock, Trailbreaker
turned his attention back to the sparkling, finding that Fireflight
had padded closer while he'd been distracted; looking up at him with
concerned, blue optics.
“I-i, uh....” He couldn't even
offer an excuse. The dufflebag slung over his shoulder plating kind
of made the option useless and the karelian was not about to lie to
the sparkling. Venting softly, Trailbreaker knelt to be more level
with Fireflight, smiling sadly at the shih tzu.
“I'm sorry, lil' one. I just don't
feel like I belong here....,” he answered. “I feel like I'm being
nothing but a bother to your big brother.”
Fireflight shook his helm kindly,
touching Trailbreaker's cheekplate. “No,” he smiled, “Silvy
doesn't find you a bother at all, but I know he'll be sad if you go.
Stay a little bit longer, please? You'll always feel like you don't
belong at first, but, if you run away all the time.... then you'll
never get the chance to find your place.”
Out of the mouth's of babes, his Auntie
used to say.....
Stunned and overwhelmed by the kind
words Fireflight had so wisely shared with him, Trailbreaker couldn't
help but to tear up a little. Knowing that he might actually be
wanted here took such a heavy load off of his shoulders; more than
he'd realized he'd been carrying all this time. Clearing his
vocalizer a bit, the dark autodog straightened up, smiling down on
the sparkling. “I think,” he began, “We should both head back
to bed.”
Giggling softly, Fireflight grabbed the
karelian's servo. Surprised, but welcome to the touch, Trailbreaker
curled his fingers around the tiny servo in his palm; turning and
leading the both of them up the dark hallway and to the stairs.
Title: Requests
Rating: T
Summary: Skydive wants to help in
his little ways
“Who?,” Onslaught asked, accepting
the mug from Skydive. The shih tzu sighed, shaking his helm slightly.
“Trailbreaker,” he repeated, “He's
an autodog from Yuss. The town we had run off to.”
“Ah, yes.....,” the serval replied
lowly. He glared sullenly at the wall. “I remember well.”
Cringing a little, Skydive immediately
turned back to Onslaught, stroking his lowered ears apologetically.
The kittycon accepted his silent gesture completely, gently tugging
the autodog closer and encouraging him to sit on his lap. Skydive did
so gladly, leaning back and laying against Onslaught's chestplates as
a large servo cupped and rubbed his bulging belly softly.
“And you say he's looking for work?,”
the serval rumbled gently from above.
Skydive took a moment to snuggle back
into his bondmate more. “Yes,” he replied. “Air Raid said that
he came all the way out here, specifically for Silverbolt. We believe
he might love our brother. But in order for him to stay.... he needs
a job. And unfortunately, he's not very familiar with the city or
even how to go about applying for new work.”
“He came out here, looking for your
brother?”
“Mhmm,” the shih tzu sighed back,
comfortably, “All the way from Yuss. I remember him only
faintly..... He was kind. Silverbolt deserves someone like him.”
Onslaught cuddled Skydive closer, still
stroking the smaller mech's plating. “Ah.....,” he hummed. “So
you're all playing match-maker then for your brother.”
Skydive giggled. “Not quite. But....
Silverbolt has always taken care of us. He's never done anything for
himself all these years. For once, I'd like someone to want to take
care of him, equally. Someone other than us. He's more than worthy
enough for such a thing.”
The serval smiled, kissing the top of
Skydive's helm. “Of course,” he smirked, hearing a pleasant,
little rumble escape the shih tzu. “I'll see what I can do and talk
to the pup myself.”
Skydive snuggled into Onslaught harder,
optics shuttering sleepily as he dipped his helm under the kittycon's
chin. “Thank you, Onslaught..... Love you.....”
Onslaught reclined easily in his seat,
holding the shih tzu safe in his arms as he started to drift off into
recharge. “I love you too, Skydive,” he smiled softly.
Title: Starting Over
Rating: PG
Summary: Trailbreaker has something
to say
Silverbolt was just starting to set the
table for dinner when he heard the front door open. “Hello?,” he
called out, setting down the silverware temporarily as he walked
around the room to see who had just entered. His curious optics were
met with Trailbreaker and Fireflight standing in the doorway, taking
off their coats and hanging them in the closet.
“Hello, Silvy!,” his brother
chirped sweetly, noticing the older shih tzu. “Me and Bedo were
just taking a walk when we bumped into Trailbreaker. So we decided to
walk home together!”
“Y-yes.... I can see that,”
Silverbolt tried to smile. He cleared his vocalizer softly, before
folding his servos before himself. “Fireflight, why don't you take
Breakdown upstairs and wash up for dinner? And could you tell your
brothers to do the same, please?”
“Okay,” the smaller shih tzu
beamed, turning and accepting Breakdown from Trailbreaker; who had
unbuckled the bornling from his stroller and was now folding it up to
put away. Silverbolt stood watching a moment longer until he was
certain that Fireflight had reached the top of the stairs, before he
turned and walked back into the dining room.
He could hear Trailbreaker follow after
a moment.
“....you were gone pretty early this
morning,” Silverbolt stated neutrally, grabbing the abandoned
silverware and continuing from where he had left off.
“U-umm..... yeah.....” The karelian
shifted nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “U-umm.....
Silverbolt? M-may I.... may I talk to y-ya?”
The shih tzu resolutely remained
focused only on the table. “You're doing so now, aren't you?,”
was his crisp reply.
Trailbreaker smiled despite the cutting
words, taking no insult from them. “I suppose that ya're right. But
I was talking more in a private sense.....” Silverbolt glanced up
at that. “See, ya've been real kind and all to me, letting me stay
for the past week and such..... But I get the feeling that ya don't
really like my presence here.”
The shorter autodog jolted at that.
“T-that's.... that's not true,” he mumbled in protest.
The dark autodog slowly circled the
room, bending to catch Silverbolt's gaze. The other mech glared
slightly, servos pressing flatly to the table top as he turned his
helm up to Trailbreaker. “Trailbreaker, what are you-”
“Ya see....,” the karelian
interrupted softly, “I think ya feel as if I've been imposing on
your life. Oh, I know we talked and all that, Silv', but..... but I
don't really think we talked about why I even came out all the way
here. And, mayhaps, I think ya're feeling unsure about me, since lil'
Fireflight and Breakdown's taken a bit of a shine to me.”
Silverbolt did not reply to that, only
glaring a bit more. He did not want to confess that, though being
alright with Trailbreaker's presence in the beginning, he'd started
to grow uneasy the longer the bigger autodog was around his little
brother. Fireflight had this horrible habit of getting attached to
strangers so easily, but it had been more surprising to see Breakdown
warm up to Trailbreaker. The bornling usually fussed more and did not
like being in the company of others for long. He was especially more
vocal if anyone other than Fireflight held him for too long.
He couldn't say what it was that made
him feel this way, but Silverbolt didn't like it. It seemed everyone
was easily accepting Trailbreaker into their lives, falling into a
routine that almost made it feel like the karelian could have always
been with them.
…..he didn't like it.....
His ears perked a bit as Trailbreaker
set something down on the table top; moving his servo back, revealing
the item to be a small, worn ring box. Immediately, his spark
lurched. “When I had come here, I had hoped and prayed that I would
find ya,” the other mech started softly, “But I had not actually
expected to be practically led to your door. I told myself, there
would be a lot of things I would do to make up for my behaviour
during your final days in Yuss. The first would be to apologize to
ya.”
Trailbreaker chuckled momentarily. “My
Auntie told me I was being foolish..... but I had to come anyways. Ya
see, I realized that I'd come to love ya -I wanted to be with ya. And
if that meant leaving behind everything I knew before, to learn more
about ya..... Well,” Trailbreaker smiled, “I didn't see how such
a chance was not worth the sacrifice.”
Silverbolt still had not said anything.
His flared optics were glued to the table, where the ring box sat;
his ears taking in every word that the other autodog was saying,
making his spark whirl faster and faster.
“What I never expected though,” the
karelian continued, “Was to be welcomed so much. I mean, I was a
stranger..... but your family's been really nice to me, even after
everything that ya've all experienced. I.... Primus, ya're a strong
bunch. The strongest I've ever seen. ….Which is why I'll be moving
out.”
That finally caught his attention.
“W-what?!,” Silverbolt gaped, snapping his helm up to the other
autodog. He refused to acknowledge that his optics were beginning to
glaze over. “W-why are you -I d-don't-”
Trailbreaker smiled, picking up the
ring box and slipping it back into his pocket again. “It's because
I'd like to start over again. I want to be able to court ya, now that
ya're aware of my intentions, and if I stay here, I'd only be
pressuring ya. I got hired today at the construction company, and
I've even found an apartment...... From here on out, I won't be a
burden to ya or anyone else. And if ya choose to see me after
tonight, it will be of your own free will. As it should be.”
“Y-you're.....” You're stupid.
You're amazing. You're unbelievable. You're so wonderful to me.
Everything that Silverbolt wanted to
say, everything that struck him just then when the other autodog had
made that statement, tripped on his glossa, refusing to come out even
despite how desperately his spark wished it too. Cycling a quick
intake to push back his rising tears, the multi-coloured mech smiled,
overwhelmed by how kind Trailbreaker was, even now.
“Well then,” he replied, clearing
his vocalizer a little. Silverbolt raised his servo, holding it out
over the table top. “Hi. My name's Silverbolt. I have four
brothers, two of whom are parents, and three that still look to me
for support. I don't have a job, unless you count constant parenthood
as one, and not a lot of free time. But all the same, I'm looking for
a friend.”
Shuttering his optics in shock
momentarily, Trailbreaker quickly caught on to what the shih tzu was
doing, and the grin that split his face just then and there could
have rivaled the sun. “Hello Silverbolt,” he said, warm laughter
in his tone as he reached across the table and clasped the waiting
servo. “My name's Trailbreaker, and I come from a small country
town called Yuss, where the cows are plenty and silly old traditions
sometimes get in the way of a good thing. I, too, am looking for a
friend and more, and I pray that ya'll be the one for me.”
Silverbolt chuckled lightly as they
shook servos. “I hope your prayers are answered, Trailbreaker,”
he wished sweetly, with all the sincerity and affection in his spark.
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