thepurpleone | Cyberformed [] Inbox

Hey.

[He'd thought it'd be easier to tend to plants then scrape up the focus for any projects, just something to keep him busy, to get his mind off things, but that's never easy for him. His shoulders hunch up slightly as Anemone draws closer, stolidly looking at the flowers in front of him like he has been making some sort of progress and not been standing there for the past half hour or so.]

...yeah, sure. 'm fine.

[Anemone tilts her head at him slightly at him before reaching over and gently taking his gauntleted hand in hers. She allows a moment of silence between them as they regard the flower in front of them before she speaks again.]

They're home now. That's a good thing, right?

...yeah. Yeah. I know.

[His fingers curl around her crystal ones almost instantly. He swallows down the lump in his throat, nodding.]

I know that. I've told myself that. I mean, that's how it is. We're the ones who aren't supposed to be here so... so it's fine. My brothers are where they're supposed to be.

[With their iterations of brothers and not here, having to go up against crazy robot forces and the people that hate their robot guts.]

...but I still hate that they're gone.

[He can't even see the flowers in front of them. They're just big glowing blurs like someone had thrown a bokeh filter over them.]

Edited 2024-01-21 08:28 (UTC)

[Anemone nods and leans into him slightly, touching the side of her head to his. She doesn't want to try to speak her understanding of the pain and loss he's feeling, as words alone will never be enough. Instead, she allows her touch, and the unsaid understanding to speak for themselves.

She thinks of her missing father, wherever he was. Her mother, who was home but so far away. Her community of lost people. She hates that they're not here also.]

I'm sorry that it hurts so much.

[She says eventually.]

Especially since you have no way of knowing when it might happen again. How cruel that Space Bridge is.

[It's a small enough comfort. Words never really cover enough, and while Donnie's always been possessive about his personal space, Anemone's one of the people who doesn't feel so intruding when she's near. He lets himself lean against her, needing some kind of contact, some sort of support.]

It's really complicated. Whatever's caused it to pull us here...

[He still means to figure it out. He is determined to figure it out.]

It's unpredictable. I can't say I'm mad that I'm here, not when I've been able to meet people like you, but... [His hand tightens around hers. Too many unknowns. Too little data.] ...if I ever go back, I want it to be on my terms.

...And maybe if you leave on your own terms, you can come back too.

[Who knows what the future has in store for them, but Anemone secretly hopes that Donnie and everyone else will be more than just a small part of it. When she thinks about how her friends might just be gone someday, that sends a thrill of dread and sadness through her. She never really got to know Raph very well. Who knows if she ever will.

She looks down at their hands. If Donnie disappeared right then, would she be able to stop it?]

What would our first step need to be to figure this out?

[Donnie nods at that. It goes without saying. Free reign to come and go from here? Not just an uncertain one way trip? That's the most ideal. Now, if only it were so simple.

He sighs.]

I've been working on it with Soundwave, or at least trying to get further study going. He said that the amount of energy generated whenever the space bridge activates on its own is basically impossible to be sourced from the ship or by any known means. Working out that part seems pretty key.

I already put forth the theory that Primes might be involved.

[Anemone pulls away just a touch at the mention of Primes. This is something she'd rather not talk about.]

Primes? How can you be sure? For what purpose?

[It's still enough of a shift that Donnie lifts his head, glancing up at her.]

Well...they've got their figurative fingers in everything else, right? I hate to say it, but the power of what basically equates gods would be a convenient source to overcharge the functions of a space bridge that reaches beyond dimensions and time.

I guess that makes sense.

[Of course it does. She avoids looking at him by staring down at the flower instead.]

Especially since this is a Cybertronian ship with a large population of Cybertronians from different universes. I just don't see what any of them would get out of it. Were you brought here to restore Cybertron? Defeat Unicron?

As an outsider to this, it really is somewhat unfathomable.

[He frowns faintly at that, his eyes falling upon what he can see of the orbs at her shoulders bearing that particular marking. He's not about to forget where else he'd seen those any time soon.

He makes a face at the mention of Unicron. They stopped him once before, they'll do it again.]

It's always been about Cybertron, I think. Technically I think I'd count as an outsider too. I'm...not really sure how it works, or why we've been brought in but...maybe someone thinks the big guys need all the help they can get.

They seem powerful and capable, I'm surprised their gods would think they need any help at all.

[But what does she know? She's not a god. She looks at him again.]

Of course, it wasn't a Cybertronian that blasted Unicron into submission. It was lucky for us that you got these.

[She turns Donnie's hand around so that his palm is pointed upwards as she admires the Gauntlets.]

I don't think I could have done what you did if I had touched these first.

Most of them are dead. I'm not really sure how things are supposed to work.

[He can't help but laugh a little at that, looking down at his hand in Anemone's.]

Heh, yeah. I guess. Not gonna lie, it felt pretty good blowing that guy up.

...I'm sure you would have been able to figure it out. I'm still trying to figure these things out.

[Oh right. Somehow forgot that little detail. Easy to forget that they're mostly extinct when you see them everyday.]

Maybe, but I'm happy enough being your sidekick on all these adventures.

[She puts her other hand to his, gently holding it between her hands as she admires the lavender colour of her crystal fingers against the dark stone of his hands. They look good together.]

They look better on you anyway.

I don't know that I'd just classify you as a sidekick but all the same, you're still one of the best parts of whatever crazy adventures we've been on.

[He smiles shyly as he looks at their hands, both so strange but fitting, he supposes, somehow.]

I guess they're not too bad, even if they aren't purple.

[That makes her core flutter and she turns her face from him bashfully. What an unbearably nice thing to say!]

Oh, you.

[She says, her cores shining brighter in delight.]

Um. Can I ask you something? I hope, uh.

[Will she actually go through with it this time? Oh no, now she's super flustered!]

[Gah, she's so stinkin' cute when she's shy. He leans forward a bit as he looks up at her.]

Of course! ..?

[The "I hope" is kind of a weird addendum. He brings his other hand around to clasp both of hers, giving them a little midair bounce.]

What's on your mind?

[Anemone flounders when she sees him looking up at her with an expressive gaze that she's come to love. She wonders, again, if now isn't the right time. Maybe she should wait. Oh no, her courage is failing. Maybe the right time will never actually come.]

Um. Actually, it's nothing. Just a silly thought.

Let's talk about something else. Sorry to derail.

[Another retreat. Donnie blinks, still clearly curious, more so given this is the second time she's done this. He pouts just a tiny bit, if briefly.]

Oh, uh. O...kay. Sure.

[He looks at her hands, still holding them. Is this silly too? Well, maybe now it is. He smiles a little awkwardly, loosening his grip just a little, hanging on at the last second as his eyes drift towards the floor.]

...thanks for coming, by the way.

[Her hold tightens when she feels his start to loosen, and she holds on, trying to be as firm and reassuring as she can. She hopes he knows that she's not drawing away or rejecting him; she's just awkward.]

I'll be here if you need me.

[And nothing is going to blink her away into the unknown away from him.]

Always. I promise.

[Donnie lifts his head again to look at her that. They're both pretty awkward and he knows it. But her words are reassuring. It's different when it's someone who's not related to you, saying such things. He smiles up at her, his hands gently curling tighter around hers again.]

Um. ...would it be too weird to ask for a hug?

[He knows he more or less threw himself at her the last time but that was under completely different circumstances!]

[Anemone reaches out and pulls him in before he's even done talking. For as strong as she views Donnie, she's careful to not squish him too much to her metal chest, his soft, organic form feeling so fragile. Still, this is just as much a comfort for her as it is for him, because she reassures herself that he's not going to disappear on her either.]

Never.

[She says softly.]

[Oh, well this is okay too. It's kind of tricky hugging someone with so many gaps between their body parts and made of metal, but Anemone's careful when she pulls him into her embrace. Donnie brings his arms up around her as much as he can, sighing.

It's not the tight, rough hugs his brothers like to dole out or even the rare ones from his dad, but in its own way, it's weirdly comforting. Donnie asks for hugs even less than he gives them, and there are few enough that he tolerates them from. He's glad Anemone's there, just as reassured that no one else is disappearing, that maybe like this, they can hide from whatever suspicious influences may be upon the space bridge.]

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