NOVA STORM'S BEST AND GREATEST INBOX

[binary_runaway]

Hey, hi, this is Nova Storm! You found me but you also really super didn't, haha! Do the thing so I can do the other thing back, okay?

voice | video | text | action

Comments

[binary_runaway]

[There is the smallest breath of stunned silence, after which the next few seconds are just a barrage of screeched words that all blend together into one mass, which can eventually be picked apart]

-ick you in your fuckin aft you call a face with my jetboots, Traitortron! Contact me again and I'll melt off something you're going to reallymiss, cause it obviously ain't us! Go die! And make sure it hurts!

[Click, beep]

[areaman]

[... he's not sure what he expected. he just about manages to get in before she slams the metaphorical phone down:]

I'm not-- I mean, I am Megatron, but not the one that's usually in this... oh whatever.

[binary_runaway]

[His own comm starts to chime insistently barely three seconds after she hung up, and then Oz's voice is once again loudly in his audials]

What do you want? What what what? Okay. Okay, shut up. Fine. I mean- It's- If you mean weirder than this happening at all or hearing his voice in my audial again or not feeling Warp at all it's fine I guess it's fine. Peachy and fuckin keen!

But! If you're in contact with that mistake! Tell him I hope his stupid autobot shareware he cares about more than any of us chokes! And not in the fun way, either! And you can, too! In an even more boring way! So there!

[Click]

[areaman]

That's what I wanted to know! You called me back!! [he practically shrieks when he calls her back, sounding a lot less like the usual quietly dignified voice his counterpart uses and more like his own when he gets worked up.] Ugh, do you think I want to be near that idiot who's as annoying as he is hideously coloured?! Tell him yourself!

[click]

[binary_runaway]

You do it! [She screeches right back when she calls him back yet again] Because you're not even the worst! You're second worst! Third worst! Mediocre while waiting for a mail order training course on being worst, and you so deserve to talk to him! You can go be insufferable together and go frolic or whatever!

Frolic together, dumbass!

[click]

[areaman]

[in an extremely weird way, this is cathartic. certainly in no way megatron will bother to examine as he calls her back.]

This all sounds like suspiciously repressed emotion! Go and deal with that instead of spewing nonsense right at me!

[click]

[binary_runaway]

[Nova is already squaring up her shoulders even as she's calling him back, and shrieks as soon as he picks up]

Stop trying to show up unarmed to a battle of wits, it's pathetic! And demeaning! To me! So stop it! Also psychology crap can stay where it belongs, with the autobots! What are you, a widget?! Get real! Get a life! And get better comebacks!

[click]

[areaman]

THEN STOP CALLING ME BACK!

[he yells, after calling her back. click.]

[binary_runaway]

You first! It's pathetic! It's ruinous! I bet you thought a human dump truck gets rid of old, useless code! Like you!

[This was all blurted out in one rushing shriek, followed by a click]

[areaman]

I'd be offended if I wasn't feeling such pity at your frame of reference being stuck on Earth!

[you know it. he hangs up.

it's after this one he things he'll completely destroy this comm so his counterpart can't find any evidence of him basically taunting one of his decepticons. not a great look.]

audio un primetime

[emojibot]

Nova Storm. [oh look who's dragged himself back to life. hooray. optimus, naturally, has no idea of what's been going on with her.] I wanted to thank you for your help with the recent mission. I know it was very difficult, but...

...well, it's admirable in how staunchly you defend Rock.

[binary_runaway]

[Nova Storm bared her teeth into the slab beneath her and heaved through her vents for a bit before answering with words]

You think what happened was difficult? You think what I said was admirable?[Another heaving wheeze, and an audible snarl] You know what I think? I think you threw yourself off a bottomless ledge that had an actual pretty noticeable end. Can't help but notice trucks can't fly, Prime. Did you?

[Her voice goes tight with several kinds of pain at the mention of flying, and the remnants of her wings scrape across the inside of the welds on her back]

Can't help but think about how you did all that in front of a newbuild who already has a tendency to sacrifice parts of himself on the altar of the greater good. What do you think he's gonna decide, having seen something like that, Optimus? Put that infamously optimistic mind of yours to the task and tell me what you think.

[emojibot]

[as usual, he doesn't react to any of her anger directed at her. it's impossible to tell if he lets it roll off him because he thinks nothing of it or if it genuinely inspires some thought. that famous optimus stoicism that seemed to mostly fall apart the moment they touched down on earth and interacted with the natives to a much larger extent than any other planet. at any rate, he doesn't comment on anything she says at first, not for a moment.]

I have spoken to him and affirmed that what I did was not something anyone should emulate under any circumstances. I intended to do this regardless of his... own habits. [his optics narrow, even though this is a voice communication. perhaps because of it.] Even so, I suspect it was less damaging than him experiencing deactivation, and he has a very clear support system in you and Nickel.

Voice

[playfultyrant]

Hello, Nova. It has been some time. Can you hear me, I know you must. I probably never leave your thoughts.

Aehah. Don't think of alerting anyone of me, pretty bird. It'll be just you and me tonight all in your head.

[binary_runaway]

[Nova had been dozing when that voice seared its way into her head. She jolts up out of Skywarp's berth and spins around, eyes wide with a fear she still doesn't --can't-- consciously feel. Scrape, scrape, scrape go the remnants of her wings]

[She's dulled her end of the bond she shared with Skywarp since she'd first gotten control over her own body again, and she can only be grateful as she seethes]

Get out of my slagging head, idiot! It's not a playground! [All the same, her chest starts to heave as she vents faster] Piss off! Go bother your lackey, if you want somebody groveling!

[playfultyrant]

Now now. You know exactly why I'm coming to you dear. Your sister compromised my precious Wheeljack. So now I need to use you.

Shhh. Shut up now. And listen.

[binary_runaway]

[And just like that, all of those emotions and restless, nervous energy become smothered underneath a twist in her chest. Nova's optics cycle as even the nearly overwhelming grief and guilt of the last few days shut ups and goes quiet. Everything does. Every time she starts to feel a stab of panic it goes away, too]

[She listens]

Mmm? [She hums vaguely, but that was the extent of it]

[playfultyrant]

You will erase this after words, but you will commit this line to memory.

I want you to keep me up to date. I want to know where you're going, fleeing, or when the crew is in danger.

I will come to your aid. But only on my own whims. You're all mine. Every last one of you.

Remember that. Remember and resist just enough to keep this fun.

[binary_runaway]

'Kay, [Nova Storm vents out with an agreeable nod, only to stop. Something behind her optics shifts, and a puzzled, unhappy frown settles over her face]

Wh- What are you- [Her head snaps up as she lets out a hiss, baring her teeth] When did you- Who said you get to contact me, twerp?! Shut up shut up shut up!

[All the while, without being aware in the slightest that she is doing so, Nova lifts two fingers to her audial and starts to ready to delete the messages and thereafter clear the cache that would still contain them, but not yet]

[playfultyrant]

Oh, yes yes. Keep whining like that. It'll surely make everyone consider you a big girl who can protect her self hm.

Lets see how much I can shift from here... How much I can control. In two days. I want to hear from you. I want to hear you call me your Lord.

That seems perfect. Untill then, delete this. And try not to cry.

[binary_runaway]

Go crawl into a corner of the worst rust pit and die, whatsyourface! You suck so bad charges go in reverse out of embarrassment!

[Even as she speaks, she deletes the string of messages and clears the cache. Afterwards, Nova Storm stands rooted to the spot for a few long seconds before she swears viciously and tears out of her and Skywarp's hab suite. She doesn't even consider telling anyone what has just happened, instead heading to the training room to blow a few things up. Why would she ever do anything else?]

[binary_runaway]

That's not good enough. You could tell him the Earth sky is green or that either of us are competent and it'd matter just as much. 'Don't do as I do' is just as stupid now as when Warp and I first became decepticons.

[Her own eyes narrow then, and there is the distinct click of her snapping her teeth]

You trying to say that since somebody else was around to try and sweep your fuck ups under the rug for you that it's fine? It's great? Dying would've sucked, but so does this. Don't try and deflect, you giant ball of misery.

[emojibot]

I also recommended he see one of the therapists on board, as it's very clear he is troubled, but ensuring he goes is likely something that would be more successful if attempted by someone he already knows and trusts.

[he notes that she says either of us, but doesn't comment on it.]

No. I did not do what I did because I thought others would conveniently clean up after me. It was to stop anyone on the team from losing their lives, because that space bridge does not come with a guarantee.

[binary_runaway]

[Nova gets up and starts to pace with a screech that only seems amplified through the comm line]

What do I gotta do to make you get this?! It doesn't matter what your reasoning was or if it made good tactical sense or even if I would've done it, too!

What matters is you stopping to think! So yes, the therapist thing is fine. Great. But you're doubling down on a decision that has impact Prime. Didn't anybody ever tell you that insisting you're correct despite any and all evidence is my job? Even if it was the only possible resolution, which it probably wasn't, you aren't taking responsibility! You're in damage control mode like a fragging politician! Just-

Just say it was the best worst choice you could've made. Say it was bad, but it had to be done. And we'll ignore how you'd do it again if you had the option.

[emojibot]

[he could say what she's asking him to, because that is how he feels about it and almost what he said to rock about it.

but this feels like a trap, and he doesn't really want to give her the satisfaction of it. dying gives him such a terrible headache.]

Do what you need to, Nova Storm.

[is all he says, before he cuts the call.]