A Cure for Boredom

[Deleted]

Characters: Rodimus, @dylanlogan
Location: Control Room
Content Warnings: N/A
Plot Summary: Still adjusting to a full time life on-base, Dylan’s attempts to avoid homework lead to him meeting the new guy in town.

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Dylan really didn’t want to do homework that weekend.

Living on the Autobot Base now really made such actions mundane. And though he knew Ratchet and Pharma would argue he still had to do it, he also knew at this point when he could best avoid his foster brother and father and stealthily do what he wanted. After all, math homework was a boring drag, and it was only Saturday, he still had all day Sunday to get it done!

At least that was what he’d tell them if they caught him.

For now, he was of course up to mischief, as usual. Preparing a small glue bomb for... Well, really anyone that he could get it to. After all he wasn’t very picky with his pranks but he did know that he wanted to pull one as he hadn’t in the week he’d lived there officially. “Oh man this is gonna be good.” He noted with a sly grin on his face.

[Deleted]

Well, to say things were weird would be an understatement.

First, interdimensional travel. And then he couldn't comm anyone on the Lost Light for pickup. At least the folks around here were pretty much the same as in his universe...with a few exceptions. This was why he left the magic stuff to Percy and Brainstorm.

At least he was on an Autobot base with Prime in charge, though, at the moment, he was stuck wandering about to stave off boredom. Talk about nostalgic. He was getting warm fuzzies just being here. Even the humans scurrying around everywhere was pretty much the same as when he was on Earth the first time...

Speaking of which....

He'd rounded a corner and found one. He paused, pedes thudding on concrete as he came to a halt and folded his arms over his chassis. The kid (he thought it was a kid, at least. He still had trouble guessing human ages), seemed to be tinkering with something. At least, Rodimus had arrived just in time to hear him mutter about something being good.

"'Sup," was all the speedster said both by way of greeting and announcement of his presence.

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Dylan nearly jumped out of his skin.

For a while he’d pretty much thought he was alone in the control room so the arrival of an Autobot did surprise him. He spun around as he looked up to see Rodimus. Or well, a mech he didn’t know, which wasn’t too unusual these days given there just seems to be a lot of new Autobots these days. Taking a deep breath when he realized he was not A) Pharma or B) Ratchet he simply gave a smile in response. He tired to remember who the new Bot he’d heard about in the grapevine was now.

Rod? Something like that. Oh yeah, now he remembered. “Oh hey, you must be Rod...Meister?” Somehow that still sounded wrong but Dylan had other things on his mind of course. “I swear this isn’t what it looks like. No need to go to tell my foster dad, or Ratchet.” He chuckled nervously, not really knowing if he knew anyone on base yet.

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Yup. There it was. The look of someone who was up to something and thought they'd been nailed. Rodimus couldn't help but smirk just little. He himself was the type who just said 'screw it' and owned up to just about everything. He was proud of who he was. And, no, Thunderclash did not get under his plating and whoever said otherwise was a liar.

Anyways.

His optics shifted slightly, giving the impression of a raised brow. Then, he chuckled. "Rod Meister" was a new one. Better than someone stubbornly addressing him by his own name. Cough, cough, Fort Max, cough cough.

"Close. It's Rodimus," he unfolded his arms and moved a little closer, bending at the waist to get a look at what the human was doing. Nope. Not a clue. But, it was gonna get him into trouble, apparently, "And I'm guessing that's exactly what it looks like," his smirk widened, "But, nah, I'm not gonna tell anyone. Do I look like a snitch to you?" he stood upright again, hooking a thumb toward his own all-too fantastic visage and flashing a winning smile, "Besides, I don't know who your foster dad is," he shrugged, "What's your name, by the way?"

[Deleted]

There it was, Rodimus!

He breathed a sigh of relief at the fact he wouldn’t snitch. Putting his hands on his hips a bit as he spoke up curiously. “Well if anyone asks it’s not a glue bomb, it’s a science project,” he explained rather bluntly, trying to play it off as cool as this mech looked. “Which is probably what I should be doing right now. But homework sucks and I live on a base of giant robots. So what would I rather be doing?”

Dylan was a little surprised he hadn’t heard of him by now. At least in reputation, which at least spoke to how new he was. Since most everyone was there for the long dispute with the government. “Oh sorry, I’m Dylan,” he added as the mech asked for his name. “I uh... Live here with Pharma. So I guess that also makes me Ratchet’s little brother now. To put things into perspective.” Clearly that was why he didn’t want to be caught.

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Rodimus flashed a thumbs up, giving a nod and a grin at Dylan's explanation of what it was he was working on.

"Got it."

Science project. Huh. He'd have to use that one on Magnus sometime.

At the mention of homework, Rodimus pulled a face, the full force of his immaturity revealed in all its splendor. Ugh. Work. Primus, he didn't even like thinking about all the crap he was gonna have to do when he got back to the ship. He'd put it off as long as possible, buuuut, still...

"What would anyone rather be doing?" he folded his arms once again, still frowning, "Don't do it until you absolutely have to. There are better things in life."

He vented, plating shifting as the Cybertronian equivalent of a sigh left him. Ew, work. He barely heard the kid's introduction, listening just enough to file it away into the "I might remember it later" category in his processor. Maybe he'd just play dead again when he got back...

"Woah, back up. Stop. Did you say Pharma? As in, Doctor from Delphi, Pharma?"

What the hell?

Wait, Rodders, magic, remember? He relaxed slightly as he mentally talked himself down. Maybe this Pharma wasn't a murderous psychopath...

"...he doesn't have chainsaws for hands in this dimension, does he?" he asked suspiciously.

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“Yeah, too bad this piece of crap is giving me trouble. I was hoping to hit someone with it.”

Dylan crossed his arms and snorted as he thought of not doing homework. Honestly he had a point he was pretty sure no one actually wanted to do work. And the thought of actual work rather than homework, well that was terribly mind numbing. Though at least he had a better shot at a decent job with his not moving around everywhere and all. “Yeah, I plan to be an artist anyway, and I like that kind of work at least.” He explained honestly.

He noticed the freak out of Rodimus at mentioning Pharma, confused. Why would he freak out about Pharma? The mech had been kind to him, and done absolutely nothing wrong. So the way he said it confused him. “I mean, yeah, I think so. Why what’s the matt..?”

Wait... “This dimension”? Dylan’s eyebrows shot straight up in confusion. Was this mech implying he was from another one? “I mean yeah. But he wouldn’t hurt anyone or anything. He’s a really nice guy. I barely know him and he’s taken me in, and adopting me. Just because he liked me,” Dylan then addressed the elephant in the room. “What do you mean by this dimension though? Are you from another one? Is that even a thing?”

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Rodimus nodded, listening to the kid's plan. He didn't really care, but, it was kinda cool. He didn't know any artists, so, yeah, that was a thing.

Back to Pharma. The captain's face was set in an unusually dark expression as he nodded. He hadn't even really met Pharma, but the crap he'd pulled with Ratchet and Drift...

"Yep. I jumped over through some sort of...wormhole? I don't know," he waved a servo dismissively, "Anyway, yeah, some of my crew ran into Pharma on Delphi in our own universe. Let's just say...it got ugly. But, sounds like this dimension's Pharma is okay...weird," he frowned. He didn't want to ruin the kid's perception of his...father? Huh. Okay. "Soooo....he adopted you? Like, used Earth laws and stuff?"

Damn, he needed Percy and Brainstorm here. Or Magnus. Thinking about alternate realities and such made his processor hurt. At least the science duo would understand what was going on...and Magnus could at least kinda follow along, allowing Rodimus to check out. Buuut...it was just him, soooo...

Yeah.

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Dylan looked amazed when he talked about being from another dimension. There were actually parallel dimensions!? How cool was that! He gave a big grin at that, looking at the young mech. “Really!? That’s so cool! What was it like? I mean I always wondered what being in another dimension would be like,” he asked curiously. “Even if it sounds like Pharma wasn’t exactly a nice kind of guy there?” He notes a bit.

Dylan liked pensieve as he asked the status of his adoption. A... Bit of a shaky thing still. “I Uh. Technically I’m just fostered right now. The government is still deciding if they’ll actually let him legally adopt me,” he explained with some hesitation. “It’s a lot better than where I was living though. The ‘Bots here actually care about me and don’t just see me as an “unadoptable problem causing hooligan”,” he blew away a strand of his hair in annoyance. “People in care need to get a sense of humor that way. One minor prank, or one little fight and suddenly you’re branded with having issues. I mean I got here for tagging Ratchet and even he wasn’t that judgemental.”

Dylan stopped himself, realizing how angry he sounded. Then again, he was pretty angry at how long he’d been a ward of the state, so there was that. “I mean I’ve been around these guys for a while before I moved in, they’ve always felt like family so this is just making it official.”

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Rodimus couldn't help the slightly confused look that crossed his face. Was the kid really that excited about parallel dimensions? Well...he had to admit it had been cool at first too...then he'd realized that it was essentially like a blast from the past where Cybertron was wrecked and the big guy was still gallivanting around Earth trying to protect the humans from Megatrron...just with a different team roster.

Not exactly happy times, but, hey.

"It's like... here?" the response came out as a question, "Other than a few differences, I mean. Wheeljack being a sword dude is definitely new...Ratchet's not really all that different...Bee's really different....and Cybertron is...better where I come from."

He couldn't say 'fixed'. Not really. It still pretty much sucked there, considering who was in leadership. But, at least it was alive.

His attention was immediately diverted to the new topic of Dylan's adoption when the kid began to explain it. He sounded angry, and, honestly, Rodimus didn't blame him. He understood angry. And being the guy that felt unwanted.

"Huh. Never heard of a 'bot adopting a human, but, makes sense," he shrugged, "If anyone was gonna do it, it'd be an Autobot," Duh. They were the universe's nice guys, "So...you got sucked into all this by pulling a prank on Ratchet?"

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Dylan chuckled at the note about Ratchet, he was not surprised at all.

But it was interesting to think of a Wheeljack without the swords, or Bee being any different than he always was. It was hard to imagine him without the goofball personality. Or without his fun way of talking. But he supposed that it did make sense. “Huh, that’s pretty cool. I’d kill to see it honestly. Can’t imagine it wouldn’t be anything but fun,” he explained as he crossed his arms a little. “I wonder if you have a counterpart here if everyone else does?”

True, he figured. He was definitely going to be the first, who knew if he was also going to be the last. That would all depend on life he guessed, but for now he was as big an oddity as they came. “Yeah, that’s not really common here. I’m kinda surprised by it myself. But yeah no lie when it comes to you guys being the type. Heroes of the universe and all that.”

Snickering a little at the thought of his old prank, he nodded. “Yeah he was sleeping in his alt mode, too easy a target. But he definitely wasn’t very happy.

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Rodimus was honestly about to invite the kid on over when Dylan's next wondering caused him to stop. Like, dude. He hadn't even thought about that. Holy slag. His optics went wide.

What if there were two of him!?

That was simultaneously the most badass and terrifying thing he'd ever thought about. Seriously. Double the awesome but...two of him. His frame started to vibrate just a little and he made an odd whining sound. Then, unable to help it at all, he threw both fists into the air and did a little aft wiggle in an odd dance of victory and excitement.

"Dude! That would be awesome!"

He managed to calm himself down after a moment, making a noise like a human would if clearing their throat. Tone it down, Rodders. Don't scare the poor kid.

At the comment about heroism, he gave a grin.

"Yeah, we are pretty heroic. 'Specially Optimus."

This was followed by a snigger as he imagined Ratchet getting tagged as he napped in his alt mode. The bot probably woke up so cranky...

"You're telling me. You've got ball-bearings, man,, tagging the Doc Bot."

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“Dude it’s be so awesome! Imagine if we all have parallel versions! Who knows what we’re like in different universes?” Dylan said, getting just as energetic as Rodimus was, really. “I wonder what parallel me is like? Though you had no idea who I was so I doubt he’s with any Bots. Hopefully that means he had a better life than I did.” He took comfort in knowing somewhere out there life may have been easier for a version of him.

He smiled a bit at the mention of Optimus. He’d always looked up to the mech, he doubted there was a person alive who didn’t. “Yeah, Optimus is pretty awesome. He really is about is about as heroic as they come,” after a moment he added. “Not that I’m as close to him as I am to other Bots, he’s a busy mech.”

Dylan giggled again, but then added rather honestly. “Yeah he was pretty pissed. But I don’t know if I had hat much balls. I didn’t know what he was. I’m kinda glad I did it though. He took me under his wing y’know. Looked out for me,” he looked thoughtful as he came to a realization. “I kinda owe everything to him. If it hadn’t been for him, I would still be in a group home waiting for a family. Now I have one, let alone a place in his. Who woulda known “Ratchet the Hatchet” would give me that?”

He half chuckled as he noticed. “You know I don’t even know if I’ll ever getused to saying I have a family now. Or if I should laugh or cry at the fact that a detachment of Autobots has been a better one to me than my own one.”

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Rodimus pointed at him energetically, picking up on Dylan's train of thought.

"If I ever get back to my Earth, I'll find you and say hi."

He sobered again, though, when Dylan explained how he met Ratchet. Yeah, everyone would think that the old doc was a complete hardass, but, honestly, anyone who really knew him could tell you what a softy he was. He was a good mech, hands down. It was just...some of them did things in war and were driven to extremes that they would rather not be.

"I'd say just choose the one that best expresses your feelings. You're lucky. Family isn't just the people you're stuck with by birth or whatever, it the people who really care about you," he shrugged slightly, "That's why we Autobots have such a big one."

Sometimes, Rodimus could be serious. Just sometimes.