fooled around (text)

[Ratchet]

    To:  @wheeljack

Quiet..  One day I would like to know what that's like.

Not you.  I don't mind you anymore.  Just around the base.

    To:  Wheeljack

Trust me, I really do want to believe you.  I just worry, as you know already.  It's not that I want to, but you can't easily undo countless stellar cycles of war.

Funny, and here I always thought that space barnacles were a bad thing.  I suppose I finally found the one good one.

    To:  Wheeljack

Alright.  I trust you to let me know if you need assistance.  I'll stay on standby, and in the mean time I'll be prepared to deal with any rust you get from this.  Thank Primus I don't have to worry about fatal injuries.

    To:  Wheeljack

Oh please.  It's that flirting of yours that stuck with me.

Ok it was your looks

I'm flattered.  Truly, I am.  The more time that goes by, the more it sinks in that I love you.  I can't even think of going back to a life without you in it now, so I'm glad that you're the space barnacle that's here to stay as you so eloquently put it.

[Deleted]

   To: Ratchet

aww sunshine. i know how you feel, if its any consolation. its kinda why i was reluctant to get close to you at first, cuz i was scared id end up losin you, or u losin me

   To: Ratchet

but ur lucky that ur own personal space barnacle is hard to snuff out. i mean i made it this long havent i? ;D 

   To: Ratchet

what can i say, both my personality and my looks are irresistible. my plan to ensnareu with my seductive wiles has succeeded

i think ur good lookin too

   To: Ratchet

i mean i know its only been a short time since... this started but the 'before' this feels so long ago. i know this doesnt make much sense at all im sorry

[Ratchet]

    To:  @wheeljack

I'm glad that you chose to change your mind in the end.  We will have to do everything we possibly can to keep each other alive.  I won't allow you to go to the Well of Allsparks.  I refuse!

    To:  Wheeljack

I suppose you have a point, and I myself have lasted this long as well.. and that's considering I've likely seen more of the war than you have.

    To:  Wheeljack

Uh-huh.  Sure you did.

I'm certain that you've had this all planned out for some time.

    To:  Wheeljack

Don't apologize.  It makes perfect sense to me.

It feels surreal, but right at the same time.  I'm glad that we finally stopped going circles around each other.  And to think it was all because of that one text you didn't intentionally send.

[Deleted]

   To: Ratchet

see? we both lasted this long, which means we’re both stubborn slaggers who wont go down easy, so we both know there aint much to fear

i dunno. ive been at this for a while and ive seen a lot of scrap go down (yikes im soundin like kup). but this aint a competition cause we've both been thru it

   To: Ratchet

you know you cant resist me now, ive got u too seduced into my seduction web for u to ever escape. ive had it plotted since i first laid optics on ya of course. 

   To: Ratchet

yeah i know. i wonder how long we’d have gone round and round each other if that stupid text hadnt sent. would we still be sendin awkward texts askin each other if we liked each other and pretendin it was 'for a friend'?

[Ratchet]

    To:  @wheeljack

By no means should war be a competition to see who has it the worst.  It should never be a competition to begin with.  No one is ever going to go through the same situations.

    
    To:  Wheeljack

Oh I bet you could only see the look on my face right now.

In fact.. why don't I save you the trouble?

1 New Image Sent

    To:  Wheeljack

I think we would have gone on like that for some time.  I'm certain that someone would have tried to point it out to the both of us eventually though.

Oh, please.  I only did it the once, however.. I hope I didn't make you feel too awkward when I asked about that.

    To:  Wheeljack

So how are the repairs coming along?  Are you alright?    

[Deleted]

   To: Ratchet

nah, i know it aint a competition, cuz anyone who survived cybertron goin dark has probably seen some slag

   To: Ratchet

im makin that image my new datapad background. that is an a+ gorgeous shot of ur beautiful mug!

   To: Ratchet

hah, havent even started the repairs, ive been textin you! im gonna start those now tho brb ttyl

[Ratchet]

    To:  @wheeljack

You have got to be joking..  Oh, alright.  I suppose I can't stop you.  Maybe if you're lucky, I will put one of you on mine.

    To:  Wheeljack

You haven't?  I'm sorry if I've been distracting you from your repairs.  You go ahead and get your work done.  I'll talk to you later.

With that he set his datapad down, heading towards the medical bay.  Stepping away from his datapad would help distract him for a bit and prevent himself from messaging Wheeljack more.  He knew that the Wrecker was busy with the repairs, and the last thing he wanted to do was distract him in the middle of a complicated patch job.

He spent the day working with Pharma, running check-ups on some of the Autobots just to make sure they were running as efficiently as possible.  Once it got late, he decided for once to put down his work and get some recharge.  Maybe it was all this relationship stuff with Wheeljack, but it made him want to take a bit better care of himself.. not that Pharma wouldn't force him to anyway if he was caught in the act.

Ratchet slipped into recharge, only to awaken a couple hours later in the middle of the night after the good ol' war dreams started settling in.  Maybe he could see if Wheeljack was still awake, but at the very same time he dreaded the idea of accidentally waking him up.

    To:  Wheeljack

Wheeljack?  Are you awake by chance?

If not, I am so sorry if this woke you up.  Feel free to go back to berth and I'll talk with you tomorrow if you have the time.

[Deleted]

Ratchet had the rather unique ability to get Wheeljack completely and utterly sidetracked with this whole texting business, judging by the way he tripped over himself to read his new incoming messages. It was a bit of a nuisance now, though, considering he was knee-deep in salt-water and he hadn’t even started repairs on the engine yet. With a final fond sound, Wheeljack turned the datapad right off (so he wouldn’t get tempted to check for new messages) and got to work.

--

Of course, even after several hours of tearing The Jackhammer’s engine apart, Wheeljack hadn’t been tired out in the slightest. The typical night-owl, he was still up, and the moment the message came through the Wrecker perked right up.

   To: Ratchet

yeah, sunshine, im always up this time of night. what dyou need?

[Ratchet]

Oh thank Primus..  Ratchet had been swept with a wave of relief to know that the Wrecker had been awake.  Now he wouldn't feel so terrible about accidentally waking him up.  That didn't, of course, mean that he was fully prepared to admit that it had been a stupid dream that had woken him up.  Wheeljack wasn't the only stubborn mech.

    To:  @wheeljack

I'm glad..  I was afraid that I had woken you up.  I can't get back to recharge.

It took every ounce of willpower to not hint that it had been something that seemed so stupid to him that was getting the mech this riled up.  Maybe if he was lucky, he could completely derail the inevitable 'what's wrong'.


    To:  Wheeljack

Enough about me, however.  How are your legs?

[Deleted]

   To: Ratchet

heh, no need to worry there, i recharge pretty late anyways. my legs are fine, i think. ill let you look at em later tho cause you're the doc, but i think i managed to avoid corrosion

But while it wasn't unusual for Wheeljack to be up and about this late in the night, it was completely unusual for Ratchet. He knew immediately there was something up, and frowned at the datapad.

   To: Ratchet

why cant you get back into recharge sunshine?

[Ratchet]

    To:  @wheeljack

I am most certainly glad to hear it.  I will give your legs the appropriate examination once you get here.

Primus, Wheeljack had still asked him anyway what had been up.  He'd been hoping to avoid the question, but what chance did he really have when he was the one who had messaged him first to begin with.  He sighed, weighing his options and warring with himself over what to actually tell him.

    To:  Wheeljack

Wheeljack, I'm fine.  It's nothing to be worried about.

Ratchet grimaced, staring down at his datapad before sending another message.  He couldn't exactly hide it from Wheeljack forever.  He Wrecker would get it out of him if he was already suspicious.

    To:  Wheeljack

This is going to sound incredibly stupid but..

The dream I had is what is keeping me up.  I know.  It's not even worth being stressed over because it isn't real, and I know that.  But now it has me so wound up that there is no possible was I'm getting back to recharge.  At least.. not so quickly.

[Deleted]

   To: Ratchet

well, now i know something is up. you trying to evade the question just makes me wanna know more. course i’m gonna worry, sunshine!

He frowned at the datapad, doorwings twitching in distress: he didn’t like knowing that there was something wrong with Ratchet and not being able to be there in person for him.

   To: Ratchet

you had a nightmare? … you wanna talk about it?

[Ratchet]

    To:  @wheeljack

Wheeljack..

Ratchet frowned down at his datapad.  Wheeljack was worried.. and worried about him no less.  It didn't sit well with him, and it made him feel somewhat guilty, which only lead to him finally telling the mech what had been wrong.

What surprised him more was Wheeljack's response.

    To:  Wheeljack

I suppose you could call it that, yes..

It's nothing out of the ordinary.  Just.. failing to save those I care about.. and it's always on Cybertron.  Never Earth.  There were so many I couldn't save there, and I've assumed that it always stemmed from that, but.. it's just a dream.  It's pointless for me to be so uptight about something that never happened.

[Deleted]

A bad dream? Ordinarily, if Ratchet were any other bot, Wheeljack would probably have just told them to get over it, but - It was Ratchet, and this made things completely different. Obviously, if the medic was up this late at night, whatever dream he’d had had bothered him greatly.

   To: Ratchet

the most important thing to remember is that it was just a dream. it cant hurt you. what happened in the past is past and there aint anythin you can do to change it

   To: Ratchet

it wasnt real, whatever happened. it wasnt real, and everyone is still alive and kicking

[Ratchet]

     To:  @wheeljack

I know..  I know that it can't hurt me.  At least physically.  I try not to let it get to me, but then it makes me frustrated when it does.

     To:  Wheeljack

I know it isn't real.  I'm talking to you after all.

Oops.  Now he'd accidentally implied that Wheeljack had been one of those ones that he hadn't been able to save in the dream.  He blushed furiously, staring down at his datapad before sending another message.

     To:  Wheeljack

Just talking to me like this is helping.  Thank you for being awake.  I'm not quite ready to go back to sleep, however.  I.. Sort of want to stay awake a bit longer just to talk to you.  That is if it is ok with you.