milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Optimus wants Bumblebee to be with him and Silverbolt and Jetfire when the Big Reveal to the humans of Earth goes down. Bumblebee is fine with this. He is, however, a little tense. There's no way of rehearsing for something like that, and as much as he likes to think he knows the species pretty well by now, Bumblebee's all too aware of how unpredictable humans can be. So many variables to account for, so many possibilities to extrapolate...

Bumblebee's currently in the rafters at Milliways, flitting from beam to beam as nimbly as two hundred forty pounds of metal* can manage, as he runs simulations inwardly and ranks them in order of probability of occurrence and possible consequences both short-term and long-term. The joys of hyperthreaded cognitive processors, eh? He's making no effort to hide, so anyone who looks up might very well spot yellow and chrome flashing through the shadows.

*The subspace compression field that renders him a whopping 5'2" in-Bar also shunts off a proportional amount of his mass.

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Lissar waves from her table when he passes overhead, but makes no effort to call him down. She understands wanting to blow off stress right now.

Bumblebee catches sight of the motion, looks down, and waves. A moment later he's dangling from his current rafter of choice by his ankles. "Lissar," he says. "How're you doing?"

"I am working on a speech." Lissar explains, gesturing at a blank piece of paper, "Optimus says I should."

"He's fond of those," says Bumblebee. "What will you be speaking on?"

"I have no idea." Lissar admits, "That I am grateful to have been accepted to Earth? My love of my family?"

"Hm." Bumblebee considers, swaying a little as he thinks. "I think the latter might work well. We're already telling the people of Earth that we've come from another world. Adding a third to the mix would complicate everything that has to be accepted."

Lissar nods and makes a note not to talk about not being from Earth. "I can, then, speak of all of you. It will be easier than speaking of myself."

"That should do nicely," says Bumblebee. Then, with an expression that would be a smile if his face were built for it, he adds, "Try not to speak about Ironhide in too glowing terms, or he'll be smug for weeks."

"I like it when he's smug." Lissar says, "So I promise you naught. It is easy to speak of him in words of loving adoration."

"Ah, well, worth a try." Bumblebee laughs. "I'm sure Ratchet will be pleased with anything you say about him, too."

Lissar wrinkles her nose at him and says, "I can say loving things of everyone." she points out, "I do so love you all."

"I know. And we love you, too," says Bumblebee. "I only mentioned Ratchet because of him staying at the base when this happens. He and Grimlock are going to watch on television."

"Probably for the best." Lissar agrees, "I shall be sure to mention both of them."

"Morning, Bumblebee," is said whenever Bumblebee passes overhead. Rad doesn't even need to look up—he knows that signature. "Working off a little nervous energy?"

"Some, yes," says Bumblebee, pausing mid-sequence to grab hold of the rafter and dangle like a monkey. "Optimus wants me with him when we go public."

Bumblebee could easily acquire a robotic version of a gibbon for an alt mode, and no one could tell the difference.

"Optimus told me about your plans for self-revealing," he muses. "Just you and Optimus? Anyone else?"

"Everyone but Ironhide, Ratchet, and Grimlock," says Bumblebee. "And even Ironhide will be on hand, just in case- but in alt mode, for safety's sake."

"I'll be hoping everyone will be on their best behaviour, then. I'd rather not think about Ironhide enforcing any peace—"

Pause. Grimlock he's sure no one mentioned to him.

"Grimlock? Is he some kind of prehistoric-looking, animal-moded mech like he is in my world?"

"Thirty feet of attempted reptile," Bumblebee confirms. "He reached Earth a hundred years before us, but there was an accident during his orbital approach. Some kind of spontaneous dimensional wormhole opened up, and he fell to Earth in another universe. He spent most of a hundred years flickering in and out of stasis lock as his systems tried to repair themselves."

"And he has a unique speech pattern, too, doesn't he?"

No more surprise at the similarities; he's now going over a mental checklist to see what things they've got in common.

"From a plasma bolt to the head during the War, yes," says Bumblebee. "It damaged his cerebromatrix badly, but any attempt to fix it probably would have killed him."

"And he wouldn't let you fix it, either."

Grimlock's a stubborn sort, no matter where he is.

"The Grimlock I know won't let anyone fix his—it gives him an advantage against the Decepticons because they all think he's stupid because of it."

"No, ours wanted it fixed, but Ratchet considered the risk unacceptable," Bumblebee says. "Ratchet considers that one of his greatest failures. Grimlock's just angry about it." Small surprise there, really. Grimlock and anger go together like peanut butter and chocolate. "He was an infiltrator and a commando to put Sunstreaker and Sideswipe together to shame before. What it did to his temper and his impulse control.... well."

"Ironhide is civil by comparison."

What Grimlock needs is his own unoccupied continent. A shame they're all occupied on Earth.

That cannot do wonders for his temper.

"If Ratchet says it can't be worked on..."

Grimlock hasn't even learned to accept it yet, never mind like it.

"That about sums it up, yes," says Bumblebee. "Grimlock means well, I think- but the world has him angry, and I can't really blame him."

"Ironhide, it happens, works with him most closely. Which is interesting, since before the War Ironhide was a construction mech and Grimlock was in demolitions."