Upon The Brink of Becoming Acquainted
Dec. 28th, 2025 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hat_writes_stuffTitle: Upon The Brink of Becoming Acquainted
Author: Almighty Hat
Fandom: Transformers Mystic Tales AU
Characters: Blurr, Shockwave, Sentinel (no not that one, mine), Lianes
Word Count: 3,123
Rating: G
Pairing(s): Shockwave/Blurr
Warnings: None I can think of?
Author's Notes: Did you SEE the latest update Blurr doesn't want Mirage dead! ... That's not about this. Anyway.
Did you know Keferon had a birthday recently? Happy Approximate Birthday, Keferon!
Summary: So, AnyMoreBrightIdeas read I Am Thy Creature and commented, among other things, "Blurr and Shockwave are getting so much thrown at them. So much." And that is correct, and I had an image of them lying tangled up in bed together, as they do, about 75% of the way through I Am Thy Creature, going, What the frag even was this day?
... So that's what I wrote.
Based, as so often happens, on Keferon's exceptional Spellbound AU.
They went to bed, eventually.
After a great deal of talking, and explaining, and not explaining, with Blurr's scuffs and dings mended by healing potion and Shockwave's appointment with an actual doctor prepared for, with names for Sentinel and Lianes settled and sleeping arrangements mostly settled (their Sentinel insisted he needed no rest, and would stay on watch; Lianes had been confused and disappointed and accepting when directed to a bed of his own rather than being invited to the bed Shockwave and Blurr had been sharing), there wasn't much to do but go to bed, and try to get some rest.
Shockwave settled on his side, not pinning his wings under his back anymore, an arm stretched out to play bolster under Blurr's neck. Blurr hooked one of his legs between Shockwave's, comfortable and secure and with no way for Shockwave to get up without Blurr noticing it.
A long moment passed where neither of them said anything, did anything beyond settling into just holding.
"So," Shockwave started, because one of them had to--
"Today," Blurr said, at the same time, and probably for the same reason.
The tension broke like thin ice under their muffled laughter.
"What even was today," Blurr said, far more than he asked it, baffled and wry and smiling.
"Something that will have me worrying when I don't see you for a few hours," Shockwave admitted. "I thought-- it's a big safehoue, a big forest, and you get antsy if you go too long without a run. I was trying not to worry, because-- it seemed like a good sign."
"... A good sign?"
"Your speed draws from your magic," he explained. "If you needed a long run, that-- I would assume that was a sign you were recovering well from your spellcasting." Dark magic, demonic magic, was nothing easy to handle, and Blurr hadn't really been resting as much as Shockwave might have hoped. Staying in, yes, fueling well, but also taking care of Shockwave. If he'd felt he needed a run, then that likely meant his own, natural magic had bounced back enough to need using.
"I'm fine," Blurr promised, warmly and Shockwave hoped accurately.
"You looked like you'd rolled down a hill when you first came in with-- with our Sentinel." The name was going to be interesting to get used to, but in fairness?
It was too good a name for that other Sentinel.
"Ugh," Blurr said, and cuddled up just a little bit closer. "That's because Mirage set hunters on me, and then admitted to it. Not sure if they were paid or puppets, I was focused on getting away once I got enough of them down."
"Blurr," Shockwave started, carefully, because this... maybe wasn't an 'unwind and sleep' conversation, but it still needed to happen. "Blurr. Who is Mirage? What is it he wants of you?" What did Blurr owe him, and why was it so-- it was worrying, the talk of word given, bargains made. It put Shockwave in mind of Jhiaxus's rants on the fae.
"It's not..." Blurr sighed, and rolled onto his back, looking up at Shockwave. Shockwave had one intact, bare-of-bandages finger on his free hand to stroke Blurr's cheek with, and did so, wishing he could smooth away the complicated expression there, loss and grief and regret. "We were close, once. Really close. It didn't used to be about deals and debts, we just... went back and forth. Ask and give, answer and receive. It's so easy to promise somebody everything when you... when you think you're staying forever. When you don't know you can be any better.
"Because I wasn't.
"Any better." Blurr swallowed, and looked away, fingers idly tracing over Shockwave's chestplate-- not meeting his gaze anymore, but not hiding his own face, either. "You should probably know that. I wasn't any better than Mirage. Any kinder, any-- any more forgiving. I changed. I learned-- I was taught. So I grew. Mirage... hasn't had to."
"... You aren't angry with him," Shockwave said, a little stunned to realize it.
"Oh no I'm furious with him-- he threatened you to get me to go home with him and I would have-- I just--" Blurr sighed out a heavy vent. "I can't hate him for it. I can want to punch him in the face for it, but I can't hate him for it. Mirage-- Mirage is-- everything Mirage is doing to get me back counts, for him, as an act of love.
"And just because I don't want to be a part of that anymore doesn't mean I stopped understanding it."
On the one hand, that was considerably less detail than Shockwave had hoped for-- less information. Certainly less actionable information. (Such as where to find this Mirage, and if he had any particular weaknesses besides demonic magic, and maybe what time he usually slept.) On the other hand, it was also-- Blurr sometimes spoke of his days at Shockwave's academy, in sparing detail, usually related to things he'd learned there that were relevant, somehow, to where they were, or what was happening. And he hadn't spoken, really, of anything earlier than that, than his student days. Not in terms of direct experiences. However vague Blurr was being, however careful not to say anything definite, it was also more than he'd ever said about his past, his origins, than any other conversation they'd had.
On the gripping hand, as it were-- deals and debts. Promising everything. Possession as an expression of love. Lianes, who Shockwave hoped would show more appreciable differences from Blurr as time went on. (If only for his own peace of mind, if only so Shockwave could say to himself, Ah, this is off, this isn't like Blurr, I would have noticed, I would have seen, I would have known.)
"Blurr," Shockwave asked, "Is Mirage fae?"
Blurr nodded.
"It's just another kind of person," he said, as though excusing it. "Another culture, with its own Well, its own customs."
"How long were you in his thrall?" And how had Blurr escaped?
"It wasn't like that," Blurr said, and shifted to his side to hide against Shockwave. "Really. It was-- messed up in a lot of ways but not like that."
"... My first teacher," Shockwave said, carefully, "was very stern about everything related to the fae. I was cautioned at every turn not to mess with the fae, not to think about them excessively, not to get involved in fae matters. I was taught to recognize signs of their presence, so I could avoid them. My teacher warned that if I dared to go to fairy lands, I'd never come back, and worse, what might return wouldn't be me."
"That's very... very stern but also sensible advice," Blurr allowed.
"'Stern but sensible' isn't a bad way to describe Jhiaxus," Shockwave had to agree. "I often failed at not thinking about the fae-- Jhiaxus made it seem like they were lurking up every tree to lure unsuspecting mechs into their realms, and I often thought... if they'd be less angry less often..."
"No," Blurr said, pushing himself up, half sitting. "No," he repeated, cupping Shockwave's face, stroking his cheek, his tattered helm. "No," once more, Blurr's thumb brushing over his--
-- his memory charm.
"Fairy lands are a terrible place to escape to, and most fae... they don't... they wouldn't... They'd take what makes you you, maybe all at once, maybe a piece at a time, and they'd probably expect you to be grateful for it. Don't. I already-- Sentinel already scared the scrap out of me once today, making me think your memories were gone. I never want to feel like that again."
And yet, if Shockwave wanted to go into a fairy realm with Blurr, to go with Blurr to this Mirage person, this... once-friend, at least, Blurr wouldn't tell him no? That would only make sense if Blurr were sure he could offer some sort of protection-- which would only be possible if Blurr had some sort of non-demon-based... something.
Was Blurr himself a fairy?
He was pretty enough, but nothing else Jhiaxus taught of the fae seemed to apply to Blurr-- he wasn't capricious, or malicious. Flighty, at worst. The points on his moral compass seemed entirely reasonable for a knight, and not, as Jhiaxus had insisted was true of the fae, Whims, Manners, Obligations, and Rudeness. He could, Shockwave supposed, be a bit possessive, and he was scrupulous about keeping his word-- though, come to think of it--
He hadn't destroyed Shockwave, had he?
Blurr had, very specifically, destroyed the demon Shockwave, restoring Shockwave-the-mech and letting what was demonic fall around him. (To be awakened, later, but they couldn't have predicted that.) Blurr had ended the existence of an enslaved, enthralled demon. Shockwave had asked for death, later in their acquaintance, in those words, but the initial promise had been to end his existence.
And Blurr had.
By giving him back his life.
If a fairy promised anything, Jhiaxus-- well, no, that wasn't right at all. Jhiaxus would have warned never to trust anything a fairy offered, or tried to promise, but that was because the fae were beholden to the exact words they used-- the letter of the law, as it were, and not the spirit. Any way they could twist it around, they would, either to get out of giving what you believed they'd actually promised, or for the fun of it, or to get more of what they wanted.
Was it sheer coincidence that what Blurr most wanted from Shockwave was more time with him?
Was it a fairy bound to a promise seeking a loophole, or was it a knight abiding by his word while seeking to do better?
... Was it both?
There seemed to be room for both, if Blurr had changed so much, grown and learned. If Blurr were fae, perhaps he'd managed to apply the rules that bound him under a new code of conduct, one that suited him. Perhaps Shockwave would ask, when things were a little more settled.
Instead, he put on an air of chagrin. "And he wants to be called Sentinel."
And Blurr seized on the subject change. "In complete fairness, I've known cyberhound puppies who were better sentinels than the other Sentinel is. I've probably known bricks that were better sentinels."
"I won't argue that the mech isn't living up to his name," Shockwave said, "or that our Sentinel won't do better at it. Just-- he came up with such a unique name for Lianes..."
"Which impressed me?" Blurr said, shifting again to settle back down, to lay against Shockwave. "That impressed me, I was trying to think of different kinds of mirages and dangerous mushrooms and the only things sticking out were 'Fata Morgana,' which I'm pretty sure was Mirage's mentor's name and might have gotten Mirage using Lianes to stab me a little bit for suggesting it, and Nepenthes, which isn't any kind of mushroom--"
"A pitcher plant?"
"He was made to be a trap," Blurr explained.
"I would have realized he wasn't you," Shockwave said, and bit down hard on the eventually he hoped wasn't accurate.
"I know," Blurr said, warm and soft and pleased. "You know me. Mirage's puppets know my life, but you know me. I don't know what I would've hoped you'd do once you figured it out-- I wouldn't expect 'be nice to the puppet anyway,' but that's-- that's very you, isn't it?"
"Is it?" If he'd thought Blurr was in danger, he wouldn't have been very nice at all.
Blurr reached up to touch Shockwave's cheek, his expression so soft. "You default to teacher," he explained. "To the good kind of teacher, who tries to help fix all the problems. I should've known you'd offer to protect him."
"Mm. ... Honestly? I wouldn't have been so kind if I hadn't known where you were. If I hadn't... there's something about Sentinel's certainty in his summoner that... that I could feel, too. I believed him because I knew him, know him, know the feel of him-- and because you felt right, too. Lianes didn't feel wrong, but with you there?" Shockwave picked up Blurr's hand, traced the joints of his palm. "Lianes didn't feel complete. If not for that, I might have been... pretty brutal, to someone daring to wear your face."
"Make me feel guilty," Blurr said, though he smiled through it, hooked his ankle around Shockwave's leg. "As soon as I thought I was looking at you-with-no-memories, I was in Sentinel's arms and blubbering senselessly."
"That's different," Shockwave assured him. "Sentinel wasn't pretending to be anything, he's--"
"New," Blurr agreed. "He's whatever you call a newspark with no spark."
And very affectionate. Very physically affectionate.
Figuring that situation out might have to wait until their Sentinel had more than a few weeks' worth of experience.
... Which didn't mean Shockwave couldn't tease, a little.
"Was it nice? Having a demonic embrace again?"
"I have hugged a lot of demons, don't test me," Blurr warned-- grinning, far from serious... for a moment. For a moment, before the smile softened into something grieved. "But that demonic embrace? Wonderful and terrible."
"Amalgamus Prime carried me on his shoulders, while I was... between states," Shockwave said. Reminded? Had he mentioned the carrying to Blurr, or only the teaching? "It felt... oddly safe."
"It's a good feeling," Blurr agreed. "And for a racer, being carried is kind of... there's this element of. Scrap, how do I put this... not surrender exactly-- you learn really young how to match people's pace if you're a racer, and being picked up and carried is..."
"I think I see," Shockwave assured him, having noted the confused warmth in Blurr's voice.
Shockwave had never been fast, but he'd always been fairly strong. He'd have to get that strength back. At least his wings were-- well, they weren't at the moment, but...
... Hm.
"I was never the fastest flyer," he said, very casually, watching Blurr closely. "Nor the most maneuverable. My wingspan is ridiculous, the amount of space I need to take off is excessive, and landings... were never graceful unless I was willing to let a healer shout at me about ruining my knees the next day." As Ratchet often did whether Shockwave approached him or not, if he dropped straight down to land and let his legs take the brunt of the impact. If he'd been free to turn to anyone, as a demon, Shockwave might have turned to Ratchet. An atheist might not have judged him too harshly. That wasn't the point, the point was-- "But while I was in the air-- I was an extremely steady flyer. I've read books, while flying. I've taken naps."
"While flying?" Blurr asked, with wide optics, as though that were the maddest, most impressive thing he'd ever heard.
"Once I can trust my wings in the air again," Shockwave said, holding his smile at soft and small, "I'd like to take you flying. In my arms, on my back, just-- up. You and I, at a nice, steady pace. I'd like to share that with you."
Blurr made a soft little sound, and, belatedly, Shockwave remembered that Blurr had a fear of heights-- or, at least, of insufficient ground at heights.
But Blurr threw himself into a hug, instead, arms around Shockwave's neck, a leg-- gracious, a leg thrown over his waist, and Shockwave couldn't help the sound he made at that, and Blurr murmured, "Yes," into his chestplate.
"Yes," Blurr repeated, "yes, in your arms, up there with you? Yes."
And after a long moment, Blurr asked-- "Just me? Not Lianes?" in a voice that was... a little small, for Shockwave's liking, but Blurr arguably had come so close to being replaced. Temporarily.
(He didn't feel that way about their Sentinel. Sentinel wasn't him, but he was his in a way Shockwave still needed to find a word to define. 'Brother' wasn't right, but it felt in the right area of the map.)
"Just you," he promised. "Not Lianes. Not even Sentinel. And not just because I couldn't carry him."
"Mm, we'd have to split him in half to get him anywhere fast," Blurr agreed, and Shockwave--
Shockwave couldn't help the horrified yelp of, "Blurr!"
"What? Oh! Oh, no no no-- no not like that. He can-- oh he can do something really neat actually," Blurr pulled back, sat up a little so he could gesticulate. "So you know how that shrine was just-- how the circle of the magic was outlined in just a ton of purple ash and dust, after?"
"I... remember that," Shockwave allowed.
"That's Sentinel. That's our Sentinel. He holds himself together in that shape we know but he's still so much-- particulate." Blurr grinned at him, widely. "And he sleeps that way. He sneaks that way. He got in the door that way."
... That did explain how Blurr had gotten a demon twice Shockwave's mass through a door and down a staircase that was a tight squeeze for him with his wings crushed. "That's... very interesting," Shockwave had to agree. And boded well for Shockwave and Blurr having a bed to themselves (though it boded ill for sharing a bed with their Sentinel, if they decided they wanted that). "What all can he do with it?"
"I don't know!" Blurr said, delighted. "He's not even two weeks old, I'm sure he doesn't know yet, either. We'll get to help him figure it out."
His knight.
His dear knight.
"Blurr, did you bring me a student?"
"... Well, I hadn't planned to," Blurr admitted, "But he's a nice sturdy one, isn't he?"
"A pity we can't free him the way you freed me." To keep him safe from summoners who weren't Blurr. That other Sentinel wasn't the only terrible master Shockwave had ever been in thrall to, just the worst of them in his ability--and willingness-- to use specific cruelty.
"Maybe we can find another way to free him," Blurr said, snuggling back in again. "Some demons like being demons, so it wouldn't be good just for him."
"... Do they really?"
"Mm," Blurr confirmed, optics shuttered. "S'hard to want to be a mech if you don't remember it. An' don't see a lotta good mechs."
"Your demons all got to see you," Shockwave murmured, wondering if Blurr would ramble about past summonings in his sleep. And if any of it would be reliable.
"S'easy to be nice to demons," Blurr said, increasingly mumbled. "Nice to safe."
... Reliable or intelligible. "It's nice to safe?"
Blurr said, "Cinnabar," for some reason, and nothing else.
Shockwave... Shockwave dared to press the gentlest kiss to his knight's brow, and tried to doze, himself.
End Notes: I don't have a whole bunch of links and notes for this one, that's a weird feeling. Oh oh wait okay no-- the stuff about Shockwave's wings is mostly in the original Shockblurr Fairy AU, which I am convinced Keferon engaged in while cackling maniacally. Specific How Shockwave Flies stuff here and especially here. Mental images of Shockwave flying while carrying Blurr you say? Those are here and here.
I am, I admit, wildly guessing about Blurr's past, and his relationship with Mirage, which is why this is from Shockwave's POV and not Blurr's, but I'm very excited to see if the 'I don't want my best-beloved to kill him while I watch' vibe from canon also includes 'but I kind of hope he steps on a Lego every day for the rest of his life.'
(Also, current update, last panel of Image #7. One of Mirage's dogs got the brain cell. The other? The other got uppies, yay!)
First Part
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Author: Almighty Hat
Fandom: Transformers Mystic Tales AU
Characters: Blurr, Shockwave, Sentinel (no not that one, mine), Lianes
Word Count: 3,123
Rating: G
Pairing(s): Shockwave/Blurr
Warnings: None I can think of?
Author's Notes: Did you SEE the latest update Blurr doesn't want Mirage dead! ... That's not about this. Anyway.
Did you know Keferon had a birthday recently? Happy Approximate Birthday, Keferon!
Summary: So, AnyMoreBrightIdeas read I Am Thy Creature and commented, among other things, "Blurr and Shockwave are getting so much thrown at them. So much." And that is correct, and I had an image of them lying tangled up in bed together, as they do, about 75% of the way through I Am Thy Creature, going, What the frag even was this day?
... So that's what I wrote.
Based, as so often happens, on Keferon's exceptional Spellbound AU.
They went to bed, eventually.
After a great deal of talking, and explaining, and not explaining, with Blurr's scuffs and dings mended by healing potion and Shockwave's appointment with an actual doctor prepared for, with names for Sentinel and Lianes settled and sleeping arrangements mostly settled (their Sentinel insisted he needed no rest, and would stay on watch; Lianes had been confused and disappointed and accepting when directed to a bed of his own rather than being invited to the bed Shockwave and Blurr had been sharing), there wasn't much to do but go to bed, and try to get some rest.
Shockwave settled on his side, not pinning his wings under his back anymore, an arm stretched out to play bolster under Blurr's neck. Blurr hooked one of his legs between Shockwave's, comfortable and secure and with no way for Shockwave to get up without Blurr noticing it.
A long moment passed where neither of them said anything, did anything beyond settling into just holding.
"So," Shockwave started, because one of them had to--
"Today," Blurr said, at the same time, and probably for the same reason.
The tension broke like thin ice under their muffled laughter.
"What even was today," Blurr said, far more than he asked it, baffled and wry and smiling.
"Something that will have me worrying when I don't see you for a few hours," Shockwave admitted. "I thought-- it's a big safehoue, a big forest, and you get antsy if you go too long without a run. I was trying not to worry, because-- it seemed like a good sign."
"... A good sign?"
"Your speed draws from your magic," he explained. "If you needed a long run, that-- I would assume that was a sign you were recovering well from your spellcasting." Dark magic, demonic magic, was nothing easy to handle, and Blurr hadn't really been resting as much as Shockwave might have hoped. Staying in, yes, fueling well, but also taking care of Shockwave. If he'd felt he needed a run, then that likely meant his own, natural magic had bounced back enough to need using.
"I'm fine," Blurr promised, warmly and Shockwave hoped accurately.
"You looked like you'd rolled down a hill when you first came in with-- with our Sentinel." The name was going to be interesting to get used to, but in fairness?
It was too good a name for that other Sentinel.
"Ugh," Blurr said, and cuddled up just a little bit closer. "That's because Mirage set hunters on me, and then admitted to it. Not sure if they were paid or puppets, I was focused on getting away once I got enough of them down."
"Blurr," Shockwave started, carefully, because this... maybe wasn't an 'unwind and sleep' conversation, but it still needed to happen. "Blurr. Who is Mirage? What is it he wants of you?" What did Blurr owe him, and why was it so-- it was worrying, the talk of word given, bargains made. It put Shockwave in mind of Jhiaxus's rants on the fae.
"It's not..." Blurr sighed, and rolled onto his back, looking up at Shockwave. Shockwave had one intact, bare-of-bandages finger on his free hand to stroke Blurr's cheek with, and did so, wishing he could smooth away the complicated expression there, loss and grief and regret. "We were close, once. Really close. It didn't used to be about deals and debts, we just... went back and forth. Ask and give, answer and receive. It's so easy to promise somebody everything when you... when you think you're staying forever. When you don't know you can be any better.
"Because I wasn't.
"Any better." Blurr swallowed, and looked away, fingers idly tracing over Shockwave's chestplate-- not meeting his gaze anymore, but not hiding his own face, either. "You should probably know that. I wasn't any better than Mirage. Any kinder, any-- any more forgiving. I changed. I learned-- I was taught. So I grew. Mirage... hasn't had to."
"... You aren't angry with him," Shockwave said, a little stunned to realize it.
"Oh no I'm furious with him-- he threatened you to get me to go home with him and I would have-- I just--" Blurr sighed out a heavy vent. "I can't hate him for it. I can want to punch him in the face for it, but I can't hate him for it. Mirage-- Mirage is-- everything Mirage is doing to get me back counts, for him, as an act of love.
"And just because I don't want to be a part of that anymore doesn't mean I stopped understanding it."
On the one hand, that was considerably less detail than Shockwave had hoped for-- less information. Certainly less actionable information. (Such as where to find this Mirage, and if he had any particular weaknesses besides demonic magic, and maybe what time he usually slept.) On the other hand, it was also-- Blurr sometimes spoke of his days at Shockwave's academy, in sparing detail, usually related to things he'd learned there that were relevant, somehow, to where they were, or what was happening. And he hadn't spoken, really, of anything earlier than that, than his student days. Not in terms of direct experiences. However vague Blurr was being, however careful not to say anything definite, it was also more than he'd ever said about his past, his origins, than any other conversation they'd had.
On the gripping hand, as it were-- deals and debts. Promising everything. Possession as an expression of love. Lianes, who Shockwave hoped would show more appreciable differences from Blurr as time went on. (If only for his own peace of mind, if only so Shockwave could say to himself, Ah, this is off, this isn't like Blurr, I would have noticed, I would have seen, I would have known.)
"Blurr," Shockwave asked, "Is Mirage fae?"
Blurr nodded.
"It's just another kind of person," he said, as though excusing it. "Another culture, with its own Well, its own customs."
"How long were you in his thrall?" And how had Blurr escaped?
"It wasn't like that," Blurr said, and shifted to his side to hide against Shockwave. "Really. It was-- messed up in a lot of ways but not like that."
"... My first teacher," Shockwave said, carefully, "was very stern about everything related to the fae. I was cautioned at every turn not to mess with the fae, not to think about them excessively, not to get involved in fae matters. I was taught to recognize signs of their presence, so I could avoid them. My teacher warned that if I dared to go to fairy lands, I'd never come back, and worse, what might return wouldn't be me."
"That's very... very stern but also sensible advice," Blurr allowed.
"'Stern but sensible' isn't a bad way to describe Jhiaxus," Shockwave had to agree. "I often failed at not thinking about the fae-- Jhiaxus made it seem like they were lurking up every tree to lure unsuspecting mechs into their realms, and I often thought... if they'd be less angry less often..."
"No," Blurr said, pushing himself up, half sitting. "No," he repeated, cupping Shockwave's face, stroking his cheek, his tattered helm. "No," once more, Blurr's thumb brushing over his--
-- his memory charm.
"Fairy lands are a terrible place to escape to, and most fae... they don't... they wouldn't... They'd take what makes you you, maybe all at once, maybe a piece at a time, and they'd probably expect you to be grateful for it. Don't. I already-- Sentinel already scared the scrap out of me once today, making me think your memories were gone. I never want to feel like that again."
And yet, if Shockwave wanted to go into a fairy realm with Blurr, to go with Blurr to this Mirage person, this... once-friend, at least, Blurr wouldn't tell him no? That would only make sense if Blurr were sure he could offer some sort of protection-- which would only be possible if Blurr had some sort of non-demon-based... something.
Was Blurr himself a fairy?
He was pretty enough, but nothing else Jhiaxus taught of the fae seemed to apply to Blurr-- he wasn't capricious, or malicious. Flighty, at worst. The points on his moral compass seemed entirely reasonable for a knight, and not, as Jhiaxus had insisted was true of the fae, Whims, Manners, Obligations, and Rudeness. He could, Shockwave supposed, be a bit possessive, and he was scrupulous about keeping his word-- though, come to think of it--
He hadn't destroyed Shockwave, had he?
Blurr had, very specifically, destroyed the demon Shockwave, restoring Shockwave-the-mech and letting what was demonic fall around him. (To be awakened, later, but they couldn't have predicted that.) Blurr had ended the existence of an enslaved, enthralled demon. Shockwave had asked for death, later in their acquaintance, in those words, but the initial promise had been to end his existence.
And Blurr had.
By giving him back his life.
If a fairy promised anything, Jhiaxus-- well, no, that wasn't right at all. Jhiaxus would have warned never to trust anything a fairy offered, or tried to promise, but that was because the fae were beholden to the exact words they used-- the letter of the law, as it were, and not the spirit. Any way they could twist it around, they would, either to get out of giving what you believed they'd actually promised, or for the fun of it, or to get more of what they wanted.
Was it sheer coincidence that what Blurr most wanted from Shockwave was more time with him?
Was it a fairy bound to a promise seeking a loophole, or was it a knight abiding by his word while seeking to do better?
... Was it both?
There seemed to be room for both, if Blurr had changed so much, grown and learned. If Blurr were fae, perhaps he'd managed to apply the rules that bound him under a new code of conduct, one that suited him. Perhaps Shockwave would ask, when things were a little more settled.
Instead, he put on an air of chagrin. "And he wants to be called Sentinel."
And Blurr seized on the subject change. "In complete fairness, I've known cyberhound puppies who were better sentinels than the other Sentinel is. I've probably known bricks that were better sentinels."
"I won't argue that the mech isn't living up to his name," Shockwave said, "or that our Sentinel won't do better at it. Just-- he came up with such a unique name for Lianes..."
"Which impressed me?" Blurr said, shifting again to settle back down, to lay against Shockwave. "That impressed me, I was trying to think of different kinds of mirages and dangerous mushrooms and the only things sticking out were 'Fata Morgana,' which I'm pretty sure was Mirage's mentor's name and might have gotten Mirage using Lianes to stab me a little bit for suggesting it, and Nepenthes, which isn't any kind of mushroom--"
"A pitcher plant?"
"He was made to be a trap," Blurr explained.
"I would have realized he wasn't you," Shockwave said, and bit down hard on the eventually he hoped wasn't accurate.
"I know," Blurr said, warm and soft and pleased. "You know me. Mirage's puppets know my life, but you know me. I don't know what I would've hoped you'd do once you figured it out-- I wouldn't expect 'be nice to the puppet anyway,' but that's-- that's very you, isn't it?"
"Is it?" If he'd thought Blurr was in danger, he wouldn't have been very nice at all.
Blurr reached up to touch Shockwave's cheek, his expression so soft. "You default to teacher," he explained. "To the good kind of teacher, who tries to help fix all the problems. I should've known you'd offer to protect him."
"Mm. ... Honestly? I wouldn't have been so kind if I hadn't known where you were. If I hadn't... there's something about Sentinel's certainty in his summoner that... that I could feel, too. I believed him because I knew him, know him, know the feel of him-- and because you felt right, too. Lianes didn't feel wrong, but with you there?" Shockwave picked up Blurr's hand, traced the joints of his palm. "Lianes didn't feel complete. If not for that, I might have been... pretty brutal, to someone daring to wear your face."
"Make me feel guilty," Blurr said, though he smiled through it, hooked his ankle around Shockwave's leg. "As soon as I thought I was looking at you-with-no-memories, I was in Sentinel's arms and blubbering senselessly."
"That's different," Shockwave assured him. "Sentinel wasn't pretending to be anything, he's--"
"New," Blurr agreed. "He's whatever you call a newspark with no spark."
And very affectionate. Very physically affectionate.
Figuring that situation out might have to wait until their Sentinel had more than a few weeks' worth of experience.
... Which didn't mean Shockwave couldn't tease, a little.
"Was it nice? Having a demonic embrace again?"
"I have hugged a lot of demons, don't test me," Blurr warned-- grinning, far from serious... for a moment. For a moment, before the smile softened into something grieved. "But that demonic embrace? Wonderful and terrible."
"Amalgamus Prime carried me on his shoulders, while I was... between states," Shockwave said. Reminded? Had he mentioned the carrying to Blurr, or only the teaching? "It felt... oddly safe."
"It's a good feeling," Blurr agreed. "And for a racer, being carried is kind of... there's this element of. Scrap, how do I put this... not surrender exactly-- you learn really young how to match people's pace if you're a racer, and being picked up and carried is..."
"I think I see," Shockwave assured him, having noted the confused warmth in Blurr's voice.
Shockwave had never been fast, but he'd always been fairly strong. He'd have to get that strength back. At least his wings were-- well, they weren't at the moment, but...
... Hm.
"I was never the fastest flyer," he said, very casually, watching Blurr closely. "Nor the most maneuverable. My wingspan is ridiculous, the amount of space I need to take off is excessive, and landings... were never graceful unless I was willing to let a healer shout at me about ruining my knees the next day." As Ratchet often did whether Shockwave approached him or not, if he dropped straight down to land and let his legs take the brunt of the impact. If he'd been free to turn to anyone, as a demon, Shockwave might have turned to Ratchet. An atheist might not have judged him too harshly. That wasn't the point, the point was-- "But while I was in the air-- I was an extremely steady flyer. I've read books, while flying. I've taken naps."
"While flying?" Blurr asked, with wide optics, as though that were the maddest, most impressive thing he'd ever heard.
"Once I can trust my wings in the air again," Shockwave said, holding his smile at soft and small, "I'd like to take you flying. In my arms, on my back, just-- up. You and I, at a nice, steady pace. I'd like to share that with you."
Blurr made a soft little sound, and, belatedly, Shockwave remembered that Blurr had a fear of heights-- or, at least, of insufficient ground at heights.
But Blurr threw himself into a hug, instead, arms around Shockwave's neck, a leg-- gracious, a leg thrown over his waist, and Shockwave couldn't help the sound he made at that, and Blurr murmured, "Yes," into his chestplate.
"Yes," Blurr repeated, "yes, in your arms, up there with you? Yes."
And after a long moment, Blurr asked-- "Just me? Not Lianes?" in a voice that was... a little small, for Shockwave's liking, but Blurr arguably had come so close to being replaced. Temporarily.
(He didn't feel that way about their Sentinel. Sentinel wasn't him, but he was his in a way Shockwave still needed to find a word to define. 'Brother' wasn't right, but it felt in the right area of the map.)
"Just you," he promised. "Not Lianes. Not even Sentinel. And not just because I couldn't carry him."
"Mm, we'd have to split him in half to get him anywhere fast," Blurr agreed, and Shockwave--
Shockwave couldn't help the horrified yelp of, "Blurr!"
"What? Oh! Oh, no no no-- no not like that. He can-- oh he can do something really neat actually," Blurr pulled back, sat up a little so he could gesticulate. "So you know how that shrine was just-- how the circle of the magic was outlined in just a ton of purple ash and dust, after?"
"I... remember that," Shockwave allowed.
"That's Sentinel. That's our Sentinel. He holds himself together in that shape we know but he's still so much-- particulate." Blurr grinned at him, widely. "And he sleeps that way. He sneaks that way. He got in the door that way."
... That did explain how Blurr had gotten a demon twice Shockwave's mass through a door and down a staircase that was a tight squeeze for him with his wings crushed. "That's... very interesting," Shockwave had to agree. And boded well for Shockwave and Blurr having a bed to themselves (though it boded ill for sharing a bed with their Sentinel, if they decided they wanted that). "What all can he do with it?"
"I don't know!" Blurr said, delighted. "He's not even two weeks old, I'm sure he doesn't know yet, either. We'll get to help him figure it out."
His knight.
His dear knight.
"Blurr, did you bring me a student?"
"... Well, I hadn't planned to," Blurr admitted, "But he's a nice sturdy one, isn't he?"
"A pity we can't free him the way you freed me." To keep him safe from summoners who weren't Blurr. That other Sentinel wasn't the only terrible master Shockwave had ever been in thrall to, just the worst of them in his ability--and willingness-- to use specific cruelty.
"Maybe we can find another way to free him," Blurr said, snuggling back in again. "Some demons like being demons, so it wouldn't be good just for him."
"... Do they really?"
"Mm," Blurr confirmed, optics shuttered. "S'hard to want to be a mech if you don't remember it. An' don't see a lotta good mechs."
"Your demons all got to see you," Shockwave murmured, wondering if Blurr would ramble about past summonings in his sleep. And if any of it would be reliable.
"S'easy to be nice to demons," Blurr said, increasingly mumbled. "Nice to safe."
... Reliable or intelligible. "It's nice to safe?"
Blurr said, "Cinnabar," for some reason, and nothing else.
Shockwave... Shockwave dared to press the gentlest kiss to his knight's brow, and tried to doze, himself.
End Notes: I don't have a whole bunch of links and notes for this one, that's a weird feeling. Oh oh wait okay no-- the stuff about Shockwave's wings is mostly in the original Shockblurr Fairy AU, which I am convinced Keferon engaged in while cackling maniacally. Specific How Shockwave Flies stuff here and especially here. Mental images of Shockwave flying while carrying Blurr you say? Those are here and here.
I am, I admit, wildly guessing about Blurr's past, and his relationship with Mirage, which is why this is from Shockwave's POV and not Blurr's, but I'm very excited to see if the 'I don't want my best-beloved to kill him while I watch' vibe from canon also includes 'but I kind of hope he steps on a Lego every day for the rest of his life.'
(Also, current update, last panel of Image #7. One of Mirage's dogs got the brain cell. The other? The other got uppies, yay!)
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