pullmeoutalive | log > how are these two so darn cute?

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log > how are these two so darn cute?

It had been an admittedly strange situation they had all been in - shopping mall, zombies, black outs - it was like a horror film gone wrong.

No one had any explanation for their sudden appearance in the mall, nor did anyone have an explanation for their sudden disappearance from the mall. Just as no one had an explanation for the blue Chevrolet Volt currently parked outside of B.A.B.E.L. headquarters.

For his own part, Jolt was doing what Autobots did best (aside from kicking Decepticon skidplate), and that was hiding in plain sight. Asphalt and sunshine, he decided, were preferable to zombie-laden carpet and the near-darkness of a mall without power. He just didn't like having to wait while Naomi was inside - no doubt trying to explain where the frag she'd been all this time. Jolt'd had a similar problem relaying his whereabouts to - of all mechs - Ratchet. (No doubt the medic thought he was glitched for insisting he'd been fighting off zombies all this time.) But, after much instance, and pleading for Optimus' permission, Jolt was allowed to stay with Naomi for the time being.

The Autobot sighed inwardly. He was still waiting, and he still hated it.

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Her unsaid plea did not go unheard.

His first impulse was to use his hologram, but he quelled it instantly and transformed- pausing long enough to set aside her things so they wouldn't be crushed in the process.

A careful hand encircled her, gently drawing her to his kneeling form - the closest thing he could come to a hug, considering their differences in size - and he waited, bracing himself silently. He would endure whatever beating her slipping powers threw his way, and shield her from whatever her slipping powers threw her way. "I'm here," he murmured, dipping his head. "I'm here."

With just those words, the power escaped from her once more, lashing out at anything and everything. Naomi was no Level 7, but results could still be catastrophic when it came to a psychokinetic losing control-- and a high-level one at that. She hated it-- hated that all of this had been trapped inside of her, hated that it was hurting Jolt. And yet all she could do was hold on to him as best as she could, resting a palm on his face, whispering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" as the power raged on unchecked.

Physical contact had been easier with his hologram, but Naomi didn't have a preference as to which form he chose to take. Solidified image, vehicle, robot-- all of them were Jolt, and so long as that remained the fact, she was fine with it.

Gradually, her sobs died down to tiny, shuddering hiccups and whimpers, and the next time her power surged, there was a bubble of sparking energy to repel it away from the Autobot. She wouldn't let him be hurt. Not by her hand-- not by anything.

Jolt just held her, optics shuttered, steady and unmoving in the maelstrom around him. He was used to battle, to combat and chaos and pain, and this was just a battle of a different kind- he would endure it for as long as it took, because, as he'd told Naomi so many times before, she was worth it.

The sudden diversion of her power away from him caused his optics to flick open, and he pulled away just enough to regard her with a look akin to a worn smile. I'm okay, said his expression. I'll be fine.

Naomi regarded him with a steady gaze, blue eyes blinking away tears. She correctly read the message he wanted to convey and understood that he would wait, taking every last bit of her power until she could draw it back. That was just the kind of person-- Autobot-- he was. Eager, impulsive, but reliable. He'd been waiting for her all this time, and he was still willing to endure this... for her sake.

Nonetheless, she maintained the barrier, only dropping it when her power had softened, then withdrew. All the while, she didn't look away from those optics, silently telling him that he wasn't the only one who had someone he wanted to protect.

When the chaos finally faded away into nothing, and the barrier Naomi had constructed along with it, Jolt allowed himself to relax, if only slightly, but he held Naomi's gaze for a moment longer. She was pretty, by human standards, he thought suddenly, and found himself wondering why. Pretty, and delicate, and yet somehow stronger than him. The Autobots always fancied themselves protectors, and there wasn't much on this planet that they would consider able to protect them. But this girl... she could, and she would, and that spoke more of her strength than anything.

His free hand came up, and very, very gently, he brushed the side of her face with a finger.

The girl held still, not wanting to speak and risk... whatever this was. She wasn't sure. Jolt was a friend-- he had been ever since they'd first worked together in that stuffy, zombie-infested mall-- but ever since he'd made the request to stay here, with her, the bond they'd formed had only gotten stronger. And now there was something there, something else that she couldn't quite put a name to or understand, just an innate knowledge that there was a level deeper than the kind of cheerful or working friendship she shared with her school friends or the other espers.

As his finger gently grazed her cheek, Naomi didn't flinch or shy away. She gave no sign of being frightened that something so much larger than her was doing this-- on the contrary, she closed her eyes and carefully leaned into the light touch. She trusted Jolt, and that was more than enough.

If he could, he would stay like this all day, just basking in this silence that somehow spoke louder than words.

But as it stood, his leg servos were locking up, and the beating he'd endured earlier was doing little to help the situation. He shifted, and his gears protested loudly- loud enough to make him cringe.

He cast Naomi an apologetic look and rose to his feet, joints grinding. "I'm too young to sound this old," he remarked, flexing his legs until the noises subsided to a manageable level.

"Ah--" Instantly snapping out of whatever reverie she'd been about to sink into, Naomi quickly waved her hands in her usual flustered manner. "I-I'm so sorry, Jolt-san, you didn't have to-- I should have been able to keep it under control, and your legs...!"

He hadn't been the only one to cringe at the chorus of grinding gears and locked joints. She'd have to give him an extended carwash with the works when they returned.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. Sore as hell, but fine. A call to Ratchet might very well be in his future, but for the moment, his own healing systems would be enough to cope with whatever damage had been done. He just needed a good recharge and he'd be okay. For the most part.

Having satisfactorily worked out the kinks in his servos, he retrieved the bags The Children had packed for Naomi (thankfully untouched by the earlier torrent of Naomi's power, for the most part), and presented them to her. "I had a little help getting you out of there."

Edited 2009-09-29 05:37 (UTC)

With a puzzled blink, she accepted the bags, glancing down at them quizzically. It didn't take long to figure out who could have possibly aided Jolt, though.

"They must really like you to go this far," she remarked, shifting the bags in her arms. "Especially Shiho-chan." Aoi and Kaoru were more affectionate with everybody, but for a psychometer who could very easily read the darkness lurking in anyone's heart, it took more than that to gain her trust. Naomi willingly submitting to a thorough search of deep-rooted issues had probably made the younger girl open up to her more quickly.

He grinned. "Well, I am pretty likable." Truth be told, they disliked seeing Naomi in the state she was in just as much as he had. Jolt had every confidence that their choice to get involved had not been for his sake, but hers.

Naomi continued to stare at the bags, before something odd happened. Something that should have happened well before now.

She laughed.

It was a tired laugh more than anything, but one that carried genuine amusement and a weary sort of happiness along with it. It had been awhile for her, but she was willing to drag herself back from whatever bleakness had been clouding her thoughts, no matter how long it took. Not just for everyone's sake, but for hers as well.

"So you're keeping me company, just the two of us in the woods?" It did sound like something The Children would have wanted to help out on. Most likely not without a whole lot of teasing and references to romantic scenes, but the trio had a habit of doing that to everyone in a daily basis; Minamoto in particular was usually their favorite victim, but there was no doubt that his charges truly loved him. One perhaps a little more, but that was her own business, and Naomi had chosen to keep such observations to herself.

Naomi was laughing. She was actually laughing, and it was like music to his audio receptors. Bit by bit, the Naomi he knew was coming back. It had been, in his opinion, far too long, but she was coming back.

"Do you have to word it like that?" Not that he could think of another way to word it off the top of his head, but it did put him in mind of the girls' teasing.

((ooc; I CAN TYPE I SWEAR.))

Edited 2009-09-29 06:13 (UTC)

A stickler for correcting mistakes, the girl tilted her head just slightly, making a soft, thoughtful noise under her breath as she pondered a solution.

"So you'll be spending the next few days with me in this clearing with no underlying intentions that would trouble my supervisor whatsoever?" She tried again, perfectly earnest.

((Awwww is someone tired.))

"Uh" was the only response he could think of for a moment, but that likely wouldn't give off a good impression. "Just about everything troubles your supervisor," he pointed out instead. Not that he had any underlying intentions- well, okay, maybe he wanted some alone time with Naomi. But that hardly counted.

"He... means well." A pause, and then Naomi's expression soured, as if she'd just remembered something extremely unpleasant. Given the fact that she'd been placed under the man's tutelage for a good many years, the guess wasn't far off. "... I think."

She just had to remember that she'd lived a semi-normal life because of him. She could overlook the figurine he'd had made of her, and the wedding plans she'd once caught him poring through when she was only fourteen, and the... extremely skimpy summer uniform... okay, this wasn't working.

"I probably haven't helped matters any," she chose to add, moving towards the abandoned campsite to investigate it. "Maybe this will make him think twice about his future bride, at least."

"His future bride and her giant alien robot," Jolt quipped as he watched her investigate for a moment. He decided he'd best do his own investigating and did a quick scanner sweep of the area, and was pleased to find that the little show earlier hadn't drawn anyone- human or otherwise- to the site.

That earned him the tiniest of snorts and a raised eyebrow, even as the esper got to work arranging some of the logs. She could have used her power, but after her early display, she thought it better to conserve what she had left. Losing control of it was draining enough.

"I don't know if he-- or me, for that matter-- would call you mine," she demurred. "I'd say that's assuming too much, and then he'd just be worried that you'd tag along on the nonexistent-never-going-to-happen honeymoon."

Jolt sauntered over after a moment, and began helping her in her rearranging. He didn't doubt she was drained after all that- he was a little tired himself, to be honest- and he was better suited for the heaving lifting anyway.

The Autobot angled his head a little, studiously ignoring that last bit of Naomi's statement. "No? Then what would you call me?"

Naomi gave him a tiny smile, allowing him to assist while she considered his question. Something that should have been simple to answer turned out to be one that she actually had to grant some serious thought to. Calling him hers would have been selfish-- he was his own autonomous robot, after all. And yet it still seemed natural to think of him that way.

"My friend," she said at last. "My car, maybe for outside appearances. But my giant alien robot? You'd have to call me your human before I could agree to that one."

He chuckled a little- Ironhide had already branded Naomi as 'Jolt's human', and wasted no time in teasing the younger Autobot about it when the opportunity presented itself. (The fact that Ironhide possessed a sense of humor, let alone one that allowed for teasing, had been a bit of a shock, however.)

"Maybe you are my human," Jolt replied. "I'm your Autobot, and you're my human. We belong to each other."

((ooc; ...yeah okay, passing out. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PAPER AND STUFF.))

Aaaand there he went echoing the director again. Only this time, Naomi thought she understood-- both him, and what Fujiko had meant at the time. It might have been mere coincidence that they had both ended up in the mall, and that she'd chosen to try and defend him while he'd quickly made it clear that he needed no defending. It might have been mere coincidence that they'd gotten along almost immediately, and that he'd followed her home.

But when Tsubomi Fujiko made an obvservation like that, it was more solid than any prediction the espers could reverse.

"... I think you're right." Logs arranged to her satisfaction, Naomi rocked back on her heels and plopped down for a breather. "It's as though that's how it should be."

((ooc: sob two more pages but will probably pass out soon and just plow through the gd horror later. SWEET DREAMS RO MY LOVE.))

Jolt remained standing, for fear of upsetting his joints further, and watched her for a moment. "And I wouldn't have it any other way," there was a sort of warm smile in his voice. One that, initially, surprised him. Impulsive, chaotic, smart-aft, he'd been called all of these things, and they were true. Caring and compassionate had never been on the list before.

"Do you ever wonder..." Still sitting, she tipped her head back to look up at the robot towering over her. It wasn't a hot day, nor was the sun overly bright, but he did provide an excellent source of shade. "Do you ever wonder just how we ended up like this?"

The Autobot's optic ridges knit together in mild confusion. "Ended up like what?" Friends? Partners? ...Whatever it was they were? (To be honest, Jolt wasn't sure how to describe them.)

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