TF - Action, Reaction

“…and you’re missing everything I’m saying, aren’t you, Freeze?”

Freezeframe glanced up briefly from the metal contraption taking up most of the space on his main lab table. Smiling a little at his brother, he tapped one audial and replied, “You didn’t ask me to multitask.”

“Actually I did,” Spotlight countered. “Three times, really loud, right down in front of your face.”

Raising an eyebrow, Freezeframe leaned back in his chair. “And that was near the start of this conversation?” At Spotlight’s nod, he concluded, “That explains it. By the way, I think I just managed to break the code of the inanimate stasis lock.” Gesturing to a particular area on the ambiguous metal shape that looked no different from any other, he started, “Imagine this is the starting point. In the last battle, that one Minibot, Ignition, decided it would be a good idea to—”

“Yes, I know; I was there too! I saw it with my own optics!” Spotlight cut in eagerly, said optics sparking as they always did immediately before a private performance. Freezeframe moved to put his hands over the metal but Spotlight lunged too quickly, scooping up the frame and faltering just once before adapting to its surprising weight.

“Just as the force field generators amplifying Trailbreaker’s output were about to go online,” Spotlight narrated, half-performing the motions of the ‘characters’ in play, “Skywarp transported himself straight to the furthest generator and ripped it from its socket!”

“It didn’t have a socket,” Freezeframe corrected, watching the contraption with a hint of unease as Spotlight swayed impatiently with it, waiting for him to finish explaining. “It was implanted into a detachable base that I designed just in case a Decepticon tried exactly that.”

“And Skywarp ripped it right out of that!” Spotlight continued almost seamlessly. “Fortunately without any damage since the base did its job, but nonetheless, the Autobot plan was halted. Skywarp, due to his elite status as a trine Seeker, used an intensely derogatory term for the Cybertronians who stayed close to the ground!”

“‘Mudslogging, slag-eating ornaments can’t even protect the things you hold most dear,’” Freezeframe quoted.

“I was going to say it!” Spotlight complained. When Freezeframe went mute, Spotlight knew he finally had his twin’s full attention. “Meanwhile, Ignition perfectly lives up to the standard set by all Minibot clans! They despise it when their height, function, or alternate mode is insulted. He goes perfectly still and looks perfectly calm before his arms begin to vibrate and I can see the air fluctuating around his hands!” Spotlight’s next words were a bit shaky as he imitated the vibrating, holding the chunk of metal out in front of him. “He seizes th-the generat-t-or and stops it in the air. For a split nanoklik, Skywarp is allowed to realize what’s about to happen! In a blur of color, the unliving metal flies the generator back into the base and is locked there in stasis, Ignition’s special power. Skywarp, who gets hit and dragged along the way, screams—”

Spotlight’s next words were outmatched by a mighty crash as the hunk of metal flew from his own hands, crashing into the wall to his left and scattering the tools hanging there. Spotlight yelped, dropping to the floor as something ricocheted. Freezeframe in turn leapt to his feet, releasing his own scream and diving for the rescue, launching into a horrified rant even as he scooped up any tools he could find and hung them back on their labeled hooks.

“Spotlight, you know how I feel about my tools; why weren’t you more careful?! This is an enclosed area and you have to follow the rules of physics!” After several minutes of intense silence and extremely careful adjusting, the wall was intact again, except…

“Where’s the machinist square?” Freezeframe wondered anxiously, glancing at his shoulder when something tapped against it.

“Is this it?” Spotlight questioned, sounding somewhat strained. Freezeframe paused for a single nanoklik when he felt an odd clenching in his chest. Was it Spotlight’s guilt for the accident? He couldn’t quite tell.

“Yes, that’s it. Thank you.” Taking the proffered tool, he set it on its hooks, analyzing the ninety-degree angle. He frowned slightly when he saw a smudge on the edge of the blade, wiping at it quickly before a sudden thought occurred to him and he flipped the tool over for inspection, finding it edged in blue.

“Did you get hit with this?” he asked in surprise, glancing over his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Spotlight answered shortly, casually resting one hand against the left side of his chamfron.

The tightness in their bond was stronger and clearer now: Spotlight was trying to stifle the pain he was feeling. Turning, Freezeframe crawled toward him, tugging at his wrist. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m good,” Spotlight insisted, his tone sharpening in the subtlest of ways. “It was an accident and it’s barely a mesh wound. It goes to show that your half-square makes a good boomerang.”

“That’s not what it’s used for,” Freezeframe countered immediately. When Spotlight said nothing for or against that, Freezeframe leaned back on his heels, looking him and down critically. At last he sighed, focusing a beam of coaxing warmth through their bond to counter the thin but stiff wall his brother was trying to put up between them.

~:Let me see. You might have to go to Pacemaker, Spite.:~

Spotlight couldn’t help huffing a laugh at the nickname and Freezeframe knew that counted as acquiescence, so he pulled Spotlight’s hand away from the three-inch wound and peered at it closely.

“Alright…as a side project, I’ve been working on an upgraded synthetic bandaging for Pacemaker to try and now’s a perfect time to test it.”

“Upgraded how?” Spotlight tracked Freezeframe’s movements suspiciously as he rose and dug through a row of drawers mounted into the back wall.

“Well, based on which type they need—” Freezeframe paused as he tore a piece from the roll of bandages he had found, returned, and pressed it against his brother’s helm. “—it gives the patient either a numbing agent or a sedative!”

“I don’t really think I need…” Spotlight trailed off, his optics dilating as he abruptly went into stasis. Freezeframe hummed contemplatively, studying Spotlight from a few different angles. Finally sliding his arms beneath his twin, Freezeframe placed him carefully in a corner where he would be out of the way, straightening his limbs. He knew exactly how much scrap Spotlight would give him if he came back online in a heap and had cramps that hindered his dancing.

“The bandaging’s a success, then,” Freezeframe mused as he stood and wandered back to his desk. “I should probably find a way to tell the two kinds apart…”