Jealous Blaster

[If he should break your heart
I'll always know where you are
If you should fall apart
I'll be there, I'll be around
If he should break your heart...

I'll be there..]

"Blaster."

[One night will remind you
How we touched and went our separate ways
If he ever hurts you
True love won't desert you
You know I still love you
'Though we touched and went our separate ways]

"Blaster!"

"Coach!"

A tap against the side of his leg made Blaster unshutter his optics and look down at the two small mechs hovering near the desk chair he sat in, chin to his chest, and previously more than content to remain there and listen to music. That was probably what was bothering them.

"Blaster," Rewind said, "You have been listening to the same two songs over and over. It does not take a telepathic link to know something is wrong. Nor do either of us need to guess what it is about."

"Well, good. Then leave a mech be."

The two Cassettobots drew back; he had never spoken to them using such a terse tone before. Rewind tapped his leg again. "Do you want to talk? Blaster, this isn't like you. You have always shrugged off anything that did not go your way before and carried on because there was always something else to do. Why let it get you down?"

It seemed like the boombox was going to try to keep it to himself. Then he sighed and sprawled across the chair, one arm hooking over the back. "Maybe 'cause I still don't know who it is. Maybe 'cause I keep thinkin' I coulda said somethin' more, or somethin' sooner. An'...I feel like I failed Tracks. With me, he'd know his sis was in good hands. Not some mech neither of us is sure of."

Eject piped up, "But it has to be someone in the Ark. That shouldn't seem like anyone struck out."

Blaster raised an optic ridge, looking at the blue Cassette. "An' what if it's someone like Sunstreaker?"

"Blaster, that's just paranoia. Sunstreaker's too in love with himself, anyway."

"I'm just sayin', man. We may all live here, but that don't mean we all see eye-t'-eye -- or would want certain others datin' our siblings."

[Here we stand, worlds apart
Hearts broken in two, two, two...]

Rewind folded his arms over his chest. "Well, sitting here moping will not resolve any of it. You should either ask Channel directly or...redouble your efforts to find out who sent the secret admirer messages."

Blaster chuckled dryly. "Are you encouragin' me t' be nosey?"

"If it will stop this behavior, then, yes. ...I'm tired of having to listen to this music."

"Heeyyy, Journey is classic stuff!"

"Then hit the shuffle button a few times, at least! Listening to these won't help your mood any."

"Sure it will!" Blaster tried to grin. They knew it was fake.

The black Cassette's optics dimmed in irritation. "No, it will not. I can tell. You may have set up a barrier so we don't drown in your emotions because of the link, but this is running too high right now. Pull yourself together, Blaster. You are not the self-pitying or jealous type. There are other femmes." Rewind's words sounded cold to his own audio receptors, but he knew that something harsh might get through to the boombox better than sympathy.

Blaster gazed at the Cassettes for a long moment, then both smaller mechs experienced an odd sensation in the relays that were remotely connected to their host; suddenly things felt very quiet. Again Blaster used that terse voice. "I'll just have t' keep things t' myself more, then. A mech's entitled t' wantin' t' find someone t' settle down with instead of flittin' around all th' time."

[Then I start to break... is it my mistake
Tell me, am I wrong
For holdin' on to you..?]

Eject took the hint and quickly left to find somewhere else to be. Rewind held his ground for a few more nanokliks, then shook his head and followed after his fellow Cassette. The door closed behind them and Blaster resumed his hunched position in the chair. I usually ain't th' prayin' kind, but if you're listenin', Primus, please give me just one more chance t' prove t' her that I'm the better mech...

"Won't you stay for me...sing with me...one moment more... For just one golden moment..my silver girl..."

(Alternating lyrics from "If He Should Break Your Heart" and "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by, duh, Journey. Last quote is modified lyrics from "Silver Girl" by Survivor.)

Naive Blaster

The world was dark and all input was calibrating. Unfamiliar frequencies were registering all over his internal board.

"Blaster, you receivin'? It's Jazz."

"Jazz? What happened? I feel like I got an upgrade without anyone tellin' me."

"Ah..ya did."

He sat up, optics abruptly online -- and first wondered what he was doing on a med bay table, then stared at the mech beside him who looked different from how he last recalled seeing him. His mouth pulled down into a frown. "That ain't right."

"No, but it was a matter of survival -- you an' several others got knocked around when we crashed. Plus, ev'rybody had ta adapt ta our new home."

"Crash? New home? What about the mission?"

"Stalled for a few millenia."

"What th' slag are you talkin' 'bout?!"

"Easy, man. The Decepticons attacked and boarded the ship, an' while we put up a fight, we ended up crash-landin' on a planet called Earth. We all got stuck in stasis, then a volcano eruption activated Teletran-1 an' got almost ev'rybody back up an' runnin' in new forms suited to this planet. We had ta deal with the 'Cons before we could finish checkin' through ev'ry corner of the ship, includin' the crew that was already in stasis for the trip itself."

Blaster nodded. "Okay, so...what am I now? I'm feelin' feedback from all sorts'a strange stuff. I can tell I still got my comm hub abilities, but...it feels different."

Jazz grinned. "You're a boombox now, m'man. Check it out." He held up a rectangular black and gray object with speakers on either side and what Blaster guessed was a comm-disk reader in the middle. It had a handle on top and various buttons for -- reception adjustment? "Figured you might like it. Suits you, I thought, especially once you get the hang of what this place's got in terms of movin' an' groovin'." He flicked a switch on the side of the object and strange...yet catchy...music drifted out of the speakers. Jazz automatically put the box on one shoulder and snapped his fingers in time.

Blaster stared some more. "That sound...is awesome."

Jazz laughed. "You ain't heard the half of it! Go ahead, transform, see what you can pick up."

The red and gray mech did so, settling on the table in his new form and throwing all his sensors outward to get a reading on the physical. "Slag, this is small. Major part compression, but...not really complainin'. Lemme see what the reception's like..." He accessed a frequency and from that day forward never complained about the alt mode size or part compression ever again -- rock and roll thrummed through his every relay and he was in bliss. "...Jazz...I'm lovin' this planet. Who created this euphoric noise?"

"The dominant race is a buncha soft-skinned creatures called humans. They're not very advanced, but, man, do they ever know their music."

"I wanna meet 'em. An' thank 'em for th' welcome."

Jazz chuckled again. "Keep scannin' the airwaves. Like I said, you ain't heard the half of it..."

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(c) 2006 S. Loweck. This work may not be copied, distributed, or reprinted without the author's permission. Characters of Blaster, Rewind, Eject, and Jazz are property of Hasbro and Takara. Character of Channel is property of S. Loweck and may not be "borrowed" or mentioned in other works without notifying the author first