#saltyfic

[saltysaltdog]

I promised to post scraps, and I can't figure out how to rework this into what I want. I'll do a proper ao3 link later.... maybe.

Mixed signalling

Optimus Prime and Agent Fowler are on a routine patrol when he's brutally reminded of the traffic differences between countries.

Transformers prime. G rating, 780+ words. Optimus Prime & Agent Fowler.

Agent Fowler wasn't paying that much attention to the road. So when the truck slammed on its brakes, forcing itself into a stop so quickly the trailer end lifted off the ground, he wasn't prepared for it and fell forwards, the horn so loud he couldn't feel anything else.

While this would be a problem, he wasn't driving even though he was in the driver's seat. Optimus Prime had never liked anyone trying to drive him. The wheel, turning signals and brakes were mainly cosmetic. Fowler had never really needed to correct Optimus on anything, so when the brake lights flashed on the vehicle ahead and he felt the truck slowing down he figured Prime had it handled. 

Fowler fell back onto his seat, unable to draw in air, but the horn was still blaring without his weight on it. He could just barely see the car over Prime's hood.

"Get some proper tail lights you moron!" Prime shouted at the small hatchback which zoomed off as fast as it could. 

"Prime!" Fowler shouted.

Optimus didn't answer for a second too long and he grabbed the gear shift. He flicked the blinkers as he found a place to pull over. "Have you lost your mind?" 

"I'm sorry, Agent Fowler," Optimus's deep voice finally rumbled. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You did more than just that, Prime," Fowler commented, seeing the road smoking in the rear view mirror. 

"Are you alright?" Optimus asked, suddenly concerned.

"Yeah, fine," he brushed off, and then rubbed his chest, feeling the outline of where the steering wheel hit. He was going to have bruises later. 

He unbuckled his seat belt and slid out onto the verge, shutting the door behind him.

He took a deep breath before assessing the damage, crouching down to look at the wheels and the shock absorbers. Prime hadn't been hitched to anything so at least there was no cargo to check.

The wheels didn't look too bad, they still had treads and he felt along the bumper for any new dents. There were so many scratches already, he really should get it seen by a mechanic.

"What are you doing?" 

"You nearly hit someone, Prime, I got to make sure that-" he'd been about to say that the truck was fine, which would be odd because Optimus was the truck.

"Thank you for your concern," Optimus said after a moment. "However, I have sustained no injuries."

"Mind telling me what the hell that was then?" Fowler asked, straightening up and taking a look around. The area they were in wasn't that mountainous, and since logging trucks had to use the area the roads didn't have too many curves, but it was enough to have him rattled about running into someone else. It was too hard to see if other vehicles were around.

"...I have been doing missions in Australia," Optimus admitted, somewhat reluctantly. "The models of vehicles there are less confusing. I've had trouble adjusting back to the American standard."

"Australia huh, yeah. Something about signals in the outback. Don't they drive on the other side of the road? What's that got to do with nearly rear ending someone."

"It wasn't my fault," Optimus snapped. "They were the ones who chose to have their brake lights double as turning signals!"

His engines revved loudly.

"Woah, easy big guy."

"I could have squashed them!"

"Nobody's getting squished," Agent Fowler asserted.

He waited for the revving to settle a bit before approaching, feeling a bit like he was subduing a wild horse. A feeling that wasn't helped by him running his hand along the hood and finding it warm and breathing.

He didn't actually know when Optimus may have calmed down, but he waited for what felt like long enough to him before settling back into the cab and putting his seat belt back on. 

They pulled out and this time Fowler paid attention to the road, keeping one hand on the steering wheel at all times.

He blinked as rain started to fall and automatically hit the wipers, forgetting that Prime disliked the micromanagement. There was no reprimand however, as Prime slowly rolled up to a stop sign. 

"I can't handle much more of this."

Fowler blinked, uncertain he'd even heard it over the sound of the rain. 

"...Did you want me to drive for a while?"

There was no response but a weary little shift of the truck on its wheels and it pulled forward, too slowly to be intentional. 

Fowler took the wheel and pressed on the pedal. With a rumble underneath him, he was driving the truck as Prime fiddled with the radio, trying to find a good signal. 

They finished the patrol without a word.

[theravencawsatmidnight]

I WROTE FINALLY AAAAHHH.

Its about my OC Shio. ♥️

Salty.

UA Highschool, where Heroes go to perfect their quirks, where many many Heroes have put their name on the map to become a Pro. But for some that's not always the case, some end up in General Studies because they couldn't defeat a giant robot because they have little control over their quirk. Her name was Shio , and she was a third year at UA in General Studies.

She had little to no control over the quirk, if someone came into contact with her via skin to skin they would fall into a controlled state, often staring into nothing , their eyes got much bigger and they would tell her they saw a Skeleton Man with a bunch of scary Halloween citizens, or a floating ghost dog with a red nose , or a corpse bride wandering the forest. Some saw scissors that struck fear into them thinking they were going to die. The biggest complaint she got though, people would tell her they felt like they were being turned into Meat Pies. And if she wanted to break someone out of her control she would have to think about happy things, not things that make her happy… things that person who is under control happy… safe to say she struggled with this. It was also quickly nicknamed the Fear Effect by Shio.

Her parents had similar touch based quirks; her father could make anybody tell the truth via touch and her mother could talk to animals via touch. It's safe to say she had a lot of cats at home. They could not figure out how to help her with her quirk though, Shio refused to try to make friends, she was scared she would touch someone by accident.

Her First Year was one big roller coaster for her; Teachers telling her she should really get a mentor and transfer into the Hero Course, Students saying she has a really cool quirk , although some were wary of it, her. The Sports Festival was quite the event. She was up against Todoroki and he nearly gave her frostbite , when he realized though he hugged her with his warm side and Shio whispered ‘i'm sorry’ and touched his cheek. Slipping him under her control , they both passed out but Shio had an arm outside the field causing her to lose.

After that she did not try to talk to anyone , just went to class and went straight home. At some point during her first year she wanted pretty gloves instead of the old ones she found at a store so she asked Hatsume to make them which she was very excited about doing. They were black with purple cats on them to match her purple hair.

Her second year was lonely, the only student who understood her was Hitoshi since he had a similar quirk, he kept her company in class when no one else would. But it was short lived when he was transferred to the Hero Course.

And here she was now, a Third year at UA, still in General Studies. Still with little control over her quirk, she felt like she didn't belong at UA, her parents were not Pros but.. they wanted their daughter to have a good life, meet a nice Pro Hero who would provide for her, have lots of money. But with the way she was it was clear that was not happening for her.

She was in the restroom brushing her hair in the mirror. The bell rung and it was finally time to leave, with a sigh she put her brush in her bag and looked in the clean mirror. She had very large eyes, a side effect from her quirk, long wavy purple hair down to her chest with one side shaved, she wore leggings under her UA skirt to avoid any skin to skin along with her gloves. The only thing she had to look forward to today was this new online game that dropped .

[saltysaltdog]

Here's a megashock thing I don't know how to continue but kinda stands alone: fulfilling my promise for posting things. Ideally it'd go through the conjunx ritual stuff from idw, but it is what it is.

—

Megatron didn't expect to be alive. He felt like the pits themselves but he knew he'd live: the air smelled like dried innermost mech fluid and steriliser. He was in his arena's medical bay. 

The bastards at the factory had kept the doors locked even after the fire was discovered. Megatron could close his vents completely and so hadn't been too concerned wading into the flames. His plating's thermal shielding was leagues above average.

He'd spent too long with the title 'invincible'.

Shockwave would make sure he lived, no matter what. 

What Shockwave wouldn't do was respect patient autonomy. He'd have to wake up quickly before Shockwave tried stealing bits of his plating again.

He coughed intentionally. The motion tricked his body into coughing properly and brought with it sharp wrappings of pain twisting through all of his vents. 

Before he could breathe in any of the soot through his vents, his coughs were focused into a filter lined bag. 

His optics couldn't release moisture properly and were gummed up, but that too was quickly taken care of by the person at his back.

The positioning confused him. He wasn't lying on a medical slab or the ground but he knew that firm and precise grip anywhere.

"Shockwave?" He managed to creak out, blinking uselessly. 

"Be silent," Shockwave instructed, clearing the optical pipe of the gunk so more didn't block the lenses.

Megatron could only suffer meekly as Shockwave eased the shutters open and set to cleaning, only pausing to wait out another coughing fit. 

Through the clean wiper fluid tearing at the corners of his optics after another coughing fit he saw the room. It held no interest to him however as in his peripheral vision was purple: Specifically purple legs underneath him.

"No," Shockwave told him as he tried to rise and pushed him back down. "Your temperature is still too high."

"But…"

"It's fine. Just this once."

Shockwave petted his helm for a brief moment. 

Now that he was listening for it: Megatron could hear Shockwave's cooling rack chilling the room, auxiliary fans exposed to the elements.

It shook him to his core.

He must be somewhat sooty, he was still coughing up flecks after all. Such a thing could wreak havoc on a cooling unit like Shockwave's; and yet he'd taken the risk solely for Megatron's comfort. There was no need for it now, if he was awake he must be fine, and yet Shockwave remained, his hand on Megatron's helm, checking his temperature again.

It was far more than Megatron had ever expected from Shockwave. 

It was awkward for bots with cooling racks in Kaon. They were often reduced to their base functions in a way no other mechanism was. Shockwave had to fight it harder than most, he possessed a voluptuous figure and lacked a facial plate. 

For him to willingly do this… it made Megatron quietly reassess everything he knew about the mech.

Shockwave was diligent, blunt, and devoted to science. Megatron had never assumed that he was anything more than a prized specimen and a valuable patron, granting him access to the arena and all its brutal spoils. 

This was intimate. Devoted. Loyal. 

Megatron hid his face against Shockwave's thighs and let the refreshing chill sweep across his back; followed closely by Shockwave's hand.

"Thank you," Megatron murmured, too self conscious to risk ruining this quiet moment.

"You're welcome," Shockwave assured him, petting him with more liberal affection.

They didn't speak after that.

—

[saltysaltdog]

And I hope we both die (638 words) by Salty_Dog

Prompt: Victory

Bad end, bad friends, STOP MONOLOGUING.

Optimus prime awakens from a cryo sleep he doesn't remember having induced, onto a ship that looks patched together from garbage, and Megatron's there. That's not the worst of it.

The last megop week prompt. I finally completed a challenge. Well it's been real, see you in five years.

***

The hissing of the cryo-stasis chamber was the final toll in the storage room. 

Optimus prime stumbled out on shaky legs and held onto the wall. The mist obscured the floor and scattered the emergency lighting. Optimus blinked around, dazed and wandering around on newborn legs. His digit was firm on the trigger however and he pointed it at Megatron's seated form.

"A part of me wished you'd died in there," Megatron said while staring at the wall. He was older than Optimus had seen him last, and the years had not been kind. 

"They told me that after so long in stasis your mind might have been damaged, rendering you inoperable.

"I faked your execution," Megatron explained, slipping Optimus a sympathetic grimace for the redundancy of it. "The smelter opened up into that stasis pod. And I announced that I was holding you hostage: You'd remain alive so long as the autobots cooperated, then once we were all settled we'd wake you up.

"I think I wanted to show you it. To rub in your face how I could succeed where no one else could, make a utopia." His eyes lit up in remembrance of the idea, of the glory in it. Then it slipped from his grasp, his expression turning to ash. "Every year I asked myself if now was the time, if it was enough for you to stand aside and not try to lead. If you'd be proud of what we accomplished– of me. It never seemed like enough.

"It worked. We progressed. Progress stalled. Resentment grew. They protested me. They demanded I stand down." He ran a hand down his face at the irony, in agony because of it. "And I stood aside." 

Optimus lowered the gun, removing his finger from the trigger. Megatron didn't look at him. He had his arms crossed, propped up on one knee, and his mouth pressed to his fusion cannon, hiding his frown.

Optimus didn't approach and perhaps sensing Megatron just wanted him to listen, sat down on the floor as well.

"You may have guessed why I didn't bother unfreezing you then. I was surprised nobody else did, but then I guess they wanted to avoid you becoming an empty vessel. Of course maybe they forgot," Megatron shot him a grin. "You'd be surprised how quickly we fade into obscurity, but then, as soon as an emergency hits…" he made a grand gesture. 

"What happened?" He asked.

"It's really been too long since I heard your voice," Megatron commented wistfully, "I don't recognise it."

"Megatron," Optimus growled.

"Ah, there it is." Megatron's voice had a gentle lilt to it that made Optimus glare even harder. Megatron wasn't smiling however, hadn't even glanced over in his direction. "Cybetron had a few leaders after, even Starscream, though he didn't last long. Then star systems started going dark, first just on the outer reaches, then whole planets went off the grid. Try to travel to them and there's … nothing. We start to be on the lookout, start making contingency plans. They fell through. Whatever this thing was, it couldn't be stopped by the best weapons defense system we could think up.

"Then suddenly when this thing is on our doorstep they want to talk, said if anyone could stop it, it's those they put on this ship. Cybertrons last hope. 

"Flattering but nonsense really. What are we going to do over something that can eat a sun? We aren't even going to outrun it." 

Megatron sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "And I couldn't even let you sleep through it. Guess I should apologise." 

"Megatron…"

"What is it, Prime?"

Optimus waited until Megatron looked up at him.

"I wished you'd died, too."

Megatron barked a joyous laugh that was cut short by the void of space.

[saltysaltdog]

That deathless death (900+ words) by Salty_Dog

Megop 2022: Regret/loneliness 

Coma, referenced mind control, grief/mourning, mild hurt/comfort,

Megatron goes comatose after unicron leaves him, presumably taking his consciousness with him.

Optimus ran a hand down his face, slumping down the closed door.

Today had been brutal. 

Not really, he'd had worse, but he had millions of years of war behind him which only now seemed to be taking its toll.

"I'm home," he said aloud, not expecting nor receiving an answer. 

He pulled himself out of the hallway, typing in the passcode to actually get into his apartment proper. Red alert would have been pleased with the dual security, though not with what laid inside.

Standing at ease in the middle of the room was Megatron, what was left of him. He had no reaction to Optimus's greeting, no comment for the slovenly way Optimus groaned and draped himself across the couch. The only time he reacted was when Optimus clicked on the device around his wrist and spoke into it. "Bring two cubes of high grade please."

Megatron turned around and walked away, direct in his motions but not clumsy. The cubes didn't spill at all and Megatron stopped just above him.

"Sit with me," Optimus ordered. 

Megatron sat down and Optimus took his cube and draped himself across Megatron's lap. 

Once he'd been self conscious, barely able to look at the unconscious mech for days for even taking such liberties as sitting together just barely close enough to touch. 

He was beyond that now, swapping through channels until he got to the visual radio. No faces, no words, just pictures and music. He pulled Megatron's hand over his back. 

"Pet me." 

Megatron's hand was warm and heavy. It had taken multiple tries to find what words had associations to them. Massage and rub didn't, but pet did and Optimus took a sip on his high grade and settled in.

After about ten minutes he realised he'd forgotten something and looked up to see Megatron still awkwardly holding a full cube.

"Sip the high grade then put it down." 

He had to order it or else Megatron would hold it aloft till his servos failed. Ratchet told him he'd been lucky to even manage this much and Optimus made a mental note to remind Megatron to sip some more of his cube every few songs. 

They'd found him comatose shortly after everything with Unicron had been finished. He was alive, everything functioning as intended but there was no cognition, no awareness. He just existed. 

The first year was the worst. Megatron was hooked up to so many machines to try and keep him stable after so long frying out in the desert. Then when they finally realised everything was okay physically they jumped through so many hoops to get the cortical psychic patch onto him and found nothing there. Megatron was gone. Oh his memories were there and strangely enough his system could make new ones, but without a driving consciousness choosing what was important he just didn't. They took him off life support but he no longer needed it. 

Megatron could eat and drink energon, he blinked, he moved away from pain. And Optimus… Optimus figured that counted as alive. He needed it to count as alive. Aside from proper maintenance and cleaning Megatron could fend for himself. Ratchet built a device that plugged straight into his motivator and thus "voice operated warlord," as Smokescreen so horribly put it. 

"Drink some more high grade." 

Megatron dutifully took another sip and Optimus closed his eyes as Megatron's systems rumbled with increased activity. Megatron had never gotten used to high grade. His systems overcharged on it quite easily, and Optimus found the excess heat wonderful. He'd always been warm as Megatronus, at least to Orion, but as Optimus it was hard to find such a long lasting and effective heatpack.

Eventually Optimus had the energy for something more watchable and swapped channels. Once he had tried to get Megatron to pick but it hadn't worked. Either he'd swap channels one up and leave it or he'd just repeatedly run through them all too fast to even see what was on. 

Optimus was beyond that now.

He sat up and nearly jolted as Megatron's hand kept up with him. Those once vivacious eyes following him with utter neutrality. That was normal, but every once in a while Optimus somehow started to fool himself into thinking that Megatron looking at something, scratching an itch, or turning over in the middle of the night was a sign of something more than his own orders or a pain avoidance reaction. 

"Get up," he ordered and failed to stop his previous order, leading to Megatron gently petting his head. "Enough."  

It was enough to bring him to the verge of tears which he quickly swallowed down.

"Go to bed, Megatron."

He went without a backward glance and Optimus took his leftover high grade and stored it away before setting the place in order, as if going through a routine would stop the churning in his system. It didn't, and naturally as so often happened, Optimus climbed in with Megatron, squeezing him tight and ordering him to do the same. 

"I miss you," Optimus whispered, "so much."

There was no response and Optimus let himself be comforted by the illusion he was just asleep, that's all it was.

He fell asleep like that. In the morning Megatron's arms would be slack enough for Optimus to slip out of and pretend he was sneaking out while Megatron was still resting. Or maybe this would be one of the nights were Megatron accidentally woke him up by knocking him off the bed. 

Tonight in any case he needed the lie and Megatron was all too accommodating.

[saltysaltdog]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

A Gentle Battle (2901 words)

by Salty_Dog

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Megatron/Optimus Prime

Domestic Fluff, Idiots in Love, megop week 2022, Misunderstandings, mentions of tactile and hardline interface but they're short, Megatron was playing chess and Optimus was but only bc Megatron was moving his pieces

It's been twenty three years since the ceasefire. Even Starscream's longest schemes never lasted more than five unless there was something in it for him personally.

Optimus was more patient, but surely he was at his limit by now.

---

This was meant to be longer with more vignettes but non-linear story telling is chewing me up and spitting me out. So I'll add more chapters likely 3 years from now.

Based on the prompts gentle/battle for megop week 2022.

[finrays]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

I’ve been working on this instead of Blue Horizon... chapters will go up sporadically! But they’re all finished and ready for upload... but drawing it out will be more fun for all of us >:)

[theravencawsatmidnight]

Salty

Part Two

Shios quirk. Fear Touch if she has skin to skin contact with someone she can make them see scary things causing them to be terrified. Their eyes get as big as hers abd a Grim Reaper can get inside their heads and lead them to their death.

The walk home was a little long plus a subway ride to the far end of the city. Shio sat down on the mostly empty subway with her bag on her lap, the tips of her shoes touching rubbing together thinking.

Did she waste her time in General Studies? What if she pushed herself to focus more, would she be in the Hero Course? Shio leaned back closing her eyes listening to the rails. Could she.. be a Hero? She already had a sketch of her costume; it was a corset piece with a special black robe tied around her neck that traveled down to her feet to hide her exposed skin. A small smile appeared on her face just thinking about it. Sometimes Shio could see her quirk in her head, a little dog with stitches all over it running around excited. He wasn't scary. None of the images were, at least not to her.

“Miss..?”

Her eyes shot open to see a man looking at her. “I think the last stop is next”

“Th..tha..” she got up running off the train as soon as it stopped, heaving hard.

“I almost fell asleep ..” Shio flipped her hair to one side and started her walk home.

••

Shio was greeted by her family's seven cats , all meowing loudly to show how happy they were to see her. Only one would let her pick them up though, it was a white cat with one green eye and one blue one. “Baby.. how are you?” She asked petting the cat. . “Mom and dad are not home yet..?” They always got home late..

Shio set the cat down on her desk and pulled off her uniform and leggings for some blue high waisted shorts and a t shirt with cats on them. She turned her laptop on to see that the MMO game was done installing. As soon as she clicked the icon Baby jumped onto her lap getting comfortable. Shio shifted to sit indian style to accommodate her and the cat.

The game was a MMO fantasy type with character creation and tons of quests and of course skins to buy or roll. She was just starting out and she the choice of Healer,Attacker, or Witch/Wizard. She chose Healer and a giant purple hat with a matching purple robe and curly black boots with big gold buckles on them , her hair was down to her back and black in one long braid. Since she chose Healer she started off a little far behind everyone else in her party. It was random till you reached level 15, then you could make a guild or join one. Everyone was nice to her in the chat but she did not say too much, she used the emotes more than anything.

It was a few hours later and she had only reached level 10 , Baby was still on her lap and her parents were home now. They peaked into her room and Shio said Hello, answered the endless questions till they were satisfied and left.

Most people in the party left, it was just her and one other person whose username was Dust. Their character was an Attacker in what looked like really rare gear; it was armour that had a shine to it with a gold crown on its head tilted to the side. They played together till about 9 at night. She even saved him a few times.

🗡thanks

🧂No problem! Thank you for the exp help

🗡mhm. You did good , can I send you a request?

🧂sure heh.

(Notification)

(Click)

🗡is that you?

🧂huh? Yeah , heh.

It was a medium circle above her profile that displayed her character info with a picture of her in it. Sitting criss cross with Baby on her lap sleeping.

🗡Hmm. Pretty

🧂o-oh uhm.. thank you!

Shio felt her heart jump in her chest

🗡Will you be on tomorrow?

🧂yes around 4 maybe.

🗡ah, okay then.

🧂ill catch you tomorrow!

🗡. Sure.

Shio clicked off the game and placed her hand over her chest, she leaned back trying not to giggle at the thought of making a friend .. but still.. it was nice.

Meanwhile, Shigaraki was still playing the game, pausing every now and then to look at her picture till he actually saved it.

••

Shio felt nice for the first time in a long time. Her heart all aflutter over meeting someone even if it was online. Now she had something to look forward to everyday besides leaving school. Shio cuddled her pillow in bed falling asleep with a dumb smile on her face.

In the morning she was woken up by her mother.

“Shio , honey.”

Shio rolled over , her hair falling in her face.

“Time for school”

“Uhnn..” she pulled herself up in bed on her arms giving her mother a tired/annoyed look. “Fine..”

It always took Shio a long time to get ready for school, everyday she was losing motivation to even show up. She was sitting on her floor in front of a mirror braiding her hair thinking about it. Could she even drop out? She rolled her eyes at the thought. As if her parents would allow that. ‘Find a nice Pro Hero at UA and settle down’ is what they would say. But that was easier said than done.

The subway ride was crowded this morning and Shio was forced to use one of the handles in the middle of the walk way. It was okay for the most part.

Shigaraki stepped onto the subway in all black taking a seat in the corner of the subway . Looking all around he spotted a purple haired girl who seemed to be leaning on her arm looking sad. Hm. A UA student? Was that her? He tilted his head watching her while pulling his burner phone out to look at the picture and then her a few times. Same hair, same eyes. It was her. Well his day just got interesting.

Shigaraki kept his eyes on her the whole ride , he was getting off at the same stop so why not. He had a little plan for UA…

Shio was still leaning on her arm looking at her phone scrolling the internet . Her search list consisted of:

Touch based quirks

Skin to skin quirks

How to control skin to skin quirks

Quirk Marrages

Her parents wouldint actually do that tonher right..? She was their daughter. Maybe Aizawa could help her with her quirk today. The subway screeched to a stop and Shio put her phone in her bag getting off the stop and making her way up the long hill to UA.

Shigaraki followed her close by watching her posture, her movements. That uniform was too big for her. The sleeves were too long . Was she in the Hero Course? What was her quirk? So many questions. He hung back when he noticed a group of kids all huddled together , they seemed to be waiting for someone.

Popular huh? Well look at you. He thought to himself tilting his head.

Shio walked past the group stepping into the UA grounds and Shigaraki clicked his teeth in annoyance. Okay maybe not. Well he would see you again soon enough. He pulled his burner phone out again , this time dialing Kurigiri. “Im here, be ready in a hour or so”

Salty.

I WROTE FINALLY AAAAHHH. Its about my OC Shio. ♥️ UA Highschool, where Heroes go to perfect their quirks, where many many Heroes have pu