restless
Bumblebee was known for picking fights when antsy, turning to aggression when annoyed, or indulging a fight when some of the others felt similarly pent up and stressed. A good handful of it unprovoked. On top of that he wasn't exactly the best at taking or following orders and he figured that his loyalty, previously noted insubordination aside, was what spared him the most ire and contributed to how easily he usually got out of most trouble. Often, these confrontations were mostly centred around some small amount of shouting when on the field or a scolding, if anything were to be said at all after the fact. He knew Optimus was fond of him but he was also old enough to know he shouldn't push, shouldn’t rely on that fondness to always guide their leader’s decisions.
That only stopped him sometimes.
Not once, however, had it ever stopped him from going to Barricade. Had Optimus been lucky enough to have discovered the fraternisation early on it may have; there had certainly been a time where he worried over the possibility that he was endangering his team more than himself. Back then when his intentions began and ended at ‘seduce the old ‘Con because their fights make him run hot’. That was then and he had not, in fact, been that lucky. He hadn’t considered until a few days later that Optimus may know more than he was letting on, though it would remain a thought; not his place. At the time, however, he had pouted his way through the conversation and fussed and tossed his hands and took out his frustrations on some of his teammates. As expected, most likely. And, again, the others needed the energy release as much as he did.
Cliffjumper would be happier to oblige a fight than the majority (with little antagonising, rather) should they ever get him back up in fighting condition. This idea was often overshadowed by their habit when they were new, and with his eyes on Barricade… Well, he had never felt for him. He didn’t need to add that to his growing list of bad decisions.
One of those bad decisions involved taking the first opportunity he had to sneak off just three weeks into the unofficial ceasefire. He’d behaved long enough, as far as he was concerned, and there had been little for him to do that day. Bumblebee completed the couple tasks assigned to him and escaped before he could be given new ones should they have found more use for him.
Today wasn’t a fun search, not really. It started out as it usually did then a while in he'd become skittish after failing to locate the target Decepticon along his usual route. It was then that he considered the possibility that Megatron had a plan all along, that the Decepticons were merely lying in wait and decided to be less showy about it. No need to catch unwanted attention. He knew that if those odds were to fall on him it would less of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and more in the lines of someone less ideal than Optimus Prime knowing about their escapades.
He could also be wasting his time – he’d started mid-morning, it was nearly dark. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that Megatron or the humans had dispatched him. Not that he dwelt on these thoughts after he’d worn down the unease; there had been longer stretches between them and he hadn’t entirely expected to encounter him the first day out by himself. He had been hopeful, however.
He’d been better at guarding himself against this, before. For those reasons, for the time, because Barricade might have ulterior motives. Because they were at war and either of them may die.
♪ They call it fire ♪
The audio mockery had been directed at himself and he gestured in frustration at some dust or bits of plant, whichever it was, floating in the light of a street lamp as he crossed a small, empty parking lot to a boarded up convenience store. He ground a heel into the tarmac and turned to stare back out at the emptiness with his hands on his hips. Quiet. Perhaps he could try to slip away again tomorrow.
