Ain’t got Rhythm

Thrash had started taking walks on his own recently, whenever he was too overwhelmed or needed his own space. It let his thoughts clear out, keep him from doing something stupid out of an overwhelming boredom. His parents were fine with it as long as he stayed in proximity to the Malto family home.

One of these walks are what led him to hearing the distant strum of a guitar. He perked up, listening for the song as it reverberated through the woods. In his curiosity, he followed the sound.

He found a small basin in the forest, with a lake at the bottom and rocks scattered around. Half of the basin was grassy, facing the forest, while the rest was blocked off by a giant boulder.

And down in the little grassy area was another mech, strumming what looked to be some giant guitar. He had a blue visor and two audial horns on his black helm, with a white chassis adorned with blue and red stripes.

He was a damn good player too, whistling along with his song for awhile.

Thrash stayed low, listening to the stranger’s music, until he heard the other mech chuckle.

“Al’right, you can come out. I don’t bite.” He said, smirking as he looked towards Thrash. He paused, thinking about how to do this smartly, before ignoring it and coming out of the bushes he hid himself in.

“Hey there!” He greeted, sliding down the steep basin hill towards the other mech. “I liked your music there, you’re pretty good.”

“Thanks my mech.” The stranger said, giving Thrash a smirk. “I’m guessin’ you’re one of those Terrans Optimus told us about?” He said, going back to his guitar, but Thrash jumped.

“He’s telling people about us? I know we’re not quite a secret anymore…” Thrash said, before the mech with a guitar shook his helm.

“Nah, only his top mechs right now. Name’s Jazz.” He greeted, and Thrash perked up. He recognized that name, and going through his comic memory he could easily pull up Jazz - he almost hit himself with how obvious it was now.

“Oh yeah, the Autobot Third in Command, the guy who did all the sneaky stealth stuff right?! Bumblebee worked for you!” He said, pulling his arms to his chest in excitement.

The mech, Jazz, chuckled. “One and the same kid, now which tyke are ya?”

“I’m Thrash, Thrash Malto!” He greeted, putting a servo to his chest and puffing up.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Thrash.” Jazz said, offering his servo and chalking Thrash’s. “Didn’t expect to meet anyone this far into the woods, though I suppose this is your territory huh?”

“Oh, well, I was just going on a walk when I heard you. I wanted to play the guitar myself, but… uh…” He said, laughing at himself. “I wasn’t very good at it.”

Jazz gave Thrash a thoughtful look, before clicking his tongue. “Well, I’d be willin’ to play some songs right now. Just been relaxing out here, any favourites? I’m sure I can play it.” Jazz said, patting the ground next to him.

“Alright, thanks J-er, Mr. Jazz.” Thrash said, correcting his prefix. Mo had been teasing him about it, how he tended to call everyone by their first name despite what they were supposed to be called.

“No problem kid, now here’s one of my favourites.” Jazz said, and Thrash eagerly sat down next to him. He smiled, watching the musician’s fingers on the guitar as he strummed out the first notes of Wonderwall and tapped his hands to the beat on his legs.

-

Time sped up until the afternoon, when Thrash started to get feels sent over from his siblings, breaking the musical spell Jazz had accidentally put over them.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I gotta get home now. It was nice watching you play Mr. Jazz!” He said, backing away somewhat frantically and he tried to text his Mom that he was on his way back and had just gotten distracted.

“It’s no problem kid, maybe I’ll see you sometime soon!” Jazz called out to the retreating Thrash, who yelled back “Bet on it!” He gave finger guns to seal the deal, which Jazz gave back.

Thrash got a small word from Bee about being out so late, but no one had really worried about Thrash during that time - he was close enough that they could still distantly feel him the whole time. Mom and Dad were just happy he was back in time for dinner: cave water for the Terrans, Energon for Bee, and human food for everyone else.

In the end, Trhash was just happy to find someone who could actually play all the songs he couldn’t. It had been frustrating, practicing over and over again, annoying his siblings, but seemingly never getting the song right.

Even Twitch had told him to give it a rest sometimes, since his playing was “so bad it could make someone’s audials go numb”. He had stopped playing as much because of that, but hearing Jazz play had helped reignite that interest in music once more.

Maybe he should start practicing out in the woods too, get his juices flowing! (And stop annoying everyone in the Dugout or the Barn).

-

The next time Thrash saw Jazz, it was actually back at the house. Jazz had pulled up and Bumblebee had greeted him warmly, making Thrash give a slight sigh of relief (he was still a little worried about his lack of judgement with mechs, the swindle incident on rewind in his mind).

“Hey everyone, this is my old boss: Jazz! He’s the best musician and boss I know!” Bumblebee had said, giving Jazz a slap on the back which Jazz laughed good naturedly to.

“I dunno, you might want to consult Blaster with that judgement.” Jazz teased back.

“Anyways, here is everyone: That’s Hashtag, Nightshade, Jawbreaker…” Bumblebee introduced each Terran, who waved to indicate who they were to Jazz who smiled back. “… and that’s Twtich and Thrash.”

“Yeah, I saw Thrash the other day in the woods, I got to play him some music for a bit.” Jazz laughed.

“It’s nice to see you again!” Thrash said to him, getting a softer smile from the older mech.

“So that’s what you were doing all afternoon! I was sure you got distracted by a deer or something!” Twitch said, hovering just off the ground.

“Well I just wanted to stop by and meet everyone else, and it’s nice seeing you again Bee.” Jazz said, patting the scout on the shoulder pauldron. “It’s been an eventful few years, even while in hiding.” Jazz laughed.

“You have no idea Jazz. Anyways, it’s nice to know a friendly face in will be in the area.” Bee said.

-

Since then, Jazz had made sporadic appearances in Witwicky and even the Malto household a few times. He was always the model of a perfect guest, which quickly endeared him to the family as an occasional visitor.

Thrash had also been seeing Jazz, out in the woods at their special spot. At first it was just playing music and talking, until finally Jazz asked Thrash to bring his own instrument.

“I want to help you improve kid, I’m sure you just need some practice.” He said, with his usual confident smile. Thrash had agreed, but was reluctant to bring his guitar out of storage. Even with no one around, the idea of them being annoyed by his music again weighed him down a bit. When they were practicing the song for Mom, Hashtag had taken the wheel on making the melody, so it could be perfect for her.

Despite that though, Thrash took it with him and met up with Jazz at the usual spot. What surprised Thrash the most though was Jazz’s feedback.

“You aren’t so bad, you can hold a melody pretty well.” He said. “I think your instrument isn’t tuned right, here let me see it.”

The rest of the afternoon had been spent tuning, since apparently instruments didn’t always sound great unless maintained.

“The music part comes from the tension in the strings and the vibrations you make, if they ain’t tuned correctly it’ll through everything else out of whack.” Jazz explained, patient and pointing out the different strings and how they were off key. When they finished, Thrash found himself practically with a new guitar - it sounded almost like a dream.

“Now try it out.” Jazz encouraged, and Thrash did.

It didn’t sound… so bad anymore. But Thrash wasn’t completely sure, and his skills were nowhere near Jazz’s.

“How can I maintain this thing?” He had asked instead, smiling up at the older musician.

-

Thrash had been practicing again, though not in the Barn or Dugout anymore. He had taken up a spot just at the lip of the forest, humming to himself as he played a simple little guitar song Jazz had taught him.

He didn’t notice he had an audience until he felt a shadow come over him, and saw Bumblebee smiling down at him. “Not too bad Thrash, I’m guessing Jazz has been showing you some tricks?” He said.

“Yeah actually!” Thrash said, excited that his teacher actually liked his music. “I wasn’t tuning it right before, and I’ve been practicing a lot now! I can’t wait to show Jazz next time he comes around.” He beamed.

“Well, why not show the rest of the family? I’m sure they’d love to hear it.” Bumblebee suggested, but Thrash’s face screwed up a bit.

“O-oh, no, that’s okay.” He said, uncharacteristically sheepish and looking away. “I’m not that good yet.”

“Really? I’d thought you’d love to, you really like playing that thing.” Bumblebee said, crouching down to be more level with Thrash.

“Yeah… but I’m not ready for that. They made that pretty clear awhile ago.” He laughed, before looking at Bumblebee and realized he said too much. “Not that they told me to stop! Just… tone it down a few times.” He said, trying to laugh it off.

“Thrash…” Bumblebee said, slow, making Thrash wince. “Did your siblings… say something bad to you? Because you know you have your Mom and Dad to talk about it.”

Thrash looked down, taping the surface of his instrument with his thumb.

“I… I don’t want to get them in trouble. It wasn’t a lot, they just said that it was getting annoying to hear my noise so often.” He admitted, waiting for Bumblebee to walk away. He really didn’t want to have this conversation, his chest felt like it was tied into knots.

“But it hurt your feelings, didn’t it?” Bumblebee pressed, and Thrash shrugged.

“Not really… maybe…” he said, not certain about his answer.

Bumblebee gave a little sigh, before standing up. “Well, I’ll always be here to listen if you want to talk about it more. I think you’re doing pretty good, and I’m sure your siblings didn’t mean what they said.” He reassured.

Thrash wanted to scoff, but he just nodded. He let out a breath as Bumblebee walked away. Yeah, he knew they meant it. It wasn’t all at once, but hearing his siblings ask him to “practice somewhere else” enough times got the message through.

-

“I agree with Bee, little guy.” Jazz said, his servo on Thrash’s back. Thrash had come here and told Jazz the whole thing, the conversation weighing down on his mind. “Sometimes we say things we don’t mean, even if we think we do. I’m sure they’ll be fine with your playing.” His voice was comforting, it reminded Thrash of Bumblebee when he was training them only softer and more meaning put into every word.

“I don’t think so though… even if they like it now, what if they stop liking it at some point?” Thrash asked, looking off into the trees.

“Hm. Well… even if that’s true, maybe you just need some compromise.” Jazz said, sitting up. Thrash’s optics followed the older bot as he stood up, graceful and lean, before he gestured for Thrash to follow.

Thrash did so, storing his guitar in his subspace, following the other bot to the edge of the clearing where he dipped down. Thrash followed Jazz’s lead, both of them sneaking into a bush where Jazz gestured forwards.

In the woods was a deer, laying down on the ground and content. On its back was several birds, all digging around on its fur.

“Twitch told me about this.” Thrash said, his voice so low it could barely be heard in order to not spook the flighty animals. “The deer get excess pelt off, while the birds use it for their nests. It’s a… symbiotic relationship.” Thrash said, hesitating as he tried to remember the word.

“Well, I think that’s a form of compromise, isn’t it?” Jazz said, and Thrash looked at him. “They need to trust that they won’t hurt eachother. Maybe you and your siblings need a bit more of that in your words or actions.”

Thrash looked out at the birds and the deer, and he felt himself nodding along.

Thrash knew his practicing could be annoying, but maybe that was where he went wrong. Trying to show off before he even knew what he was doing. And then maybe… maybe his siblings wouldn’t mind his playing if it wasn’t all the time.

The two crept away, leaving the animals undisturbed, back into the basin in which they met. “Maybe you’re right Jazz.” Thrash admitted, getting a pat from the older mech.

“It’s what I’m here for. I’m here for you and your family, you’re a fun bunch.” Jazz said, and Thrash smiled up at him.

Sometimes… Jazz reminded him of his dad: supportive and smart. Maybe he could offer Jazz to be his dad2 at some point, that would be nice to have.

-

That night, apologies were given, and songs were sung. Thrash and Jazz even got to improvise a duet!

Twitch gave Thrash the biggest applause she had given in her life, cheering for her brother in support which Thrash wasn’t sure we would have gotten. It was a good reminder sometimes, no matter how well he knew, just how much his family loved him.