The comment about pleasant surprises draws a very knowing laugh from Ravage, even as he leans into Soundwave's arm round his shoulders. If Ravage has a One True Love (and he definitely believes that he does) it's Soundwave, and everything between them is pretty damned magical, even when they're both dead tired and can barely manage ten minutes alone. But Megatron was always fun. Even if everyone else thinks they're obnoxious together.
But then he gets down to the question that Soundwave has spectacularly failed to answer. "Decepticon culture, when it isn't toxic, is a culture of honesty and loyalty. There's military decorum, sometimes, and professionalism, sometimes, but everything's out in the open. In the early days of the movement, we were so committed to not owning each other that there were no formally committed relationships among us, even if everyone knew who was essentially married. Keeping up appearances was considered 'bourgeois' for want of a better term. We liked to think we were an army of lovers. Of course that bred its own kind of toxicity. People who disliked each other but had to pretend they were comrades, and then we stopped doing that, but then all the infighting was out in the open as well. It was exactly the sort of social mess that you'd expect to get when you put a bunch of people who were rebelling against social and class restrictions together with a bunch of people who never had the freedom to develop or maintain good boundaries. Anyhow, with the two of us I'm afraid you're dealing with the true believers. I wouldn't tell a stranger everything we've just told you, and neither would Soundwave, but if we're meant to be allies and hope to be friends, dissembling won't help."
Ravage shrugs. "He gave us our freedom. He is our closest living friend. Soundwave and he were enemies briefly and while I won't say those were the worst days of my life, because I wasn't a slave or a prisoner of war, they were worse than almost anything else. When he talks about you, which he doesn't, much, and that in itself makes me think this is serious--it's clear he's fallen in love. If he hasn't already given you his spark, it's only because he can't figure out how. I have only ever done that with Soundwave. He only ever did that with someone who hurt him terribly. I don't ever want to go through that with him again. And he'd be furious if he knew I was telling you this, but I don't care, because you need to know what a big deal this is, not just for our species, but also for him personally."
2/2
But then he gets down to the question that Soundwave has spectacularly failed to answer. "Decepticon culture, when it isn't toxic, is a culture of honesty and loyalty. There's military decorum, sometimes, and professionalism, sometimes, but everything's out in the open. In the early days of the movement, we were so committed to not owning each other that there were no formally committed relationships among us, even if everyone knew who was essentially married. Keeping up appearances was considered 'bourgeois' for want of a better term. We liked to think we were an army of lovers. Of course that bred its own kind of toxicity. People who disliked each other but had to pretend they were comrades, and then we stopped doing that, but then all the infighting was out in the open as well. It was exactly the sort of social mess that you'd expect to get when you put a bunch of people who were rebelling against social and class restrictions together with a bunch of people who never had the freedom to develop or maintain good boundaries. Anyhow, with the two of us I'm afraid you're dealing with the true believers. I wouldn't tell a stranger everything we've just told you, and neither would Soundwave, but if we're meant to be allies and hope to be friends, dissembling won't help."
Ravage shrugs. "He gave us our freedom. He is our closest living friend. Soundwave and he were enemies briefly and while I won't say those were the worst days of my life, because I wasn't a slave or a prisoner of war, they were worse than almost anything else. When he talks about you, which he doesn't, much, and that in itself makes me think this is serious--it's clear he's fallen in love. If he hasn't already given you his spark, it's only because he can't figure out how. I have only ever done that with Soundwave. He only ever did that with someone who hurt him terribly. I don't ever want to go through that with him again. And he'd be furious if he knew I was telling you this, but I don't care, because you need to know what a big deal this is, not just for our species, but also for him personally."