[It may have been a joke, but Optimus's eyes cast away a moment at the 'hero', bit. If anything, he felt like he'd failed Shockwave. Left him at the hands of the Institute. To him, that was anything but a hero.

He doesn't have long to dwell on that, though, as he feels those fingers touch his ear piece, it twitching in reply. They were more sensitive to gentle touch than he'd like to admit, and his distant eyes change to wide ones.

But he doesn't pull away, for as surprising as it was to him, it's got him in a trance, head tilting towards him like a dog. Involuntarily of course.]

I had a feeling you'd come up with an answer like that--A way to be both wrong and right at the same time. Sometimes, I'd like to think there is some kind of higher out there to explain things. You know I'm not the religious type, but for...convenience. Put a face to something when it goes wrong.

[Ironic.]

It's a double-edged sword no matter what.