Oh hey guys, I'm back!
So I've gotten a lot of questions about my stories and if I'll continue to write. Yes. I do still write a lot, mostly reworking characters I created a long time ago. I just haven't posted it anywhere. Recent reviews and private messages have prompted me to begin to redo the stories I have here and post them. Now I give to you...Friendship Like Phosphorus!
~DC
The hot desert wind kicked up loose pebbles, dust, and the occasional bit of trash some asshole didn't dispose of properly, sending them skittering across the dust-colored road and pinging lightly against the sides of the silver solstice.
Good thing I paid for that wash and wax, Katie joked. Even though she'd known the ex-Autobot for just over a year, she felt less than comfortable releasing the wheel while they drove. It was a habit, a natural instinct for her to hang on as if she were in control. In times like this it was comforting to feel the warm leather beneath her hands, the neat rows of stitches and the spots worn from her worrying.
"Well," the car replied as they rattled over a pothole. "You were the one that insisted that I couldn't go and meet everyone else without looking my best." His tone was light and teasing, balm on her frayed nerves. "It's okay, babycakes. Just relax."
She gave a soft huff of laughter and tried to relax her tight grip on the steering wheel. Her nails had dug little half-moons into her palm and her knuckles hurt from clenching them. I don't know why I'm the one nervous, she said with another nervous little laugh.
"I guess it's all perfectly normal," the car assured her. "You're going to a large, heavily-guarded military base." Katie gave a low little whimper but he continued as if she had made no noise at all. "You're going to meet more of my kind, all of which are larger than me in root and alternate mode. It's perfectly normal for you to be afraid."
But you're the one returning from the dead, she protested, biting her lip. With a deep breath she forced herself to completely release the wheel.
Something in the car rattled, a sound she had come to associate with the equivalent of a human shrug for him in his car mode. "So?"
She shook her head and leaned back against the soft leather seats. It was always such a nice treat when he drove like this. If she could relax enough to enjoy it, of course. Now as the desert scenery whipped by it felt almost soothing even when she was so stressed. Only the barest of dark smudges on the mirage-ridden horizon marked the Autobot base ahead and the city they had left behind.
"Heads up," her friend said, shaking her from her thoughts. A plume of dust was rising from something just ahead of them. "We got company."
Immediately she tensed, hands darting to the wheel like a guilty teen. Who?
There was a long, tense pause before her friend laughed. "Don't worry," he told her. "I know this guy!" He whooped and shot forward, eating up the distance. "C'mon, little Bee! Let's race!" he called as they passed.
You're lucky I love you, Katie grumbled but she signed it with a slight smile, glad that he was enjoying himself.
"I can feel your butt clenching up," the solstice teased as he zig-zagged in front of the yellow Camaro behind them, keeping him from passing them. "You better not crap all over my seats."
Puking is more likely. She transferred her death grip to the armrests and pressed her head back against the headrest, focusing on taking deep breaths. Briefly she wondered if this was what giving birth was like before she pushed the thought out of her head.
Her friend laughed, much more carefree than she had heard him since she'd met him. "C'mon, Babycakes, lighten up. It's just a friendly little race." She tried to laugh but it came out closer to a moan. Dimly she could hear her friend sigh. "C'mon, Babycakes," he said gently over the sound of his racing engine. "Deep breaths, now, attagirl." She focused on the sound of his voice with its cute, almost Cajun accent.
Ok, she signed, taking another deep breath. Okay. I'm okay.
"Good," her friend said. "You'll be perfectly fine to watch me beat. His. Ass." He whizzed past the startled guards at the gate, the yellow Camaro hot on his bumper. "Ha!" he crowed.
Katie caught on to what he was about to do only moments before he did it by way of noticing that he wasn't slowing down too much as he approached the oh God that's a massive robot. She didn't get a chance to dissuade him, sign out the expletives that made out her response to the stunt he was about to pull, or even really get a good look at the massive robot they were about to run into.
Even though she expected it, the sudden jerk she felt when her friend (not anymore, I swear to God!) ejected her high into the air and transformed. She and her work bag were caught before she fell too far and before she could even scream. Her friend held her gently in his clawed hands, cradling her protectively to his chest.
Part of her wanted to be so very angry at him. Her hair was a mess, her makeup was probably smeared or runny and her eyes might be too bright with nervous tears. She was pretty sure that her hands were shaking and her mouth was opened slightly in an embarrassing face of shock and terror from that stunt. The only thing that made her feel better was the big yellow green robot in front of her looking just as shocked as she felt.
"What's crackin', bitches?" the asshole holding her said with a static-laced laugh. "Didja miss me?"
The robot in front of them looked baffled. "Jazz?"