Tanya arrived at the base at differing hours. Sometimes it was long before the children got out of school, and sometimes it was much later. Once she had come in at one in the morning with little explanation except for something to do with finding some specific type of rock. So you could never really tell when she would be about.
Today it was early, as the others wouldn't show up with their partners until close to three. Just past noon the young woman walked quietly into the main room and curiously examined Optimus at the computer and Ratchet lying on the medical table. One arm tossed behind his head and the other flopped across his chest. The orange and white medic looked unusually relaxed, the usual frown missing from his faceplates.
"Is he recharging?" She whispered, climbing the stairs to the human sized part of the room on the platform. It had been converted to a small living area for humans with a couch, table, television and a few chairs. The Prime's blue and gray head turned to glance at the spiky haired blonde female as she set her bag down by the old couch. Whatever was in it rattled around. There was most likely tools and other random objects inside. The little human was twenty-eight going on ten. She often acted like a hyper-active child and didn't always take things as seriously as she should. It was dangerous to leave Miko and her alone for an hour or two because they would most likely end up designing (Miko) something dangerous and then actually building it (Tanya). The young woman had a tendency to become interested in odd things and then go play with them, regardless of whether or not they were dangerous. Ratchet had gotten into the habit of locking up his tools so she couldn't take them apart and put them back together.
"Yes. It has been too long since he has had a proper recharge. He needed a break." Came the calm reply as he turned blue optics back to configuring data and reports.
Tanya gave a nod, almost to herself, "That's good. For a second there I was worried he was hurt." Relief and humor colored her voice. She grabbed a thick blanket, the color of dark ocean water, and wrapped it around her shoulders. Beat up boots were kicked off (one going under the table, the other under the couch) as she went back down the stairs and toward the sleeping medic.
Optimus noted absently, and then with another quick look, that Tanya had heaved herself up onto several crates and was now climbing up the table and then onto his friend. His work forgotten he stared, resetting his optics. Perhaps he needed to recharge as well.
"What are you doing?" He inquired with a confused look. The blonde had settled herself into the crook of Ratchet's right arm were it was draped across his chest. Thin fingers reworked the blanket until only her head was showing, and she was curled into a ball. A smile lit up her face.
"Sleeping." And with that reply she closed green eyes and lay her head down. From the bot's position all you could see was a mess of choppy hair and blanket. The leader of the Autobots raised an optic and studied the scene before giving a quiet, "Aha" and going back over the monitors. The corners of his mouth turned up the barest bit.
There was a relative silence in the base, save for occasional noise from the machinery, until the others got back. Hence, why Ratchet had taken a nap while they were in school. Suffice to say, Miko was not quiet as soon as she came in. The Japanese rocker jumped out of Bulkhead's doors and ran clanging up the stairs. Bulkhead transformed right on her heels.
"Hey Optimus! Anything interesting?" She looked excitedly at the screens, most likely hoping that there was a con attack and there would be some aft kicking.
"No..."He started to reply but was cut off by the arrival of Arcee and Bumblebee with their charges. First came the yellow sports car with Rafael. While the youngest child was getting out Arcee pulled up with Jack. Both transformed and Bumblebee sent a question to Optimus.
"What's up with the Docbot?" He beeped. Raf translated for Jack and Miko. A few heads turned toward the medic's prone form.
Optimus raised a hand to signal that everything was fine, "Ratchet has been pushing himself too far and needed a rest. He has been out most of the day and will probably wake soon."
"Good for him," Arcee put in, "I tried to tell him last week to take a break but he didn't listen." The two wheeler strolled over to the platform where the children were setting up their videogame.
Raf stopped to look around, "Hey, where's Tanya?" He inquired, as he'd noticed the things on the floor. Prime offhandedly gestured toward the orange and white autobot as he pulled up the radar for a known decepticon mine. A few confused eyes (and optics) looked over and spotted the blanket.
The punk girl started laughing, pink and black hair puffs bouncing, "Hahahahaha! That is soooo cute. I need a picture!" Whipping out a pink phone she clicked off a few shots before running over.
"Miko...," Started Bulkhead with his deep rumble, "Lettim' recharge. The guy hardly ever takes a break." The wrecker kept a close optic on the girl to make sure she didn't fall off and hurt herself.
She continued up until she was crouched on the table, tall boots climbing over a shoulder pad. Had the medic been awake, he would most assuredly would have had something to say about everyone climbing on him. However, the unfortunate bot was asleep and about to be disturbed my a certain irritating female.
"Miko, come on!" Called out Jack, starting the game between him and Raf. Annoyance and impatience colored his tone. If she didn't want to play then there would be more time for the boys. He didn't glance over his shoulder to see the look Miko gave him.
"Dudes, he's been sleeping, he's gonna wake up anyway. You heard Optimus."
"That doesn't mean you should wake him up," Put in the blue femme, giving the human an annoyed glance which was ignored.
A small hand poked a faceplate, "Hey. Hey Ratchet. Hey." The teen continued to poke him some more before moving on to tugging on the wiring between his armor plates. "Hey dude, wake up. You're going to wake up in a minute anyway. Just warning you now." By now the tugging and poking had succeeded in waking the bot. The medic shifted just slightly before systems started up and optics opened. He was surprised by the face staring back at him but that quickly turned to irritation.
"What." He snarled quietly, "Are. You. Doing?" A low growl went through his tones.
"Waking you up." Replied Miko to his surly answer. "I was gonna do some guitar practice but figured, Hey! Doc bot's gonna flip out if I start playing while he's asleep, so you know, I decided to be nice and give you some warning first." It was a hard bet on whether the smile on her face was cheerful or evil. Maybe a bit of both.
"Get off me," Ratchet glared with narrowed optics as the girl gave him an unconcerned shrug and jumped into Bulkhead's palm before being deposited on the floor. Pigtails bouncing she made her way over to the speakers.
The medic huffed and started moving only to pause when he realized he had a companion, "Tanya! Get off!" His growl did nothing to the form curled up on him, nor did the shaking have any effect, "Tanya!"
"Uh...looks like she's out." Commented Jack. The medic glared at the dark haired teen before poking the sleeping human. A low mumble was heard.
"My cookies..." A slight huffing of breath and an arm shifted as she rolled a bit, ragged hair quivering, before once again being prone.
Raf blinked behind large glasses, "Did she just say...?" Jack nodded and paused the game while he stood to get a better look. Bumblebee snickered as Arcee turned to her human partner, her expression puzzled. "How is she talking if she's asleep?"
"Well, some people talk in their sleep. It doesn't happen all the time." He gave a shrug.
A dark gray servo poked the human again, "Tanya, get up and off of me. There are no cookies." He spoke with exaggerated patience. Sitting up a bit to lean against the wall he was careful to make sure she didn't tumble off and down to the floor. A fall like that would definitely hurt. Irritated optics narrowed further.
"Mine...I made em..."A slurred reply. Her face was still buried in blanket and you could only see her hair. Her slumped form gave away that she was still practically dead asleep.
"Auuggh!" This was not the reaction he had hoped for. Maybe he could just remove her to the couch. Before he could forcefully remove the human, Miko came up with an idea.
She put her guitar strap over her shoulder and plugged it into the speakers, "Hey! I'll wake her up!" Being woken up by Miko's music was not a fate the medic wished on anyone except maybe the cons, so he tried one last time to get Tanya up. This time the poking got a different answer.
"Peanut butter." Rumbled the ball of blankets, a slight snore accompanying the phrase. Miko burst out laughing with snickers and chuckles from everyone else. Optimus looked over amused and even Ratchet's mouth ticked up for a second.
Then a noisy guitar riff blasted through the air making quite a few people wince. The blankets shifted until the messy head of hair poked up and sleepy eyes peered at everyone. Thin arms came out as she uncurled and yawned. Blonde strands poked out of her head in all directons as she rubbed green eyes and blinked. The crazy hairstyle, sleepy look and blanket around her shoulders made her look cute, like the way a slightly worn teddy bear is cute.
"If you're awake get off me." Spoke Ratchet sourly looking down at her. A small pale face tilted up to blink at him before wrapping the blanket more securely around her shoulders, "Why didn't you take a nap on the couch instead?" he questioned with a 'hmph'.
"You're comfier that a couch," The young woman replied with another yawn causing a few more snickers from around the room as the orange and white bot plucked her up and set her on the floor so that he could stand.
"Don't do it again."
Tanya grinned cheerfully, "Nope!" And then yelped, dodging a servo with a cackle as the medic tried to grab her and missed.