Comfort

by Scoti

There was a quiet night in the neighborhood. The only sounds were coming from some crickets, hiding in nearby bushes in the garden. However, it wasn't the annoying bugs that had made Optimus 'wake' up and leave the garage he shared with the other autobots, but the fact that he had suddenly noticed that one of his friends were not there.

Making his way around the house to the backyard as quietly as he possibly could, he peeked into one of the windows on his way.

Total darkness. No one seemed to be awake. He took another step, careful to where he placed his foot. He didn't want to be yelled at again for ruining some, according to himself, unnecessary garden ornament. As he arrived to the backside of the house, he looked around a bit, hoping to find his friend someplace nearby, but with no such luck. He continued his search through the dark garden, worridly looking around for any signs of a yellow camaro...a yellow robot..., it didn't really matter.

He went over to the west side of the house, pushing through a couple of trees on the way there.

A bit surprised, but still relieved to find that his friend hadn't left the neighborhood, he made his presence clear by clearing his throat in a way that couldn't possibly go unheard by the smaller robot.

Bumblebee turned around quickly, with a surprised expression on his face and looked up as Optimus made his way over to him.

"May I sit down?" it wasn't much of a question since the autobot leader was already crouching down, making himself comfortable in the cold grass. There was silence for a while as they both looked out over the neighborhood, a bit fascinated by the look of their temporarily homeworld.

Optimus waited a few seconds, expecting Bumblebee to say something, but soon realized that it wasn't going to happen. He looked the yellow autobot over a bit, trying to figure out if he was angry, or sad, or whatever it could be, but finally decided to ask anyway.

"Why are you out here? Did something happen?" he asked as kindly as he could. The smaller robot still didn't look at him, but he did look like he was thinking the question over. Sighing, Bumblebee pulled his hand slowly over the grass, a troubled expression appearing on his face.

"I was just thinking", he said in a small voice, that sounded both tired and a bit sad. Optimus waited a moment, in case his friend would have something more to say...

"About what?" he said curiosuly after a while. The yellow bot turned to him, looking him in the eyes for a while. Optimus smiled slightly at him, but Bumblebee didn't, instead he turned away, looking up to the sky.

"About...how I always screw up...", he lowered his head, nervosuly fingering on some grass in his hand. Optimus stared at him. He opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He hadn't expected that. He thought it over for a few more seconds before he had figured out something good to say.

"Bumblebee, listen...I know...", how was he going to put this. "I know that you sometimes take...unnecessary risks..but you are very brave and you always think about everyone else before yourself..." he paused for a moment. "And I'm very proud of you beacause of that."

The yellow bot turned to him and just stared at him for a while. A moment passed. He then closed the lids over his optics, and a single tear made its way down his cheek. He snuffled once before speaking.

"Thank you...but...it's not enough...I have screwed up too many times..", he started shaking a little and more tears ran down his face. Optimus watched him worridly for a moment, not really sure of what to say, so he did what he guessed anyone in this situation would've done to console someone. He pulled a surprised Bumblebee to him, embracing him carefully. He could feel the smaller autobot shaking in his arms and cling to him like if there was no tomorrow.

Optimus smiled a little as he felt his friend relaxing a bit, and pulled his hand over his back in a soothing manner.

"It's alright", he whispered with a calm voice, feeling Bumblebee leaning against his shoulder. The smaller bot looked up at him shyly, before burying his nose in his neck, cuddling him.

Optimus smiled as he watched Bumblebee close his optics and get comfortable in his arms. This was something he had never experienced before, but it felt good. He was happy that he was able to comfort him. He leaned back against the wall of the house, blinking slowly a few times before finally closing the lids over his optics.

So, what did you think? Was it a weird pairing maybe? anyway, I wanted to try it