"Query; why does this lower ranking officer wish to take Soundwave on a…" The communications expert trailed off, visor flashing up the meaning of the word 'date'. "…Courting assessment." He watched with scrutiny as the mech in front of him squirmed awkwardly, purple and cream blending not so seamlessly into one another. Blitzwing's heavy form inched from side to side at his monotone sentence, clearing his vocalizer before continuing.
"Do… Do I need to have a real good reason for wanting to take you on a date?" The empty, vast stare back from the lonely visor seemed to be his answer. "Well… uh… I've kinda been…" The triple changer rubbed the back of his neck, digits skimming over the layers of cable links bunched together, the smooth touch meaning to ease him up, but he was still as tense as ever. Soundwave cut in before he could continue.
"Acknowledgement; Soundwave had noticed your glances and odd body quirks whenever this unit walked buy. Semi Conclusion; Blitzwing is attracted sexually to Soundwave's form. Statement; Soundwave has no interest in any sexual activity during this time." The words cut through the air like a knife, and Blitzwing seemed to stagger back a little, his mouth opening and closing in shock at how purely blunt Soundwave was.
"That—No! Well, kinda, but it's not all sexual, Soundwave! I wanna… I wanna get to know you, y'know? Like- I like the cassettes, we get along great, and… I like how you are with 'em, yer like a creator to them, and even though the other guys think 'M goin' soft, I'd really like to… Iunno…" Rubbing the back of his neck again, Blitzwing looked away from the intimidating stare. Soundwave was much smaller than him, but he was still easily the most frightening mech in the Decepticons.
"Look, just forget it okay? I made a mistake." The triple changer sighed, frowning and began to walk past the superior officer.
"Statement; Soundwave accepts."
Blitzwing froze. He couldn't have heard that right. Turning to Soundwave in disbelief, Blitzwing's visor flashed in scepticism. He had to have misheard. Or Soundwave was joking. But Soundwave never joked.
"What?" He dumbly asked.
"Repeat statement; Soundwave accepts Blitzwing's offer for a courting assessment." The blue mech never moved a muscle, staring emptily at the triple changer. "Announced concern; Cannot be during working hours. Suggestion; Nineteen hundred hours?"
"That.. that sounds great." Blitzwing managed back. The communications officer nodded once before he was on his way. Dumbfounded but estatic, Blitzwing bit back a grin as he strode down the corridor with a bounce in his step. Successfully, he had managed to ask one of the most terrifying yet attractive mechs of the Decepticon ranks. And a higher ranking officer! But… that changed nothing about how he really felt.
Blitzwing first noticed his crush on Soundwave before they arrived on earth. He used to jab Astrotrain whenever Soundwave would walk past, and of course whisper some vulgar things to his friend about all the things he'd do if given the opportunity. Most of them were far from truth, just Blitzwing showing off to his buddy, when in reality he'd love to just be able to entwine his digits with Soundwave's, or watch a flic from the old days together. This was before Astrotrain went through his… change. Now he just didn't bother to tell the mech things. He never listened anyway.
Arriving at his quarters, he was unsurprised to find them empty again. Astrotrain was always out now. Not that that bothered him. In fact, the further away the unsightly mech was, the better.
They never had an argument. In fact, Blitzwing would have loved it if they had. One day, Astrotrain went for a meeting with Megatron, and the next… When Blitzwing saw him, something in his optics had changed. He was not the same happy-go-lucky, cheerful, drunken mech he knew before. Instead he saw… he wasn't sure what he saw. But Blitzwing knew it wasn't his best friend. So now, he would look at the holo-pic he had of both of them on his berth side dresser. It showed himself and Astrotrain laughing with their arms around each other's necks, babbling away about something Blitzwing didn't remember.
The room was spacious without the larger mech there, the dull, faded purple failed to give any light source, but Astrotrain never complained when Blitzwing had put new, pink lamps everywhere in the room, so long as he switched them off before they both recharged. Which he did without fail every night. Not much of the room was decorated, only Blitzwing's half, which included a poster of some obscure mech with his chassis exposed. It was a gift from Astrotrain, but he doubted the purple triple changer would remember.
Sitting down on the berth, Blitzwing smiled at the holo-pic, holding it in his servos.
"Hey 'train," Blitzwing smiled down that the holo-picture in his servos, "you'll never guess what happened. Y'know that cute officer I keep crushin' over? Finally found it in myself to ask him out. Know what he said? Said yeah! Set a time and everythin'. Should really get ready heh… got a few hours, but y'know what I'm like. Damn slacker. I guess I'll talk with you after the date, Astro. Here's hopin' I don't scare him away."
"I don't know, talking to holograms would scare me away." Astrotrain announced, leaning against the doorway. He had made Blitzwing jump, but the mech refused to show any sort of inclination of surprise.
"Didn't think you'd be back this early, Astrotrain." He said evenly. He liked it better when he spoke to the picture, at least that had some personality.
"Got let off early." The large mech shrugged, optics flashing as they wandered all over Blitzwing, making him shudder in distaste. He could hardly believe that this was the mech that he was best friends with barely a year ago. It was like looking at a complete opposite personality.
"What about you, Blitzwing? Still slacking I see." The triple changer strolled over to his own berth, sitting down only to collect an energon sweet from his personal stash, then stood up again, heading to the doorway. Obviously he wasn't interested in what Blitzwing had to say. The purple and cream mech liked it that way.
"Less than you know." He muttered, watching the purple mech leave the room. Spike for brains, Blitzwing muttered to himself, before looking over at Astrotrain's personal stash. He could… use some of that as a gift for Soundwave. Primus knows the mech had it coming to him for him to steal some of the stash. Frowning in agitation, Blitzwing got up, made sure that Astrotrain wasn't coming back, and snuck a small box of rich energon sweets into his subspace. It was only small, a box of six, Astrotrain would never know they were missing.
The rest of the day was uneventful. He washed, waxed and relaxed himself in his room, considering it was one of his days off, but the thought of Soundwave kept running through his processor. What if he didn't like Blitzwing? Did he only accept to make him feel better? What if he got stood up? The thoughts raced through his helm until he decided another wax would do the job. After about half an hour of waxing, Blitzwing finally thought himself ready for the date. Which was in fifteen minutes. Time had flown fast.
Too eager, Blitzwing raced out of his room, zooming past Astrotrain whom he paid no heed to, and waited just outside Soundwave's quarters, standing in front of the door nervously. Slag. What if he didn't answer? What if Soundwave didn't like him? Hesitant, Blitzwing knocked the door, slowly losing confidence.
Soundwave answered him, however, much to his relief, and found the officer looked as he always did (if not a tiny bit shinier? But that could have been the light) awaiting him. "Greetings, Blitzwing." The mech gave him a pleasant welcome. "Command; Follow—" There was a small pause, only for Soundwave to tilt his helm in the smallest of ways, "… Request; Follow Soundwave to the officer's recreational room?"
The Officer Rec Room (or ORR as the lesser ranks liked to call it) was one of the only places on the ship which was out of bounds for low ranking officers such as Blitzwing, savoured for the likes of Megatron, the Seekers, Soundwave and any other high ranking official. To be invited there was a great honour.
If Soundwave noticed his surprise, he was polite enough to hide it. Blitzwing quickly snapped out of his daze. "That—Yeah! Yeah, of course. Thanks, Soundwave." Blitzwing managed awkwardly with a small grin. Soundwave seemed to study him for a minute before giving him a quick "Acknowledged," and continued down the hall.
The walk to the ORR was quiet, short and sweet. Blitzwing didn't seem to mind. He was far too happy with himself actually being on a date with Soundwave to even notice the silence. Thoughts ran through his processor, mostly thoughts for him not to mess this up.
When they finally arrived, the ORR was empty, the rest of the mechs were probably off duty and Megatron probably didn't want to hang around by himself in an empty social room. It occurred to Blitzwing that it was probably Soundwave's plan to make sure that the room would be empty for them to have their little date. Maybe it was to avoid embarrassment.
Whatever the reason, Soundwave certainly didn't vocalize it. In fact, he didn't say much of anything. Blitzwing followed him to a table for two, the seating and table looking so much better than Blitzwing's rec room. The seats were soft on the aft, and it felt very professional, as though they were seated in a lovely, cushion-y box. It had curtains and everything. Granted they weren't the best, semi-transparent, but they were as soft as silk.
"Could I...?" Blitzwing asked, motioning to the curtains. Soundwave nodded, and the mech gently pulled the curtains closed. He smiled in wonder.
"This is such a swanky place. Wish my rec room looked as good as this, but it'd probably be devastated in less than… less than…" He trailed off his sentence once he noticed Soundwave had taken his facemask off. Though his visor was still firmly planted on his faceplate, the no mask had caught him off guard, and he found himself drawn immediately to the new area. It wasn't anything special. It looked plain. But it was hard to think that Soundwave… with a mouth… even existed. He always spoke so monotonously. He wondered if that changed as well.
It so obviously did, the words coming out of the other's derma melodiously; "In less than?" The voice was soft and firm, but sounded like a gentle hum of a song, making Blitzwing's mouth drop open. But obviously, Soundwave didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so he wasn't going to… outwardly, anyway.
"…Less than a minute. Heh. Guys in my ranks are kinda jerks about environment and slag. Uh, stuff. Stuff." He corrected himself on his cursing, though Soundwave seemed amused, even if his expression didn't show it.
"I believe this… courting assessment is about getting to know one another better, Blitzwing. If cursing is in your nature, don't let my presence stop you."
That gentle voice warmed him to his very core. Smiling goofily, Blitzwing gave a grin in appreciation. "I'm… I'm kinda really nervous. Since I've never done date—er, courting assessment, before. Have you?" He leaned on his servo, interested in what Soundwave had to say, and even more so to know if he should be aware of competition or not.
"Many, but none ever turned out so colourfully. I believe everyone I've ever courted has this sneaking suspicion that I am some sort of noble who only courts the grandest speaking mechs. That is the furthest from the truth of the matter as it would get. I'm about as noble as Octane's skidplate. Don't tell him I've said that." Soundwave mumbled, pulling two cubes from below the table.
Astrotrain had to snicker, and took the cube offered. "No offence, Soundwave, but even if I could talk all… noble-y and stuff, I doubt I'd even try with you. I mean, no one really knows what you'd like, so why'd I try to be someone different when I don't even know if you'd like the different me? Y'know?"
That gave Soundwave a thoughtful pause, before a ghost of a smile washed over his faceplate. "A very interesting way of putting that, Blitzwing."
The triple changer found himself flushing, and wiggled his wings to get rid of the heat on his face. Or at least draw Soundwave's attention away. It did neither, it seemed. But Soundwave didn't seem to mind or care about Blitzwing's little insecurities.
"Th-thanks, Soundwave. Heh. You know I never thought that this'd actually happen… I mean, I've liked you a long time but I never thought you'd give me a chance."
Soundwave looked rather smug, and interlaced his digits together, watching Blitzwing intently. "I did notice. And heard all the sly comments you and Astrotrain made behind my back."
Well that conversation took a large nose dive. Blitzwing looked absolutely horrified, and it definitely showed because Soundwave laughed. Actually laughed. The Triple changer sank into his seat, prepared to barrage him with excuses.
"I-I never meant any of it! I-I mean you know how you get with your best friend and—and you get too rowdy and—fraggit I'm so sorry you heard whatever we said, Soundwave…" Blitzwing moped apologetically, visor flashing in panic. Soundwave grew amused again.
"I'm good enough to tell when someone is lying Blitzwing, and sometimes, you were deathly serious. Other times… What were you thinking of doing to me otherwise? I pictured it as innocence, perhaps I was wrong."
The purple and cream mech shrank back, faceplate red.
"Sometimes… I'd like to think how nice it would be to hold your servo."
That seemed to catch Soundwave offguard, shock suddenly flurrying over him before he quickly masked it, taking a very long sip of his energon. Perhaps it was the wrong thing to say? Blitzwing felt like this had gone downhill so very quickly. He looked down at his drink quietly.
"Y'know, if you want me to go I can, I mean no one knows about this so you can act like it never happened or… whatever the pit you want." He mumbled, glancing up only to see Soundwave shocked a second time.
"Why would I want to do anything of the sort? Blitzwing, I'm… flattered. I'm flattered you've meant every word you said since this morning and before. If anything, I've never been more… pleased, with how a courting assessment has gone." That definitely brightened Blitzwing's mood, and it showed in his large, goofy grin, because Soundwave looked away coyly.
After realizing that he had just been shamelessly flirting, Blitzwing pulled the energon sweet box out of his subspace. He was saddened to find the adorable little pink box had been dented, it must have been when he was clumsily scuffling for something to give.
"Here, I know it's not much but… y'know. First impressions and everything." Blitzwing grinned again, tapping his digit on the table. Soundwave took them gratefully, and just simply stared at the box for a moment, before looking up again at Blitzwing with a small smile.
"Out of every gift I've received, I'll say this is my favourite. I've always enjoyed albino coloured energon treats. Where did you come across such a delicacy?" His slim digits danced over the box, tracing the swirling design pattern of the container. Blitzwing tried his best not to watch.
"Well y'know… lower ranks like I do have our ways." But stealing was never one of his. He felt bad, but not as bad as he would knowing Astrotrain didn't give a slag about him going on a date with the one mech he'd learnt to adore.
"I'd like to know these ways. But obviously, not now, maybe next time?" The words caught Blitzwing offguard, and his mouth hung open for a moment before he stammered; "You mean, you wanna—you wanna meet again?"
Soundwave pushed his cube away gently, prying one of Blitzwing's digits off of his cube and interlaced his digit with Blitzwing's, smiling coyly once more. "Consider this courting assessment… successful."