A/N: I wanted to escape my jumbled up RungSkids feelings after #53, I wanted fluff and I had an image in my head, so. Here we are. This is actually a chip off an idea for a multichapter fic I don't think I'm ever going to write, but I liked this scene and it stands fine on its own, so I decided to go ahead. Sort of an ambiguous setting, so I'm gonna place this "somewhere down the line."
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It was quiet in their habsuite, quieter than most people realized Whirl could be. Rung and Whirl sat cuddled together on their recharge slab, Rung cozy between Whirl and the wall, Whirl's arm around his shoulders and a datapad propped on his knees. Whirl had claimed a disinterest in the book, but Rung was aware of him reading along over his head. He smiled, listening in to his own internal workings and feeling the echos of Whirl's where they touched, quietly celebrating the differences he noted and reveling in the similarities. A contented trill bubbled out of him, joining the chorus.
"What are you so happy about?" Whirl asked, trailing one claw up the length of Rung's antenna and tweaking it at the tip.
Rung flicked his antenna free, the sensation rippling down the length of his body as he nuzzled a laugh into Whirl's side. He chirred at the happy hitch he heard in response and leaned back to smile up at Whirl and say, "I'm here with you. That makes me happy."
A jolt went through Whirl, his rotors stuttering on and then off and his internals whining as they tripped over themselves. He turned away to hide how his optic dilated but Rung was rather more aquainted with this reaction than he'd prefer.
He leaned back into Whirl's side, head rested against him and hand coming up to trace reassurance along the underside of Whirl's cockpit. His smile fell in on itself, as it always did– but was quick to pick up and dust off when he heard Whirl's internal workings cough and clear up. Whirl tightened his arm around Rung and turned back again, a cresent moon of light shining down in return for Rung's smile.
"Yeah, well," Whirl said, kicking those few uncertain moments under the rug, "it ought to."
"It does," Rung said because he couldn't say it enough, flattening the hand on Whirl's cockpit and laying the other over the arm around him. "It always does."
"Ugh, you're such a sap," Whirl complained– tried to complain. He warbled his words, which rather belied the effort, as did the contented rumbling of his engine.
Rung only chuckled and snuggled more securing into Whirl's embrace before taking his datapad up again with one hand, the other still stroking Whirl's cockpit. Whirl leaned down to nuzzle at the side of Rung's head, clawtip stroking Rung's antenna in turn. Rung snorted a laugh and flicked it free again, not bothering to try to control his grin when Whirl hmmmed in clear interest– and intent.
Without looking up from his reading, Rung flicked his antenna just a moment before Whirl would have closed his claws around it. Whirl hummed again, clicked his claws twice; Rung only just dodged yet another grab.
"A wise guy, eh?" Whirl asked in a sort of lilted rumble. His next attempt came more quickly, was less telegraphed, and he huffed through his every vent when still Rung evaded him.
Rung didn't answer, just smiled down at his datapad and artfully dodged the next attempt, Whirl whistling high notes of amusement and determination alike in response. On the next go, Whirl took him by surprise. Rung flicked his antenna to safety, but instead of the click of claws closing on empty air, he heard the yawn of panneling sliding aside and then the cheerful chirping of small components waking up. He hadn't quite realized what had happened when one of the spindly graspers inside Whirl's claws caught his antenna by the tip and held it fast while Whirl closed his clawtips around it.
"Ha!" said Whirl, craning his neck so that he could rub his forehead to Rung's without releasing him. The light of his optic flickered, smugness and sheer glee at war "I've got you now!"
Smiling, nuzzling Whirl in turn, Rung admitted, "You do indeed."
There came that stutter of systems again, the light of Whirl's optic blowing wide, though Rung was gratified that hardly a second passed before the surprise and uncertainty were swept away as Whirl's systems sang a song of satisfaction that vibrated straight through to Rung's spark.
Outwardly, Whirl groaned, throwing his free arm up over his head even as the other released Rung's antenna to pull Rung against him so that they both went when he threw himself backward with a cry of, "Saaap! How are you like this?"
The way he held Rung and the purr of his engine conspired to say that he wouldn't want Rung to be any other way.
Laughing, Rung tossed his datapad aside and turned to curl up against Whirl, holding him close and snuggling closer, humming along to their happiness singing in harmony.