WARNING: This contains a few spoilers for Life on the Nickle, despite them being mild. You've been warned. Takes place in future settings of LOTN, a Soundwave x Carmina short story which is simple, funny, and sweet. 8D
Song in title: Too Shy to Scream - A. F. I
Song in story: Finding Out True Love is Blind - Louis XIV
Enjoy! ~ F.S
For the first time in the past two seasons, Carmina allowed herself to sigh. Not a sigh of relief, or one of exasperation, but one of pure relaxation. She leaned back, the volume of the TV from it's perch within the wall of her Hotel Suite lulling throughout the segregated bedroom. Her tired feet savored the cool sheets they were buried beneath, toes flexing to relieve the faint cramping from having to walk all the way here from the mall. As she allowed her brain to entertain itself with the mindless flicking through the available channels, the recounts of her past time in Jasper, Nevada began to creep their way back. Most of them she could've considered pleasant, others not so much. A fruit of her adventures with Alexis and Lani, stirred her from her partial doze. It was a faint rapping against the glass of a window. Glancing at the clock, she frowned.
"12:00 AM? What the hell?" She said under her breath, flustered from being robbed her peaceful rest.
Groaned hoarsely in the back of her throat, the woman abruptly threw herself up from her warm spot on the plush bed, her strides lengthy and firm as she made for the window of the bedroom. Jerking back the curtains, she found the night held nothing for her but an empty view of the glowing city lights below. Casting a puzzled glance to the partly cloudy sky, a brow quirked with pursed lips. She froze again when the soft tapping resumed, her arms crossed and holding her elbows while she traversed the carpeted room, stopping at the entry away and refusing the trek across the cold wooden floor bare-footed. A lean around the corner revealed the culprit, a dark tendril of a familiar shape attempting to gain access to the suite by her bay window. Her footing across the floor at first was precarious as she tried to tread softly, she found it a relief when she discovered the tendril belonged to who she thought it was, and approached the bayside window with a soft smile.
The tentacle vanished quickly as if it feared it was caught, and she was sure she knew who it belonged to. Lifting the lip of the window, she hardly had time to part her lips before the dark blue and purple Cybertronian hastily slipped inside. His fluid motions almost in a way that remind her of a creepy alien or something, she retreated, watching with discomfort quelling in her bowels from behind the back of a dining chair. His dark figure turned, shutting the window quickly with a slap.
"Is that really needed?" She remarked at the loud sound when it echoed faintly.
Soundwave's middle slowly returned to it's forward state, unresponsive to her at first. Which in turn made her growl almost inaudibly.
"What are you doing here?" She continued quietly, her temper subsiding when he approached her. "You came to say goodbye?"
He nodded once, the tentacles that drifted aimlessly around him now slithering back into the hollowness that made up his barrel. Carmina's face suddenly drifted from surprise to being hurt. He hadn't hurt her, no, but she felt bad for having to bid him farewell like this, her mannerisms considered this improper. Especially when her return to the dreary place was undetermined. Her plane was to leave in the early hours of dawn, in seven hours actually. She knew he wouldn't be in any particular trouble for visiting her like this, now having assumed control of the Nemesis with the disappearance of the Decepticon warlord. He'd shrunken himself with the Armament in order to pull this off in the first place, so she knew he'd make the best of what time he had left to see his newfound friend.
"You won't get caught…?" She tried to change the subject, now suddenly realizing she was in naught but her panties and a night shirt. She then figured it didn't matter to him, he didn't seem like the kind to be a pervert, this wasn't the time to be one anyway. For god's sakes, he'd seen her naked at one point and acted nothing of it, she found that admirable and felt well-guarded, and well-respected for those actions. He saw the seriousness of her situation, and got her out of it, got her cleaned up, cared for, and into the safety of the Autobots presence. She took an uneasy step back however, when he encroached on her personal space and took her by the upper arm. It wasn't rough, but it was firm yet she remained unflinching in his grip. Her skin pimpled to the chill of his cold metal fingers against it.
Mouth agape in a clueless manner, she lifted her face to look into his reflective visor. "What?"
He shook his head as if to say 'idiot'.
Carefully he pulled her into his abdomen, taking the arm and hand that he'd led her to him with and wrapping it around her waist loosely. It was the first time Carmina had felt herself actually blush. A genuine one. It wasn't the kind of heat of embarrassment like when she lost a fight or made a complete fool of herself in front of people, it felt different. The sounds that came from his active insides droned into her skull, and she lifted her head from his 'belt' of sharp metal. He was looking down at her, as if awaiting her reaction to what he'd just done.
"… I…" She felt her face grow hotter, and her eyes suddenly burned with something familiar and wet. "I'm going to miss you, y'know…" She wavered, rubbing her suddenly leaky nose with her bare arm and allowed herself to press into him. She inhaled shakily after a moment, almost certain he was watching her.
"I'm sorry, I'm blubbering like a dumbass… I look so stupid…" She forced a painful smile that made her jaw her and her tongue grow sour. She looked down at the streak of fast-drying mucus on her forearm. "Gogh… Disgusting." She then wiped it on her night shirt. Her nose clacked wetly as she attempted to suck up the remaining loose snot, looking up at him with red eyes.
"S-" Her voice croaked, stopping instantly.
He was looking down at her alright, but his visor had now lifted away out of sight. Revealing the scarred countenance underneath. It was just as flat as his visor, only now she could see the dark optical screens that projected his beaming red optics and the off-white face that bore an expression boding concern. His small mouth was curved downward in a tiny frown, a dark pane of the soft metal that shaped the Transformer's face made for his upper lip offset the tone. The upper left part of his face had obviously gone under recent repair, as the metal wasn't as dull as the rest of his face, she figured it get worn with time. His thick brows dropped down more, and Carmina's face retreated when he lowered his upper half to bring his near.
She held a sharp tug in the corner of her mouth, an unnerved smile. "You got… Your face repaired…" She then held a more honest smile. "You look a lot less disturbing without that visor, big guy…" His head bobbed, and Carmina saw that his mouth had curved into a modest smile. His features weren't what she imagined, they actually surpassed them and left her technically speechless. Once she got past the chilling reality that his face was that of a robot, she pictured him as a Human, finding it to hold an unnatural beauty.
"Still can't talk huh?"
He shook his head. "…"
"That's a crying shame, I can just hear your squeaky voice now." She huffed before laughing like a toddler. It grew particularly loud when she saw he was looking at her with a disapproving stare.
"Hehahah- Hey, o-ow!" She swore when he squeezed her arm, slapping his hand before shaking hers in pain afterward. Having forgotten his metal origin yet again. "Don't be such a jerk, do you want to spend time with me or not?" She said sternly, smiling in triumph when he eventually released her arm.
One mistake she often made was to taunt the Decepticon, she found he was particularly receptive to this show of disrespect, even if it was only good-natured play. Often she pondered his reaction to things like teasing or playful sarcasm, sometimes becoming paranoid that if they had indeed sealed a relationship beyond that of their colleague-ism, that he might've become physically abusive because of her status as a Human. Carmina was a fighter and wouldn't stand for a man who laid a hand on her, but trying to fight against someone who you'd come to love as a partner would realistically be impossible. Particularly if they were made of metal. He was far wiser than her, and older by eons, and she should've administered more careful esteem and admiration for him, but the last thing she'd do was become his "Woman in the Kitchen."
Little known to the woman, Soundwave had noted that she shivered or flinched when he lost his temper, she was frightened of him still, even if she herself didn't know it. Her eyes hardened at times even when he wasn't touching her, usually when he caught her thinking. Perhaps it was about the fear of the outcome of her well-being in his presence. Often he didn't take up a smart-mouth, especially from any of the Decepticon underlings and he reinforced that statement if he had to without question. She had a right to be nervous because of his great size and strength, but the last thing he wanted was for her to fear him or think that she'd be in miserable care if she decided to bond with him. Although he couldn't show it, she did make him laugh with her temper, witty retorts and willingness to supply aid to her companions. Even Soundwave had to admit that some of the Decepticons could use a little schooling from her on loyalty, it'd make the glory of eventually ruling the universe go far smoother.
Like hell I'd hurt her…. He snorted to himself in almost uncharacteristic childishness.
It wasn't often he'd kill or hit a female, Airachnid being an easy exception. He wasn't one to be a dickhead, but it didn't stop him either from executing them, especially by Megatron's orders. Their status as females meant nothing to him, a being was a being, equal in values and punishments of the trade. Months ago, had he not been ordered to preserve her life, he'd have killed her for traversing into the Decepticon warship. When aboard, she displayed a surprising sense of respect for the ship and the crew, and dared not to pry where she wasn't needed. She remained silent, polite, kind, and showed she could dish out manners when required.
"Lighten up Soundwave, you know I don't mean it. Jesus." She shook her head once he released her arm, staring back at him with the vague arrogance he found came with this little package. She then dropped her head, acting as if she hadn't noticed that he was gradually closing the gap between them, and chose to ignore his disappointed grimace. She hadn't quite expected him to make a move like that, not this soon, or even at all.
She wrung her hands as she moved away from the still towering figure. "You want something to drink? I mean, can you even drink or eat Human foods?" She looked over her shoulder at him to find that he'd seated himself and was looking at her with expectancy. He wanted her to come to him, badly. Yet all the signs she gave him told the Decepticon she wasn't exactly ready or comfortable with that suggestive action quite yet.
At first it confused him, but as Soundwave observed the Human's rejected movements he found she was self-conscious about the affectionate gesture. Did she figure she wasn't good enough? Was he not good enough? His ego doubted that, but still, he had to wonder why she was so uptight. It was obvious he wanted to kiss her.
He picked at the texture in the grout of the brick top table, watching her retreat out of his sight and leave the Communications Expert to stew in his own thoughts. Silent as he was, the tall blue Transformer could speak to himself in his mind. Some parts nagged at him that he hadn't quite brought Carmina where he wanted her, and that he moved on her too soon.
It wasn't too soon. We've been playing this game for how long now? Nearly an entire Earth year…. She won't be doing this again with me tonight. This is the last chance, enough. He grumbled in the back of his throat, the sound coming out as a hollow wispy grind.
His tentacles laced their way around the table into the room where she vanished. He scoured the layout of the Hotel before he decided to raid her suite, he figured she was in the 'living' room, as the Humans called them. Sure enough, his tentacles had picked up the vibrations of her footsteps. They were fast, repetitive. He halted his intrusion and slid his tendrils against the couch, watching from the portable optic he had available on one of them as she paced around the wooden low-set table with a stressed look on her face. It pained him to see her that way, yet he wasn't going to let that stop him. She had to tough it out if she was going to love the bastard.
He knew for himself that after all this time in denial of his slowly building feelings, he'd allow himself the unbelievable. Her.
Carmina pressed the flat of her palms to her wet eyelids, and she felt extremely weak in the digestive system. An annoying case of light-headedness had plagued her, and she felt as if she were going to get the runs from her upset stomach. Her heart-rate had picked up as well, and to top it all off, she'd acquired a case of the 'shakes' shortly after. It was obvious she was having a nervous meltdown. She felt split about everything, having a relationship with a giant alien robotic creature wasn't exactly a mainstream nowadays. In fact, if he'd been found out, she could only imagine the outcome would be something like out of the movies. He'd be shot at like Godzilla or something, or even captured and experimented on by the Human military. She'd probably suffer the same fate. As she recalled, Alexis told her how Breakdown was caught by the mysterious Agency who called themselves MECH.
She couldn't have children with him… And she didn't know if the ability to copulate was there, not in the term of physical aspects, just mentally. Hell, there was no way to get married to him; even if they stuck together for that long. Did his kind even have marriages?
The factors she had to weigh in on her decision were making themselves clear and very real. She'd grow old, wrinkled, and hideous. And he'd leave her once she began to lose her youthful beauty, she could just see the disgust on his face if he regarded her as some hunch backed old woman. He might've lost interest in her even with her looking as she was now. And as a young woman she always felt reserved about her looks. Not entirely ashamed, but she hadn't found herself to be something to croon over in the mirror for an hour each morning. Carmina felt like the victim of a dramatic death scene. Like the sniveling woman she was, she'd drop to her knees and cry in hysterics. Yet for some reason she withheld the urge to do so.
The tap of something on her lower shoulder blade startled her, and she whirled about to see one of Soundwave's tentacles drifting up to meet her at eye level. She half-expected it to grab onto her skull and hurl her through the wall like something out of Skyline. She was far from a fan of his extra appendages, simply because they gave her the willies.
"What is it?" She said, trying to convey a calmer sense through her voice. She then smiled when it remained idle. "Stop follow me everywhere with those things, every time you come into my hotel room you do this shit. I'm going to be carrying something hot one of these days and it's gonna spill all over me and I'm going to be pissed." She crossed her arms, finding herself much calmer as she watched it lower to the floor. Rolling her eyes, she stepping over it, making for the kitchen to it's source. Suddenly, the tendril's chilly metal shell coiled around her feet, causing her to lose her balance. She let a half-angered half-surprised yell and attempted to stabilize herself before she hit the floor, staring at the tentacle angrily when Soundwave shamelessly lifted it off the carpet to taunt her.
"Quit it! What's your deal?" She almost whined.
Carmina then bobbed away from it when he moved it to peck at her waist line, causing her to yelp. She heard a rough guitar solo and simple bass sequence flow into the room from the kitchen, but ultimately seemed more focused on the fact he was driving her up the wall again.
Awh Chocolate Girl, why you lookin' like something I want~?
(I'm finding out True Love is blind!)
Ohh and you're little asain friend, she can come if she wants!
(I'm finding out True Love is blind!)
I want all the self-conscious girls who try to hide who they are with, makeup! ...
She squirmed, bobbed, weaved, and flinched in a dance of torment as he caused her to stumble around the tangled mess of his tentacles. Feeling that she didn't deserve to be robbed of her sad moment with an upbeat song. Her retorts of seething frustration were drowned out by her poorly-held laughter as he picked and tickled her ribs from all sides quickly, before dodging the slapping blows she threw at them. A short time after she resorted to slamming her feet down on them, but again like with her hands, she made no avail to complete a hit. It only appeared that she was partaking in some drunken country stomp dance competition while covered in bees with nobody but herself.
"You goddamn-" She bit her lip, freezing when a healthy knock stopped Soundwave's fun, and the music instantly stopped. Something she was both exasperated and grateful for.
She stepped out from between the twisted pile of segmented tubes, which followed her like a pair of delight snakes. She shot daggers with her sandy eyes at the Decepticon who remained seated at her table, maintaining a relaxed position. He was just thrilled with the misery he was causing her, the sated tilt of his head as it rested in a propped palm told her so. He also wore a smirk that made her brain boil in a fury for being made a fool.
"Ah music to my ears~" Said his speakers.
"You, are such, an ass... And you don't have any ears!" She swore at him in a rough whisper. Her only response was a wheezy, near-silent chuckle which only came out as clicking sounds. Another series of rough knocks made her shoulders bunch, and she looked as if she'd just been hit in the head with a frying pan. She straightened, putting on the best polite face she could muster. "One moment~" She said out in a sing-song voice, turning to address whomever was bothering her at this hour besides the bitter blue bionic.
Remembering her inappropriate attire, she chained the door before opening and peering around it's border. She was greeted with the concerned face of a member of hotel management.
"Madam, we've received complaints of a pounding coming from your room, is everything alright?" The lanky and well-kempt man said in a non-hostile tone, his brown eyes warped to look too small for his face behind his glasses.
"Y-yes, I'm so sorry." Carmina answered with an embarrassed smile, remembering her stomping from before and suspecting it to be the cause of this. "My boyfriend and I were dancing, I apologize, we've had our nonsense and plan to get rest. He'll be leaving shortly."
"Understood… I shall report the problem quelled, Ms. Burana, I do request that you be far more respectable to the others adorning this hall, I apologize for disturbing you."
"Yes sir, make sure they get my full apologies, we just got a little too much and forgot where we were." She waved at him meekly as he bowed his head in understanding and backed away from her entry way, spinning sharply on his heel and returning down the hall from which he came. As soon as he left her sight, Carmina nearly slammed the door as she turned to confront the Decepticon who seemed to now bare a grin.
"Shit, fuck, damn, Soundwave! What the hell is wrong with you? Do you want me to get in trouble?" She swore quietly in a harsh tone, her hands fisted at her sides as she entered the kitchen from the single-step stone entry way. Her face as red as a beet and hair in disarray.
"My boyfriend and I were dancing," Soundwave repeated simply, making Carmina squeal angrily at him. Much to his brief surprise, she launched at him, attempting to knock him backwards from his chair. His tendrils intercepted her charge with ease, violently coiling around her in a flurry and slowing once they'd restrained her in a constrict of silver-blue cables. Even in this state she squirmed viciously, growling like a diseased animal, but to no avail as he turned her upside down in the process of bringing her over to him. He suspended her above the tabletop, having brought her face-to-face with him. As Carmina opened her eyes to calculate her situation, she jerked her back as best she could when she realized just how close in proximity he was. It confused her slightly at first when she saw that he was upside down, but then found it was her would had been flipped, feeling the blood that rushed her head more now.
Wind you up, and make you crawl to me~
Tie you up, until you call to me~
Wind you up, and make you crawl to me~
Tie you up, until you call to me~
He briefly continued a mantra of the song quietly, in which the lyrics made the woman's face boil furiously.
"Put me down, you jerk." She scorned him bitterly.
He shook his head subtly and ran a claw along his chinstrap, unimpressed at the name-calling. Which she picked up on quickly when he watched her in silence. On occasion she could feel his tentacles bob and pulse, acting much like a Human tongue, unable to stay still no matter what he did. There was a long pause of silence before Carmina sighed, hating to have to grovel to him for anything. Her pride would be the only thing bruised however.
"I'm sorry for calling you names, Soundwave. Please, put me down?" She said blandly, whining when he ignored her request. It was only then that she noticed the few inches between their faces had closed once more, and now she struggled more than ever. Like he was a worm or something. "I'm not ready for that!" She exclaimed in an almost anguished tone. He ignored her, pausing only to frown at her as if to say "Bullshit." An abrupt squeeze to her belly by one of his tentacles caused her to gasp more in shock than pain, allowing the silent Decepticon to move his lips onto hers.
With eyes the size of dinner plates, Carmina wordlessly retorted into his mouth, finding it difficult to close her mouth against his lips which were harder in structure. She remembered watching Transformers like Starscream and Knock Out speak, and how their faceplates simply flexed like that were wet paper as they spoke. But as she earlier suspected, certain areas around their faces were coated with that "Dermo-Wax" that Alexis had mentioned. His mouth was just as cool as his lips, and what passed for saliva left a faintly unpleasant chemical taste in her mouth to which she tried to recoil from. Disliking the semi-sweet metal taste on her tongue. They held no real texture besides that of smooth metal, and it wasn't as warm as the "Dermo-Wax" coating Blitzwing's Random face.
Her mind began to get fuzzy and grow sluggish, and she released an involuntary shudder when a wave of heat washed over her face and throughout her entire being. Carmina could feel her toes curling helplessly with the sensation. She felt a ball of warmth form in the lower extremities of her belly, causing her stomach to clench subtly and a nerve tingle quivered it's ways down the inside of her thighs to her knees.
It wasn't long before she began to give in to his advances, and his jaws flexed, forcing a rhythm with hers when he began to deepen their lip-lock, careful not to nick her tongue with his dental plates and his own tightly segmented glossa. He watched her reactions to this, satisfied when her eyes eventually sagged shut and her body with the grasp of the tendrils was no longer firm. He continued to hold this passionate session for several seconds, taking the time to bask in the snuffed short sounds of inclination she made. He exhaled a cycle of air from his nasal lines, releasing her before long and allowing her a chance to breathe. A grin returned to his face, and for the first time in a long time he felt like a idiot for feeling this jubilant. It wasn't long till she opened her eyes, but refused to look him in the optic. He felt a jab of pride in the devious part of his spark for utterly flustering her like this, he knew she refused to look at him simply for that, and not because she was angered by his actions. He cupped the top of her head with a hand, forcing her to look at him.
Oh how she hated that smug look on his face, or at least, she should've hated it at that moment. Right now, she didn't seem to care for it, she was only stuck in a haze that had formed in her brain. Glassy-eyed, she tried to mouth something, but found herself failing to get the vocal command out of her throat. She instead sounded like a choked frog. She wanted to tell him to drop her, but instead he stood before she could try again, unraveling her from his grip as he entered the wing that contained the bedroom. He'd gone about doing so carefully, spiraling her around above his head in it's own little graceful way before he lowered her to the bed, placing her in the sheets he'd pulled aside with his servos. With them still in his grip, his grin had dropped to a smile when he heard her laugh at being gracefully lowered to the slightly chilly bed spread.
Carmina folded once she hit the bed, her body entirely exhausted by the experience. Forcing herself to sit up on one side of her hip, with her legs tucked to one side, she smiled at him dopily. "I… Uhm…" She dropped her head, clearing her black hair from her face. "You're really, uh… Sweet, Soundwave…" She mumbled shyly. She then wrinkled her nose to the side, feeling as if she sounded stupid. She was feeling pretty stupid as well now that she thought about it.
She soon found herself tented with darkness, releasing a soft quip as the weight of the blankets caused her to flop face-first into the bed.
That ass! He'd thrown the blankets on her, even after she tried to come forth with the fact she'd fallen for him? ….Well, at least he saved her from acting like a chick out of a soppy, badly written, five dollar Wal-Mart romance novel about to pull a 'Corny' and confess her un-ending love for the man of her dreams. The weight that formed on the open side of the bed to her left instantly soothed her momentary irritation.
She sighed. After all, he was only playing with her. That in itself was unexpected.
She could hear him release a contented sigh, and moved to emerge from the sheets he'd thrown on her. She found that he was slipping under the covers with her, the tentacles gone and tucked away from the evening, an arm slung over the back of the complied pillows against the headboard. He held the remote in one hand, slipping through the channels as if he'd been living there all his life. She'd watched TV with him before in the hotel room, he would drop by on occasion, but never chose to stay an evening with her. This time it seemed he would. Like a child, she traversed the fluffy and lumpy bed to bounce down into the groove next to him, uncaring of his cold body and curling into his side with the blankets to safeguard her legs from his natural chilliness. His arm that was upon the pillows, encompassed her back, resting his palm in the dip of her waist before the rise of her hip. She rested her hot forehead on his breastplate, watching as he lowered the volume on the TV once he found America's Funniest Home Videos to the point that she could hear the faint sounds of his internals. He liked watching Humans hurt themselves out of stupidity, apparently. Then again, who didn't?
"Gee Soundwave," She remarked with a snicker. "Acting all smooth like this, I'm surprised you're not jumping me for sex considering this is going to be our last time together for a while…" She then laughed when she caught his brows shooting skyward when she brought the subject up. He was good at concealing the stunned emotion he was feeling at the moment, but it was soon replaced with a burst of confidence and a seductive mirth.
Lowering his gaze he found her smiling at him humorously, before she broke into laughter at his plain expression, clapping her hands to express her great amusement.
"Well… what the hell?" Said the nonchalant voice from his speakers, causing her to gawk when she heard him drop the remote to the carpet off the side of the bed. His cold hand had taken hold of her jaw gently, egging her into another deep kiss. Part of her felt like a dumbass for causing what could turn out to be a grave situation, but her still-ignited blissful state said otherwise, and she hardly resisted when he rolled with her on to her back, sprawling his legs along either side of her knees, all the while increasing the aggression of the lip-lock he'd placed her under.
It didn't take much from there. Soundwave ensured to see her off in the morning, before returning to the Nemesis afterward, feeling reassured he'd seen her again soon.