It started off as a suggestion from MoonWallker but my mind blew it out of proportion and this train wreck happened. It's kind of veered off from the original suggestion, but it still counts... right?

RELEASE THE BUNNIES.

Units of time as I use them:

Klick – a second

Breem – a minute

Joor – an hour

Cycle – a day

Decacycle – 10 days

Groon – a month

Orn – a decade

Vorn – a century

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

To say I was nervous didn't quite cut it.

From the moment I separated from my carriers spark it was chosen who I would be bonded to. I had been raised with that knowledge, knowing that no matter what I would end up with them.

We had met when we were younger, and we met once an orn when the nobles gathered at a conference with the council to discuss the future of cybertron. While we were much too young to participate in the discussion, they didn't stop us from exploring the grounds of the building where they gathered, so long as we didn't break anything.

The gathering always took place in the Crystal gardens in my intendeds' home city of Praxus. I would often run around, watching as the light was refracted through the crystal resulting in an entire spectrum of colours that reflected onto my own metallic body.

Needless to say, it was quite the sight.

I still can't forget the first time I saw my intended, doorwings held high and tight against his back, glossy finish and commanding optics, despite his age. He was scolding Starscream for something he'd done – probably something incredibly stupid knowing him – and it was very funny. I remember laughing at them.

And today, I was going to visit those gardens for the first time in vorns as a mech old enough to participate. I hadn't attended them with my creators the past few times as I was old enough to be left with my tutors – and my education came before running around crystal gardens.

I was nervous because today our bonding date was to be finalised, and this would be the first time I would see my intended in his adult frame. We had kept in contact, obviously, however there was only so much that we could do by comm. and letter.

"How much longer is it until we're there?" I asked, unable to keep my pedes still.

"Just a joor." The driver replied, glancing back at me. If the sounds of my pedes repetitively tapping on the metal annoyed them, they said nothing.

A joor until the rest of my life was set in stone. I was caught between being ecstatic and distraught. Ecstatic because I'd finally be moving from Polyhex, the city I was sparked and raised in, to Praxus, a cultural hotspot and one of the most beautiful cities on Cybertron. Distraught because I'd be leaving Polyhex, the city of music, and my creators. I didn't know when I'd see them again or if I'd be able to see them outside of council gatherings.

::Are you lookin' forward to it?:: My sire, Tempo, pinged me.

::The meetings? Na. Booorin'!:: I pinged back, grinning.

::Meetin's bein' a borin' is a given, I was talkin' about seein' your fella again::

::What do ya think?::

::Gettin' cold feet already?::

::Nervous as Pit::

::You'll be fine. I was nervous too, but I've been blessed with your carrier::

::You think I'll be okay?::

::You'll be perfect::

Before I knew it, we were pulling up outside of the Crystal gardens. The crystals were just as big as I remembered, and the colours just as vibrant. I looked in through the gates and felt my spark begin to flutter. Just beyond them, waiting to receive us, was Prowl. My intended.

The moment the door to the transport opened, I was out and instantly bathed in the rainbow light from the crystals. I quickly shielded my visor, not wanting to damage it, and I waited for my creators to leave the transport.

Prowl had started to walk towards us, and Primus was he poetry in motion. The light curled around him, highlighting all of the right curves and places. If I had less dignity, my mouth would be hanging slack and I would positively be drooling.

He greeted my creators first with a handshake and a bow, tilting his doorwings respectively. When he reached me, he gently pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.

"It's good to see you." He said, looking directly into my visor. His piercing, almost all-knowing gaze was slightly unnerving, however it was what made him Prowl and a vicious opponent to debate against.

"It's good to see you, too." I replied, fighting to keep my accent at bay. His lips twitched upwards at the corners in an almost-smile before he returned his attention towards my creators, who seemed far too happy about something.

He gestured for us to follow, and he lead us towards the meeting hall where we would spend the next ten joors talking about things that didn't matter, i.e the council getting their transistors in a twist over mundane things such as their authority over us. There had been a power shift towards us, the nobles, however this always happened. It lasted for half an orn before it shifted straight back to them.

My creators walked in first, as protocol demanded, and Prowl stole a quick kiss on the top of my helm before guiding me in.

"We're to the left. It's more listening than talking at this point."

Joy. Well, they weren't exactly going to listen to our opinions were they? The whole 'youngsters are stupid' thing 'n' all.

It looked like we were the first families to arrive, so we took a seat together. Soon, nobles from all of the different city states started arriving, including Starscream. It looked like he's found himself two trine mates, as he was flanked by two seekers. One was taller than the other two, and was blue. The other was black and purple.

As soon as Starscream laid eyes on a noble from Kaon his trine mates were forgotten and he was practically sitting in that nobles lap. Poor thing.

It turned out that Vos was the last to arrive – no changes there – and the session began.

Needless to say, it wasn't particularly gripping and I couldn't stay focused. Something about trading routes, rebels and coolant spillages. Prowl stayed alert and his optics were always focused on the speaker. I smirked as I thought of the things going through the speakers head, such as 'why is he looking at me like that' and 'how do I get him to stop'. It's funny how such simple things can please you when you're bored.

"Ah think ya scarin' him." I whispered to him when a council member met Prowls gaze and stumbled around their words.

He looked at me, a little confused.

"How am I scaring him?"

"Your optics are a lil' intense."

He still seemed to be slightly confused, but at least he didn't return to boring holes into the helms of the speaking council members.

It was starting to send me to recharge again when Prowls doorwings suddenly hiking up jerked me back to full consciousness. He stood up before speaking.

"That would create shortages all over Cybertron."

"Not if we're doing it carefully-" A council member began to reply, facial expression and tone clearly showing what they thought of the much younger mech who interrupted them.

"Regardless of the method, a large population is going to be effected by it."

"And how can you be so sure?"

"This idea has been proposed before, and it nearly wiped out the entire population of the planet."

The silence that filled the room then was deafening. I wanted to start clapping, just for something to fill the silence, however something told me that would get me disowned on the spot.

"And who exactly are you?" The council member replied, more interested in Prowl than before. This time, it was a Praxian sat in the seat next to my sire who stood up and answered.

"Prowl. He is my creation." He replied, giving Prowl a harsh glare. Prowls doorwings flicked downwards slightly and he pressed his lips together tightly. I was slightly worried as for what that meant. "I am sorry for his arrogance."

Prowls doorwings flicked upwards sharply, and his optics flashed. I nearly stood up next to him and defended his point – he was anything but arrogant – even though I didn't even know what we were talking about, but a council member's dismissive wave stopped me. Prowl slowly sat back down, fuming.

Lord Smokscreen of Praxus, quite clearly, was a no-nonsense mech. I didn't like the implications of what that meant. I used to glue people to their berths for Primus sake, if my creators ever mentioned that in casual conversation I was screwed!

The session continued on from there, however whenever Prowl looked as though he was going to stand to make a point, a glare from his sire had him sitting firmly in his seat again. He was grating his denta together in frustration, and I gently brushed our hands together in a silent invitation. He intertwined our digits together, giving me a small smile.

Exactly ten joors after it had started, the session ended and everyone started filling out. Prowl remained in his seat, staring intensely ahead. He seemed to be lost in thought. My carrier, a femme called Rhythm, gently tapped me on my shoulder. "We have to start discussing dates with the council. Would you like to join us?"

I nearly asked 'dates for what?' before I suddenly remembered and caught myself before I offended anyone, namely the mech currently sat beside me. I shook my helm. "Ah think A'll just be standin' there noddin' meh helm at everthin'. Ah won't be any good."

Rhythim laughed, stroking my helm and placing a quick peck on the middle of my visor. "I'll tell you as soon as we've decided."

She practically skipped away to rejoin my sire, the two linking arms. I quickly looked and Prowl to find that he'd snapped out of his trance and was now watching our creators and a council member talking.

"I wonder what date they'll settle on."

"Did you wanna join in?"

"No, I'll be in the same boat as you. Just nodding." He replied a small smile on his face.

I laughed, finding it hard to imagine Prowl, a mech well known even in Polyhex for never backing down, just accepting whatever was thrown at him without a fight.

"What's funny?" he asked, the smile disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

"You are." I replied, playfully punching his arm. He gave me a bewildered look. "Ah'll explain later."

He glanced upwards and saw that our creators and the council member were all agreeing on something. I suddenly felt butterflies in my tank. When was it? I hoped it wasn't too soon. As lovely as Prowl was, we weren't particularly close and the more I thought about it the less I knew about him.

Rhythm turned around and smiled at me. Obviously, she was picking up on what little emotions still got through the weak bond we shared as creation and carrier. When the council member turned to leave, she waved me over.

"We decided on a date." She excitedly said to me, bouncing slightly on her pedes. While I was used to Rhythm doing this, the Praxians around us were not. This small tid-bit of information seemed to go unnoticed by her, as usual. "We all decided on a groon from now."

A groon? Well, that wasn't too bad. Gave me three decacycles to squeeze as much information out of Prowl as I could before we had to bond.

Prowl relaxed marginally. He appeared to be pleased with the timing, too. Lord Smokescreen coughed once to clear his intakes before leading us out of the building and towards what could only be described as a castle. It was fraggin' huge.

As Polyhex was so far away, a trip to Praxus and then back again couldn't be done in the same cycle. So, because of this, my family had always stayed in Praxus after the meeting and returned back the next cycle.

To get to it, we had to walk through the crystal gardens. While Smokescreen, Rhythm and Tempo went ahead, my carrier talking animatedly to Smokescreen, I lagged behind with Prowl.

The stars had started to set, and the new angle the light was coming in from made the crystals that surrounded us glow with shades of red and pink. We still loosely held each other's hands, slowly walking through the gardens. After a few moments of silence, when the only noise came from the breeze running through the crystals, Prowl broke it.

"I fully intend to court you over the next groon. I hope you don't mind."

Ooh, that was unexpected. Courting, hm? That'd be a good way to know what he liked and what made him tick...

"Ah was thinkin' exactly the same thing."

This was going to be a fun groon.

I really like the noble verse and I'm a sucker for stories set in it. I'm super glad I got a suggestion for it or I wouldn't have been brave enough to give it a shot.

I guess I should probably say here that Rhythm and Tempo are my OC's and if they're similar/the same to other OC's/characters it's accidental and I seriously did not mean it D:

~Llama