Space

A loud, hollow clang echoed up and down one of the long hallways of the gigantic starship. Nitro Convoy stepped back from the wall, removing his fist from the sizeable dent in the tough metal plating. Paint chips flaked from his knuckles as he uncurled his fingers and stood straight once more, his handsome face grim. He cursed the Autobots yet again. What had he been thinking of when he volunteered to join them? That aside, what fit of madness had possessed him to fall for one of them? Another curse followed, this one aimed at the mech who had thrown him into such bitter, emotional chaos.

At times like this, he almost wished he could have remained on Planet Speedia where he could have burned out his frustrations on the race track, but no. Someone had to bring back the ancient starship so they could all take a nice inter-galactic trip to Planet Gigalonia.

Another resounding clang followed as he hit the wall again, letting paint flake from his other hand. Reformatted, they said; reborn, they said. What did it matter? The mech he loved was dead, and the stranger that walked around wearing his face and speaking with his voice was slowly killing him with each passing day. He half wished sometimes that he could just claw out his optics and audios.

He thought of asking if being reformatted would alter or erase someone's memory. It would be a fitting explanation as to why he'd been getting the cold shoulder ever since the incident. Had he just forgotten that they were together? It would certainly explain why he ran over to help Ligerjack while leaving Nitro to get up on his own. That had hurt more than the actual physical impact of slamming into the planet's hard surface.

Who was he kidding? First Gunner, Backgild, even Armbullet, all had their memories intact, why should Exigeyser be any different? No, he just wanted something to be wrong with him so he'd have an excuse for the other mech's lack of interest. At least when he was not blaming Exillion's death on his own failure to get to him in time to help. Live Convoy had called him a fool for thinking it.

He rested his head against the cold, thick glass of one of the windows and looked out into space. It looked as dark and empty as he felt. Maybe it was all wrong. Maybe he should have been with someone else. Live Convoy for instance. He liked the quiet Earth leader a lot, though for now they were nothing more than good friends and fellow planet leaders. He also suspected that there was something between the blue-and-yellow rescue 'copter and the young hunter Autovolt, eventhough neither had mentioned anything about the other in actual words.

There was also that cocky, rebel flier Sonic Bomber. More than once he'd caught himself giving the attractive white jet an appreciative glance. Something about the other's fiery personality made his circuits sizzle.

"Live Convoy said you might be down here," a voice said.

Nitro looked up and all thoughts of Sonic Bomber were driven clean out of his mind. The bane of many of his good moods stood further down the corridor looking, for all the galaxy, as content as ever. Nitro half wanted to hit him. Didn't he have any idea how much his presence hurt right now?

"You two seem quite friendly. Must be a leader thing."

A leader thing! It took all Nitro's patience not to clamp his hand around the blue mech's throat, as he came up to join Nitro by the window. Didn't he feel anything at all anymore? How could he be so casual?

"I don't think we'll see any sunsets for a while."

Nitro's optics flashed. "What did you say?"

"No sunsets in space," Exigeyser replied, glancing at him.

A moment of silence passed.

"Skids still looks up to you," Nitro said. "He asked if you could still race in your new form."

"What did you tell him?" Exigeyser asked.

"I told him I didn't know anything about Exigeyser." Nitro met his optics. "Because I haven't been able to speak to him ever since he was reformatted."

Exigeyser shrugged. "This form's fast, but I haven't tried to race in it, its been so busy lately. Maybe if we ever go back to-."

"Will you stop it!" Nitro cut him off.

He looked bewildered. "Stop what?"

"Stop acting as if nothing ever happened between us!. Are you punishing me because I wasn't able to save you? Because I didn't get there in time!"

Nitro's face was a mix of anger and pain, and looking at him, Exigeyser realized how hard it must be for him to keep all his emotions hidden beneath the cool personality of the Speedian leader. Cautiously, he stretched his hand out towards the other mech, resting his fingers lightly on the red-and-white bot's shoulder and carefully pulling him into a hug. It took all Nitro's self-control not to throw him down and love him senseless right there.

"I was afraid," Exigeyser whispered softly into his audio.

Nitro pulled back, gently cupping the other's cheek with one hand. "Of what?"

Exigeyser placed his own hand over Nitro's and was about to respond when he heard the other mech wince softly. Frowning slightly, he moved Nitro's hand off his face and looked at it, noting the scrapes and paint chips. He eyed Nitro, who shrugged.

"Had to vent somehow," he said.

"Fighting bad guys isn't enough huh?" Exigeyser asked.

"I'm a racer, not a fighter," Nitro replied.

The blue mech shook his head. "Come over here and sit."

He led Nitro over to a random ledge that jutted out from the wall and they sat down together. From a compartment in his left forearm he produced a small vial of a light oily-wax substance. Taking Nitro's hands in his lap, he dabbed some on his fingers and gently spread it over the other's damaged knuckles.

"What were you afraid of?" Nitro asked, watching Exigeyser's fingers softly rub his own.

"That I wouldn't be able to race anymore." He stopped rubbing and held Nitro's hands firmly.

Nitro raised an optic ridge. "Just about racing?" He tightened his fingers around Exigeyser's.

"That you wouldn't want me because of it; that you wouldn't like me the way I am now."

"You thought I would be that superficial?"

"I didn't know what to think then." He looked away, but still kept his grip on Nitro's hands. "I STILL don't know what to think now."

Nitro leaned closer to nuzzle against the side of Exigeyser's neck.

"Do you still love me?" he murmured. "Or are you uncertain about that too?"

Exigeyser jerked back, released Nitro's hands and encircled the other mech's head, pulling him into a sound, passionate kiss. Nitro felt his fuel-pump lurch in exhilaration and hungrily kissed him back, letting his hands roam over Exigeyser's body, exploring it in-depth.

"I swear…" Exigeyser breathed as Nitro released his mouth for a brief moment. "… that was… the only thing… I WAS sure of…"

"Good." Nitro pulled him closer as they kissed again.

"We… we should go… somewhere more private." Exigeyser eased up a little. "A room."

"No time," Nitro replied. "We might be called back at any moment." He placed a kiss on the other's neck.

"The children… what if they…?"

"Vector Prime has the children, he's teaching them about space-time. They'll be a while." He pushed Exigeyser back down on the ledge and leaned over him. "Lets see what this new body of yours is really like."

"W-wait… I'm sorry," he said

"For what?"

"For everything. For neglecting you. This isn't easy, I'm a part of a team now. We wont always be working together, not like before. They might even split us up for separate missions."

"I am aware of that. Its already happened in case you haven't noticed."

Exigeyser nodded. "That's why… are you sure you still want us to go on like this?"

"Are you?"

"I don't know… I don't know if I can promise you anything."

Nitro sighed and sat back up again. "Think you can promise to come back to me after we save the galaxy?"

The blue mech smirked. "I think I could do that. As long as you promise not to go after any fliers when I'm not around."

"What makes you think…?"

"Oh, I've seen the way you look at Sonic Bomber sometimes. You're too late though, I think Backgild may have approached him."

"So I guess I'm stuck with you then?" Nitro asked innocently.

Exigeyser surged up and pushed Nitro down on his back, pinning him. "I'm stronger than you now."

Nitro grabbed his arms and flipped him over. "But I'm still faster. Now, stop interrupting and put that mouth of yours to better use."

Obligingly, Exigeyser reached up and pressed his mouth to Nitro's in a firm, gentle kiss. "I like you stuck with me."

Nitro kissed him back, gently stroking his head. "I like being stuck with you too." He trailed a hand down his chestplate. "So, lets see what this new body of yours can do, shall we?"

Exigeyser chuckled and pulled Nitro closer. "We shall."

END.