Series Title: The Five Stages of Love
Chapter: Drabbles
Pairing: Sunny/Bee/Sides
Rating: PG
Warnings: creative language, slight violence
Summary: The meanings behind it all... (or "How it Happened")
(Drabble: Meeting the Twins)
Every bot in the rec room was gawking at the new recruits from Kaon. The mechs, according to rumor, had been gladiators and their frames were obviously built for battle. But the most interesting fact about them was that they were twins, spark-split ones.
Most of the mechs in the rec room had only vaguely heard about spark-split twins, but they knew that the brother's had to be close, considering that they shared nearly everything. It was difficult, according to studies, for spark-split twins to hide anything from each other, though it could be done if the individual had enough practice.
The red twin, Sideswipe, was funny, charming, good looking, and a bit of a flirt. His golden brother Sunstreaker was gorgeous, prideful, sarcastic and intimidating. The brothers, to the confusion of the bots gathered in the rec room, stood up from the table they were seated at and jogged over to a table of minibots.
"How'd you mechs like to play a favorite game of ours?" Sideswipe, the red twin, grinned at his new comrades. "All the rage in Kaon, I swear!" He grabbed one of the minibots and pulled them straight up out of their chair.
Cliffjumper, who the red mech had grabbed, immediately began cussing, which only made Sideswipe grin as he backed away form the table and took aim. "Hey Sunny!" The golden mech sneered at the nickname, the expression, oddly enough, enhancing his beauty.
"Catch!" Sideswipe pulled his arms back and threw Cliffjumper, who was loudly cussing out the red mech with cruel words. Soaring through the air, the minibot made a strange wooshing sound before being caught by Sunstreaker.
The golden mech grinned down at the startled bot in his arms, the look promising pain, then he turned and threw the minibot at another mech, who immediately caught him, laughing. Several others joined in, loving the chance to have fun with the 'tough' minibots, who didn't have many friends among the larger mechs.
Then a small yellow bot wandered into the room, oblivious to the dangerous game going on. Exceedingly tired from a long and fruitless patrol, Bumblebee didn't notice the game being played until he was promptly grabbed and tossed.
As he was released, he looked back at Tracks, who's optics widened in surprise at just who he had thrown. Then he landed in the arms of an unfamiliar bot. A larger red mech, with handsome faceplates and deep blue optics grinned down at him.
The mech, who he would later learn was named Sideswipe, traced his optics over the minibot's frame, surprised at how light and slender the little bot was. Catching himself, the red mech yelled to his brother again and tossed the minibot.
Sunstreaker, growing bored with the introductory game, decided to up the ante. As the little yellow bot soared towards him, Sunstreaker stepped to the side, allowing the minibot to hit the ground with a sickening crunch.
The little yellow bot had landed on his side and rolled a bit, the front of his helm smacking into the floor. He lay there, unmoving, as a small tickle of energon came out of a busted line in his shoulder and began to pool beneath him.
The entire room was quiet, even the minibot's having stopped their cursing and carrying on to stare in horror at the little bot splayed on the ground. Sunstreaker grinned, glancing around at the mechs who began to glare at him, then he started laughing.
He never noticed the slightly panicked look on his brother's face as a white and black mech stormed into the room.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Prowl, Second in Command of the Autobots, whom the brothers had met during their orientation, was glaring hotly at both of them, his door wings quivering in rage and a cracked datapad gripped in one servo.
"Have you bot's lost your processors?" Several of the mechs shuffled awkwardly as the enforcer quickly made his way to Bumblebee, who still hadn't moved. Then, as if they were just realizing that the minibot was seriously injured, several mechs moved forward to help.
Although a few of them were more intent on hurting Sunstreaker for letting the little bot fall. Cliffjumper got to the golden mech first, kicking out at the highly polished stabilizer's in front of him and sneering when the larger bot turned around to face him.
A fight broke out, more than one mech throwing themselves at Sunstreaker, but the golden warrior was a fierce fighter and once his brother joined the altercation, they were holding their own against six other mechs. Prowl was barely paying attention to the fight, his optics focused on the injured minibot.
"Bumblebee?" He muttered softly, turning the yellow helm and glancing over the dent in the minibot's forehead. It looked deep enough to have caused his processor to temporarily shut down, but there didn't seem to be any major damage.
Sighing heavily through his vents, Prowl glanced up at the ongoing fight when he heard the whiir of Ironhide's cannons. "What the slag is goin' on in here?" The weapon's specialist glared from one bot to another before his optics landed on the SIC who was still crouched by Bumblebee.
After a short discussion and the twins receiving shiney dents, courtesy of Ratchet who had entered with Ironhide, the frontliner's were taken to the brig, where Prowl was certain they would spend a lot of their time while members of the Ark team.
If Optimus Prime even allowed them to remain aboard the Ark once he heard what the twins had done to his favorite minibot. And Prowl nearly shuddered at the thought of what Jazz would do once he found out.
The twins would quickly learn that Bumblebee had many friends who were more than willing to go out of their way to protect the little bot. Of course, once Bumblebee onlined again he tried to convince Command that it was an accident and the game had even been fun to him, at first.
The minibot insisted and even pouted when they stated that they weren't going to lower the punishment, which would be an entire orn in the brig. But Bumblebee made a good point when he mentioned that twins were brilliant fighters who were needed on the front lines and a bot who was in the brig wasn't allowed on the battlefield.
The twins punishment was lowered and they were released after only a few joors. When they came across Bumblebee in the hall, they grinned at the little bot. "Hey!" Sideswipe smirked. "Isn't your name Bumbler?"
The minibot giggled, smiling, much to the surprise of the larger mechs. "No, no. Bumblebee. But you're welcome to call me 'Bee for short, if you like." Sunstreaker raised an optic ridge and glanced back at his brother.
:Did we break him?: Sideswipe snorted, his grin widening.
:We may have. Oh the horror!: The both laughed quietly through their bond, looking over the minibot as he smiled again.
"Hey, I didn't get a chance to say it the other joor, but welcome to the Ark!" Now they were certainly surprised and a little bit startled. Perhaps they had broken the little bot's processor, but if so, why were they still online?
"I can already tell that the two of you are going to liven things up around here and I heard you're really good fighters, so I'm glad you joined." The the minibot's smile turned a little mischievous. "Also, thanks the impromptu flying lesson. That was hilarious!"
Now the twins were convinced that something horrible had happened to the bot's processor and the only reason they hadn't been executed already was because the Autobots were being nice enough to give them a head start.
Just as the twins were preparing to run, the minibot spoke up again. "It was kind of fun until I hit the floor, but whatever. Hope to see you mechs around!" Yes, they had broken the little bot, Bumblebee. The twins were convinced of this as they waved, although both mechs couldn't help but check out the mini's aft as he walked away.
Not bad for a minibot...
-Summarized individual point of views for drabble-
(Sunstreaker POV for "Meeting the Twins")
Sunstreaker hated minibots with a passion. After being made a fool of by somebot who he thought loved him, the frontliner couldn't help but become violent whenever he was around minibots. He and Sideswipe had just been introduced to their new crew mates on the Ark and decided it was best to start things off by showing the larger bots how much fun 'Toss the Minibot' could be.
There were soon several minibots being thrown through the air, from one side of the room to the other. The mini's were doing their best to flail out their limbs and try to hit the larger bots antagonizing them, but they never managed to strike the frontliners, as they had had a lot of practice avoiding attacks.
The golden twin purposely stepped out of the way as Sideswipe threw a little yellow bot at him and smirked when the mini hit the floor with a loud clang. The room had gone quiet, nearly every bot staring in horror at the unmoving bot on the ground and Sunstreaker couldn't help himself.
He started to laugh, loudly, at the realization that these mechs thought he was just playing around. He would have kicked the little yellow bot too, just to see how far the slender looking thing would roll, but Prowl, SIC of the Autobots and soon to be a wall between the twins and fun, came into the room then, visibly seething.
After being sufficiently punished for their actions, the frontliner's were making their way to the rec room when they crossed paths with the same yellow minibot, who was smiling brightly at them. He greeted them kindly and welcomed them to the Ark, introducing himself as 'Bumblebee'.
Confused beyond all reason, the twins accepted the minibot's kindness, if just to lure him into a false sense of security, when something the bot said caught their attention. "Also, thanks for the impromptu flying lesson. That was hilarious!" There was no sarcasm to the minibot's vocals and the smile never faded from his faceplates.
"It was kind of fun until I hit the floor, but whatever. Hope to see you mechs around!" The little yellow bot had left then, walking off to wherever he had been headed to to begin with, humming happily.
(Sideswipe POV for "Meeting the Twins")
Sideswipe caught the little yellow bot as his brother tossed him, and couldn't help but stare at the mini in his arms for an astrosecond. Unlike most mini's, the one in his arms was slender, with soft features and a light build. Catching himself, the red twin chucked the little bot back at his brother, who purposely stepped out of the way so the bot crashed heavily to the floor.
After that loud clang echoed through the rec room, everything seemed to go silent before the quiet was broken by Sunstreaker's chuckling, which eventually became booming laughter. Sideswipe shook his head, glancing around the room at the horrified faces and tried to warn his brother of the impending doom when the doors opened to reveal the future bane of their existence, the SIC of the Autobots Prowl, who was obviously very angry.
Spending the next few joors in the brig certainly wasn't his idea of fun, but Sideswipe took the time as an opportunity to develop new pranks, sharing a few with his brother through their bond. When they were released and heading back to the rec room, the red twin grinned at the sight of the same yellow minibot.
Of course, the ridiculously kind greeting and sweet welcome threw both twins, confusion reigning supreme in their processor's. Bumblebee, which was a stupid name, stayed happy and upbeat throughout the short conversation and even expressed a wish to see them again, much to the surprise of the frontliners.
They waved as he walked off, to Primus knows where, and Sideswipe let his optics slide down to take in the minibot's frame. The little bot had a nice aft, for a mini.
(Bumblebee POV for "Meeting the Twins")
Bumblebee sighed softly when he realized his dilemma. His roommate, Cliffjumper was bad-mouthing their newest recruits, a set of twins from Kaon, and 'Bee had defended them without thinking. But it hadn't been to dissolve any kind of tension. It had simply been because he couldn't stand the way CJ was talking about the other mechs.
He felt protective of them and wanted to defend them from his roommate's harsh words, even though he was sure they were perfectly capable of protecting themselves. He wanted to help them feel welcome, to feel like the Ark could be home, but he didn't know why he felt like that.
At first.
He figured it out a few joor's later, when the twins were being released from the brig for what happened in the rec room. He caught sight of them and expected his first reaction to be the uncontrollable urge to flee, but he didn't feel anything like that.
He wanted to talk to them, to stand next to them and actively engage them in conversation. He did, in a very polite and kind way, confusing the larger bots. They had to think that there was something wrong with his processor if he was being so friendly towards them after they had treated him so harshly before.
But Bumblebee knew the truth as they parted ways and he headed down to one of the storage rooms for inventory. He liked the new recruits, the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. He really actually liked them, for whatever reason Primus had dreamed up.
