"Ouch! Miko!"
The human girl cackled evilly, ducking behind her fort as a snowball came flying at her, impacting with a tree right behind her.
"Missed, Arcee!" she hollered, ducking as yet another snowball sailed over her head. She popped up again, chucking the snowball to her right, then dove back behind the fort.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not playing!" Ratchet howled, spitting out snow. Miko's eyes widened. She had hit Ratchet. Whoops. Wheeljack suddenly appeared beside her, his soliform grinning as he dumped a pile of snowballs on the ground between them.
"Nice hit, kid," he said, then grabbed a snowball in each hand and bolted away from the fort, hurling both of his projectiles at the medic.
"That's it!" Ratchet stood up from his place on the porch of the cabin and stomped over to Wheeljack, who turned and tried to run, but slipped in the snow and ended up falling. "First you throw me in the water, and now you insist on hitting me in the face with snowballs. You have a deathwish, Wrecker," the medic growled darkly, bending down and picking up an armload of snow. Wheeljack scrambled back on his hands, but was too slow to avoid the cascade of frozen water that was dumped on him. He shrieked as it went down his shirt.
Ratchet's soliform smirked and kicked a pile of snow onto the Wrecker, then turned on his heel and began to head inside…just as another snowball hit him in the back. He slowly turned to face Arcee, who had another snowball poised.
"No!" Ratchet yelled, lunging for her. They collided and landed in a heap in the snow, wrestling for the snowball. Arcee grabbed a handful of the powdery substance and shoved it into the doctor's mouth, then flipped them around so she was sitting on his stomach.
"I win," she teased, smirking down at him. He propped himself up on his elbows, eyes narrowed.
"Fragger," he snarled, which earned him another faceful of snow.
"Don't curse in front of the kids," the femme chastised, eyes bright, before rolling off of him and sprinting back to her own fort.
"Time for hot chocolate!" June called, stepping outside, effectively putting a stop to the snowball fight. "And cookies, if anyone wants them." Jack and Raf immediately made a beeline for the door, but were knocked to the ground by Miko. Optimus walked over to Raf, helping the boy up. The Prime smiled, then gently put a small snowball in the human's hand.
Ratchet rolled his neck and got to his feet, then trudged inside, where he accepted a steaming mug and a plate of cookies from June. He sat down on the sofa, eyeing the food suspiciously, and was soon joined by Optimus and Arcee.
"Who wants to try it first?" the latter asked, breaking her cookie in half and sniffing it warily. Optimus glanced at her with wide eyes, crumbs dotting his chin, and Ratchet inclined his head towards him with a snort.
"Looks like we've got our answer."
Arcee chuckled, then took a bite of her own cookie. "This is surprisingly good."
"Of course it's good. My mom made it!" Jack defended, entering the room and sitting on a reclining chair. Arcee rolled her eyes.
"Of course."
Ratchet frowned at his cookie, then dipped it in the hot chocolate. He slowly bit into it, eyes popping at the flavor. Arcee took one look at him and choked on her own hot chocolate, doubling over as she attempted to get herself back under control.
The cookie tasted good at first, but then Ratchet found out why his beverage was called "hot" chocolate. He whimpered, but didn't want to spit out the cookie. Quickly, he swallowed the bite, eyes watering as it burned his throat on the way down.
"Tasty, Ratchet?" Arcee managed to get out, face still red from laughing. He scowled at her, then nodded.
"Delicious," he said dryly, then threw the other half of his cookie at the femme. She flinched and knocked the cookie onto the floor, then glared at him.
"Mine!" Smokescreen shouted, diving to the floor and grabbing the cookie, then stuffing it in his mouth. Ratchet grimaced in disgust – there were so many ways that could make him sick.
"Alright, guys," Jack said, checking his watch, "it's nearly curfew in Jasper. We should head back." Raf nodded and unzipped his backpack. He pulled out his computer, then began typing. Soon, a GroundBridge was swirling before them.
As they walked to the portal, Miko put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Where should we go next? What about Japan?" she asked excitedly, and Ratchet rolled his eyes.
"I think I've had enough of vacationing for now," he muttered, and Miko shrugged.
"Oh well. At least I got some pics." She winked at him, flashing him a picture of Arcee sitting on him, then darted through the vortex. Ratchet huffed, murmuring something unintelligible and probably offensive, then followed her.