Just a little thing I thought of. Sometime during the beginning of season 1.
This is utterly pointless. But Prowl's in it, so, can't be all that bad.
Fireflies
Just last night, the night was aglow with small organics that, if he stayed perfectly still, would land on him. Now it was morning, and those little creatures were scattered across the ground . . . offline. Prowl stared at the little creatures, a frown on his metal face. He just sat there, just staring at the little corpses, curious and his mood completely dampened. Why had they gone offline? They were so bright and youthful just last night, and now they were offline. The Cyber Ninja reached down, scooping up the little organics, and stared at them as they rested sparklessly in his palm. They had intrigued him, and he wanted to know what they were. But for now, his mood was dismayed as he sat there, looking at the tiny organics.
"Hey, Prowl!"
The Cyber Ninja had recognized the voice as Sari. He turned to see the little human at his doorframe with that big smile on her face and those bright optics of hers. Noticing the frown on the robot's face-plate, she followed suit.
"What's wrong?" she asked as she approached his side.
He didn't answer, but he only lowered his palm to show her. Sari eyed the little thing in his palm and arched a brow. "Why are holding a bug?" she asked.
"What type of bug is it?"
Sari looked at it for a moment. "I'm not sure," she answered with a shrug of the shoulders. "They all look the same to me."
Prowl looked at her for a moment, and then turned his attention back to the insect in his palm. "They were glowing such a beautiful light," he said.
"Oh, those are fireflies," she said, glancing about the floor to notice their dead bodies.
"Fireflies," Prowl echoed in a whisper. "Such intriguing creatures."
"Um, they're just bugs," Sari said, moving closer to the large robot and away from the dead bugs.
"Maybe to you," the Cyber Ninja retorted. "But they are interesting to me. I've never seen such creatures." He was silent for a moment, and all that could be heard was Sari's gentle breathing. "Such beautiful things, yet they live such short lives," Prowl said, a distinct sadness in his tone of voice. "Why so?"
Sari had no answer for that. And when Prowl turned to her for answers, she shook her head and shrugged. Prowl, obviously, was not pleased by that answer.
"They just do," Sari said. "Bugs don't live for very long. Some only live for a few days."
"Days?" Prowl stated, completely surprised. Such short life spans. Where all organics plagued with such short lives?
"Yeah, butterflies don't live very long," Sari said with a dampened tone.
Prowl looked to the firefly in his hand, and then turned back to Sari. "How long do humans live?" he inquired.
"Um, a hundred, that is if you live a healthy life."
Only a hundred? Such short lives. Prowl hummed in his throat, and turned to stare at the firefly that had not left his palm. Sari jumped up, crawling onto his leg, and stood up, resting her little hands on his hand, and stared at the tiny (even tinier to Prowl) bug. She met his gaze, and offered him a smile.
"They are beautiful at night."
"Yes, they are," Prowl said, smiling in return.
Sari nodded, and gently touched the insect in his hand. Prowl stared at the human, the smile still on his face. He then turned to look out to the fireflies' bodies. Perhaps he could give them a proper funeral.