STORY TIME
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, though how I wish I did...
Author's Note: Just a short fluffy one-shot set in my "Are We There Yet" universe. Warning: Very stupid and sugary. If you haven't read "Are We There Yet" you'll be wondering who Joey is, so I suggest you check that one out first. Please Review!
Joey sat sprawled on the arm of a mech-sized couch reading a book Jazz had found for her. She glanced up as Bluestreak walked by with a cube of energon. He peered at her and sat down on the couch beside her.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Reading Peter Pan," she replied with a smirk. "It's a kiddy story, but it's not too bad."
"What's a Peter Pan?" He asked.
She smiled and held the book out to him. "Who, not what. He's a fictional character in a story," she replied. "You want to read it?"
He squinted at the tiny book and chuckled. "It's too little." He waved one huge hand vaguely.
She flushed and nodded. "I could read it to you if you want," she said as she flipped back to the front of the book.
Bluestreak leaned closer. "Okay."
After a few minutes, Bluestreak had moved to sprawl on his stomach on the floor with his arms crossed in front of him. Joey sat on his arm with the book reading out loud. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were walking by and paused in the rec room's entrance and stared at Blue and Joey. Sunny raised an optic ridge, but Sides grinned and walked over to see what was going on.
"Hey, there, Fluffy-kins," Sides jeered cheerfully and she shot him a dirty look.
Sideswipe sat down beside Blue on the floor and Sunny flopped on the couch with his arms crossed grouchily. After a couple of minutes though, Sunny and Sideswipe were leaning forward listening intently to the story too.
Jazz walked down the hall with an arm full of data pads, swaying to the music playing from his speakers and humming. He walked by the rec room and then paused as he heard voices. He pursed his lips and backed up, cutting his music off. He stared at the three mechs and the human, and then he shrugged and walked over to see what was going on.
Nearly two hours later, Prowl paced back and forth, before growling under his breath. Jazz had never shown up for his shift. As Prowl left his office to find the wayward mech, he ran into Optimus who seemed to be looking for something as well.
"Have you seen Jazz?" Prowl asked, his wing panels tense with agitation.
"No, have you seen Wheeljack?" Prime asked with a shake of his head. "I needed to ask him about the stability of that new type of energon the cons have developed."
Prowl scowled and the two walked down the corridor hunting the missing mechs. The entire base seemed to be deserted, much to their puzzlement. Even with so few mechs on base, usually there was someone in the corridors.
"Where the frag is everyone?" Prowl grumbled exasperatedly under his breath.
They rounded a corner and saw that Ratchet and Ironhide were standing outside the entrance of the rec room and Ironhide waved them over when he spotted them.
Prime peered into the room and chuckled. Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Drift, Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Wheeljack, Cosmos, Perceptor, Mirage and Hot Rod were sitting huddled around the little human listening to her read from a book. "Well, I'll be," Prime muttered with a smile that was hidden by his face plate.
"What are they doing?" Prowl demanded.
"Nothing," Ratchet replied with amusement.
"Shouldn't we make them get to work?" Prowl demanded.
Ratchet shook his head.
"But they're not doing anything!" Prowl exclaimed in agitation.
"Exactly," Ratchet said. "Cliffjumper isn't trying to pick a fight with anyone, Mirage and Sunstreaker aren't arguing, Drift and Hot Rod aren't racing in the corridors, Wheeljack isn't blowing himself up, Jazz isn't playing his music so loud that the walls vibrate, Sideswipe isn't plotting anything… I fail to see the problem."
Prowl opened his mouth and then shut it. He turned toward Prime. "Maybe we should find her some more books and schedule story times from now on?" He suggested cautiously.
In his lonely little office, Red Alert watched the mechs in the rec room on his security feeds and thought, Why wasn't I invited?
End
Author's Note: Why? Because I'm trying to iron out the plot for "How Far We've Come" before I begin the story and the plot bunnies mobbed me. Review, please!