What's this? Lunar Mist actually updating something that's not Through a Cybercat's Optics? The world has tilted on its axis! Well, it ain't long, and we have a short cameo... Enjoy the fluff, the angst, and all that jazz. :)
Part 2
Playtime 0.o
It was chaos. Complete pandemonium. Sparklings rushed around, making messes and typically destroying things. Orion rushed over and grabbed a little door-winger by the name of Bluestreak before he could jump off a shelf. Bluestreak squalled happily when Orion turned him around and tackled the blue and red mech's faceplates, twittering happily as he did. Orion let out a startled yelp as he attempted to pry the mechling's surprisingly strong hands from around his faceplates. Bluestreak seemed to think it was a game and continued to twitter and chirp joyfully as he tightened his grip.
"Megatron! Help!" Orion cried out.
"Fix it yourself! I got my own problems!" Megatron snapped. The future protectorate was bouncing around on one pede as he shook the other one violently. Starscream, the leader of the seeklet trine, found Megatron's foot highly fascinating for some reason or another. The black seeklet, whom Orion now knew was named Skywarp, found it hilarious to cover Megatron's optics, while Thundercracker, the third seeklet of the trine, purposefully slid around on Megatron's shoulder to keep the mech's hands busy.
"Primus, you two are terrible with sparklings," Chromia muttered as she moved to Orion's side.
"I think Orion is doing splendidly. Nobot ever deals with Bluestreak this easily," Elita contradicted. Orion's spark melted at the compliment. She said he was doing a splendid job! He stilled his hands and started rubbing Bluestreak's doorwing. Maybe it would… a-ha. Bluestreak let out a loud purr, and his hands released Orion's face. The prime-to-be grinned as he held Bluestreak close to his chassis, still rubbing the mechlet's winglets. Bluestreak's optics were offline as he purred in utter bliss.
"Oh, you two are so cute together!" Elita chirped. Orion's cheek plating lit up blue. She called him cute!
"These little pit spawns are anything but cute!" Megatron snapped. "Soundwave, get this monster off my helm!"
"Order: acknowledged. Complying." With that, the navy blue mech moved to Megatron's side. Following Orion's example, Soundwave gently rubbed Skywarp's winglet. Skywarp gave a squeak of joy, released Megatron's face, and tackled Soundwave's. Soundwave stumbled backwards in shock. Skywarp giggled madly at the movement. "Megatron: assistance requested."
"Fix your own problems! I got two of my own!" Megatron snapped angrily.
"You two are so immature," Elita said with an optic roll as she picked up a small black and white sparkling that had been following her around. The sparkling cuddled into her grip, peering over at Orion with a strangely observant stare. "This is Prowl. Prowl, this is Orion," she introduced.
"Grah-nuh-wabbubby!" a small voice squealed.
"Yeah, I know, Jazz," Chromia said flatly to the sparkling that was cuddled into her shoulder, chewing on the tire that was settled there. Jazz released the tire for a klik, let out a delighted squeal, then continued chewing on the tire.
"Is it okay for him to chew on that?" Orion asked hesitantly. Bluestreak squeaked at his voice and started twittering to him again. Chromia sent him a grin.
"Probably not. He chews on everything, though, and at least I know where my tire has been," she replied. Orion nodded hesitantly.
"Strange," he muttered, turning his attention back to the mechling in his arms.
"Oh, every one of them has something strange about them," Chromia stated. "Jazz here likes to chew on things. Blue likes to talk. Prowl has an advanced logic center. He can understand everything we say, and he's much smarter than a normal sparkling."
"Wow," Orion muttered, looking at the sparkling in Elita's arm in a new light. Prowl gave him a single squeak in greeting.
"Yeah. Skywarp over there can warp, Starscream has a strange obsession with pedes, and Thundercracker can, well, produce a sonic boom. We discourage that."
"I see. And the other… two," Orion prodded, looking around for the two sparklings that seem to have just disappeared. Chromia grimaced.
"Oh. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Well, they're split spark twins, and they are very good at manipulating the bots around them to get energon goodies and the like." There was a muted "vop" noise, and Orion jumped in surprise when a sparkling body bounced off his helm. He acted quickly to catch the seeklet that had rolled off the front of his helmet, and he cuddled the black and violet seeklet to his chassis beside Bluestreak. Bluestreak looked over at Skywarp warily. Skywarp stared back at him, then suddenly tackled him with a delighted, "Gah-vaaahhh!" Bluestreak let out a terrified squeal as he attempted to escape Skywarp's energetic embrace.
"Soundwave, you and Megs were in charge of the seeklets! Stop slacking!" Elita snapped as her fingers rubbed Skywarp's winglet. She completely missed Soundwave's wince as she yelled at him from a distance, despite his new task of capturing Thundercracker before the mechlet slid off Megatron's shoulders. Skywarp gave a happy warble at the feeling of Elita's gentle fingers on his winglets and released Bluestreak to launch himself at the rose-hued femme. Prowl's engine gave an angry rev when Elita caught the seeklet, and the intelligent sparkling quickly situated himself over Elita's spark, wanting to hear the soothing sound without the interruption of the obnoxious seeker sparkling. Skywarp twittered joyfully as he nuzzled his helm against Elita's shoulder. On instinct, he shuffled closer to her spark, only to be stopped by a growling doorwinger. Sensory panels stood rigidly, twitching minutely as they took in information. Skywarp gave a coo of confusion as he attempted to shimmy into Prowl's spot. The logical sparkling was having none of that. Without hesitation, he landed a sound smack on the seeklet's developing wings, knowing from experience that wings were points of sensory crossings. His attempt to defend his spot was successful as Skywarp let out a pained howl before breaking into sobs. Elita gasped before setting an unrepentant Prowl with a stern look.
"No, sir! We do not hit other mechlings!" she chastised. Prowl gave her a look that all but questioned her sanity. "We don't," she reasserted. "Orion, take Prowl for me." Orion was quick to obey. Prowl whined and whimpered as he was switched over to Orion's arms.
"Now don't start that, Prowl. We lose privileges when we do things wrong," Orion chided, settling the intelligent door-winger beside the more average door-winger. Bluestreak chirped at Prowl, and Prowl replied with a low buzz. Blue cocked his helm at this, obviously confused by the black and white sparkling's response. He gave another squeak, this one sounding confused. Prowl sent the sparkling a sarcastic look before settling down against Orion's chassis with a huff of defeat.
There was a mild sense of peace for a few kliks. Prowl and Bluestreak were content to cuddle up and share the sound of Pax's spark, though Bluestreak saw fit to squeak and chatter to Orion as he did so. Prowl, for his part, was silent, carefully listening to the thrum of Orion's spark. Skywarp had settled down in Elita's grasp, nuzzling his helm affectionately over her spark, something that all seeklets tended to do to show their affection. Thundercracker was resting calmly on Soundwave's shoulder, being entertained by the soft prerecorded music coming from the mech's speakers. Megatron had taken a seat in a rocking chair with his left ankle crossing over his right knee and had come to grips with the fact that Starscream simply was not going to release his ped. As such, Starscream was lying on his stomach on Megatron's left ped, chewing on the side of his foot, despite the fact that said foot was bouncing slightly as he tapped his other foot to the gentle, yet steady beat coming from Soundwave's speakers. Jazz was cradled in Chromia's arms, having moved on from chewing on her tire to chewing on her fingers. In all, it was peaceful, and Orion found himself thinking that he wouldn't mind having a sparkling of his own someday.
Then it happened.
The little red twin gave a loud battle cry, and Orion turned his head to see the horror that was unfolding. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had spent that last few breems to move things over to the door, creating an impromptu staircase. Even though said staircase didn't reach the top of the door, the twins had made do. Sunstreaker had clumsily lifted his sparkling twin up, and Sideswipe was about to jump off the door to freedom. If he survived the fall.
"Slag!" Orion cried at the same time that Chromia and Elita did. All three of them dashed to the door with a combined cry of, "SIDESWIPE, NO!" Sideswipe gave a delighted squeal as he leapt from the partitioned door.
Only to be caught on the other side.
"Whoa there, runt. That's not a very good idea," the mech stated evenly. Orion slowed in his dash and frowned at the stranger. He looked to be middle-aged – at least one generation younger than Sentinel Prime and Alpha Trion – and his frame was huge, easily taking up the door, even if he was a bit short. Huge cannons were situated on his forearms, and his facial plating was dotted by scars. Orion's optics met with ice blue ones, and he fought back a cringe as he approached the door after Elita, who had snatched up a protesting Sunstreaker by the scruff bar, and Chromia, who was gently lifting Sideswipe from the stranger's servos.
"Well, well, well. Fancy seeing a mech like you here," Chromia hummed with a pleasant smile on her faceplates. The mech gave her a smirk as his optics moved from Orion to her.
"Came to check on the two miscreants," he stated.
"Stop calling me that!" Megatron snapped. The black mech rolled his optics, and Megatron was ignored.
"Greetings, Elita-One. I hope your cycle has been pleasant."
"Yes, Ironhide. It's been lovely, actually," Elita said agreeably.
"I see you have a new face in here, too. I know Megatron's here because he slagged off Killswitch. So what's the future prime here for?" the mech now designated Ironhide questioned, fixing Orion with another calculating look. The two femmes frowned.
"Why are you here, Orion?" Elita asked. Orion shrugged.
"I made a flippant statement to Sentinel," Orion said. "It will not happen again."
"Back to the formalities," Megatron mumbled. Orion scowled at his younger brother.
"Perhaps you do not desire to sound intelligent, but I do," he stated curtly. Megatron rolled his optics and stood up. Starscream gave a surprised squeak and latched onto the top of Megatron's foot as the older youngling moved to stand beside Orion.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the future protectorate said as he walked. "Gotta keep up that 'I'm a super smart mech' act for your loyal subjects, right?"
"Well, as I see it, it is far better to prove your intelligence to the world than simply broadcasting how much of an uncaring idiot you are," Orion snapped pointedly. Megatron scowled as Ironhide started laughing.
"You wanna say that to my face?" Megatron snarled, claws clenching into fists. Orion gave him a pitying look.
"I was taught that a mech that settles arguments with his fists simply is not intelligent enough to settle them with his words. Tell me, Megatron; how often do you attempt to talk out a problem before you start clawing at somebot's faceplates?"
"Why I outta!"
"Don't start, or I'll have Ironhide separate you," Chromia threatened. Orion and Megatron looked over at said mech, then it clicked for a certain red and blue bot.
"Wait. You said earlier that you would have your betrothed attack Megatron… is this…?" Orion trailed off, not really knowing if what he was asking was polite or not. Chromia didn't seem to act as if it was, though. She grinned as she leaned back on the door as she faced Orion, allowing the large black mech to wrap his arms around her, though he had to lean over the door a bit.
"Yup. This is my soon-to-be mate, Ironhide," she said, sending him a happy look over her shoulder. The black mech took the opportunity to peck her on the lips.
"Gross," Megatron mumbled. "Soundwave, if I ever act like that over a femme, you have my permission to mercifully kill me," he declared to his future bodyguard.
"Implied command: noted."
"Are you going to stay, my love?" Chromia asked, turning to face him again. Ironhide frowned and leaned forward to press his forehelm to hers.
"I'm afraid not. Killswitch sent me on an errand and told me to stop by here on the way back to make sure Megatron hadn't accidentally or purposefully killed somebot. I will be by to pick those two up later, though," he promised. He glanced down at the red twin that was biting her hand, despite the fact that his dentas were not yet hardened enough to cause pain. "Keep an optic on them," he advised, tapping the mechling on the helm. The little mech gave a growl and attempted to bite Ironhide's finger as well. The battle-scarred mech grimaced. "Yeah, a close optic."
"Don't insult me. I don't make the same mistakes twice," Chromia replied with an optic roll.
"Very well. Goodbye, Elita, Chromia," he said giving both a smile. "Farewell, Future Prime. It has been my honor meeting you. Your mentor will hear of your pleasant attitude and speaking skills," Ironhide stated, respectfully bowing his helm to the younger mech. Orion fought back a grin at that and acknowledged the bow with a slight nod.
"Hey! What about me! He slaggin' insulted me!" Megatron protested.
"Perhaps you won't try to demean him any further then to save yourself the embarrassment," Ironhide retorted. He gave the room a single sweep and grimaced at the mess. "I'm glad I work with cannons and not sparklings. Not as messy." He gave Chromia a kiss on the forehelm, and after extricating his finger from the determined sparkling's mouthplates, he turned and strode away. Elita and Chromia watched him walk until he turned the corner at which time both femmes gave a dreamy sigh.
"He's so sweet," Chromia murmured.
"And so rugged," Elita agreed with a smile.
"And so handsome," Chromia said dreamily.
"And so mysterious and battle-worn. You'll never feel vulnerable when walking down a dark street with him at your side. Imagine what it must be like to have a mech that strong by your side," Elita gushed to her friend. Chromia smirked.
"Oh, believe me, I've experienced it. You'll meet your mech," she stated. Elita grinned, accustomed to her friend saying this.
"Well, I guess we should keep moving forward, right?" Elita questioned.
"Yep. Time for mid-cycle energon," Chromia agreed. Orion watched the two walk into the kitchen area, following only after Megatron and Soundwave moved. His spark seemed to be slowing in his chassis. He now knew that he would never have a chance with Elita. She wanted the strong, rugged, and battle-scarred type, and Orion… well, he wasn't any of those. Tall, refined, and he knew for a fact that he would never see a battle field. Sure, he'd learn how to handle a weapon and how to fight, but that wouldn't ever be used, seeing as his bodyguard would no doubt be one of the finest warriors on the planet.
He gave a sigh as he leaned back against a wall and watched the two femmes place the four sparklings in separate high seats before preparing bottles. Prowl tapped his chest and twittered questioningly when Pax looked down at him. Orion gave the sparkling a sad smile.
"The sad thing about the life of a prime is that you have no freedom and you never get the girl," he said quietly. Prowl gave a sad chirp and gave the future prime another pat. "You certainly are a smart little mech. When you grow up, I will ensure you have many options."
"Hey, Orion," Elita called before Prowl could reply in any form or fashion. "Time to feed them, so come on over."
Orion forced a smile on his face as he moved to Elita's side. After all, a prime was the face of his planet, and if he was going to be any sort of prime, he would need to learn to hide and control his emotions. Well, no time like the present to start learning.
CrazyJamaicanLocks: Glad you liked it! Thanks for the review. :)
Autobot-Bre: Meh. Writer's block is something we all have to suffer through sooner or later. I'm just glad I found a coping device! :D
Vivian Hale: LOL. I love writing premature Prime. I really do. He's not as self-assured, even though he's really good at pretending he is ;)
Supergirlprime: Lol. Prime will certainly learn a few lessons. Whether he will like these lessons or not… well that's to be determined.
AlexisOptimus: Glad you like it. :)
3xX-BOTDF-Xx3: Lol. I always put Ratchet in charge of them for some reason. I did the same thing in my Ways to Marry ficlet. Glad you enjoyed it. :D
Crystal Prime: Thanks for the compliments! Glad to keep ya entertained! :D
Cairistona: I love making Sentinel smack Optimus. Maybe because of how out of character it would be, yet totally in character. It's one of those writing paradoxes that I love using! Megatron's fun to write, too. He's like my little cousin. You know those little boy cousins you have that when you piss them off, they'll glare and say something like, "Don't make me kill you!" Young Megatron stricks me as the kind of mech that would say that for some reason or another… XD Hope this chapter makes you smile! =D
Griffyn: 0.0 Dadgum! You're a really dedicated reader… Very glad you enjoyed them, and hope you enjoyed this update. :)
Annebellelennox: No idea, indeed. Poor mech's gonna be scarred by the time he leaves.
Random Reader: Glad you like it! :D Getting into their heads is the best, and looking at their younger years is even better. I figure everybody becomes who they are somehow, and I like being able to choose how they acted before the war. :) So much fun!
