Pawsy: Aww…you guys deserved it. You bugged me and bugged me and bugged me….and not like I haven't been thinking of this little couple constantly. But whatever! You got your wish! A second chapter! Maybe a third in the making if my muse will allow. Ha ha! Consider it a (extremely) belated gift to you guys, my readers, I love you!
Tarantulas: Doesn't own Beast Wars.
Pawsy: Nope. So enjoy your chapter and let me go back to listening to their little theme song. ;) Say Anything's "Alive With the Glory of Love" I think of these two bots every time I hear it…unless you guys know better songs. I could go for soundtrack to listen to in my car.
Tarantulas: …Oh, I don't need the images…
.:--:.
New Years Eve
It was the middle of winter, and a fresh blanket of snow covered the ground. There was nothing too special about that, but all the same, the bot was excited. He was getting to spend some time with his lover; they would welcome the new year together.
Once outside the base, Optimus Primal converted to flight mode. He'd made sure to leave Rhinox in charge. Rhinox hadn't the penchant for asking those unwanted questions. Just as well, as Optimus had no intention of spilling. Only he and his lover knew as to where he was headed. He made for the forest, choosing to cruise, so as not to draw attention to himself. Hidden within the forest was a clearing made just for them. Both had agreed to meet there. He hoped that a certain saurian was already there. The Predacon did tend to dally when summoned.
He had sent the signal out at least two mega-cycles ago. Surely Megatron would be out there by now. As he approached his destination, he changed from flight mode to transformer to better hide his trail. A bit of an ironic choice as he started to trudge through the deep snow. Still, it was much more silent than the roar of the jets on his hover-board.
"Slag," Optimus muttered. If the snow wasn't cold, it was certainly hard to move through the substance. Even now the white powder is up to the joints of his leg. It was almost impossible to believe some animals easily maneuvered its depths. Then again, he wasn't exactly built for this kind of terrain. Just as the snow began to thin, he saw his destination. Not too far away there was a clearing through the trees that opened to a small area. To the common spectator, there was nothing special about this corner of the planet. But for a protoform with the correct coordinates would know it was where the ape and Megatron always met outside of their bases.
Now where was that Predacon?
"Late. Again…" the Maximal growled quietly to himself. Naturally, had the Predacon made the call to meet he would have been here at the exact nano-click, waiting like a loyal dog. But should Optimus ask for his presence, he would always appear late, saundering up like an alley cat. He sighed and waited for a few more cycles. Nothing.
He finally decided to look around at the frozen scenery in an attempt to avoid his growing boredom. Now that he noticed his surroundings, they were beautiful. A white sheet of ice delicately covered the entire area and glistened under the sunlight. Even the smallest crevices of the forest floor were touched by at least a small cluster of flakes. It was accompanied by a crisp chill blowing through the trees that caused a few of the looser flakes to dance with the wind. It was quickly followed by a clean scent that highlighted the innocence of the land. Shame…Cyberton never had snow. Then again, the substance on Cybertron paled in comparison to view it left on the organic planet. In all honesty, the Maximal can't even begin to compare his home to earth's natural splendors.
Now lost in the hypnotizing beauty of his surroundings, Optimus never heard the dragging steps of the approaching figure. He felt a small yelp escape from his vocal processor as two arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back into a soft embrace.
"Out alone? Now, don't you think that's a little dangerous?" a voice said coolly, "It seems to leave you open for ambush from the enemy." A bit amused, Optimus quietly chuckled before he turned around and pulled the metal saurian into a kiss. To the ape's delight, it was eagerly returned.
"Guess I'll take my chances," the Maximal stated with a smile before stealing another quick kiss. Then suddenly, he quickly smacked Megatron on the arm.
"Hey! What is that for?" the Predacon snapped in surprise.
"You're late. Again!" Optimus retorted sharply. Then just as suddenly, his irritation faded as he proceeded to nuzzle against his Predacon lover. Megatron's optics rose as he stared down at the ape.
"You are very strange at times…"
--
After a quick catch up, the two slowly walked hand in hand with Optimus leaning against the larger bot. They were both silent as they trekked, apparently lost to their own separate thoughts.
Should I ask him now? was the only question running through Primal's mind as they moved onward, side by side. He shifted his optics up slightly to see if he could begin to read the Predacon's expression. Megatron didn't seem to notice the sudden attention on him but the saurian wore a pleased look on his face anyway. It seemed the Predacon commander had quite the thought on his mind.
And that is? Optimus mused internally. Not to be too distracted, he quickly banished any tempting thoughts and turned to stand before Megatron. The Predacon snapped back to reality.
"Yes?" the rex asked, confused but intrigued by the sudden interest to gain his attention. Still holding his lover's hand, Optimus looked directly up and into the rex's optics. It was now or never.
"I want a truce," he stated. Megatron blanched for a second. That wasn't the statement he was expecting to be said.
"What?" the saurian asked while biting back a small bit of disappointment.
"I want a truce," Optimus stated again. "I hate to resort to more deceit for my troops but I want to try for a truce for the new year." As if the Predacon wasn't confused before, that statement sealed it for him.
"New…year?"
Optimus made to explain.
"Uh, yeah…I may…have gone digging into some Earth history…future….you know what I mean," the Maximal started, "anyway, using the human's calendar, I may have timed when the idea of a new year would arrive." Megatron stood there and listened as his lover continued.
"To the humans, it was a big celebration. I don't know. It seemed a bit interesting," the ape quickly concluded.
"Okay, but what's that got to do with a truce?" Megatron asked, already mulling over the plan.
"I just thought we could cease fire, just for the night of new years…a break from the war. I'm sure even your group wouldn't mind it. Then, they could relax and we could meet and celebrate in peace," Optimus pulled the rex closer into a light embrace. It felt good to get that off his chest. The two of them stood there in silence.
"I see…." Megatron finally broke the still quiet around them. Without another word, he pulled away from the Maximal's grip.
"No, I don't think it's going to work." Stunned, Optimus remained rooted to his spot.
"Well, I—what?" he managed to stammer.
"We can't do it," the Predacon sighed. "There would be too much suspicion. I mean, how odd for me would it be to suddenly declare a truce?"
"W-wait…are you're serious?" the ape scoffed. "As if you hadn't before?"
"Of course I have," Megatron muttered, "but at least I had some scheme to cover for breaking the truce last time as well." He moved a few steps away in an attempt to pace. Sometimes his best ideas came from doing such a ridiculous action.
"…no, I can't think of any 'cover' for our truce.." he stated again. The Maximal looked highly offended.
"So you don't even want to try my idea?"
"I just did."
"I've never seen you give up so quickly on anything before," the ape pointed out, "especially on any chance for us to be together…"
"Well, it would help to have a better idea to work with," Megatron shrugged. "Not with something as simple as a truce." Optimus sighed slightly.
"I suppose I could have--" It then hit him, "Hey! Are you calling my idea stupid?" The Predacon shook his head.
"Not stupid. Just pointless."
Biff!
He never saw it coming. Even now he stood there speechless, bits of snow flaking off the side of his face. Shocked, Megatron quickly turned around to see Optimus still in the same position from thirty nanoclicks before. The Maximal hadn't bothered to move after realizing his own actions. It was childish, but in his anger he threw a snowball at the Predacon. They both simply stood there, waiting for the other to speak.
"I, uh…I don't know what came over me," Optimus muttered. "I…I, er, didn't mean t--" Megatron beat the ape to the punch.
"You hit me!" he cried, pointing to the snow on the ground. "And with this substance no less!" The ape stared at his lover, his expression now flat.
"It didn't kill you," he placed his hand in the frozen particles again and drew a line, "And it is called snow." The Predacon now looked slightly peeved at being corrected.
"I'm well aware what it is called, Primal…" Optimus fell silent. Uh-oh. This wasn't good. He knew very well that Megatron never used the second half of his name except for two reasons: Either he was really mad or he had some devious thought conjured in his mental processor.
Biff!
It must have been the second one.
Optimus only realized he had fallen into the white crystals when he saw a few fly up into the air in alarm. A mix of shock and a much larger snowball had caught the Maximal commander completely off guard., causing him to stumble and fall back into the snow. He quickly sat up and glared at his attacker.
"Now…it's war…"
"Bring it, Maximal," Megatron smirked.
In a swift flurry of flakes, Optimus was back on his feet and scooping snow into one of his hands. He noticed Megatron doing the same so he quickly dived behind a tree to avoid a sudden oncoming shot.
Missed! Grinning, Optimus quickly wrapped around the tree's trunk and threw it at his 'enemy.' Megatron having yet to get to shelter was hit. The Maximal bit back a laugh as he heard the other commander swear his displeasure.
It was official. Optimus: 1. Megatron: 0. Optimus quickly grabbed more of his frozen ammunition and readied himself for another attack. He peered over the edge of the tree to see if he could find his target.
Baff! He found him alright…five inches from his face. Instead of running, Megatron had quickly appeared for a risky close combat shot. It proved to be a successful tactic as the score was now tied.
He didn't, however, factor in the consequence of this action. Now the Predacon stood directly in the line of fire without any defense. A fact the Maximal capitalized on for he had an arm full of pre-made snowballs and a wild grin plastered on his face.
"Slag."
Now running was all the Predacon could do to as his back was pummeled mercilessly with Optimus's fury. He tried to dive behind a tree but that led to no avail. His lover was too close on his heels to truly be shook off.
That was it! Megatron skidded to a halt before the onslaught behind him. Ducking from a shot, he grabbed a handful of the soft material, balled it up, and chunked it directly at the Maximal's face.
Bull's eye! The ape came to a sudden halt at the surprise attack, dropping his ammo as well. Defenseless! Megatron now snatched another handful of his frozen weaponry and chunked it at Optimus again.
Crack!
Strange…snow doesn't make that sound.
Megatron looked to his lover in horror. In his haste to for an attack, he never realized how deeply he plunged into the white substance. Apparently he got close to the ground to be able to pull up a rock into his grip. And as cold as it was, the hard object mingled in with the frozen fluff quite well. Oops. Well…mistakes happened right?
Everything spun for a moment. That was unexpected. Very, very unexpected. Optimus never thought that the light crystals would ever harden so quickly. Then again, did they? Once everything began to clear completely, he looked down at the offending shot and saw why his head was now throbbing. A rock. There before him wasn't a mound of fluffy, soft, white snow but a rock. A solid, hard, head-throbbing rock. Furious, the Maximal turned his sights forward to his lover. Megatron only managed to nervously grin back.
"Whoops?" he meekly said.
"What the slag, Megatron?!" The Predacon flinched. He didn't like that tone.
"I-It was an accident, I assure you…" That knocked you clear of your senses for a moment was probably a statement he shouldn't add right then. Trying to find some form of salvation for his action, he finally grabbed another snowball and held it out.
"Here. You get a free shot. Then we can be even," Optimus's expression remained unchanged but he did seem to consider the option.
"A free shot?"
"Yep!"
"And we'll be even?"
"Yeah."
"And you won't move?"
"No…
"You swear?"
"Yes, I swear…!"
"On your name and our love?"
"For the love of Primus, Primal!"
"…"
Okay…now the silence was beginning to disturb the Predacon but not as much as what happened next. Optimus was about to get his free shot. He made sure of it as he pulled out his hip gun. The Predacon could feel his spark stop for a moment.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??"
"Getting a free shot," Optimus stated calmly, his expression still the same.
"BUT WITH A--"
"Yes."
"BY THE PIT, YOU WILL NOT--"
"You swore you wouldn't move…"
"You're going to SHOOT m--"
"On you name."
"To the PIT with my na-"
"And on our love…"
Megatron fell silent. Okay, there was no way he could back down now…but was his lover seriously going to shoot him? He seemed angry enough. Quite miffed in fact. No doubt about it...
"Optimus…" he pleaded silently, hoping to sway the Maximal's decision. Sure, it wasn't as if he could go to a CR tank to be healed later. The thought of being shot by his love, now that hurt. And all over some ridiculous fight in the snow. He shouldn't have agreed to come here...
He braced himself as Optimus charged his gun and aimed. With a quick tug at the trigger, he fired. The shot connected but not on the Predacon. Opening his optics, Megatron noticed the stray shot hit a tree not but six feet behind him. Strange…it didn't seem like Optimus to miss at so close a targ--
Fwump!
Optimus powered down the weapon and placed it back at his side. Once done, he casually walked over to the Predacon that was now buried under three feet of snow that had loosened itself from the tree limbs. He stopped millimeters from the twitching hand of the snow covered saurian and grinned.
"Now, we're even," he mused. He reached down to help his lover out of the winter assault.
The help became unnecessary as the Predacon was suddenly out and on his feet again, a fresh snowball formed in revenge for the terror he just endured. Shocked, Optimus quickly grabbed onto Megatron's wrists to prevent him from moving his arms and thus attacking him again. The two stood there and struggled for dominance. One wrong move and the loser would be hit by the soft weapon. Optics locked upon each other, both mentally swore they would not submit.
At least they tried to. Before they knew it, their determined glares turned into sarcastic smirks. From there to devious chuckling to a slight snickering. Before they even knew it, the ammo had been abandoned as the two bots reclined in the snow, laughing loudly at the childishness they had participated in.
It took them a few cycles to finally calm themselves, in which Optimus pulled at Megatron's arm to come over to him. The Predacon didn't have to ask why, merely move through the winter wonderland so he was close enough to kiss his lover deeply.
--
They lay in the snow, holding each other close, still breathing heavily over their recent activity, however foolish it was. Their systems filled with the cool air as they looked to sky to watch the sun start its decent for the evening. Didn't matter what each thought of the planet, sunsets looked beautiful everywhere. It especially glowed against the ,somewhat unsettled, frozen landscape.
"Optimus…" The ape tore his optics from the glorious view to a better sight.
"Yes, Megatron?" The rex held his lover closer upon hearing his name. He lightly nuzzled against the Maximal.
"This New Year's….when is it?" Having forgotten about his suggestion earlier, Optimus had to take a moment to remember the date.
"Tomorrow night," he sheepishly muttered. He heard a light laugh come from the saurian.
"Cutting it a bit close, don't you think?" The Predacon mused. Optimus bit back an irritated sigh.
"It took me a moment to find what was seemed to be the correct date, alright? It just happened to take more time to synch it with the time now than it did to find the date…" his voiced trailed at the end to hide his slight embarrassment. "Why the sudden interest?"
"Well…while the idea of a 'human'," the saurian said the word with disgust, an action Optimus overlooked naturally, "holiday doesn't thrill me…I am rather intrigued in using it to our benefit. However…it would seem rather hard to pull off a truce that lasts only for a day, two at the most…"
"Don't remind me," Optimus groaned. "I was thinking a bit irrationally when the idea came to me."
"Just a bit," Megatron grinned. "However, I'm thinking we forget the truce. Let's just wait the holiday out on neutral ground."
"Just disappear for the next two days?"
"Why not? I've done it before, if you recall," the saurian smirked at the light mentioning of their previous meetings. Optimus laughed slightly.
"Of course. And my excuse…" he mulled it over quickly, "eh, had to clear my mind. They can drive me nuts sometimes."
The Predacon didn't bother biting back the laugh that errupted at the comment. He could only imagine the other Maximals' expressions if they heard that statement come from their leader.
Optimus, however, let his mind wonder elsewhere. There was one question that still tugged at the back of his mind. It seemed his curiosity showed on his face for Megatron was staring at the ape again.
"What?" he asked.
"It's nothing, just…" the Maximal looked to his reptilian lover with a slightly amused look. "Earlier…when we were walking. You seemed to have you mind anywhere but on this planet." Megatron stared back.
"Not that it looked like it was bad thought. You looked rather pleased over it. I was just curious," his grin broadened slightly, "but what could you possibly have been thinking about?"
The Predacon continued to stare at his lover, then stopped to think a moment. Suddenly it came back to him, much like that same pleased, if not devious, look from earlier.
"I was just thinking of how cold it was…" he smirked, "and just how good it would feel to 'warm up' later…" Optimus blinked at the response before chuckling.
"I swear…" he shook his head. "You are SO evil!"
"Heh….again, that is why I'm the bad--" Megatron never go to finish his statement as Optimus pulled the saurian close and into a heated kiss.
.:--:.
Pawsy: .:jaw drop:.
Tarantulas: Didn't expect the chapter to go that long?
Pawsy: .:shake head slowly:. I'd like to thank…my KITTEN OF INSPIRATION!! .:picks up snoozing kitten from lap:. Seriously, she's been in my lap the entire time I was writing this…
Tarantulas: …weird
Pawsy: Tell me 'bout it. Wish I could draw transformormers now. The imager here is too cute. .:look again:. Guh, Optimus came out way more uke than I expected.
Optimus: That doesn't mean I always am.
Pawsy: 0.0.……TEEEEELLL!!
Tarantulas: 00.…….0o….…0x……