A few months had passed, and the quest seemed to be going well enough. Minus a few deaths, but whatever. Rodimus had lost his arms at least once. In recent Drift-related news, he had left to accompany Ratchet and Pipes on a little expedition to a medical outpost on Delphi. It had been a while since Rodimus walked the halls of his ship without Drift next to him. He didn't feel particularly lonely or anything, it just felt like... Something important was missing.
Rodimus hated when Drift was gone. He was tenser without him. More irritable, and definitely much more prone to remembering that he was actually a really terrible person. A lot less work got done without Drift there to pat him on the back after anything that even vaguely resembled progress. Magnus tended to yell at him more.
It was refreshing, though, not having to see Drift every day and wonder 'should I tell you that I'm in love with you for real or just keep it as some kind of cloudy and vague platonic hell forever' every time they looked at each other. Rodimus had decided to take the time Drift was gone to formulate some kind of a plan to tell him. Like, ask him out on a proper date or something. That would work, right? Yeah. Cool.
Was it weird to be waiting for a shuttle to come in? Like, if you're the captain of a ship and you're in the shuttle bay an hour before anyone's supposed to arrive, people are gonna expect you to do that for everyone. Rodimus tried to look like he was there doing something and not just waiting. Eventually, though, the crewmates who had gone to Delphi docked back onto the Lost Light.
"Welcome back!" Rodimus greeted Drift and the others as they stepped off the shuttle. The swordsmech looked radiant, as usual. Pipes and Ratchet followed close after, along with a couple of vaguely familiar medics and– Fortress Maximus. Holy shit. Rodimus decided he just wouldn't ask until it was relevant. "You feel okay?" Rodimus' optics softened and he reached out for Drift's hand. Drift moved his hand away, and Rodimus was sure it was because he didn't notice he was trying to hold it.
"Yeah. That was just super intense. Pharma's gonna be in my nightmares for weeks."
"I've heard he's absolutely out of his mind," Rodimus offered.
"Yes. Very much so," Drift nodded without hesitating. "Turns out he was killing his patients. Ratchet said it was something to do with, like, the DJD and transformation cogs and some wild engineered disease."
"That's... Wow. Okay." Rodimus' optics widened and he glanced down at the floor. "So. Fortress Maximus?" He jerked his thumb nonchalantly over at the enormous apparent addition to his crew.
"Yeah! Alive. How about that?" Drift laughed a little. "Some others, as well." He pointed to the other mechs. "First Aid, Ambulon..."
"Part of your crew, now." Ratchet slapped an unfamiliar blue hand on Rodimus' shoulder. "Delphi's outpost is kind of null and void, so they don't really have anywhere else to go. Hope you don't mind."
"Not at all." Rodimus watched as Ratchet led the other Autobots to the medbay, waving and nodding respectfully to the new crewmates. "Whose hands are those?" Rodimus whispered to Drift as they passed.
"Pharma's. Don't worry about it."
"Um. Alright, then." Rodimus looked down at the floor, rubbing the back of his neck idly. "So uh... D'you wanna head back to my habsuite and hang out for a while?"
"Sure. I could use some down time." Drift stretched his servos a little, looking around and getting reaccustomed to the Lost Light.
"Great." Rodimus beamed. "Cool. We could, like... I wanna, um... Meditate with you or something?"
Drift froze. "Wow." He beamed, rubbing Rodimus' servo. "You must have missed me a lot, huh?"
"Yes," Rodimus blurted out without hesitation. Curse his nonexistent speech filter. "Sorry. Is that weird? I'm sorry if that's weird."
"You seem really tense. Are you okay?" Drift looked over to Rodimus, a modicum of concern in his expression.
"Fine! I'm fine." I'm in love with you for real and it's tearing my spark to pieces to not know if you know it or feel the same way. "Just glad you're back, is all."
"I'm glad I'm back, too." Drift smiled, kissing Rodimus on a finial. "Missed you." Rodimus' face flushed bright pink. What changed? What changed that made him fall to pieces when they did stuff together that they'd always done? Like, the kissing and casual interfacing and stuff was gonna be so much weirder now that he actually felt something. He needed to tell Drift. Soon.
They walked hand-in-hand together back to Rodimus' habsuite. Rodimus was almost physically shaking. Drift's peaceful smile, his comforting presence, his beautiful frame... Rodimus was about to lose it. He pressed his lips together, unlocking the door to his room.
"Could you just stand out here for a second?" Rodimus whined. "I need to, uh... Just stay here."
Drift looked puzzled. "Oh. Sure. Did I do anything wrong?"
"No! No. I just need a second." Rodimus stepped into his habsuite, closing the door.
"Okay!" Drift's voice was still barely audible from outside.
Rodimus picked up a decorative throw pillow he'd bought to adorn his boring room. He glanced at it for a moment and pressed his face into it. He just screamed into the pillow for a moment, trying to keep it at least a little muffled and quiet.
"Oh my god, Rodimus, are you okay?"
Rodimus opened the door again, supporting himself with a servo as he cool-guy-leaned on a wall, and tossed the pillow backwards with his free hand. "I'm fine! So, tell me more about Delphi!"
Drift gave Rodimus a concerned look. "Delphi was fine. Intense, but fine. I almost died and I had to cut Pharma's hands off. But you just screamed, Rodimus. Are you okay?"
"That does sound really intense. Wow." Rodimus looked away for a moment. "I'm okay, sorry. I'm just kind of... Nevermind."
"Kind of what?" Drift asked. They sat down next to each other, and Drift set his hand on Rodimus' comfortingly.
"Kind of... stressed." Nice save, Rodders. "D'you wanna go get a drink with me tonight or something? Swerve started up a bar in the engex distillery I didn't know we had. I've heard the place is kind of scummy, but a drink would be nice."
"I don't drink anymore, Rodimus," Drift reminded him.
"No, I know. You don't have to. I do, though, and I kinda just wanted to hang out with you somewhere," Rodimus said, almost shyly.
"Sounds fine to me." Drift stood up, pulling Rodimus to his feet as well.
"Cool! It's a date, then." Rodimus froze. "Not like, a date date, obviously, but... God. I'm so sorry."
"What? Don't be sorry. It is kind of a date. I mean, we're practically dating anyway." Drift smiled.
Rodimus gave a forced laugh. "Yeah! Us. Dating. Hilarious, right?"
"...Is there something else you wanted to tell me, Rodimus?" Drift asked, watching Rodimus' face as he blushed bright pink.
Rodimus hesitated. Thoughts raced through his mind, but finally his impulsive side took control. "I think I'm in love with you?" Drift's optics widened, and his frame tensed. Rodimus sighed, covering his face. "Like, I've told you I love you and like, and done all that gross stuff with you, but... I'm like, really, properly in love with you."
Drift sat quietly for a few seconds. "Oh."
"Yeah. And I think this was only supposed to be like, a no-strings-attached-friends-with-benefits kind of thing, so I'm... I'm really sorry."
"No, it's okay! It's fine. I... I kind of already knew, in a way, I guess. It's okay. It's really okay." Drift paused. "I love you, too, Rodimus."
"I know you do." Rodimus sighed, looking down at the floor. "Do you wanna like, actually date? I mean, like you said, we're... Basically already dating." Rodimus let out another awkward laugh.
"Yes!" Drift smiled, wrapping his arms around Rodimus. "Yes."
"Cool." Rodimus gave a long sigh of relief. "So. Bar? Tonight? As a real, proper date?"
"Sure," Drift confirmed. "I love you, Rodimus."
"I love you, too." It felt refreshing. Hearing those words and knowing that Drift meant them in a way Rodimus hadn't felt them to mean in a long while. "Thank you."
"Hm?" Drift's head rested on Rodimus' shoulder. Rodimus looked down at him with a look of peaceful satisfaction.
"Thank you for being you, I guess," Rodimus mused. "You're so... unique? I don't know what it is. You're just... You." He kissed Drift's forehead. "I love everything about you."
"You too, Rodimus." Drift looked up at Rodimus, smiling. "I think we should just stay here awhile. Skip the bar for the night and just sleep together." He froze. "Not like, sleep together sleep together, but..." Drift covered his face and gave a quiet laugh. "You know what I mean."
"That sounds fine. I haven't really done anything today except wait for you to come back– I know, that's super cheesy– so I'm not very tired, per se." Rodimus paused. "I'm more than happy to let you fall asleep with your head in my lap, though. That would be really nice."
"Cool." Drift synthesized a yawn. "Cutting off Pharma's hands and almost having my optics melt out of my skull because of a freaky disease bomb was pretty exhausting. I'll be out cold in a few minutes."
"Primus. That sounds like hell."
"It totally was." Drift rested his head in Rodimus' lap, looking up at the other mech sleepily. "I'm back now, though, and I'm with you, so everything's golden." He poked Rodimus' flame-embellished chest and smiled.
"Ha. Nice one." Rodimus caressed Drift's frame gently, tracing a finger around his seams and admiring some of his little details. "So we're... Heh. Boyfriends now, huh?" Rodimus grinned. The word felt tingly to say. "My boyfriend, Drift. That sounds so nice."
"My boyfriend, Rodimus," Drift echoed, grinning as well. "You're such a dork."
"Shut up," Rodimus laughed. "Go to sleep, Drift."
"Pfft. Fine. Goodnight, Rodimus. I love you."
"I love you, too."
000
Rodimus stirred as he woke, greeted by a peacefully smiling Drift. They'd shifted a little during recharge. Rodimus' frame was sprawled out over the berth in a wild spread-eagle pose, with a leg draped over the side. Drift was curled up close to Rodimus, his head resting serenely on his chest. One of Rodimus' servos was still wrapped around Drift, and Rodimus pulled the swordsmech closer to him. He kissed Drift's helm gently, rolling over to face him and moving his hands down to his hips.
"Hey." Rodimus smiled, tracing Drift's biolights gently. "Morning."
"Hey, Rodimus," Drift laughed quietly, checking the time. It was certainly not morning. He elected not to tell Rodimus. "Good morning." Drift kissed Rodimus' cheek, moving quickly to his lips.
Rodimus laughed a little in response, optics widening as Drift kissed him and wrapped his arms around his waist. He shuttered his optics and loosened his grip, letting Drift roll over on top of him. The swordsmech pinned him down, kneeling with his legs spread over Rodimus' waist. His hands wandered to Rodimus' hands and their fingers intertwined in some fierce kind of lust as Drift rolled his whole frame into the embrace, shuttering his optics and letting out a quiet whine as Rodimus' tongue touched his. Drift's pointed dentae teased Rodimus' lip, prompting Rodimus to jolt up a little bit. Drift backed off, concerned.
"Wait. Wait! Dude! It's like six in the morning! Are we doing this already?!" Rodimus gave Drift a look of surprised enthusiasm.
"Actually? The shuttle got back this morning. We just kind of took a nap. It's not even tomorrow yet, it's only around 9:30." Drift grinned. "And... Yeah, I guess? If you're okay with that?"
"Oh. Um. Sure?" Rodimus wrapped his arms around the swordsmech's waist, smirking and pulling Drift back down. He kissed his lips again, rolling his fingers around idly on Drift's back.
Drift's thighs pressed together a little over Rodimus, and the captain felt a rush of smug pride. He rolled his hips up into Drift's, prompting another huff. "Please," Drift whined, rolling his frame down again.
"Wait. Drift?" Rodimus paused again, pushing Drift away a little. "Hold on a minute, uh-"
"Hm?" Drift paused again. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing, just, um..." Rodimus looked away a little as Drift moved off of him. "I don't really want to, uh... Yeah. At least not right now. Later?"
"Oh! Oh. Okay. That's totally fine, Roddy." Drift moved to sit next to Rodimus in a relaxed kneel. He rested an arm on his thigh, touching Rodimus' hand gently with his free hand. "I, uh... Sorry."
"No, it's fine. It's okay. I'm usually so enthusiastic about this stuff, but... I'm just being weird about it, I guess. Dunno why." Rodimus smiled as Drift's digits ran smoothly across his hand. "We can go again later?"
"Okay. Don't feel pushed into to doing anything, bro." Drift kissed Rodimus' helm and moved calmly off the berth.
"Pfft. Thanks for being cool about it." Rodimus looked over at Drift as he stood up, watching in the same sort of awe he always felt as the swordsmech did anything.
"Of course. It would have been kinda terrible of me not to listen, y'know?" Drift's biolights cast a gentle glow over Rodimus' habsuite as he wandered over to turn on the room's lights. He switched them on and Rodimus immediately cringed and groaned, his optics adjusting slowly to the sudden change. Drift stifled a laugh.
"What time is it again?" Rodimus couldn't be arsed to check his own clock, and Drift seemed to be on top of everything most of the time. Despite totally being a bottom.
"Almost ten." Drift pulled Rodimus up off the berth effortlessly, the corners of his mouth eased into his usual resting gentle smile. "Before we fell asleep, you mentioned 'a real, proper date'?"
Rodimus nodded in response, jerking his thumb at the door. "Yeah. There's a bar somewhere on this ship now, apparently. And, uh, I know you don't drink, so... We can just hang out, I guess? I'll try not to get too wasted."
"Honestly? I'd really appreciate if you didn't drink at all." Drift's optics softened. "At least not tonight. For me. You tend to leave the concept of a responsible limit at the door."
"Pfft. No, it's fine." Rodimus brushed away Drift's concerns, and the swordsmech frowned. "...Am I that bad?"
Drift looked away a little, hesitating. "You're just weird when you're drunk. Louder, more prone to stupid bets, even worse at decision-making..."
"Shut up, dude." Rodimus scoffed. He paused immediately, looking away. "I'm sorry. That was kind of rude." He looked back at Drift and slugged his arm playfully. "It's not that big of a deal, anyway. That's how everyone gets."
"I'm serious, Rodimus. I don't care if 'that's how everyone gets'. I don't like it." Drift jerked Rodimus' hand away. "Just... Not tonight. This is our first date as... Whatever we are now. Do this for me. Your whatever."
"...Okay." Rodimus huffed. "Love you."
"I love you too, Rodimus." Drift made eye contact with Rodimus for a brief moment, looking away quickly. "This is sort of awkward, huh?"
"Yeah," Rodimus responded immediately. "Sorry about that."
"You're fine." Drift sighed. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Rodimus' cheek. "We're cool, then?"
"We're cool." Rodimus slid his visor down and did a little pistol finger gesture, accompanied as it always was with his douchey smirk. "So cool."
Drift rolled his optics and couldn't help but laugh. "You're being a loser on purpose, right?"
Rodimus gave a sharp, exaggerated gasp. "A loser? Drift! I'm hurt." He put a hand to his chest and frowned, his optics still covered by his visor.
"I bet you don't have the guts to keep those nightmarishly silly things on during a date," Drift laughed.
"Drift, bro, if you're willing to put money on that, you don't know me very well." Rodimus gave a cocky smirk. "I'm putting them up, though. You're totally right. They're dorky." He slid them back up and laughed a little bit.
"Pfft. Good."
Rodimus was immeasurably happy. This was fantastic. Drift was cool with actually dating and apparently returned some feeling at least a little similar to what Rodimus felt towards him, he dropped a vaguely Drift-is-angry topic fairly quickly, and they were about to actually go on their first legitimate date. Awesome.
"So?" Rodimus gestured to the door, reaching for Drift's hand. Drift smiled and held Rodimus' hand eagerly. He pressed a quick kiss to Rodimus' cheek as they left the room.
Word of mouth was correct, actually. Swerve's Bar, as no one called it, was scummy and not a whole lot to write home about. It was something, though, and as Drift and Rodimus walked into the place together they eased into the atmosphere. The only color in the space at all eminated in low neon waves from the engex stores and echoed off the glossy countertops. Music played quietly and Swerve polished a glass absently behind the bar.
"It's not much right now, but it's a process, y'know?" Swerve grinned momentarily, his face falling as he realized who stood in front of him. "Oh. If you're here to arrest me for the whole illicit drinking hole thing, I, uh–"
"What?" Rodimus smiled in confusion, glancing at Drift. "No, no. I'm just here for a drink. A date, even." Swerve looked at Rodimus, then at Drift, then back at Rodimus, musing on the word date. He took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Yo, Whirl! You lose! Have fun payin' Trailbreaker's tab!"
A famliar staticy voice came from behind a booth, accompanied by a wildly waved claw. "Shove it up your aft, Swerve!"
"...Excuse me?" Drift leaned in, frowning a little.
"Oh! Well, I'm officiating a bet. Y'see, Whirl said you two were just fragging for the hell of it, but Trailbreaker? He said there was something else there, y'know, like an actual relationship. But Whirl was like, positive, so they made a bet, and–" Swerve looked up for a moment. Neither Drift nor Rodimus looked amused in the slightest. "And whoever loses has to pick up the other's tab," Swerve finished quietly.
"Just get me a drink, Swerve," Rodimus sighed. "Something reasonable. Not, like, over the top or anything."
"How uncharacteristically modest." Swerve poured a relatively simple-looking drink into a glass. "Are you sure you don't want something wild? D'you want me to light the rim on fire or anything?"
"Shut up, Swerve." Rodimus turned and watched Drift find an open table, rather close to Whirl and Trailbreaker's booth.
"Just asking! You're usually a lot more interesting with your drinking habits."
"I know, just... Not tonight, okay? If I come up here asking for something crazy, turn me down."
"Alright, alright. Nothin' for your boyfriend?"
"Drift doesn't drink. This is all." Rodimus tapped the table impatiently, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
"Gotcha, cap'n." Swerve nodded and slid the drink across the table into Rodimus' open hand. The speedster pivoted and started walking over to where Drift had settled. "Woah, woah, woah! Pay up, spoiler boy!"
Rodimus turned around again and flashed a douchey grin. "Show me an up to date and legitimate liquor license?"
"...Touché. Enjoy." Swerve grimaced and went back to cleaning drinking glasses, mumbling under his breath.
"Thanks." Rodimus turned again, walking across the room and sliding into a booth across from Drift, setting his glass down on the table with a little click.