The Prime protocol limited his physical ability to express emotion. It was very much there, and could be easily identified by someone who knew him well enough, but Optimus was in perfect control of Orion. That was for the best. He'd be the first to admit that cynical, passive Orion Pax would be a terrible authority figure to an army, no matter how small. The Matrix leant him the wisdom and self-control needed to be a respected, competent general, and for that he was grateful.
Wheeljack, however, gave him back the feeling of freedom.
Optimus lilted his head to the side, silent in the doorway. Wheeljack clearly hadn't heard the door open, since he was still humming and reading. The Wrecker was flat on his back across Prime's berth, head tilted backwards, dangling over the edge and facing away from the door. He held a datapad out in front of him, pede occasionally twitching in time with an unheard beat. Optimus concluded he must have been listening to music.
The smaller mech was always so nonchalant, but ever aware. Near paranoid. Even in the base he never let his guard down, despite insisting everyone else should relax. And yet, he lay there completely unaware that Prime was staring at him. Optimus mulled over that for a moment, sliding the door shut and stepping towards the berth as quietly as possible.
The Wrecker's humming dipped in and out of the right key, and wasn't particularly tuneful to listen to. But it still made Prime smile. Wheeljack was calm and very much content where he was. Charming as it was confusing.
He wondered, briefly, if it had anything to do with his location.
The only other place he'd seen Jackie so mellow was inside his own little ship, where Prime could just barely fit. After busting a few screens and causing a rather large dent in the Jackhammer's roof, Wheeljack shoved Prime out and dragged him to his quarters in the base for their private activities. A little embarrassing, but that bucket of bolts was the Wrecker's pride and joy.
So logically, going from that angle, the fact Wheeljack had decided that Prime's quarters were as safe as the Jackhammer for... intimacy, could be interpreted as him finding them as comfortable as his ship. He felt safe here, relaxed. Because this was his place with Prime.
A grin well known to Orion Pax's friends spread across Prime's face, relatively goofy and giddy. It lingered for a moment, then got cut short by the protocol. He still smiled, but it was a Prime's smile.
It stayed as he leaned down, scooping up a still unaware Wheeljack around his middle and lifting him upright, pressing their chests flush together. The Wrecker squawked, grabbing Prime's arm in a vice grip, as if ready to tear it off at the shoulder. Then his startled expression turned to relieved annoyance when he realised it was Optimus.
"You scared the frag outta me!," he growled. Prime managed to smile a little wider, slipping his arms under Jackie's thighs and aft for support. Wheeljack poked at his to stop his music, then pressed his servos against Prime's shoulders to steady himself. "And you made me dizzy."
"I am sorry," Optimus rumbled, simply staring up at his vaguely confused partner. "It was just a little bit too tempting." Wheeljack's brow furrowed, and he leaned away, straightening his back.
"That a bit of prankster I'm sensing in you, handsome?" Prime shrugged one shoulder.
"I did once balance a bucket of neon green paint above Megatron's door," he replied quietly. Jackie's optics went wide, looking completely dumbfounded for a moment. "He wasn't best happy, but even Soundwave laughed a little."
The Wrecker let out a hardy chuckle, grinning from ear to ear. "Well scrap, wish I could've met that Optimus! Then I'd have so much to embarrass you with now!" Optimus tilted his head, smile softening as he watched Wheeljack laugh.
"You probably wouldn't have liked Orion," he mumbled, that deep seeded low self-esteem poking through. Residual from his former self, until he'd met Megatronus.
"Betcha' wouldn't have like me when I was young, either." They stared at each other, comforting and wallowing all in one. Optimus turned around, seating himself on the edge of the berth with the Wrecker straddling his lap.
"What were you like?" Jackie looked away uncomfortably, pulling a face. As if he was repulsed by his younger days.
"Kind of... unreliable, arrogant, full of myself... more than I am now," he grinned at that, giving the Prime a wink. "But... just generally an all around unpleasant jerk. Dunno how Bulk and our pals ever put up with me."
"There must have been something they could see, but you could not." Wheeljack raised an optic brow, tilting his head. "Bulkhead is not the type to simply put up with someone."
"Oh, trust me, he isn't. This one time, there was some fragger bothering our buddy Springer... well, long story, but Bulkhead just grabbed the bot by the scruff and lobbed him right through a bar window! Like he was a ball!," Wheeljack howled with laughter, teetering back as if he was about to fall. Prime's hands prevented that, firmly planted on the Wrecker's hips. "Miko would have loved to have seen it!"
"I have no doubt." Wheeljack looked back up. Prime wasn't sure why, but the smaller mech's expression quickly dropped to apathy. He just stared up at him, as though he hadn't been splitting his side just a few seconds ago. "What is it?"
"Can I tell you something?," Wheeljack asked quietly. Optimus blinked, then nodded slowly.
"Yes, of course." The Wrecker shifted about in Prime's lap, so their fronts were pressed together again. Jackie wasn't sure what to do with his servos. He still wasn't used to such touchy-feely positions. He finally settled for putting them on the sides of Prime's belly, glancing into his own reflection in Prime's wind shields.
"It's something only Bulk knows. Because I know he'd never think less of me for it," he muttered, gently tapping his helm against Prime's chest. "Truth is... I never knew my coder or carrier." Optimus' spark sank, servos immediately giving Jackie's hips an encouraging rub.
"You were... orphaned?"
"Nope. Never got placed in an orphanage." Wheeljack still wouldn't look him in the optic. "Just grew up in back alleys and door ways." He grunted in surprise when Prime's arms coiled around him, hugging him warmly. His cheek ended up awkwardly pressed to Optimus' chest, his helm fin forcing his head at a strange angle. "What're you doin'?," he asked, muffled and face squished.
"Not pitying you," Prime confirmed. "Just showing you that my opinion of you has barely changed. If anything, I have even more admiration for you than I did before." Wheeljack squirmed, trying to get free. Optimus smiled again and lifted him a little higher, stealing a kiss before the Wrecker could grumble about it.
Wheeljack went still, looking for all the world like a thoroughly disgruntled cat. Orion internally bellowed with laughter. Externally, Optimus just tilted his head to the side.
"You are incredible, Jack-Rabbit." The Wrecker pulled another face, planting his servos against Prime's forehead and pushing his head back.
"I know," he snapped irritably. "Now put me down so I can make out with you properly."
"Touching moment over, then."
"Shut up and gimme some sugar."
