Chapter Co-Authored with Flyby Stardancer and Omicron the IceQueen

Added notes:

"Spoken human dialogue is like this."
"Spoken Cybertronian dialogue is like this."
::Internal Cybertronian dialogue is like this.::

This is the time scale for mechs [inspired by Ultra Rodimus Prine]:

nanoklik = 1/8 second
nano – two seconds
klik = 496 nanokliks/62 seconds
bream = 8 kliks/8.27 minutes
groon = 9 breem/1.24 hours
mega cycle – 2.5 hours
joor = 6 groon/7.44 hours
tak – 18 hours
shift – 3 days
orn = 42 joor/13.02 days
decacycle – 2 months
decaorn = 32 orns/1.14 years
metacycle = 8 decaorn/9.22 years
vorn = 9metacycles/72 decaorn/83 years

Autobot Pet

Exploring

It was quite a while before the human was seen again, having migrated her bedding as well as a very large stash of water cubes under the berth. Staying hidden just didn't sit well with Athena, so after having a home base semi set up, and with a smaller blanket over her shoulders, than trying to wrap it around her. It was slightly too big to pull off a towel-dress. Reluctantly leaving the cloths behind, she started to carefully explore first the berthroom, looking for something useful, for Ruby or the other mech.

A few 'little' things were found stashed for poking at later, before the woman poked her head into the studio like room. Not seeing the golden mech she edged in and looked at something closer to ground level, careful of possible wet paint but finding the glittering stuff dry and smooth. It looked almost like a land scape as she backed up, then she found something interesting, oh yes indeed!

It seemed like some paint had managed to spill and some made it to the floor. It was almost the same shade of Ruby, but the temptation was too great. Athena poked at the paint with her tail, finding it still wet and even though the evidence of her actions would be on her tail... the human made at least a few doodles on the desk-table she hand been on top of earlier. The want to do mischief, but not thinking past this small form of revenge.

The yellow mech walked back in, seeing what she had done. "Hey! That stuff's not good for you!" He exclaimed, kneeling down to pick her up.

"Ohshit!" Athena jumped away, ducking and darting in farther under the table and out of reach for now, a good four inches of her tail colored red and waved in the air before drawing a little smiley face on the floor impishly.

Sunstreaker scowled. "C'mon, you need to get that stuff off of you. It'll hurt you if you leave it on." He knelt down and reached under the table, trying to capture her.

The Runner jumped, landing on the back of the mech's hand, feeling much better than before, and no longer drug-addled. Another smiley face was drawn with what paint was left on her tail.

Sunstreaker's scowl deepened. "Oh, that's it. Come on, you." With her so close, he quickly had her contained, and headed towards the washracks.

"Hey!" Athena squirmed, gasped and squiggled a small red line from the wiggling tail.

"You are getting cleaned up," Sunstreaker informed her. "I do not tolerate messes." Holding her with one hand, he grabbed a tub with the other and poured some solvent in it. While the liquid was running, he added some of the organic cleanser that they had gotten, letting it foam up. Once the depth was about half her height, he lowered her in. "You start cleaning up. I need to get this stuff off of me."

The human had belatedly spotted the water, and not knowing the depth promptly panicked, "Oh holy shit- no! Wait! Nonono! I can't swim! Not with these legs, I'm not supposed to be in anything greater then a shower- I'm not spliced for water!" She alternately tried to cling and climb up the mech's hand and arm to get away from the bubbly water.

"Oh come on, you can stand up in it. It's not that deep," Sunstreaker said. He slowly continued to lower his hand, the other one blocking her path along his arm.

"I can't swiiiim!" Athena cried, and yelped as she was nudged in, there was a full on panic attack before the human fell still, sitting in the water, holding her breath and staring at the bubbles around her, the water level up to her chin, arms, legs and tail flared.

Sunstreaker just watched her, waiting for her to stand up. "Oh come on."

It took a moment before she jumped up, looking less than pleased at this much water and being soaked. Athena gave a, "Plplplpl!" raspberry at the mech, before lifted her braid. Calmed down from the 'oh shit water!' panic attack the realization she could get fully cleaned up at long last- and clean her hair!- sank in.

"That's better," Sunstreaker grumped, watching to make sure she would clean up.

"...Are you going to just stare at me... yes you are." The human rolled her eyes, sighing and used her hands to scrub at her tail, "You could at least give me a luffa... or a washcloth."

The last of the paint seemed to slip off, and the tail swayed in the bubble field. She pulled her braid around and debated how well her hair would work but no, she wasn't going to do contortions for the mech to watch. Instead she started to undue the braid, wrapping the bit if thin wire she used to tie the end around two fingers.

Sunstreaker hummed with interest at that. "So the design was decorative? Interesting... I wonder what else could be done with it... Would you like some crystals or jewels to put in it, little female?" He leaned against the counter her tub was on, fascinated.

The human paused and looked up at Sunstreaker moved, her hair almost completely freed, being half wet and hanging in ringlets. She crouched down to start cupping water up to try and get the rest wet without ducking under water, scrubbing the cleaner in before starting to work out the knots, using her fingertips and nails, "Wish I had a brush..." she said, a few red strands working loose.

"Very interesting," Sunstreaker muttered, watching a few klicks more. "We need to figure out a name for you. But first, I'm going to get this paint off and clean up in the studio. Don't need you getting more paint on you." He then stepped away, heading to the sink to wash paint off of his hands.

When the mech left, Athena sank lower, trying to scrub herself as best as she could. After getting as clean as possible she sat in the still warm water pulling her legs up and trying to stay warm, fiddling with her hair finger-comb it out more.

The mech was gone, but only for a few minutes, and then he returned, placing rags in a door that disappeared in the wall. He then walked over to check in on her. "You clean yet, little female?"

The organic jumped at his voice, looking up and lifting her wet hair out of her face, caught sitting in the water. She stood with arms wrapped around her torso, looking expectantly at the mech, tail flicking.

"You ready to be rinsed off?" Sunstreaker asked. He turned on the sink faucet to low, warm enough for her, and reached into the tub with the other hand, palm up so she could climb on.

Shivering a bit, the human edged closer, wary or another grab. With a sigh Athena sat down on the mech's fingers, "I really hope I get some fresh water, and a towel at least!"

"There we go," Sunstreaker said, shifting her over so that she could rinse under the water from the faucet.

The human had no problem rising herself off on her own, the soap and lingering tracing of other things. There were a few faint lines of scars from her former work, she ran her fingers through her hair and impishly flicked it at the mech's own digits.

Sunstreaker snorted at the move, then looked closer at the scars. "Now, how did you get those? Get into a lot of fights before you were picked up?" Once she was done rinsing, he turned off the solvent, and then offered her a small drying cloth. "Let's get you dry, and then we'll see what to do with you."

Athena latched onto the towel, wrapping herself in it- it was like a small blanket and happy to sit bundled up.

"And I think I'll name you Fireburst Comet. Though you'll be my Little Fighter," Sunstreaker said to her, heading for his studio to see if she would be content watching him work.

"Do I get that other- dry towel blanket thing as well? This won't keep my warm..." Athena called, eyeing the mech's other hand as she for now huddled and tried not to let still damp skin freeze. Oh she was expert in surviving heat, but not cold... "Um... please?"

Sunstreaker frowned as he noticed her shivering and trying to warm up her skin. He pulled a spare one of her blankets, and offered it to her. "Why are you cold now? You were fine before."

The wet cloth was tossed at his forearm, the new and dry one pulled around her, the human tucking herself up in it for now. That seemed to do the trick, the shivering soon stopped as the human peeked out of the bundle, the very end of her tail sticking out along one side.

Sunstreaker hummed at that, one finger coming up to stroke down her back. He entered his studio, looked around for a moment, and then placed her on a shelf where she could watch him work. It was high and isolated enough that she shouldn't have been able to jump down, but there was plenty of space for her to lounge. "You interested in seeing me work? Maybe you can stay on my shoulder for it when you're less likely to try to bolt." Sunstreaker offered her another food cube.

It took a moment for the human to disentangle herself to grab the cube, pulling it under her cloth and looking around in confusion. Her questioning sounds more like interested chirpings to a mech's audios.

"That should keep you safe and out of the way, but still allow you to see," Sunstreaker informed her, before turning to his work station. He hummed as he studied the half-finished painting, then he put a few different colors on his palette, picked up a brush, and started painting.

"It needs sparklies! Maybe glitter!" Came the comment from the single member of the peanut gallery on the shelf. Athena wrapping herself in a blanket-burrito, something she hadn't known she missed being able to do until now, though she soon would sit up and start fussing with her hair, then go on a hunt for a brush.

There wasn't anything that could be improvised into a brush or comb that she could see. It was mostly datapads and sculptures up there with her. Sunstreaker hummed as he worked, his brush moving on the surface. Images were starting to come through, a Cybertronian street, mechs...

Athena watched, poked around the self for a third time, debated on if it would be worth being a trouble maker and push something off. Self-preservation had her raining in that urge and then stamping it down. The woman nibbled and finally finished off the food cube, boredly sprawled on half of the blanket, with the other half flipped over her. After what seemed like a few hours, she sat up again, sighing and once more finger combed her hair, humming faintly an old tube her mother used to sing as Athena started to braid the drift of red to keep it out of the way.

Sunstreaker paused in his work, glancing over her at the noise. "You calling for me, Little Fighter?" He asked as he set down the brush and wiped his hands clean of stray paint. He walked over to her, watching to see if that had been her intent.

The human stared up at the mech, a little closer to his optic level (more like chest/neck level), pausing mid movement of working on her braid. Locks of hair twined in her fingers in what looked like a complicated mix, at least at first. "...hi?"

"Why are you doing that to your hair filaments, Little Fighter?" Sunstreaker asked, reaching out to brush up against the ends of her hair with his fingertip. His fingers were smacked by a tail, the mech seemed to be scolded as his pet continued what she was doing, waving a pattern like before, only now a bit neater.

Sunstreaker chuckled at her. "You're a fierce little thing. You'll fit in just fine," he said, watching as she finished up with what she was doing. "I really should get Sides to find something we can put in that thing for decoration."

The end of her hair was curled, then tied off with that bit of wire she had before. Athena patted her hair, checking it, then stood and eyed the mech. She grinned and backed up half a pace, the distance to him was with in her range to jump.

"Now, what are you planning on doing, Little Fighter?" Sunstreaker asked, watching her carefully. "Don't want you to get hurt."

Her eyes were focused on his chest, intending that as her landing spot roughly as the woman took another step back. Though if the mech moved Athena wasn't sure if she'd thump on the chest or land on his face...

Sunstreaker watched her, and was surprised when she dashed forward and jumped. "Whoa," he said, one arm automatically coming up to catch her if she didn't make her landing.

She didn't, not exactly, aiming higher and the golden mech found himself with a face-clinger. "Hi. I'm on your face... don't eat me."

Sunstreaker blinked in confusion, staring at the organic on his face. He couldn't talk without shaking her hold, so instead he brought his hand up, carefully grabbing her and pulling her away. "What was that for, Little Fighter?"

The organic was trilling, hanging onto the mech's fingers around her, but despite being handled (and not having been to keen on it before, thus a little odd she was so relaxed), it was almost like she was laughing. The human had to be, emotions strong enough to trigger the normally hidden energy field to flare for a klik with her amusement.

"You are a crazy one, Little Fighter. Much like Sides. No wonder he picked you out." Sunstreaker ran a finger lightly down her back, not daring to try to tickle her while she was still injured. He could just feel the ridges of the human's support structure, and feel her trill of amusement turn to gasps as the organic tried to rain it in at last from the throbbing on her sides, sprawled gracelessly at the moment on the gold hand.

Sunstreaker hummed at her, and since she didn't protest the first time, he stroked her again. "Now, what is it you want, Little Fighter?"

The organic looked back at him, glance down and then around at the room from this new point of view. She seemed interested in the paints again, and considering that there was still a happily beaming smiley face at ground level... there might be another reason she wanted at it other than the paints where shiny, but more to play in.

"Oooh no," Sunstreaker said, his hand curling around her to prevent her from jumping again. "You're not playing with the paints. I just got you cleaned up."

"Aw, come on!" Athena protested as the mech moved her away, "I'll do better than a stick figure! I can do a desert... okay granted it was by pen last time I did it..."

"We need to find something for you to do," Sunstreaker mused. "How about..." He pulled one of the larger datapads off the shelf, and opened it to a blank page. He then moved to a table and set the datapad on it, and her next to it. "Why don't you try playing with that?"

The human gave the pad and odd look, poking it with her tail. "What is this?" she asked, poking it again on the screen next if that would do something. As she touched it, blue appeared where she had touched it, leaving dots. Along one side was a color gradient, but the majority of the space was white.

Athena tilted her head, then grasping her tail and edging closer used the end to draw a sweeping line. "Is it touch or heat I wonder..."

The datapad responded to touch as she experimented with it. Sunstreaker watched in fascination as she tried to figure out how to work the datapad.

It didn't take too long before she was kneeling down, or rather crouching given her leg design, by the edge with one hand braced on the screen and leaving a nice blue shape of her hand, then reached out with the other. Experimental line became sweeps, loops and then something far more intricate with many lines, rings and dots around in semi neat lines. Unknown to the mech for now that his new pet was writing out several things. Moving around the Data pad she poked it a few more times, then experimentally stood on it, looking back to admire her odd little pede-prints before her tail touched the color gradient so the new prints became red. Then the interesting thing happened as Sunstreaker's Little Fighter seemed to grasp what he wanted or offered, the remaining third of the free blank white space was taken up in a very mixed pile of colors.

The human stood back, satisfied with the dessert like landscape she'd done. Not nearly professional but she did have an amazing memory like most spliced human breeds.

Sunstreaker looked at what resembled a landscape and was impressed himself. Curious as to what else she would do, he saved the page before opening a blank one for her.

The organic tilted her head, playing with her red hair as she regarded the new blank page, and just for the hell of it, Athena used the side of the pad to draw out not only a creature fairly well, but added in some plants, flowers to fill up as much as she could. Then grinned down at her wingless dragon.

Hah!

Let the mechs puzzle over that one!

And puzzle he did. Was that one of her predators? Still, he wanted to see what else she would draw. He saved it and gave her a new sheet again. A doodle of a few trees, then attempts at drawing fruit, and a hamburger was what he got this time, along with more of the lines of mixed patterns.

Reviews!

Dawn Racer

Omie- There will be several different meetings between the 'pets'

Kokua Aviatrix

Omie- Lovely tail and lanky legs leads to a gerbil? ...0.o not sure how but okay! XD wait until later to see what Sunny does with his new pet XD And next time let us know what you think and guess!

Guest 1-

Omie- We're glad you like it!

McCrane55

Omie- we're glad you like the story too!

Guest 2 "Who, what, or where is that photo on top from?"

Omie- What do you mean, my display picture? The blue mecha?