Prompt: Annoyance
They could tolerate a lot of things...but this was the last straw.
Transformers (c) Hasbro
Venting an annoyed sigh through her intakes, Chromia watched as the couple continued to send, what they thought were discreet glances towards one another from across the table. She shook her head in exasperation.
'How, in Primus' name, do they think that practically having a wide eyed staring contest was being discreet?' she thought to herself. She knew for a fact that every single bot seated at the table, both Decepticon and Autobot alike, were painfully aware of the two sets of love-sick optics drilling into each other at that moment. A silent decision had been made somewhere near the start of the peace talks (after a less than subtle entry and very obvious new paint jobs) to ignore them. It simply made for better progress.
But she could see the signs of bots beginning to break. Ironhide, seated across from her, had visibly started to twitch. Skywarp's teammates, next to him, looked like they were about half a breem away from punching him through the wall. Elita and Optimus, unsurprisingly, took it all in their stride. The only acknowledgment they even gave of the other two was a mildly amused light in their optics. This was in very stark contrast to the Decepticon leader, which also came as no surprise. Megatron kept his optics focussed on the data pads, but grasped it with enough pressure to leave finger imprints on the mettle.
"....so if we were to split up territory here, we could evenly divide up these lands to make more room for..." the speaker's voice flitted in and out of her processor. She found herself not only distracted by the irritatingly goggle-eyed couple, but also the actions of those around her towards said couple.
Glancing at them, she noticed Skywarp mouth something, again oh so discreetly, causing Moonracer to muffle a giggle. Feeling her optic twitch slightly, Chromia silently began to count, a tactic she had begun to utilize upon first coming to Earth so as to keep her temper in check. It was usually fairly effective.
Giggle. 24. Tap. 32. Clank. 46. Clank. 67. Clank. Clank. Clank.
Chromia froze in her counting.
Oh no. No way. They were not playing footsie under the conference table...at the meeting...with everyone present. That would be....
Clank. Giggle. Clank.
....Actually, it wouldn't be that surprising.
Narrowing her optics at the pair, she clenched her hands into fists in an attempt to keep herself from hurling something at their heads.
'Calm down...Remember what Elita has always said about keeping your temper under control...' At that thought, she cast a sidelong glance at her commander. She was both surprised and pleased at seeing Elita's expression having morphed from one of mild amusement, to an impatient frown. Even Prime's optics appeared to have dimmed in annoyance.
Sweeping a quick look over the rest of the room it was safe to say that every bot present was very much aware of the happenings under the table. While the majority showed clear-cut annoyance on their faceplates, one or two did appear to be amused by it (namely Jazz), and the only one displaying absolute indifference was Prowl, though there was an ever so slight twitch to his optic after every 'clank'.
"...Ah, so um...where was I" -clank- "Um....Oh, yes neutral territories here and" -clank- "H-here too...but what I thought we could" -clank- "C-could do was..." The speaker tried, to his credit, to continue. Considering that he was speaking from a screen monitor and not actually in the room, but was still able to pick up on what was happening, showed just how discreet Skywarp and Moonracer were being.
Chromia could practically feel the waves of aggravation radiating from all directions....In fact the only ones who seemed unaware of it were the two causing it.
Clank.
'Ok, I'm going to give them two kliks. If they keep it up, they're offline She felt her own optics begin to twitch, and the joints of her hands straining as she continued to clench them.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
One more klik. Then imminent deactivation.
Clank. Clank. SLAM!
"KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!"
Apparently someone had a shorter time limit than she did. Chromia, along with the majority of bots, jumped at the sudden change in sound effects. She stared in surprise at the one who made it. Surprisingly it wasn't Megatron. Unsurprisingly it was Starscream. The Air Commander glared with unrestrained fury at the couple, optics and wings twitching in sync.
The two he yelled at appeared completely at a loss as to what he was referring to.
"Knock what off?" Skywarp asked him, innocently tapping his fingertips together. Moonracer unsuccessfully attempted to hide her grin behind a look of confusion. Starscream glowered at them.
"Take a wild guess, genius" Ratchet snarled from across the table. Skywarp seemed to be taken by surprise at this.
"I ugh...don't know what you-"
"Warp, give it up. Everyone here knows what both of you were doing" Thundercracker cut in, voice notably irritated. The black Seeker's expression went from one of confusion, to surprise and then nervousness. Meanwhile Moonracer's optics had widened impressively, both with shock and mortification.
"But....we were so discreet" the pure amazement in his tone was enough to render most of the room speechless.
"YOU CALL THAT BEING DISCR-?!" Starscream began, but stopped mid-rant as another voice cut in.
"Regardless of how...discreet you were trying to be, there is a time and a place for everything" Optimus Prime calmly but firmly stated, "In the future, a certain amount of self-restraint would be appreciated" Moonracer, looking deeply embarrassed and regretful, nodded meekly, whereas Skywarp gave a slight scowl but grudgingly agreed.
Feeling the tension in the room lessen slightly, Chromia slowly unclenched her fists and relaxed back in her chair. After a brief clearing of his intakes, Prime made a gesture for the speaker to continue.
So the meeting continued on as per normal, the previous irate expressions on bots faces, now bored, and listless. Again, Chromia felt herself losing focus on the speaker as she rested her head in her palm.
Clang.
Red and blue optics blazed as they bore into two rather frightened looking bots.
"I-it wasn't us! We swear!" Skywarp yelped, cowering as his wingmates towered over him.
"Honestly! It really wasn't us!" Moonracer exclaimed hastily, not wanting bodily harm to be inflicted on her boyfriend. Chromia knew that Moonracer couldn't lie to save her spark, so either she'd gotten lessons from Skywarp, or she was serious.
Clearly the two Seekers were thinking the same thing as they both pulled back from looming over Skywarp.
"Then what was-"
Clang.
Chromia stopped mid-sentence as she directed her optics towards the direction of the sound....Only to see an extremely peeved looking Prowl, and a shamelessly grinning Jazz.
'Something tells me this is going to be a long meeting...'
Author's Note: Again AU-verse with the peace talks. I actually really love writing the Autobot/Decepticon interactions when they're not violent, but still slightly hostile. It's endlessly amusing XD And yes, Jazz/Prowl is another of my OTP's :3
Ah footsie, not too smart when you've got metal feet ;D
