Many years before the war
Acentia and Orion were on their way to an energon cafe on the campus when the two ran into Ratchet, who was looking over notes for his 'Emergency Operations' exam that was later that week.
"Ratchet!" Optimus hailed. Ratchet looked up from his notes, a slight glare in his eyes that cleared away when he realized who had called him.
"Oh, hey Orion!" Ratchet got up from the chair and gave Orion a 'bro hug.' Ratchet took notice of Acentia. "Who's this?" he asked.
"Ratchet, this is Acentia, I met her a few weeks ago."
"Oh, so this is the female that you've been talking about." Ratchet said wick a sly wink aimed towards Acentia. "Nice to meet you Acentia" Ratchet said as he shook her hand, Acentia smiled.
"Nice to meet you to Ratchet. Orion has told me a lot about you." Ratchet smiled "So, you're studying to become a medic?" Acentia said, trying to fill in the conversation, Ratchet chuckled.
"Yes I am. I find myself rather intrigued by the subject so I figured 'why not give it a try?' So far it seems to be working well for me." Ratchet said as he placed his hands on his hips. "What about you? Are you studying anything? I'm not sure if Orion said anything about it."
"Not anything in particular, no." Acentia said with a shrug. "I am looking into the psychology field though, that seems to have sparked my interests." Ratchet nodded and there was an awkward lull in the conversation.
"Oh, Ratchet I forgot to ask, are you and Magnus doing anything this weekend? I was thinking we could hang out at my place. And I thought Acentia would like to get to know you two better." Optimus said.
"I have an exam at the end of the week but after that i'm free for the weekend . Not sure about Magnus. He's been training pretty hard these last few weeks for a physical exam that's coming up at the end of the month; he's hardly been in the room. I can talk to him though; see if he'll take a break from training this weekend so we can all hang out."
"Great! See you later then Ratchet!" Orion waved as he started walking away. Acenta gave Ratchet a rather awkward smile before she too walked away.
...
"So, that's the infamous Ratchet?" Acentia said as their drinks were placed in front of them.
"Yeah. I know he may not seem that interesting at first but once you get to know him he's pretty cool." Acentia made a noise of acknowledgement while she took a sip of her drink. The two sat there awkwardly while they tried to think of another subject to talk about.
"The weather's very nice today." Acentia finally said, breaking the silence.
"Yes, it is." Orion said with a smile. "After our classes are done, if this weather holds up anyway, would you like to go for a walk around town? I haven't yet got to explore Crystal City since I started classes." Acentia thought on that idea for a moment.
"Sure! I'll show you some of the secret passages I found as a sparkling! And the main park in this city is beautiful! Luckily I know a lot of shortcuts across the city" Acentia giggled.
Later that day, after their classes ended, the weather had stayed nice and so Acentia and Orion walked around the city; visiting different locations, each more unique than the last; the sun was just beginning its descent.
"Is that the park over there? The one you were talking about earlier?" Orion pointed to a large park a short distance away. The light of the sunset shown on the crystals in the park with all sorts of different colors, a rainbow of purple, blue, and green hues baked the ground beneath it, turning the world around it into a sort of fantasy realm.
"It is! Oh, it's almost time! Come on we're about to miss it!" Acentia grabbed Orion's arm and dragged him to one of the seating areas inside the park. As the sun began to set, the light reflected on the crystals and the hues began to change. From purples and blues and greens, slowly, to reds and yellows and oranges. It was like nothing Orion had ever seen and certainly a sight to behold.
"It only happens once every few decades. Usually the light reflects off these crystals and gives off a distinct purple or blue hue but during times like today the light changes the colors completely. I don't remember what my caretakers said, about why it happens, I was always too entranced." Acentia stated.
"This. This is amazing!" Orion exclaimed in awe and wonder. The two continued to watch the sun set and the light from the crystals slowly dimmed. "We should probably get back to campus before it closes." Acentia looked at her clock
"Oh, Primus is it that late already?!" Acentia bolted upright and dragged Orion to his feet. "Come on, we have to hurry or they'll lock us out!"
"This city wouldn't be too bad to spend the night in." Orion said casually as he ran to keep up with Acentia. Acentia gave no answer. In fact she didn't even appear entirely there. Orion grabbed Acentia's arm and slowed to a stop. "Acentia, are you alright?" Acentia looked down some of the alleyways.
"I.. I just don't want to in the city after hours." Acentia said, grabbing her arm as if to fend off a bad memory. "Let's talk about this later." Orion gave her a look of concern but agreed and the two got back to campus within minutes of the doors closing for the night.