The Diego Diaries: The next day …
=0=In the bosom of love
Ironhide heard a sound, a banging sound and he on-lined an optic. The room spun and so he closed it, the blur of the night before rolling around in his processor like a handful of marbles. He vented a soft sigh, felt Ratchet sprawled over him like a fat lady trying to climb over a too high fence. A leg flopped over Ironhide pinned him to the berth, an arm gripping him like the last doughnut on the tray had him in a vice grip. He was stuck.
Rolling backward slightly, he pssst-ed. It was silent. He pssst-ed again and again, no answer. He rolled back to his position, one he was sure he had spent the whole night assuming and opened an optic again. A sideways picture of his sparkling greeted him. Orion, banging on the wall with his Sideswipe dolly -newly made and presented to his delight- was ready to get up. He was cooing and babbling in that baby sort of way that was cute when you weren't terribly hung over. Like his sire. And his creator. And most of the base. And a few mini-cons in a brig far, far away.
He vented again and then turned his helm, peering over his shoulder at the object of his utter devotion. Ratchet's face was pressed against Ironhide's back, mashing his nose structure against black armored plates, the strongest plates in the entire Autobot army. It must hurt, Ironhide thought, having your nose pressed up against that much steel.
He shrugged, Ratchet's arm rising and falling but nothing more. Ratchet was truly under the table. And down the road. And around the corner. And in the zone. He grinned. The old slagger still had it he thought.
=0=Nearby, at the seat of power
Optimus Prime on-lined and startled, tiny blue optics peering down into his own. He blinked and then smiled. Putting his arms around the little mech that was sitting on his chest, he hugged his son. "You're up early."
"I missed you," T-Bar said in good Cybertronian.
Prime smiled and pulled him close, kissing his cheek. "I missed you too."
"Prowl missed you," he said his little face as serious as could be.
Prime smiled. "I miss Prowl. But we're both in the army and we have to go sometimes. I try and not have Prowl leave."
T-Bar nodded, looking over his shoulder as Spirit clambered up and sat on Prime's chest too. Smiling at his sire, he patted his chest. "Up."
Prime snorted and grinned. "No sleeping in with you two around."
"Prowl," he said pointing into the other room. "Up." Spirit smiled and lay down, relaxing on the chest of his genitor. T-Bar grinned and lay down too, relaxing as Prime's great arms folded around them, holding them gently. "Feels good."
T-Bar smiled. "It does."
Prowl stepped in from the younglings' room and paused, smiling. "That is a nice picture," he said storing the image in a growing file of family snapshots. "Breakfast anyone?"
"Can you hold it down?" Prime asked smirking.
"I was more temperate than you, my liege," Prowl said with a snort. "And much more temperate than Ironhide and Ratchet. I wonder if they remember how they got home and who took Orion there too?"
"You should show them the film," Prime said patting his little mechlings. "Last one up is a scraplet."
Prowl frowned slightly. "Don't tell them about that too soon, Optimus. No bogeymen until they are older and want to date."
Prime chuckled and tickled his younglings, Rambler peering in around Prowl. The shrieking laughter was a magnet and he ran inside, launching himself into the pile as Optimus Prime took a moment to be a dad.
=0=Nearby
Wheeljack looked across the table at Perceptor, himself holding his helm in his servos. "I thought one of us had agreed to stay halfway upright when the other one got slag faced."
"We didn't agree on who would get slag faced, 'Jack," Perceptor said raising bleary optics. He looked at Wheeljack, the bot staring back at him flashing gray audials. "You don't look so good, Wheeljack. You're flashing gray."
"You should see inside me," Wheeljack said doing the Cybertronian version of a burp. "I could hurl."
"What?" Percy asked, looking up from staring at his servos.
"What?" Wheeljack asked through the yellow haze of his hangover.
"What? I asked you first."
"I don't know what. What?" 'Jack said. "You're confusing me, Percy."
"You? I don't know what you're talking about," Percy said with a trace of irritation. "What are you going to hurl and what has that got to do with a hangover?"
"This," Wheeljack said as he hurled.
=0=In the home of Yellow Face, Dolly Boy and the Honey
Sunstreaker came to consciousness on the floor to one side of the berth. His optics came on line and he got a clear shot of the dust bunnies under his bed. He strained his processor and remembered crawling through the door on his servos and knee assemblies, the hooting laughter of Blue and Sideswipe encouraging him forward over those last few crucial centimeters.
They had really tied one on, drinking past the point of no return, such was the moment and such was the euphoria that had swept them up into the dustbin of Unicron which he currently occupied. Every part of him felt nauseated and he could barely hold a coherent thought. When the moment came to him that he should, he rose up immediately bumping his helm on the bed table that was attached to the berth. The impact scatted what little sense he could muster and as he slid back under the yellow waves of unconsciousness the last thought he has was Kaon. WHERE THE FRAG DID HE LEAVE KAON!
Sideswipe and Bluestreak, tangled together after drinking too much and fragging like bunnies weren't even aware that Sunstreaker had rejoined them in the land of the down and out. Cold.
=0=In the bosom of love
"Ratchet?"
Silence.
"Ratchet? You online? Wake up, you slagger."
Silence.
Ironhide looked at Orion and Orion looked at him. His sparkling tilted his tiny identical helm slightly and chirped a sweet tweet to the old man as if asking him what the frag are you doing? Get up, you slagger, you.
Ironhide, pressed into the berth by someone who had between one half and one and a half tons on him depending on what he was carrying for missions fretted. This was going to be hard. He shrugged again, this time with more oomph. Ratchet merely tightened his grip and continued onward, sailing the sea of the undead.
Orion frowned.
Ironhide once again found him impossibly cute.
=0=Nearby
"I'm sorry, Percy."
"It happens, 'Jack."
"Let me help you."
"No. Let me help you."
"You're too kind, Percy."
"No, you are, 'Jack."
=0=In the home of Yellow Face, Dolly Boy and the Honey
Sunstreaker came back to the world slowly. The pounding in his helm was stunning. It felt almost like he had beat his head on the wall. Lying there, he noticed the ceiling. Turning his helm, he noticed the berth. Turning his helm, he noticed Kaon's box bed. Turning his …
For a moment he strained to think and then it came to him. WHERE THE FRAG DID HE LEAVE KAON!
He raised up and slammed his helm into the bedside table. He fell back into the fading light once more.
=0=In the bosom of love
"Ratchet!"
Silence.
"RATCHET! WAKE UP! I'VE GOT TO BE FREE, YOU SLAGGER!"
A soft moaning sound met his petulant whining and Ironhide felt Ratchet stirring. He looked at Orion who looked at him with his tiny blue optics. Holding his Sideswipe dolly, watching as his creator's servos gripped his sire's shoulder and squeezed … hard … as he stretched was almost as much fun as the bellow that his sire made as his creator did just that.
The bellow startled him and Orion sat vibrating from the surprise. Then he added his own bellow to the mix, drawing the startled optics of two very hungover and very startled adult mechs. Finally.
=0=Nearby, at the seat of power
They gathered the younglings up, wiping faces and servos and then grabbed toys. The younglings were very happy and ready to play. They were going to eat breakfast with their genitors and then head for daycare slash school in the younglings' room. A rotating roster of volunteer mechs and a few soldier and air force femmes and mechs kept them on their toes. The two youngest mechlings were making great strides in their language skills. Silverbow was also although she was still the most impaired speaker.
Prowl helped Optimus put things to rights and then Prime turned, walking to the door and pausing. Looking back he grinned. "Are you going to tell them today?"
Prowl grinned. Holding Kaon wrapped up in his little blue blanket, he smirked. "Maybe. Probably not, the slaggers."
Prime chuckled and opened the door, watching as the little ones hopped out and moved down the corridor to the rec room. Prowl was next with Kaon and Prime last, closing the door on their home away from (Cybertronian) home. Walking to the rec room, they took their usual table as Spirit and Silverbow ran to each other to get their morning hug.
Just as they sat down, Ironhide, Ratchet and Orion staggered into the room. The low flying haze of their throbbing processors could almost be seen as they walked to Prime's table and sat. Orion, half hanging out of his sire's arms banged his dolly on the table, Sideswipe's helm getting the worst of the deal.
"Morning, sunshine," Prime said looking at Ironhide with a grin. "You look like slag."
"I feel like slag," Ironhide said uprighting the sparkling and putting him on the table. Orion, spotting Kaon in Prowl's arms got a determined expression on his faceplates and began to flail, roll and generally gyrate in the direction of his nephew and most dearly sought after object of desire.
They all sat and looked at him falling and rolling, flailing his arms ineffectually and generally being hilarious before Ironhide rose to get the morning energon. Ratchet, grinning at Orion shook his head. "Did you tell the younglings where their sparkling is yet?"
Prowl smirked and shook his helm. "Nope."
"Good," Ratchet said with a smile just as he grabbed Orion's ped before he fell off the table head first.
=0=TBC
2011 (2)