Chapter 36: peace

It was the weekend. Usually that meant Cliffjumper could sleep in before his medical meeting with Jack and Percy, but today, the minibot had for no clear reason, just woken up. He sat up in his berth, leaning against his pillows and clutching his blanket as he tried to remember his dream. Galvatron had been in it, but everything had been dark and blurry. The more he thought about it the more it slipped away. It was still early, way earlier than he should have woken up considering the time he went to sleep. Cliffjumper felt…off. Not in a bad way, just…strange in his body. His fingers were tingly and his chassis felt heavy. When he slid to the side of the berth, he felt slow, like he wasn't fully awake despite not feeling tired. It was like there was an extra weight on his shoulders. Cliffjumper shook his head to clear the fog.

Looking around and noticing it was still early, he figured he'd tidy up a bit and refuel before he went to see the nerd bots. Everything in his dorm was pretty large for him. The berth had been built to fit an average size bot, so to him it was easily a queen sized bed. It took extra time to make it but he couldn't deny it was comfortable. The shelves around the room were mostly empty, since he didn't have any nick-knacks or photo frames, but he still organized his textbook pads. His desk had a small standard terminal for uplink to the global data network and the base's own system. Everybot could access it, but certain sectors and files required specific access codes. On top of that, activity could be monitored from on high, which was probably why so many bots preferred their own computers. Cliffjumper didn't really use it beyond completing assignments and doing research though. He had managed to catch up on a few popular topics though, like the top rated singers on Cybertron and the racing circuit hot shots. Beyond that though, he didn't really have the time to look through the internet more thoroughly.

Moving to his living room, Cliffjumper wiped down his small table and fluffed up the cushions on the sofa. Throwing away some old energon cubes, he sat at the table to eat. He still felt heavy, almost bulky despite the furniture being too large for him. He blended his medical energon with the sweetening powder slowly, watching the liquid turn lavender. As he took short sips his gaze filtered around the room. Single fridge unit…some power packs on the counter…his sink…his mostly empty cabinets…old table…another chair…plastic tile floor…why did everything seem so off? Cliffjumper felt awkward and out of place, not only in the space but in his body. Leaving the cube on the counter he went to the bathroom.

His reflection hadn't changed. Red head, two horns, gray markings on his chin and helm, blue optics. He hadn't gotten any taller or shorter.

There was a small scale on the corner of the room. He stepped onto it, frowning as the numbers appeared, he had gained some weight, but not much. If anything it was because of all the metal minerals in the energon, adding to his systems. Then there was his chassis. It still felt heavy, like there was a tiny weight tugging his spark down. It didn't hurt, it just felt different.

Looking at himself in the mirror again, he turned to the side, trying to feel and change in his chassis. It looked the same and it felt smooth, there weren't any dents. The pressure wasn't bad, the sparkling was probably having a mini growth spurt. He just felt weighted and slow in his movements, like he was half asleep or low on energon, worn-out almost.

Flopping down on the sofa, he stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the sparkling. The last spark scan he got showed that the sparkling had grown a bit bigger. Before, he'd been a tiny little white light fluttering around his spark. Now he was a bit bigger and had a very light blue tinge. He still fluttered freely around his spark, quickly when he was excited or scared and slowly when he was curious or tired.

In the three mega-cycles Cliffjumper had been online again, he'd learn to read those flutters like he'd learned to identify plants in Hound's class, with patience and practice. Now he could tell when the sparkling was tired, when he was hungry and when he was happy. Cliffjumper liked the last feeling best because the sparkling felt like it grew a bit with the feeling and it would send out a warm wave across his spark, making him feel happy too. But then there were times when the sparkling felt sad too. Those times…the sparkling would slow down and huddle in a corner of his chamber, making his spark feel cold and lonely.

Cliffjumper couldn't believe how strong the sparkling's feelings were and Perceptor had told him that they would only become stronger. Right now he only had simple feelings, like hunger and happiness, later when he became bigger and stronger, he'd feel more complex feelings like love or anger or protectiveness.

Cliffjumper sank further into the sofa cushions, offlining his optics and placing his hands over his chassis. He tried to block everything out and listen. He ignored his neighbors in their dorms and the hum of the fridge and the shift of birds outside his window. He felt it before he heard it: the soft quick BA-BUMP of the sparkling beating along with his spark. The sparkling ran a little faster than he did. It felt like he was just waking up, he was fluttering around his spark slowly, reaching out for Cliffjumper's servos while staying close to his spark. Cliffjumper smiled at the feeling and the sound.

When he listened to the sparkling like this, he couldn't think of anything bad or wrong. Everything just seemed to wash away. The sparkling made him feel at peace, almost happy in the calm. As he settled into a light doze, his alarm went off. It was time for him to meet with Percy and Jack. Onlining his opics again, he reluctantly pulled himself up. The calm was nice while it lasted, but he still had things to take care off.

End chapter 36