Chapter 44
Asking
Prowl wasn't quite ready to deal with lunch, so he took a sip from a small half-empty cube that he'd gotten a couple days ago and continued looking over data-pads. Then he decided he shouldn't work while he ate. Auri would reproach if she found out… and Ratchet would chide.
Prowl pushed the data-pads back and reflected on the morning.
The morning, aside from the bathhouse scene with Magnus, had gone well. After showering, he and Praxus had waited a couple minutes for Ironhide to finish his patrol shift and stop by for Praxus. Then Ironhide had walked off with Praxus practically skipping by his side. The mech-ling had been so happy.
Prowl had gone to a meeting… Prime had been there, as had Inferno, Ultra Magnus, Smokescreen, and Moonracer. It had been a tactics meeting, mostly. Ultra Magnus, remarkably enough, hadn't caused Prowl any grief or used any tones that might have been considered unfriendly or threatening. -With one exception. When Prime asked why he was late, he'd replied, "I have no control over glitches in the shower. I apologize, sir."
Prowl had let it pass, though, for there had been more important things to discuss.
Once the meeting had ended, Prowl had returned to his office and done work. Alone. Auri had that morning off to plan things with Elita and Chromia.
Prowl took another sip and half-smiled as he thought of Chromia. He hoped that Elita and Auri weren't boring her too much. Next to the twins, Prowl thought, Chromia had the shortest attention span when it came to some things.
Prowl picked up a data-pad as he took another sip of Energon.
Then his conscience pinged him just little.
He cycled air through his system in a sigh. He needed to do a proper lunch. He put the data-pad down, locked things up, and headed outside.
He knew that Ratchet would want him to go somewhere and socialize. He needed to spend more time with other bots. He didn't want to, though. At least, not much. Not with very many.
::Bumblebee,:: he intercommed the black and yellow Praxian.
::Yes, Prowl?::
::Where are you?::
::Lunching at the playground.::
::Would you mind if I joined you?::
::Not in the least! You are most welcome, Prowl.::
::Thank-you.:: He signed off and then transformed.
He got a proper cube of Energon from the pub and then drove out to the playground. Once the playground was in view, he saw that Bee was not alone. Praxus was there as well, and Prowl felt an odd sense of happiness at seeing him there; Praxus was making steps toward not staying in quarters all day long, and that was a good thing.
Praxus was sitting carefully on a swing but not swinging. He had both pedes off the ground, though, which was progress for him.
"Hi," Bee greeted Prowl, and Praxus looked over.
"Hello," Prowl replied. "Hello, Prax-ling," he said to Praxus.
"Hello!" Praxus said, looking pleased. He shifted a wing upwards and forwards just a little. Prowl felt obligated to look at his wings and give the shiny new armor a nod of approval.
"Is your armor completely done now?" Prowl asked.
"It is!"
"Good." Prowl sat on the ground and took his Energon from subspace.
"Where's Auri?" Praxus asked, looking confused.
Prowl paused at this, at Praxus taking it for granted that Auri would be with him. He answered carefully. "I would assume she is lunching with Elita and Chromia. The three of them are planning Auri's upgrade celebration."
"Oh."
Bee grinned happily. "Prax, I bet you'll be invited to the ball. Do you know how to dance?"
Praxus nodded. "I know how to dance," he said.
"With a partner?" Bee wanted to know.
"Um… it depends on the dance," Praxus said. "I'll be fine, though. No one besides Auri will want to dance with me anyway, and she'll let me pick a dance I can do."
Prowl smiled at Praxus's implicit trust in the femme-ling.
"Chromia will probably want to dance with you, too, though," Bee pointed out.
Praxus shrugged with a smile. "She'll do one I know, too. Or teach me if I don't know it. I'm pretty sure, though, that her dance tastes runs in the genre with the hard and heavy bass with a beat, and I can do those."
"Very accurate," Prowl said, dipping his helm a little.
"Are you gonna dance?" Praxus asked him.
Prowl stiffened a little at that. "I… I don't." He shook his helm. "I am not going to."
"Not even one dance with Auri?" Praxus stared at him incredulously, looking almost confused.
Prowl hesitated.
"Bumblebee ships you two like FedEx, but I can't see how that can happen if you won't even dance with her!" Praxus looked confused.
Bee muffled a little groan under his hand. Praxus had unwittingly betrayed him.
"Oh-! Thank-you, Bee!" Prowl looked upset. "I- I d-didn't need that broadcasted!"
"Prowl, Prowl," Bee said gently. "I didn't broadcast it. Praxus was just confused on something the other day, so I explained that Auri and I weren't a couple, and that you…" he faltered at Prowl's frown. "You… seemed to be starting to show some… some… soft feelings for her."
Prowl sighed.
"Okay?" Bee asked.
"Okay," Prowl said guardedly. "Just… please do not do that in the future, alright?"
"Alright, Prowl. I'll let you know if there's any clearing up that needs to be done, and I'll let you do it."
"Thank-you."
A sea breeze brushed by.
"So, you're not even going to dance one dance?" Praxus asked.
Prowl lowered his helm. "I… for Auri, I m… might."
"You'd better," Praxus said, looking concerned.
Prowl raised an optic-ridge. "No one is going to dictate whether I dance or not, Praxus," he said.
"I-I w-wasn't dictating-" Praxus said quickly. "I was only… only thinking… If I was looking towards a relationship with a femme, then I would for certain be dancing with her."
"And," Bee said meaningfully. "If I were looking towards a relationship with a femme, I would be volunteering to be her escort."
Prowl looked down at his Energon cube. "You both have a valid point; however, I am not ready to… move that far along yet."
"Oh."
Bee canted Prowl a look of exasperation. "He's just gonna stay in first gear forever."
Prowl looked frustrated. "Bee-!"
"It's true; you know it's true."
"We- I- there had been some second gear." He felt a little angry with Bee; the black and yellow Praxian was pushing him just a little too much.
Praxus huffed, looking confused. "What are you talking about gears for?"
Bee looked over at him. "It's slang… when you and a femme are in first gear, you two smile at each other a bit and you two touch sometimes. Second gear moves it up a little; you spend time snuggling, and you share some little kisses."
"And that is only how far an un-bonded couple can or should go," Prowl interjected sternly.
Bee nodded and then continued, "When you hit third gear, the kisses get a bit more serious and intimate, and there's a bit more touching, some massaging, and a little armor might come off. In fourth gear, the kissing is very intense, and there's too much touching for me to talk about, and the armor… lots comes off. Fifth gear," he paused. "All out…" he shrugged. "You know."
Praxus shook his helm. "I asked you to explain because I don't know."
"Use some logic," Prowl said. "What do you think would come next, following the progression that Bee has outlined?"
"I asked him to explain because I don't KNOW!" Praxus yelled, looking upset. He'd come to a conclusion that he didn't like.
"Sh-sh, calm down," Bee said. "Don't yell at Prowl; he was just trying to be helpful."
"It wasn't helpful," Praxus whimpered, climbing off the swing and sitting down on the ground, hugging his knees to himself protectively. "Okay?"
"Okay," Prowl said. "I apologize."
Praxus sniffled. "Just tell me."
"Fifth gear is interfacing," Prowl said.
"Why would you do that?!" Praxus howled, covering his helm with his hands and arms as if to ward off some cruelty.
Prowl shifted a wing and considered how bad Praxus's past had been. In all likelihood, the mech-ling connected interfacing with rape.
Prowl sighed with sorrow.
"Prax, listen to me," he said gently. "If the femme consents –says she wants it- and if you consent –you say you want it- then interfacing is very… very pleasant. Two bots in agreement to interface do it as an expression of unity and love."
"Aihhhh...nghhhh…"
"It is just like nice kissing, only more intimate and… private."
"Can we change the subject now?" Praxus asked.
"Yes, Praxus," Prowl said. "But, didn't you want to talk about femmes in the shower the other day?"
"Yeah…?"
"This would have been part of that discussion."
"Stop it, Prowl," Praxus said. "Just stop. I don't consent this conversation."
"Alright," Prowl said, half-smiling sadly at Praxus's use of the word 'consent'; Praxus clearly hadn't heard it before and was trying to incorporate it into his vocabulary. "Perhaps we could talk about ideas for presents for Auri. I am not certain what non-Praxians do for the final upgrade, but Praxians give gifts."
Bee smiled. "I have mine planned already, and it's in the works right now."
"What is it?" Praxus asked.
"A little stereo set with loads and loads of music storage on it," Bee replied, optics sparkling with enthusiasm. "I have it made now, and I've been working on compiling music and creating playlists for her."
"Nice," Praxus said. He had no idea what he could give to Auri. He looked to Prowl. "What are you going to give her?"
Prowl glanced down at this Energon cube. "I… am still thinking about it."
"No worries," Bee said. "There are countless things that would make her happy."
Prowl nodded agreement. "Are you concerned about what you can give her?" he asked Praxus.
"Yeah," Praxus said. "I… I have lots of collections, but…" he winced. "Almost everything in them was acquired… plundered from towns that we MY killed. I… don't feel like it would be okay to make a gift of something like that."
Prowl shifted a wing. "That could be a bit awkward," he said, looking thoughtful.
"Although-! There is stuff that I traded plunder for… oh." Praxus paused. "Only… I traded with other MY for it, so… it is still plunder. Not my plunder, but someone else's that I traded for. Or won. I won lots of games."
Prowl nodded. "You… know… sometimes you can repurpose something –even modify it- and that will disassociate it from its past enough to make it clean."
"Really?" Praxus brightened.
Prowl nodded. "The… the gift I am thinking of giving Auri…" he shifted a wing. "It would be a repurposed… something."
"I can help you make something if all else fails," Bee added.
"I have options now!" Praxus said happily. "I will look at the things I traded for and see what might be remade or recycled."
Within a few moments, Praxus, Prowl, and Bee were sitting in a circle and looking through some boxes that Praxus had pulled out of subspace.
"Why all the passkeys, Prax?" Bee asked; he been sorting them out of the jumble of stuff to make things more orderly.
"Because I wanted them," Praxus said. He shrugged. "They open doors… I guess I thought they might open doors for me to get away?"
Bee looked sad and gently set the passkeys in a neat stack in the corner of the box.
"And what were the ball bearings about?" Prowl asked. He had a handful of the little metal spheres and was picking out more. The complete disorganization of the boxes was an affront to his logical mind.
"They were fun to roll across the floor, and we'd have contests to see who could roll one and hit another a certain distance away. We'd also throw them at bots for any reason. Oh-!" Praxus found something. "Shiny! I forgot about these rocks!"
Prowl looked over from frowning in confusion at a small statue of a Quintesson. Praxus pulled out an empty partially broken Energon cube filled with softly glowing pink, blue, lavender, and white rocks. Then he pulled out a second cube of them. And a third.
"These rocks were all over an entire planet that we stopped on," Praxus said. "We picked them up once we realized that they wouldn't hurt us. They have some crystal shapes in them, but they didn't work for Energon conversion. We kept them anyway and left them around our quarters to make more light. And we threw them at bots for punishment or just to get attention."
Prowl took a few and looked at them, a half-smile touching his face. "Praxus –city- used to import these for amusement's sake."
Praxus unearthed a fourth cube of the rocks. "Is there something we can do with them that Auri would like?"
"Most definitely," Prowl said. Then he shifted a wing as he felt a little presence on his friendship bond.
"Auri's coming," Bee said.
Praxus looked around for a moment and then caught the glint of the sun on Auri's armor as she drove up the little hill.
"Hide the stuff!" Bee yelped.
Praxus snapped his attention back and quickly put everything into subspace.
"Done," Praxus said. Prowl opened his mouth to object as he held out his handful of bearings. "Hide them. Give back later," Praxus said. Auri was too close for an exchange now.
Prowl flicked the bearings into subspace, and Auri pulled up a moment later.
She transformed. "Hello!" she greeted, scampering over and sitting down between Prowl and Praxus.
"Hello," Prowl greeted as Praxus hugged her.
"Is your party all planned?" Bee asked.
Auri grinned. "Yes, indeed! And- best of all- I'm having a small dinner party one week and then a ball the next."
"The Praxian way," Prowl said with approval.
"Elita knew," Auri said, looking happy. "Sometimes I think she knows everything, or at least how to find everything out."
Bee grinned and Prowl hid a half smile.
"She does give that impression at times," Prowl said. Then he noted Praxus's look of anxiety. "Praxus, you do not need to look so worried. She does not actually know everything. Or even half of everything."
"She just scares me," Praxus said. "If we could talk about something different, I'd feel better."
"Elita wouldn't hurt you, Prax," Auri said gently. "In fact, Chromia's more likely to hurt you than Elita is."
"I don't care! I trust Chromia, and I don't trust Elita." This statement made his three companions start with astonishment.
"Why not?" Auri asked, optics wide.
"I just don't," Praxus said, shifting a wing uncomfortably. "It might be because of the first time I met her… she tackled me and knocked me on the pavement when I was trying to run away from Soundwave in Med-Bay."
"I remember that day," Prowl said.
"Yeah, 'cause I bit you," Praxus said. He looked away. "I also… just have really, really negative memories of the femme Masters, and she makes me think of them with all her authority and composure."
"Elita is super nice, though," Auri said earnestly.
"Remember how gentle and kind she was when she interviewed Starlight?" Prowl asked.
Praxus nodded hesitantly. "That still doesn't change my fear of her, though. Some things take time."
"That is true," Prowl said, looking pleased with Praxus for acknowledging time as a factor.
'You can observe her at my dinner," Auri said. "And you'll see that she's nice to everybody."
"I'm invited?" Praxus asked, his wings perking up.
"Of course you are," Auri said, hugging him. "You're my pet sparkling."
"Who else is invited?" Prowl asked, having to nudge away a little twinge of jealously. He would never want to be called "pet sparkling," but still…
"Well," Auri said, "Soundwave and Ironhide and Chromia, of course, because they're my guardians, and Prime and Elita because they're amazing and special to me. Flareup because she's my sister, and Bee and the twins because they're my brothers. Ultra Magnus," she paused as Praxus gasped. "Because he's my adopted uncle, and Ratchet for the same reason," she said in a final tone.
Prowl's mouth opened just a little as he looked down. She hadn't said his name. He'd thought that he would be invited… perhaps not at the top of the guest list but at least on it. He-
Auri hugged him tightly. "Prowl! Don't look like that! Did you really think that I wouldn't invite you?" she sounded dismayed.
"Yes… I did…" he murmured, lowering his helm as she cuddled him.
"Aw, Prowl! I'm so sorry! I-I thought-" she faltered. "Well… I thought you knew that I… that you… you would be invited."
"I had thought I would be invited," Prowl said. "So I was confused when you didn't say that I was."
Auri sighed. "You silly Prowl."
"Silly Auri," he replied, slipping an arm around her. She leaned on his shoulder comfortably, and a tiny smile played in Prowl's optics. Only for a moment, though; Auri moved away.
"Prax?" she said, sounding concerned. "Are you alright?"
Prowl looked over and saw that Praxus looked like he was very, very sick.
"Y-you said Ultra Magnus was invited?" Praxus said.
"Yeah." She nodded. "Oh…" her wings lowered as she remembered the Master thing. "Is that going to be a problem…?" she asked with foreboding, knowing that it would.
"I can't sit at the same table with a Master," Praxus said, shoulders hunching up.
"A master?" Bee looked confused. "A master what?"
Praxus sighed and then explained how he'd given Ultra Magnus the status and rights of a Master, how it affected Praxus's behavior, and why he'd done it. "I really had thought it would calm him," he added.
"And it didn't," Bee said reflectively. "And you can't take it back at all?" he asked.
Praxus shook his helm. "It's stuck with slave encoding. But-! Prowl said I could ask Ratchet, and maybe Ratchet could do something to help with it."
"I hope so," Bee said, optics wide. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have slave code running through in his system.
"And if he can't," Prowl said. "Magnus will just have to give you permission to sit at the table."
Praxus looked dubious. "He wouldn't do that."
"He would for me," Auri said earnestly. She paused. "Or… at least he would do it to avoid a pounding from Ironhide."
"See?" Prowl's half-smile had a hint of an evil smirk. "We have our ways."
"You're some scary Autobots," Praxus said, optics teasing just a little.
Auri hugged him. "I'm not scary, am I?"
"No…" he regarded her carefully "…not usually," he added with a little grin.
She giggled. "Am I un-scary enough that you'll come to my ball and dance with me?"
Praxus nodded. "Uh-huh! I'll come and I'll dance. But- only if it's one I know how to do. 'Cause I don't want to mess up and step on your pedes."
"Of course, Prax!" Auri said. "You pick whatever dance you want, and I'll write it on my dance-card."
Praxus considered this. "Okay."
"Good?" she checked.
"Good," he confirmed, giving her a smile. "Hey, who's gonna be your escort?"
Bee and Prowl both inwardly cringed at Praxus asking that question, but they both took note of Auri's reaction. She looked a bit flustered, and her cheeks warmed just a tiny hint.
Bee gave Prowl a quick look of meaning, and Prowl gave him a 'no, oh, no' look. They both had noticed in times past that topics regarding Prowl could bring a blush to Auri's face.
"Praxus… you're supposed to wait 'n' see," she said bashfully.
Praxus was suddenly suspicious. "Are you going with that dinky Mirage?"
"Prax-! No-! I'm not going with Mirage," she looked a little ruffled. "He's nice, and he'd be a good escort, but I'm not going with him."
"Okay," Prax said softly. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to be sure… since he likes you, and you're fine with him, but I don't like him."
Auri forgave him with a smile. "You don't have to worry about Mirage, Prax. Why, did you notice that he didn't make it to the dinner guest list?"
"I did. But he will be at the dance, won't he?"
Auri nodded. Then she looked shyly over at Prowl. "Y… are… I… I know you don't do parties, Prowl, but… I… iwas… um… are you g-gonna come t'mine?" the last bit came out in an anxious rush, and then she bit her lip, a little concerned look on her face.
Prowl gave her a very gentle smile. "Of course, Auri," he said softly. "I would not even consider missing so important an event in your life."
Auri opened her mouth, but she suddenly couldn't figure out what to say, so she closed it and ducked her helm. "'M glad," she said a moment later. She peeped up at him and looked a question before ducking her helm again. "An… and… w-" she faltered, and Prowl gave Bee a look of terror. Bee looked hopeful.
"What is it?" Prowl asked gently.
"I…" Auri squirmed just a little. "W-will you… you…" she faltered again and seemed to almost give up. Then she got a little courage back. "Will you sit at my table?"
Prowl bit back a sigh of relief. "I would be honored to sit at your table," he said, sounding completely pleased.
Auri smiled up at him. "It would be my honor," she said, the bashfulness ebbing away a little.
A little teasing look entered Prowl's optics. "You know, though, that Praxus will be clinging to my door-wing like a grubby-fingered sparkling; you'll have to have him at your table, too."
"Grubby-fingered!" Praxus yelped. "My fingers aren't grubby!"
Auri giggled and chuckled. "I know, Prowl, I know. I was planning on inviting him to sit at my table as well. And Bee, too."
"And Mirage?" Praxus asked wickedly.
"Praxus," Auri gave his helm a play smack. "Quit with Mirage."
"Ow! Okay. But don't blame me if he curdles the Energon with his sappy gooey prosy mouth."
"Eeeeeew…!" Auri giggled. "Praxus. The things you think of."
"I can't help it," Praxus said. "They dropped me on a lab table."
"Mm," Prowl said, thinking of something. "I need to return to the office." He looked at Praxus. "Shall I take you to Ratchet on my way?"
Praxus nodded. "Okay."
Prowl got up, as did Praxus. Auri looked conflicted and then got to her pedes as well. Bee hopped up.
Some see-you-laters were said, and then Prowl headed off with Praxus, leaving Auri and Bee together. Praxus glanced back for just a second and then looked to Prowl.
"Sh," Prowl said, not looking back.
Praxus kept quiet.
OoOOoOoOOoO
Magnus felt content as he walked up the street. All three of his morning's meetings had gone smoothly and been successful. The last one had been with Chan Delton, and it had been a little strange to discuss things with the human without Prowl or Auri there, but he felt that it had worked out fine.
His contentment melted away as soon as he thought of Prowl and Auri. He felt empty and lost. It had taken him while to learn to work with Prowl, accept him, and appreciate him. It had taken even longer to half-way befriend him. Now… it felt like a rapid rust was corroding their relationship. And the rust was threatening to start on his and Auri's relationship as well. And he had no control over it.
He stopped at an intersection and waited for the Jeep that had right-of-way to pass. Then he went on.
He felt so confused about himself. He was a rational and logical mech with a good set of processing skills. A fairly even temper. A practical outlook. A good sense of what ought to be done and what ought not be done. He did almost everything the right way and rarely messed up much at all.
But.
Whenever that little monster came into play… he would lose it. It was like every bit of sense in his processor seized up like an un-oiled joint and refused to work. It made him fell insane, and he hated feeling insane.
There hadn't been any Praxians among the little freaks that massacred his sister's town, so he knew that Prowl and Ratchet's little monster hadn't done a thing to him. He should be able to countenance the creature. He should. It should be simple. But. It. Wasn't.
He felt sick in his tank even just thinking about it.
It was all frustrating. He trudged through the intersection.
"Hi!" a tiny voice chirped just behind him, startling him.
He whirled, and his optics found Starlight partway up a metal light pole.
"Hello," he said, blinking. He stepped over and gently pulled her off the pole as she demagnetized her hold on it.
"Go meeting?" she asked him eagerly.
"Naw meetsting tiday," he said, certain that his Praxian was even worse than it had been when the Praxian pre-adults at the high-school exchange had sneered him out of the lunch room. Gnalfy non-winged freak can't speak our ling! Ha! Iss dat hoo day tawk in yous town? Aharharharhar! I hope that wasn't supposed to be a pickup line because I dropped my sludge when you started talking! Hey- did you even listen to the practice recording? Wooohoo! Talk it talk it. Keep trying- maybe you'll get the vowels right in another forty millennia.
"Oh…" Starlight said, breaking into his painful memories. "We go scee Pruddle?" she asked hopefully.
"Nawt nah," he said. He paused, sorting out words so he wouldn't fumble over them too badly when he spoke again. "Yeh was wit Ratchet?" he asked.
"I was iff Zolt in Medday," Starlight said, looking slightly irked. "But hims 'nored me…. So I lefted… I wanna go meeting and see dat fing again."
Magus paused. "Yous liked em human?"
"Yeah! I liked dat hoonim. Him pwetty and talks funny."
"Oh." Magnus certainly didn't know what to say about that.
"Where goes?" Starlight asked as he started to walk.
"To… um… Medday,"
Starlight sighed. "We go meeting 'stead, pease?"
"Naw meetstings tiday nah."
"Oh." She looked slightly deflated for a moment, but then she perked up and started to climb up his arm. He stood still until she reached the top of his shoulder and settled herself comfortably. Then he walked on, a half-smile gracing his lips.
She was a cute little mite, he thought, and he liked it that she trusted and accepted him. He knew that the little monster had brought her, though, and that bothered him. Prowl had slipped the report into storage without him catching it, and Prowl had double encoded it to keep him from reading it once he found it. But Magnus hadn't been stopped. Magnus had confiscated a hacking device from Sideswipe and gotten into the file and read it.
It had been brief.
Starlight, Praxian, Sparkling. Arrival date ##/##/####. Claimed as sister by Praxus but not biologically related. Health on arrival: malnourished, but in better condition than Praxus (see medical report); subspace sickness due to caretaker ignorance. Submitted to Ratchet for medical care until fully healthy.
"Wed yight!" Starlight chirped, pointing ahead.
"Yes," Magnus said. "Wed yight shay stop," he felt obligated add, despite hating to hear himself attempt to speak Praxian.
"An geen yight gogogo! And yell-yo… I dunno yell-yo."
"Yell-yo say careful tuz wed soon," Magnus explained, furtively glancing to make sure nobody with door-wings was at the intersection to hear him. It was clear, but he still felt like an idiot.
"Oh-!" Starlight looked delighted with this new understanding. Then she squeaked with delight as she saw the light switch to green. "Geen!"
Half a block more brought them to the Med-Bay door, and Magnus went in.
"Hi, Zolt! I back!" Starlight greeted happily, seeming to forget her earlier irritation with him. "Uh!" she didn't like being suddenly dumped on a berth.
Jolt whirled around, a look of shock on his face. He opened his mouth to say something as Ultra Magnus strode towards him, but Magnus slapped him hard across the face before he got a word out.
"Oh-!" Starlight was taken aback by this unexpected violence.
"Do you know where I found her?" Magnus demanded, bearing down on Jolt as the poor medic backed away. "She was climbing up a light pole two and half blocks away. Do you know that she could have just as easily gone four and a half blocks and climbed an electric pole? Or she could have slipped and fallen off that light pole. She could have been badly hurt, Jolt. She told me you were ignoring her, and you cannot, I repeat, cannot ignore a sparkling."
"I-"
"No. No excuses, no 'sorry sir's. Not till I'm done with you."
"Ngh-!" Jolt gasped out as Magus grasped him by the arm. Magnus had him bent over the couch in a moment. "M-"
Magnus's upraised hand froze in midair as a choked shriek of terror came from behind him.
"Are we interrupting something?" Prowl inquired calmly.
Magnus let Jolt be and turned to face Prowl. The little monster was hiding behind Prowl.
"Just a standard beating of a mech who's failed to properly look after a sparkling," Magnus answered grimly.
The little monster peeked out from behind Prowl's door-wing. Magnus refused to look at it.
"And what did he fail to do?" Prowl asked.
"Actually watch her," Magnus said. "I picked her up two and a half blocks from here, and she was halfway up a light pole."
"Jolt-!" The little monster was out from behind Prowl in a moment and running over to Jolt.
"HEY!" Magnus found himself roaring at the little monster. The little monster turned and crouched and hissed in fear then dropped to sit on the floor with its pedes tucked under it.
Magnus turned back to Prowl.
Prowl was looking contemplative. "I completely understand your wish to beat Jolt, but I do not encourage it," he said softly. "First Aid also let Starlight escape the confines of Med-Bay…" he lowered his helm. "I berated him harshly in rage and hurt his spark badly." He looked up and met Magnus's optics. "I would not have anyone else make that mistake. It is a rough one to live with, and it hurts our healers. Aid and Jolt do not have much experience with sparklings, so we need to be patient with them as they learn. Firm, but patient."
Magnus nodded humbly. He saw the truth in Prowl's words. And he knew that beating Jolt wouldn't have been the best to do. "You're right, Prowl," he said. "Thank-you."
Prowl paused. "You are welcome," he said. "We also need to not overlook that fact that Starlight needs to be taught to stay put when told stay put. She obeys Praxus implicitly, but she does not always obey other bots."
Magnus glanced briefly at the little monster and then back at Prowl. "Understood," he said, working to not sound curt and furious. Then he looked back over to where Jolt was still bent over the couch. He needed to apologize to Jolt. He went over, and the little monster scuttled out of his way like a reprehensible cyber-crustacean.
"Jolt…" he said. "Come on up."
Jolt shifted, and Magnus gave him a hand up. Jolt's face had bruised pretty badly, and Magnus winced when he saw the damage that he'd done.
"Oh, Jolt… I shouldn't have done that. I apologize for striking you and for planning to strike you repeatedly. My temper has been a bit… off… lately, and I was wrong to let it loose on you. Please forgive me. I will be more careful in the future."
Jolt nodded. "I accept and forgive. First Aid warned me… I shoulda been more careful."
"Definitely," Magnus said. "Praxians are headstrong, and the sparklings are no different. They bear much watching when confined," he said firmly but not unkindly.
Jolt nodded.
Then Magnus gave the little monster a suspicious glance and headed for the door.
"A moment," Prowl said.
Magnus paused.
"A private moment," Prowl clarified quietly, so Magnus walked with him to the opposite side of the room.
"What is it about?" Magnus asked, feeling some concern rise in his spark.
"Auri's dinner party," Prowl said. "She is going to invite you, but she is also going to invite Praxus."
Magnus felt a bout of illogicalness coming on and fought it. "Yes?"
"Praxus told me that he gave you Master status, and he cannot sit at a table with someone who is a Master. I brought him here to see if Ratchet can override the slave-coding that dictates this, but if he cannot, you are going to have to speak kindly to Praxus and give him permission to sit at the table."
Magnus kept his mouth shut and battled all the things that came into his processor. He shut his optics to block out the visual distractions. He focused on some words to say. "That will not be easy," he said.
"I know. But you will do it if Ratchet cannot override the code."
Magnus opened his optics and nodded tiredly. "For Auri's sake, I will."
"And Praxus will be good," Prowl said.
Magnus bit his lip so hard that he almost drew life En. He looked away from Prowl. He found Jolt. But, the little monster was with Jolt, sitting beside Jolt, gently cradling Jolt's helm, applying salve to Jolt's bruised face. Magnus felt pangs of confusion stab through his logic core.
"Even if he were a little animal," Prowl said. "He has a great deal of kindness."
Magnus left.
OoOoOoOoO
Bee slipped into Prowl's office a good bit later that afternoon. Prowl looked up from his desk.
"Auri's on patrol?" Bee asked.
Prowl nodded. "She is. Do you wish to speak with me alone…?" He felt like something was up.
"Yeah…" Bee said. "She didn't ask me to be her escort after you and Praxus left us at the playground."
"So, did you ask her?"
"No… because she talked nonstop about other things and then had to go." Bee gave him a serious look. "She seemed really conflicted about something, and I didn't want to ask."
Prowl shifted his wings. "You… you think she wants to ask me?"
Bee nodded. "I think she wants to ask you. Or you to ask her."
"Bee… Bumblebee, I cannot, cannot ask her."
Bee looked sad. "I'm not gonna press you, Prowl, 'cause I know that… well, 'cause I know. But… if she were to ask you… would you say 'yes'?"
Prowl cycled air through his system in a long sigh. "I don't know if I could," he said quietly. He paused. "I do not think I could."
Bee nodded. "I understand, Prowl. I really do."
Prowl sighed, wings lowering. "Thank-you, Bee."
Bee dipped his helm in acknowledgement. Then he looked towards the door. "I'm going to go see Elita now… see if she knows who the escort is intended to be."
Prowl's smile came back. "You do that, Scout."
Bee grinned and then headed out the door.
Elita's office was a short distance away, and Bee was there before the song on his radio was half over. He silenced the radio and then knocked lightly on Elita's door.
"Welcome," Elita called.
Bee slipped in.
"Hello, Bee," Elita said, her voice warm and welcoming. Bee went over and hugged her fondly and then went and sat down in one of the guest chairs. Elita gave him an inquisitive smile. "To what do I owe this visit?" she asked.
Bee sighed. "Well… we have Auri's ball coming up sometime soon-ish…"
Elita nodded, and Bee sensed her getting ready for anything that might come up.
"And… she'll… well, probably have an escort."
Elita looked baffled. "She… mm. Go on?"
Bee hesitated, wondering what Elita had nearly said. "I was thinking that… I would offer to be her escort."
Elita nodded her understanding. "I believe that would be agreeable." She still looked baffled. "Did she find you this afternoon… around lunch time?"
"Yes, she did. Prowl and Praxus and I were at the playground, and she came by."
"Did she mention the ball?"
Bee's wings shifted upwards. "Elita, why are you giving me the third degree?"
Elita lowered her optics for a moment. "There is something that could be potentially sensitive," she said, meeting his optics again. "I trust you, Bee, but I do not want to inadvertently cause hurt somehow by revealing that something."
"Okay," Bee said, processing this. "She did mention the ball. She told us who was invited to the dinner, and we talked about it a bit, and then she wanted to know if Praxus would come to her ball and dance with her. And he said he would. And once that was settled, he asked who was going to be her escort."
Elita looked very curious at this.
"She got a little flustered," Bee said. "Blushed just a tiny bit and told Praxus he was supposed to wait and see."
"Mm."
"She never did tell us who was going to be her escort. She reassured Praxus that it wouldn't be Mirage, though. Prax doesn't like Mirage much at all."
Elita half-smiled. "So I have heard."
"She asked Prowl he was going to come to the ball, though, and was a bit… well… really flustered over asking. And she also got really flustered when she asked if he'd sit at her table."
"Mm, did he agree to both?"
Bee nodded. "He said it would be an honor. Then he mentioned that Praxus would be clinging to his door-wing and she'd have to have him at the table as well. But she'd already known that and planned for it."
Elita nodded thoughtfully. "Anything else?"
Bee shrugged. "Prowl had to leave shortly after that, and he took Praxus with him because Prax needed some checking up in Med-Bay. Auri talked until she had to leave, but she didn't talk about the ball."
"Hm." Elita looked like she had some ideas. "Thank-you, Bee."
"No problem, Elita," he said. "Should I offer to be her escort, though? Or is there someone else she has in mind?"
Elita regarded him speculatively as if he weren't there. "I do not know. Hold off on the asking for now. I need to check on some things. Okay?"
"Okay," Bee said with a nod.
A short time later, he was back in Prowl's office, and Prowl gave him a curious look.
"It was mysterious," Bee said. "Elita couldn't tell me something because it 'could be potentially sensitive,' and she didn't want to 'inadvertently cause hurt somehow by revealing that something.' And I got a lot of 'mmm' responses."
"Oh, that does sound mysterious."
"And before that, when I brought up the escort question, she seemed baffled and wanted to know if Auri had found me during the lunch hour."
Prowl's optics widened. "Auri was supposed to ask you, then. Logic states it."
Bee gave him a look. "So, why didn't she? She had ample chance."
Prowl looked perplexed. "I think you were right… I think she did want to ask me."
"And maybe she knows you couldn't say yes?"
"I hope she knows I couldn't say yes. But it would break my spark if I broke hers by saying no." Prowl dropped his helm on his desk. "Whyyyyyyy…?!"
"Sh. Someone's coming."
Prowl groaned and then picked his helm up off the desk and assumed a cool professional look.
Chromia came in a moment later. "Hello, Commander Prowl," she said, and Prowl knew instantly that she was going to ask him to do something that he wouldn't want to do. She always called him 'Commander Prowl' before she did that.
"Hello," he said.
"Hi, Bee," Chromia added, noticing Bee. Bee gave her a smile and wave. He also knew that she was plotting.
Prowl gave her a pensive look. "Cut to the chase," he said. He had enough to worry about without Chromia asking unpleasant favors. The sooner they got the fight over, the better.
Chromia paused. "What's wrong, Prowl?" she asked, genuine concern touching her expression.
Prowl shifted his wings then let them droop as they wished. "I am 98.5 percent certain that Auri wants to ask me to be her escort for her ball. And I do not think I will be able to say yes if she does. And… it gets depressing from there."
Chromia chuckled softly. "Prowler-Mech, she adores you with ever ray of her spark, but no matter how much she wants it, she will never in a hundred years ask you to be her escort for her ball. She knows you don't do parties and dances, and she knows you well enough to know that you would hate to be asked, and she'd never do something that you hate."
"Really?" Prowl perked up.
Chromia sighed. "Aren't mechs dumb."
Prowl looked chastised. "Oh." He looked relieved. His wings settled. "Thank-you, Chromia."
Chromia chuckled at him, her optics twinkling. "You're welcome, Prowl."
Prowl supposed that he should get to business then. "What were you going to ask me?"
"Well, sir," Chromia said, and Prowl knew it was going to be very serious. "While you are not going to escort Auri to this presticious ball, you are planning to attend it, are you not?"
Prowl nodded, noting that she'd cut out all contractions; no "aren't" or "gonna" from her this time. Although, somehow she had combined "prestigious" with "auspicious" to interesting effect. "I am," he said.
"That is good to hear," Chromia said. "So, perhaps since you are going that far, would you be willing to go a little bit farther and dance one dance with Auri?"
Prowl raised an optic-ridge at Bee. "I see Praxus will not be alone in his fight."
Bee lifted his hands, palm-upwards. "Hey, I'm on his side."
Prowl looked back to Chromia. "I will consider it. That is all that I can promise at this point. Praxus and Bee have both already expressed this hope/wish as well."
"Nifty!" Chromia said with a grin, forgetting about being formal. "Thanks, Bee," she added, grinning at him as well. "Hey! You ready to be escort?"
Bee looked innocent. "I… could be?"
Chromia gave him a quizzing look. "Did that femme-ling not ask you?"
"Nnnnno. Was she supposed to?"
Chromia huffed. "Young femmes are almost as unreliable as mechs," she said, moving for the door.
Bee gave Prowl an 'oooooh, no' look behind Chromia's back as she left.
OoOoOoOoO
Chromia tracked Auri down and found her sitting morosely in a swing at the playground. Elita was seated neatly on the next swing over. It didn't seem like they'd been talking at all.
Elita gave Chromia a bit of a smile in greeting as she approached. A small shrug followed the bit of smile to indicate that she didn't yet know what was going on.
"What's up, sparklet?" Chromia asked, taking the third swing.
"I couldn't ask Bee because Prowl was there…" Auri moaned.
"Okay…" Chromia said. "I can see that making sense."
"But, what about after Prowl left?" Elita asked gently. "Why didn't you ask then?"
"'Cause…" Auri said miserably. "I wanted to ask Prowl."
"Sweets, you already established that you couldn't and weren't gonna ask Prowl," Chromia said.
"I know… just… seeing him… it messed me up."
Chromia chuckled, and Elita shot her a rebuking look for doing so.
"Auri-spark," Chromia said. "If you really like a mech lots, that's gonna happen. I'll tell you, I would be glitching determined about stuff, and then Ironhide would come around, and it would all fall to pieces. Seeing him could make me change my processor in less time than it took to change a power-pack on X92 pistol. And those were singeing fast."
"I just don't want him to think that I didn't want him to be my escort and be sad… or think I don't… like… him…"
Chromia twisted her swing around once. "Auri, you're overcomplicating things. Love… it's strong stuff. If Prowl really does love you, he'll hang on, and then some day you can tell him all about this conflict, and he'll love you even more for caring so much. And I'm pretty sure he loves you. The love might be mostly down under the smoldering ruins of his painful past, but it's coming up."
"You really think so?" Auri asked, her expression one of concern.
"Yep," Chromia said, twisting her swing again. "Now, go ask Bee."
"Okay." Auri got off her swing, seeming reassured. "Thank-you."
"You're welcome, little spark," Chromia said, giving her a smile.
Auri transformed and drove off.
Chromia twisted up her swing some more. "Prowl said he'd consider dancing one dance with her," she told Elita once Auri was out of audio-range. "And Bee and Praxus have already told him that he should."
Elita looked pleased. "Good! And I'll ask him tomorrow."
"'Great walls fall from many little cracks over time,'" Chromia quoted smugly, giving her swing another twist. She chuckled. "When I walked in there, Prowl all glum because he was afraid that she'd ask him. It was adorable."
Elita smiled.
"They're going to fall into that black hole someday, and nothing is gonna be able to pull them out," Chromia said.
"Mia-! Don't call love a black hole. It's not fitting."
"Uh… you hang on the edge all like 'nonono' and then you get sucked in, and that's the end of life as you knew it. Black hole. Love."
"But black holes end life. Love creates a better life."
"The analogy still fits mostly," Chromia said, shrugging lazily. She twisted her swing again. "Hey, how was the alley?"
Elita looked demure but then smirked a little. "Really nice third gear."
"Only so far you can go in an alley around here," Chromia mused.
Elita nodded.
"Soundwave left me a letter," Chromia said suddenly.
Elita looked over, her optics growing deeply serious. "Wh… when?"
"When he left, allegedly. He brought it up the other day, and it was news to me 'cause I didn't get no letter from him, just that glitching money. Apparently the delivery bot didn't think I should get the letter, just the money. So I got the money and no letter. But Soundwave kept a copy, and he handed a copy of the copy over to me the other day."
Elita waited for Chromia to go on, but Chromia said nothing.
"Did you read it?" Elita asked after a few moments.
"I got drunk instead," Chromia said, shrugging.
"Are you going to read it?" Elita asked softly, carefully.
"Yeah." Chromia let the swing unwind, keeping her pede on the ground, though, so it unwound slowly.
Elita got up and moved to the swing next to Chromia's.
Chromia looked at her once the swing was still again. "Not alone, though," she said. "I can't do it alone."
Elita shook her helm gently. "I wouldn't expect you to."
"And Ironhide's probably not the best choice… probably. I mean, he'd be good for the moment, but he'll tuck whatever anger away and it'll eat at him. You're good at diffusing and getting it away."
Elita nodded. "Yes," she said softly. "I am good at that." She had Prime; he helped. "When would you like to read it?"
"Never… never ever."
"Okay, Chromia. When are you going to make yourself read the letter?"
Chromia sighed. "I… I don't know."
"Today? Tomorrow? Tuesday of next week?"
"Tuesday of next week sounds doable."
"About what time?"
"I don't know."
"If we did morning, we would be getting it over with sooner, and we'd have all day to deal with it if need be."
"Okay."
"So, Tuesday of next week at nine?"
"Ugh! Ten o'clock, Elita. You don't go doing something like this at nine in the morning. Isn't Prime not a morning bot? Have you learned nothing from him?"
"It's okay, Chromia," Elita soothed, seeing through Chromia's harsh words. "It's alright. We can do ten. We can even do eleven if you want to."
Chromia lowered her helm. "Sorry I got all feisty on you."
"It's alright, Mia. I know this is hard for you; I know that you're going to lash out and that I might be on the receiving end."
Chromia hid her optics in her hands.
"Hey," Elita said gently. She got up and put her arms around Chromia. "It's okay, Mia. I understand; you know I understand. I've been dealing with you for how long now?"
"Long time…" Chromia murmured.
"Yes," Elita said. "And I know you rarely ever mean the harsh things you say, and I know that you are always very, very nice to make up for it afterwards. I can handle this. Okay?"
"Okay…" Chromia said reluctantly.
Elita sat back on her swing. "Do you want to mope a bit now, or is there something else you'd like to do? Something that doesn't involve high-grade or turbo-charged energy drinks."
"Meh… moping sounds…" Chromia paused. "Ooo…!" she thought of something, and it perked her up immediately.
"Yes…?"
Chromia grinned. "Ironhide finally revamped this hot baby for me," she said, pulling out a sharp-looking mid-sized cannon.
Elita chuckled. "You want to go try it out?"
"Do I ever!" Chromia said with gusto.
"Okay!" Elita hopped off her swing. "And I borrowed this from Prime," she said, pulling out one of Prime's well-tuned upper-mid-sized cannons.
"OH!" Chromia jumped up so fast that she nearly fell. "Sludge! Trades! I wanna shoot that, Elita!"
Elita chuckled softly and shouldered the cannon. "You can borrow it if you beat me in three rounds of target matches."
"Deal," Chromia said with much satisfaction, her worries forgotten.
