Soundwave sat quietly beside Cascade as she looked through the datapad, selecting things he didn't get a chance to properly read over. Rumble and Frenzy were still mostly into recharge, tucked into his dock with Buzzsaw and Ravage. Ratbat loosely hung on Cascade's shoulders, his little legs dangling between her wings.
They were all at the spa Cascade frequented. She'd already booked the entire day for anything they wanted, insisting it was all her treat. She had even woken up early and hauled them off after some morning energon. She was still obviously tired, but she didn't stop once.
She stood up after a few more taps and he caught a brief glance at the price at the bottom, shifting his servos on his lap. She had insisted, he repeated. After a moment of thought, he realized he did overpay her a significant amount for all those times she watched the Cassettes and so probably had more savings than he realized.
She walked back and smiled, reaching down to grasp her servos. He stood up and Lazerbeak fluttered her wings slightly, settling down on his shoulder after he stood straight. Cascade smiled up at him and lightly tapped the glass of his dock. "We're gonna need to wake them up. Paint removal's first and we're all booked for it. Minicons take less time so they get grouped together."
He nodded and followed her back through the doors. She pulled him past several doors, smiling politely at the workers meandering around. She guided him into a simple room lined with showerheads that reminded him more of communal washracks and less of a spa.
He ejected the Cassettes and Rumble grumbled softly as Frenzy stretched out. "Cassettes; will get... pampered as well."
Ravage glanced up at him, an optic ridge raised. Cascade gently tugged Ratbat off her shoulders. "We can start now and someone will come help us after a couple minutes."
Soundwave nodded and followed her to the shorter wall of showerheads in the back. She twisted several knobs and stepped under a stream of solvent, wings fluttering and flicking the solvent at them. She giggled softly when Rumble gave her a dirty look and he sniffed the air, scowling.
"It smells funny."
Soundwave stepped under the spot beside her as she simply said, "It's the paint remover."
The twins slowly stepped under a stream together and Soundwave watched as the solvent running down their drain blended into purple. Ravage slowly stepped under, Ratbat on his back. The avians followed, stretching out their wings and resting on their chests.
Cascade lightly rubbed the solvent against her arms, helping the dark paint rub off. "At least it's warm."
Soundwave nodded, shifting to let the solvent run over his shoulders. "Next on our agenda; paint?"
She shook her head, smiling widely. "Nope. Sanding fter this. It does hurt a bit, but they're pretty good and quick about it."
He flexed his digits under the solvent, watching as her wings began to streak with the solvent. "Ravage; will not appreciate that."
She smiled and peeked around him to look at Ravage, who was holding Ratbat's wings under his paws. "Hey, be nice over there. They're quick and you're small anyway."
Ravage softly huffed and let Ratbat go, who quickly scurried over to Cascade. "Meanie! Mean cat!"
Cascade scooped him up and giggled softly, some pink smearing onto her shoulders as he latched onto her. "Come on, lemme help you before the worker does."
Ratbat let go at her gentle tugs and Soundwave smiled softly as she helped him wash off. The assistants came in shortly after Ratbat had been washed off to being mostly gray. They helped them scrub away some tough spots and Soundwave had given the deadly duo a look when they started fighting against their help, silencing their protests.
The sanding was very uncomfortable. Soundwave had ended up holding Ravage in place for the poor worker, earning a constant growl and some claw marks in his servos. Cascade had to do the same with Ratbat, but walked away with only a few small scratches on her bare plating.
A quick trip under a blast of air after some final sanding and a rag of paint thinner had ended that experience. The twins declared their dislike of the sanding loudly and Soundwave couldn't help but silently agree. Ratbat decided he was incredibly itchy and Cascade was attempting to keep him from scratching, trying to convince him that if he scratched his plating too much he'd be getting more sanding.
They made their way to a different communal washrack and rinsed off, which settled the little minicon. Rumble and Frenzy found some sponges and Soundwave spent far too long trying to catch them as they slid around on the sponges. Cascade doubled over with laughter, holding her sides as he hauled them back under the solvent, tucked under his arms.
Soundwave tightened his grip on them as they rinsed off and carried them out to dry off. Rumble hit at his side, kicking against the air uselessly. "Carrier! Carrier, this is so wrong!"
Frenzy pulled at his digits, trying uselessly to free himself. "I am a grown mech, Carrier!"
Soundwave simply followed Cascade to another room, this one lined with separated, smaller rooms, paint staining the walls and floor. "Cassettes; act like sparklings, get treated as such."
They both groaned and Cascade giggled softly. "Maybe you shouldn't have decided that 'sponge sledding' was a good idea."
Rumble huffed at her, slumping. "It was funny."
Frenzy nodded, still pushing at Soundwave's digits. "It was so worth it."
Cascade smiled, setting Ratbat in a room, carefully hooking his claws against a bar. "As fun as it looked, getting handled like a sparkling certainly doesn't seem worth it. Hang here, Ratty, you're going first since you're the smallest."
Ratbat nodded, looking up at her. "You'll wait?"
She nodded, lightly kissing the tip of his scrunched up nose. "Yup, won't be far at all."
He nodded and she sat down on the bench at the center of the room. She smiled and Soundwave sat beside her, letting the twins go. They immediately moved away, sitting at the end of the bench. Lazerbeak flew up onto a perch in one of the sections, letting her wings stretch out.
Soundwave watched as the Cassettes moved in and out of the sections, fresh coats of paint shining. A back door led to another room which was hot enough to speed the drying process without damaging the paint. Cascade stepped up before him, chatting easily with the assistant. Ravage slinked back to the drying room and Soundwave stepped up as the paint sprayer was cleaned out and swapped to his navy blue.
The assistant smiled at him, spraying a few short bursts on the wall. "Are your visor and mask removable?"
Soundwave visibly hesitated, stopping right outside the little sectioned off room. Cascade peeked out, her wings getting painted. She looked up at him and sent him a silent comm request.
He opened the link as swiftly as usual, glancing over at her. She gave him a soft smiled ::It's okay, I promise. Trust me, they've seen a lot of scars and a lot worse. I'm right here.::
He nodded slightly and slowly slid the visor and mask off, tucking into place. The assistant barely gave him a second glance and he stepped forward, Cascade moving back. They snagged some tape and a cover and he opened his dock for them to hook the cover on it, taping the ends down to protect the glass. He stood still as they started spraying him, glancing over when the Cassettes finally ventured out the heated room.
He relaxed some and moved when needed as he was carefully painted. Cascade carefully stepped out and walked to the drying room, dark purple paint shining, before she disappeared out of sight. The assistant working on her swapped out the canister for a lighter shade of purple before stepping out to look over the Cassette
The assistants were both scattered with a variety of paint colors and not just from their group, he realized. Whatever their actual paint jobs had been was long forgotten, but they also had flecks of bare, silvery plating peeking out from under the layers of paint. They must simply wash it all off after their work and not bother with their original colors, he reasoned.
He turned before the assistant could ask him to and felt a sense of their hesitation. They continued their work, spraying back and forth over his back and down his legs, stepping back and looking over him when they finished with the blue.
He walked to the heated room and spotted Cascade, her optics off and standing almost perfectly still as she basked in the heat. He stepped towards her and reached out for her before seeing the shine of wet paint and letting his arm fall carefully back to his side.
"Cascade; is almost finished?"
She hummed softly, rolling her helm slowly. "I still have to get my accents. After this, a fresh wax and then the best part after that. Hot, scented oil bath, ugh, best thing invented. It's sectioned off, too, so we won't have to worry about anyone else bothering us."
He nodded, standing closer to her. "This is... a nice experience."
She smiled softly, finally looking up at him. "I'm glad you're enjoying it. You deserve this more than any other mech I've met."
He smiled softly and leaned down, lightly pressing his lips to hers. "Cascade; is a very stubborn femme."
She hummed happily, her smile growing. "Soundwave; is an equally stubborn mech."