#35 - Spark to Spark
Terrorsaur was so relieved when he woke up in the CR chamber and could actually see who was waiting for him beyond the hatch. Those closest to him had been very happy to see him too, but the celebration was short lived. After prying his siblings off his arms and legs, he wanted to get some rest. The next morning, he asked Starfeather if they could go to their special place. She had agreed and, currently, they were flying there. However, it was not the clearing that they were going to. They had needed to find a new place to go because the first one was in Predacon territory. Their new place was a cave behind a waterfall down river. As they landed on the rocky shore, Terrorsaur shuddered.
"I think I hate waterfalls now," he grumbled and shifted to robot form.
"I'm pretty sure this waterfall is safe," Starfeather giggled sympathetically. She had heard the story about how Terrorsaur and the others had gotten as far as they did in the state they were in. She regretted ever doubting their ability and will to survive. She vowed to never believe her comrades were dead unless she saw it for herself. She transformed into her own robot mode and the pair went inside the cave.
It wasn't a very big cave, about as big as the average master bedroom with a high ceiling. Several stalactites hung from the roof of the cavern and stalagmites pushed up from the ground with a few connecting. Almost the whole rocky floor was covered in thick layers of moss and a few ferns grew near the opening. Light came in through the sheet of water and danced along the damp walls of the cave. The roar of water wasn't too bad and it was quite cool inside. It wasn't the clearing, but it was still a nice and relaxing place.
The two made themselves comfortable and were silent for a while. They didn't speak for a long time. They merely looked at each other and smiled before looking away. They both had things to say and they both could feel the heaviness of the importance of what needed to be said. Finally, Terrorsaur sighed.
"We can't put this off anymore," he said. Somehow, the raven knew what he was talking about, but she had to be sure.
"So... what are you saying?" she asked.
"I'm saying..." he trailed off, then started again. "What are we?"
"Relationship wise?" she asked. Now, she was confused. "Aren't we dating?"
"But are we serious?" he pressed.
"I would like to think we're serious... What brought this about?" Starfeather wondered.
"Nothing, it's just-" He stopped himself. She let him gather his thoughts. "So many things have gone wrong. I don't want this to," he said and looked at her.
"Hey," she said, crawling over to lean against him. "I already told you; unless we both agree it's not working anymore, I'm not leaving you."
He glanced down at her, thankful for her support. Ever since she had entered his life, she had been supportive toward him and Waspinator. He had never known anyone quite like her. Mustering up his courage to speak. She looked up at him.
"Remember before all those stasis pods came down, when you were wondering how I would look as a human?"
"Yeah, but how-" He held up a hand to silence her, then reached into his subspace. He took out a small piece of equipment and held it out to her. She took it carefully and studied it.
"Okay... what is this?" she asked.
"It's called a hollowform projector. It's a device that was designed to help interact better with other species if our transformations couldn't," Terrorsaur explained. "I had to pester Rhinox for a while to get these and we have to give them back, so don't break it."
"Alright, so what do I do with this?" Starfeather was still a bit confused, but smiled.
"You should have a cavity in your chest somewhere, just search your systems and install it," he said.
"Okay..." Even after all this time, Starfeather still wasn't quite used to her body and was tentative about roaming around her own systems. She was perfectly at ease with all that she knew how to do. It didn't take long for her to find what she needed. She inserted the device and looked back up at him.
"Now what?"
"One would think to activate it," he replied and sat back. She smiled sheepishly, then concentrated. Her statistics view screen appeared in her vision with a list of options.
"Oh," she said slowly, now understanding. She chose the option she wanted and, within seconds, a three-dimensional movable image of herself before she became a transformer sat beside her. She could suddenly see out of another set of eyes. It was tricky trying to control a second body, but she got her hollowform to stand up and take a few steps.
"Wow," she said, her voice coming out in stereo. Terrorsaur chuckled and activated his own hollowform. It appeared in front of hers and she stared up at him in awed silence. He was tall with pale skin and shaggy bright red hair that was long enough to be put in a ponytail. His form had just enough muscle mass in all the right places, like a professional runner, and his features were angular with high cheekbones and a pointed chin and nose. He had on a red tank top with black pants and red boots.
"Oh, Terrorsaur," Starfeather gasped from her true body. "You're… you're fucking hot." He laughed from beside her.
"And you're gorgeous." Her hollowform blushed and looked down shyly at her feet, hands shifting behind her back.
"For some reason, I feel kinda awkward," her hollowform said.
"How do you think I feel?" his form replied before taking her in his arms. They were so soft, like dense memory foam.
"This is very strange," he commented from his real body. It was her turn to laugh.
"Welcome to my world," she giggled and, not being able to contain herself, threw her arms around his neck and pressed her synthetic lips against his. He felt so soft and warm, so good. Her fingers teased with his ponytail and rubbed his neck, enjoying his muscles. He in turn felt up and down her back, soaking in the new sensations of cloth and skin. They hummed and moaned from the satisfying feelings.
For being older technology, the thought vaguely crossed his mind, it sure was brilliant.
After a while, they reluctantly parted. Starfeather looked up at him, a soft grin brightening her face.
"Thank you," she said.
"You are most welcome, my little bird," Terrorsaur replied. She giggled and looked to their real bodies. They had gone and laid down together as if in recharge. In reality, they were concentrating all their energy in manipulating the hollowforms. She looked back at him.
"Can we leave the cave like this?" she wondered. He nodded.
"Sure, and while we're at it, we can go within a hundred meter radius of our bodies."
Hollowform Starfeather was just about to dash out of the cave when she got an idea. Putting in a little extra thought, black feathered wings suddenly appeared on her back and, smiling mischievously, she broke clear of the waterfall and waited in the air just outside. Terrorsaur was confused for only a second. Smirking, he adopted the wings of his own beast form and followed her. This game of chase would prove extremely entertaining indeed.
However, their antics did not go unnoticed.
-x-
From her perch on one of the larger dead trees in the area, Airazor watched the strange beings with interest and amusement. She knew a little bit about humans and she knew that they didn't have wings. Plus, she could sense that these humans were not real and she could tell by the energy signals not too far away who these individuals were.
A wistful sigh escaped her and she settled her head more comfortably between her shoulders. Her morning patrols with Tigatron as of late had begun to end with similar games of chase. They highly enjoyed their time together and knew each other very well. Airazor found that they had a lot in common, but the thing that clicked with them was their love of nature. She did like observing the things of this planet and spending time in it, but Tigatron lived and breathed it. She wondered if he was right for her. They did seem to fit each other.
The falcon was pulled from her thoughts by a low familiar rumble below. She looked down to see Tigatron looking back up at her. The tiger smiled and she smiled back, her doubts fading. They were made for each other.
-x-
It wouldn't matter if they were found. They could just disappear and no one would know who they were. They had willed their wings away for the time being and were laying tangled among one another in the grass by the river where they chose to 'rest'. In reality, they hadn't spent any energy. They just felt like spending time here. Besides, any farther and their forms would fizzle out. Starfeather made the motion of sighing and turned her head to look at Terrorsaur. He appeared to be sleeping but she knew better. She pushed herself toward his face and softly kissed his lips. When she drew back, his eyes opened. He smiled and she smiled back. Reaching a hand up, he teased with her dirty blond hair and she leaned into his hand.
"I can't thank you enough for all that you do for me," she murmured. He chuckled and pulled her closer.
"I don't need your thanks," he replied. "I just want you."
"Does... does that mean you... you might want to marry me?" she asked carefully. She laughed nervously. He glanced at her.
"Marry?" he repeated, not familiar with the term.
"Yeah, marry," she answered. "To be bound together, joined as one, 'til death do us part."
"Oh, bond..." Terrorsaur dropped his gaze. "I was hoping that talk could wait a little longer," he muttered, though not resentfully.
"Why?" Starfeather asked quietly. "What's wrong with getting bonded?"
"Nothing," he answered quickly. "It's just..."
"The strings that come with it?" she continued for him. "Like children?" She was disappointed that he recoiled slightly at the word 'children'. So, he didn't want kids?
"Sort of," he answered slowly. "It's not that I don't want them, I just don't want them to grow up and turn out..." He stopped and didn't pick up again.
"I think I see what you're saying..." She nodded. He was afraid they would do something wrong and the child in question would grow up bad. "If you don't want to have kids yet, we don't have to."
Terrorsaur smiled and held her closer. She clung to his shirt and rubbed her cheek against his chest.
"I love you," he whispered and kissed her forehead.
"I love you too," Starfeather whispered back. They almost did fall asleep until they realized what time it was. The sun was nearly touching the horizon and they had to get back to base. Their hollowforms vanished and they were back in the cave. Starfeather looked to Terrorsaur and smiled softly.
"So... how does bonding work?" she asked.
"Well... it's like sparking, only it's not." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I don't even know what sparking is," she replied. Terrorsaur laughed.
"Slag, you really need to do some research or something. You've been one of us for, what? Over a year?"
"I'll take you up on that. Or you could just teach me." She stood up and held out a hand to him. He took her hand and stood up, still holding her hand.
"I like the sound of that." He smirked. "Let's fly." With that, they transformed and burst through the waterfall and towards the base. As they flew, Terrorsaur explained the process of bonding.
"Bonding is basically pressing our sparks together."
"Our sparks?" she questioned. "I thought our sparks were what kept us alive."
"That's true, but your spark is you. Put together with another spark, you become one with that person. When you bond, you give a piece of yourself to that other person and vise versa. Now, it's your turn," he said. "What's marrying like?"
"Well, marriage is a ceremony where two people make vows that they will stay with each other. Rings symbolize their bond to each other. There's paperwork involved too, but I don't think that it's very important in the grand scheme of things."
"That's it?"
"Yup." She shrugged. "There're a bunch of variations, but that's pretty much it."
"Rings, huh? Strange custom," the pterodactyl hummed thoughtfully.
"Hey, I didn't come up with it," Starfeather retorted with a smile. "I'm just telling it like it is, baby."
They both laughed and the rest of their flight was spent with lighthearted talk on wandering subjects until they got to the base. They went to their room soon after to get some recharge. One would think that Terrorsaur would have been the first to fall asleep, but he stayed up, watching Starfeather sleep and coming up with a plan. Yes, he would do it. He just needed to wait for the right time. After all, because of yesterday's events, he knew that he didn't have forever to make her truly his.
