Welcome back everyone! Thank you so much for coming back, and I hope you enjoy! Special shoutout to The Quirkyquizler femme, FluffyPrime, Steelcode, and Jynkx (x2) for the reviews!
Chapter Thirty Two – A Risk
He didn't want to push too far with her. He knew that the subject would be a sensitive topic for her, especially considering she was bound to feel estranged from the rest of her species once they acted upon any of the feelings that were bouncing back and forth between the two of them right now. She was already feeling like she was wrong, according to what she'd told Sideswipe, like she wasn't normal. He could only imagine how much worse it would get if he didn't do this perfectly right.
But he was stuck at a crossroads without a map. He didn't know what to do here; he knew how to talk to femmes, he knew how to flirt, how to get his way with a femme, how to start a relationship. Frag, Elita One hadn't been even close to the first femme he'd quote on quote dated before. But this was a weird situation that left him unsure of his next move. Admittedly, J.J was much younger than him. Even when doing the Cybertronian-to-human age conversion, he'd still be considered older than her, and yet he somehow felt completely naive to how J.J would respond if he were to try something with her. On top of that, he had to maintain a sense of civility to him – he was the leader of the Autobots, he couldn't let himself appear as though he was, what humans referred to as, a frat boy. He had to maintain a sense of dignity, to keep the face of a leader.
He decided to just wait a little bit longer, with hopes that he'd figure out what to do if he stewed on it for a few days.
It wasn't until, right after the Autobots finished their personal trainings together, that Ironhide cussed him out for deciding such.
"You're a fragging Prime, you're the only Prime left, and you're scared that a little human that is meant to be with you is going to think less of you because you make a move on her? Grow up, Prime. You're supposed to be the hottest mech we've got left, act like it."
Though he had known Ironhide since the recruitment days before the war killed their planet, he wouldn't have expected such a thing to come from between his lip plates. It left him quite shell shocked, so to speak.
Sideswipe chuckled lowly as he sharpened the blade he'd pulled from his subspace storage.
"I mean, he ain't wrong, Boss Bot," he gave the point to Ironhide, "Why don't you just go talk to her? Make a move or some slag, see how she responds. With how she was the last time I talked to her, I highly doubt she'd reject you."
Optimus sighed, "I will not force myself upon her like that. This has to be just as consensual on her part as it is on mine."
"What about that bug?" Sunstreaker pipped up, "I mean, I still think its fragging disgusting that you got stuck with the Meat Sack, but that bug that she used to frag around with, why don't you talk to her about something like that. See if you can land yourself a spot like that, go from there."
Ratchet shot him an appalled look. "Why in the frag would he pick that route of action rather than building their relationship up? Why skip ahead in the relationship just to have to back track?"
Sunstreaker smirked cockily, "Well besides the obvious reason, 'cause how long has it been? Seven aons? Eight? At least before the war, I figure that much," Optimus elected to ignore the implicated question given to him, "So you get a frag, or the likes of one at least, there's a bonus. But is it easier to learn to learn a language from scratch, or to start knowing at least a few words that work with her? Plus, her reaction'll give you an answer as to how she currently feels towards you, if her reactions are just as strong or if the Imprint hasn't really taken too much effect yet."
Mirage shrugged his shoulders, "Si Primo, he's got a punto. Much easier to fight a battle if you know she's willing to cover your indietro."
He wouldn't lie; he listened to them for a moment. Any kind of progress in any field between the two of them was better than the snail's pace worth of progress they were working with currently. But Ratchet had a point too; what if he went through with such a plan, and she indeed didn't feel the emotions he was hoping she would.
Was that a risk he was willing to take?
X0X0X0X0X0
Black smoke bustled into the air as a unique mix of an incredibly powerful PACCAR MX-13 and a Cybertronian engine rolled coal down the flat top of the tarmac, the Earth components of his engine screaming as he accelerated towards the barracks.
He wasn't really sure what the plan was, which was weird for him – he never jumped into action without a plan of attack, that was how you got killed. But right now, he couldn't see any other way of doing this except to just jump in head first and go with the flow.
He skidded to a stop, his tires burning marks into the cement as he engaged the holoform. As his alt mode came to a stop, the door popped open and he stepped out, heading into the building in front of him with a passion. He was a mech on a mission.
He opted for the stairs, taking three at a time to make it to the third floor as quickly as he could. The door he was looking for loomed in front of him as he made it to his destination, and stopped there.
He was hesitating.
In the room, he could hear some of the sounds that indicated what she was doing – he figured she was in the kitchen. Something was boiling, he figured it was water because it smelled like it, and he figured she was making herself some kind of hot drink. The sound of music playing softly gave him the indication that she was listening to the radio as she shuffled around the room, her covered feet scuffing the ground softly as she moved around.
He raised a clenched fist and knocked on the door, eliciting barks from both dogs inside the area. He heard her scold the dogs, and order both of them to lay down before the door swung open in front of him, and he looked down to catch her eyes, her neck craning so she could look up at him. She was wearing a pair of dark grey cotton shorts that showed off how long her legs were, a pair of fluffy socks that were just slightly longer than her ankles, and a red and blue tie dye shirt. Her hair was let down and fell all the way day down her back, stopping just above her tailbone. He didn't think he'd ever seen her dressed in anything except work clothes, her hair tied up in a bun, and he wondered if this was what she wore all the time when she was by herself.
"Oh, uhm, hi Cap, what's up?" she asked.
He smirked at the nickname appointed to him, "I have something I'd like to ask you."
She nodded, "Sure, what do ya need?"
"I was hoping I could come in? Keep the conversation a little more private?"
She looked over her shoulder as if to make sure the dogs weren't moving, then nodded with a tight smile in his direction. "Sure, come on in."
She moved to the side, allowing him to slide into the room, and she closed and locked the door behind her. The room looked similar to the way he'd seen it every other time. There was a blanket draped across the couch in a fashion that made it clear she'd been sleeping on the couch not even a few days ago, the table was not too far from the furniture and there was a rolled up bag of what looked like chips, a pile of books, and a bag of dog treats sitting on top. There was a basket of clothing by the door, which he assumed were dirty and needed to be washed. In the corner of the room, almost diagonal to the couch, there was a large, circular pillow looking product that both the black and white Greyhound and the brown brindled Greyhound were laying there, their heads resting on their legs, but the black and white one's tail was wagging back and forth excitedly as he watched him move around the room.
"Um, I'm just making tea. Here, c'mon into the kitchen." She invited, and he followed her into the kitchen from the closer side.
He stopped in the doorway and took the kitchen in; it was small and square in shape – essentially a box with two doorways – with a small table tucked into the corner with two chairs sitting around it. A fridge and stove were tucked into the counter, and she had three cupboards over the counter; one for food, one for plates, bowls, and cups, and one for any Tupperware containers she wasn't currently using. On the stove, one of the coils was turned on and a kettle full of water was heating up quickly. J.J had a mug sitting on the counter, and there was a small string hanging down the side of it. The tag attached to the bottom was bright red and Raspberry Green was scrawled along it in fancy, green writing.
"Is that your favourite kind?" he asked, pointing his head toward the empty mug.
She shrugged. "I don't mind it, it isn't my favourite but it makes winding down for the night easy, and I've been craving it lately so." She ended her sentence with a shrug as she poured a spoonful of sugar into the empty mug.
The kettle began making a sound, a soft whistle from its little spout on the front of it. She picked the silverware off the coil and poured it into the mug until the kettle was empty, then turned the stove off and put the kettle on the coil behind it.
"Does it taste good?"
She nodded as he watched her stir the liquid around on the cup. "Yeah, you want to try?" Then she turned and looked at him over her shoulder. "Can you try it? I don't think I've ever asked."
He shook his head, "No, the topic has never arisen. And no, we're not supposed to ingest any form of human food. We technically can, but it can have results on both the holoform and our actual frame that will have us regretting our actions for days at a time."
She nodded, "Okay, I was gonna offer you a sip but never mind. That won't be pleasant."
He watched her empty a little container of milk into the cup, stirred it, then turned around and leaned her back against the counter to be able to make eye contact with him.
He flared his nostrils and took a deep breath in, "It smells delightful, if that's any consolation."
Her eyebrows furrowed, "You can smell that?"
"Indeed. Our holoforms have heightened senses in comparison to humans, reflective of our bipedal form abilities."
She raised an eyebrow at him as she took a sip of the hot drink between her hands, "What do you mean? You have, like, super sense or something."
He smirked as he took a few steps closer, "Somewhat. We have the ability to smell things that humans can't, such as pheromones, our sight range is close to two hundred times stronger. If you need an example, you have a string, about half an inch in length, that's beginning to dangle off the hem of your shorts. And about one hundred and fifty feet out," he pointed out of the small square window behind her, right above the sink, "There's a pod of aquatic animals, I believe referred to as Humpback Whales, consisting of two juveniles and three adults."
J.J looked down with furrowed brows, and used a hand to feel the hem of her shorts. Sure enough, a small, thin string landed between her two fingers. Upon realising he'd been correct, she placed the mug on the counter and turned to look out the window. Before the setting sun, in the water, though she couldn't see any precise details, she could see the slight ripples that got sent out when one of the adult whales breached the water, landing back down below the surface with a massive splash.
He was right.
"I can smell the faint particles of air freshener that are leftover – apple cinnamon, not a bad choice – and at the current moment three men just entered the building and are currently passing the third floor via the staircase." As he spoke, a smirk grew on his face.
It had been a while since someone had made him feel this way; he felt impressive, smooth, like she thought he was remarkable compared to everybody else. He'd become so accustomed to being the brunt of the insults, the face of the Autobots, he had to be humble and understanding, but nobody ever tried reciprocating. At least, not until J.J came around.
She took a deep, hollow gulp as she turned back around and ran her eyes up and down along his body, "What about touch?" she asked as she leaned back against the counter, their eyes meeting.
He wasn't sure what happened between the two of them. Maybe it was the heat from the stove, whose coils were still way too hot for humans to touch; maybe it was the temperature outside, which was scorching, and the lack of any kind of air conditioning unit made the air in the apartment unit almost clammy.
Whatever it was, he felt it the second it happened – the second the words fell from her mouth. The air in the unit got thicker, almost so thick it was obtainable. It was tense, and the only sounds that reached their ears were each others breathing.
What about touch?
"The holoforms have the ability to feel everything you would, but to different extents. Obviously, in holoform I can not feel the difference between armour and protoform, and it isn't possible for me to feel the difference in external nodes, tactile sensor transmitters, things like that. Instead, it gets transferred to what would be the closest feeling to my alt mode and then back, which allows me to feel it in the holoform as well. For you to touch my arm, I would feel the touch in the entire area you covered, but I wouldn't be able to feel the little details that I'd feel in holoform."
She gulped again, seemingly not willing to break eye contact with him for a moment, before turning her head and grabbing her mug of tea once more. "If I'm being honest with you, I didn't understand about one fourth of what you just said."
He laughed lowly, which seemed to elicit a small smile form her before she took a sip of her drink.
"I didn't expect you to fully grasp it, but if you are interested then I'm sure Ratchet would love to give you a lesson on our biology."
This time, she let her head fall backwards and she gave off a loud laugh for only a second or two, "Oh, I'm sure. I've been told he isn't allowed to treat humans, but I highly doubt that stops him from coming up with his own theories."
It was Optimus's turn to laugh, "I can neither confirm nor deny such a statement, but if you're looking for my opinion on the matter, it aligns closely with yours."
She giggled as she took another sip from her mug.
FIN
Date Started: December 7, 2020
Date Finished: December 9, 2020
Last Edited: December 10, 2020