Fifty two days.
It had been fifty two days since he arrived here.
Bumblebee tried his hardest not to think where exactly here was. Or when he started counting the days once he had woken up and gained enough strength to move again. The first thing he did was shut the currant over the window, unable to look outside and see the reminder screaming at him in view that made him sick to his stomach.
Luckily he did not get sick again. Unluckily though, he found himself getting hungry.
Gods couldn't die of starvation, but they did suffer through all the pains of it. And being that he had never gone hungry before, Bumblebee found himself in a situation he never faced before.
The pain of an empty stomach gnawed on his insides, trying to find something to fill it and subdue the pain. Briskly Bumblebee thought about leaving the room to get something, but quickly dismissed it as he did not want to encounter his new 'master' just yet. Blitzwing left him alone and had yet to start giving him any orders, and he did not want to break any rules he might have set and get into even MORE trouble.
He had grown up hearing all the tales and stories about Decepticons, he knew what they were capable of and the cruelties they inflicted. They never went into full detail about it, but he could guess that it wasn't pretty.
And he did not want to have the pleasure of getting first hand experience.
So Bumblebee decided to wait it out. It was just a little pain right? He could deal with it if he just ignored it. Besides, he had a bathroom. If it got to be too unbearable, he would just get some water from the sink in the bathroom to calm it down! No biggie. It would go away.
It didn't.
Five days passed before Bumblebee could no longer try ignoring the pain. As much as he didn't want to admit defeat, the hunger was too much for him to bear.
Sneaking out of the room had been easy, though he was sure he would get caught by Blitzwing again. He stopped here and there, listening carefully for any sounds that could be Blitzwing approaching and kept glancing over his shoulder to be sure the Decepticon god didn't sneak up on him.
It seemed luck was on his side that day when he stumbled into the living room without spying Blitzwing even once. But it seemed the place had changed again. He didn't remember seeing a kitchen last time he was here, though he didn't stop to think about it too much when his stomach growling in pain. Dismissing the weirdness of it all, he quickly set out to finally ease the pain.
His surprise seemed never ending. The fridge was fully stocked with various fruits, vegetables, and drinks, all stored in containers and sorted into manageable areas that were easily categories. For the briefest moment it reminded Bumblebee of Boss-Bot's tendency to have everything in some sort of organized position back home, but he quickly shoved it away. The thought of home made his spark hurt and his guilt double.
Taking an apple out, Bumblebee took his time eating, savoring the flavor as much as he could as the pain in his stomach ebbed away. When there was nothing left but to core, Bumblebee stared at it. Back home, Boss-Bot had a tendency to save every seed of every fruit and vegetable to plant for later. Bumblebee never fully understood why he did it, but he had to admit that Boss-Bot did have a knack for growing things. His garden and the orchards he had grown over the stellar cycles could attest to that.
Bumblebee however wasn't that great of a gardener. He had killed many plants and flowers he was entrusted to before he could manage to keep one alive for a single stellar cycle. Boss-Bot kept assuring him that he would get the hang of it one day, even if Bumblebee thought otherwise.
He stared at the core for a long while before placing it into his shirt. Grabbing a few more apples, a servo full of cherries, a few lemons, grapes, and two grapefruits, Bumblebee headed back to the room. He didn't want to hang about the kitchen and get caught by Blitzwing.
Thankfully he managed once again not didn't see any sign of the God of Chaos, reaching the room without a hitch and finally relaxing. Though, he hadn't thought very far of what he was going to do with the fruit in his arms. After taking a moment to think it over, Bumblebee decided he could use the sink in the bathroom to keep everything fresh as long as he could.
Once again Bumblebee found something new he was certain wasn't there before. Sitting on a box was a small silver mini fridge on the other end of the bathroom. It took the young god a moment to get over the shock, greatly appreciating the sudden appearance of the appliance in the room.
"Either this house is really enchanted or I'm going crazy." Bumblebee muttered as he stored away the food. "Oh well, at least it's smarter than me."
Once everything was put away, Bumblebee fished out the core, giving it a glance before putting it on the sash that was still on the counter. He still didn't know what to do with it, so he figured he would come back to it later.
After that, Bumblebee took the time to really look around the room, taking time to sort through the books, making the bed he spent so long sleeping in, checking the vanity's drawers to see if anything was inside but finding each one empty. He went to the closet, expecting to find it empty like last time, but was once again surprised to find something there when he was completely certain wasn't there before.
Hung up on hangers were clothes. They were fancy looking or over exaggerated. Most were plain and simple, with a few small details of flowers and bees here and there. He could recognize a few of the flowers, but didn't pay much attention to them. Grabbing a clean shirt and a pair of pants, Bumblebee headed into the bathroom to change, making sure to lock the door so no one came barging in.
He planned to just change into his new clothes, but a noise behind the stained glass door caught his attention. Taking a look, he found water coming out from the ceiling. At first he though there was a leak till he spotted a handle on the wall with a couple of baskets filled with cleaning products and quickly realized it was shower. A shower did sound nice, and he did smell.
Making sure the door was securely locked, Bumblebee took his sweet time cleaning himself. He savored the warm liquid, letting it wash away most of his worries and calm the young god down.
After what seemed like hours, Bumblebee finally left the shower, putting on the new clothes and taking a good look at himself. He quickly found that they were a little big on him, hanging off his arms and bagging around his peds. Bumblebee frowned but shrugged and easily tucked the clothing till it fit. He re-examined himself, smiling at the new look.
The shirt was a plain white button up with yellow flowers decorating the sleeves paired with black slacks. Despite being a bit big, the clothes fit comfortably on him. Taking time to admire himself in the mirror, Bumblebee let out a small whistle. "Dang boy, lookin' gooooood."
After admiring himself for longer than the shower, Bumblebee finally left the bathroom. He didn't know what to do from there, but he knew he wasn't going outside the room. So the young god was left to his thoughts and a couple of books, Bumblebee began unconsciously counting the days.
It was a hard thing to keep track of at first, not until a clock suddenly appeared on the wall after he made a small comment wishing for the time. Bumblebee was then sure that the house was enchanted, which awed and scared the young god to bits. By then, Bumblebee had started keeping a subconscious track of the number of days that flowed by.
The days went slowly to the young god, who fell into a sort of routine by day fifteen. He would wake up, grab a set of clean clothes and head for the bathroom to have a long shower. Once that was done, he would get dressed, grab a small snack from the fridge, brush his teeth, leave the bathroom and grab a book from the small bookshelf and read till a little past noon, grab something from the fridge and eat, then do a couple sets of stretches and exercise to keep himself fit then return to his book before finally falling asleep to repeat the process yet again the next day.
It was SO BORING.
Bumblebee was surprised at himself that he managed to keep his sanity this long without doing any of his usual antics. He longed to get out and do something, but his fear of Blitzwing kept him in check. The Decepticon hadn't shown any sign of himself over the last few days, which conflicted Bumblebee.
On one servo, the larger god was leaving Bumblebee alone and hadn't bothered him. But on the other servo, Bumblebee had no idea what the Decepticon was up to. Wasn't he supposed to be some sort of servant as well? Doing service stuff at Blitzwing's beck and call? And if he was, wasn't he supposed to be treated like one instead of a welcomed house guest? Was it all some elaborate scheme to lower his guard and get the jump on him? It didn't make any sense to the young god.
Around day twenty six is when he ran out of food. Bumblebee really didn't want to leave the safety of the room, but the thought of hunger eating away at his stomach again wasn't very appealing to him. Once again Bumblebee snuck out to the kitchen, taking a cloth with him to carry more food up and delay seeing Blitzwing as much as he could. He knew it was inevitable that he would see the God of Chaos again, but he wanted to have just a few more days to himself before it happened.
Though, now that he thought about it more, he hadn't really seen any sign of the larger god anywhere. He was sure he would have popped up by now, yet he didn't.
Bumblebee didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Around day thirty seven, his curiosity got the better of him. As much as he didn't want to see the God of Chaos, his absence was getting kind of hard to ignore. Checking around didn't yield much results though as the only places he could get to were the living room, the room he was staying in, and the kitchen. And none of them had any signs of Blitzwing being there.
Odd. Bumblebee was sure that even Decepticons would get hungry. Still, everything was still in the fridge minus the food he had taken for himself.
Feeling slightly more confident but still keeping most of his guard up, Bumblebee started spending more time out of the room. By day forty nine, Bumblebee was comfortable enough to relax and take a better look around.
The kitchen was a nice one, which was odd as the rest of the house seemed to be strange in some sort of way. The kitchen was a bit big from him but it was still nice looking. Two ovens, one electrical and the other gas powered, a fridge fully stocked with food, ingredients stored away in a walk-in closet, cupboards filled with pots and pans of every size and use, utensils in the drawers, and plenty of space to move around. The only odd thing in the room was a large caldron hanging in a stone dome in one corner of the room with strange symbols etched into the red stone. Bumblebee made sure to steer clear of that area.
Seeing as Blitzwing wasn't around and there was a fully functional kitchen, Bumblebee decided to take advantage of it the next day. Once morning came, Bumblebee got up earlier than normal and got ready, actually feeling excited for once as he headed for the kitchen. Briefly he made sure Blitzwing was still not around before setting to work.
Cooking wasn't something he normally did on a daily basis, but he did enjoy doing it a couple of times. Especially when he was making foods he enjoyed eating.
Pancakes were an easy thing to make, so Bumblebee quickly settled on making that. It was a bit of a hassle to reach the top since the counters were a bit higher than him. Embarrassingly enough he had to use a step stool to reach the top, but he managed to make it work in the end. He decided to use the gas stove since it was a more familiar item to him, grabbing a pan and a large bowl from the cupboards and a spatula and whisk and every ingredient he needed, Bumblebee set to work making breakfast as he hummed to himself.
When he finished making the batter, he turned the stove on, setting the pan over it to heat as he grabbed a couple of plates and butter from the fridge. Once the pan was hot enough, Bumblebee put a small dollop of butter on the pan, tilting it around by the handle to cover the area with melted butter till he was satisfied that the whole thing was covered. Once he put away the rest of the butter, he began work on pouring the batter in the pan, humming a soft tune as he waited for the perfect moment to flip them to the uncooked side. When both sides were a nice golden brown, he set them on the plates ready for them.
"Annnd six!" Bumblebee beamed when he set the finished pancake on the stack. He stood back to admire his work. Six steaming hot pancakes stacked on top of each other looked appetizing, ready to be devoured. His smile grew, thinking these were the best batch of pancakes he made yet. Turning the stove off and putting away the ingredients, Bumblebee grabbed both plates and turned with a grin on his face to greet Boss-Bot. "Morning! I made break—"
Bumblebee's voice caught in his throat as he turned around, his grin fading away when he realized that he wasn't in the kitchen at home. He wasn't standing in an old moderate kitchen that he grew up with. He wasn't in the familiar room that had that sharp minty smell from the plants that were in pots hung by the windowsill. He wasn't looking at a doorway where Boss-Bot would come through every morning, tired but happy to see him making breakfast for the both of them again and thanking him for the meal as he took one of the plates from his servos.
Bumblebee stood there as he took in his new surroundings of dark moderate walls, fancy high tech cooking equipment, dark marble floor, and the table island in the middle of the room.
This wasn't the familiar kitchen he grew up living with for many stellar cycles. This wasn't the same place he always woke up to make breakfast for his caretaker and himself. This wasn't the place that held precious memories, good and bad. This wasn't the place where he and Boss-Bot had friendly competitions to see who could cook faster, where they invited friends over for dinner and shared stories as they laughed at a good joke, where he grew up surrounded by warmth, care, and… love.
He wasn't home.
He wasn't home.
"… oh, right." Bumblebee spoke softly, gazing at the pancake filled plates still in his servos. "It's just… me." His shoulders slumped low, taking in the reality of his surroundings. "… it's just me." His body began to shake as he set both plates on the table, covering his face to hide the tears building up in his optics. "It's just me."
His emotions tried to boil over, but Bumblebee had enough of crying. If Blitzwing's mission was to make him miss his home, he succeeded. But he wasn't going to give him the full satisfaction of making him break down again. He could hurt him all he wanted, but Bumblebee was done crying like a sparkling. He chose this, he would deal with it and keep his tears in till he was back home with Boss-Bot again.
Rubbing his optics dry, Bumblebee stared at the pair of plates. When was the last time he ate alone? Plenty of times when he did some snacking here and there between lunch and dinner, but when was the last time he ate breakfast alone like this? As far back as he knew, he always had breakfast with Boss-Bot or at least someone when Boss-Bot wasn't around. He couldn't remember the last time he ate a meal alone without someone with him.
Bumblebee frowned deeply, eating his pancakes in silence, trying to imagine one of his nymph friends beside him making idle chatter. He tried imagining his best friend trying to convince him to try taking up art, even though he told them many times that he didn't have an artistic view like he did. He could almost hear a small quip for the normally silent presence tending to the plants in the room. He could see himself shooting up from his seat, making playful jabs at them as Boss-Bot and his longtime friend rolled their optics as they sipped on the drinks quietly.
Bumblebee's breathing hitched, feeling a sharp jab to his spark at the happy memories. He had taken those moments for granted? He had not appreciated those moments enough? Did he toss them all away with his recklessness? He didn't mean to. He never meant for something like this to happen. Never. If he could go back in time and prevent himself from unknowingly doing such horrible act, he would take it in a sparkbeat.
But he couldn't. He didn't have that sort of power.
Finishing his plate, Bumblebee stared at the plate still filled with pancakes. He didn't want to throw them away, so he just set the plate in the fridge for later. Cleaning the kitchen helped clear his mind of some of his deep emotions, going back to the room and taking a long shower to clear away the rest of his baggage.
The rest of the day went by too quickly for once, and soon dinner time rolled around. Bumblebee didn't know why he dragged himself out of the room and back to the kitchen, but here he was. He wasn't in the mood to make dinner, so he decided to eat the leftover pancakes he made earlier.
However, when Bumblebee opened the fridge, he found the plate that had once been filled with pancakes to be empty with a folded piece of paper on top of it. Bumblebee took the paper out, unfurling it to see a message inside.
You're a good cook. The pancakes were pretty good. A bit plain but still delicious. I hope you cook some more later.
P.S. Add some gummy worms and potato chips with honey next time. BW
Bumblebee stared at the note, completely baffled by it. He looked the paper over, trying to find some other meaning behind Blitzwing's note. Nothing seemed out of place, it seemed like a genuine note. With an oddly nice compliment, and an even odder request of add-ins.
The young god didn't know how to feel about it. It was nice that Blitzwing enjoyed his cooking and left him a note complementing his work, but at the same time he was still a DECEPTICON. Decepticons were known for their deception. It was in their fragging names for Primus sake!
Yet as Bumblebee stared at the neatly cursive written note, the more it looked honest to Bumblebee. Odd, but honest.
A lot of folks liked his cooking, and he liked to cook. Maybe Blitzwing expected him to cook for him? That probably wouldn't be too much trouble. He probably needed to guess what the larger god would want to eat and hope it would be okay, but cooking he could do no problem.
But what would a Decepticon like Blitzwing like to eat? He didn't know a lot of recipes except the few that Boss-Bot taught him. Maybe he could use one of those and hope for the best? Maybe. It had been a while since he cooked any of those so he could be a little rusty.
Bumblebee contemplated this for a while. He thought it over till the next afternoon rolled up on day fifty one. Once again he made sure Blitzwing wasn't around, double checking just to be sure he was nowhere around, before finally getting to work in the kitchen. He decided on making a Vegan Irish Stew since it was one of the few recipes he could mostly remember.
Though would Blitzwing like stew? He would ask, but then again he still didn't want to see the Decepticon just yet. Plus, he couldn't really ask him if he wasn't around to ask him about anything.
It felt a little weird cooking for someone who could be considered to be his captor, but he hadn't done anything harmful to Bumblebee just yet. Hopefully this would continue for a while longer before anything bad would happen.
It took the young god a few tries and a couple of slip ups to get the stew right. It was worth it though, seeing the familiar thick steamy stew boiling in the pot brought a small smile to Bumblebee's face. The spicy smell made Bumblebee's stomach rumble. He had forgotten to eat anything for dinner yesterday and had skipped breakfast as well. And the stew did look nice.
Bumblebee stared at the stew for a long while before shrugging. Eh, Blitzwing wouldn't miss some of the stew missing.
Grabbing himself a ladle from the drawer, Bumblebee scooped a healthy portion of the stew in the blow for himself, enjoying the familiar taste before memories of happier times ruined his mood again. He managed to finish his stew before his stomach became too twisted to continue. The rest he stored away in the fridge, cleaning the kitchen thoroughly of the mess he made before then heading off to bed.
The night had been restless for the Autobot. Dreams of happier times and friends made it hard for him not to miss everyone. When morning finally did come around, the young god hardly got any proper rest and had to drag himself out of bed. The shower did little to help his emotions, no matter how long he sat under the warm spray of water falling from the ceiling. His thoughts kept turning back to his family and friends, thinking of happier times and memories he would never get to have with them.
They probably noticed he was gone at this point. Maybe they were starting to worry and look for him. Boss-Bot always did worry when he would go missing.
Bumblebee's stomach turned even more, burying his face in his arms. Primus, he really missed Boss-Bot. He really hoped that he was doing okay. If anyone would notice his absence, it was him. And if there was anyone who would miss him greatly, it was him.
Bumblebee curled up on himself, trying to make his guilt go away.
Why did he do something so stupid? He knew that he tended to break rules now and then, but they were never so serious as this! Granted he never knew of the old ancient laws, but if he had he wouldn't have done it if this was the result of such action!
Oh Primus he could just see Boss-Bot's face when he learns of his awful act. The disappointment on his face would etch deep inside Bumblebee's mind for the rest of time, along with the deep riding guilt in his spark. It didn't matter if he did it to spare Boss-Bot of a gruesome fate, he was sure Boss-Bot wouldn't want him to be a prisoner and a servant to a Decepticon.
It was the biggest insult he could throw at anyone's face.
"I'm sorry Boss-Bot." Bumblebee whispered, curling himself into a ball. "I'm sorry."
A few hours passed before Bumblebee finally left the shower. The water had turned icy cold when he left, but he hardly noticed it. When he was fully dressed, he gazed at the pile of clothes in a hamper. The hamper was partially over followed with dirty laundry, with a shirt hanging out over the lid.
Now that he though of it, he was getting close to the last pair of clean clothes. He wasn't going to have anything clean to wear. He could still wear them, but then they would smell and he would need a shower again. As much as he liked being under the water, he didn't like the thought of wearing dirty clothes all the time.
"I wonder if there's a laundry room anywhere in this place?" Bumblebee wondered out loud, grabbing the hamper. "I hope it does. It'd be kind of gross wearing dirty clothes all the time."
Hefting the basket out of the room, Bumblebee began his journey for the laundry room. He didn't know where exactly the laundry room was, but he had to at least try to find it.
"I hope he doesn't use powder detergent." Bumblebee muttered to himself as he entered the living room. "They never dissolve properly in the water and always leave behind soapy residue on all the clothes."
"Quite true."
Bumblebee jumped and let out a short surprised scream, dropping the hamper from his servos as his helm whipped around to the couch. Sitting there with his legs propped up on the rim of the fire pit was Blitzwing.
"Zough, to be honest I tend not to use any powder detergent. It makes zuch a mess to clean up vhen it zpills everyvhere."
"Wha-how?" Bumblebee stammered as Blitzwing slowly got off the couch. "That's twice you appeared out of nowhere."
"Correction. I vas already here. Jou just didn't notice till I zpoke up." Blitzwing pointed out as he walked over to Bumblebee. The smaller god tensed, ready to spring and run off. "Jou need to pay more attention to jour zurroundings little god! Jou might never know vhat'll try to zneak up on jou down here~" Blitzwing chuckled as he bent down and started picking up the clothes on the floor.
Bumblebee blinked in surprise, watching in silence as Blitzwing picked up each article of clothing that had fallen out of the hamper. "W… isn't my job to be cleaning up?" The words slipped out of his lips before he realized how dumb it sounded, kicking himself in his mind as Blitzwing tucked the last shirt into the hamper.
The Decepticon hummed, tilting his helm. "I zought jour job vas ztanding around doing nozing?"
"That's boring." Bumblebee huffed. "I'd rather do something than stand around like a tree all day."
"Like cooking?"
Bumblebee stood rigid as Blitzwing stood up, holding the hamper out towards him. He stared at it for a while before warily taking it. "Yeah, I guess."
"Were jou a cook before?" Blitzwing asked, folding his arms over his chest. "Zee ztew vas nice. Tasty even. A little zick in my taste, but it vas ztill good."
"Oh! Thanks… I guess." Bumblebee briefly glanced at the ground. He didn't actually think that Blitzwing would eat it. "No, I wasn't a cook. Though I did cook often at home. Mostly for me and—" Bumblebee paused. Should he be telling Blitzwing about his personal life with his caretaker? It seemed like a big step that he shouldn't be taking. Not if it could somehow be used to hurt Boss-Bot. Blitzwing may have promised not to harm them, but Bumblebee wasn't taking any chances. "… and a few of the villagers that lived on the island I lived on."
"Villagers? As in nymphs?"
"No, mortals. From a small settlement." Bumblebee nodded. "My home was in the mortal realm so I grew up hanging out with a bunch of them as a youngling. I even sometimes go to visit in my mortal disguise so I can hang and be chill with them."
"… Jou… hung out vith… mortals?"
Bumblebee narrowed his optics at Blitzwing, pulling a frown on his face up at the Decepticon. "What? You got a problem with mortals?"
"Not much." Blitzwing shook his helm. "It's just… don't Autobots usually live in zee heavens? Far from zee mortals? Vhere jou all usually ztay?"
"Normally yeah." Bumblebee shrugged. "But I never lived in the heavens. I mean, I've been there a couple of times, but I never actually lived there."
"Vhat? Vhy not? Vere jou…" Blitzwing went silent for a moment, staring at Bumblebee with his deep red visor. "Vere jou banished?" He asked quietly, his voice being oddly gentle and soft with hesitance in it. As if he was afraid to ask something personal.
"What? No!" Bumblebee shook his helm. "I told you, I've been there a few times, but I was never banished! I did a lot of stupid stuff in the past but I never did anything to get myself kicked out from that place. Besides, plenty of other Autobots live in the mortal realm, so it's really not that odd."
"Really? Jou Autobots actually choose not to ztay in zee heavens?" Blitzwing asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Weeellll most of them do it because their jobs require them to stay in the mortal realm nearly the time, and the rest just want to get away from everybody and everything or to get far away from someone they reeeally don't like up there. I've met a lot of them who were trying to get away from an angry ex, and nine out of ten times it's over something stupid. My advice? Never let a dude begging at your doorstep to try and hide in your home. Their ex will come kicking your door down and make havoc of the place searching for them and it's always a mess to clean up afterwards."
"Jou zound like jou've experienced zat a lot."
"Oh you have no idea! I keep telling him not to let them stay, even after having the same thing happen for stellar cycles, but he never listens to me! And what happens? Some random mech or femme comes kicking down our door, screaming at us and demanding to know where we've hiding them, and they tear up the place till the ex either finds them or they give up and leave. I swear, the amount of helmachs I got with each one of those incidents could fill a mountain."
"OoooOOOoohohohohoooo~! Zounds like jou had a party!"
"It wasn't a party! It was more like a never ending nightmare." Bumblebee let out a snort. "Thankfully they were never constantly coming, but I swear every time someone begs from sanctuary, I have half of my mind to scream at them to go away and find someone else to bother. Or at least take it like a grown god."
"EXACTLY!" Blitzwing Shouted, causing Bumblebee to jump and almost drop the hamper. "If Zey Are Gods Then Vhy Run Vith Zeir Tails Between Zeir Legs Like Vimps?! Zey Zhould Ztand Up Und Take It Like A Mech!"
"Uh, y-yeah." Bumblebee took a step back, feeling uneasy by the sudden change in behaviour. What was with this guy? He knew about the split personalities, but they never mentioned how intense such personalities were.
"Yeah! Take Zeir Pummeling Like a Mech! Oh! Oh! Und zen ve can draw little zuns und zmilly faces on zeir bruises!"
"What?! Why?!"
"Zo zat vhen zey look at zem, zey can zmile at zee zmiles all over zeir bodies! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"You're so… weird." Bumblebee said as he watched the taller god bend over with a wild cackle. "But I guess that's sort of a normal thing for the God of Chaos and Destruction, huh?"
"Quite." Blitzwing stood up straight, acting cold and aloof like he hadn't been laughing like a maniac just moments ago. "Zough I zwear I'm usually zane most of zee time."
"Uh huh." Bumblebee nodded his helm slowly, trying hard not to look at the Decepticon standing before him.
An awkward silence surrounded the pair, feeling heavy against Bumblebee who didn't know what to say. What could he say? What should he even be saying? Should he even be saying anything? Blitzwing was still a Decepticon and he was still an Autobot. He was ninety percent sure that he shouldn't be talking to someone who took literal joy in destruction…
He wouldn't get into any trouble for this when the thousand stellar cycles were up right?
"Are jou heading for zee laundry room?" Bumblebee jumped slightly at the sudden question.
"What? Oh, uh, yeah." Bumblebee gazed at the hamper in his servos. He kind of forgot the reason for coming down here in the first place. "I already use most of the clothes in the closet. Thought I could get started on cleaning these since the hamper is already full."
Blitzwing let out a soft hum, nodding his helm slowly. "I zee. Und do jou even know vhere it is?"
Bumblebee opened his mouth to reply, but quickly shut it. He didn't actually know where the laundry room was, or if Blitzwing even had one. He could possibly have one, he was wearing clothes so it had to make sense he would have one.
"I'll take jour zilence as a no." Blitzwing softly chuckled, turning and heading off. "Come, I'll zhow jou vhere it is."
Bumblebee watched as Blitzwing headed towards a doorway, one he was sure wasn't there before with how many times he had been down here. He hesitated, unsure if he should follow the larger mech. He was his master, but he still felt greatly wary of the larger mech. Still, he was offering to lead him to the laundry room and the hamper was kind of getting heavy in his servos.
Biting the inside of his cheek, Bumblebee slowly followed after the Decepticon.
Was this little Autobot usually this quiet?
He had expected more of a tantrum or angry shouting from him. And yet he didn't.
Blitzwing watched quietly as the smaller god, watching him quietly work on the laundry. He had to give him a little help reaching for all the buttons on the machines but he left the rest to Bumblebee. The younger god had hardly said a word to him, other than a small thank you for his help.
Blitzwing wasn't sure if the younger god was getting used to him or if he was still processing his new surroundings. The laundry room wasn't that bad. It was standard compared to the rest of the house. He never felt compelled to decorate it like the other rooms. It was probably the only normal room in the whole place.
Still, he thought that the little god would open up more to him by now. He had been keeping his distance these last couple of days now. How exactly long ago was it? Fifty? No fifty two. He kept a distance for fifty two days to give them time to adjust to the place.
He seemed to accept that he was in the Underworld by now, yet he still hadn't spoken a single word to Blitzwing. Not unless Blitzwing spoke first, and even that was odd to him. Mostly because he had no idea what to say to Bumblebee.
It was clear he didn't seem comfortable around him just yet, but they couldn't keep this distance forever… could they?
No. They couldn't. He couldn't. If Bumblebee was going to stay here for the next thousand stellar cycles, they needed some ground basis of communication.
Ooooooo but it had been such a long time since he had a normal conversation with anyone without his personalities driving them away. He didn't know if he could even hold a conversation that wouldn't make him seem strange, or weird, or at worst, a freak.
But he already ruined THAT pretty well with his last conversation with the younger god. He would probably need to apologize for that later.
Hopefully. If Bumblebee didn't shut him out first.
But he was his master, he had to talk to Blitzwing at some point right? Right? He wasn't just going to assume things and think that he wanted the mech to stay quiet his whole time here and… Oh this was getting him nowhere! He had to say something!
But what was there to say?! How does one begin a conversation?!
He had to try something! Anything!
"Lovely veather ve're having no?"
Bumblebee paused, turning his helm slowly to Blitzwing with an odd look on his face.
"… I… guess." The younger god turned his helm away, shrugging his shoulders. "Though it's kind of hard to tell since we're underground."
Blitzwing screamed in his helm. Idiot! Why did he make a comment about the weather?! They were underground! There was hardly any weather AT ALL down here! Why was he so bad at this?!
"So, um, quick question?" Blitzwing's panicking came to a halt, putting his focus back on the small mech.
"Yes?"
"If there's no sun in the Underworld, how are all of those plants outside growing?" Bumblebee asked, keeping his optics locked on the shirt he was folding. "I've been told plenty of times in my youth that the Underworld is so deep underground, not a single ray of the sun's light can reach the deepest parts of the dark world."
"… dark vorld? Is zat vhat all Autobots call zee Undervorld?" The smaller god flinched, clutching the shirt to his chest.
Behind his mask, Blitzwing couldn't help but smirk slightly. Did the little Autobot think he was offended that he called the Underworld the dark world? How cute.
"To be fair, most inhabitants down here call it far vorse zings." The larger mech joked, watching as the smaller god blinked and slowly turned his helm to look at him. "Zough zee dark vorld is more accurate zan calling it gravoling pit hole."
He could see the tension in Bumblebee's shoulder's relax, put at ease that he hadn't said anything offensive.
"Now, to anzer your question is rather zimple." Blitzwing lifted his servos, allowing his power to flow from his arms to the tips of his digits, directing one from to one servo and the other to his other servo. Mist began forming between his appendages, creating a soft purple steam that slithered and fell to the ground, evaporating away when it moved too far from the orb he was shaping.
He moved one servo to hover over the other, letting the small sphere of mist hover between them. He spared a small glance at Bumblebee. The younger god was staring transfixed at the sphere, his optics almost seemed to be glowing with child-like wonder.
Cute.
Pouring a bit more of his power into his servos, Blitzwing slapped them together, making a loud CRACK noise that startled the smaller god. Clutching his servos tightly together, Blitzwing concentrated, keeping the mist from leaking out. He kept it that way until he felt it begin to solidify. After a minute, Blitzwing opened his servos, letting a small lavender crystal hover over his palms.
"It's zanks to zis." He held out the crystal towards Bumblebee, letting the smaller mech examine it closely. The crystal gave off a bright glow, casting a lavender light across Bumblebee's face, highlighting his bright blue optics.
"What… is it?" The younger god lifted a servo, tentatively poking the crystal with a digit. "A crystal?"
A giggle bubbled in Blitzwing's intake. "My! Aren't jou observant?"
The smaller god pulled a frown at him. Clearing his throat, Blitzwing tried again. "It's an Illumination Crystal. It provides just enough light for one to zee down here. Kind of light a fire or torch to light zee vay, but zey aren't very productive to ztay bright forever. I have zouzands of zem lining zee valls of my realm zat give enough light for plants to grow down here. It gives more… life to zis rather bleak vorld down here."
Bumblebee stared at the crystal, watching the light shift in Blitzwing's servos. He turned his helm and smiled at blitzwing, catching him off guard as he lifted his servos and cupped them together against his lips and blew into them. "Vhat are jou…" Blitzwing began to ask before Bumblebee opened his servos, revealing a small ball of bright light.
The larger mech stared in shock, surprised that the smaller god showed him the ball of light. "Like it?" Bumblebee beamed. "It's one of the simple tricks I was taught as a youngling when my powers came in."
Blitzwing made a soft hum, reaching out and poking the orb with his digit. He could feel warm energy coming from the small orb, sending small shocks each time he touched it. "I zee. Very useful." He gazed at the orb for a while longer before noticing a strange look on the smaller mech's face. "… vhat?"
"… you… your skin isn't turning into stone." Bumblebee's words came out softly.
"… Vhat?"
"I was told that if light touches a Decepticons skin, it turns them into stone. It's common knowledge back up on the surface for every Autobot." Bumblebee explained as his shoulders drooped. He gazed at Blitzwing with a small frown on his face. "Are you immune to the light?"
Blitzwing stared at the small god, processing the words in his helm. When it finally clicked, the larger mech broke into a fit of laughter, tossing his helm back a howling in mirth.
"What?! What'd I say?!"
Blitzwing held up one of his servos, signaling for Bumblebee to wait as he laughed. When he finally got himself under control, he cleared his throat once again before speaking. "Zat's just a myth."
"… what?"
"It's a myth. It's not true." Blitzwing shrugged his shoulders. "Decepticons don't turn into ztone if light touches zem. Ve may prefer to be in zee dark but light doesn't bother us. Unless ve ztare at it too long. Zen ve might go blind!" He snickered at his own joke.
"You mean… you guys could have attacked us during the day? In bright daylight and it wouldn't have stopped you?" Blitzwing stopped laughing, noting panic laced in the smaller mech's question.
"Nein nein nein. Jou got it all vrong." Blitzwing waved one servo. "Ve could have, but ve can't. Ve can't leave zee Undervorld ever. Not vith zee barrier keeping us from leaving."
"Barrier? What barrier?"
Blitzwing was about to explain but both mechs attention went to the orb light flicking in Bumblebee's servos. The pair watched as the orb expanded and shrank before bursting into little light particles that evaporated into nothing. Bumblebee stared at his servos in shock, confusion written all over his face.
"What?" He tried to make another orb of light, but when he opened his servos, nothing was there. "What happened to my powers?"
Blitzwing reached out and took hold of one of Bumblebee's servos, bringing it over to examine it. Nothing seemed out of place and there were no wounds as far as he could see. Maybe the contract was still settling?
But that didn't make sense. It had been a few days already, some of his power should be returning by now. Did he overlook something?
"Jou don't zeem to have any injuries. Have jour powers alvays been like zis?" Blitzwing asked, letting the smaller mech pull his servo back
"No." Bumblebee stared at his servos, gazing at them worriedly. "At least, I don't think so. I normally have a stable control on my powers. But I don't understand, I should be able to maintain a simple light orb!" The smaller god tried conjuring up another orb, but just like before his servos remained empty. A scowl crossed his face, trying once again before Blitzwing reached over and grasped his servos.
"I zink jou zhouldn't push jourzelf little god. Jou might ztrain jour body like zat."
Bumblebee frowned at him, pulling his servos away. "I know how to handle my own body. And stop calling me little. I'm not little!"
"Jou're not? Are jou just zhort zen?" Blitzwing playfully teased, making Bumblebee glare at him.
"I'm not short!"
"Jou zeem quite tiny to me."
"I'm not! Stop saying that!"
"Vhat?"
"You know what!"
"Vhat vhat?"
"You! Calling me short!"
"So jou admit it!"
"Wha-?! No I! ARRRGH!" Bumblebee threw his arms up in the air, letting out a loud growl of frustration before grabbing the rest of the laundry, not bothering to fold them and just threw them into the hamper.
"Aaaawwww, vhat's vorng tiny? Got a zhort fuse? AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"You're insufferable!" Bumblebee screamed, grabbing the hamper and shoving past him.
"But I vas just getting to zee good part!" Blitzwing followed after the retreating god, easily keeping up with him thanks to his longer legs. "Or is jour attention zpan just zat zmall?"
"Frag you! Leave me alone!"
Blitzwing just ignored him, cackling like a mad mech. "Oh! Oh! Zorry if I dwarf jour expectations! Oh! I didn't mean to ztep over jou! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh! Oh oh oh oh! I got it! Vhy—?"
"STOOOOOOP!" Bumblebee twisted around, yelling right at Blitzwing in the middle of the living room. Blitzwing did stop, taken back by the loud scream directed at him.
The pair stood staring at each other, one taken back by the sudden burst of anger and the other panting heavily while glaring at the larger mech.
"Just. Stop." Bumblebee growled, scrunching his face in anger as he glared at Blitzwing. "I don't like it when others make fun of my height, okay? I got enough of that from home, I don't need more of it from you of all bots reminding me everyday."
Blitzwing stared silently at the smaller god, completely taken back by the sudden change in his mood. Did he really not like his height being mentioned and picked at?
"Now leave me alone." Bumblebee turned to leave, heading for the stairway that would take him back to his room.
"Vait." Blitzwing reached out, grabbing the mech by the shoulder and stopping him from leaving.
Bumblebee whipped his helm around, glaring at Blitzwing. "I just said—!"
"I'm zorry." Blitzwing spoke, cutting off the smaller god's words. "I didn't mean… I'm really not good vith… it vas just a little…" Blitzwing tried to explain, but he couldn't find the right words to explain himself. "… I'm zorry. I vent too far."
Bumblebee was still glaring at him, but his face started to relax slightly.
"Look, I… may not be pleazant to talk vith, but I really meant no harm." Blitzwing released his grip on Bumblebee's shoulder. "But I can zee zat I took it a bit too far und I apologize."
The smaller god stared at him for a while before twisting his helm away. "… I really hated it."
"Und I'm zorry." Blitzwing wrung his servos together. "Is zere… anyzing I can do to make it up to jou? Anyzing at all?"
The young god turned his helm to look at Blitzwing again. He wasn't glaring anymore, but there was still heat in his optics. Blitzwing waited with baited breath, half expecting him to coldly say no and leave him right there with a terrible feeling in his chest.
"Weeellll, actually." A thoughtful look crossed the smaller mech's face. "There is something."
"Name it." Blitzwing waited, hoping it was something simple and nothing that would go against the contract.
"Can I have a couple of pots and some dirt?" The question caught Blitzwing off guard. "Not cooking pots. The type of pot you use for planting. And maybe a watering can too?"
"Vhat?" Blitzwing gazed at the smaller god in confusion. "Vhy do jou need zuch ztuff?"
Bumblebee only gave him a small smile, turning around and walking away. "Just feel like doing some gardening." He simply said, leaving Blitzwing standing there confused at the request.