The Diego Diaries: Going On (dd1 120) needs an edit :D
-0-That night
"Then they sent for Siphon to come to assist Dai Atlas and the Knights out at the rescue points and staging areas. He's going to be their muscle, big pointy gun and all around maker of things." Ratchet finished cleaning up the living room after all the kid went to bed but one. Partition was listening to Ratchet and Ironhide as he sat on the couch. He had helped with the dishes, the kids and now he was catching up on the 'inside game'. It was fascinating.
Ironhide who was sitting on his chair with a beer and his favorite fudge, 'walnut, cherry, pecan, and raisin' nodded. "That should keep the pirates at bay and give them something to think about before they trundle off to whatever Matrix their species has."
Partition nodded. "That sounds amazing."
Ratchet tossed him a beer, a can of candy, then got his own. He sat down in his chair, then took a big cold sip. "Ah. Good stuff," he said as he began to have some of his own favorite candy, 'haystacks' which apparently were 'toasted coconut covered in chocolate' which practically melted in your mouth.
"What do we do tomorrow, Ratchet?" Partition asked.
"Well, we have to do the rounds, go to a home visit, then meet up with everyone in front of the tower outside at noon to watch some kind of surprise that Silverbow concocted with the kids in her room after watching videos on YouTube. I don't know what it is but it required Primal approval and that of the city. Magnus thinks its going to be cute because he likes Silverbow."
"Who doesn't?" Ironhide asked as he grinned. "Don't look now but someone is hanging out in the hallway."
"I noticed," Ratchet said. "I wonder how I'm ever going to eat all this candy? My, oh my. Whatever shall I do?" Ratchet said more loudly than he needed to. "I may have to throw it away."
The sound in the darkness of the hallway could be heard, almost like a stifled gurgle. The three of them peered out of the corner of their optics with night vision to see a certain yellow-banded infant standing there with a look of unease on his cute little face.
"Like I was saying … I better throw this away. I can't eat it all. How about all of us throwing our candy away?" Ratchet asked with a giant smile.
Partition who looked at him with a grin sat back. "I think I agree. Who wants to eat all this candy?" he asked.
Another soft sound, like someone biting their tongue could be heard. Partition, with a grin, stood up and reached out his servo. "If you want me to throw that away, I will," he said.
The sound of tiny footfalls could be heard as a tiny sparkling ran into the room to come up short in front of Ratchet. He looked shocked and worried, glancing from one to another. He looked aghast as he struggled to say something. Moving closer to Ironhide, he looked at him with shocked concern. "Atar. You not doing that with the she? What you?"
Everyone stared down at the little mech who looked at them with worried optics, his little fingers clutching each other in his distress. Ratchet glanced at Ironhide. "I do believe we have a little spy. What should we do with a spy?"
Orion looked at Ratchet, then pointed to his can of candy. "Ada … you doing me? I doing it for you. See? I nice," he said, then smiled his biggest, cheesiest smile.
Laughter rained down like fire on his little aft. He looked from one to the other trying to parse the moment. Then he smiled again. Hugely. Ratchet scooped him up, then put him on Ironhide's lap as Partition sat down to watch. Ratchet grinned. "I don't know. I still think I should throw this away," he said holding up his candy can.
"ADA! No. You, me. I, you. See?" he asked as he tilted his helm and put up his servos in a sort of hand shrug. "You doing me. I doing dis. I taking it to my there." He pointed to his room.
"Then what?" Ratchet asked.
"My box. I doing it there," Orion said.
"You'd put it in your toy box?" Ironhide asked.
He nodded fervently, his mouth open and optics agog as he tried to gin the outcome. "I doing that. It bees dere. I saveded it. Not you there," he said pointing to the garbage chute that went to the basement incinerator. "You not doing that. I goes to there with it. See?" he asked with a huge smile.
Ironhide grinned, then handed Orion a piece of fudge. Orion took it, then leaned back to eat it even as he watched the cans in their hands. "Little mech is hungry. He needs mech food."
"Fudge is mech food?" Ratchet asked.
"The stuff of champions," Ironhide said with a grin. "Orion … berth time."
Orion sat up, then looked around. "That," he said pointing at the two cans of candy sitting on Ironhide and Ratchet's shared end table that sat between their chairs. "I doing it. I, Orion, helpeded you." He slid down, then walked up to grip a can of candy. It was bigger than his grip so he pulled it down, smiling up at both of them, then held it against his chassis. Taking the other with great difficulty, holding it as well, he turned to go. "I, Orion, going to sleepy bed. Not me, you. I going." He got part of the way to the hallway before dropping a can.
Looking at it, he bent down to get it. Rising, he hugged it and dropped the other can. Then the one he held fell. Looking at everyone worriedly, he shook his helm and held up his servos. "Not you. I, Orion. I doing this. I okay." He bent down to pick one up but each time he had them, one would fall. Finally, he stared at one on the floor, then one in his servos. He began to nudge the one on the floor toward the hallway with his tiny cute ped.
Staring at him, mesmerized into immobility, the three watched as he tried to angle the can on the floor to the hallway. The can wasn't having it. Partition who had zero experience around infants stared at Orion like he was something from another dimension. It was incredible how the baby belabored the task, giving back breaking effort to make the can roll his way. Then it rolled under a bookshelf. It disappeared. Orion stared at it, then bent nearly over onto his helm to stare under the bookshelf. It was there so he tried to reach for it causing not only the can in his arms to fall but himself to nearly stand on his own head when he lost his footing for a moment. He stood back up rubbing his helm as he looked at the cans on the floor.
Ratchet, Partition and Ironhide watched the baby with absolute fascination as he worked out what to do. Orion picked the dropped can up, set it to one side, then knelt down to get the other. He reached for it, grasping blindly until he got it. All the time he did he muttered to himself softly, the sort of thing someone does when they work too hard at something that should have been easier.
Pulling the can out, he set it next to the other one and stared at both with his little servos on his hips. He looked at the door of his berth room which looked forty miles away, then tried again. He picked up one, then the other. Almost dropping both, he staggered toward his doorway. Dropping them about six steps in, he gathered them up again. Over and over until he made his doorway, he dropped, then picked them up. After an incredible amount of struggle, he disappeared into his room. A lot of thumping and bumping commenced, then ended.
The three sat expectantly until he appeared again. Walking matter-of-factly up to Partition, like it was what a sparkling did late at night with the Fam, he took the can from his servos. "You not doing this, She. I, Orion, doing it for you." He patted Partition as he stared at his parents. "You good she. You my she. I love you. You good." Then he carried the can to the hallway and disappeared into his room.
It was silent a moment, then Ratchet glanced at Ironhide with a dazzling smile. "That little mech is made of balls," he said. A moment to search the Urban Dictionary was had, then unanimous agreement met the remark. "Rock, paper, scissors or are you going to get that candy before he eats the whole thing?"
Ironhide grinned, then arose. "I wasn't finished, the little slagger. I'll be right back." He walked down the hallway and disappeared into Orion's room. There was silence, then the sound of voices, then silence again. Ironhide walked out, tossed cans to their owners, then sat again.
"What happened?" Partition asked with fascination.
"I told him he couldn't have it now. I told him to wait until breakfast," Ironhide said with a smile.
"Nothing like good parenting, Ironhide," Ratchet said as the clicked their candy cans together. Partition arose, then clicked his with them. Then they sat to talk a bit before turning in. It was very pleasant and peaceful.
-0-Later that night
It was quiet in the house as everyone sawed logs. Outside, the night passed slowly and soon it would be morning. It would be the morning when a yellow-banded sparkling would try to have candy for breakfast, Ravel and Tie Down would learn that their son was a prisoner and that everyone would be told that Silverbow had a 'thing' to do in the middle of town at noon and to come with cameras. They would.
In short, it would be a typical morning in the Ratchet v Ironhide domicile.
-0-At about the same time
They came to the storage room to get that they needed so that the decorations could be applied before school started by Silverbow's Crew. They had worked all afternoon the day before getting things made and parted out for final application to their particular piece of the pie. A short trip to the stables was had as well. All was organized by Generalissimo Silverbow marshalling her troops which included Atar and Ada with Rebel walking along to watch and offer a comment or two. It was all in order, loaded up and ready to deliver to the loading bay of Youngling Day School #1 in Centurion. After careful application of things to the things, they would all be loaded up, trucked to the street in front of 'Uncle Optimus's house', then 'volunteer mechs' of the Day Watch and Public Works would help make the student project possible.
They loaded the last thing, then Trailbreaker drove off carrying all of it to Centurion. Rebel and Silverbow climbed into Hound to follow. The two adults would take a quick trip to the stables just before everyone bugged out from Centurion to go to Autobot City. All was well in hand.
-0-Moment later
"I HAVE TO SAY, RATCHET … YOU NEEDED TO TELL US! HEARING ABOUT IT FROM THE GRAPEVINE IS NOT THE RIGHT THING TO DO!"
Ratchet stared down at his ada. "Who told you? I told everyone to sit on this."
"IT DOESN'T MATTER! I CAN STILL PAT YOUR SERVO, YOUNG MECH!"
Ravel would be carried down in Ratchet's arms to the ground floor where they would watch Hero get a cab, a chuckling Sunspot, Spirit, T-Bar, Annabelle Lennox, the Epps kids and half a dozen other Tower denizens get on a big yellow school bus for Centurion, repeat to Prowler that he wasn't going on that bus just yet but going to see Miss Birdie which for some reason made him TERRIBLY happy, and watch Orion and Praxus argue once more about having a can of candy to sustain the ordeal of going all the way to school in Terra inside someone's carry hold.
It wouldn't happen.
The candy, that is.
But the story of Orion's chutzpah was great when Ratchet told it to everyone. Given the number of times Orion heard his name spoken and the smiles and laughter that accompanied it, he almost … ALMOST felt better when he left with his ammas and appas. Blackjack and Ironhide wandered off to the metro station to take their infants to their academy leaving everyone else behind but for the titanic kids. When THEIR bus came to take them to Intermediate #1 in Gambian, they hugged everyone and climbed on to disappear into traffic.
Ratchet watched them go. "We have three that don't ride the bus yet. What a fragged thing our schedule is."
Partition grinned. "I'm having fun."
"Good," Ratchet said. "Let's go. By the way, after Silverbow's thing, we're having lunch with your genitors and brothers." Ratchet smiled dazzlingly.
Partition frowned. "We aren't, are we?"
"You bet your aft," Ratchet said heading for the medical center. "KEEP UP, INFANT!"
Partition smirked, nodded at everyone else, then ran to catch up. They both disappeared into the building. The others stared at them, then each other. "Voodoo," Alor said as the others nodded.
-0-TBC 9-7-17
ESL: When you gin an outcome, you rig it to go your way.
where I grew up to say someone was 'made of balls' meant that they were unbeatable and tough as nails. :D