The Diego Diaries: Playah (dd6 225)

-0-Later

They walked toward home heading for the barn. Bacchus had been caged, counting down another major slagger who was no longer running loose. It was a win. Crossing the highway, they walked onward. Halo needed to go to bed and so did they. It had been a long time between home stays and soon it would be weekend. Kaon v Nova Cronum. It was going to be epic.

-0-Springer and Drift

"I'm glad we took the night off," Drift said as he tossed a beer to Springer. He grinned. "I want to see the video. Someone took one. Or three."

"Give them a few breems and check social media. I'm sure its going to be there," Springer said as he sat on his chair, resting up from the insanity of a few joors ago. Being a big sparkling like the others and most mechs in general, what they did wasn't surprising. Nothing like a small space and a fight to add spice to life.

Drift collapsed in his chair. "Feels good to sit."

"You were hilarious. How's the nose assembly?" Springer asked.

Drift chuckled. "It's felt better," he said. They clicked on the monitor to catch up on the news, then adjourned to the berth room for a mercy frag.

-0-Residence

"If that gets out on social media, I will beat afts," Prowl said. He sat down, then lay back as weariness settled in. "I will never understand the mentality of Wreckers."

"Do not try," Prime said as he called down the lights. He grinned, then peered at Prowl who was still fuming. "I thought it was hilarious, just so you know."

Prowl smirked. "Sincerely, I think you need better friends. The ones you have are corrupting you."

They chatted together a while before drifting off. It would be pleasant and quiet in their house.

-0-Trine be true

They gathered in their berth room going about the business of getting ready for bed. Sideswipe lay down, then pulled Blue over. He grinned. "You look edible."

"There's snacks in the fridge," Bluestreak said with a grin.

Sunstreaker came out, then crashed on the other side. "If you two are going to 'face let me know. I'll dial down. I don't feel like purging right now."

"In your dreams," Sideswipe said as he grinned at Bluestreak. "Dial down, slagger," he said, then he didn't say anything.

Sunstreaker didn't dial down.

The slagger.

-0-Later that evening

He climbed out of his big boy berth, then paused to look both ways in the hallway. The one end had a lot of big kids including Co-D who was staying over. 'Pover' aka Partition wasn't staying over either. He and Lancer were living together in a nice apartment somewhere else. Orion walked toward his genitor's room, then around their berth, fixing them with a curious optic. They were snoring, something they both denied and most humans wouldn't believe them capable. Revving their 'engines', 'peeling out their 'tires' and the like, they would see. But snoring? How? Why?

Muy inscrutable were the ways of mechs.

Orion patted Cousin who was curled up on the berth next to Ironhide. He tended to go here and there in the night, curling up with this one, sleeping with that one, batting at the optics of still others. The cat watched him, then relaxed into sleep again. Orion smiled, then paused by the bassinet with Halo. He stood on his little tiptoes, peering in as best he could, then he walked to the end of the berth. It took a while to clamber up and by the time he 'stealthed' to the spot between them, both of his genitors would be silently awake. Muscling down, arranging himself and his 'sleepy bed' dollie, Orion relaxed.

:Little slagger. Always picking that spot: Ironhide said.

:He takes after you, Ironhide. Predictable: Ratchet replied.

:I'm not predictable, Ratchet. I'm consistent: Ironhide said with a grin.

:Is that what it is?: Ratchet replied with his own grin. Locking his limbs, he fell back into recharge. So did Ironhide. That was how tired they were. Orion would grin at both, 'whisper' and sing to his dollie, watch the shadows on the wall from the light outside, then fall asleep himself.

-0-Lon and Bezel

"What do you think?" Bezel asked as they rode along the highway heading for Earth 1. "That was insane and absolutely incredible. They don't seem to have much fear."

"I think there's a lot of stuff we don't know," Lon said with a grin. "I wanted to laugh so much I thought I was going to throw a rod."

"You and me both," Bezel said. "I never had such a good time as joining the Watch, Lon. I'm having so much fun."

Lon grinned. "Have you talked to Keystock or Cargo lately?"

"No," Bezel said. "They don't talk to me."

"I talked to Ironhide about what's happening. Praxians, especially the soldiers, like to take on what they call 'projects'. They pick someone who might seem hopeless and try to help them. Right now, the court ordered it but because Ratchet is mentoring Partition and his family, it sort of inspired them to take up Keystock and Cargo. They go to Cybertron, do the dirtiest details all orn long and come back dragging. You know that backpack that Keystock has to carry?"

Bezel nodded. "I know. Some kind of really important thing or something really delicate."

"Actually, Bez, its filled with cybertanium bars. Lots of them. General Hard Drive is adding more every so often so it gets heavier."

Bezel glanced at Lon with surprise. "Why?" he asked.

"Because, he wants to break down Keystock's barriers, his hard aft attitudes. He wants to make him tired. It's one thing to trudge all over Cybertron. Even doing some duties there. But its another thing to do it when you're weary. Putting the weights on him speeds that up. The orn will come when Keystock swings on the General and that's when things will make or break. Hard Drive won't be giving up on Keystock any time soon. He's done this over and over in the past. He's relentless. By the way, that's completely classified."

"General Raptor has Cargo," Bezel said as he nodded.

"I love Raptor," Lon said with a grin. "I'd love to hang out with him everyday myself."

Bezel grinned. "He's funny. I don't think Cargo thinks so but I do."

"If anyone can help them, its those two. We're invited to their Christmas Surprise Dinner at Ratchet's. It might be Christmas Surprise eve. I'll ask. We don't have to bring anything but I think we should. Are your folks having a dinner?" Lon asked.

"My Ada is. He cooks so great and he wants to try the turkey thing. We're invited along with a lot of others. I don't look forward to it. Key and Cargo make me so nervous. Atar is trying. He works at the hospital full time now. He works in the kitchen." Bezel glanced at Lon. "My brothers hate it."

"Well … frag them," Lon said coldly. "We'll do our best for your genitors. Cargo and Key will either sink or swim. Your genitors are who I worry about now."

They rode onward talking about Christmas Surprise. They would be part of the security arrangement to get all the Santas to their locations by horse drawn wagons. Whether the Santas would know yet was unclear. Lon just knew that he volunteered himself and Bezel to help.

It was going to be epic.

-0-In Ad-Seg

Blue Bacchus lay on the bench that served as that and a berth. Nearby, arguing together in their different lock ups, Motormaster and Wild Rider sparred. There was something that happened or they did and neither remembered it the same way. It led to a brawl and their placement here. It would be a long night for the running partner of Black Shadow.

My, how the mighty had fallen.

-0-The Hourly News, Late Night Edition

"And in other news, the Director of the Interior, Beachcomber has stated that there will be a closure in the Valles at Camp 13 due to rock slides. The public works division is doing a survey of the area to see about its stability for continued rock climbing. Until then, rock climbing is limited to sites 17, 22 and 41.

"When we get back from the Community Bulletin Board update on school menus and clubs, we will have sports and weather next." The image cut to the slowly scrolling message board's front page which was subtitled in English for the human and in the main language of the Hu-An, Alsan, for that habitat's dwellers.

Aleph sat back to wait and chatted with the weather man, Stencil, the son of Barron. He was working at his first job post graduation from Intermediate School, trying out broadcasting before going into the university for a journalism degree. He was interning here and on the *!JAZZ AND BLASTER SHOW!* He had a burning desire to do investigative journalism and root out 'bad stuff'.

His atar, Barron, and naneth, Alto, were incredibly proud of him.

The sports reporter, Jericho walked in and sat on the set. He grinned at Stencil. ready for this?" he asked.

Stencil nodded. "I think so, Jeri."

"Good thing," the director said. "We're live in 3 … 2 … 1. You're live."

"Good evening, everyone. We're back with sports and weather. We have a mentorship presenter for the weather, Stencil of Delgon IV. Welcome, Sten," he said with a grin. "You're seeking a career in journalism and wanted to try broadcasting to help you refine your goals, correct?"

Stencil nodded. "I do. I don't know if this will be the course I take but I sure am interested in what it entails. Its harder than it looks," he said with a smile.

Aleph laughed. "I think you might be right. What's the weather going to be like tomorrow?"

Stencil grinned, then turned to the huge animated screen that had a giant image of Mars that could be narrowed down to a specific building on a specific street just by touch. "Right now, let's look at Mars overall," Stencil began. "The northern latitudes are still showing signs of late winter. We expect that this will change with the increase of winds and the slight rise of temperatures," he said.

Sitting in their apartment, watching even though it was very late, Barron and Alto recorded their boy's efforts on the news channel at IntraComm. They were very, very proud of him, this good boy who had big ambitions.

-0-In a berth with a dollie

He stared at the ceiling as he sang softly to himself. It was sing-songy because he was about to fall asleep. Orion was on the edge of slipping into recharge and his song was helping him. It would. His genitors had fallen back into sleep about half a breem earlier.

-0-TBC 12-21-17 edited 1-4-18

Happy Yule everyone! Darkest day of the year here. There are places in the northern part of my state, Alaska, that get zero daylight for a while now. :D Lucky them. :D