The Diego Diaries: Moving On (dd6 667)
Guest: I did mean Scout. I will change that. Thanks! :D
=0=Later that night after a full day of screwing around
"ADA! I DOIN'!"
"You are. You're going down here on this low bunk with your dollies and your … what do you have that truck toy for? It's as big as you." Ratchet picked up a big dump truck and glanced down at Orion.
Orion looked shocked that his favorite outdoor toy was going bye-bye without him. "ADA! I DOIN'!"
"Nope," Ratchet said as he slipped it into his carry hold. He picked Orion up, laid him down on the berth, then tucked him in handing him sleepy bed toys and dollies as he did.
Next to him, Ironhide was tucking in Praxus. That little mech was delighted and had his own array of 'the essentials' for sleeping including his big teddy bear. "Go to sleep, slagger. No pillow talking," Ironhide said with a smile.
"THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN, ATAR! ORION WANTED TO DO THIS, THEN PRAXUS! EVERYONE IS HERE BUT PROWLER AND THE FEMMES!" Sunspot said as he hung off the top bunk to watch.
Ironhide chuckled. "That's what I'm afraid of."
"We'll hear them," Quasar said. "No playing around or we'll come in and tickle you."
HUGE screeching of delight and laughter filled the room. Spot who was laying at the foot of the berth Praxus filled thumped his tail.
"Well, okay," Ironhide said as they walked to the door. The light went off, everyone said good night, then Ratchet and Ironhide followed the big boys to their lounge. "What do you have in the plans for tomorrow?"
"We were going to go to the plains where everyone drag races to watch. Smokey and everyone wants to go and we asked. All nine of us," Fireball said. "Can we go?"
Ratchet grinned as he glanced at Ironhide. "What do you think, Pa?"
"If you be careful, don't drag race … you don't have any other alt formats yet, right?" Ironhide asked. "Besides the station?"
"No. We might not have them outside of Pretender gear. We're too big to be a car," Quasar said then laughed. "Remember when Grimlock transformed into a dinosaur in that movie and the Drift character said he expected to see a giant car instead? That was funny."
Everyone laughed and agreed.
"When will you go and when will you get back? Who's going to be your manager?" Ratchet asked.
"Chromia and Maelstrom. They want to race, too," Genesis said.
"Very well. Let us know about where you are and if plans change. You can go with Chromia and Maelstrom. They know to take care of you," Ratchet said as they hugged.
"We're going after breakfast and won't be back before late afternoon," Genesis said.
They chatted about this and that, then the kids walked to their own berth rooms to go to recharge.
Ratchet and Ironhide paused beside Sunspot's room, heard them giggle as they 'chatted', then walked onward. Their chairs were calling.
-Moments later with a 'brew and chew'
"Well, that was interesting. I wonder how long this is going to last?" Ratchet asked. "I only want to know so I can rent out Praxus and Orion's rooms."
Ironhide snickered. "I don't know. They look pretty settled." That was when they stared at the floor and saw Halo and Hero staring up at them as they stood together servo-in-servo. Behind them with his teddy bear and a big smile was Prowler. "What the frag..."
-Moments later in Hero's room
"This is nice, Atar. I like this," Hero said as she was tucked into the berth with Halo and Prowler. They were three tiny peas in the same boat-shaped pod filled with soft blankets, bed toys and each other.
"I'm glad you like it," Ironhide said with a chuckle. "Make more noise next time. I didn't see you three standing there for a moment."
"That's alright, Atar." Hero smiled at Ratchet. "What do we do tomorrow, Ada?"
"Well, we play. Then we do laundry. Then we play some more. There's food in there somewhere. That sort of stuff." Ratchet grinned. "Goodnight, infants."
"Good night, Ada, Atar!" Hero replied as Halo nodded. So did Prowler as he hugged his tiny teddy bear.
"Good you, Ada, Atar," she replied with a familiar glitched pattern of speech.
Prowler smiled again. He was a mech(let) of few words.
Ratchet and Ironhide snickered as they walked out and shut off the lights. Getting back to their chairs and food, they relaxed. "What a weekend already."
"I can't complain," Ironhide said. "Got another win, played with the kids, hung out with the elders … all is good. Only a frag would cap off the splendor that's me right now."
Ratchet laughed. "You always were a romantic."
"That's me. Championship wrestling is on," Ironhide said as he clicked to the channel on the monitor.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ratchet asked as they settled back to watch the fun.
=0=An apartment in another city
They sat in front of the television watching the wrestling from Earth. They had the night off due to their game participation so they sat with junk food, beer and bullshit observing the Code of the Mech.
"What a pile of slag this is," Springer said as he savored his hot wings. "Why do they dance around like idiots and not get it over with?"
"Its theater," Drift replied. He grinned at Springer. "We have a theatrical family and a storied history in the legitimate theater. Surely, you understand that."
"Maybe," Springer said with a grin. "Maybe not. To be or not to be."
"Shakespeare," Drift replied.
"Do be do be do," Springer said.
A short blitz of the internet drew a chuckle from Drift. "Sinatra." He grinned. "Do you know the entire thing?"
"Nope," Springer said even though he did and found it hilarious after a bit of research.
"To be is to do"—Socrates. To do is to be"—Jean-Paul Sartre. Do be do be do"—Frank Sinatra," Drift said.
They both laughed.
"I'm assuming that's about as high brow as this evening is going to get?" Springer asked.
"Probably, unless you want me to give you a list of my favorite quotations from the writings of Heatout the Magnificent?" Drift asked dryly knowing full well that Springer would rather pull out his own optics first.
"No. Save that for after fragging tonight," he replied.
"We're 'facing?" Drift asked.
"Yeah. It's Second Friday," Springer replied.
Both of them laughed uproariously.
"Hand me the sauce in that bottle … the third one," Drift said as he pointed to several lined up on the table between them.
Springer handed it over.
Drift began to put it on something in a box. "Nothing like good home cooking."
They both laughed uproariously again.
"What do you think about Appas taking on those three knot heads?" Drift asked.
"I want to be there for some of it. I told Sun that if it ever got really fun to call me and I'd come."
"Me, too," Drift said as he turned up the sound.
The Gripper was fighting The Ripper tonight and it looked as messy as it sounded.
"I hate those little things they're wearing … speedos? It reminds me of a nightmare in where? Utah?" Springer glanced at Drift. "Remember when you dropped your pants by yourself?"
"I wish I was by myself. You little dainty dip shits just stood there staring at my rather fine male appendage," Drift said to get Springer's goat.
He did.
Springer groaned. "Now why did you do that? You reminded me why I hate invertebrates." He grinned, then glanced at Drift. "Did you see what I did there?"
Drift who was snickering did. "Frag you, Springer. Just because some of us have it and some of you don't … by the way, I never asked you why you didn't want to fool around when we were humans."
"The Pit will freeze over. I'm still trying to get over transforming into an acid monster. Even if it was a metallic one, it was organic." Springer shuddered. "I don't know how the Dinobots do it."
"Few do but you do know that judgment is fragged, right?" Drift asked to be annoying.
He was.
Springer frowned. "Before you climb my frame over my personal foibles, tell me you'd still frag me if I looked like a … a spider."
"I … would have to think about it. Did you know that most humans hate spiders? It's almost all of them that do," Drift said.
"If they're anything like Arachnid then I for one side with them," Springer said. "Could you pass me the potato salad? Thanks," he said as he took it and began to spoon it right out of the container into his mouth.
"Remind me to skip the potato salad," Drift said with a chuckle.
"You might want to skip the pudding while you're at it, Miss Priss," Springer said with a chuckle. "We practically live in each others armor and you're dainty about sharing food containers."
Drift shrugged. "Consider it my only flaw."
Springer grinned. "You have a flaw?"
Drift glanced at him with a fond expression. "No, I just say that for your sake so you won't feel badly."
"Oh," Springer said with a chuckle. "Are you disappointed that we didn't fool around as humans?"
"Sort of. You know me. I like new experiences," Drift said.
Springer glanced at him. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, dog, but that day might never come. I'd hate to think how drunk I'd have to be."
"Well, you never know until you try," Drift said. "You owe me for not dropping your pants."
"Frag that," Springer said as he laughed. "I do, however, owe you one for the expression on Dev's face when he froze after seeing your … uh, appendage."
"The sheer burden of envy, that's what it was," Drift said with a snicker.
"I'd say so, too," Springer said.
And so it would go …
=0=Bosom of love™
"The People's Elbow."
"I saw that, Ratchet. Those little slaggers have to be cheating. They hit too hard and sometimes not hard at all. Watch their feet fly up when they get slammed. It's not natural. They're acting."
Ratchet watched. "I see your point. Pass me some Oreos, please."
"Get your own, slagger. Who ate all my fudge?"
"We all did. I got it down and we sat on the floor and ate it. Get more and hand me some Oreos, Ironhide, before I post hole you."
[Pass]
"Slaggers. I work hard all orn at the grind stone making slaggers into decent citizens and when I come home I expect grub on the table, fudge in my hidey hole box in the closet and a bond that understands me."
[HUGE LAUGHTER FROM THE BOND]
"Ah. Someone got into your hidey hole box and ate all your candy?"
"They did, slagger, but I made up for it. I went into yours under the berth and ate your candy."
[Silence a moment as two big mechanisms stare at each other]
"You fragger. What kind of down low mech does such a thing. Why, Ironhide, I could give you the People's Elbow on the noggin."
"Go ahead. My finials will defend me. They're FINIALS OF DOOM!"
[Huge laughter]
"Have some Oreos, Ratchet."
"Don't mind if I do, Ironhide."
=0=Elsewhere
"The People's Elbow. That cracks me up so bad."
Drift grinned. "Human wrestling cracks me up. I wonder how tough they really are? They must be. That slagger just hit the other over the helm with a folding chair. They don't have armor. How do they live through it?"
"Some of them don't," Springer said. "We should go to one of these in pretender gear. Then go get drunk."
"Then find a hotel and fool around," Drift added to be ornery.
Springer frowned at him. "You really want to do that? I mean … stuff like that? I don't want to know what they do and all of that … stuff."
Drift laughed. "If we ever go to Vegas and get liquored up, be prepared for anything."
Springer stared at him with wariness. "No more Halls of Order. What the frag are they teaching you over there?"
Drift laughed.
=0=Bosom of Love™
They wandered in, hit the wash rack, then floundered to the berth worn out from end to end. It was silent, then Ratchet grinned. "Up to it, old mech?"
"I was a moment ago. Can't say I am now," Ironhide said truthfully.
[Quiet pause]
"That's too bad. I was thinking … adding The People's Elbow to the wrestling part might liven up the berth a little."
Ironhide thought about it a moment. "You know, Ratchet … I am feeling a lot better ..."
=0=TBC 5-22-19