In the coming days, Ratchet watched the two of them grow closer. Megatronus had settled into a nearby home on the North side of Iacon and came by nearly daily as Ratchet and Optimus worked on building the foundation for the battle yet to come.

It was very clear that Optimus seemed to be very happy with the situation. Naturally the press took notice of Megatronus's presence in the city and raised questions. He had cheekily given an answer of, "you will see."

Not long after he had given Megatronus the okay, Optimus had approached him. He had been sitting in the lounge and Megatronus had left for the night. He remembered the guilty expression, the shame gracing the edges of his field.

"Ratchet…" he had murmured. "…I want to speak with you about something, if I may."

Ratchet looked up from his book, having known this was coming from a mile away. The mech had never looked so small before. His plating was all flattened down, and he looked very uncertain. There was a certain fragility in those optics, and he was holding something. Gentle, he reminded himself. Be gentle. "Yes, of course, " he said softly. "What would you like to talk about?"

He slowly took a seat across from him. He hesitated. "…Megatronus pulled me aside today and propositioned me…" he said softly, carefully setting the handkerchief down and allowing the sides to fall away, exposing the three pieces of wrapped chocolate, and a single silver coin.

The handkerchief itself was a dark navy. The design was simple, but well executed. The glyphs, "Orion" decorated the corner in shaky needle work. The edges of the soft fabric held stars, and in the opposite corner there held Optimus's family crest.

The carefully laid work spoke out. "I adore how careful and soft you are. A favor like this can always be near, like how you occupy my mind ," said the favor. "I enjoy your sweetness," the chocolates say. "I find value in you," the coin whispers.

Ratchet looking back up at Optimus. He still looked as if he was a child that had been caught in a lie. Ratchet forced himself to give him a small smile. "Are you going to accept it?" He chuckled.

He slowly looked up at him. "I… I don't know…" he said softly.

Ratchet tilted his helm slowly. "Why wouldn't you? You two obviously have a connection," he chuckled softly.

"Yes well…" he trailed off slowly.

Ratchet hummed faintly. "He used your given name in the correct glyphs. You know he's done his research, I doubt it was easy to find, unless you showed him how to write it."

Optimus slowly shook his helm.

"If you're worried about how I feel on the matter, I've already given Megatronus the okay. Like I told him, it isn't exactly like we chose this. You granted me the freedom to seek love, and I return the favor for you. You don't need my permission to have happiness in your life," he said slowly. "If you're interested then you should."

Optimus fidgeted with his servos for a moment. "…I should have told you earlier…"

"Told me what?" He asked, glancing down at the book in his hands.

"Told you that I was interested…" he said softly. "I should have asked myself… when I was in Kaon and I started having these feelings…"

Ratchet looked back up at him carefully. "You don't need my permission to seek happiness," he said, making his voice more firm. "The show we put on for the public isn't real. We aren't lovers, it isn't like you've been unfaithful. Wanting to make a connection between you and Megatronus is nothing to be ashamed of."

Optimus looked down at the handkerchief with a sigh. "So do you want to see where it goes?" Ratchet said softly.

The Prime looked up at him again with a small smile. "I do…"

Ratchet chuckled, standing up . "Then why don't you tell Megatronus that you accept. I think I'm going to my room for the night."

Optimus chuckled softly at this, "you know, I think I'll do that," he said softly, watching Ratchet walk towards the stairs.

"Goodnight, Optimus," Ratchet called behind him.

"Goodnight…"

Ratchet's spark jumped just a little bit. He could have sworn he heard the faintest twinge of sadness in his voice…

It must have been his imagination.

Over the next several weeks, Ratchet saw the two of them blossom. They started off rather shyly. If Ratchet hadn't been told he wouldn't have ever known they were courting. Eventually they got braver and Ratchet found them sitting a little closer together, sharing food, walking hand in hand in the safety of the walled off garden, and calling each other pet names. The two of them had grown to be very affectionate towards each other. Now it wasn't unusual to walk in on them cuddling on the couch, whispering to each other, or sharing a gentle kiss.

Once Megatronus had started spending the occasional night over, Ratchet had never been more grateful that his room was located farther away from Optimus's. However, it didn't stop him from getting wind of their activities when he discovered the occasional dent or hickey on either one of them. They did well in hiding the marks they made on each other, though.

The public, of course, was none the wiser. There were mere rumors of the three of them forming a triad, but that was it. Ratchet and Megatronus got along just fine, but the both of them seemed to have strong opinions on the other. Ratchet believed Megatronus to be brutish and arrogant while Megatronus seemed to think Ratchet was too pretentious and obnoxious. The both of them seemed to respect each other.

They really were a special pair to watch, though. They were a playful and dreamy couple. Megatronus really brought out a side in Optimus that Ratchet had only found hints of before. Ratchet could see it in their optics, they really did care deeply for each other.

Ratchet and Optimus had gotten a little closer. He had done his best to express happiness for Optimus, even if Ratchet found his chosen to be show boatish. He especially liked poking fun at the names they had for each other, like 'Oppy' and 'Megs.' He did find himself calling Optimus, 'Orion' on occasion. He did his best to be mindful of it because of the long stare Megatronus would give him in return.

Try as he might, Ratchet would be lying if he said he truly did feel happy for Optimus. There was just something deep inside him that felt…. Wrong… about Megatronus and Optimus. He did his best to ignore it. He was just being protective, he reasoned. After all, one slip up and their entire life could come shattering down.

Eventually, his spark would settle about it. Optimus had become a very good friend of his, after all. Ratchet dared to say Optimus even ranked a little bit above Aid now…

They spent a fair amount of their time planning, promoting, and attending protests on the steps of the High Council and the Senate. They had gathered a lot of attention from this, of course, and they seemed to be making a fair amount of progress as their movement picked up momentum.

There were lots more interviews and questions posed to Optimus. Needless to say, his sire was not a very happy camper about Optimus actively participating in these protests, if the dozens of angry letters they started getting was anything to go by.

There was a little more than a month to go from the ceremony. Upon the last protest, a by-stander had slipped by the police and the security and charged at Ratchet, offended by his viewpoint. Luckily Optimus and Megatronus had easily held him off long enough for him to be dragged off by the enforcers.

Of course, this brought attention to the fact that Ratchet didn't exactly know any self-defense. So here they were, in the sparring circle outside, being taught by Optimus.

They circled around each other, Ratchet ready for the hit.

Optimus swung at him and Ratchet blocked him with a small grunt. He swung again, and Ratchet evaded him. He had improved rapidly with the few weeks he had been learning. Ratchet turned on the offensive, trying to take Optimus down. He went for the chest, giving him a good shove. It didn't take much for Optimus to grab him by the wrists and use his own force against him by pushing him back. Ratchet stumbled backwards, landing on his aft.

He gritted his denta and kicked his leg out, tripping Optimus. He stumbled for a moment as Ratchet got back up. He kicked the back of his knee forward. He let out a surprised yelp and fell to his knees. Ratchet moved forward. Now was his chance-

Suddenly the world spun and somehow he ended up on his back in the dirt, Optimus pinning him with his forearm over his chest.

Ratchet coughed kicking and squirming, to realize he had been caught. "Okay, okay! I yield!"

Optimus chuckled, standing up again and reaching down to help Ratchet up. Ratchet took the servo with a sigh, standing up with a little help.

"You're getting better," he chuckled, helping to dust him off.

Ratchet scoffed at this. "I'll believe it when I manage to beat you."

"Oh please. I've been trained in this since I could walk. My parents were absolutely terrified that some assassin would come waltzing in and scoop me up," he replied. "Of course I'm better."

Ratchet rolled his optics. "All the same," he chuckled. "I need to keep working. I have a hunch that I'm going to be attacked a bit more often in the future…"

Optimus chuckled, dusting himself off. "We should stop for the day. We don't want to over do it either."

Ratchet chuckled, rubbing his wrist. "I'm not going to complain too much about that," he chuckled.

Optimus handed him one of the cold cubes that he had brought with him.

"Thanks, Orion," he chuckled while taking it and taking a sip of it.

"Any time," he said leaning against the edge of the sparring ring, taking a sip of his own.

"So, how is your mech friend doing?" Ratchet hummed in question.

Optimus hummed back taking another long sip. "We're doing fine. He's just being a little… cantankerous at the moment…"

"Oh?" He asked, tilting his helm.

"Yes… he seems to just be so agitated lately… He's been very protective, it's just getting on my nerves a bit."

"How so?" Ratchet asked, leaning against the wall as well.

"He seemed a little upset when I told him I was training with you again today. He also asked why I let other people call me Orion… I'm not sure what's going on with him. I think he's getting stressed about the ceremony too. I know that it's going to be taxing on him…he isn't the biggest fan of the idea of 'sharing,' as he put it," he said softly. "Oh well… I'm sure he'll cool off. He always does."

Ratchet chuckled faintly. "I hope he realizes that it's just going to be a shallow amica bond so that we pass the bond authentication… It's very common."

Optimus nodded. "I know…" he said softly.

"If you need help explaining it to him, I'll be more than happy to," Ratchet replied.

"It's fine… I think he just isn't sure how he feels about the whole arranged bond thing."

"I see…I still am not a fan of how it was expressed ages ago that this was happening and he's just now raising complaints…"

Optimus sighed, looking back over at him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. Like I said, he probably wasn't prepared for all the stress that's hitting him. I'll go talk to him, alright?"

Ratchet looked up at him. He could feel his frame heat up a few more degrees at the touch of his servo. He sighed softly. "Alright…"

He smiled softly before his attention was caught at how low the sun was beginning to hang in the sky. Ratchet saw the small shift in his optics. He assumed he was checking the time. "Oh, look at the time," he chuckled before he hopped the small fence and began to jog back to the house. "I need to start cooking. I'll see you at supper!" He called back at him.

Ratchet chuckled, watching him run back. His spark flipping in his chamber in the familiar discomfort. The smile slowly dropped off of his face.

His servo reached up to try and settle it through his armor as he grabbed at the front of his chest. He closed his optics trying to ignore it but it only grew worse. He bit his lip, leaning against the fence once more.

It seemed that as soon as he got it to stop it would only grow worse. What were these strange symptoms about…

His spark continued to race away as he looked back to Optimus's retreating figure in the distance.