Author's Notes: I had hoped to write a more action-oriented chapter than what I ended up with here. What I wrote instead was introspective fluff. I don't know if I'm happy with that or not, but it advances the plot so I'm keeping it. Thank you guys for reading. I don't even know if anyone cares about this story still, but I still care so I'm going to try to update at a more regular pace. Thank you all for your patience :)
Chapter 8
Blunt Beauty
It had taken a few weeks, but the Maximals had built the new enclosure for injured animals. Tigatron had been all too eager to assist Bitten in her new passion project, and she had convinced Rhinox, Airazor and Cheetor to pitch in as well. During the project, Tigatron had even told Bitten about his first love, another white tiger named Snowstalker that had been killed during a skirmish. Bitten thought romantic love for an animal was strange, but she didn't voice this opinion out loud. After all, Tigatron was a good mech and a good friend to her.
The final product was a maze of pens and tanks for Bitten to house animals they found sick or injured while patrolling for Predacons. Tigatron also felt this would be a good triage center if any animals should become injured during their battles. Dinobot thought the whole idea of not letting nature take its course was idiotic, but the new Maximal vet clinic would keep Bitten out of his scales for a while so he didn't object in front of her.
After everything was finished the change was almost instantaneous. Bitten spent most of the day and even most of the night outside the Axelon in the clinic. It became a perfectly normal sight to see the white kangaroo hopping about in the pens with her pet raven on her shoulder and her only servo holding either medical equipment or food for one of her patients. Rattrap had once commented that she looked like an Australian pirate with that bird and missing servo, and for some reason Dinobot felt offended by that remark. He didn't know why. Rattrap wasn't insulting him (for once). Then again, he knew that if Bitten ever heard Rattrap speak like that she would never defend herself. He felt it unjust to mock someone that never fought back.
Bitten meanwhile was oblivious to it all. Since she had the blessing of the crew to be useful in the clinic, she felt she was repaying her debts while at the same time doing what she loved. She would lose herself among the animals she was never allowed to have in her sparklinghood, allowing herself to forget war and hate so she could bask in this paradise of hissing snapping mewling fauna.
Bitten wasn't even sure anymore how much time had passed since she got the clinic. It could've been days, or weeks, or months. She barely laid optics on another Maximal during that time, and she didn't care. As grateful as she was to her new comrades, they weren't her family. It took a lot for Bitten to consider anyone her family.
Family... Bitten suddenly thought as she stopped in her task of cleaning a recently evacuated pen.
For some reason in that moment Bitten thought of her former caretaker, Sunstreaker. She had disappeared from his life without ever getting the chance to properly say goodbye. She had wrote a note saying she was leaving to help with a mission, but due to the time rift she was never able to go back.
Did he think she had been killed by Megatron? Did he search for her? If her spark wasn't there, it must've hurt him to have that guardian bond suddenly sever. Did he survive? It was a new bond, but it was still a strain on his spark.
There was so much left unsaid, and so many mixed feelings left without closure. She loved him, she was angry with him, she owed him her life, and she missed him. He was an Autobot, and specifically the one that killed her mother. She should hate him. For so long she had hated and feared him. She was sure that her being a Decepticon and him being an Autobot meant he would kill her. Then she got to know him, and realized that no mech's servos were left clean after eons of war. He was so much like her, a lost awkward being trying to hide his fragile spark with indifference. They rarely spoke, but they rarely had to.
This also led to her wondering what became of the symbiotes. Terrabyte had 3 symbiotes to care for that had belonged to her late mother. Shriek, Screwball, and Turret could not survive without a carrier host. They probably went to Blaster, or maybe they ran away and joined the Decepticons for a chance to be in Soundwave's tape deck. Would Soundwave or even Blaster tolerate them for long? Screwball had processor damage and was unstable, Turret and Shriek were know-it-alls, and all three could be annoying together. They were probably killed shortly after she...
Bitten tried to put these thoughts aside as she worked around the enclosures. She knew everyone she loved was gone, lost to space and time and there was nothing she could do about it. Might as well grow up and move on with her life.
As she tried to force the thoughts away she heard the lift open on the Axelon and deposit Optimus Primal outside. He was in gorilla form and holding a scanner, but Bitten could also detect that the guns hidden by his beast form were fully charged. He was going out on patrol.
"Bitten," Optimus called out, slightly surprising the femme despite no outward appearance of doing so, "Bitten, can I have a word with you?"
"Of course, sir," Bitten replied without moving, her intense yellow gaze tracing his every step toward her.
"Listen, the Predacons have been patrolling the area near our border at grid delta," Optimus informed her, "I need a team to investigate the area but everybody else is on an energon run. It's just you, me, and Dinobot. So, I want you to guard the ship while Dinobot and I search the grid."
"Excuse me, sir?" Bitten was tentative as she spoke, "I do not know how well I read the grid sensors. I...am ashamed to admit, but during monitor duty I usually just rely on my partner to read the grid. May I...patrol instead?"
"Hm, alright. This time. But when you get back you're taking a refresher course on those monitors," Optimus replied firmly, "Dinobot will meet you here. If it's the Predacons, then don't let them get too close to the base. Use whatever force is necessary."
Bitten nodded obediently and then went around the sanctuary to ensure every pen was locked. Satisfied that everything was in order, Bitten met Dinobot by the ship and started the long walk to check for Predacon activity.
Dinobot and Bitten didn't speak to each other once during the trip to grid delta. That wasn't too surprising to Dinobot. He had nothing to say to Bitten, and she rarely had anything to say to anyone. He did notice that since he had transformed from beast mode to robot mode she kept staring at him. True, she stared at everyone, but he could sense that something was on her processor.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Bitten at all in weeks, and though he would never outwardly admit such a thing, he had actually missed her company. He wasn't even sure why. It was likely because she didn't distrust or belittle him. While the Maximals tried to be civil to Dinobot and might even consider him a friend, it was clear that his Predacon past got in the way of absolute trust.
Bitten wasn't like that, however. She looked at him not with suspicion but with awe. It wasn't just that she obeyed his orders, but she looked at him like he had all the answers. There was no judgment in those optics, and no suspicion. She didn't insult his savage ways nor mock his moments of sophistication. As off-putting as her silent staring and passiveness could be, she gave Dinobot an unconditional acceptance that not even the Predacons had given him.
Suddenly, there was a noise in the distance, and Dinobot ordered Bitten into the grass. They both ducked low to see what would come their way, and Dinobot readied his blade just in case. Dinobot sniffed the air despite being in robot mode, but he could find nothing. It seemed to be nothing more than dirt and wind.
"Rrgh, there doesn't appear to be danger at present," Dinobot told Bitten, "We should keep moving."
"Yes, Dinobot," Bitten nodded placidly as she changed into her robot mode for stealth.
Bitten snuck another look at Dinobot when she was certain he wouldn't see her. In the grass she had noticed something unusual about Dinobot that she hadn't paid much attention to since joining the Maximals. Specifically, the make of Dinobot's frame.
He and the other Maximals had bodies that mimicked the musculature of hominids and certain primates, specifically humans. All her life Bitten had seen mechs with bodies that were shaped in a specific way. Either square, circular, or triangular in the case of most femmes. Metal was shaped rigidly with no room for an organic feel or creativity. Dinobot, however, had curves all over his body. His arms had curves, his abdominal struts had bulges, his legs had muscular curves similar to his arms, and his face plate had a very sharp and cunning shape.
Bitten knew she should find this strange. By early Cybertronian standards he was a freak, a deviant with a realistic beast mode and a frame that looked like a naked reptile. Oddly enough though, she wasn't disgusted by his appearance. For some reason looking at Dinobot too long made her spark thrum faster and her frame feel hot. She wasn't sure what this was, but she knew he was the reason why.
As they continued on their silent patrol Bitten continued to sneak peaks at Dinobot and try to solve this strange puzzle in her mind. Now, the best way to determine her physical reaction was to determine everything she knew about Dinobot. He was a skilled warrior, he could be rude at times, he liked poetry from earth and Cybertron, his breath felt hot when he got too close and it kind of smelled like meat. His optics glowed an intense and alluring green when he used his sigma ability to shoot lasers out of his optics. His arms had those weird curves that would probably feel good if he wrapped them protectively around her frame-
Oh. Bitten gulped, suddenly aware of what was going on. Now, a human teenager might call this love, but Bitten knew better than that. Love was a deep and lasting feeling that one felt for their lover or bondmate. What Bitten felt was clearly a physical reaction and little else. It was lust.
Scrap. My first crush, and it's a colleague... Bitten thought with self-disdain.
She was concerned about how this feeling would affect her work performance. If she was too busy staring at Dinobot then the enemy could sneak up on them and she wouldn't even notice. Then again telling Dinobot to look less pretty so she could work sounded incredibly sexist. How would she feel if he said that to her? Well, probably flattered in this specific case, but that wasn't the point. What was she going to do? She had to focus!
Deciding to look in the opposite direction as Dinobot, she turned around and started walking backwards. She would just look for Predacons in this direction. As she backed up however Dinobot stopped for a moment, and Bitten proceeded to bump right into him; causing him to fall over on his face.
"Pfft!" Dinobot spat dirt out of his mouth before glaring daggers at the mortified femme, "Bitten! What is your problem?"
"I...was providing backup. LOL!" Bitten replied with a sheepish smile.
"Did you just make a joke?" Dinobot asked with an incredulous smirk, "I didn't know you knew how to do that."
"Dinobot...I need to tell you something," Bitten said haltingly, deciding to use the direct approach, "I am experiencing feelings of lust toward you."
"...What?" Dinobot asked, not sure he heard that right.
"I apologize, but I am physically attracted to you," Bitten replied matter-of-factly, "My frame feels hot whenever I look at you. My spark beats faster when I think of you. I fantasize about you sometimes. I am certain these feelings will go away on their own, but until then perhaps I should not work with you anymore. I do not want you to feel uncomfortable when you are trying to work."
"And this is supposed to help with that?" Dinobot asked, though there was slight amusement in his voice, "I must admit Bitten, I'm surprised you would tell me something like that. Frankly I'm surprised you opened your mouth to say anything at all."
"Do you dislike me for this?" Bitten asked in a monotone voice, though her face gave away her nervousness. It was odd to Dinobot how her vocal tones and facial expressions were rarely in sync. It was like she could only express herself one way or the other, never both.
Dinobot sighed and then said, "No, I don't hate you. You're young. It's only natural your systems play tricks on you sometimes. I've often noticed the way Cheetor stares at Black Arachnea, and she's a Predacon. Your feelings are perfectly normal. However, this isn't the time for feelings and therapy. We have work to do. Come on."
Bitten nodded and continued to follow him, all traces of their conversation gone. It was almost unnerving to Dinobot how Bitten betrayed nothing of her thoughts on her face unless she wanted to. That took a lot of discipline, but it also meant he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Bitten could've plotted his murder and he would never know.
However, when he thought about it, it kind of made sense that she was attracted to him. He had helped show her how to live among the Maximals. She had revealed secrets of her past to him that she had told no one else. He even sang for her! She had every reason to want him.
The odd part is Dinobot felt a little insulted. Not because she wanted him, but rather because she treated it like a virus. She had announced that she had feelings for him the same way one announces they have a coding issue or a paper cut. Like it was unwanted and temporary.
Why did he care, though? She was just some Maximal glitch that had an unhealthy obsession with wildlife. She was the one that lusted for him, yet he felt like he was the one that had been rejected. This was insane! It wasn't as if he actually wanted that creepy kangaroo in his berth. Right?
"Dinobot," Bitten suddenly pulled him from his tormented thoughts, "Are you attractive to other beast-formers?"
"Why do you ask?" Dinobot asked rather than answering.
"I am not familiar with current Cybertronian standards of beauty," Bitten replied, "Are you attractive to others of your kind?"
"It's hard to tell on yourself," Dinobot admitted, "However, I will say that I have been able to impress several Predacon femmes in my lifetime. I do not believe Maximal femmes would be so easily persuaded however. They don't tend to like scales and dominating personalities."
"Am I attractive?" Bitten then asked.
"What?" Dinobot muttered; not liking where this was going.
"I do not know," Bitten told him, "Like I said, I am not familiar with current trends and culture."
"Well...you are a Maximal, so my opinion might differ from those of your own kind," Dinobot warned her, "However, I would have to say you are average."
"I see," Bitten replied neutrally, "That seems fair."
"Well, I mean the whole package is average, but I suppose there are some features that are better than others," Dinobot added, fearing he might have offended the femme despite her lack of response, "Your frame is too small for a Predacon femme, but your delicate curves and slender servo look decent enough. I, um, I also like the way your audials twitch when you work. Your ears are probably the most expressive part about you. Well, that and your optics. They would be pretty if they weren't so unnerving. I would prefer sharper denta, but Maximals would find your flat denta attractive. Is my point clearer now?"
"Yes, Dinobot," Bitten replied using the same tone as if accepting an order.
Truth be told he hadn't divulged everything he felt, but this topic made him feel awkward. Love wasn't his specialty. Now, if she had asked him how to gut an enemy or how to hunt he would've been able to talk for hours, but this was just more than he wanted to handle.
Another point he had not told her was about her voice. Every phrase she said sounded lulling and comforting. Her voice had an almost musical quality to it, as if every syllable was a note in a song. Her tape deck ancestry were evident in her accent, and her singing was something he actually enjoyed listening to.
"We should go," Dinobot said gruffly, "There are no Predacons here and we need to get back to base."
"Yes, Dinobot," Bitten nodded and fell in step behind him.
They both started back the way they came, transforming into beast mode so the energon wouldn't damage their systems.
Dinobot would sneak glances at Bitten, and every time he did he noticed she was staring at him. This wasn't right. Predacons did not talk about feelings they refused to act on. This went against nature! A true Predacon wouldn't even start with a conversation. He would find a femme he desired, stroke her helm and back, and see if she responded positively. A purr meant yes and a punch meant no. Easy. Bitten was making this far too complicated, yet for some reason Dinobot wasn't sure what to do to make things simple again.
Did he like her? Did he want her? Would she use her sonic scream to fry his circuits in panic if he approached her? Was the risk worth it? Should he try it his way?
Dinobot snorted in frustration. He couldn't do that with Bitten. She wasn't a Predacon. Frankly she wasn't even a true Maximal. Maybe this blunt declaration of lust was how carrier hosts from ancient Cybertron courted each other. He realized then just how little he understood about the culture that had raised the Maximal's resident vet. He would have to do some research to figure out what to do, and then do some spark searching to figure out if he even wanted to pursue this at all.
