Chapter 52 - No-Mans-Land
(MPOV)
I laughed and walked into the kitchen. The dough was rising properly and almost ready to be spun as the soldiers sat and looked a bit lost. Everything sat prepared and waiting.
"Alright boys, your work is done, I can take it from here," I laughed. "If you want you can wander, the beer is in the cooler over there, I'll have the wings up in ten." I ducked into the freezer and grabbed the first few bags of chicken wings.
There were a few cheers around me as Epps dragged out a couple of boxes of beer and I dropped a couple of bags of wings into the fryer basket.
"How can I help?" Ratchet asked curiously, hefting an enormous bin of grated cheese onto my prep counter.
"You can stir that red sauce again," I grinned, "and when that timer goes pull the basket out of the oil and let it hang for a few seconds." It was a quick wander to grab a few jars of wing sauce. "Right, barbeque, spicy, burn your face off and honey garlic, who wants what?" I asked with a grin, setting the jars down.
"Ain't nothing can burn my face off," Jacobs rumbled.
"Oh really?" I asked with a grin, opening the jar and dipping a spoon in, handing it to the man, he sniffed it for a second and ate the spoonful of sauce. Smacking his lips for a second.
"That's a nice flavour to it," Jacobs rumbled with a grin. I looked at my watch with an exaggerated movement. "But it doesn't burn your fa... holy shit!" he promptly snatched Epps' beer and downed it in one go. He came up gasping. "That's a mean sauce!" he laughed.
"Rig's Louisiana peat fire," I laughed.
"Peat fire?" Chance asked curiously.
"It smoulders for a little while until you get some air, then it's a flash fire," Jacobs grinned. "I'll take that on my wings, and the recipe, please."
"We'll see," I smirked at him, pulling out the mixing bowls and setting them to the side.
I grabbed the first chunk of dough I'd portioned and began flattening it on the well-floured board.
"Man Kae, have you ever been to the Chicago pizza joints?" Epps asked expansively, lounging in his seat with a new beer. "I swear they used to spin that dough until it was three feet across. Incredible food."
"So you like a thin crust?" I asked with a grin.
"I like pizza," Tibir stated flatly. "Bread meat sauce cheese. Perfect."
"Hey Epps?" I asked with a small smile, focusing on the dough for a moment.
"Yeah?" he asked curiously.
"Hold Ratchet down for a minute will you?" I asked mildly.
"What are you... KAE!" Ratchet bellowed as I hefted the dough into the air and began spinning it.
(OPOV)
"Pizza is not a pizza unless it's been spun," Mikaela stated firmly as the soldiers cheered. "Alright!" she shouted out with a bright grin, "We got deep dish and we got flat pan! Who wants what!?" she sang before the first three foot round of dough flopped onto it's pan and had oil brushed onto the edges before moving to the second.
"Has she started!?" Wolf bellowed, running into the kitchen.
"Try not to fuss, Ratchet," Cal added quickly, "she bit my head off when I tried to convince her to not spin the dough when her arm was broken."
"It's going to scar if she keeps doing that!" Ratchet snarled, batting Epps off.
"It's a bullet wound, it's gonna scar," Cal stated with a confused frown.
"It won't if she quits moving it and lets the nanites do their job!" Ratchet grumbled.
"But if I don't move it it'll be stiff for days." Mikaela stated calmly, pressing down another round of dough. "Ratchet I'm not worried about a scar. Grab the wings will you?"
The Medi-bot's holoform looked at the timer as it counted down one second and began beeping.
"No idea how she does that," Cal stated. "Swear to god she has a timer in her brain."
"Metronome Cal," Wolf said comfortably, "a girl who is so deeply invested into sound has a metronome, not a timer."
"What's this now?" Lennox asked curiously.
"Oh ho! You haven't told 'em, have you girl!" Wolf grinned, looking at Mikaela.
"Oh come on Wolf!" she protested, flipping a round of dough into it's pan.
"Well I hope to hell you've kept up," the man grinned, "you're playing tonight if I have to hold a gun to your head!"
There was silence in the kitchen as the soldiers looked at the man warily.
"Has that ever worked?" Cal asked in mocking curiosity.
"No," Wolf stated with a mockingly grumpy snort, glaring at Kae.
Mikaela snorted.
"You didn't even have the safety off, softy," she smirked at him.
"Smartass," Wolf snorted.
Will was eying the older man curiously, Mikaela looked at him for a second and laughed.
"Will, Old wolf, Old wolf, this is Major Will Lennox. Will, Old Wolf here is the alpha of the wolves, the pack that guarded our territory while Dad was in jail."
"Somehow, I thought you'd be taller-" Will stated with a snort, holding his hand out.
"With a scar across my eye?" the man asked blandly. "I get that a lot, don't seem to matter to most that I was a lawyer for thirty years..."
"Oh yeah? Which firm?" Jacobs rumbled curiously.
"JAG." Wolf shrugged.
Silence.
"You, were a JAG?" Will demanded.
"Why does that always surprise people?" Cal laughed "Elijah White was one of the best lawyers a military man could ask for. You spent what-?"
"The entirety of Korea as a kid, MP in Nam, got into some serious shit there," Wolf snorted. "Then they said, oh, wait, we drafted you and you stuck around, what would you like to be as a civilian? I got a damn good education out of it, and an even better retirement."
Soldiers and Wolves eyed each other for a moment before the lot of them burst out laughing at each other.
Mikaela snorted and started in on the next ball.
"Show me how?" Optimus asked with a small smile, she beamed up at him and jerked her head.
"First thing's first," she instructed calmly, "Blink your holoform so you don't have to wash your hands."
Optimus laughed and obeyed, offlining the holoform for a second before onlining it again, walking back into the kitchen and to her side.
"Grab a ball of dough and start pressing it out like this," she smiled, Optimus grinned and began flattening his ball so that it looked like hers. It felt soft, as smooth as her skin but far more giving, there was steel in his Kae. She glanced up at him and laughed, and for a second he could swear she had read his mind.
"Alright, now pick it up and here's the trick, you use your knuckles, your fingernails would rip it," she instructed, beginning to spin the dough.
He watched her method for a second and did the same, laughing as Kae stepped a bit further to the side to give him room. Optimus couldn't stop grinning, the dough was soft, and it was absolutely entertaining to watch the centrifugal forces spread it wide. Then Kae did an astounding thing, she tossed her dough into the air as it spun, caught it, spun it, tossed it and caught it in the dish.
"Stuffed crust!" Jacobs bellowed, Kae laughed and grabbed a double handful of cheese, spreading it along the outside and deftly folding the crust in on itself as Jacobs cheered. Optimus tossed his dough curiously.
"Sidestep!" Kae shouted, he took a quick step away from his Kae and bellowed a laugh as she caught his crust. Another toss and it was in it's pan.
He hovered his hand over another ball of dough and looked for her permission.
"Yes you can play too," she laughed, Optimus grinned and began again as the soldiers laughed. He honestly didn't care, it was scrapping fun. He glanced to the side and saw Mikaela at the same stage he was.
"One?" he rumbled.
"Two," she grinned.
"Three!" they shouted together, flipping the dough into the air and spinning it.
"We've got two spinners!" Cal bellowed, leaping up and running toward a storage case, "C'mon Kae! I dare you!" he held up an enormous pan.
"Have we got everything for that?" she asked curiously.
"We do," Cal grinned, Optimus noted that the bikers that had accompanied Old Wolf were rubbing their hands together.
"Oil it!" she commanded with a grin, tossing her crust into the air beside Optimus'. Cal immediately got to work spreading oil onto the pan as soldiers and Holoforms watched curiously.
"Optimus," Mikaela said seriously, "you up for a challenge?"
"Bring it," he rumbled with a fierce grin, catching his crust on a pan.
"Team spin," she grinned, grabbing two lumps of dough and pressing them onto two more. "Once we've got these last four finished up."
Optimus immediately grabbed one of the lumps and flattened it, enjoying the activity immensely. "What is the large pan for?" he asked curiously.
"Dessert," Mikaela said vaguely.
"The best thing you will ever eat in your life," Wolf said seriously, looking at the soldiers.
"Sir, we have beer, wings, and hand spun pizza on it's way, what's better than that?" General Moreshower asked expansively, leaning back in his seat.
"Oh you'll see," Wolf laughed, taking another swig of his own beer. Optimus caught his crust on it's pan and started in on his last.
"What are we doing?" he asked the tiny Femme beside him.
"First off, we're going to get these finished up and in the oven, and then we're going to do a double team spin on those two lumps of dough," she nodded to the lumps calmly. "We have a bit of prep work to do before that though, Dad, grab the apples will you?"
Cal grinned as he walked back toward her, already holding a bowl of green apples.
"You want 'em peeled?" he asked with a grin.
"Mmn hmn," Mikaela nodded, stuffing another crust with cheese. She grabbed the bowl of red-sauce and began scooping it into the centre of each crust. "Alright boys, what are the orders?"
"Meat!" Epps shouted, precisely the same time that one of Wolf's men did. They grinned at each other.
"I think that goes for all of us!" Moreshower grinned. Mikaela laughed and spun the pans on the table, spreading sauce before her right hand fairly flew over the crusts, spreading meats as though she'd done it all her life. Cheese spread on top, she picked one up and popped it on a rack, whacking a button on the side. The rack began to creep forward, slowly pulling the pan through into the heat. A few more sticks of wood went on the fire.
Cal returned with a load of peeled and cored apples.
Kae smiled, grabbing a knife and rapidly slicing each apple into thin wedges, dropping them into orange juice. Optimus picked up a knife and copied her movements, she glanced up at him and beamed, picking up another pizza and tossing it on the rack.
"I. Have watched her make this every single time I've had it," Wolf said seriously, "and I still don't know what she does to make it work."
"Love Wolf," she stated with a grin, "Love makes it work."
"You don't use a recipe, you don't measure a single damn thing," he chuckled, "and it turns out perfectly every single time."
"That's because love doesn't need a recipe," she laughed. She looked at him with a smile and began pressing the double-sized roll into a circle.
"We don't want to do the second ball just yet," she smiled, "But this ball will do the entire pan. I need your help for spinning it."
"Sho used to spin with her," Cal added with a smile.
"God bless that man, he knew the world," Wolf added sadly.
Mikaela began spinning the dough. "Have you learned the catch?" she asked Optimus with a grin. Optimus nodded, grinning as he watched the centrifugal forces spread the dough wider. "Then catch!" she laughed. Optimus obeyed with a broad grin, stepping into her place as she side-stepped, spinning the dough on his knuckles. Ironhide's holoform wandered in and watched him for a moment before snorting and plopping down in a chair. Optimus grinned and looked at his Kae.
"Toss it!" she commanded. He obeyed and stood to the side as she caught it again, spinning it briskly before tossing it and catching it on the enormous plate.
"Butter," she muttered, spreading a pat over the dough with her bare hand, "cinnamon, apples, sugar, apples, cinnamon, cornstarch, sugar." she spread the apples across the dough, and shoved the pan to the side, punching down the second ball of dough.
"Again," she grinned up at Optimus' holoform, flipping the dough into the air and beginning to spin it. Optimus watched for a second before moving to stand behind her, picking up the spin before she had to toss it, she laughed and leaned into his chest.
It felt absolutely perfect.
Kae dragged the pan directly beneath his hands and let his toss fall over it. He stayed, watching as the pan spun around on the table, the edges of the dough being crimped by slender, deft fingers.
"And that's the lot," Mikaela stated with a smile, catching up another pizza and putting it up on the rack before putting more wood on the fire. She glanced around and walked toward an enormous silver door, yanking it open and stepping through the blast of cold air.
The kitchen sat in silence for a second.
Ironhide jerked his head to Optimus slightly.
::. Ask her father for her hand.:: Ironhide rumbled silently.
Optimus frowned at his weapons master.
::. C'mon, you know you're going to ask her.:: Hide laughed ::. When's a better chance than now? Her dad wants to talk to you anyway.::
Optimus glanced up and noted the way her father was watching him. Ironhide chose that moment to stand and cuff the back of his head. He shot a glare at his weapons master's grinning holoform.
"We can start again if you want kid." Ironhide rumbled with a snort. Optimus gave into the temptation and rolled his eyes. Mikaela bustled back into the kitchen again, holding a bag of frozen wings and dumping it into the hissing, spitting oil. Optimus watched her and jumped, standing and walking toward her.
"You are frozen," he rumbled calmly.
"Not entirely," she laughed, reaching up with her good arm to set the timer and squeezing his shoulder.
"You missed Jenny's wedding, Kae," Wolf told the girl with a shake of his head.
"Jenny got married!?" Mikaela shouted in shock, staring at the older man. "Primus but I've been out of touch with life!"
"Yep, Jenny's married now with my first great grandbaby on the way," the man grinned, "I was hoping you'd show up so that I could introduce you to a few of my nephews..."
"You're trying to get Kae into your family again," Cal chuckled.
"Can't blame a man for trying," Wolf grinned, shrugging and tearing into another chicken wing. "A girl who can cook, service the motorcycle and play? I want grandchildren off of her!"
"You're forgetting my sharp tongue and bad temper again," Mikaela snorted.
"Your nephews are good boys, but she'd have 'em whipped in a matter of hours," one of Wolf's men laughed. "She's gonna need someone strong enough to face down that temper of hers and you know it!"
Wolf bellowed a laugh and looked at Optimus.
"So you up for that challenge?" he asked with a grin.
"Hah!" Ironhide laughed, "She's the first who's ever managed to stand toe to toe with that bot and shout him down. I wanna see them fight again, I honestly don't know who'd win."
"Do I hear another pool?" Chromia asked cheerfully.
"That's assuming they'd ever let us see them argue!" Bee stated in a bright tone.
"See nothing, we'd still hear them," Ironhide rumbled cheerfully.
Mikaela glanced up at Optimus with a small smile as auto-bots, soldiers and a few of Old Wolf's men began laying out odds and solemn promises to inform the winners.
He grinned down at her unrepentantly.
"The one who's viewpoint proves correct would win," he rumbled.
Out of the corner of his optic, he saw her father watching him intently.
She winked and walked to the oven, picking up a pair of mitts and retrieving the first pizza as it emerged. Optimus watched her with a smile. The smells in here were absolutely incredible. The heat of plasma reducing wood to it's carbon components. The yeast of dough, sizzling meats, salts, the herbs she had casually dumped into the acidic, tangy smelling tomato sauce... and beneath it, her scent.
Intoxicating.
Cheers started up as she brought the first pizza to the table, setting it directly on the wood and brandishing a round blade on a handle, cutting the round into wedges in a move that could only have come with practice. She shoved the first toward her father, who caught it on a wooden board.
"Alright boys!" he roared, "Let's get this night rolling!"
Optimus remained in the kitchen as it rapidly emptied, grinning as she rapidly fed the oven, tossing in a last few pizzas and pulling the cooked ones out of the other side, rapidly cutting and setting them on wooden slats, she picked one up and looked up in mild surprise as Optimus took it from her delicately.
"Let me get these, I will return in a moment," he rumbled gently, snapping a levitation field around the multitude of pans and causing them to march out to the main area.
"Where the hell were you when we needed you at the rally?" Wolf demanded, grinning as Optimus lined the pizzas along a long table.
"How many years ago?" Optimus frowned.
"Seven," Wolf replied curiously.
"We were scattered back then, just starting to group together again," Ironhide rumbled quietly, "flying about, searching."
Wolf nodded and reached out, laying a strong hand on Ironhide's forearm.
"Welcome to our home," he stated quietly, "I hope that what you were looking for has found you."
Ironhide grinned and eyed the pizzas curiously.
"Hey Ratchet, what would happen if I ate that?" he rumbled curiously.
"You'd have to run it through your conversion matrix on solids setting alpha five, break it down into carbon and hold it in stasis until you figured out what to do with it." Ratchet shrugged, "I can't say you'll get much energon from it, but some, the fact that it's hot helps."
Ironhide grinned broadly and picked up a slice, taking a curious bite out of it. He chewed, swallowed and promptly sat down hard in his chair.
"Sweet Primus, y'all have to TRY that!" he grinned, grabbing another bite and leaning back reflectively. "Good friends, gas from Texas, tastes from Valhalla, everything's here!"
Optimus chuckled as he watched his unit flock around the table beside the soldiers. He turned and walked back toward the kitchen, listening to the conversations.
"Y' wait 'till we get the music going, y'aint never gonna want to leave," Wolf grinned. "I know I sure as hell never want to."
Optimus stopped at the door to the kitchen, watching his Kae as she held her shoulder, breathing deeply. She straightened abruptly, washed her hands at the sink and began moving again, pulling the last pizza from the oven and setting it on the table.
She stood then, glaring at the enormous pan with a defeated expression on her face.
"Let me get it, Kae," Optimus murmured gently, walking forward and gently touching her arm. She smiled up at him.
"Just set it up on the rack there, please?" she asked gently. Optimus picked up the heavy pan and carefully set it in it's place, watching for a moment as Kae adjusted the timing on it somewhat.
"It needs to bake a bit longer, half an hour," she murmured. Optimus reached over and picked up a slice of the pizza, biting into it and closing his eyes at the flood of new information. Absolutely fascinating. He opened his eyes to see Kae watching him with a sweet mix of delight, worry and curiosity.
"It tastes of love, of what a home should be," he murmured with a smile. Her face melted into the smile he so adored.
She fetched down a pot and began pouring ingredients into it.
"The glaze for the pie," she said softly, carrying the pot to the stove and lighting the flame beneath it.
Optimus sat down comfortably, watching his Kae as she hummed softly, stirring the mix with a sharp eye. In a few minutes the pot came off again, sitting on the table with every appearance of being forgotten as she sat beside him, grabbing her own slice. They sat in comfortable silence for a long moment.
"Penny for your process?" she asked quietly.
"Guilt," Optimus rumbled softly.
"For?" she murmured.
"Taking you away from this," Optimus looked around, listening to the laughter and banter coming from the main area.
"Don't," she said calmly. "You're forgetting that I had already left this. The truth? Your being here brought it back."
Optimus stared at her. She smiled up at him.
"A space without people, without the warmth of friends and loved ones is just a house, it takes love to make a home. If I had come here alone... I would not have been able to come. Instead I came, and in the morning I'll be able to leave, taking a warm memory." she said gently. He could not help but smile at her, reaching out and wrapping her in a gentle hug.
"Thank you," he murmured. "This place is a memory that I will never delete."
She hugged him back for a moment before pulling back and giving his jaw a quick, gentle kiss. Kae rose and walked to the other side of the oven.
"Could you help me catch this?" she asked calmly. Optimus rose and was at her side in seconds, lifting down the enormous tray and carrying it to the table. She touched her clean cutting wheel with sad eyes.
"Kae?" Optimus rumbled softly.
"It had always taken two of us to cut this," she murmured. "Today is the first time that I made this without Uncle Sho with me."
Optimus pulled her into a gentle hug. She leaned against him for a long moment before taking a deep breath and looking up at him.
"Will you help me?" she asked softly.
Optimus felt his spark flare, she felt so right in his arms.
"You have but to look at me, and I will be at your side," he rumbled, cupping her cheek.
"Oh see now you're spoiling me," she grinned up at him impishly.
"You deserve it," he grinned. "What do I do?"
"Well, seeing as you're so bastardly tall, could you open that cupboard there and reach down the orange liqueur?" she asked cheerfully. Optimus laughed and obeyed, pulling down the bottle and offering it to her as she explained how to cut the enormous round evenly.
Mikaela opened the bottle quickly and poured it into the pot of sauce, stirring it around for a moment before grabbing a tiny sip of it from her spoon. She closed her eyes in concentration for a moment, added a splash more and closed the bottle.
"So Wolf doesn't know how you do it because he cannot remember?" Optimus teased her. She laughed. Primus but he loved it when she laughed.
"No, he always goes out to set up the instruments by the time I'm doing this," she giggled, picking up the pot as Optimus caught up the enormous pan, bearing it easily.
"Is it ready!?" Wolf demanded with a broad grin.
"It is, and because you're here I'm going to tell you how I do it," Mikaela said in a serious tone. Optimus set the pie on the table.
"It looks different," Wolf frowned.
"Because it isn't finished," Mikaela stated patiently, proffering the pot, she offered the old man a spoonful of the sauce before pouring it over the entire pie, spinning it as she did.
"That's liquor! Grand Marnier!" Wolf howled, laughing.
"Tell Jenny to use the recipe for crepes flambe for the sauce," Mikaela smiled. "Femmes, Bots and Boys!" Mikaela announced proudly. "The Banes Flambe!" she whipped out a lighter as her father cut the lights, a brilliant blue flame flickered over the pie, casting off the scent of heat, apples, oranges, woodsmoke, cinnamon and caramelized sugar.
Optimus almost collapsed.
::. That's her scent!.:: Ratchet transmitted in a shocked tone. ::. The undertone of her Energon! That's her personal scent!.::
Cal brought the lights back up somewhat as Mikaela smiled, taking a deep breath and blowing out the flames, directly at Optimus' holoform. His processors shot up overload warnings as the scent curled around him.
"Did we die, and nobody bothered to tell me?" he asked quietly, looking at his unit.
"Nope, but I'm pretty sure we could offline right now, and reach the Well of All-Sparks with complete souls." Ironhide rumbled gently, clapping a hand on his shoulder as the soldiers watched curiously.
Mikaela cocked her head to the side somewhat and smiled at Optimus, offering him the blade. He took the knife and made the first cut, aiming it directly to her. Her hand touched his as she carried on the cut to her edge, spun the pan and passed the blade back toward him. Optimus grinned and caught the edge of the pan, spinning it as he cut two circles while Mikaela beamed at him.
At speed they cut together, and Optimus couldn't stop the small smile that sparkled in his holoform's eyes anytime her hand touched his.
The pie cut she winked at him and slid a couple of blades in, pulled up a piece and set it on a plate, offering it to Optimus. He took it from her hand gently and walked to a seat in the corner, watching the swarm of men around his Kae.
Her father sat down beside him.
"You love my girl," he stated calmly. Optimus glanced at the man and nodded.
"With everything that I am," Optimus rumbled quietly. "With that being said, I would ask permission to court your daughter."
"Really? 'Cause the way you're lookin' at my girl I thought you'd be asking for her hand by now." Cal stated comfortably. "Tell you the problem with that though son."
Optimus turned to watch the man patiently.
"That you felt the need to ask for my permission for anything concerning that girl, shit, that's a move that could get us both killed." Cal grinned.
Optimus rumbled a laugh, watching the young woman as she began arguing with Old Wolf about something. There were leather clad men and soldiers both, slumped side by side in chairs, cradling beer and the burning apple pie that seemed to accompany it perfectly.
"She's changed again," Cal stated calmly. "When I got out of the jail there, I found my baby girl had grown into her mind. Closed her heart from the world. You're pulling her through unknown territory son, an' I don't mean all the stuff with you being from another planet. She's taught you how to read a hand, which means that she trusts you enough that you know she's bin keepin' secrets."
Optimus nodded calmly, watching his Kae.
"Some of them I have learned," he murmured quietly, "On occasion her dreams rise on the currents of energon that flow through her system now. I will not betray them."
"Well then," Cal said just as softly, he reached out and grasped Optimus' forearm. "Don't you ever let her push you away, when the day comes that she tells you that she got no more secrets to hide from you, and you can still love her, you hold onto my baby girl and tell her that her father knew when his day was ending."
Optimus turned sharply to look at the man.
"It ain't today, and it probably ain't tomorrow. But either my enemies will be coming after me, or her fight will spread to my doorstep."
"Cal-" Optimus started.
"No," Cal stated calmly. "I ain't gonna run. A Banes don't run, and I'd imagine you've seen our Kae say the same damn thing."
Optimus sighed and nodded.
"Do me a favour," Cal stated after a long moment. "Keep her heart safe. She's a surviver, her head is in the fight, but her heart ain't. Of all the things I regret in this life, having to raise that girl to be able to kill is the top of the list. She shouldn't'a had to learn how to survive when her age-mates were learning their ABC's."
"She is an extraordinary person none-the-less," Optimus rumbled firmly, grasping Cal's shoulder, "and she is still our Kae, for all that she locked her heart away from the world, her soul still smells of this pie as it burns."
"How what now?" Cal asked in shock.
"Kae's body began producing energon," Optimus rumbled calmly, "she is slowly becoming one of us, to the point that we may have to upload her into a new body-"
"Oh she'd love that," Cal chuckled, looking at his girl as she rolled her eyes and picked up a man's violin, her eyes closed she began softly plucking the strings. Tuning it.
"For now, we have been trying to keep her energon levels as low as possible, she's not capable of using it herself yet," Optimus rumbled calmly. "She more often than not shares it among us. Recharging and repairing all of us. It smells, and tastes like this." Optimus held up the pie he'd been savouring.
"So she's kept that part of her after all," Cal smiled, his entire body relaxed. "Good." he glanced at Optimus with a smile. "So what does that smell like to you, anyway?"
"Kae smells of heat, of apples, oranges, woodsmoke, cinnamon and the sweet, musky smell of hot sugar." Optimus replied, knowing his tone sounded as though he were in a dream. "When she walks by, when she touches even the dead metals of my armour, she sounds, smells and feels of of life."
"You've got it bad," Cal laughed, clapping a hand on his arm. "C'mon, you have my blessing, let's go watch the Archangel sing."
Optimus grinned and rose, walking to stand as Mikaela stood, crossing her arms and looking at Old Wolf with wry eyes.