Introduction: This happens long before the beginning of Many Voices but you don't meet these characters until chapter 10 so yeah. Just a little bit of fluff. Hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Cam caught himself staring out the window again and forced his gaze back to the screen of his computer terminal.

Right.

He ran his code for the twentieth time with a sigh, and a couple of error messages popped up.

The same ones that had been popping up for the last joor. He had combed through the whole thing three times and couldn't figure out what the problem was.

"Fine," he muttered, and pushed away from his desk.

He needed some time away from this problem.

He left the computer running, telling himself he'd go for a short walk, and then come back. It was nice to be able to work from home. It meant that no one would know or care if he took a break.

Then again...

He stopped in the doorway. Maybe he should look up those errors on the public database again and see if he could figure out what they meant. He glanced over his shoulder at his tiny, one room apartment. Berth, desk, cupboard—barely enough space to stretch out in. He could touch the desk and the back wall at the same time. It was smaller than the dorm rooms back at I25 Academy, but he didn't want to live anywhere more expensive until he'd paid off his student loans.

In… ten vorns or so.

With a sigh, he turned around again and left.

Three hallways and twelve flights of stairs later, he made it outside into the open atmosphere of Iacon sector twenty six.

The sun skimmed the top of the buildings, which had been built to catch the light and reflect it down to illuminate the ground level. It was clever engineering on the part of the mecha who'd built this sector.

He headed toward a little energon café where he sometimes refueled, though he always felt guilty afterward for spending more credit than absolutely necessary on energon. By the time he neared it, though, he was feeling contemplative, and had decided to walk a little farther.

He had always wanted to work with computers, ever since he was a youngling. Somehow, back then, that had seemed glamorous, and through school he'd worked hard and stuck to his plans.

But now that he'd arrived and had accomplished his lifelong goal, he wasn't so sure about it.

There was nothing left to work toward—nothing left to look forward to, besides a long life of writing code, wondering why it didn't work, modifying it until it did, and then moving on to the next project. He could work his way back into economic stability and get a bigger apartment. But that was a long way off, and didn't really sound that exciting.

He turned a corner, and stepped out onto a raised walkway. Alt modes whizzed past on one side of him—mecha who had places to go and things to do.

Maybe he needed a hobby. Or perhaps he should try to make some friends.

He rounded another corner and decided to double back and make his way home so he could get back to his work. He wasn't exactly sure where he was, though, so he paused on a street corner to remotely access a map from the public database.

Yes, he could take a shortcut down this road and make it home in ten breems or so. Faster if he drove.

He started walking. The buildings here were a little more run down than the way he normally took, and it seemed for every shop or house, there was an empty building or lot. One building in particular caught his attention. The sign on the front read "Outer Iacon Sector 26 Northwest Symbiot Shelter."

A symbiot.

Now there was an idea.

If he got a symbiot, he might not even need to make any friends.

He'd never had one before, though, and he really wasn't sure how to take care of one.

He kept walking, and made it back to his tiny apartment and got back to work, but he kept mulling over the idea, and within a few orns he decided to look into it further.

"Good orn, femmeling," Turquoise said, sending a chipped smile in Keepsakes direction. Keepsake smiled back at the ancient femme and went over to Lakes's work table where a dented datapad sat, waiting for her. She turned it on and tapped in the passcode.

"It's cage cleaning this orn," Turquoise said. "And there's a couple of new ones came in last off-cycle after you went home, dear."

"Oh," Keepsake said, scrolling through the registry until she found the newest entries. "Yes, I see. Has Lakes seen them yet?"

"No, dear, Chord was the only one in when they were brought, and Lakes hasn't come yet this orn. I was about to start feeding everyone…"

"Of course," Keepsake said, flipping through the files on the datapad until she got to the list of tasks that needed to be done that orn. She committed them to memory and then shut the datapad down and set it back on Lakes's desk.

Turquoise creaked over to the cupboard and opened it to get out a tray of energon cubes. Keepsake went to help her, and then held the tray as the older femme opened the cages one by one, chatting pleasantly with the symbiots as she fed them.

Lakes came in just before they were finished.

"I'm sorry I'm late this orn," he said.

"Sorry doesn't turn the sun backward, young medic." Turquoise raised a rusty optic ridge at him. "Traffic?"

"No, my alarm didn't go off," Lakes said. "Anything exciting happen?"

"We got two new ones."

"Great," Lakes sighed and grabbed his datapad off of his desk. "And it's cage cleaning this orn. I'll do check-ups on those new symbiots while you finish feeding. Turquoise can you sit at the front desk and file the forms after that for the two new ones while Keepsake and I clean cages?

"Hmph," Turquoise said. "Think I'm too old to clean cages now, mechling?"

Lakes smiled at her. "It's regulations to have someone at the front desk."

"I know the regulations, I've been working here longer than you've been alive, you know."

"Mhm," Lakes said, and went to get one of the new symbiots out. The little winged creature backed away from him warily, but he spoke gently to her, and eventually she let him pick her up and carry her to his work table.

Keepsake and Turquoise finished with the feeding, and Keepsake put the rest of the energon away while Turquoise made her way out of the room.

"Has she really been working here longer than you've been alive?" Keepsake asked.

"She's fond of saying that," Lakes said, gently examining one of the symbiot's wings, which Keepsake could see was damaged. "I'm not sure, though. She'd have needed to be working here for about two hundred and fifty vorns, but then again, she is almost six hundred…"

"Ow!" the symbiot squeaked.

"Sorry," Lakes hissed. "So sorry. This wing's pretty dented, but I can fix it for you so it stops hurting. Let's see…"

He pushed away from his desk and pulled a drawer open.

"Do you want me to start cleaning cages? You're not finished yet."

"Clean this one's cage," Lakes said. "And make sure to disinfect everything, I don't think Chord washed her before putting her in there and we don't want another outbreak of energon mites."

"Got it." It was a higher cage so Keepsake dragged a short stepping stool over.

"I don't have mites," the bird symbiot protested.

"Yes you do," Lakes said. "I saw at least three on your hurt wing. Hold still."

Keepsake had just finished cleaning out the cage when the door opened and an unfamiliar mech walked in. She put her cleaning supplies back in the cupboard as he stared around the room, looking overwhelmed.

"Hello," she said cheerfully, approaching him. "Can I help you?"

"Um…" he glanced around once more before finally focusing on her. "The uh… the femme at the front desk told me to come back here."

"Are you looking for a symbiot to adopt?"

"Well, yes, hopefully," he said.

The room filled with noise for several astroseconds as symbiots crowded the bars of their cages, calling out to the mech, trying to get his attention.

He took a half a step back, looking nervous, and Keepsake had to work hard to mask the amusement in her voice. "Don't worry," she said, trying to put him at ease. "They don't bite—well, most of them don't."

"That's… comforting," he said.

Keepsake bit back a laugh. "Feel free to look around, and talk to some of them," she said. "And I can answer any questions you have about them."

He shrugged, looking down, "Well…"

He really didn't seem comfortable. "Have you ever had a symbiot before?" Keepsake asked.

"I haven't," he looked up again. "And I'm not necessarily looking for one right now I just wanted some information about what goes into taking care of them. I did a little research on the public database, but I thought I'd come in and ask mecha who actually take care of them as well. If you have anything I could read about how to care for a symbiot or what to expect from owning one."

"Oh," Keepsake said, impressed. Most mecha didn't even think about that before getting a symbiot for the first time. "Yes, we do, actually. We don't have hard copies, but there is a document I can send you. Come with me."

He followed her out the door and to the front desk.

"Find what you were looking for, mechling?" Turquoise asked.

"I was just looking for information," he said. He seemed much more comfortable out here. Keepsake wondered if he'd really want a symbiot, since he'd seemed so nervous around them. Maybe she could talk him into it, though—they were getting close to capacity, and if she could convince this mech to adopt someone, it would really help.

"Information?" Turquoise said.

"He wants our files on symbiot care," Keepsake explained. "Can I use the datapad?"

Turquoise handed it to her, and she logged in and accessed a spreadsheet.

"If you give us your designation and message account, I can send you what we have," she held out the datapad to him, and he took it and typed in his account on the list.

"Thank you…" she smiled at him as she took the datapad back from him, and then looked down to read what he'd written. "Cam?"

"Yes," he said. "And I'll be back in a few orns to look at the symbiots again."

"Great," Keepsake said. "See you then."

He nodded and left through the front door. Keepsake watched him go, then remembered she had cages to clean, and turned to go back into the main room and caught Turquoise watching her with one raised optic ridge.

"What?" Keepsake said.

"Hmph," Turquoise took the datapad from her. "Nothing."

The noise in the room and all of the symbiots in cages everywhere had been overwhelming. And then when he read the information they'd sent him, he realized taking care of symbiots wasn't exactly as easy as he'd been hoping. If he got the right one, it would probably be doable, but it would be more of an inconvenience than anything else.

But he had told the mecha at the shelter he'd be back so he figured he ought to at least show up, thank them for the information, and tell them he wasn't really interested.

The place was just as derelict as he remembered it and while the floors and walls were clean, the rafters were rusty and the roof looked like it leaked in places.

This time, the younger femme from the orn before was sitting behind the front desk, reading a datapad with a thoughtful frown on her faceplate. She looked up as he approached

"Oh!" she said. "Welcome back. We're less busy this orn, so I can show you some of the symbiots."

"Actually—"

"I've put some thought into it." She cut him off. "Since you're a first time owner, I went through all the symbiots we have and considered their needs and temperaments, so hopefully we'll be able to find one you connect with who won't give you trouble."

"Um…" Cam said. Now he felt bad that he'd changed his mind about adopting one.

"Come on." She waved him back toward the other room and he followed, trying not to look as reluctant as he felt.

The same two mecha—the mech who'd been repairing a symbiot and the old femme—were in the room, talking quietly.

"Ah," the mech said. "Glad you came back. Turquoise, would you go sit at the front desk while we try and find someone for this mech to adopt."

"If you like," the old femme said, and creaked past them. She had patches of rust on her arms and faceplate, and her optics flickered.

"Is she… all right?" Cam asked quietly.

"She's just fine," the femme said, hands on her hips.

"I'm always telling her she needs to go see a medic," the mech said. "She has to do something about that rust."

"In any case," the femme said. "Do you already have an idea of what you're looking for, or are you open to suggestions?"

Cam gave up. "Suggestions are fine."

She nodded and walked over to bend down and open a cage. "This is our most docile symbiot right now, though she's kind of old and tired, so if you're looking for someone who'll want to go on walks, she might not be right, but she doesn't need that much attention. Her designation is Ruby." She pulled the big, reptilian symbiot out of the cage and handed it to Cam, who took it out of surprise more than anything else. He tensed as it climbed slowly up his arm, but then relaxed when it laid its helm comfortably on his shoulder and stared up at him with deep calm red optics.

"Um… hi." Cam said.

"H'lo," the symbiot slurred, then yawned, showing an impressive row of teeth.

He glanced at the femme, and she looked away quickly with a bit of a smile on her lip plates.

She seemed to think his discomfort was amusing.

He looked back at the symbiot trying not to be nervous. Then, determined to show them all that he was completely fine with this giant toothy monstrosity clinging to his arm, he reached over with his free hand and cautiously stroked the symbiot's back.

Her engine hummed a deep, soothing tone, and Cam stopped, surprised.

"She likes you I think," the femme said. "Give it a few breems and then I'll take her back and let you get to know another one of our symbiots."

Cam went back to stroking the symbiot, who hummed pleasantly and shuttered her optics, slipping into recharge while still clinging onto his arm.

Then the femme took her away and handed Cam a talkative little six-legged symbiot who climbed all over him and begged to be adopted so he could "go all over and see the world."

After the first few, the femme asked him if he wanted to see any more or if he liked one of the ones she'd shown him already. He was enjoying himself by then, so he told her he couldn't decide and would like to see more options. He spent nearly a joor there before finally realizing he needed to leave.

"So," she said, stepping in front of him to block the door. "Which one would you like?"

"You know…" Cam said.

Even after how much fun it was to play with them, he still didn't think he wanted to take one home. But this femme had just spent an entire joor telling him about them and trying to help him decide.

"What?"

"You know, I just... couldn't decide. Is it all right if I come back again another orn and choose?"

"Of course," the femme said. "Whenever you're ready… Cam, was it?"

"Yes," Cam said. "And you?"

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I'm Keepsake."

That was a nice designation. "Good to meet you," he said, and then felt a little foolish since they'd obviously already met each other the orn before. "I mean… to officially be introduced."

She smiled an nodded. "Have a good orn."

"Thank you."

"Come back soon."

He did.

Keepsake had been suspicious that he wouldn't. She had tried, but though he'd gotten a little more comfortable around the symbiots, she could tell he wasn't really interested.

But then two orns later he showed up again. She re-introduced him to some of the symbiots he'd seen the first time. and then showed him a few others. He handled them well, but once again he didn't seem to connect with any of them.

It was a crying shame—she was certain this mech would make a great symbiot owner. He was thoughtful and responsible and wanted to do things the right way.

He left empty handed yet again, but promised to return.

And again, he came back.

She showed him different symbiots the third time, and she thought she'd almost convinced him to take one home, but when she suggested it, he got uncomfortable again, and told her he couldn't make up his mind.

And he kept coming back.

Some orns, they would chat while she worked. He'd hold symbiots while she cleaned out their cages. Sometimes she brought him while she took groups of symbiots on walks, and they talked. Discussions about symbiot care drifted into other topics such as politics, books, history, school, and technology.

And Cam kept coming back until he knew every symbiot in the shelter, and he still couldn't decide on one.

One orn, he came in at the usual time.

Keepsake smiled and crossed the room to greet him. "We got a couple of new symbiots in last orn after you left. Maybe one of them is what you're looking for?"

"Maybe," Cam said, and let her lead him over to the cages of the new symbiots. She opened one cage and beckoned for the little creature to come out.

"This one's—"

"A little malnourished, it looks like," Cam said, reaching out to gently take the symbiot. Its paint was peeling and its faceplate was wrinkled and corroded.

"Yes," Keepsake said. "So he would need a little extra care and attention, but he's very sweet."

Most mecha would have assumed the symbiot had rust, but Cam had apparently been listening to everything Keepsake had told him.

Lakes came in. "Good orn Keepsake, Cam."

"Good orn," Cam said pleasantly.

Lakes took in a deep vent and got a look on his faceplate like when he had to put a symbiot down. "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Ok," Cam said, shifting nervously.

"As grateful as we are that you're supposedly interested in adopting a symbiot, you really need to make up your processor and move on."

Cam looked down at the creature curled up in his arms, who stared up hopefully at him.

"You come in here every orn and get all the symbiots' hopes up, not to mention you distract my best employee for joors at a time. You can't keep doing that."

Keepsake looked between Lakes and Cam, who were staring at each other as if communicating silently.

She stepped in between them. "It's all right," she said.

"No it's not," Lakes retorted. "I mean, if you'd like to work for us, we're always hiring, but you can't just come in here and waste our time."

"But Lakes…" Keepsake said.

"Don't defend him, thank you," Lakes said. "Cam?"

Keepsake glared at her boss, then looked back at Cam, who made optic contact with her and then sighed and handed her the symbiot.

"You're right," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Wait," Keepsake said, taking the symbiot from him, but also stepping closer.

Cam smiled and shook his helm. "No, that's fine. I'll just… I'm sorry." He turned and left the room.

"He doesn't want me, does he?" the symbiot muttered.

"Hush, I'm sure he likes you just fine," Keepsake said. "Now get some rest. Back in your cage." She put him away and rounded on Lakes. "What was that for?"

Lakes shook his helm. "You really think he was ever going to pick one?"

"Yes," Keepsake said. "I mean… I don't know, but you didn't have to be rude to him like that. He doesn't interfere with my work very much and I think he really just wants to make sure he's picking the right symbiot."

"Is that what you think?" Lakes said.

"Why else would he come back here every orn?"

Lakes raised an optic ridge at her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"If he ever comes back, I hope you apologize to him," she said and went back to work. After a few breems, she started feeling lonely. She enjoyed talking to Cam while she worked, and she wasn't sure she liked the prospect of him never coming back. Then again, he hadn't actually said he wasn't coming back.

After a few breems, she found an excuse to go out to the entrance room, just in case he was still there.

"Turquoise, did—"

"Sorry femmeling, he's long gone." Turquoise answered before she could finish asking. "He didn't look too happy either."

"Lakes was so rude to him," Keepsake said. "I can't believe it. I was getting closer to convincing him to chose a symbiot."

Turquoise threw her helm back and laughed, joints creaking and engine guttering.

"What?" Keepsake said. "I really do think he was being honest about wanting a symbiot. I can't imagine why else—"

"Stop usin' your voice box and start usin' your processor, Keepsake," Turquoise said. "Or at the very least, just get back to work. I've got an inkling we haven't seen the last of that mech, so don't worry your pretty helm about it."

"Ok," Keepsake frowned. "Can I have the datapad to take inventory? Lakes is using the other one."

"All right," Turquoise handed it to her, and she took it into the main room to check the supplies in the cupboards.

Cam made it two orns. He knew they didn't want him at the symbiot shelter anymore. Lakes almost certainly wouldn't throw him out, but Cam knew he'd overstayed his welcome there.

But he owed it to all of them, especially Keepsake, to either adopt one of the symbiots or explain himself, so he couldn't stay away.

He couldn't focus on work, so after several joors of fruitless staring at his screen trying not to think about what he was going to say to Keepsake, he left the house and walked toward the symbiot shelter. He didn't want to go inside and face Lakes's ire, but he knew what time Keepsake got off work, so he figured he could just sit outside and wait for her.

It would give him some more time to think anyway.

It seemed like such a long time ago that he'd first come here, though he knew it hadn't been that long. It was amazing how quickly things had changed and ironic that he'd intended to get a symbiot in order to avoid the need for making friends.

He watched his chronometer as the sun blazed its trail across the sky, and waited for what seemed like joors and joors. Then finally, Keepsake left the shelter.

She called something over her shoulder, and then stepped out into the road with a sigh, looking vaguely unhappy.

"Hey," Cam jogged across the street. Her faceplate lit up when she saw him.

"Cam!" she said. "You know, I just got off work, but I'm sure Lakes and Chord would be happy to help you. I'm very sorry about what Lakes said to you, but don't worry, you're always welcome here…"

"About that," Cam said. "I… need to talk to you."

She frowned at him, then nodded. "All right."

"Are you busy right now?"

"No," Keepsake said. "I'm done for the orn."

"Well, there's a little energon café nearby that might be a good place… I mean, if you'd like to go there."

"That sounds fine," Keepsake said. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"It's this way," Cam ignored her question, and led the way down the street.

She followed him, looking thoughtful. "So… I guess I am curious. Do you think you'd ever have picked a symbiot?"

"Well I didn't..." Cam said. "It's… a bit of an explanation."

"All right," Keepsake said. "I guess I can wait."

"How was work?"

"Good. I always enjoy it. If I'm being completely honest, though, I think I got used to you being there. It's been… different these past couple of orns."

Cam stared at her. Was she saying what it sounded like she was saying?

"In any case, how was your work? Are you still stuck on the project you were telling me about two orns ago?"

"Yes. I haven't made much progress on it to be honest," Cam said.

They slipped easily into chatting as they walked to the café.

"Oh, this place," Keepsake said once it came into view. "I've seen it before—I forgot it was here."

They went in, and she insisted on paying for her own energon, but then followed him to a table.

"So," she said as they sat. "You said you wanted to talk about why you never settled on a symbiot."

"Right," Cam looked into his energon and then met her gaze. "So…"

She nodded encouragingly.

He took a deep vent. "I really should apologize. The second time I came… I had every intention of telling you that I didn't actually want to adopt a symbiot."

Silence fell.

"But then you started handing them to me I didn't want to offend you."

"I'm sorry," Keepsake said. "I think I knew you didn't want one, and that's why I was so pushy. That was wrong of me."

"No!" Cam said. "No, that's fine."

"And… you just kept coming back because you were worried I'd be upset?" Keepsake raised an optic ridge at him.

"No," Cam said. "That was just the second time. That's not why I kept coming back."

"Ok," she sipped her energon. "Why did you keep coming back?"

"Well…"

What had he decided to say to her?

"Well?" she prompted.

"I kept coming back because I enjoyed talking to you."

Her optics widened.

"I don't exactly have a lot of friends here—that's why I wanted a symbiot in the first place. But you're more than just a friend, Keepsake. And we haven't known each other for very long, but I can barely stand to let two orns go by without seeing you. Part of the reason I didn't want to pick a symbiot was that then I wouldn't have an excuse to go to the shelter anymore."

He looked up at her hopefully, and met her gaze.

"Oh," she said, and looked away. "Oh, that…" one corner of her lip plates turned up. "That makes sense. Primus, no wonder Turquoise laughed at me…"

"So," Cam continued. "I wanted to apologize for pretending to want a symbiot. But I don't want to stop seeing you."

His spark pounded as he watched her faceplate. He couldn't read her expression, but she stared right into his optics and he couldn't tear his gaze away.

Then she smiled.

"Ok," she said. "I'm all right with that."

Notes:

1. Thanks to novicewriter552 for the idea!

2. Just a heads-up, Revolution starts next week. :) See you then!