Lakmé
...
"So this is the place," Eli said as they pulled into the driveway.
"Yep. This is it." Aria adjusted herself in the seat.
"I must say, it's quite impressive. You sure you're not secretly rich?"
Aria rolled her eyes and got out of the car now parked neatly in front of her house. "No, no I'm not." She gestured him to follow her. "Here, the horses are in the field in the back."
Eli followed, walking rather slow and taking in the sights.
Aria glanced into the windows of the house as they passed. Hopefully, Wheelie wouldn't come outside and hopefully Eli wouldn't ask to come in. She hadn't thought that far ahead when he offered earlier.
"You don't mind if we make this quick, do you? I have to head off to my other job pretty soon."
"You're waitressing one?" Eli's eyes lazily fell from the trees to her. "You can just say your house is a pigsty and I won't come in."
"Hey, my house is clean thank you very much."
Lucky Eli was distracted by the pair of horses practically galloping towards them. "Woah, they're huge!"
Aria snickered under her breath at the innuendo as she grabbed for some treats from a tin that sat near the hay bale. She put them in Eli's hand. "Here, hold your hand out flat for them."
"Which one's which again?"
She introduced the horses to him, rubbing their foreheads as they inhaled the alfalfa cubes from Eli's palm.
"Okay, I have to know you're secret."
Aria stopped petting the horses. "What secret?"
"How you can afford all this. I can barely afford to feed myself let alone pay rent. I know Mark doesn't like you, so I doubt you're making much more than me. So, you're a coupon hoarder or what?"
"Ugh, no." Aria's shoulders relaxed. "I don't technically own this house. It's my parents. They're basically renting it to me for dirt cheap. The horses are my parents too. Still, it's pretty expensive compared to what I make, but I've managed so far."
"So it's like you're childhood home?"
"Yeah, pretty much. My parents moved to Iowa a few years ago while I was in university. I got really upset when I found out they were going to sell the house, so they made me a deal to rent it until I could afford to own it. Worked out for them, they still get to keep their horses and I still get to ride them."
"Awe, Aria couldn't let go of her baby blanky," Eli cooed.
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up."
They walked back to the silver Camry. Eli didn't make any further comments about going inside, which was nice.
"Hey, it's dusty! Now I have to wash it before giving it back to my dad."
"What does your dad do, anyway?"
"Oh accountant for some firm. Nothing interesting." He laughed.
Aria smiled back at him. "See you later, Eli. Thanks for giving me a ride."
"We'll have to hang out sometime. Bye rich kid!"
He closed the door before she could yell at him.
…
"Is he gone?"
Aria closed the front door behind her, petting Sirius at her feet. At the top of the stairs, Wheelie peaked out from his bedroom.
"Yeah, finally. He wanted to come see the horses. It didn't cross my mind that he'd want to come inside, so I thought it would be okay. Sorry, Wheelie. Thanks for hiding."
"Well give me some warning next time. Geez." He started down the stairs. "I thought Ironhide was bringing you back anyways. Something happen to grumpy?"
Shoes off, Aria sat heavily on the couch. "No. But he's been acting weird."
"You think? You've got him spouting poetry. That's the least Ironhide-y think I ever seen."
"No not that. Besides, just cause he's an old war vet, doesn't mean he can't enjoy other things."
Wheelie crawled onto the adjacent couch, leaning an elbow on the armrest. "Well if you don't think that's weird, than I don't know what is."
"I think it has to do with that conversation you guys had a few days ago, when I was upstairs."
"Oh that?" Wheelie nearly squeaked but regained himself. "Classified."
"You know I'm not going to say anything to anyone."
"Ironhide classified. He'd kill me if I told you."
"I'll tell him I made you tell me."
Wheelie shook his head. "Nuh uh."
"What if I guess what it is, and you tell me if I'm right?"
He shifted.
"I think NEST had the Autobots create a device that can detect Decepticons, but the Decepticons are on to it and setting them off either because they know where they are, or are trying to find all of them."
No answer.
"Are there Decepticons here, Wheelie?"
He crossed his arms. "No. The only Energon detector that hasn't been set off, is the one in Washington."
"Then I don't have to be worried yet." Aria sat back into the cushions.
"Maybe you should be," he said quietly.
Her back straightened again. What was Wheelie saying?
"I'm going to tell you something that's Autobot classified, all right? So don't go telling any humans."
Aria nodded.
"You know there's different types of Transformers; Scientists, Warriors, Seekers, Droids like me. Well, there's another type, but they're not so common anymore. Perceptors. They're kinda like dogs on this planet. Most of us can't detect Energon signatures unless we're touching the source. Perceptors are different though, they're what the Energon detectors are based off of. They can detect Energon signatures like dogs can track smells, no matter how small.
The Energon detectors were only put up a few weeks ago, and they've already found most of them, which means that they most likely have an Perceptor on their side."
"So you're saying the Decepticons know the Autobots are in Washington?"
"Yup. They would know about this place too, thanks to your old visitors. And if it's a good Perceptor, it knows I'm here too."
"But that was months ago. Surely, something would have happened already, especially if it knew about you."
"Depends how good it is. It could be waiting though."
"Waiting? Why?"
"Because of your more current visitor."
"…Ironhide? Does his holoform have an energy signature?"
Wheelie nodded.
She swallowed. "He's worried because he could be leading the Decepticons straight to me."
"He knows his presence is a double-edged sword. On one hand, he could be leading them to you, on the other, his presence could be the only thing keeping them away."
Aria's eyes dropped. "I wish he told me."
"Doesn't matter. There's only one solution and you won't like it. So he's taking the risk."
"What solution is that?" What was the point of asking? The answer was clear.
"Leaving this place and separating yourself from us for good."
"But I don't want to do that."
"Well duh, that's why he's around so often. We're both keeping an eye out."
She looked out the window. "I will too then."
"I'm sure it's fine. Only Ironhide comes here, so they probably don't care much. They'd go after Sam and his girlfriend long before you."
"Do they know?"
"They got half the human military keeping tabs on them." Wheelie waved a hand. "Don't you have to get ready for work or something?"
"Yeah."
…
A week later Aria sat in a noisy room backstage. Beside her, was the lead actress, Julia.
The Opera was about to begin.
Their dresses were made up of a choli and sari, and on their heads were jewels and silk scarves. While Julia played Lakmé, Aria had the minor roll her servant, Mallika.
"Are you ready, Aria?" she asked, her eyes were bright with excitement.
Aria let out a shuddered breath, "As I'll ever be."
The announcer finished his introductions and the symphony began to play. Aria and the other performers lined up in the rehearsed order outside the stage, and the man who played the priest went onto set while the curtains still hid the stage.
She had done a few dress rehearsals at this venue already, so she knew that unlike the club, there were a lot more people in the audience. Two thousand of them. Including her parents.
The curtains raised and she waited for her queue, then made her way to her spot by the priest. One of the actors opened a fence prop and let others onto the set, she bowed to them then kneeled as one of the actors began to sing.
While she listened and faced away from the audience, she took a breath. Her duet was going to start soon. The song she practiced and practiced until it was perfect.
The aria ended and only four of them remained on stage. It was finally her turn to sing. All of her practicing paid off when she sang her first line and didn't screw up. Her voice carried through the auditorium in an exchange with Julia. Then they turned to better face the audience and waited for the musical queue.
Opening their mouths in perfect unison, they began the Flower Duet. Their voices rang through the entire concert hall. Hearing the gorgeous aria herself, it was like she wasn't even singing it, instead just listening to the beautiful sound leave her throat in perfect harmony with Julia's.
Once the aria came to an end, they entered a boat prop and they gently floated off stage, singing until they were no longer able to be seen.
Back stage again, the performers and crew quietly praised them. Aria could have cried with relief. Julia gave her a quick hug and told her she did great.
Nothing she'd ever done compared to that. No screw ups, no missed words, just perfection between the two of them. She wiped a tear from her eye before it could fall. What an experience.
About fifteen minutes later, Aria and Julia got back onto the little boat prop and re-entered the stage. Aria only had a few more small parts before Lakmé shooed Mallika away so she could talk to her soon to be love interest, Gerald. After that she was on stage a couple of more times as a background actress during the second act.
...
After her final part in the play, Aria went back to the costume area. One of the designers helped her out of her costume and jewellery. After she was down to her tank top and shorts, she went to the bathroom to wipe off her over the top stage makeup and change into a nice pair of high waisted trousers and a silk top that she loosely tucked in.
She exited the backstage area from the door that led into one of the many hallways. She wandered over to a café and ordered a drink while she waited for the intermission.
Twenty minutes later, the hall outside of the cafe flooded with people. Aria finished the last of her drink and went out in search of her parents.
She passed by one of the adjacent hallways called the Hall of Nations. Flags of the United States allies hung from the ceiling all along the hallway. Not many people were in it, but only one stood out.
Of course he was here. Didn't he have better things to do with his time? Better yet, did he actually watch the Opera? No, he didn't have money to pay for the seat, maybe he just came to see her afterwards to take her home.
Still, he had plenty of opportunities to mention he was coming.
She opened the glass doors to the hall while his back was still turned, looking up at the flags. Now was her chance to sneak up on him, payback for their first meeting!
She did her best to keep her footfalls silent as she approached. Even from behind, his holoform's stance was imposing, but it didn't deter her.
She was so close now. Just a few more steps and she would have him, just a few—
"Aria," he half turned his head to regard her, a smirk on his lips.
"God damnit! I was so close..." she trailed off as he turned to face her fully. He was wearing a black dress shirt tucked neatly into dark jeans. His sleeves were rolled up casually, exposing his forearms. The button up shirt was fitted perfectly over his torso. Aria couldn't help but let her eyes wander.
"Like what you see?" he asked with a smug look on his face.
Aria immediately snapped out of her daze and sent him a flat look in return. She wasn't going to let him win this one.
"Seen better," she quipped, punctuating her point by looking boredly at people as they passed by.
"You should see me in person, then."
Aria's face burned at thought of his robot form giving her the same cocky grin as his holoform. There was no way she was attracted to him that way. He was just a super cool alien robot that also happened to be her friend who also happened to have a good looking holoform who also happened to be her pretend boyfriend. Yep, that was it. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Yes, yes, you're pretty cool." She brushed him off. "Now, why are you here anyways? My show doesn't end for another forty-five minutes."
"I am aware. I also came to watch your play, as Wheelie suggested. I'm not disappointed. Though, it is a strange art form."
"You...watched it?" Aria blinked at the man. He actually sat through the Opera and wasn't disappointed?
"I did drive you to practice. I at least deserve to see the end result."
Oh no. She did sing well, didn't she? She tried to think back to her duet. Did she sound as good as she thought she did? Maybe she did screw up and she just didn't realize.
Should she ask him? He would be honest, but did she want the honest answer?
Ironhide seemed to take in her expression before speaking. "Your voice exceeded my expectations. I didn't know someone so small could sing with so much power, at yet be so beautiful."
He thought her voice was beautiful?
"Thank you."
Ironhide crossed his arms. "Weren't your parents supposed to be here?"
"Oh!" Aria's eyes widened, she completely forgot about them.
"I'll come with, come on." Ironhide began to walk back to the Grand Hall with Aria.
Walking through the sea of people, she grabbed Ironhide's hand in an effort not to lose him. Unlike her, people actually parted for him.
"Ari!"
Aria turned around and looked in the direction of the familiar voice. Sure enough, her mother waved at her from one of the lines, her dad was at her side.
Aria led Ironhide over to her parents who were about mid line at one of the concession stands. She let go of his hand and embraced them.
"You were amazing, Ari!" her mother cooed, her father nodded beside her with a proud smile.
"Thanks, mom. "Oh! Mom, dad, this is John," she introduced. "John, these are my parents, Carmen and Dan."
Ironhide stepped forward and shook her mother's hand gently with a polite greeting, "Mr. and Mrs. Normandy."
Aria smiled through the nerves as he moved onto her father, who looked at him calculatingly. Their hands met in a handshake.
"Nice to meet you, John," her father acknowledged.
"Likewise," Ironhide nodded.
Her father stared at Ironhide, the wrinkles around his eyes more pronounced than usual.
Ironhide returned the look with a much more neutral one. He didn't make any sort of move to end the silent confrontation.
"You look like a soldier, John. Are you military?" He finally released his hand.
"Special forces."
Her mother's brows disappeared behind her bangs. "So Aria, this is your boyfriend?"
"Uh yeah. We just recently started dating, I guess."
"That's great! And how did you meet?"
Aria blanked, yet another answer she didn't plan before hand. Then again, she didn't plan on introducing Ironhide as her boyfriend to her parents today either.
"...We ran into each other on the street."
"Actually, she ran into me," Ironhide said with a grin.
Aria made an offended noise. So it was going to be like that, huh?
Her father chuckled, "That sounds like Aria, all right."
"Yes, her air headedness can be endearing sometimes," her mother chirped.
Her father snickered, "Her head is so far in the clouds, she became an astronomer."
Janitor, more like. "Ha ha, dad."
Ironhide, however, looked down at Aria. "I don't think there's anything wrong with looking up to the stars. You never know what you'll find."
Aria looked up at him, of course she understood his double meaning, but did he intend for it to sound so romantic? Her mother must have also picked up on it, as she nearly squealed with joy.
Aria and Ironhide were bombarded with questions until they reached the front of the line. They both declined the offers of drinks from her parents and then walked off to the side somehow losing her father and Ironhide in the process.
"You sure you don't want to stay at the house while you're here?" Aria asked. Wheelie could camp out in her closet if need be.
"No no, we thought about it, but then I saw this gorgeous five star hotel with an amazing view not too far from here."
"All right, if you're sure."
"We were thinking of stopping by tomorrow evening before we left, though. It feels like it's been forever since I've seen Sirius and the horses."
Aria grinned, "I'm okay with that."
"Oh Ari, I can't believe this, my daughters in an Opera playing at the Kennedy Center singing one of the most iconic arias in history! And now I find out you have a boyfriend for the first time in years!"
"It's nothing serious. We're more friends, really. People just keep assuming we are and it's less hassle to go along with it."
"Ari, did you not see the way he looked at you? I don't even mind that he's older, as long as he treats you right, that's all that matters."
"He does."
Maybe at first, he'd been abrasive to say the least, but all it took was a little generosity to show him she wasn't so bad. And since then, he'd slowly turned into the Ironhide he was today. Funny, loyal, caring. The only thing that really suck around was the lingering cockiness. And well, he could be stubborn too.
"Good. Then he passes my test. Now he just has to get past your father."
Aria looked around. "Where did they go, anyways?"
"Oh probably arm wrestling somewhere, let's go find them and then get to our seats." She took the last sip of her red wine.
It only took a minute to find the men. They looked like they were having a casual discussion in front of a bar.
They met up and made their way into the concert hall. They were seated in the middle tier, so there were seats above and below them. Part of the orchestral pit was visible, and the stage looked much smaller. On either side were screens that displayed subtitles throughout the Opera, but currently they displayed Lakmé in elegant writing.
"Where are you sitting?" she asked Ironhide who was walking beside her. Her parents were a ways ahead.
"Beside you."
"Huh? How did you get a seat anyway?"
"Wheelie got it for me. He is more useful than I gave him credit for. He hacked into the database, found your spot, and changed the name on the one beside it."
Aria groaned. "I really should take that laptop away from him."
"I'm just glad NEST doesn't know about his abilities. They wouldn't have pawned him off on you as a last ditch effort to pacify me if they knew he was a half decent hacker."
"Are you talking nicely about Wheelie? What put you in such a good mood lately?" Aria nudged him playfully.
"Not being cooped up in that base for weeks on end tends to help."
"You guys really have nowhere you can go outside of the base?"
"We are not authorized to transform off base anymore."
"What?" Aria stopped mid step. She pulled him off to the side to let people past them. "You guys transformed at my place all the time."
"It wasn't until after. The government had Ratchet help them make a device to monitor transformations. Unlike the tracking chip, we haven't figured out a way to deactivate it yet."
"Was it a direct result from visiting me?" Why had she never thought of that before?
"It wasn't your fault, Aria," he took her hand and led her to their row. "You only offered. We made the choice to come."
She got off easy being told she couldn't see them anymore. They, however, were now being monitored to the point they had to tamper with devices or accept their loss of independence. For beings that believed in freedom, the government was set on giving them less and less.
They got to their seats just as the lights began to dim. Aria sat down in between her father and Ironhide, the former of whom leaned over to Aria.
"He's a good man, Aria."
"I know that."
"Just be careful. He—People like him live dangerous lives, you know?"
"I'm aware of that."
"I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all."
"He keeps his job separate from me. I'm perfectly safe."
"No, not like that." He tapped on his chest. "I mean in here."
What was he implying? That Ironhide was going to break her heart somehow? Well it made sense for her dad to think like that since he was under the impression Ironhide was her boyfriend. Sure it would hurt if Ironhide left her, but heartbreaking? Maybe if he died or something—
Her eyes met her father's serious ones.
The music set in and the curtains lifted to reveal Lakmé taking care of her unconscious lover in a secret hut in the forest.
She watched Julia perform intently, her father's words faded to the back of her mind. That woman could convey her emotion even to the very back corners of the auditorium. Her voice was as loud as when she stood right there beside her.
Eventually, the play came to an end with Lakmé's dramatic death scene when she poisoned herself when her lover chose to leave her in the name of duty of his country.
Slowly, they filed out of the building. Aria said goodbyes to her parents in the parking lot before they called a taxi, leaving her and Ironhide to wait for the bus.
"So," she looked at him, "what did you think of Lakmé?"
"I didn't mind it, though it could have been much shorter if they didn't take ten minutes to say one thing."
Aria laughed. "I did warn you about that."
"I think I understood it well enough. Much like that poem, it is an overdramatic telling of tragedy, as most women would not kill themselves over lost love. It is another art form meant purely to convey emotion."
"Whoa, a couple of weeks ago you didn't know what an egg was, and now you're a fine arts expert? Are you even Ironhide?"
"Why, is my analysis incorrect? What is your opinion of the play then?"
"No, I agree with you. Though, you do remind me of Gerald."
"The officer Lakmé killed herself over?"
"Yeah, choosing duty over love. Sounds like something you would do."
"Perhaps in his situation I would."
"His situation?"
"He barely knew the woman."
Something about his stoic expression made his statement all the more funny.
"Oh my god, remind me to show you Romeo and Juliet next time we get the chance."
…
Sorry for the delay! I'm going to edit my next chapter right away so look out for that today or tomorrow! Thanks guys! Hope you enjoyed! (I recommend you look up the flower duet if you don't know what it is. (Though almost guaranteed you've heard it already)