.".".".". The Next Morning .".".".".
Lucy was once again staring out from the open window, watching the view of the sky in silence. She had been dressed for a while now. Her clothing she wore were: A thin earth yellow sweater with a bunny embroidered around her chest down to her stomach, she had over the ankle light navy blue pants along with ebony boots that had pink flower patterns. Her hair was loose and neatly combed into a waterfall hairstyle, which had a braid around the back of her head and her bangs were pulled back.
She soon closed the window and made her way down the stairs. Grabbing her keys and shoving her phone into her back pocket as she exited the house, and began to walk the empty sidewalk. Finally arriving at the library as she entered inside. Lucy greeted her friend, and Lucy received a welcoming smile from the lady.
"Good morning Dear." Rikona placed the pen down onto the desk. The girl stood in front of the desk. "Good morning, Miss Nomusa" Lucy gazed at the librarian who stood up from her desk and strolled over next to her. The woman's hazel eyes studied her as she leaned closer to the young worker's face, although, because of the height difference. Lucy was taller than her. "How have you been?" She took a step back, a smile on her lips.
"I am doing well." Lucy blinked as her middle-aged friend studied her from head to toe. It's as if the lady had been quietly reading her thoughts, and what she said had her feeling uncertain. "You sure dear? You seem tense. Is there something troubling you?", A tiny drop of sweat appeared on her cheek at the woman's penetrating stare. Lucy smiled heartfully.
Lucy never liked keeping secrets. Especially to Rikona. She didn't want to be a burden and cause her the trouble of constantly worrying her. As if she would believe that robotic organisms from another planet are currently defending human kind from the tyranny of the Decepticons, and are disguised as vehicles. Yes. That sounds like a load of rubbish. Yet, Lucy is willing to keep it her little secret from Rikona, for her own safety.
"No, really, I am quite alright. You needn't worry. It's just that there was nothing else to do these past few days so…" she trailed off, slightly rolling her eyes. Rikonas' expression softened. "Well, If you want I can assign you to revise the categories around the historical section." Lucy's eyes sparkled with delight, nodding to the woman's suggestion.
The young worker strolled on over to the history section and began to patiently read each stamp which was number coordinated. Writing it down on a notepad and separating the books that don't belong there by a row difference. As the hours went by. The clock struck four in the afternoon. Rikona left an hour earlier for an appointment with her doctor and left Lucy to close up for the day.
The girl made sure all the doors were closed before leaving out the entrance. Closing the doors. She turned around and noticed the semi truck parked in front of the Library. A smile appeared on her lips as she walked down the steps, and stood in front of the passage door. The girl would have placed her hand on the paint job, but her arms were currently holding onto a laptop and two large science books.
"Afternoon, Optimus. I wasn't expecting a visit from you today.". Lucy said in a hushed tone. Tilting her head to the side. His deep voice echoed gently. "After the events of the previous day, it is my duty to take you back with the others. You will be in constant supervision from now.", She blinked, as she softly repeated his words in confusion, " 'With the others?'"
"There are more Autobots besides me. However, some of them are not aware of your presence." Some? Does she know any of them? Or maybe they know her? His passenger door opened, as she entered with ease. The seat belt once again held her torso neatly, a sly of a smile showed across her face.
His engine turned itself on as he drove away from the library. Lucy's gaze drifted onto the window, watching the buildings pass by before it was replaced by the sandy terrain. The silence inside the cab was exceptionally pacifying. They didn't need to speak, in fact, the atmosphere around them was much too welcoming to be abolished.
The base finally came into view as the truck now drove out of the road and into the sandy floor. She hadn't noticed him driving off the road when her line of sight was introduced by a barely lit up tunnel. The girl blinked in confusion then her eyes widen in awe. The place was gigantic, so to speak, though what caught her attention was the large green monitors next to an odd looking lever with a rather medium sized monitor above it. Optimus's vehicle stopped, yet his engine was still running as he then called out her name.
"Lucy." She jumped from her seat from his sudden speech. Her eyes landed on the wheel and stuttered her words ever so softly. "Y-yes?". His voice once again boomed throughout the cab, she swore she heard a hint of amusement in his tone. "You may exit my vehicle mode." Her cheeks turned pink, nodding in response.
She exited the truck along with her flustered face. Stepping away from his vehicle as he then transformed. The twists and turns for his original form are what truly amazed her. Lucy's gaze landed onto another Cybertronian, who's gaze pierced through her like a blunt knife. Her eyes widen, not because of fright, but because of his attracting looking form. He appeared to be the medic out of the entire group, he was fairly tall, yet not as tall as Optimus who stood beside her. The medics white and orange color scheme was truly eye-catching. She could feel her cheeks heat up slightly as her eyes stared into his bright cyan eyes. To her disappointment, his stare broke from hers instantly. She frowned slightly.
The old bot scoffed. His optics landing onto the leader before him, as he had a questionable look written across his metallic features. "Optimus, why is there a human standing right there?!" His gruff voice raised slightly as he motioned his hands towards Lucy. The medic was certainly shocked by this. More humans?! He questioned his leader, not wanting to believe what his optics had seen. "I apologize for not informing you, old friend, but I fear that the Decepticons could be targeting her as we speak." He paused but then continued. "The event had occurred the previous day." The prime briefly informed his medic who was not all too pleased.
"Having three humans is already hard on its own, yet now I have to deal with four!" The medic threw his arms slightly in the air in protest, yet the leader didn't seem fazed by it. Lucy only stood there in silence, watching the scene before her. She didn't want to stick around any longer as she walked away from Optimus's side. Making her way up the stairs.
As she made it half way up the steps she was suddenly glomped by an unknown person. Her belongings almost fell from her grasp, luckily her tight grip prevented them from falling. She glanced down at a young girl with two pigtails on either side of her head, which had pink highlights on the ends. The girl removed Lucy from her grasp as she now stared at her with delight, a grin appeared across the Japanese girl.
"No way! Another human. This is so awesome!" She exclaimed, rather loudly. Her voice ringed through Lucy's sensitive ears. "My name is Miko, and who might you be?" Lucy smiled sweetly at the girl. "Lucy. It's nice to meet you.", Just then, two boys above another set of stairs exclaimed her name loudly, "Lucy?!" Her eyes moved away from Miko and were now staring at Jack, and next to him was Raf. Lucy's eyes widen, calling out their names in shock. "Jack… Raf?"
Optimus and the medic had been watching the scene before them, as they both looked at each other in disbelief before turning their gaze back at the four humans. "The two of you know her?!" Ratchet blurted out loudly as the two human boys turned their head towards a surprised looking Ratchet. Raf smiled nervously. "Actually, I meet her before. She was the one who defended me from Vince. We've known each other for three months now." Jack crossed his arms, as he to responded. "I met her yesterday."
Miko gawked at the boys, her face showing a little bit of hurt in her eyes. "What? You two meet her before I did?! That's so unfair." The girl complained, placing her hands on her hips glaring at Jack. "Seriously?", Jack responded to her last comment but she simply ignored him as she walked passed him.
Lucy smiled. Walking up the stairs as she now stood in front of the two boys. "Blimey. Out of all the people to meet it was you two, not to be rude, but how did you two end up in this 'predicament'?" Tilting her head to the side. Jack responded. "Let's just say that we were at the wrong place, and at the wrong time.", he smiled, walking over to the couch.
She could feel someone's gaze pierce through her back. Turning around in search of the culprit. It was the Autobot medic, she didn't quite catch his name. Although, she got the feeling that he wasn't all too fond of humans. As soon as her eyes landed on him, he turned away. This confused her, though she shrugged it off lightly. Lucy walked over to a small loveseat and sat down placing her things next to her.
"Hey!" Miko called her out, as the girl shyly lifted her gaze to her. "What's that you got there?", "Oh, this? These are two science books and my laptop." Miko groaned loudly, squinting her eyes shut. "Are you one of those boo-". Jack butted in. "Miko!" the female teen only glared at him with a face that read, 'Problem?'.
Her expression softened. Feeling a light tap on her arm as she glanced at Raf, who was smiling at her. Raf was as excited as the others to have Lucy apart of their team. The two of them chatted, soon Jack and Miko joined in their conversation. Enjoying the time with laughs and making terrible jokes. The rest of the Autobots appeared beside them and greeted Lucy with open arms. Bumblebee, who was Raf's guardian had thanked her for protecting Raf. The rest of the group was shocked that she understood the young scout. Lucy was flustered, shyly curling her strand of hair with her finger. She was not used to this kind of attention, it was all new to her.
Two hours had passed by, the rest of the group left with their three humans out to eat. They invited Lucy to come, but she politely denied. Stating that she wasn't too hungry, yet Miko insisted that she would bring some leftovers for her. She couldn't say no to that offer and agreed. Optimus wasn't in the room, so he must be somewhere in the halls. The only ones who were present in the room were her and the Autobot medic.
Lucy was silently tapping away on her laptop, while the medic was located in the medical bay. The air around the room was thick, though the girl never minded the silence. She found it quite welcoming, that was until a low groan caught her ears. Turning her head slightly to the left, observing the orange and white Autobot narrowing his eyes in frustration. She couldn't help but find the scene mildly entertaining. The girl didn't realize she was staring until the medics gaze landed onto her. Her cheeks heated up before swiftly looking away and back to her laptop screen.
He raised his brow-ridge before resuming his work. The fact that there was another human irritated him, which meant there would be more distractions. Although, the girl never spoke beside chatting with others in a soothing and hushed tone. Her voice would send his spark into a fluttering frenzy, and this bothered him. He grumbled to himself, grabbing his wrench and began to fix a broken machine that bulkhead accidently smashed, again. He needed that.
Lucy could hear his low murmuring from afar, she peeked over to where the medic was. His back was turned away from her. She closed her laptop, placing it on the loveseat and strolled over to the other side of the railing. The medic was cursing under his breath and this made her smile. She wanted to learn more about them individually, and the Autobot she wants to know more is the grumpy old 'bot before her.
A loud clanking echoed, which was enough to make him groan loudly. She stepped forward placing her hands onto the railing. "Is everything alright?", her voice made the medic jump, making him drop his wrench with a loud bang. She too flinched but never moved from her spot. His optics landed onto the young female who stood next to the railing to the med bay.
He had a questionable look across his optics. "Shouldn't you be focusing on… whatever you were doing?" he mumbled, picking up the wrench from the floor. "My assignment has already been completed. I have no need to continue something that is already done". She stated softly. Ratchet glanced at the girl momentarily before averting his eyes away from her. "You are such a shufflebutt."
"W-what?!". He cried in utter disbelief. Was she trying to insult me?! The girl had an apologetic smile before clarifying herself. "Oh, s-sorry! Shufflebutt isn't insulting, it means a person who is restless or being rather fidgety.", 'Blimey, I muck up that one didn't I?.' Lucy began to curl a strand of her hair with a single finger shyly. Her cheeks beginning to warm up from utter embarrassment.
"You humans and your strange vocabularies.", he scoffed turning away from the femme. Lucy raised her gaze at the medics back, slightly frowning. "Do you need any help?". She asked, in a hushed tone. The medic responded rather harshly without turning towards her, which made her heart sink. "No. I am perfectly fine working on my own. Now would you please, quit pestering me."
"I just…wanted to help.". Her voice cracked, which caused him to abruptly stop. Did he dare to look at her? Yet, he did and what his optics saw caused his spark to ache uncontrollably. There stood the femme with watery eyes trying hard to keep the tears from falling. She slowly stepped away from the railing before whispered softly, "I understand"
Ultimately regretting his poor choice of words while cursing his Cybertronian pride inwardly. Ratchet stepped forward, reaching his free servo towards the femme, but nothing came out from his lips. He watched as the girl disappeared inside the elevator. The medic was never known to lose his cool, but it was all too overwhelming. Gripping his wrench tightly before launching it into the nearest wall next to him.
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The sun had finally set over the horizon, as the moon appeared, so did the stars across the night sky. She felt the cold breeze tickle her damp cheeks. The tears she kept from spilling out had fallen down when the elevator door closed behind her. What the medic said to her hadn't left her mind. Was she really a bother? No, that's just nonsense. From the moment she laid eyes on him she could tell that he was not too fond of having humans around. This all made sense. He never meant to hurt her.
Loud footsteps could be heard, and the robot who stood behind her was none other than the medic himself. His guilt was eating him from the inside out and he couldn't concentrate properly. Ratchet came after her, which is odd for him to do so. He felt out of character from his usual grumpiness. The medic stood behind the femme, unsure of what to say.
He pinched the bridge of his…nose? Gaining enough courage to stand next to the femme. Lucy smiled to herself. "The stars look wonderful tonight. Wouldn't you agree?". The medic's optics drifted down to her figure, yet her gaze was fixed onto the stars. His spark once again skipped a beat, and he cursed himself inwardly before uttering a soft reply. "Yes."
Her eyes landed onto the medic beside her. The welcoming lights of the moon had shined down onto his armor, and the contrast from its original orange and white hue had been softened by the light. The longer she fixed her stare onto his attracting face, the tingling of her cheeks would continue. Tilting her head slightly and spoke with curiosity. "Pardon me, but I never got to know your name.", he tilted his head down, staring at the girl. "Ratchet."
"You have quite a unique name.". He clearly didn't expect her to compliment his given name, it left him surprised. "Um… thank you.". The smile she gave him was intoxicating, and this made him smile unknowingly. Lucy once again complimented him, "You should smile more often. It suits you.". Ratchet blinked before his smile disappeared and was back to its usual grumpiness.
Why did he force himself to come up here? Maybe he should have stayed where he was most needed. No. This is where he was supposed to be, and he wasn't going to let his pride get the best of him. As he was about to speak the young femme spoke before him. "Let me guess, you are going to apologize for what you said before.". Her eyes landed on his wide ones. The way he looked was all the kind of cuteness and was enough to make her giggle softly.
"How did you…". He trailed off, leaving him temporarily glitched. "You never meant to hurt me. The words just…slipped right out.", an aching feeling rushed through his spark chamber. He didn't realize his expression change into that of sadness. The pain was written across his optics. Lucy smiled sympathetically. "You don't have to say anything. I forgive you, Ratchet."
Her alluring smile was enough to make his metal cheeks heat up, and the girl quickly noticed it. She blinked, surprised to witness Ratchet blushing. Just how much adorableness could she take? Lucy giggled, covering her mouth with her fingers. "Oh Ratchet, I didn't realize Cybertronians could be all flustered."
Ratchet's optics widen before looking away, feeling utterly embarrassed. Lucy couldn't get enough of him. He was all too overwhelming and it was causing her to have the butterflies tickling her stomach. She just stared at him with a smile on her lips as he somewhat pouted like a giant baby. The girl's gaze was back onto the starry sky, feeling the cold breeze kiss her cheeks. Ratchet straightened his face and took a quick glance at the girl then back onto the stars. She was right. The stars really do look wonderful. He could feel the wind brushed against his armor leaving light tickles upon it.
For the first time, he felt in peace. Being occupied around their HQ for such a long period of time, and never getting a good recharge had really taken its toll on him. He allowed his body to relax as he gratefully enjoyed the moment. Closing his optics and a shadow of a sly smile spread across his lips. As the night went by, neither had spoken to each other. They didn't need to. The silence was their conversation and they were in complete contentment. He was glad to meet her up here, and that alone had satisfied him greatly.