"Is something wrong Sludge? You are rarely late for story time," Prowl asked as Sludge approached the group. By now every Cybertronian knew that Prowl and Jazz were going to be introducing their sparkling within the next week or so, and everyone also knew that Swindle and Smokescreen were both shutting down the betting pools on femme vs mech and primary coloration scheme.
Once Sludge stopped walking Beachcomber poked his head out from behind the much larger Dinobot. "Me Sludge need talk."
"Go ahead," Prowl placed the datapad on the rock next to him and firmly gestured for everyone to pay attention. It was rare for Sludge to be this assertive.
"Him Comber my mate," Sludge announced proudly and then tensed waiting for someone to object.
Hot Spot and Skydive both immediately grabbed Slingshot and Blade and clamped hands over their mouths.
"Congratulations," Prowl said to the pair once everyone had stopped shifting. "I assume there is a reason you are making a formal announcement?"
"Me Sludge took frames," Sludge announced obviously prepared for a scolding. "Me Sludge sparked."
"Me Swoop confirmed two sparks," Swoop said pleased that Sludge had finally come clean.
"How?" Rumble blurted out looking back and forth at Beachcomber and Sludge obviously perplexed. "You shouldn't fit."
And with that the day's story time turned into a detailed lecture on interfacing. Swoop started off with the main frame differences and a firm lecture about keeping chestplates closed with casual partners. First Aid make certain to stress firewall updates, viral checks and the proper use of lubricants. Prowl did not use living models but focused on consent and additional methods of stimulation and enjoyment.
The legend of the sparkling-causing trees became a fixture of modern Cybertronian legends when Beachcomber admitted that they'd been heading down south to have some privacy for quite a while now.
Ultimately the discussion about consent lead to the revelation of the Dinobots' theory about Decepticon leadership social dynamics.
"So Megatron is trying to keep the Seekers from getting sparked up how?" Hot Spot asked.
"Him Soundwave have potent spark and lots of sparklings. Him Megatron keep him Soundwave away from Seekers," Grimlock said with a firm nod. "No potent spark; fewer sparklings."
"Him Starscream distract by fighting Megatron," Slag added.
"Them Seekers sneak and mate with him Soundwave to get sparklings," Snarl concluded. "Him Starscream get trine reward after fight."
"That would explain a lot," Wildrider said looking at Frenzy's shocked face.
They are showing quite a bit of logical, deductive reasoning from limited information, Prowl observed as he relayed the debate triggered by the Dinobots who sat back looking smug.
Can we get them off nature documentaries and back to watching cartoons? I'm gonna need a magnet to get those images out of my processor, Jazz asked from his spot in their room cuddling their slowly integrating sparkling.