Rhythm & Hues: Carry on Dancing
Chapter 5
Sunday
"If I see you two in here again in the next few solar cycles, I'll turn you into toasters. "
Purple optics blinked at the unfamiliar word.
"They're a human cooking appliance."
Doorwings shrugged negligently. Then Hues quirked a grin. "But Ratchet, you still need to go through our subroutines."
Rhythm waggled her doorwings playfully, hands tucked behind her back. "You did say you wanted to do it yourself. Does that mean you don't need to anymore?"
"No, it doesn't. What do you three want?" Ratchet snarled at the three mechs who'd stepped into his med bay.
"We're just here for the femmes," Smokescreen replied in a soothing tone.
Ratchet eyed the Datsun and then he glared at the Lambo twins suspiciously.
"Well, I do have this scratch…" Sunstreaker began.
"Out!"
Chortling, the three mechs left, dragging the dancers with them. Smokescreen guided them towards the barracks.
"So, to what do we owe the honor of your attention?" Hues asked.
"Well, Sideswipe and I have patrol in a few astroseconds. We just wanted to check on you two."
"Oh, how nice," Rhythm murmured, steepling her fingers before her lips.
"Rhythm says you sat with her while I was in for repairs." Hues brushed her fingers along the brothers' shoulders. "How can we thank you?"
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe exchanged grins. "How 'bout a kiss ?" Sideswipe tapped his cheek.
Hues paused, a confused frown on her face. "A what?"
"Just put your lip components to my cheek." Sideswipe turned his head, smile never fading.
Rhythm and Hues glanced at each other and shrugged. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had to slouch for the femmes to reach, even though they stood on their toe joints. Blue and red-orange lips pressed against the Lamborghini's ivory faces.
"Thank you," the dancers chorused
"Alright bro, now we can go on patrol. See you ladies later" Sideswipe jumped into his car form and sped off. A golden Lamborghini followed him.
"Hey, no cars in the corridors," Smokescreen called half-heartedly. He dropped his gaze to meet the Esprits' curious gaze.
"What can we do for you?" they all but purred.
Smokescreen quirked an eyeridge. "You know, you can drop the act."
Wide optics filled with innocence. Rhythm tilted her head as they continued down the hall.
"Whatever are you talking about?"
He waved a finger at them. "That is exactly what I'm talking about.
The dancers' smiles softened. "We know you mechs haven't seen a femme in vorns. We're just trying to, you know, do our job." Rhythm shrugged her doorwings.
"With mechs like the twins," and surprise flashed across their faces, "that is fine. But not me."
Hues gestured sharply in the direction Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had gone. "Twins? They're twins?"
Smokescreen nodded. The look the sisters gave each other made him wonder if the brothers ought to expect more of thanks. He turned his head to look down another corridor, effectively hiding the devious smirk that played on his lips. This might work out to his advantage.
"What ever happened to that security director? I've only caught glimpses of him since that first day." Rhythm asked.
Smokescreen chuckled. "Ironhide's been keeping him off your backs." He dropped his voice into a deep drawl. "It ain't proper ta pester femmes the way ya would, Red. If'n I catch ya bugging them, I'll lock ya in a closet far 'way from yer precious security cameras." He grinned. "That was more amusing than watching Prowl chase after Sideswipe."
Hues giggled. "Think he'd like a kiss , in thanks?"
Smokescreen shrugged his doorwings. "He's not into Earth customs like that."
"Earth custom? Here I thought it was some new Cybertronian fad."
They stopped in front of his quarters. He pressed in the code to open his door.
"A lot of us have picked up on Earth tradition. Humans have a saying, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans." At their confused expressions he added, "You know, it's like that old saying, 'When with a dancer spark like there's no tomorrow, when you're with a doll spark as long as you have money."
"Oh." Rhythm looked into his room after the door slid open. "Why are we here, anyway?"
"Because I have a proposition to make."
Their heads turned to him, optics narrowed in suspicion. "Oh really?"
He smiled and ushered them inside and onto a couch. "I know that you wanted time to prepare, but I was wondering if we could get an impromptu showing. Some," he continued, though their expression turned skeptical, "haven't even seen dancers perform. The last died in the invasion of Spire Falls." Their mouths closed over their objections. "Bumblebee wants to throw Spike a Spring Break party on Tuesday, day after tomorrow," he amended, "I was hoping we could get a performance.
Hues drew her door panels back. "You're making it sound like you have something to offer."
"Shrewd." He pulled two boxes from subspace. "Here, open them."
The femmes took and opened the simple cardboard boxes. Their optics lit up as they saw what lay inside.
Hues drew one of the larger rings out and examined it in the light. "What's it made out of?"
"Aluminum. The others are made out of various other light metals."
Hues set the ring back inside and eyed the rest of the shiny collection. "Not exactly as many as we normally work with."
A smile flashed across Smokescreen's face. He walked over to a set of drawers and opened the top one. "That's why that's free of charge." He caught a glimpse of their amused faces. "Now, this is what you'd be earning." He drew out several packages.
Purple optics widened as he unwrapped the packages to reveal colorful ribbons of various textures, and bells of varying sizes. But hesitance crossed their faces again, and so he clinched the deal. "Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are two of the mechs that have never seen a performance." And he had them.
Bumblebee and Spike sat across from each other one on a couch, the other on the transformer-sized table. They discussed daily life and how it changed since Spike went to college.
"Yeah, I really miss hanging out with you guys. Beating up the Decepticons… College is nothing compared to that."
The mini-bot chuckled good-naturedly. "Although I seem to remember saving your from a lot more Decepticons then you beat up."
Spike sniffed with umbrage. "I think you have faulty memory circuits."
They paused at the approach of feminine voices chatting back and forth.
"These must be those femmes you told me about." Spike stood as the reddish orange and blue dancers entered the lounge, followed by Brawn, their assigned guard for the shift. Purple optics turned on Spike. "Hi, I'm-"
Rhythm squealed and zipped over to kneel by the student. "I didn't know you had a pet! Oh, I want one, too!" Blue lips pouted at the human.
Bumblebee stifled a laugh.
The others in the room didn't try.
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe leaned against each other, systems locked in their hearty guffaws. Sunstreaker lifted a weak finger. "Hey Bumblebee, better make sure his cage has plenty of food and water."
"Is he housebroken yet?" Sideswipe hooted.
Spike crossed his arms over his chest and hunched his shoulders. "I can understand you, you know," he grumbled in Cybertronian.
"Primus, it talks!" Rhythm rocked back on her heels.
Stifling his giggles Bumblebee introduced Spike to the femmes. "He's our friend," he added. He looked up at Hues. "Why don't you come over and say hi?"
The red-orange twin stood off to one side, wary optics on the human. She shot the mini-bot a speaking look, but stepped up behind Rhythm, red doorwings twitching nervously. "Pay no attention to her nonsense. She's just a silly bot." Then Hues excused herself to the energon dispenser.
Rhythm bounced to her feet, giving Spike one final pat on the head before she joined her sister at the energon dispenser. Hues chatted with Blaster, but Rhythm rejoined the two on the couch. The spy picked up the distinctive hum of private chatter. "Bumblebee, do you know when Optimus Prime might be back?"
"Tomorrow, he's on a …. Ah… diplomatic mission for the Brazilian government."
She patted Bee's yellow knee. "Thank you. Now Spike, you simply must tell me more about your people. Hues and I have spent five stellar cycles here and we know less than a quarter of what the Autobots know."
