Optimus tested his side gingerly as he and Phage strolled down the halls of The Ark together. "You did a fair job with the wielding."
"Ratchet and Huffer taught me fairly well." He picked up on the hint of humor she was attempting and couldn't help but smile himself from behind his battle mask. She giggled abruptly and added with a smirk, "Ratchet's going to kill me when he realizes what happened."
"I wouldn't worry much about it. What's one fudged medical exam compared to the hundreds I've conveniently missed?"
"Did I actually detect a sense of humor in that?" Phage retorted. Whatever foul mood had plaughed her before in the hall had seemed to disappear. As he glanced down at the smaller femme that stood roughly midway up his waist, he noted the gentle glow in her optics, the warm smile that stretched across her white flexi-metal face. Winter had thawed, if for the moment, and the sunshine that beamed through her touched him as well as put him in a better mood.
"What are you scheduled for right now anyway?" He didn't know why he asked that. The question had just popped right out of his vocal processor, but despite the layered meaning that the question posed, especially around this Earth holiday fast approaching called Valentine's Day, Phage didn't seem to think anything of it.
She shrugged as she walked beside him, in much better spirits now than when he had first bumped into her. "I'm off duty until tonight."
"What's tonight?"
She slid him a quirky smile as they turned one corner and headed down another hallway. In all honesty, he had no idea where they were even going. His feet just seemed to be carrying him wherever, and she was content to follow. "Don't you know, being my leader and all?"
"Shift duty manager is a rotational job. This week it's Trailbreaker."
"Ah."
"So what are you scheduled for tonight?"
"Rim patrol."
"Oh." Perhaps one of the most boring jobs available on The Ark, next to cleaning that was. A lot of 'bots hated sitting up on the top of the volcano and just watching the night sky for signs of Decepticons. Come to think of it, he needed to speak to Wheeljack about that security defense that they had been discussing building up there to get rid of that job.
"Things are so different around here now. "
Optimus found that it was his turn to blink. "Hmm?"
As was typical in Phage's fashion, her arms started to move about as she spoke as if she were trying it illiterate her point with motions with her arms. "Its…its, I don't know. Different. Everyone just seems like they suddenly have a lot of work to be doing ever since we found Cybertron."
"I don't understand."
She huffed as she frowned up at him. "Yeah ya do. I mean, before Ultra Magnus and Kup and all the others got here, before we found Cybertron and your Autobot Council, everything was so much more laxed. I'd catch you guys all the time just lounging around and enjoying yourselves, either with watching some soap-opera show or out playing football or…or something! Oh yeah, sure, when the Decepticons would finally rear themselves you'd drop everything and go to stop them, but how often did that actually happen? They were too preoccupied with trying to get the necessary resources to just remain functional! Now suddenly it's 'Ultra Magnus is here! Cybertron still exists! Shockwave is back and the Decepticons have a base!' and then wham! It's like somebody shouted out, 'Quick! Start acting like we were still at war and not on vacation for the last four million years!'"
Optimus didn't know whether to laugh at her comical explanation of their dilemma, or take it for its sobering real-life facts. Ever since they had found Cybertron things had become more difficult. While they gained old allies so did the Decepticons. Shockwave had returned, along with other Decepticon forces to the rather depleted ranks of Megatron's army. In prior years they had outnumbered the Decepticons, and it had been their numbers that had managed to keep the Decepticons at bay, despite their better fighting techniques and weapons. Now, Megatron suddenly had a force at his back and the Autobots…there was still the Council that he had to deal with. His long absence had stirred up some power mongrels that refused to step down and let him lead as he had done for countless millennia before. The Autobot forces were practically split in half, leaving him in the same position that they had been in before they had found Cybertron. True, there were a few new faces, such as Hot Rod, Arcee, Moonracer, Kup, the Protectorbots, but it wasn't enough. He was starting to feel pressed. He could just hearMegatron laughing at him. He could feel the Decepticons moving in for the kill.
He was about to respond to Phage's insight into their situation when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Prime came to a halt, staring at her quizzically. "Phage, what's –" he caught himself as he glanced down the long hallway stretching before them and caught sight of what it was she had just seen.
He hadn't meant too, but he had led them to the section of The Ark where he and the other Autobot officers had commissioned Sunstreaker (upon Phage's urging) to create the Hall of Reflection. Sunstreaker had shown his artistic side that he had been suppressing for several millennia and worked magic on the bleak halls of The Ark. On one side of the corridor was painted a seamless series of murals that depicted Cybertron back during the Golden Age. There stood the Spires of Iacon, proud and gleaming against a Cybertronian sunset. Further down, and with daylight quickly turning to night in the process, beyond several generic buildings and skyscrapers, was Nova Cronum, philosophical center of Cybertron, and just down from that was the legendary Crystal City. Further still, pass Maccadams Old Oil House and a few night clubs (undoubtedly the Terrible Twins twisted sense of humor, but one which the rest of the crew said to keep for laughs) was the Sonic Canyons. Pass the Sonic Canyons was depicted the Rust Sea, blended easily beyond with Hydrax Plateau, the primary spaceport and visitor processing on Cybertron. The scenery went on from dawn to dust, illustrated all the major points of Cybertron, capturing each special place of their planet's history down to the last detail. The other side of the hall however was much more somber and less reminiscence. The opposite wall reflected the images on the other side, expect it depicted each of those places, so highly respected and known, and showed them for what they had become after the war. The Spires of Iacon were stripped, some missing entirely, crumbled and destroyed long ago. Nothing but some Omega's de-armored claw tearing holes into the sky. The generic housing and work facilities were in a similar state of depression, the nightclubs were dark and uninviting, all except Maccadams Old Oil House which seemed to stand against the test of time and war just like it always was. Crystal City had been reduced to nothing more than broken fragments and shards, the Sonic Canyons had grown in size, gaping, threatening to devour Cybertron whole while the Rust Sea had become bone dry.
Optimus turned a weary optic away from the depressing Hall that wrenched both a sense of nostalgia out of him, anger, and sadness all at once. Optimus himself had never seen any other piece of artwork that Sunstreaker had ever done, but if he had, he would probably have to say that the Hall of Reflection was his greatest crowning masterpiece. It always struck his emotional capability chips every time he saw it.
But it wasn't the Hall itself that had stopped Phage in her tracks. It did not strike the same cords that it did with he and the other original crew. Where she, the Aerialbots, Dinobots, and other Autobots that had never seen Cybertron or its Golden Age gazed on it as if gazing through time and space, gazing into some temporal window in contemplation. He saw what she was really staring at, what had really got her to stop dead in her tracks.
Further down the Hall stood Hot Rod and Arcee entangled in each other's embrace. Kissing.
He could see Phage's cheeks turning blue again. He saw her scowl returning, that frown that could ignite Energon with a single look. Something else twisted her pale face too, something foreign, something he'd never seen her give before, an emotion he didn't think she had.
Jealousy.
Tension hung between the two parties. Hot Rod and Arcee had failed to notice them yet, but it hardly seemed to matter. Optimus could practically feel the air around him begin to boil, especially when the sudden silence between them brought to his attention the love songs playing over the PA system. It was that same song from before again, Jazz had some mixed CD he'd burning playing on repeat.
'Watchin' lovers walkin'
Hand in hand, they pass me by
Wish I was one of them
Wish I had somebody
Wakin' up beside me
Looking into my eyes at night
I want a love to call my own
I want someone that I can hold
Want someone wanting me
Wanna feel how it feels to be'
Abruptly Phage turned on her heel and started stomping her way back down the way they had come. Optimus was quick to follow after her and failed to note a startled Arcee and Hot Rod upon hearing Phage's clanking steps.
Her reaction to them had his CPU in a buzz. He'd never seen her react like that before, but then again, there'd never been any other femmes on base for her to compete with either. 'What's that even matter?' Prime thought to himself as he started after her. 'She's never given any 'bot a second glance anyway. What's got her so upset?'
He didn't have the time to stop her and question her about her behavior, because at that exact moment he got an urgent call on his communiqué. Prime stopped short and activated the call, leaving Phage to storm off to some undisclosed location. It was probably better to let her cool off first anyway, rather than question her while she was agitated by whatever was bothering her. As he had seen in the Medbay and knew from multiple other occasions, she could be a pain the aft to deal with when she was in one of her foul tempers. She tended to have a rather snappy and smart-ass personality when she was mad.
As Optimus tore his optics off from her fleeing backside he recognized the caller id as Prowl's. "Optimus here, what's the emergency Prowl?"
Teletraan-1 has picked up on some Decepticon energy signatures in sector 3, Prime.
Optimus stared dumbfounded at the image of Prowl on his . "Again? That's the third time this week."
Three times too many to be coincidence.
"Agreed. Something's going on. Gather up a scout party and send them out. I'll be in the command center shortly. Optimus Prime out."
He cut the link and started barreling his way towards command. He didn't like the signs of the storm cloud gathering on the horizon, as the Earth saying went.