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Sentinel pulls up to the entrance of the ninjabot neighborhood, opening up to let Sari in and taking off down the road. "Sorry about that, Sari. I would have been over earlier, but Perceptor didn't want to leave his lab for this. It took him a lot of convincing, but he should be at the restaurant in time. Wheeljack assured me that he was leaving."
Sari frowns at him, "Perceptor? I thought you said that Rodimus was going to be Bee's date. Why are you changing that?"
He blinks. ". . . I thought Optimus was coming with us tonight."
She shakes her head, "No. Bee just commed to say he was already at the restaurant and was waiting for us to get there. He sounded kinda grumpy, honestly." She wiggles in his seat and pulls out some paints, adjusting his rearview mirror so she can put them on her face. "Sorry. I was running a bit behind so I didn't get time to put on the robot makeup I wanted to wear." She brushes a soft, glittering powder over her cheeks, and then slips her mask off long enough to paint red across her mouth.
Primus, she looks lovely. He would like nothing more than transform and kiss her. He just wishes they had time for him to do it. He hates running late.
"It isn't a problem, Sari. It isn't like I need the mirrors."
She puts the makeup away, smiling at him, "I'm glad." Her facemask gets placed carefully back, not smearing anything. "We're going to have to fix the other two dates, though. Do you think that it would be better for Rodimus to be with Optimus, then?"
He shudders at that, "No. Absolutely not. He'll refuse, since that's like taking over the old laws and doing Magnus's rights." He doesn't want to shove it in the mech's face about what he said before. It would only end badly.
"The Magnus's rights are all about getting to bang Primes and Minors, right?" Sari makes a face, "It's stupid. I hope whoever he ends up with gives him a good frag. I think Optimus needs it to loosen up a bit. He's kind of a jerk sometimes, and maybe getting some would help."
Sentinel snorts, "Unlikely. He's even more old-fashioned than I am. If the bot doesn't promise him a long bonding ceremony and courtship, he's not going to give up so much as a kiss."
She presses her facemask to his door in a faux kiss, "Well, I guess he'll just be irritated that we set him up with his secretary, then. We won't put him with Rodimus."
That reminds him, "Has Cliffjumper contacted you about possibly working in his place?" He did give the minibot that datapad of names, but they were in alphabetical order. No need to show off that Sari was in the list.
She nods, "Yeah. I'm not sure what to do, though. I mean, I could try to do it if he wants me to, but I don't think it would be a good idea. It would be seen as nepotism from Optimus, even if Cliffjumper is the one that got me. It doesn't help that he told me you gave him that list. From what Cliffjumper said, I seem to be the best person to ask. I'm not doing anything super important, and I'm essentially doing what needs to be done already, minus answering com calls.
"You would make an excellent secretarybot." And as for nepotism, well, it was a long and honored tradition to foster sparklings and young bots of the councilmembers' families in low positions in Autobot Command. There was nothing untoward about that. They took in an equal number of bots from families that were not highly ranked.
"Thanks." Sari snorts, "My dad's not gonna be thrilled though. I was supposed to work in his company, and now I'm gonna be a secretary."
"Lots of bots in Autobot Command worked as one. I did, in fact. Cliffjumper should have moved out of his desk before this, but never did. You would be very highly ranked." And he will be bonding with her. Her moving back to Earth when he will be Magnus is unthinkable. Even more when she will be having a high ranking job here on Cybertron because of this. She could easily move up in a few Decavorns. Already highly placed if she becomes the secretarybot of the Magnus.
She sighs sadly, "But I'm supposed to run my Dad's company. He built it from the ground, and now I'm abandoning it. It makes me feel terrible."
Sentinel gives her a squeeze with his seatbelts. "Plenty of bots run businesses on multiple worlds. Councilor Botanica runs her family's organic farming company remotely, only returning to see it in person once or twice a stellar cycle. If you like, I'm certain you could arrange something similar for your company. It would allow you to pull in extra funds, and perhaps set up . . . earth as an ally for our planet."
She snorts, "Doubtful. Very doubtful." She rubs his door, "But I'll see how it goes. Maybe it will work. Maybe not." She shrugs, looking slightly depressed, "Besides, if I live as long as I'm supposed to, I won't be able to return to Earth, anyway. I'll look wrong to them if I stay that long."
He has no clue what she's talking about. He imagines it is that evolution thing that Ratchet was rambling on in a side note on one of the reports. He can ask her later. "We're here." He opens his door to let her out, and transforms. "You go greet Bumblebee, and I'll com Perceptor to see where he is."
She nods, reaching up so he'll come down, and presses her facemask to his mouth in a kiss, "Okay. I'm sure Bee is freaking out, and I need to calm him down."
"Go, then." He watches her rush into the restaurant and scans the streets for Perceptor's truck alt. The mech shows up a few kliks later, puttering along at a leisurely pace before transforming up in front of him.
"I am still not certain why I agreed to this, Sentinel. I do hope you have not attempted to pair me with anyone foolish." The mech turns towards the entrance and Sentinel winces.
Bumblebee is certainly not . . science-minded.
He follows behind, "I'm sure he won't be." He doesn't actually think that. Bumblebee is impulsive and very foolish. He hopes this doesn't turn out terrible, or they can shame the minibot into behaving. Possibly Sari is telling the mech to be on his best behavior.
Perceptor gives him an oddly expressive look, one filled with disbelief. "That is Elite Guard Bumblebee. You think he won't be foolish?"
He looks in, and sees Bumblebee sitting at the table with Sari, fiddling with some ruststicks. "I'm certain he'll be on his best behavior. And remember what I said, I just wanted you on my side for this. You don't have to do more than just this one date." He said that for Optimus, but it will work for Bumblebee as well.
Rodimus wouldn't take his side against Optimus, so that's another reason to use Cliffjumper.
Perceptor sighs, "Very well. I suppose he will provide a good charge this sol, if nothing else."
Sentinel flushes and chokes, unable to say anything in the face of that comment. Perceptor walks calmly over to the table and sits beside Bumblebee, allowing Sentinel to sit next to Sari. The minibot scowls at him across the table, "Hey. Just thought I'd start the evening off right by lettin' ya know that if you hurt Sari, you're gonna wake up to a pair of stingers shoved in your spark."
Sari kicks the minibot under the table, "Stop threatening my boyfriend with kinky things, Bee."
The minibot gives her a dirty look, rubbing the dent she left, "Not what I meant, and you know it. If he hurts you, I'll-"
"He won't hurt me." She leans against him, holding him tightly, "He's not that kind of bot."
He smiles, kissing the top of her head, "I promised to keep her safe. Hurting her goes against that." He will be bonding with her, so that is that. In his mind, anyway. He wouldn't hurt his bonded to be. No matter what.
She nuzzles him, "Exactly.'
"Ugh, you guys are disgusting," Bumblebee mutters, and there's a sharp clang under the table and he hisses, staring at Perceptor in shock. "What'd you-"
Perceptor just stares at him blankly, and Bee falls silent, unsure of himself.
Sentinel wonders if the bot just hit him out of sight. Or if Sari had done it. It's hard to read the sciencebot most sols. Rubbing his hip, the minibot scowls and looks away, only to squeak suddenly, flushing with color. Sentinel risks a glance under the table and Perceptor's servo is buried in the bot's hip plating, fingers tugging at his wires and circuits.
He hopes he didn't make a mistake putting them together, but now he's a bit glad that they mixed it up. Perceptor doing this to Optimus is a sure way for everything to turn out horrible. He's fairly certain Bumblebee will be more than willing to follow Perceptor to the berth, while Optimus absolutely would not.
He rubs Sari's side, trying not to sigh. She moves her menu towards him so they can share, and he smiles. He has his own, but being close to his femme is just fine with him. "Will you be getting the crystal cube, Sari?"
She tilts her head, "Where is that?" He points it out, and she hums softly, "I don't know. I mean, you've only really been getting me energon with the crystals out of it. Will they be small enough or will they be too large? I don't want to break a gear again."
"Don't get it, Sari," Bumblebee says, his tone strangled, and only one of Perceptor's servos is visible above the table still. "Slag's always made of gross crystals. The ones that they can't sell on their own."
Sentinel scowls at the minibot, "I wouldn't suggest bad fuel for her. They use high quality ingredients here." Small crystals that are designed to easily fit in an average bot's mouth. They'd be small enough for Sari too.
She taps the menu pensively, "Maybe."
He smiles, petting her helm lovingly, "We can have it so the crystals are put in a separate cube to pour in however you want. Or we can just get an entirely different energon for you with several crushed crystals to the side." He taps the list of high grades, "Just choose from here."
She hums thoughtfully, "I guess? I like the Voxian high grade you got me a lot."
Bumblebee makes a strangled sound, "You got her Voxian high grade? That's-" the mech's vocals short out, and the minibot starts to pant. Most likely since Perceptor seems intent on the menu in front of him, while his arm is wiggling just a bit.
"You are going to get arrested for public obscenity," Sentinel warns the bot, but Perceptor only smiles faintly at him, the corners of his mouth twitching up for a nanoklik before going neutral again.
Both servos appear on the table top and Bumblebee vents with relief, shifting beside him. Sari stifles a giggle with her servo, "You guys are pervy. You can wait for the molesting until after, can't you?"
Perceptor looks at the menu, "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about." The truckbot's optics flick over to Bumblebee, "I am thinking about getting the rust mix. What about you?"
Bumblebee just gives the sciencebot a slightly shifty look, "I haven't seen the menu ye-"
The mech is cut off with a squeak by Perceptor yanking the minibot closer, "We can share."
Bumblebee blushes, a small pair of red circles high on his cheek arches, "I... I'm fi-... okay." If Sentinel didn't know better, he'd say the minibot sounded slightly lovesick.
He hadn't realized that Bumblebee had a crush on the stoic sciencebot. He was thankful for it, though. It meant that they would make a better couple than he'd hoped for. Perceptor would have been disastrous with Optimus. He'll have to draw Cliff aside at the beginning of their date to warn the bot to be . . . serious with the Magnus. Optimus is so very old-fashioned when it comes to relationships.
He looks at the menu with Sari, and murmurs softly to her, "Did you decide what you want?"
She frowns, "I really don't know. I don't want to break a gear, and this all seems like it is engineered to do it. I like crystals a lot, but..." She trails off, looking at him sadly.
He kisses her on the facemask, "I do think the crystal cube will be fine. But, like I said, you can just get a high grade, and we can order crushed crystals for you." He smiles, "I can eat them with you." He doesn't care too much for crushed crystals by themselves, but Sari seems to love having him eat them for her.
She smiles at him, "Okay. We can try it that way."
Sentinel turns to Perceptor to ask if they're ready to order, and then covers his optics with his servo, venting a sigh. The bot has Bumblebee on his lap, and is whispering in his audio. Bumblebee squeaks with shock and says, terribly loud, "Uh, um . . with an energy whip? Are you serious?"
The other patrons at the restaurant stare over at them, and Sentinel wants to melt into the ground with embarrassment. It's even worse when Perceptor answers calmly, not lowering his voice any, "Yes. It has been some time since I have had the opportunity to use it. I was hoping you would be amenable to trying it."
Bumblebee buries his head in the truckbot's neck, "I... I don't know. I've never tried it before. If you want, we can. I'm willing."
Sari sighs loudly, "Not at the table, please. Let him sit back in his chair, and stop talking about these things."
Perceptor gives her an unreadable look, and does not let go of Bumblebee. "We will stop talking about it, but I think he will stay right where he is." The mech squeezes the minibot's aft possessively, "Isn't that right?"
Bumblebee gasps softly, "Y-yeah. I'm good with being right here. He's comfy."
There's a warm weight on his lap suddenly, and Sentinel glances down to find that Sari has plopped herself down on him. "Fine. Then I'm sitting on Sentinel." She pats his thigh, "I like it here."
It's not appropriate, but many bots do sit like this, so he doesn't protest it. He can see a half dozen couples cuddled just like this across the room. The larger the size difference between the bots, the more likely the shared seating arrangement becomes.
Sari moves his head down, tugging on his helm, and snapping her facemask away to kiss him before putting her facemask back up. She pets his chest, giving him a possessive look, "Much better."
He knows he has that paint on his lips now, a tiny print perfectly sized to her mouth. He gives her a slightly rueful look, while Bumblebee makes an indignant noise. "Don't do that, Sari! You're-"
She glares, "You're the one that made sure everyone in the place knew Perceptor wants to use an energy whip on you. Don't tell me what I can or can't do."
Perceptor looks amused, "Do you use one on Sentinel?"
Sentinel stiffens, "We are not-"
Sari clings to him, interrupting, "No. Sentinel doesn't want to 'face for our first vorn together, and even if we were, I wouldn't use something like that on him."
"It takes a remarkable amount of trust to allow one's partner to use a whip on them," Perceptor says simply, before pulling one out of his subspace, igniting it with a click, the whip humming with charge, glowing a vibrant pink. "It hurts, of course, but the pain, given the right way, quickly turns to pleasure. It is amazing what the processor is capable of." He rubs his servo along the charged whip, and Sentinel winces, knowing that it has to sting like crazy, touching it that way. "I would be more than willing to offer you a demonstration some sol, Sari. Every bot should know how to give and how to endure a good whipping."
He holds her close, not allowing Perceptor to see much of her. "No. Absolutely not." He loves how fragile she is. Such treatment is abhorrent, and the idea of her being put under a whip is appalling. He glares at the truckbot, "Put that away."
They aren't going to be allowed to come back because of this. He likes this place. They treat him and Sari with respect, even if they only went once before and not for dinner. He doesn't like that Perceptor is ruining this.
The sciencebot turns the energy whip off, placing it in his subspace. "Very well." The mech teases at Bumblebee's seams, making the minibot squirm, "But you will like it, Bumblebee. I'll show you just how wonderful you will feel."
The minibot flushes and squirms harder against the mech, swapping paint with him, "I um . . I guess so. You'll stop if I don't like it, right?"
Perceptor nods minutely, "Of course. We will make a safeword for you. I will ease you into this. It is bad form to leave a mech leaking energon after their very first whipping session. You will have a stinging back and aft, but nothing worse, I promise. I am very skilled with this weapon."
Holding Sari a little closer, he murmurs softly to her, "If I had known this would happen, I never would have had him as an option at all. I would have gotten someone else to be the date."
She looks up at him, wide opticked, "I don't need to know this about them. At all."
He rubs her back, pressing a kiss to her head, "We may end up leaving soon, anyway. It looks like the manager is about to kick us out before we can even order. It is disappointing, since I had wanted to try the dinner here."
She nods, curling against him sadly, "Well, their energon is nothing in comparison what you make me, anyway. You make the best energon for me there is."
The manager himself comes over, his smile rather stiff and forced, "Would you like to order now? We are happy to serve bots of all persuasions, but we would like to remind you that this is a family establishment, and while there may be no sparklings present at the moment, they could arrive at any moment, and not all conversation topics are appropriate here."
Perceptor blinks and studies his surroundings, "Oh, yes. I had forgotten that you allowed younger bots here. You used to not. I will reign the conversation to more appropriate subjects. Please accept my apologies."
The manager's optic twitches, "Just remember it." The mech looks at them, "Are you ready to order?"
Sentinel nods, "I would like a cube of oil shale infused medium grade, while she," he nods at Sari, curled up in his lap, "wants a cube of Voxian high grade in a scooterbot sized cube with a small side of crushed crystals. Small enough to fit in her mouth easily, please."
The mech nods, giving them a small smile, "Would you like ruststicks?"
He shakes his head, "No, thank you." Sari tried ruststicks and was genuinely not impressed. He wanted to make his own version to see how she liked those before pressing other types on her. Better to have something made with love, rather than something they just pull out of a mass-market box or bag.
The managerbot smiles, "Very well." The mech's expression darkens as he turns to Perceptor, "And you, sirs?"
"Standard high grade with a bit of oil mixed in. I am not picky about the grade or flavor. Red Alert wants me to take more oil now." His faceplates wrinkle briefly. "Something about needing replacement oil after so many lab explosions."
Bumblebee points at something on the menu, a cube filled with layers of alternating colored energon, "I'd like to try that."
Perceptor kisses Bumblebee, then says, "He would like that in various types of high grade, rather than colored sparkling energon. As many types as possible, and as many shades as you can get. He will need the energy."
Bumblebee blushes, "I don't need to get overcha-"
"You won't be." Perceptor rubs the minibot's side. "You really will need the energy for tonight. Just fuel slowly, and you won't need to worry about that." The sciencebot returns his focus to the manager, "We'd like an order of ruststicks, and a order of crystals." The bot taps his fingers on Bumblebee, looking at the selection of crystals, "The ember crystals mixed with ice ones. Preferably ones that look the same, but I realize that will be harder to do. If they have the telltale streaks showing the difference, that's perfectly fine."
"As you wish, sirs." The bot looks quite unfriendly, and Sentinel knows they'll be getting slagged up crystals that are red and blue, easily distinguishable. Perceptor likely wants to fuel Bumblebee without the bot realizing what to expect each time.
Pulling Sari closer, Sentinel murmurs in her audio, "I hope the rest of our dates do not go this way."
She nods, cuddling close to him, "Yeah. It should be better, though. Optimus and Bulkhead aren't the kinda bots to let this happen. Unless Rodimus or Cliffjumper are secretly like Perceptor. I don't want them to do this to Optimus or Bulkhead."
He nods, murmuring softly, "I'm going to make sure that Cliffjumper realizes how serious it is to be on a date with Optimus. He'll know that Optimus only accepted this under protest, and just because it was you saying that he should. If it had been anyone else asking..."
She nods, "Exactly. Bulkhead was hard to convince, too, but we'll get there."
"Good." He kisses her cheek. "I wonder how Red Alert deals with him."
Perceptor smile across the table, keen audios having picked that up, "Red Alert enjoys handling a whip as well, though she is not as skilled with it as I am. I had to teach her how to use it properly after she damaged Wheeljack inadvertently several times."
He wishes the bot would shut up about the whip. They're going to be kicked out, and he is not going to be happy about it.
Sari glares out from his arms, "That isn't what we meant, and you know it. Stop saying things like that. I like how they do the energon here, and you doing this isn't helping."
He's glad she likes it. Kissing her head, he murmurs, "We can go again later if he gets us kicked out. It is clear that the manager likes us just fine, while being irritated at Perceptor."
He is fairly sure that while the sciencebot will be told not to come back, he and Sari will be told just not to bring disruptive guests again. Which he is more than willing to do.
The final bolt, of course, is Perceptor rubbing a servo against Bumblebee's pelvic plating, loudly asking, "Would you consider getting a valve mod for me? I would enjoy playing with it."
The manager comes over like a dark storm cloud, nearly vibrating with tension, "Sirs, we are going to have to ask both of you to leave now." He turns to Sentinel and Sari, "You two may stay. We've never had troubles with you in the past."
Sentinel sighs, "I'm sorry for th-"
Perceptor stands up, holding Bumblebee, "It looks like we have to go now, Sentinel. You both stay here, I'll be taking Bumblebee with me. You have fun." The mech sounds almost cheerful, "You can ask us about how much we approve of you two together later." The mech heads out the door quickly, and Sentinel wants to slam his head against the table.
He looks at the manager instead, "I am sorry about this. If I had known, I never would have done this. I wasn't expecting-"
The mech holds up a servo, "We understand. This happens sometimes. Is there anything of their order you'd still like us to bring out?"
He looks at Sari, thinking about how much she had liked that single ember crystal he had, and says, "The ice and ember crystals? They don't have to have the hidden taste markers for them. We're fine with the big streaks if you already have those out."
"We can get you the good crystals." The bot smiles at them, "You've been excellent customers here, and we like to reward that sort of thing."
Sentinel smiles and rubs his fingers against Sari's, "Then we'd appreciate the tray of those crystals. And . . perhaps the cube of colored energon." He'll prove he's a caring bot by offering it to Bumblebee the next time he sees him. The bot had seemed so enthusiastic about trying it.
The manager nods, smiling, "Of course. You will get that, as well." The bot gives him a sly look, "To go?"
He wonders when he got so very transparent. "Yes, please."
The mech smiles, "We'll do that, then."
He walks off, and Sari sighs softly against Sentinel. "I wish that Perceptor hadn't turned out to be such a pervbot. Bee was saying that he had a crush on Perceptor for awhile, and was amazed we set them up. I should have realized something like this would happen."
He pets her back, "It is hard to tell. Don't worry. We have the date here to ourselves." He teases her headfin lightly, "Want to sit on the other side of the table, or are you fine in my lap?"
"I like your lap. It's comfy." She wiggles on him and gets paint on her aft for her effort. Well, on her skirt, which covers her aft. Her armor is so very unique. It makes him want to slide a servo up under it, but he knows it's inappropriate because she's techno-organic.
He sighs, and kisses the top of her helm. "Then you can stay right there if you like. I like having you on my lap."
She nuzzles him, "Good, since I like being on your lap. It is wonderful to have you holding me. I feel safe and warm with you holding me."
His spark warms, he loves her feeling like this with him. He can protect her from everything, and he knows how much she loves it. "I'm glad." he rubs her sides, nuzzling her lovingly, "I know you didn't have any ice crystals since I couldn't find any. I hope you do like them. If you do, we can get a few and crush them with ember crystals. It would be much easier for you to eat, and you'd get the same experience."
"Sure." Sari smiles at him, trusting and sweet. "I like when you suggest things. They always turn out good, Sentinel." She bites her lip, mask retracted still, "I . . you're so much better than I thought you would be. You're different, and . . I really like the bot you are when you're with me."
He flushes, "Thank you." His spark pulses with joy, and Sentinel kisses his femme, unconcerned with the lip paint they're smearing with their kisses.
She giggles softly when he pulls away, and takes out a cleaning cloth to wipe at his mouth. "I think I'll take off my makeup. It looks like I won't need it, and you just constantly take it off of me, anyway." She removes the paint from her lips, then pauses, "Do you want me to keep the cheek glitter?"
He rubs her sides, "You look lovely no matter what."
She shakes her head, "No. I'm asking if you like it. I got it because I thought the models wearing it looked nice, but I want to know what you think. I don't really notice anything with me, but I'll keep wearing it if you like it. I don't care either way."
He touches her face, and the glitter comes off on his fingers, "I think... as long as we aren't doing anything too... intimate, it may be nice to have it on. You look lovely with it just like how you look lovely without. You got it because you liked it. You may as well use it."
"Alright." She grins at him, and then falls silent as the manager comes out with energon for them. "Thank you."
The bot smiles at them, "It was no problem. It's an honor to serve a couple so obviously working down the road to a bond. Your sparklings will turn out very cute when they get older."
Sentinel flushes. "I . . yes. Thank you."
Sari cuddles against him, "Thank you."
They both smile as the energon and crystals get placed in front of them. The bot pushes the ice and ember crystals closer to Sari, "As you can see, we had them sliced up. You should be able to eat them easily. It should taste better than crushed crystals, as well. We know that your dente will make short work of them, so we know you'll enjoy them properly."
She pauses part way from grabbing the crystal slices, "Are... are they hard?"
Sentinel kisses the top of her head, "No harder than the ember crystal I got for you. Softer, in fact. They don't have the pigmentation that solidifies part of it even more. You didn't have trouble with that part, you should be fine with this."
"Okay." She takes the crystal slice and pops it in her mouth, her gears grinding it up, and she blinks. "Oh. It tastes kinda minty. Like a peppermint stick." She grinds another one, "I like that." The third one she takes gets a blink, "Oh. Um. That's one of the ember ones. You mixed them up on the tray?"
The manager nods with a smile, "Yes. I thought you would enjoy it that way. It's like a surprise with each bite."
She nods, taking another and nibbling it cautiously, "I think I like the ice ones more, really. The ember ones are okay, but they need other things to even them out."
The manager smiles, "And that's why we have the energon. You two fuel up, okay?"
Sentinel nods, "Thank you."
The bot waves a servo, "It isn't a problem. You enjoy your date together."
They link servos and do just that.
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