It was a rainy morning on Earth. Fireblast was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping some low-grade energon. To be sure, she missed high-grade energon like she missed Decepticon-grade motor oil, but it couldn't be helped.

Microdigit was nearby, drinking motor oil. After another sip he put the canister down and poked Percy, who was drinking energon, too.

"Are you done with Scientific Autobot CPU, Perceptor?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm finished," Percy replied, handing over the magazine. Microdigit opened it and eagerly began reading.

"So…what's happening on Cybertron, Ultra Magnus, sir?" said Fireblast. Ultra Magnus was reading the Autobot Tribune, which he had subscribed to, among other magazines and newspapers.

"Well, they're going to cancel Autobot Makeover Madness," Ultra Magnus told her. "In fact, they're considering taking that whole channel off the air."

"Oh, Skydive is not going to be happy about this…" Fireblast shook her head and sighed. "Autobot Makeover Madness is her favorite show. Why in Primus are they taking it off the air?"

"Apparently, many Cybertronians believe it teaches young Autobot viewers that appearance is the only thing that matters," Ultra Magnus replied.

"I thought appearance is the only thing that matters," Fireblast joked, grinning. (Of course, she knew it wasn't true.)

Microdigit looked up from Scientific Autobot CPU for a moment and told her, shyly, "Well, you are very pretty."

Fireblast felt herself blushing a little and looked down at her feet. "Oh…um…thanks."

"I don't know why they would cancel the show when they get such high ratings," Microdigit said pensively. "That channel is one of the more popular Autobot channels."

"And it draws tourists to Central City," Fireblast added. "Ever since Skydive found out Autobot Makeover Madness is filmed in Central City, she's been insistent on going there. Not because she thinks she needs a makeover or anything, but because she wants to meet the makeover experts who run the show."

Ultra Magnus turned another page in the Autobot Tribune. "Oh, great…there's another article about that virus again."

"Let me see that," said Percy, grabbing the newspaper. "Dear Primus! It says, 'Each and every one of Cybertron's top scientists and medics are doing all they can, but it seems not enough. Quite possibly, the entire Autobot race could be taken offline by this deadly virus by the next stellar cycle. Where is the Elite Guard?' How dare they say that!"

"Well, the Autobot Tribune is the biggest newspaper on Cybertron, Perceptor," Microdigit reminded his boss. "So I guess they can say whatever they want."

"No, just because they're a popular newspaper doesn't mean they can say anything they want," Percy told him. "The news still has to be true…or, it should be true, at least."

"Well, at least the articles are true in Scientific Autobot CPU," Microdigit said, shrugging and smiling.

"Yes, I've written for Scientific Autobot CPU several times," Percy agreed. "It's my favorite magazine."

"Do Decepticons subscribe to any magazines or newspapers?" Microdigit asked, turning towards his potential girlfriend.

"Megatron subscribes to the Decepticon Tribune, Swindle reads the Cybertronian Salesbot Journal, and my mom reads Decepticon Femme, but that's it. I know Swordslash, my brother-in-law, likes reading the Decepticon Tribune too, though."

"What do Decepticons watch on TV?" Microdigit continued. Of course, he sort of wanted to know what the Decepticons did in their spare time, but the main reason he was asking all these questions was because he just wanted to talk to Fireblast about something. (And, if he had the choice, he would sit and stare at her all solar cycle long.)

"Oh, we watch all kinds of things," Fireblast said happily. "As you know, Skydive watches Autobot Makeover Madness obsessively…and she and all the other Seekers are always watching the Seeker channels…and Megatron is really into horror movies…my mom likes romance movies and soaps—even though you Autobots have the best of those…and we all love comedies. There's this show called Cybertron's Dumbest Citizens—hilarious. It's where they gather up idiotic Cybertronian civilians and see if they can answer simple questions, which they never can."

"Too bad we don't get that channel." Microdigit shrugged.

Fireblast just smiled and went back to drinking her energon. Microdigit was pretending to be engrossed in Scientific Autobot CPU, but really he wasthinking about when he and Fireblast kissed, and how much fun they had on Halloween—well, besides the fact that they ran into Megatron and his troops, obviously.

Maybe I could ask her out on another date, right now, Microdigit was thinking. I think she enjoyed the past few.

"Hey—um…Fireblast…I-I was wondering if, um…" Microdigit was nervous, yet again, but Fireblast was smiling.

"If what?" she asked, teasing him a little.

"Do you want to—to, um, go on a date tonight?" he blurted out.

"Sure," Fireblast answered, kissing him on the cheek. "I would love to."

"Don't think I'm giving you my credit card again, mister," Percy told Microdigit. "I wouldn't let you loose with it again even if my spark depended on it."

"Percy got a little mad about how I used his credit card to buy you that Decepticon motor oil," Microdigit whispered to Fireblast, and she giggled. Percy just sighed and went back to drinking his energon.

…

"Seriously, where are you taking me?" giggled Fireblast, pulling again at the blindfold over her optic sensors. Microdigit just smiled and led her on, happy for the excuse to hold her servo. He led her past downtown Detroit to the city's main park, complete with statues, old people, babies in carriages, trees, grass, and the golden glow of the setting sun.

"Okay, you can take it off, now," said Microdigit, sitting himself and his potential girlfriend down on the grass.

Fireblast did. "Where are we?"

"I just wanted to surprise you with a romantic sunset picnic," Microdigit explained, setting his picnic basket down.

"What's a picnic?"

"It's a human custom, sort of like dinner outside," Microdigit told her. "Except instead of human food we'll just have some of the motor oil I brought…"

"We can have our own picnic in the park," Fireblast said, smiling.

Microdigit reached up and gently brushed one servo across Fireblast's cheek. "Yes, and we can watch the sunset together, too."

Watch the sunset? Fireblast looked towards the western sky. It wasn't that late in the solar cycle, yet the sun was already sinking below the clouds. The sun set so early this time of year. The trees were bare; the ground was coated with their fallen leaves. The humans were beginning to leave, since the Earth was colder at night—and humans don't come with internal heating systems like robots do.

Turning her head away from the sky, Fireblast looked at Microdigit again—he was taking a white picnic blanket (with the Elite Guard insignia on it) out of the basket. As she watched, he stood up and spread it onto the ground, evening out all the corners and smoothing out wrinkles. Finally, he sat down on it and gestured for Fireblast to come too (she was still on the grass).

"For a picnic, you always need a picnic blanket," Microdigit informed her, taking a canister of motor oil out of the basket and handing it to her. "I know you don't really like Autobot motor oil, but…well, to be honest, that's all we have."

"That's okay," said Fireblast, kissing Microdigit on the cheek. "It's the thought that counts."

Microdigit looked towards Fireblast and smiled. The kiss was still burning on his cheek. As inconspicuously as he could, he turned on his cooling fans—because he figured he was going to be needing them a lot more than his internal heating system, once they started kissing for real.

Fireblast opened her oil canister and grimaced as she drank it—she was drinking it, of course, because she didn't want to be rude. Microdigit might not have realized it, but he really did look handsome in the twilight as he opened his own oil canister. Not the same way that Swordslash was handsome (although Fireblast didn't find the Decepticon trooper quite as attractive as her sister did), but handsome nonetheless, in his own nerdy way.

I know she HATES Autobot motor oil, Microdigit was thinking, as he watched Fireblast drink the oil he'd brought. Yet she drinks it anyway—what a thoughtful femme.

Microdigit put his oil canister down and gently reached out one servo. Fireblast set her own canister down and slipped her servo into his.

"I-I've never met any Decepticons before, besides you," Microdigit told her, avoiding her optics (he knew he was blushing again). "Of course, I have heard stories about how cruel and evil Decepticons are…but being with you made me realize that maybe Decepticons aren't all bad."

Fireblast smiled. "Megatron always says the Autobots are the evil ones—that they don't deserve to be in control of Cybertron—but now that I've been on the Elite Guard ship, I've learned that you guys aren't all that bad, either."

The sun was setting now; the sky was fiery red as it cast its amber rays of light across the city. Microdigit took a deep breath and felt the cool autumn wind blow across his face and he looked up, meeting her optics. "I don't care if there's a war on, Fireblast. If an Autobot and a Decepticon want to be together, they should be allowed to be together."

"So you…you want to make it official?" Fireblast asked, optics wide.

"Only if you do," Microdigit replied. (To be honest, this wasn't entirely true—if she didn't want to make it "official", he still would want to, very much so, but, details…)

"I do," Fireblast whispered, pulling him closer as the sun began to sink beneath the trees.

"Then please—let me be your nerd in shining armor," Microdigit whispered back, and as the sun finally set, he pressed his lips against hers, delving into a passionate kiss. Fireblast knocked Microdigit down on the blanket without breaking their kiss; they were wrapped up in each other's arms, on a picnic blanket in the park under the stars. And they were both hopelessly infatuated now.

TO BE CONTINUED!