"Hmmmm." Ironhide tilted his helm thoughtfully in response to Chromia's question, "Dare?"

She grinned wickedly, "You're gonna regret that. I dare you to comm First Aid and ask him out."

Ironhide gaped at her, "No. You wouldn't-come on, Chromia. Don't make me do that."

Chromia smirked at the usually tough bot, who was beginning to cringe, "You're just lucky I didn't decide to have you comm Optimus. Do it, or I win, Hotshot."

Grumbling, "I hate you so much." under his breath, Ironhide opened a commlink, :First Aid:

:What is it?: The medic commed back worriedly, :Is Chromia alright?:

:That pain in the aft is fine: He scowled at the blue and silver femme, who waggled her optic ridges at him, :I just have to ask ya somethin':

:Oh: First Aid paused, and Ironhide secretly added Chromia to the commlink, :Well what is it?:

'Hide cringed horribly, :…Would ya wanna go out with me?:

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the commlink as Chromia struggled to hold back her laughter. Finally, First Aid said, :Um Ironhide…you know…I don't really-:

Ironhide interrupted him, :Sorry for botherin' ya, First Aid. Chromia and me are playin' Truth or Dare, and she dared me to ask ya out:

:Ironhide: First Aid vented, both relieved and angry, :The commlinks are supposed to be for matters of importance, especially with everyone out on a mission. It's not for your stupid game!:

:My bad: Ironhide apologized again

:I would expect something this childish from Chromia perhaps, but not you:

:Hey!: Chromia said angrily, :Watch what ya say about me, medic!:

:Chromia is on this line?: First Aid asked

:Yup: Ironhide winced

First Aid hastily terminated the comm and Chromia burst out laughing, "You-hahaha-that was amazing!"

"I hate you so fragging much." Ironhide rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm never doing dare with you again." Then he grinned unexpectedly, "Your turn, femme. Truth or Dare?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Chromia laughed, "Dare. I'm not scared; you won't be able to come up with anything good anyways."

"Hey!" Ironhide put a servo to his chassis, mock offended, "Prepare to eat your words, femme. I dare you to…do a monkey dance for a solid minute. It has to be convincing, too."

"Fine." Chromia said boldly, figuring it wouldn't be embarrassing if she pretended not to care. She got up slowly, testing her weight on her peds, before standing completely unassisted, swaying slightly. "Ha!" She shouted triumphantly, "I told that stupid medic I could do it."

"I'm so proud." 'Hide said sarcastically, "Now, dance monkey."

Rolling her optics, Chromia began to shuffle awkwardly from side to side, pretending to scratch under her arms. "Eep eep." She muttered and Ironhide began to cackle

"Ya don't seem to be actin' any different, Chro-mo." He laughed, "Ain't this how ya are all the time?"

"Not. Funny." Chromia gasped, beginning to get a little light headed. She stumbled and nearly fell to the ground, but Ironhide stepped forward to catch her just in time. He hurriedly laid her back on the berth and hovered over her worriedly

"You okay?"

"Peachy." She groaned, her helm hurting, "Just got a little light headed is all. Nothing to worry about."

"Should I comm First Aid?"

"No!" Chromia practically shouted, "I'm fine, and that damn medic will only say 'I told you so' anyways. I'll be fine in a minute." She rested her helm back on her pillows and grinned up at him, "In the meantime, it's your turn."

"Aw Pit." He muttered

"Please, please, please pick Dare."

"Frag no." He poked his glossa out at her, "Not with you around anyways. Truth."

"Okay, fine." She sat up, thinking, "How 'bout….your most embarrassing moment with a femme."

He cringed, "Ya know I really, really hate you, right?"

"It hurts so bad." She rolled her optics and pointed a digit at him, "Spill."

Ironhide rubbed his neck, "It was probably…well when I was 'round Smokescreen's age, there was this femme…Silverstar I think her name was. I dunno, it was so long ago."

"Please." Chromia snorted, "Like you're so old. Anyways, go on, get to the good stuff."

"Long story short, I sent her one of those cards that said 'Will you go out with me?' and then ya had to check yes or no." 'Hide winced

"No way!" Chromia laughed, "That is unbelievably cheesy. What'd she say?"

"She gave it back to me the next day" He sighed, "With the 'no' box checked. Turns out she already had a boyfriend."

"Aw, poor widdle baby Ironhide." Chromia teased, "I still can't believe you were ever crushing on someone."

Ironhide raised an optic ridge, "Believe it. I'm crushin' on someone now, matter a fact."

"Who-oh." Chromia's faceplates burned as she realized what he was saying, "Uhhhhh…it's my turn right?"

Ironhide sighed, "Right. Should I even ask which one ya want?"

"No. Dare."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then scooted his chair closer to her berth, "Hey Chro-mo."

"What?"

His faceplates flushed, but he held her gaze firmly, "Dare ya to kiss me."

" 'Hide, you can't be-" She stopped when she saw that he was completely serious. She wanted to look down, embarrassed, at her lap, but she couldn't break away from his gaze. Damn those optics, she thought angrily, He's gonna get himself killed someday, and I'm gonna be a fraggin' wreck. Again.

And then she realized that at this moment she completely, utterly did not give a frag. All she could think about was how his lips had felt in that desert, so rough and gentle at the same time.

"Primus dammit." She sighed, and reached out, grabbed his collar plate, and yanked him to her, their lips meeting with an audible crash of metal. The kiss was passionate, tender, warm, and everything they both needed it to be, but Chromia forced herself to pull away after a few seconds.

"There." She wiped her mouth, pretending to be disgusted "Happy?"

He closed his optics, and sighed contentedly, "Relatively." He opened them again and stared at her, "Why do ya do this? I can tell ya like me, even if ya pretend not to."

"Hey buster, you already asked me Truth or Dare, and I believe I said Dare." Chromia crossed her arms, "This isn't truth time, and it ain't gonna be anytime soon."

"So that's why ya always pick Dare." Ironhide mused, "So ya don't have to tell anybot anything. Fine. It's my turn, and I pick Truth."

Chromia tilted her helm thoughtfully. There were so many things she could ask; something embarrassing perhaps? But there were things she genuinely wanted to know about him too, things that she was curious about.

"Why do you like me?" She asked suddenly, "I mean, there are about five or six other, more attractive femmes on this base, but you picked the one femme who's-who's rude and crass and fights with everyone."

Ironhide face palmed, "Chro-mo! Those are all the reasons I like ya, ya dumbaft."

"Really?" She stared at him curiously, "Why?"

He waved a servo, "I'm sick of all these prissy femmes to be honest. I like that yer tough and ya ain't afraid to say whatcha think. Although," He grinned, "Yer a little bit irritatin' sometimes."

"Oh, you're one to talk." Chromia rolled her optics, "You're the most annoying bot I've ever met. And that includes Starscream."

"Hey, at least I didn't completely humiliate ya on yer first day here!" Ironhide scowled

"That was why I humiliated you." She smirked, "You were being sexist and annoying. As usual."

His optics narrowed, "I swear femme, if ya weren't laid up, I'd take ya right here and now."

She smiled cheekily, "I'm sure you would try."

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Optimus always fought his hardest on the battlefield, and gave it every ounce of his attention. But today, his attention was being drawn to something else, something he couldn't help but notice about two of his soldiers, how amazing their fighting skills were.

Prowl and Jazz were, of course, two of his best fighters, next to Ironhide and Bumblebee, but it seemed as if their fighting skills had increased tenfold since the last time Optimus had seen them in battle. The way they moved, and took down Decepticons in sync without speaking, it was almost like they were the same bot.

It vaguely reminded Optimus of how Bumblebee and Magnia looked when they fought, how in tune they were with each other. But that was because they were bonded of course. He knew Prowl and Jazz had been dating for a long time, but he didn't think they were bonded…were they?

A Decepticon slashed at his helm, and he barely ducked in time, refocusing himself on the task at hand. He would ask his second and third in command of their current relationship status at a later time. Right now, he had bigger things to worry about.