-Chapter 5- Learning and Growing-
"In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson."- Tom Bodett
"So, you aren't a doctor yet?" Blades asked as he looked down at their family's newest addition.
"Not yet, there is still quite a few more classes and training for me to do." She explained as she looked up from where she was seated outside the fire house.
She and the family decided to spend the day outside, enjoying the last of the warm weather before Griffin Rock became overcome with snow and ice. The air around them was a nice cool, while the sun shone down just enough to keep everything even and comfortable.
"Right now, all I need is a hands-on training course, an internship, and then I will get my certification. Once that is over I can go back to school to train to be a general practitioner." Jess explained as she in turn looked up to the Cybertronian whom was very curious about her and her arrival.
"Sort of like Graham and his Engineering stuff?" Blades asked as he looked behind him on the basketball court to watch the rest of the family play around with their various activities.
The Chief, along with Dani and Kade, were tinkering with the old vehicles on the property to make sure they were all in working and functioning order. Graham and Cody were tinkering with something that was a part of Graham's mid-term project coming up, and the bots for the most part just stood by and made commentary at what the humans were up too.
"So, why aren't you in school than?" Blades asked her genuinely, but it came out a little snarky. Jess didn't mind, as she figured it was just how he asked for clarification on a given subject. She used to work with someone like that, so she knows he means no harm with the tone of his voice.
Some people just have a naturally higher pitched voice that always sounds like they are complaining or whining. Mostly, it isn't the individual's fault their voice sounds like that, so she tries to give everyone a chance to say what they wanted to say without giving any kind of judgmental attitude or disposition.
"Well, it's my break time. I have a few weeks off for the upcoming holiday season." Jess said as she stood to stretch from the chair she has been sitting in for so long. She had her bag sitting next to her on the grass, long discarded after her game console died. She was never good with keeping batteries charged on any kind of electrical device, she was a little absent minded when it came to things like that.
"Oh!" Blades said happily as he went back to watching the Burns family continue working on their various projects.
They stayed in silence for a while as Jess stretched her limbs and returned to her chair, though instead of playing her game she went to check her messages on her phone. Nothing exciting was happening without her, which was good, she hates missing out on potentially exciting situations… Exciting situations that aren't life threatening and no one could get physically hurt.
Celina reported nothing new, beside the cute pizza guy she scored a date with when he came by to drop off her dinner at the house. Her professors seemed to be wishing her nothing more than a happy break and to relax and enjoy it, and her Mother had not sent her a message in a few days, oddly enough for her. It felt like ever since she moved out, her Mother had nothing better to do than send the young woman messages.
It is either she has finally found her missing inspiration to continue on her latest novel, or her Father is keeping the chatty woman at bay, convincing her Jess was safe and sound with her Brother on the small island. She missed them a lot, as she never really got to visit because everyone was always so busy. In fact, this is the first break from school Jess has had where they haven't all planned a trip together, as the norm was they would al take time off from work to go on a crazy expedition somewhere.
Last year, during Christmas, she and her parents went to visit some of her family over in Japan, which was one of the best trips she ever experienced. Her family over there was so warm and inviting, and they were glad to teach her their cultural ways so she could have a better understanding of how to navigate the island without looking like a fool tourist.
Her Mother was proud and joyous that the family accepted Jess so well, even though they have a little difficulty accepting her. Jess' Mother was convinced that it was because she was Caucasian and American that his family did not approve of her, and she was possibly correct. There was never any open hostility in the family at all, but there was always subtle body language that explained exactly what they couldn't convey into words.
Her Mother had a hard time learning Japanese, and just never seemed to pick it up, but Jess and her Father could hold full conversations in his native tongue because he made her practice when she was little. She grew up pretty disciplined, almost like a Japanese student, with extra classes to excel and having productive hobbies that could help her find success as she grew older.
She would never describe her childhood as terrible, sure it had its ups and downs with some money issues and with her Father's citizenship test, but that was all behind her now. She never doubted that her parents loved both her and each other, and it was a blessing to always grow up seeing what a healthy relationship looked like. She has had her bad ones in the past, but she knew when things would not be able to work themselves out. She will always be grateful for who they are and what they did for her.
"Hey, Blades?" Jess asked as she looked back at the bots again "Is Heatwave ok?" They turned to see the bot staring intently at Jess, and he had been doing so for the past few hours, and it was worrying her if she was being totally honest with herself.
After that night with the fire, the bots have been so open and kind to her, as if they have known her for a long time. They answered all her initial questions with sincerity and amusement, as she asked more in depth questions than anyone else they ever ran into, except maybe for Graham.
She asked where they were from, how long they had been in space, if space travel was kind of like air travel, if they experienced culture shock in the same way humans do. It would have lasted forever if the Chief hadn't cut it short to usher her back into the house to give the bots and her a break from their ordeal.
Heatwave… He hasn't said much since she started to converse with them. It has mostly been conversation with Blades and Chase, with mild commentary from Boulder. She tried to think nothing of it, but it was a little strange to her given his previous behavior. He was the only bot that she really interacted with, and talked to, before she found out they were sentient.
Maybe it was easier for him to connect to someone who had no expectations for him besides to behave like a pre-programed machine, or maybe he was feeling regret for treating her too kindly, maybe he was not expecting her to stay long enough to find out about their secret and that he wanted her gone. She tried to keep those negative thoughts at bay, but in the end they always seemed to worm their way into her mind.
"Heatwave?" Blades asked as he seemed to notice the pair starring at him, which made him turn away quickly and pretend he was not acting strangely at all.
Heatwave was having a few of his own issues begin to arise in his processor, causing not so very kind thoughts to enter into his conscious thinking mind. He absolutely hated over thinking about what other people and bots opinions might be, but sometimes a bot can't help but do just that.
Ever since she found out about them, he has wanted nothing more than to get to know her a little bit better and maybe even become a closer friend and potential guardian to her, but his pit forsaken processor just wasn't having any of it. His spark seemed to argue with the negative notions his processor was subjecting him too, but the protests was so quiet it might as well be non-existent.
He thought that maybe she was judging him, mad at him for not acting sooner to help or even prevent the fire she found herself caught up in. Maybe she would hate him if she felt she couldn't openly talk to him, since he could form his own opinions and thoughts on situations. In reality, he admitted he was a lot like Kade in thought process and opinions, and since she and Kade were very close that maybe they could be close to.
He wanted to take that leap, to be able to talk to her openly like Blades seems to be able to, it's just his damn insecurities getting in the way of his social skills again, just like on Cybertron during his training as a rescue responder.
Blades looked back over at Jess and shrugged his shoulders, a signal that he had no idea what Heatwave was thinking about or why he was behaving rather oddly. She just decided to shrug it off for now, as it was getting rather late on this lazy day, and she wanted to get dinner started before it got too late. She gave the bots a good bye as she grabbed her bag and made her way into the fire house.
Jess and Blades weren't the only ones to notice the odd behavior portrayed by Heatwave, as Kade began to grow increasingly frustrated with his partner. Before hand, he couldn't get Jess to leave the bot alone, calling him the coolest piece of technology she had ever seen and how much she enjoyed his company whenever she took him out driving somewhere.
Kade could also tell that he was hiding something, and he was a guy who wasn't very open with the kind of deep emotions he feels. He was more like the kind of guy to bury them and deal with them as a whole in a private setting where no one could hear him rant or see him do something embarrassing. It was an unhealthy tactic, but it was his way of dealing with things.
Heatwave did not seem to have a good system for dealing with his emotions, as he just appeared to let them consume his entire mind so that he can't focus on anything but what he is feeling. It is dangerous to do during a rescue mission, as everyone on the team needed to be at the top of their game if they wanted to be successful. It made Kade wonder about the bots ability to lead his team correctly if he is going to let his cousin intimidate him into silence and frustration.
The family remained outside until the sun began to dip down below the horizon, and decided to pack it in to get ready to rest for the night and wake up early to begin their morning routines. No one was scheduled for Night Duty due to the slowness of this time of week. It gave the team a break and a chance to catch up on missed sleep.
Jess found that the longer she stayed at the Burns home, the more restless she began to grow. She always had trouble growing accustom to a new sleep pattern and area, but this was starting to really bother her. Even after everyone was tucked away in their rooms, and everything was dark and quiet, she found it hard to relax and let go of her thoughts.
She sighed as she sat up on the couch looking at the door to the garage, and then looked to her game console charging in the corner next to her phone. Both devices were dead when she plugged them in not an hour ago, so they were far from ready to be used at their maximum intended efficiency. It looked like it was going to be another restless night starring at a blank wall with racing thoughts that had no coherent lines to them, just a jumble of random information that decided to pop up and make her question things even more.
She stood up and pulled her university jacket over her head to cover up her white tank top, and put on a pair of socks to slip her tennis shoes on and travers outside to sit in the chair that was deemed hers. She was a little disappointed when she walked through the garage and Heatwave was nowhere to be seen, as he must have been in the bunker below with his rescue team. She wondered if they needed to sleep, she assumed they did, as most things, organic or not, needed some idle time to recharge and become more capable at doing their intended purpose.
As she found her way outside, she sat down in her chair and shivered a little, and regretted not wearing sweat pants to bed rather than a pair of small boy shorts. She forgot that when the sun goes down in Autumn, so does the natural heat in the air. She got used to the brisk cold rather quickly and decided to look up at the stars that shined brightly against the never ending void of space.
One cannot really see the stars where she lived in California, as it was a city that never seemed to go to sleep; someone was always awake and working. It amazed her how beautiful the sky looked without so much light dancing across to cover the natural beauty that existed there already. She wondered where this Cybertron was located, and how far away it really was from Earth.
When that thought happened, she felt herself grow a little sad for the Rescue bots, and even the team she heard about on the other side of the continent. They are so far away from their real home, a home that could no longer sustain them or keep them alive. They are forever refugees to the harsh elements that are in space, and are forced to survive on a lack of supplies.
If it was her choice, she would welcome all these bots from Cybertron to come and stay here with the humans, though there are a few factors stopping that from happening. She heard briefly that not all Cybertronians are friendly, that some are actually very bad bots whom want nothing more than to rule the galaxy and destroy any species that isn't them. Humans are the same way, sometimes, they are afraid of change and incapable of being friendly to someone who is a different ethnicity or sexuality, let alone species from another planet somewhere for away from their comprehension.
She was cut off from her negative thoughts of humans, as she heard heavy footsteps heading towards her location. At first she jumped, expecting the worst, but she soon recognized it as the walking of one of the rescue bots, so she let herself relax again and look up until they turned the corner so she may see who found their way over to her.
She wasn't all that surprised actually, as it was Heatwave that turned the corner and froze like a deer caught in a spotlight. She remembered him always being there whenever she was up, and maybe considered the fact he was like her in that way, restless and unable to relax when the mind begins its barrage of thoughts and ideas. It made them an opposite of Kade, someone who could sleep through anything and everything, which was something she was always envious of.
Jess said nothing as Heatwave came completely around the corner to stare down at her, as she just smiled up at him and huddled to herself a little bit more. The cold was starting to affect her, and her jacket was doing nothing to remedy the situation. She did not want to leave now though, as some invisible force finally put them together in order to get them a chance to speak in private.
It can be a little bit difficult to find a time to have private conversation in the Burns family, as they are a rather large and honest people who share everything they feel needs to be shared. Even with their high demand jobs, the family always seems to find a way to keep each other in their circles. Besides bedrooms, there was no real place inside the fire house to be completely alone. Especially now, with the bots in the bunker, almost nowhere was empty now.
"Thank you, by the way." Jess said as she returned her attention to the bot after a few minutes. She waited to see if he would leave on his own after he spotted her sitting in the lawn chair, but he did not, and simple starred up at the sky the same way she was before.
He was trying to think of something to say, something to break the proverbial ice, as the humans would say, but nothing was coming to his mind. He was too busy thinking about how much he actually missed Cybertron, and how far away he actually was from his home world.
When he was a Sparkling, he had always wanted to see the galaxy, to see what kind of adventures and troubles he could get into beyond the walls and barricades of his home world. It was one of the reasons he became a rescue bot, to not only explore, but to help save the lives of innocent Cybertronians whom found themselves the victims of bad circumstances. It was his passion, and he performed it very well, which is why he passed the academy with flying colors. It was why he was a leader.
He has done what he has set out to do, he has saved the lives of many innocent people and bots alike, he has explored the galaxy around Cybertron and has been on plenty of other alien worlds, and yet he can't seem to find the courage confront this human femme that he will admit he finds pretty captivating. He won't admit it out loud just yet and probably will never admit out loud, but it was the one thing his spark and processor can seem to agree on.
"Thank you?" Was all the was able to seemingly squeak out as he noticed how nice she looked sitting there in the light of Earth's moon. Heatwave was never one to be considered poetic, but in his optics, she managed to make the stars in space look so dull compared to the glow she seemingly emitted without knowing it.
"For listening to me all those times and comforting me when I needed it the most." She said as she smiled brighter, and Heatwave swore he felt his spark fizzle out in his chassie "You are a good soul, Heatwave."
He began to form words in his processor, but his mouth-plating refused to move and form the words he wanted to say, which was mostly it was not a problem for her to dump some of her issues onto his shoulders. He was Cybertronian, and had rather large shoulders. His processor was just made of mush, and just simply coughed and nodded his head in an attempt to say it wasn't a problem.
Jess accepted it, as she let her smile falter to allow her to relax a little in the bots presence, as she returned to looking up into the sky at the never ending light show that was space. It was way bigger than the humans would even know, bigger than any Cybertronian even knew. He wanted to, at that moment to ask what was going on in her mind, as it looked like she was having just as much trouble recharging as he was.
"It's crazy, when you think about it." Jess began, as if she could read Heatwave's mind "That there really is other life beyond our small oasis of a planet. We, as humans, have always wondered. It is just a lack of technology to check."
"All of you, all of you question everything we thought we knew about life, we thought that it was all organic, evolving-"
"Actually, we are more complicated than machines." Heatwave said, cutting off her train of thought in order to correct her information "We are Bio-mechanisms, you cut us and we still feel pain and bleed, we are just covered in mechanical parts to help enhance the ones we already have."
"So, you are born or created?" Jess asked while turning slightly in her chair to look up at Heatwave fully.
"Both, or, created?" Heatwave said, trying to ignore how cute Jess looked when she starred up at him with curiosity "It's kind of complicated."
"I've got nothing but time." Jess said as she smiled while trying to show him that she was very interested in this subject matter.
Heatwave wasn't a medic, or a biologist, but he knew enough about his species to know how they formed and created. How different it was from how humans and babies were created on this planet. A lot of species on this planet were mammals, giving organic birth and caring for the offspring that was produced until it is ready to lead its own existence. There was a similarity in Cybertronians, but there was more to it than just the acts of procreation and the care after.
He explained that Cybertronians, in a sense, were both organic and machines. Both natural biological parts and technological parts could be located within him and the other bots if you decided to take a look. Things like T-Cogs, which allow them the transformation sequences, are biological and cannot be produced like machinery parts. However, things like limbs and optics were replicable, should the receiving end of the new appendage still continues to function after the damage was taken.
He also mentioned that it takes more than just the act of interfacing to create a new sparkling life, as since most Cybertronians have a very long life span, it would be counterproductive to have accidental births and procreation. All parties participating in the creation of a new sparkling must consent to the creation of a new life, and a carrier must be chosen to house the sparkling until it is ready to be placed into the youth housing sectors to be taken care of by the bots dedicated to the child rearing caste.
Most designated carriers were designated into the caste of child rearing, but there have been known to be a few exceptions here or there. A sparkling if formed not during interface like it would be in humans, but during Spark Merging between very good friends or mates. The designated carriers spark holds onto the new life that has been placed in its care, being kept alive by the warmth and energy from the existing spark.
From there, after a designated time in which the spark is housed with its carrier, it and said carrier are placed into the care of the protoform specialists in the medical caste, which very carefully removes a ready spark to place it inside its own chamber. The chamber is then placed into a blank and awaiting protoform, which holds all the needed organic and mechanical parts to survive, and in a few cycles begins to take life as a brand new Cybertronian Sparkling.
All sparklings start out small, and with no protective outer plating, but once they grow under the watchful optics of the child rearing caste, they are fitted with armors and protectors based on a mostly pre-determined rank that is dictated by their laws and caste system.
"That is a bit complicated for me" Jess began "But I still wish to know where these Protoforms come from?"
"That is actually easier to explain." Heatwave said as he noticed she was shivering a little from the colder temperature of the outside. He offered her a servo, to which she gladly accepted as her new seat, as he pulled her closer to begin explaining where protoforms come from.
Protoforms come from the Well of the All-Spark, their planets entire core that not only creates protoforms which allows repopulation, but produces un-refined energon for the masses to survive upon in an otherwise uninhabitable and harsh planet. It was one of the reasons they had so much outer protection, their planet was far more dangerous than Earth. It was all thanks to Primus, their creator and their sustainer in the middle of deep and deadly space.
It brought up more curiosity on Jess' part about why Cybertron was more dangerous than Earth, and Heatwave was more than happy to satiate her curiosity any way he could, with what knowledge he had about his home world that is. He described how no water was on Cybertron, the only liquid was a powerful type of acid which did not exist on Earth, and seas of Mercury.
There were no plants on the planet, as Cybertron lacked an atmosphere like Earth had, so there was no oxygen in the air for human's to breathe, as Cybertronians lacked the need to do such a thing. The lack of an atmosphere caused for a lot of weather anomalies to occur as well, such as fire storms being a big issue over there, as well as high temperatures and uncharitable territories.
They both seemed to forget all about the previous awkwardness of the situation, as they got into a very interesting conversation about Cybertron. Jess wanted to know everything, and Heatwave would give her everything if he could, he was just a rescue bot and did not have a huge amount of knowledge, but it was enough to give them both satisfactions in the conversation.
It made him feel a little better to talk about his home world, made him forget about how homesick he really was for a little while, describing the vast differences between the two worlds. Explaining why he preferred some things on Earth and some on Cybertron. He loved all of the history Earth has with war and conflict, and still being able to bounce back and thrive, unlike Cybertron...
They both never really noticed how close they were until Heatwave noticed Jess nodding off in his hand, trying her hardest to stay awake and hear more about where he had come from. He couldn't stop the smile on his face-plate forming at how tired she really was, it reminded him of how much maintenance humans actually needed in order to survive.
Maybe next time he can get her to talk to him more about how Humans and the Earth function. The other Burns' family residence always seemed to give very short and simple answers to their questions, and he feels that maybe he could learn a lot from Jess and her eagerness to explain how everything around them worked. For now, though, he took her back into the fire house and ushered her back into the house as she smiled at him and waved good bye as she shut the door behind her quietly.
Heatwave stood there and watched the door for a good solid five minutes, with a big grin on his face-plate as he remembered how charming Jess looked falling asleep on him and how charming it was when she took such a big interest in Cybertron. It gave him hope that put to rest a bad notion in his processor that humans were not interested in being friendly, and just wanted to use them for technology and the betterment of themselves.
His spark was being very loud at this moment, doing flips in its chamber as it told him he did a good job in comforting her and being there when she needed him to be most. It made him proud that his spark finally seemed to be speaking out against the darkness that was his processor, which was trying to tell him he was a glitched fool for thinking a human to be anything but something to protect.
His processor was screaming at him that he was experiencing some kind of failure in his slight, major, attraction to a human femme. It was a waste of time, and would only lead to terrible and devastating spark-ache, but his spark protested and said he was doing what needed to be done and that nothing was wrong with him; that he was valid in his emotions. Seeing her smiling face, it certainly made him feel very valid at the very least, which was good enough for him at the moment.
He would have stood there for longer if he wasn't snapped from his internal struggle by the sound of the bunker platform rising from its below floor position. Blades was up and getting ready for his morning patrol with his partner Dani, he saw Heatwave standing by the door the Burn's home and tilted his head slightly, out of both curiosity and concern.
"Heatwave?" Blades asked in concern as he noticed his leader acting a little bit sluggish, which was a very bad thing for the team as a whole, a tired leader can cripple the entire team and its judgements.
"Blades." Heatwave replied easily, as he stood and walked over to the platform to go into the bunker. He was finally beginning to feel tired and ready to go into recharge until he was needed the next day for patrol.
Blades moved off of the platform and watched as Heatwave lowered himself down and out of sight while he felt himself worry more and more for their leader. This was strange behavior for Heatwave, and Blades was having so many thoughts as to why he might be acting this way, all of which were less than innocent things.
Was he going to leave the rescue bots to become a part of Optimus' team somewhere? Was his strange behavior linked to Loop-Lock or a virus? Has Heatwave simply grown tired of him and the other bots, and was plotting a way to leave without anyone noticing? There were so many possibilities it made Blades want to expel the energon he had just consumed.
He would have asked, but Heatwave was rather reserved and did not share his feelings that weren't related to a mission. He preferred to keep thoughts about others private, thoughts about how much he either liked or disliked a person or bot, unless he was making a joke about something. Blades really did not feel like getting yelled at or lectured about minding his own business, and decided later he was going to get Chase and Boulders opinion on their leader's strange behavior.
Until then, however, he decided to just drop it and prepare for a cranky Dani and a very long morning of flying above the island and patrolling for any early morning dangers that might present itself. It was what he was trained to do, what they were all trained to do, focus on the mission and keeping each other safe and as out of harm's way as possible.
Once Dani was gone, the house was quiet yet again, up until it was time for Cody and The Chief to get up and get ready for the day. The Chief tried hard to stay quiet and allow Jess as much rest as possible, because he knows how much of a night owl his niece can be, his sister was the same way when she as that young. It was hard to keep a young ten year old quiet for very long, however, as he came barreling down the stairs all dressed and ready to go to school.
Cody accidentally woke her up, but Jess really did not mind, as it was just as much his home as it was hers. It was her choice to sleep in the living room. The living room was the universal room in the house, a shared space, and she had no right to control it just because she was sleeping there. She got up and got dressed and ready for the day herself, and decided to maybe get more groceries, as the family seems to burn through food faster than they can produce it… mainly Kade.
Once she was dressed and sitting at the table eating breakfast, Cody and The Chief were off to their daily duties. Cody was taken to school until this afternoon, and The Chief would patrol the island until it was about ready for dinner time. Kade wasn't due to leave for a little while longer, so he was still asleep in his room upstairs. Graham did not have anything planned for the day, so he too was most likely sleeping in until he was caught up on all he has missed through the week.
Once Jess finished her slice of toast with a little bit of peach jam, she decided it was a good time to check her phone for any kind of missed messages she might have had while she was asleep or outside with Heatwave. It has happened before, Celina will text her at any time of day to update Jess on what was going on in her life, even though they saw each other every day and lived in the same apartment.
Celina was a good friend, and Jess was always happy to talk to the upbeat and excitable woman. They always got along great, and she was happy to have found a reliable and trustworthy roommate on her first try. The only complaint she had about Celina was the amount of relationships the woman seemed to breeze through, as almost every week it seemed she had a new person hanging from her arm that she wanted to show off to anyone who would listen.
Jess wouldn't judge her though, as she knows how hard it could be to find someone who you could trust and get along with all the time. If anything, she was a little envious of the woman, Jess couldn't meet that many people even if she tried! That took a lot of effort Jess would rather place into something else than socializing too much. In a way it made her a little different from the people around her, but in the end they were all the same, no matter what oddity a person possessed.
Jess decided to ask if maybe Heatwave would be interested in accompanying her to the store again for a quick trip for food. She did not have to do it today, but she had nothing else going on at the particular moment, and she could always ask Boulder if Heatwave was too busy. It would be a funny sight to see for certain, a bulldozer parked in the grocery parking lot waiting for its driver to be done shopping.
It was something that seemed too domestic for big machines like the rescue bots, but they did not have any other appropriate vehicles to drive around the island in. Her family only really ever left the house to do their jobs and occasionally attend a town event, and in a way it was the Burns family oddity.
Some people preferred to stay in and read a book, while some preferred to go out and socialize with their friends. Her entire family, as well known as they were on the island, really did not create relationships outside of the family. Jess only had a few friends from university, Kade had a few buddies he still talked with from school, Dani had one really good friend that lived on the mainland, Graham is the less social one with just a few good acquaintances, and Cody had Frankie.
It was the legendary Burns' family curse, as Jess liked to call it, the inability to make friends with someone who isn't related by blood or marriage. A curse that drove the family to want to help people more than get to know them, and Jess had no idea why. She wanted to break the trend, but she found herself more attached to the indoors and her own business than to the socialization to the people around her. All she cared about was that everyone was ok and able to function normally without any issues that might cause them pain.
She found herself in the garage and pressed the button to make the platform lower into the bunker level of the firehose. She was not too fond of elevators, or the poles that would have allowed for faster access to the lower levels, so this was the easier option for her.
Once the platform was on the ground, Boulder was the first to wish her a good morning from atop his canvas that he was working on. Jess greeted him in turn with a warm smile and polite conversation. He was working on a small painting of Cybertron, to try and alleviate his home sickness. It was working for him, as he explained he has never felt more comfortable on this planet than he is with his paintings and favorite plant, Leafy.
It was the cutest thing Jess had ever seen, as Boulder was just a big robot with a heart of gold, and an equally pure personality to boot. If he was introduced to the human race first, Jess had no doubt that everyone would love him. It was impossible to have any ill thoughts about the sweet Cybertronian.
"Have you seen Heatwave this morning? I was going to see if he would like to run some errands before he and Kade have to leave." Jess asked as Boulder paused his painting to look down at her standing next to him.
"I'm not sure, I haven't seen him. I think he was up really late last night." Boulder explained as he placed his robots sized pallet down to give Jess his full attention.
"I was up late with him; we talked a lot about Cybertron. I had a hunch that you guys needed sleep, but I am not sure about how much." Jess explained as she stuck her hands in the pocket of her university jacket.
She was in a simple outfit today, consisting of a light pastel pink V-neck shirt, with her university jacket on top in case it gets as chilly as it was last nights. She wore a simple pair of dark blue skinny jeans that had a few jeweled patterns on the back pockets. She also wore her nice black heeled boots that went a little past her ankles to cover her miss-matched socks. It was a cute and practical look that worked for her, and it was also rather comfortable.
"It is not the same kind of sleep you humans require" Boulder began to explain "we are rather large machines that require some recharge before we can work at maximum functionality."
"Sort of like a cell phone?" Jess asked as she tilted her head a little trying to understand what Boulder was explaining to her.
"Kind of, most bots just shut off all physical functions and allow their bodies to rest and recuperate while others just simply close their eyes and let their systems cool down." Boulder tried to explain again "I guess it is the same way as a cell phone, we aren't doing anything but our processors are still functioning and operating."
"Fascinating, are there any major consequences for not recharging like there is with humans and sleep deprivation?" Jess asked, finally understanding his words due to his cell phone comparison.
"Not as seriously as you humans, it won't cause death, but it causes productivity levels to fall and personality extremes to appear and cloud the processor from sound judgment." Boulder clarified while watching Jess' face for any kind of reaction of understanding.
"Well, if you put it that way it kind of is the same. A tired human is less productive than a well-rested one, and even sometimes when the person goes without sleep for long periods they being to hallucinate and it causes a lapse in judgment." Jess explained as she tried to find parallels between their species. She was convinced that no matter how different their culture is, they are still similar down to their basic functions and needs.
Humans needed sleep, Cybertronians needed recharge. Humans needed food to nourish and energize their bodies; Cybertronians needed energon to provide their systems with enough energy to function up until their next refueling. Humans needed companionship and family to thrive and have motivation; Cybertronians appeared to and together in groups in order to get tasks done with efficiency and swiftness.
"Interesting, I never really tried to make that parallel before." Boulder explained as he was starting to get into this conversation quickly.
"I think it helps us realize how similar we are, and allows us all to work together better knowing we really aren't all that different." Jess began to explain "I believe that as long as something is alive, it deserves my respect and understanding."
Boulder was beaming at what Jess had said, and he could see why she got along with everyone as well as she has. She is willing to give her respect without expecting others to do it in return, she wanted to be nice and kind to try and make another's day better without trying to gratify herself. It was good she was here, as he can see now why Heatwave has taken a liking to her so very quickly.
Boulder knew this was a good opportunity for Heatwave to really understand humans and how they live, as he always felt Kade wasn't a very good example to how the average human behaved. Maybe this would be the deciding factor into motivating their leader to stay on the island and to stop trying to pursue a position on Optimus Prime's team.
Once Heatwave emerged from his makeshift berth room, the two of them were off to perform a few errands around the town without much disruption. It was done mostly in silence, but they made a few jokes here and there, and Heatwave could physically feel his spark swell with affection for this human femme.
I apologize for how long this took to push out there, but I had no way of really portraying their budding relationship without rushing it, I have all these ideas and no way of executing them.
Also I quite my dead-end job and will start going to school again as soon as I find one worth my time, being an adult sucks and this is really my only escape. I hope all of you can enjoy it with me, and please review and let me know what everyone thinks. I didn't really proof read again, just because I am a little bit tired.
Thank you for sticking with me for so long!~