"Perceptor?"
The voice was small, much more timid than Perceptor was used to hearing from this particular mech. He turned in surprise.
"Fireflight? Is something wrong?"
Fireflight was barefaced again, the very realistic mask dangling from his hand. He looked almost dejected, worrying slightly at his lower lip, not meeting Perceptor's optics.
"No. Kinda. I – well." He sighed and finally looked up. "I want to get out of this costume. Will you help me?"
"Of course, if you need me to," Perceptor replied. "But may I ask why? You seemed to be a success in there."
"Yeah. But I freaked out Skyfire. And now I feel bad." He bit at his lower lip again. "Will you help me get this costume off? It's fastened with nuts and bolts, and I just can't reach."
"Yes, I remember Wheeljack talking about it," Perceptor replied. "He was quite proud of how it all came together." He let Fireflight fall into step next to him. "Why didn't you ask him to help you?"
"Because he's so proud of it," Fireflight said quietly. "I didn't want him to feel guilty as well."
Perceptor nodded in understanding. It was so very Fireflight. "Well, let's go to the lab. There are bound to be tools there we can use."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. It was unusual for Fireflight to be so quiet, but Perceptor chalked it down to him being upset with himself for scaring Skyfire.
Well, he could try to make him feel better, at least.
"I very much doubt Skyfire holds it against you." Perceptor smiled at the young Aerialbot. "He knows there was no malicious thought behind your costume."
Fireflight shot him a quick smile in return. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. And yeah, I know. But I should have thought it through."
Perceptor entered the code for the lab door. "By that argument, so should Wheeljack. It wasn't your fault, either of you." He put a comforting hand on Fireflight's back. "Now, come on. Let's get you looking like yourself again."
He led Fireflight to a bare spot in the middle of the floor and collected everything he thought he would need. Fireflight lifted his arm when prompted, and Perceptor began manually loosening all the tiny, illogical screws.
"Wheeljack didn't do this half-way, did he," Perceptor said dryly, as he finally could lift the extra plating away from Fireflight's left arm. "He must have used a thousand screws altogether."
"He wanted it to look right." Fireflight turned when prompted so Perceptor could get to the other arm. "And it did."
Perceptor chuckled. "Yes, it certainly did at that."
Fireflight brightened. "You liked it?"
"It is very impressive," Perceptor replied. The right arm was easier than the left, now that he'd figured out Wheeljack's ridiculous system. Honestly, the costume was much too complicated. "You look just like him." He pulled the plating away, stepping back as Fireflight shook his arms a bit.
"I'm glad you like it." Fireflight smiled. "I did too, until it freaked out 'Fire. Silverbolt had to leave with him."
"You didn't chase them away," Perceptor said, meeting Fireflight's optics with a firm glance of his own. He tried to soften the effect with a smile. "I've heard Skyfire and Silverbolt talking this last week. They've been desperate for some privacy."
Fireflight grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess that's hard to come by with 'Bolt having four brothers."
"Indeed." Perceptor took a knee by Fireflight's leg and began attacking the row of tiny screws that ran down his hip. Wheeljack seemed to have figured out what he was doing by then – all the screws came out easily, and the clasps holding the extra plating on were easy to disconnect. He had both legs free in less time than he'd used on the first arm.
Fireflight groaned as the last of the plating on his legs fell away. "Primus, that's better. It looked great, but it was really restrictive."
Perceptor stroked one twitching flight panel. "I can imagine."
The panel was warm, pressing against his palm.
Last but not least were the shoulder vents, mounted in such a way that they concealed much of Fireflight's kibble. Tall, intricately set up, and he couldn't find a clasp, screw or bolt anywhere on them.
"How did Wheeljack attach these slagged things?" Perceptor exclaimed.
Fireflight giggled. "I think most of the screws are hidden. The main one is behind my neck I think, so if you get that, you should be able to see the others."
Perceptor grumbled good-naturedly about the nature of whimsical inventors and their mad schemes, and reached to feel for the offending screw in question. It was placed as awkwardly as Fireflight had indicated. He'd need both hands to get it loose, and that forced him to put his arms around Fireflight's neck to get at the blasted thing.
The Aerialbot smiled, and his optics were warm and trusting as they met Perceptor's own. Perceptor couldn't help but smile back.
"Hey, Percy, did you know you have very pretty optics? They're the color of the sky just before the sun rises properly."
Perceptor was startled, both at the compliment and the name. Fireflight had always used his full name. He blamed his surprise for the honest, somewhat flabbergasted answer he gave. "You think so? Thank you, Fireflight. Your optics are very pretty, too."
The younger mech beamed. "They are? Do my optics look like the sky too?"
Perceptor paused, looking at Fireflight's optics more intently. "Not quite. Your optics are like…" The sky wasn't quite the right color. There was something else there, a deeper blue of sorts, but it was hard to pinpoint in such poor lighting.
Perceptor pulled one hand back, placing it on Fireflight's chin and angling his face a bit to let the light illuminate him better.
Ah, that's it. That is a more accurate simile.
"They're like tidal pools," he said softly, still looking. "This clear, bright blue, lighter at the edges and dark and deep enough to drown in in the center."
He startled back as his nasal ridge bumped Fireflight's. They were very close together. How hadn't he noticed how close together their faces were?
Fireflight smiled, a much softer expression than usual, though he was worrying at his lip again. "Are you drowning in my optics, Percy?" He sounded nervous, too.
"Yes," Perceptor replied, though he hadn't really thought to say anything. He certainly hadn't meant to lean his forehead against Fireflight's. He could only blame it on still being unbalanced – he must be, because Fireflight's arms were now around his waist, lending him some much-needed support.
"Good," Fireflight murmured. "Then I hope you won't mind this."
Perceptor's optics brightened as Fireflight's mouth met his. For a moment he was frozen, but then he staggered back out of Fireflight's arms.
Fireflight had kissed him.
Sweet, little Fireflight, endlessly curious, easily distracted Fireflight, had kissed him.
Him. Perceptor.
Fireflight was looking at him, a nervous smile on his face. He looked the same as he had a few minutes ago, but suddenly Perceptor felt like he was looking at a completely different mech.
"What –. " He rebooted his vocalizer to try to get rid of the static. It didn't work very well. "What was that for?"
Fireflight bit his lip again, and Perceptor suddenly couldn't look away from that mouth.
"I've wanted to do that for a while," the younger mech said shyly. He stepped closer, lifting his hands to cradle Perceptor's face. "Can I… do you mind if I try again?"
Perceptor could only stare. Fireflight apparently took that as a yes, because soft lips met Perceptor's again.
This time, he melted into it.
He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. Fireflight was young, so young, and he was naïve, and innocent, and he was kissing Perceptor like he really, really knew what he was doing, and it was all Perceptor could do to keep standing.
When the Aerialbot finally eased back, Perceptor was panting.
"Where," he gasped, "did you learn how to kiss like that?"
"Gestalt link," Fireflight said smugly. "I've actually never done it before. But it took Bolt a while to learn how to block properly, and Air Raid was even worse when he first got together with Cliffjumper and Bee." He giggled. "We all had vicarious overloads for weeks before he learned to control it." He nuzzled Perceptor's cheek. "So… Was that okay?"
Perceptor felt unsteady, like the world had tilted a few degrees suddenly. He struggled to make sense of the situation.
Then Fireflight pulled back and smiled at him again, and he realized he didn't need to make sense of it. It was fine as it was.
"That was perfect," he replied, leaning into the touch. The beaming smile on Fireflight's face warmed him to his core.
"Good," Fireflight purred. "Then help me with these vents, so we can do that some more."
Perceptor completely agreed. He still felt out of control, but that didn't matter, because this new Fireflight, this assertive, confident, and – dare he think it – sexy Fireflight, had control of the situation. And Perceptor was fine with that.
He reached around Fireflight's neck again to reach that screw. And he was only mildly distracted by those lips caressing his face.
