The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box 19 Edited for boo-boos :D
-0-At the CMO's office a few moments later
"I see you."
A big smug face peered around the corner, a tiny begoggled femme-let in servo. "I come bearing gifts."
"I can see that too," Ratchet said sitting back with a grin.
Ironhide entered the room and set his daughter on the desk, moving to sit on the couch himself. "You mad?"
"Nope," Ratchet said with a grin. "How did you find this out?"
"I was walking through Central Corridor and down Engineer to the plant beyond to sign off on modifications of a shell type when I heard them in the alcove. Must think they're still younglings, aft helms. They were chatting between The Sexy and I heard it."
"Springer and Drift still frag around in the alcove? It must be true love then," Ratchet said as he rubbed Hero gently against his cheek. "Ah. Nothing like a sparkling facial."
"Is that what it is?" Ironhide asked as he parked his peds on the table before him.
Ratchet sat Hero down and handed her a stylus. She put it in her mouth and Ratchet removed it. "Not in your mouth, baby. You'll be sorry when it shocks you."
"What about the suggestion?" Ironhide asked as he watched his daughter's tiny wings seeking information they were too immature to receive.
"I have an idea myself, Ironhide," Ratchet said as he sat forward. He explained it. Ironhide considered it, then nodded. "I like it."
"So do I. That's why I thought it up," Ratchet said with a smirk.
"You're missing a few screws, old mech. But that's the way I like it," Ironhide said with his own smirk.
"I'll run it past Prime this afternoon when I bring the data on the dinobots," Ratchet said. "We'll see what he thinks and if we're go. What is plan B?"
"Whatever you want it to be, Ratchet," Ironhide said with a chuckle.
Hero chuckled too.
-0-That afternoon with Prowl and Prime
"And that is what and why I think would this plan would be stellar. Those are the redundancies and all that slag. What we want to do is save the best for last. There is no way no matter how things went that we won't come out on top at the end with this." Ratchet sat back and looked at the two, the image of a painting he had once seen on the internet coming to processor for the barest of nanoseconds.
American Gothic by Grant Wood.
He stifled a snicker and waited as the two had an internal conversation inside. Then Prime looked at Ratchet. "Do you really think this will be a good idea?"
"Sure."
"Okay." -Prime and Prowl
Ratchet grinned.
-0-RTR Tools
Sunspot stood on a stool watching his grandpa beat metal into fine sheets to be applied when die cut as beautiful inlays on a chest of drawers. "Wow, Grandatar, that looks pretty! You must be very good at this stuff."
Tie Down leaned over and kissed his grandson's helm. "I find that I do a better job when you're here, Sunspot. Did you know that?"
Sunspot looked up at him and smiled brilliantly. "No! Wow!"
Tie Down chuckled and paused. "You are such a good little mech. I am so proud of you. I hear that your conferences are coming up shortly and we get to go."
"You do?" Sunspot asked with a big smile. "What about Grandada Alor and Grandatar Blackjack?"
"They do too," Tie Down said. "I was told by your ada and atar that we can come and hear all about your great progress and the teachings you know. I can't wait to hear about what a great little mech you are in school, sparkling."
Sunspot hugged Tie's chassis. "I can't wait either. I will draw you a picture and write something under it just for you and Grandada."
"That would be wonderful. If we get to keep it, I will make a frame and hang it up on the wall," Tie Down said as Ravel came into the warehouse and paused beside them. "It's cookie time. Who wants one?" he asked.
"I would please," Sunspot said with a smile. Ravel handed him one and another to Tie. "This place is so fun," Sunspot said taking a bite. "I like coming here after flying."
"We love to have you, son," Ravie said with a smile. "Come on. I'll show you how to make chains out of wires."
Sunspot hopped down and took his servo, a cookie firmly clutched in the other. They walked to the front of the warehouse and sat down. By the time Ironhide came to collect him, Sunspot had made a little bracelet for all four of his grandgenitors.
-0-At the hangar
Xantium paused in the doorway of his home hangar looking toward the city beyond. It was beautiful. He loved to go there and talk to friends who lived in the towers, often face to face with them in their apartments through the windows. The planet beyond was beautiful and intriguing for a desiccated organic world. His siblings would sometimes fly out into the badlands near Valles Marineris and wander around exploring. He wondered where the dinobots were. He wanted to take Grimlock and Slag on a tour of the deep valley with all its wild turns and steep sides. :Kappa:
:What?:
:Where are the dinos?:
:I have one. Which one do you want?:
:I want Grimlock and Slag:
:Zeta has them:
:Where is he?:
:Valles Marinaris:
Xantium smiled. :Thanks, Kappie. Who do you have if anyone?:
:I have Swoop and you can't have him. Take Snarl. He's getting on my last nerve. Take him out to where Zeta is and run them hard. Omega and Silverbolt are off somewhere and I don't want them disturbed:
:Got it: Xantium stretched and turned walking to a nearby hill where Kappa sat with two dinobots, one on her servo and another under her ped. Reaching down, Xantium picked up Snarl. "Come on, Snarl. Boys orn out." With a nod to his sister, Xantium turned and transformed, stowing Snarl in his hold. He lifted off and disappeared into the sky.
Swoop watched them go and looked up at Kappa who gazed down at him fondly. "He does that good."
She nodded with a slight smile. "You have no idea."
-0-Evening in Autobot City, Mars
The shifts from Day to Night Watch gathered in the stations and substations of the city as the Watch Commanders in each location briefed and debriefed their officers. The day had been mild with only a few odd incidents including a confused elder who thought they were back in Iacon and had gotten lost trying to find the Jumble where they lived. He was checked into the hospital for care and his family notified.
Substation #6 in Terra had gotten a wagon load of sparklings stopping in to visit to welcome the new station to town. They had been delighted to see the little babies from the Sparkling Day School, all of them smiling and holding up their arms to be picked up. Pictures were gracing the bulletin board of the station already.
A couple of younglings playing hooky from school and a couple of older younglings over celebrating their graduation from apprenticeship programs into the regular workforce were the heaviest cases of the orn. Night would have its own share of shenanigans due to the darkness but that was to come. Right now, everyone got square on their beats as Springer sat in his office in City Hall going over the data of the orn while Drift sat with his feet propped up on the desk, kibbitzing in his own inimitable way.
Blurr walked to the plaza and took the elevator up strolling to his bar down at the end of the concourse. The big doors were open and the sound of chat and laughter drifted out along with the smell of bar food and high grade. A pair of poker tables had been added to the back and the games that were going last night were still in play as he walked to the back to check the overnight data. Smokescreen glanced up and grinned. "You're late."
"You're nuts," Blurr said smirking as he passed the game that had begun the morning of the orn before and was still going. Entering the backstock room, he noted the endless rows of potables and felt good. The breweries had made their deliveries and they were ready for the night crowd. Walking back out, he nodded to the three musicians who played on the stage nearby. Walking behind the bar, he surveyed his domain. Life was slagging good was his conclusion.
-0-At the Bosom of Love, et al
They sat around the table eating and telling lies. The sparklings sat on laps or the floor as the grown ups chatted and told of their long wondrous orn. Blackjack and Alor were back in town for the next three orns and arrangements were made for the kids as Ratchet geared up for the trip to Earth. Ironhide had appointed himself as 'going and that was that'. Ratchet didn't care. He could use muscle to impress the provincials. They were going to put on a show.
"Will it be on the teevee, son?" Ravel asked as he held out his fork to Orion who stood on the floor waiting to be fed by soft sparked baby lovers. He took the bite and grinned, turning to run off to play while he chewed.
"It will, Ada. Yours truly will be a star," Ratchet said with a grin.
Guffaws and rolled optics greeted that remark. Sunspot who was sitting on Grandatar Blackjack's lap smiled. "I will watch you, Ada. You will be a star to me."
Misty optics and awww moments were had, then the conversation rumbled on with arrangements made for kids, arrangements made for grandgenitors to come to student conferences and arrangements made for the weekend which would come up when they got back from Earth. That a playoff game, Iacon United v Altihex was coming shortly didn't hurt a bit.
-0-In a trine aerie
Sky Warp nodded. "Which one?"
"I would say all but Dart appears to be deeply responsible and exceptionally well mannered."
"Does it matter in your thinking that he takes after you, Star?" Thundercracker said as he cleared dishes from the table.
Starscream who was lounging with Pip and Flit on the couch grinned as he watched his doppelganger, Dart, grab a bear dollie and toss it in the air. "Nope," he said with a smirk.
-0-On the beat
They walked their long circuitous route that would wind through the cities, the underground, the industrial sectors and the housing districts. They would shake doors, shake servos and shake up the rowdies as they did.
"Ratchet cracks me up."
"I know," Springer said with a grin. "We bested his aft. That is hard to do. He is the most devious and cunning opponent I ever faced."
"I hear ya," Drift said with a chuckle. "Ironhide scored."
"I wonder what his payment will be for his insolence?"
Drift snorted. "You've been watching too much teevee. 'For his insolence'," he repeated before laughing.
"It's yours," Springer said as they began to descend into the underground to go to Terra.
"Thanks," Drift said as they both disappeared from view.
-0-In the bosom of love
"Thanks, Sunstreaker. You do good work. I'll recommend you to all my friend," Ratchet said with a grin as he admired himself in the mirror.
"Your 'friend'," Sunstreaker said with a snort. He grinned at Ratchet. "Don't get fragged up between now and tomorrow."
"I won't, *DAD*," Ratchet said as he watched Sideswipe detail Ironhide's aft. "Take good care of that big old aft. It has my name stamped on it."
"In your dreams, old mech," Ironhide said as he leaned forward braced against the wall.
Ratchet reached down and pinched his butt. "There it is. My name."
Sideswipe grinned and patted Ironhide's aft. "You can claim it, old aft that it is."
"I will have you know, that old aft has been mighty admired in the past," Ratchet countered half seriously.
"Thanks, Only One," Ironhide said with a smug grin.
"In the pleistocene," Sideswipe said. "In the time of Unicron. I bet old Unicron said, 'Bring me an old saggy aft' and you were carted to his berth room."
Ratchet snorted and grinned at Ironhide who was glaring over his shoulder at Sideswipe as the front liner buffed his dainty bits. "What did you do in the berth with Unicron, Ironhide?"
Ironhide snorted. He looked at Ratchet with a smirk. "Taught him all he knows."
Retching sounds from the twins vied with laughter from Ratchet filled the room with mirth. It was a good thing that the infants were asleep in their beds. Ratchet sat in his chair and admired the fine sheen of his bond. "Looking good, Ironhide. I can almost see Unicron's face in your aft."
More sass rounded the room before Sideswipe stood up and pronounced Ironhide finished. Several pairs of optics gave him the once over. "I think you missed his codpiece," Sunstreaker smirked.
"I'll take care of that. With my tongue," Ratchet said, his slag meter pumping out crap overtime.
"Oh Primus," Sunstreaker said wincing. He stood up. "Let's go, Sideswipe. I might purge if we stay."
"I want to stay and take pictures for the family album," Sideswipe said gathering up their kits. Tossing one to Sideswipe, they bullshitted their way out of the apartment. When the door closed Ratchet glanced at Ironhide. "I don't know, Ironhide. You're too pretty. I might not let you come with me tomorrow."
Ironhide snorted and grinned. "I am aren't I."
Ratchet laughed. "You are." He rose and turned to the hallway.
Following along behind, Ironhide smirked. "About that cod piece, Ratchet," he said as he entered the berthroom too.
The door closed behind them.
-0-TBC
2013 (2)