The Diego Diaries: Interlude 7 (234 70)
Yikes! I posted the wrong one. I'm babysitting a wild assed little dachshund for my neice this weekend. Pray for me. :D
(Ignore the segment numbers from 225-this one. They're out of order. I will fix it eventually. Numbers hate me.) :D
-0-That next orn in the early morning
Ironhide managed to place two recharging little botlets on the floor of the tent as he rose to step outside without waking either. Pressing a button on the little panel at the base of his sleeping bag, it nearly jumped out of his servos to fold up into a small dense package. Grinning, he picked it up and put it in the tub it had come in with all their gear sitting nearby on a rock.
Packing up a few things, he loaded the runabout for departure. He walked to the small campfire device and turned it on. Its illumination and warmth were welcome as the weak early morning sunlight made its way down the immense canyon toward their site. The camping choice guaranteed sunshine 80% of the day but the remaining darkness was intense.
A sound behind him alerted him that Prime was rousing, his sparklings still asleep as well. Stepping out, he grinned. "Howdy, partner," he said stretching.
Ironhide snorted. "You planning to recharge all orn?"
"Sure," Prime said glancing around. "Beautiful morning."
Ironhide nodded. "Good orn for a game."
Prime nodded. "We better get them up and have breakfast."
Ironhide nodded then turned to walk to his tent. He paused again. "I suppose you want to pack the tents yourself?"
Prime snorted. "If they close up as fun as they open, yes."
Ironhide snorted himself, then turned to walk inside. The infants still slept on the floor in their little bags, their little cocoon shapes incredibly small appearing on the floor of the giant tent. He bent down and sniffed them. They were premium. He gently picked them up and looked them over. They roused slowly.
Orion blinked at his old dad. "ATAR!"
"Orion," Ironhide said as Praxus slowly awakened on his other servo. "Praxus?"
"ATAR!" Praxus smiled enormously, then tried to sit up. It was major fail. "Atar! I me!"
Ironhide snorted. "You both need a few more words. Good thing I know what you say. Mostly." He turned to step out and walked to where Prime stood, his own sparklings standing on the ground grinning up at him. "Here," he said handing Praxus over. "Hold him a moment while I peel this one."
In seconds, Orion was standing on the ground grinning at everyone. When Praxus ended up beside him, the little bot gave him the stink optic. "O! O BAD!"
Prime and Ironhide looked down a moment. Praxus turned his back on Orion, crossed his arms and affected a intense expression of distaste. Ironhide grinned. "Now you know how my night went."
"I think he's on a roll," Optimus said as four little mechs exited their tent. He looked at them and smiled. "Finally. How did you recharge?"
"I had a great recharge, Atar," Rambler said as the others followed him. "We had so much fun."
"I love the Autobot Scouts, Atar," Spirit said with a smile. "I can't wait to show Ada all the stuff we did."
"We have to eat, then we'll go. We have a game today," Optimus said as he looked in the box for breakfast. They heated it up and all sat on their rocks to munch away.
"Who's playing today, Atar?" Spirit asked over his breakfast.
"Iacon and Altihex," Ironhide replied.
"I can't wait," Sunspot said. "If Iacon wins, they get a chance to be in a playoff game. Kaon has the same chances too, huh, Atar?"
Ironhide nodded. "They do."
"I want Kaon to win. I want my brothers to win," Sunspot said.
"I want Praxus to win because my Ada loves them," Spirit said sweetly.
"I wish they all could win," Sunspot said.
All of the younglings nodded. Prime and Ironhide smiled.
-0-Over the next few minutes
ZIP! ZAP! SPROING!
"I think I love that."
"I do too, Prime. There's two more."
"I know."
ZIP! ZAP! SPROING!
Pause.
ZIP! ZAP! SPROING!
Pause.
"Sparkling."
"You can't make me feel badly, Ironhide."
-0-On the way back
"Okay, we all need a shower and a break until the game," Optimus said. He looked back at the eight infants winched into their seats. They looked at him. They all smiled at the same time. He smiled too. It was impossible not to.
"I find it odd, Prime that we can drop off the sensor grid for an orn or so and there are no messages in my file," Ironhide said. "I just accessed the thing and there's nothing there."
"I had some."
Pause.
"You did?"
(grin) "I did."
Pause.
"I didn't." (slow burn)
"Well, you aren't Prime."
Pause.
"I am the Master of the Armed Forces."
"That's true." Pause. "But it's not Prime."
Pause.
"It's still a big job."
"It is. But it's not Prime. I'm Prime. I know these things."
Pause.
"You really like to tell me that you're Prime don't ya?"
(grin) "I am Prime after all."
Pause.
"I think I should have mail that's all. I am after all, Master of the Armed Forces. Getting updates and slag seems reasonable."
Pause.
"I sent you an email." (grin)
Pause.
"Ha-ha, Prime." (grin) Pause. "I do like grumpy cat though."
(grin) "I'll make sure you get more."
They flew on to the city.
-0-At the apartment(s)
Prowl walked to the living room and looked around. The place was impeccable. He walked to the door and left taking the elevator downward to the 24th floor. Stepping off, he went to apartment 23/24 and walked inside without knocking.
Ratchet who was cleaning up after Hero smirked. "Come on in."
"Thanks," Prowl said purloining the tiny femme. She smiled and tweeted at Prowl. Prowl nearly tweeted back.
"Have you heard from our intrepid scouts?" Ratchet asked as he finished up.
"I have," Prowl said with a grin. "Ironhide had a long night and he's not feeling the love."
"I told them to call us. Mech up and call us, slaggers," Ratchet said. "I don't intend to give him an inch."
"That's okay. Optimus sent him a grumpy cat e-card to cheer him up," Prowl said as they both turned to leave.
"I love grumpy cat," Ratchet said with a laugh as the door closed behind them.
-0-At the airfield
They stood together waiting, the twins and Bluestreak joining. The ship landed and two weary mechs stepped out to hooting, applause and general snarkiness. Flipping the hatch, they cut the infants loose, all of them running to the party greeting them with great enthusiastic tales of camping.
Prowl smirked at Prime as he walked to them. "You need a shower."
"Thanks. I'm glad to see you too," he said with a smirk.
"The twins volunteered to take the sparklings to their place for a wash up and the younglings to my folks, then hold them until game time," Prowl said.
"We did?" -both
"You did," Prowl said with a stern expression. Then he grinned. "I, of course will be keeping this one with me," he said as he kissed Hero's cheek. She grinned widely.
Ironhide looked at Prowl with a baleful expression but held his comments. It was useless after all. After a moment of sorting, the infants wandered off with the twins and Bluestreak as the rest of them walked to the Fortress.
"How did it go? You look like slag," Ratchet asked Ironhide.
"It went well and thanks for the support," Ironhide said shooting Ratchet a caustic optic.
"That's good given that you are Director of the Autobot Scouts of Mars. You do know that there's something called a jamboree in America and other places where scouts get together from all over to tie knots and slag. You better get on it, Ironhide. After all, jamboree is coming sometime. Eventually."
"You never told me about jamboree, Ratchet," Ironhide said glaring at the big medic. "You just said I had a ceremonial role here. You never said a thing about going to Earth for a jamboree."
"I suppose you could delegate that to Prowl," Ratchet said watching with intense delight as the winger's big grin faded at that comment.
"Frag that," Prowl said glancing at Prime. "I'm essential personnel. I am always here, always on duty."
"It would be great public relations, the bond of the Prime tying knots and putting up tents. It's easy. You just press a button and they jump out of your servo" Optimus said glancing down at Prowl.
"You have to recharge sometime, Optimus," Prowl said shooting him a caustic optic. "Sometime, you have to offline your optics and I will be waiting."
"Oh slag," Ironhide said with a grin. "And everyone thinks I live with a loon."
A slap to the back of the helm greeted that remark as they bantered all the way to the Fortress and Ops Center beyond.
At the apartment of the trine, Polyhex Tower, Metroplex District, Autobot City, Mars …
"WHERE ATAR!? ATAR FLY ME!"
"That sparkling is out of his fragging mind. Grab him!"
Sideswipe reached for Orion but the little bot danced out of his grasp slipping behind the couch to hide. A terrific cackle emerged but they couldn't see him. Praxus, Kaon and the twinnies watched with fascination. Then they got the idea too, breaking off in four different directions like billiard balls at the break. They gyrated off squealing with delight and excitement as the three adults in the room watched.
"This is going to be difficult," Sunstreaker said watching them heading for the hills.
"I know," Bluestreak said with a grin. "Go for it, sparklings. We're going to hunt you down!"
The squealing was constant as they stalked the wild elusive sparklings hiding everywhere.
Badly.
-0-TBC
2013 (3)
Note: There would be more but I'm babysitting a dachshund for a family member this weekend who is homesick. Tomorrow will be better and the story will be longer. Have a great night!