The Diego Diaries: Down Time (280) edited for boo boos
-0-At the studio
They walked in and paused, Optimus looking around at the space. He had not been there yet and he regretted it. The sunlight was bright and warm, the ambiance comfortable. A studio shared space with children he thought as he looked at the play area roped off for the babies. He turned and looked at Sideswipe who was standing in front of a couch and Sunstreaker who held a paint pot. He was stirring it as he worked to make the colors perfect. The others walked inside including Prime's genitors "I want to thank you for this, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. This is a long overdue thing for my genitors."
Sunstreaker nodded. "No problem," he said as he began to eye the two quiet mechs standing behind their son with a critical optic. "Come on in and I'll have Sideswipe put the undercoats on and the protective cover for the armor that goes before the color is applied."
Tagg and Kestrel looked at each other. "What does he mean, Orion? Aren't we just getting color applied?" Tagg asked.
"Sunstreaker is not only my son-in-law, Atar, he's an artist. There is an art to customizing and detailing armor properly and he and Sideswipe are professionals. Its time that all of us got the chance to have good color and decoration on our armor and not just those that can afford it," Optimus replied gently.
They looked at him, then Prowl who grinned and nodded. Turning uncertainly, they walked to the platforms where they would stand and climbed on. Sideswipe checked his equipment, then turned and began to apply one of several coats of primer along with the protective layer for the underlying protoform. They stood and turned, raising this and that arm, tilting this and that way. Everyone sat on the couches and chairs watching silently.
"What do we do in payment, Orion? I realize these boys are our family too but they are giving up their time and the paint must be extremely expensive. We don't want to take advantage of their good natures," Kestrel asked as he raised his arms over his helm. "We should work shouldn't we?"
Optimus swallowed hard. "You don't ever have to work again. You have worked enough."
"We need to pay our way, son," Kestrel retorted. "We don't want to be any more of a burden than we have been for so long."
One of the guards stood up and caught Kestrel's optics. "You know better than that," he said gently. "You always carried your own weight, Kestrel."
Kestrel looked at him a moment, then nodded. "I don't know what to think. I still think I'm dreaming."
"You can speak to Jarro and his team. They are used to this from rescues and refugees. It will pass, Kestrel. You won't wake up on Cybertron from this. This is real," Ratchet said gently.
Kestrel looked at Ratchet for a moment, then looked down at the floor. "All right," he said quietly.
The guards stirred but kept their peace. Optimus noticed that and looked at Ratchet. "Will you schedule my genitors for a conversation with someone in Mental Health? I would appreciate it, Ratchet."
"We aren't crazy, Orion," Tagg said glancing at his son. "Your ada is just tired."
"And they can help," Optimus said. "I think it would be best for you both."
"Very well," Tagg said quietly. They both stood doing what they were told, then the undercoats were finished. What came next would take more time and care.
-0-At the school
Spot lay in a sunbeam dreaming of running along the rustic shores of the Sea of Rust. His boy was nearby working on his math, his concentration complete. Spot had been a spectacular playmate at recess, shared a snack at snack time and listened attentively during their reading period. They would be going to the main room for lunch with the other classes, two of which had service dogs as well.
They were both styled on the human canine called Labrador retrievers. One of them was partnered with a mech who had screaming nightmares about starvation and the shooting of his family. Everyone had survived but the transit with wounded who had no treatment had been profoundly disturbing.
The other lab, Silky, was the companion of a little femme named Hilo who had yet to talk. She had seen the acid monsters and had been burned on her tiny foot. She was spending her orns in class sitting in a chair by the window. She listened to the stories and hugged her dog close, the warm sunlight on her face soothing. Since she had gotten Silky, a black animal with a sweet face she had begun to make the journey back to reality. She had actually joined the line for lunch for two orns straight. It was a step forward for the forlorn little femme and her terrified family.
Silky was their collective hero.
Next to Hilo.
Sunspot paused and looked toward the windows where Spot lay, his beautiful white body absorbing solar energy. He looked like a cloud, the aura of his pure energy appearing to Sunspot like a halo. He loved his dog so much he couldn't focus a moment. Then he did, working through the mathematics that had been geared to his deficiencies. He would fill the pot holes of his databases, then move on to new tasks. He wouldn't move forward alone. Spot would be by his side.
It was a pleasant morning in the intermediate schools as the treasure of their city worked hard.
-0-In a sparkling school nearby
They stood looking chastened, both of them standing side-by-side in front of their teacher, Mr. 'TOTO!' Roto. Staring at the floor, nearly to the verge of tears, they listened as Mr. Roto explained for the hundredth time that fighting was a BIG NO NO!
Of course, he geared it in his usual kind bemused manner. He looked at them, tiny bots with big brains and smirked. "If I didn't love both of you, I would put you in detention."
They heard 'love', 'you', and 'I'. It didn't sound too badly so Orion looked up, his sincerity clear. "Han say boo!" He made a shocked face and raised a servo to his mouth like an old lady who just heard her grandson say shit. Han glanced at Orion, then Roto. He looked again with an angry glance to Orion, then up at Roto shaking his helm negatively, his optics as innocent as he could make them look.
Orion turned to Roto and patted his arm. "Han say boo. Boo not good. Boo is no-no." He looked shocked and covered his mouth again staring at Han with almost realistic fake astonishment. "Boo is bad, she say." He pointed at Han and looked at Roto.
Roto who had knelt before them gathered himself and with great will didn't fall over to laugh. "Boo is bad?" he asked with a slight smile.
"Boo is bad. Bad say him. Boo is," Orion paused and made his astonished face, his optics wide as he tried to convey his overwhelming aghast horror at Han's 'swearing'.
Roto swallowed hard and composed himself. Looking sternly at Han, he leaned slightly forward. "Are you swearing, 'she'?"
Han leaned back slightly, a look of fake surprise and innocence fairly exploding on his face plates. "No! Han good! She bad!" he said pointing at Orion.
Orion looked at Roto, then Han. "She bad! Orion good! She say boo!" He looked shocked and astonished, turning his face to Roto to make sure Roto got it about 'she'.
Han who had actually said boo and meant it punched Orion in the nose. Orion blinking at the slightly whiffed punch looked at Roto. Roto looked at him with his own astonished expression, then Han. "Han bad," he said in spite of himself. He stood and lifted Han placing him back on the Chair of Doom. Turning to Orion, he paused.
Orion was grinning broadly at the back of Han even as he rubbed his nose. Orion looked up catching Roto looking at him and the smile faded immediately. It was replaced with a look of utter hurt and dismay. It was so instantaneous that Roto was surprised something on Orion's face didn't unscrew and fall off.
He stifled his laughter to the best of his ability, then picked up Orion. Orion sat on his servo looking at him with a deeply aggrieved, deeply serious expression. "MR. TOTO! HAN SAY BOO!"
"He did," Roto said smirking at his little charge. "We don't allow swearing here. Is that a swear word? You both seem to think so."
Orion considered that incomprehensible sentence, then looked down at Han. He smiled in spite of himself, then committed his own hanging offense. He spit at Han from above.
He would spend a while on his own chair in his own corner.
Mr. Roto 'Toto' on the other servo would go to the staff room and split a gut trying to convey to the staff on break what had happened and just how damned funny and cute it was.
He would fail.
-0-At the studio
They stood in front of the mirror watching as a hard finish was applied to their coats of paint. They had had fifteen layers of color air brushed onto their main schemes. That had dried as hard as rocks on contact. It was Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's secret formula. The tape protecting other areas painted first was being stripped off as the finish landed where it was supposed to be. When the last strips were pulled, the two stared at the mirrors and saw finally themselves from helm to ped as they once were.
Only several planetary diameters better.
They shone like glass. Their chrome glistened. Their colors were intense, the kind one got with dozens of layers of paint. Only with the pigments that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker used, they were the most intense of any artist and detailer in the city.
"You will get fifteen more coats, two covers for the color and a few scratch and protection layers," Sunstreaker said as he watched them stare at themselves with astonishment. "I think you're too tired for those now. We can do that later."
They looked at him, then Orion. "You mean this isn't it?" Tagg asked with incredulity.
"Nope," Sideswipe said with a grin.
Kestrel turned and hugged Sideswipe tightly. "Thank you, Sideswipe." He turned and hugged Sunstreaker. "You are the best young mechs," he said with a smile. "You made my Tagg look so handsome. It's like the first time I saw you, Tagg. You look wonderful."
Tagg hugged them both, then turned to the others. "Thank you, all of you. You made both of us so happy."
They stood up and hugged, chatted and congratulated the twins who stood enjoying the moment. It was not everyday that your work got 100% rave reviews from the masses. Then Prowl turned to Ironhide and smiled. "Hand over the sparkling. I want to have him this afternoon." He grinned at Ironhide and waited with his servo out.
Ironhide blanching muttered as he reached inside his hold and pulled out a recharging Prowler. Prowl took his little mini-me and smiled. "Now Hero."
Ironhide grimaced. "You don't have a hold over her."
"No, but I want her. Matched set," Prowl said, his relief at things working out making him bold.
Ironhide coughed her up too. Then Ratchet paused taking an internal call. He turned to Ironhide with a grim expression. "Mr. Roto wants us at the Sparkling School."
"What happened? Is Praxus or Orion hurt?" Ironhide asked as the room froze.
Ratchet's expression formed into a frown. "Not yet," he said as the message landed with Ironhide too. He looked grim himself, then they turned and stalked off.
"What was that about?" Kestrel asked worriedly.
"Orion." -Prime, Prowl, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe with a grin.
Kestrel and Tagg just blinked.
-0-TBC
04-22-13