The Diego Diaries: Ho-The Frag-Ho 1 (574) edited
-0-At the scene of the kind
Optimus Prime settled back into his 'throne', a spectacular confection designed and crafted by Specialties Fabrication-Metallic, Ornamental, all of whom showed a tremendous sense of humor with the gift. It was huge and metallic with red fabric cushions for his Elvish aft. Carved into the design of the arms and legs were symbols of Christmas Surprise, designs that gleamed in the copper material. He sat on his throne comfortably, his hat firmly on his helm. Jazz stood on one side, Ironhide on the other.
Arcee who was standing nearby grinned, then sent a message to Prime. He glanced her way, then sent his own message. Behind him, mechs with lifting dollies began to bring in the pallets of boxes that were numbered and collated if you will for the proper individuals. As usual, volunteers had sought information and names to devise a toy desired by the infants which was tagged and bagged just for each. They were moved to Prime, pausing with enough distance for him to be approached easily and the 'elves' to get the gifts without confusion.
"Why are we waitin'?" Jazz asked leaned against Prime's throne. Ironhide stood beside him hulking and looking intriguingly hysterical as he waited.
Prime grinned. "Not everyone is here."
Nearby, moving through the crowds, Ultra Magnus walked toward Prime pausing as the numerous snaps of cameras flashed or rolled to take video. Pausing before Prime, he nodded. "You called, sir?"
"I did," he said nodding to Arcee. She walked forward and pulled a green elf cap from subspace. Handing it to him, she stood grinning up at him. "What is this?" he asked glancing at Prime.
"That's an elf hat, Magnus. You've been recruited. Remember?" Jazz asked with a big smile.
"What?" Magnus asked with 'intense' surprise. "Surely, you are joking."
"No. And that's an order," Prime said with a big smile.
Magnus looked at him so long that Prime thought he had vapor lock, then he turned to look at Arcee with a growing frown. "You."
Arcee grinned. "Me."
He looked at Prime, a smirking Ironhide, a laughing Jazz and a bond mate with a firm visage . With a vented sigh and a look of profound resignation, he donned the hat, then moved behind Prime to stand at a very tense full attention, his arms crossed behind him. He looked mortified, yet dignified, yet embarrassed, yet AWESOME!
That is when the first class stepped into the lobby. It was a youngling room that was across the hall from Mr. Terradive's group. They stood with their teacher, their families and friends surrounding them. A tentative schedule was made to make sure that everyone who wanted to be there could. The entire thing was a live broadcast on IntraComm.
Magnus would not know that until later.
The line came forward and paused, the infants hopping in place from excitement, smiles and laughter running rampant. Ironhide and Jazz walked to the boxes and opened the one for their class. They would begin to give presents to Prime who would give them to the little kids, all of whom believed that Optimus Prime of Cybertron was truly someone called Santa Prime who loved little children.
They would be half right.
Magnus watched as Arcee kibitzed nearby with her team and other femmes and mechs who wanted to laugh at Magnus. He stood like a tree or better yet, a suspension bridge piling, 'shoulder pads' not with standing. He stared straight ahead in a private attention hell of his very own until he got the word from Arcee.
:Magnus:
:WHAT!:
:YOU LOOK LIKE A JACK ASS! HELP THE OTHER ELVES!:
He glanced at Arcee who was standing with her servos on her hips watching him with the expression she used when the spigot was going to be shut off for the foreseeable future.
He groaned, then turned to assist. It would take a while and a few classes but he would in the end enjoy himself greatly. He would pull his own optical sockets out before he would vocalize that notion.
Arcee would know anyway.
-0-In a classroom nearby
They sat in their chairs observing the proprieties. Then Spirit got an idea. Whispering all around his table as they ate their cookies and sipped their energon punch, he found allies right and left. They got up and informed Mr. Terradive who was sitting nearby with Mr. Roto who would be at the Sparkling School when Terri was finished and able to attend also. He looked at them, then nodded with a grin. They ran to the art closet and began to organize.
-0-Downstairs
A multitude of younglings came down, stood in line, shyly/emotionally/ecstatically came up to Santa Prime and received their gift shyly/emotionally/ecstatically, almost all of them hugging him. The newest students were nearly overcome at the idea of both Santa Prime and a gift. Most of them were victims of uncertain lives, those with lots of privation. The city and its activities almost seemed like a dream for way too many of them.
And their adult family members.
Prime for his part hugged and patted the infants who clutched their presents in pretty bags. He smiled, chatted and posed for pictures with everyone including adult family members. Even the three odd elves with him posed, trading slag with the soldier genitors and others as smoothly as they received it.
It was fun. Lots of fun. Even for Magnus.
-0-At various homes around town
Venture entered his apartment in Vos Tower after locking down a couple of problems at work. Miler who had been tasked to make a couple of the family's traditional foods for the pot luck at Ratchet and Ironhide's home looked up. "Hi. You ready to go watch the fun? Your camera is in the berth room, Ven."
He walked to the berth room putting down his datapad case to snatch up his camera. He walked out with a smile. "Come on, Milie. This is going to be fun."
Miler tossed a couple of dirty dishes into the sink. "Later, dishes," he said for the first time in his life. They turned and hurried out the door to the Youngling Day School.
-0-
Nearby, Kestrel and Tagg knocked on a door. Ravel opened it, the amazing aromas of traditional foods flooding out. "That smells so good, Ravel. Are you all ready to go to the schools for the fun?" he asked as Tagg followed him inside. "Hello, Ratchet. Are you ready to go?"
Appa Ratchet was standing in the doorway of his room. He nodded. "I think this is so wonderful."
"Atar, if you get tired you must tell me. I don't want you back in the hospital because you didn't," Ravel worried.
"I will be fine, Ravel," Appa Ratchet said with a smile. "I can't wait to see what this is."
"You will love it, Atar," Ravel said as the entire group turned to go out the door. "Ironhide is an elf," Ravel said sweetly as the door closed behind them.
-0-Nearby with Sunstreaker
Sunstreaker sat in the corner of Sunspot's classroom watching him and the other students make a huge Christmas Surprise sign for Santa Prime and his elves. He grinned as he watched them design the big glyphs, then fill them in with glitter paint. "Happy Christmas Surprise, Santa Prime. Thank you! Happy Christmas Surprise, Elves! We love you!" emerged in the sweetness of their intentions.
Others sat cutting out and glittering Christmas Surprise decorations to be affixed to the eyelash thin sheet of semi stiff metallic 'paper'. It would be spark felt and sincerely gifted to the mechs down below who put their egos aside to do a sweet thing for infants.
And they would appreciate Magnus too.
In the Sparkling Day School, Sideswipe and Bluestreak sat on the floor with toddlers running all around them. They had their snack and now they were playing. Uraya and Iacon were watching another femme in the sandbox who was burying herself with a giant smile on hr little red face.
Praxus ran shrieking past with Orion, Bleu, Han and Kaon hot on his tail. They chased him to the closed door where he paused, then shrieked with barely contained excitement. They stared at each other laughing and bouncing on their tiny peds. Then Orion turned to run. They all chased after him. It would go on until Santa Prime dropped in to see them.
It was alright with Blue and Sideswipe. The more tired the sparkling, the earlier the berth time.
-0-At ground zero in the Christmas Surprise Whirl
Mr. Terradive stood behind two classes, his own holding a banner they had made complete with remarks and images. They had barely finished when they got their marching orders. They stood excitedly, their happy faces filled with a desire to do a good surprise for Santa Prime and his crew. Classes walked past carrying their gifts, some of them snatched up by families who wanted to avoid the trip up just to come back down. As they inched closer, they chatted.
"Santa Prime is a nice mech." -little mech
"I like him. I like his elves too." -little femme
"I like Santa Prime. He looks like my atar." -Spirit
"I think so too, Spirit." - T-bar grinning at his baby brother
They inched to the door and peered in. Santa Prime was helping another class, the room reverberated with flashes and squeals of happiness. Spotting their genitors, some of them called out and waved. Genitors watching, some for the first time waved back. Around the room, the conversation was happy.
"I don't get this holiday but I like it. Its so pretty." -an ada
"I like the lights and the focus on my son. He's never gotten a present before. We tried, understand. No one tried more than us but just keeping alive didn't allow for much." -an atar
"Don't worry about it, Luca. We live in a new life and there will be time to do what you wanted. This is an orn set aside to remember that. The humans have nice customs." -another atar
"I know. Dinner tonight and fireworks again. I like our holidays coming around on the calendar at the same time as this. My kid is having a great time." -another atar
Nearby pausing at the door, the class of Mr. Terradive waited.
"Appa, look. There they are," Ratchet said as he held his camera up. He snapped images of the infants, the room full of individuals, the decorations, Santa Prime, Himself, the Elf Magnus, Elf Ironhide's aft as he bent over to bring out more presents, Jazz making bunny ears behind Prime, then Ironhide, his genitors great joy, Alor, Flint, Blackjack, Starscream and his trine who were here for the laughs, Blondi and Dagger who were here for the fun and to watch Magnus squirm courtesy of Arcee, Rampage and his bond delivering lunch for the buffet that was going to happen for teachers and staff once the fun shifted to another school, Armour, Chevron and Lauren who were there to enjoy the joy, Scamper because he was a cutie pie standing with his group of friends that included Hot Rod, Smokey and Blurr, Moda and Tress because they lowered the boom and invoked after catching Smokey making arrangements to frag the peds off Hot Rod in violation of his "SLAGGING FRAGGING HERITAGE!", Devcon and Smokescreen who came to laugh at Magnus and Ironhide and who for once were not involved in the surveillance of their spectacularly loved, deeply beloved, fragalicious grandson … like that.
The crowd was awesome. Between the astonished and delighted genitors minus one pair that was still steaming as they stood guard over their rather luscious son and everyone else, Christmas Surprise was aft kicked well on its way.
-0-In the jail
He stood before the Officer of the Orn-Jailer waiting for his discharge. He was silent as he was still caught up in the general turmoil of the death of Commotion. His funeral would be held after the holidays. The Basilica would have a high caste for the first funeral of Cybertronian kind held on Mars. Most of the others were simply interments with family and friends, if any. For those sad affairs, Prowl made a point to appear. No one should go to the Matrix without a witness he told Prime one night when a news story showed him standing with the priests at the Mausoleum for a mech who had not made it through a migration and who had no family. A mech of conviction and real religious regard, Prime had another reason to love Prowl dearly.
Bar and Dar were going to send their son off traditionally as well and every high caste in the city was expected. This one would be the more elaborate kind with an open house at his genitor's apartment.
Standing nearby waiting for him, Humr and Wifi tried to look as inconspicuous as they could. Picking up their son from jail was mortifying. The charges he faced at one point were ridiculous. That their son would plant bombs was preposterous but they adhered to the advice Fenix had given all of them. This release didn't mean that Gravity was free. They would be watching him like a hawk.
Gravity stood quietly. When the release was granted on the screen, the officer told him to go. He did. He went right into the arms of his genitors.
-0-Nearby at the hospital
He sat staring at the sumptuous meal given him as part of a holiday he had never heard of. Soon his parents would be allowed to have it with him. He was cut off from the outside world. He had no idea that Commotion was dead. They would tell him.
-0-At the Santa ball
Mr. Terradive turned to his kids with a grin. "Our turn." He turned back and led them forward. They paused by the marked spot, then he nodded to Spirit and his little group. Smiling madly, they walked forward with their little banner.
Optimus watched two of his children step forward with a banner hailing him and the elves. He grinned as they stopped before him. After a moment of whispering and pointing, Sunspot was nudged forward. He came forward and paused, then looked back at the others. Spirit jolted, then turned taking a datapad from someone behind the banner. He ran to Sunspot, handed it off, then ran back. He turned and smiled at his father, the snapshots of family and intrigued bystanders flashing all around them.
Sunspot stood smiling at Prime and his father, then he held up the datapad to read.
"Dear Santa Prime and your elves ..."
-0-TBC January 2, 2014