The Diego Diaries: Himself, the Elf 2 (577) edited
-0-At the party
The infants ran in circles, half of them diving on the pile of presents under the numerous little trees by the window. Sunstreaker who was sitting nearby would grab them by the ped and park them elsewhere.
"LELLO!"
"What?"
"WHY YOU ME!? I GO THERE! I PLAY THEM!" Orion pointed at the stack of presents nearby with a frown on his comical little face. "I GO THERE! YOU NOT ME! BAD LELLO!"
"You can't have a present now, Spud. Go play," Sunstreaker said with a grin.
Bob who was sitting nearby cowering in the corner with the dogs rose and scuttled over putting himself between Orion and Sunstreaker. He peered at Orion with his many optics watching him as he stood quietly between them.
Orion looked at him, then back at Sunstreaker. "LELLO! YOU BAD!"
That is when Bob moved swiftly. He scuttled sideways knocking Orion off his peds. The baby landed on his backside with a shocked expression. Sunstreaker stunned for only a second gripped Bob and parked him behind his back. Helping Orion stand back up, the shaken infant stared at both Sunstreaker and Bob. "BAD SHE! SHE BAD!"
Bob groveled forward pausing beside Sunstreaker. He whistled, then looked at Sunstreaker. "No, Bob. Its okay," Sunny said as he stroked the bug gently. He glanced at the others in the room who were watching with surprise. "Its okay. Bob is just a baby like Orion."
"He defended you against Spud," Sideswipe said with a grin.
"Orion, no. You can't have a present. You can't mess with the bug," Ratchet said. "Come here."
Orion looked at his ada, then gripped his servos together in the motion that signals distress in all infants everywhere. Walking slowly to Ratchet, he paused, his face expressing tearful uncertainty. Ratchet picked him up setting him on the arm of his chair. "No scenes from you about the presents, infant. Tonight we open them. Eat first, play later."
Orion looked at him a moment, his little chin quivering. "ADA! SHE OW ME! I FALLED! OW ME!"
"I will 'ow' your aft if you don't obey when someone tells you that you can't cavort with the presents," Ratchet explained. "Go sit with your atar." He put the little bot on the ground. Orion stood staring at the little bug who peered around Sunstreaker who sat watching both of them with amusement. Cowering on the floor, Bob pressed against Sunny as he protected him as best as he could.
"Has that bug ever shown any aggression against the infants, Bluestreak?" Kestrel asked uncertainly.
"No," Blue said with a shake of his helm. "This is the first time I've ever seen him show any kind of aggression. He's really very loving. He lets the sparklings climb all over him and he likes to play ball with them. He's much more active than Dawg."
"Orion has to behave," Ratchet said as Ironhide put him on the arm of his chair. Standing on the floor around Ironhide's chair, Praxus, Hero and the twinnies stood looking up at Orion who was still miffed.
"Little mech can hardly wait for Christmas Surprise to happen," Ironhide said as he looked at his doppelganger looking at Bob with a slight look of uncertainty.
"By the way, how did the Christmas Surprise cards to the allies come along? I meant to ask you?" Ratchet asked as he glanced at Sunstreaker.
"The Christmas Surprise cards for the Prime and Autobot Nation?" Sunstreaker asked. He reached for the remote, then turned the monitor overhead on. Searching for his account, he pulled a file. "Prowl can tell you which one he chose for the official card but I have a couple that I really like. Here they are."
A file appeared, then opened. Pictures meticulously labeled appeared. He chose one and it opened. The scene was a white background. A tiny snowman standing in 'snow' stood to one side. A little pine tree with a star on top and red ornamental balls stood near the other side. Standing in the middle holding 'snowballs' all of the little femmes in the family were gathered. They were smiling at the photographer, Sunstreaker, who had a genuine gift for coaxing infants to do whatever he sought from them.
Hero along with Uraya and Iacon smiled brilliantly as they looked at the camera directly. Their tiny Autobrands glistened on their arms. Their armor was shiny, their overall appearance adorable. Oohs and ahs filled the room.
The next image was of all four of the infant mechs. The backdrop was white with no ornamentation. Starting on the left, the infants who stood looking at the camera with huge smiles were Kaon, then Miracle, Praxus, Orion and finally Prowler. That infant was standing on his tiny peds, his little servos gripping the edge of the box. He was staring at the camera smiling madly, his little red chevron glowing.
"Which one is the Christmas card from the city?" Venture asked as he stared mesmerized at the infants.
"That one was chosen by Prowl in consultation with Ratchet," Sunstreaker said as he pulled up the image.
It was silent in the room as everyone took in the image, then Hercy snorted. He chuckled. "That is cute. I can imagine that you thought it up, Ratchet."
"You are so right, Hercy," Ratchet aid with a grin. "It is genius. Sheer unmitigated genius."
On the screen was four infants, one of them clinging to the little white box that was used as a seat for some of the older more steady sparklings and the little mechs. Prowler, his remarkable armor and chevron gleaming smiled brilliantly at the camera. Standing on one side of him was Miracle, a gleaming doppelganger of the Prime himself. Flanking Prowler on the other side stood two smiling little versions of the Master of the Autobot Armed Forces and the Chief Medical Officer of Autobot Nation and the Armed Forces. They smiled at the camera, these mechanisms made miniature of their genitors.
It was hilarious.
"That is the cutest thing I've ever seen," Springer said as he laughed. "You sent them a card with miniature versions of yourselves on the cover? That is genius."
Drift grinned. "I have to agree."
"It is isn't it," Ratchet said with a deep sense of satisfaction. "I can guarantee that this card will be all over the internet, on every best picture of the year list and the like. Those are prime sparklings, everyone of them. What a better way to remind the humans that this we will defend as well."
"They are marvelous," Appa Ratchet said with a smile. "Did you take those images, Sunstreaker? What a talented young mech you are, son."
Sunstreaker grinned. "Thanks. I did. I have about 200 images but only ten of them made the cut. If you want a copy of the file, I'll send it to you. I am helping Mikaela make a calendar of the sparklings as well that includes a lot of them from the city."
"I can't wait for that," Ratchet said. "Nice choice of images for the card, Prowler. You are only half the whiner you were when I proposed this for the Christmas Surprise card for the allies."
"Loser," Prowl said with a grin.
"Really, you two," Ravel said with a smirk. "One would think that you were the sparklings sometimes."
"You love it. Admit it," Ratchet said with a grin. "I am helping Prowl utilize some heretofore unused personal files."
"You are?" Ravel asked with surprise.
Prowl watched the conversation like a spectator at a tennis match. "Ignore him, Ravie. He's a loser."
"What file is that, Ratchet?" Miler asked with a slight grin.
"Humor. Wit. Pizzazz. Those files," Ratchet said. Another cookie bounced off his helm.
"ADA! YOU ME HAVE!?" Orion asked as he watched the cookie land on the floor. Before Ratchet could answer, Bob groveled over and snatched it. He turned and hurried back to cower behind Sunstreaker again. Orion looked at the bug munching the cookie behind Lello, then looked at Ratchet with a severely affronted expression. Pointing at Bob, he looked at Ratchet. "ADA! SHE BAD! SHE TOOKEN IT! I OW ME!"
Ratchet chuckled. "You need more speech lessons, boo-boo. Can you toss him a cookie, Drift?"
Drift reached for a cookie, then tossed it to Ironhide. He handed it to Orion who took it, then smiled brilliantly. "ATAR GOOD!" he said. Then he pointed at Drift. "SHE GOOD!"
"She sure is," Springer said before an elbow to the gut ended that spree.
"When are conferences again?" Miler asked.
"Soon," Sunstreaker replied. "After New Year and all that."
"When can we expect a sparkling from you and Drift, Springer? Inquiring grandadas want to know," Ratchet asked to be ornery.
Both paused, then looked at Ratchet with wariness. "Never," both of them said at the same time.
Laughter greeted that. Hercy shook his helm with a grin. "Still at the matchmaking are ya, Ratchet?"
"I wouldn't call it that," Ratchet said handing a treat to Hero who hugged his leg, then turned to share it with the twinnies. She would take a bite, then Iacon, then Uraya, then her again.
"I would call it meddling," Ironhide said. "I would but I can't. Old mech will clobber me in my recharge."
"That's part of his allure," Hercy said just to be ornery himself.
That got all the love and attention that it deserved.
-0-Everywhere else as the sun slowly sank in the distance and evening began to deepen in the colony
Bar and Dar sat at the table eating dinner with friends. Their son, Commotion would be buried in the Mausoleum after the New Year, his funeral the first in the Primal Basilica which he had been assured would be fully constructed by then. The lights outside were bright as the night deepened. They would have visitors into the night.
-0-Nearby
Gravity stood by the window staring out into the night. He had been released from jail and was living at home. He would be on leave from his job until after New Year when he would return to the Industrial Park to work. It was quiet in the apartment as they watched the television. Dinner had been strained as they reconfigured their life around the death of Commotion.
"You will be watched," his father had told him. "Fenix has given all of us explicit instructions on how to manage the next few decaorns. You are to obey them."
Gravity had nodded, meekly agreeing. A call to Kale and Default had not been returned. They were living at home, working at their jobs and avoiding each other. That he decided was probably going to include him too. He stood at the window staring out into the night wishing he could turn back time. It would be a long night.
-0-Elsewhere
They had talked most of the night. It had been hours of conversation as both worked out the same conclusion together. It was always the same conclusion. They sat quietly sipping their drink, the starlight beyond the view ports blotted out now and again by the free floating debris of the field where they had made their fortress. Somewhere out there, Cyclonus and Slacker were dug in as well. Two other pirate groups were somewhere also but they avoided him so he wasn't as clear about their location as the other two.
"What do you want to do?" Arrow asked glancing at his bond.
Paragon sat lounging in his chair, a half filled beer bottle in his servo. He was silent a moment, then turned his helm to stare at Arrow a moment. "What else is there? Is there any other logical conclusion?"
"I don't see it. I haven't in a while, Pari."
Paragon nodded, then shook his helm. "It is … disappointing."
Arrow nodded. "I knew it was over when Megatron put the target on our backs."
Paragon nodded. "That mech is a loser. His time is over. We have to accept the new paradigm or risk the inevitable."
Arrow nodded. It was silent a long time, then Paragon stood up. He set his bottle down, then walked to the communications station nearby. "Paragon to Communications."
"Communications, sir."
"Put me through to Autobot City. I wish to speak to Prime," Paragon of Iacon said with more calmness and equanimity than he thought he would feel. He stood stoically waiting for the message to reach the colony and a return to come. Minutes ticked past, then the message was arrived.
"This is Optimus Prime," the voice said.
Paragon stood a moment, then nodded. "This is Paragon, Prime."
TBC January 4, 2014