Play Off

Prowl's doorwings twitched at a slight stirring in the air. He paused in the hallway, optics intent on the datapad he held in his fingers. His grip tightened on the box he held under his arm.

"Hey there Prowlie, fancy meetin' you here."

"Jazz," Prowl returned simply. His sensors detected a soft breeze just beyond his chevron. "Are you hanging around for any particular reason?" He kept his gaze locked on the screen in front of him, re-reading his schedule for the day. He couldn't look up. He mustn't look up. He was sure that if he did, he would laugh. And then he would be obligated by duty to release the saboteur.

"Not really. Might wanna ask a certain prankster jus' why I'm bein' the center of so much 'a his fun."

Prowl flicked his doorwings dismissively, optics widening with suppressed mirth. "One would almost think someone was mad at you."

"Well, imagine that."

Prowl stepped around the Porsche hanging from the ceiling, stalling as he realized it was a Porsche. 'Someone' had strung Jazz up by his axles in his car mode. Prowl's engine revved with barely contained laughter.

"Hey, think y' could let me down 'fore y' go?"

Prowl didn't halt his forward motion. "Let you down from where, Jazz? I see nothing."

"Of course not." Jazz's engine belts squealed. "Slagger."

The tactician flicked his doorwings and continued on his way. He kept a tight rein on the smirk that threatened to break onto his face. There were days where he simple adored his lover.

He queried Teletraan-1 to double check the whereabouts of his destination. Reassured that his target hadn't moved, Prowl hurried his pace by a fraction. He turned into the rec room, honing in on a particular mech.

He sat with a small group of his friends, all of whom looked up in surprise when the tactician stopped at their table. Optics dimmed when they took in the case tucked under Prowl's arm. None of said friends wanted anything to do with the contents of that case, most especially when it was Prowl who was holding it.

Sideswipe pressed his lips together and turned back to the game playing on the screen.

Prowl stepped into their midst, and particularly into Sideswipe's line of sight. This action was met by groans and complaints from his friends as the Lamborghini's character died some horrible, animated death.

The red warrior frowned up at Prowl. "I'm off duty, sir. And I didn't hear anyone sound an alarm. I don't recall setting any pranks recently, so I see no reason for you to be standing there."

Prowl permitted himself a stiff smile. He had no doubt that the red warrior had recognized the case Prowl held. But they both needed to play their parts for the sake of their audience. They knew their roles, and, even if they never rehearsed, they knew their lines.

"Yeah Prowl, can't a mech relax for a few cycles? Primus, just because some of you big shots-"

Prowl slowly turned to face Bluestreak. He looked down at the gunner who occasionally occupied the warrior's berth. He felt pity for the other Datsun, for the way Sideswipe used him. "I don't suppose that you want to join him in the brig for insubordination to an officer?" Prowl hitched his doorwings higher, adding to his rather diminutive height. Amusement filtered through his emotion circuits at the bolstering effects of high grade and mischevous peers on Bluestreak. Certainly even the officer was allowed to tease back for all that Sideswipe and his friends put him through normally.

Bluestreak's mouth shut and he ducked his head.

Prowl turned back to the red twin, who was pointedly trying to stare through Prowl's waist.

"If you're done harassing us, we have a game to finish." The black crowned head turned up to glare at the tactician. Sideswipe could easily move Prowl to the side, and if Prowl were anyone else, he would. Even Jazz, or Wheeljack. He'd even tried it once with Grimlock, and promptly cleared the room of every piece of whole furniture with the ensuing brawl. Sideswipe was still working off that particular debt.

"Fortunately for you, Sideswipe, I am off duty."

Once again he had everyone's attention as that was as unheard of as Sunstreaker going out of his way to help a minibot.

Sideswipe threw his hands into the air, sending the controller he held flying. It smacked onto Prowl's sloped hood and slid to the ground. "Well Primus be praised and the Matrix bless us with its Light." Sideswipe stood, grabbing one of Prowl's hands with both of his own and shaking it vigorously. "Congratulations on this auspicious occasion. I don't suppose you did so on your own initiative?" Prowl jerked his hand away even as the Lamborghini released it to pose thoughtfully, elbow cradled in one hand while a black finger tapped his chin. "No, Ratchet or Prime probably had to order it, right?" Sideswipe didn't wait for an answer, but flopped back onto the couch, scooping the controller up from the floor. He looked up, feigning surprise at seeing the tactician still standing there. "Don't you have anyone else to annoy, or are you going to stand there all day?"

Prowl gritted his dental plates, promising himself that his lover would pay for this. "You're right, Ratchet did order this time off. He said that I place too much stress on my systems and I needed relaxation before I crashed something important." Prowl bent at the waist to put his face before Sideswipe's "Seeing as you and your pranks are a large portion of my system stress, I reason that you can assist me in my relaxation."

Sideswipe's jaw loosened, before he collected himself. "What about the Decepticons? Don't they get any blame for this? Why is it just my fault?"

Prowl straightened, his doorwings twitching with amusement belied by the stern expression on his face. "You are welcome to invite Starscream in for high grade and a game of Firestorm."

The warrior's blue otics narrowed. He didn't even bother with an objection to that one. "You're off duty, you can't order me to do anything."

A lame excuse. Prowl was almost disappointed. "You're right. " He turned his back on the warrior and made his way to an empty table. "But the boosters are in need of cleaning."

He heard the clatter of Sideswipe leaping to his feet. "I didn't do anything!"

Prowl opened the case and began setting the game up. "Granted, but that is what you will be doing if you don't join me." Prowl's tone turned almost genial as he courteously gestured to the empty seat across from him.

Sideswipe handed his controller over to Bluestreak, making a point to nuzzle the gunner's cheek and sweep a kiss over his chevron. Prowl's hand clenched on the piece he held as he recalled Sideswipe doing that exact thing to him. Which was the point. Prowl drew on his neutral expression, unable to trust even a triumphant smirk as his engine threatened to turn over. Prowl couldn't tear his gaze away from the mech grumpily making his way over to the table the tactician occupied.

Sideswipe slouched in his seat, one of his feet sliding against Prowl's ankle and softly tapping against the wheel well. Prowl reset swiftly, bringing himself back to the present. Sideswipe scowled briefly at the tactician, arm carelessly slung over the back of his seat. He glanced at his friends, already starting a new game. "Hey don't any of you want to see me whip Prowl's tail?"

Raucous laughter answered Sideswipe. "Yeah right, that'll be the day Sideswipe. Nice to live in your delusional world." Inferno called back, optics locked on the screen.

Sideswipe shrugged. "Looks like it's just you and me, sp-"

Prowl delivered a sharp kick to Sideswipe's extended leg.

"-spilling energon." Sideswipe lifted the empty core and filled it to the brim with high grade he pulled out of subspace. He frowned at Prowl meaningfully, I wasn't going to say it.

Prowl shifted into a shrug, tilting his head with a frown of his own on his face. "That's against regulations."

Sideswipe blinked innocently. "But you're off duty, Prowlie."

Prowl bared his dental plates in a grin. "And those boosters still need cleaning, Siders."

"You don't fight fair." Sideswipe tucked his chin down, pout in place. His optics, however, danced with amusement at the game. Prowl hitched his doorwings higher, ducking his head to hide his own optics, lest they betray him.

The red twin took a swig from his container and proffered it to the tactician. "You said you needed to relax."

Prowl pushed the sweet-smelling energon away. "I don't drink."

Sideswipe shrugged. "You will, if you win. I'm not letting you waste perfectly good grade." The warrior examined the board and made his first move. "And the winner gets the high grade, not the loser."

Prowl quietly watched the red twin finish moving the last of his Light Armors. "Are you saying that you will lose on purpose, then?" The tactician used this move to set his Guardian closer to the Core. He finished it off by moving two of his own Light Armors onto the second level.

"No." Sideswipe didn't hesitate, but began to shift his Seekers into a bizarre pattern that looked like an odd cross between a strafing run and a bombing run. That left him with enough moves to shift two of his guns onto the second level. He took another drink from the cube, his foot tapping lightly against Prowl's ankle.

Prowl glanced at the Seekers. He calmly moved his guns around the Guardian. "You are, if you're going to drink while we play. He swept a few of the Seeker pieces off the field, tossing them into the discard field.

"Says you."

They stopped talking , content to let their plays speak for them. Sideswipe triumphantly lifted Prowl's Guardian off the field, playfully dancing it into the slowly growing discard field. With Prowl's Guardian gone, Sideswipe's Airbarge made short work of the remaining guns and Armors to send his Seekers in to take out the three Ultra Convoys Prowl had remaining. Their odd strafing/bombing pattern gave them just the right explosion to shrapnel ratio to take out the large pieces.

"I won." Prowl sat back as Sideswipe flicked the last of the Datsun's guns onto its side. He lifted the Core, taking a sip, before sloshing the liquid inside. He grinned at Prowl and downed the rest.

The tactician watched his lover, struggling to rein in the desire that pounded in his system. Primus, even a simple kiss would send him into overload.

Sideswipe smirked knowingly, and tipped another brimming serving into the Core. His foot still rested against Prowl's ankle, slowly turning the wheel this way and that. "Maybe I should let you win next time," he murmured, barely audible above the general chatter of the room.

Prowl cleared the board with shaking fingers. "Are you saying that I didn't let you win?" He set up for the next game, his ventilator cycling faster than normal as Sideswipe caressed the edge of his wheel well. He paused, struggling to focus and not reciprocate. Why of all times did that infuriating Lamborghini have to choose now to be flirtatious? Prowl moved his foot away from the twins black toe joint, glaring at Sideswipe's smirking face.

"I'll wipe that grin off your face, delinquent," Prowl mock growled once he was certain he wouldn't purr those words.

"I bet you will, sir."

They started the next game, Prowl taking the offensive this time. He had a secondary reason for challenging Sideswipe to this game. "Ultra Magnus will be quite appalled that he will have to assist me in keeping you and your brother," Prowl smirked, glancing toward Bluestreak, "and your little stooges, in line."

Sideswipe's optics flashed, a mixture of surprise and even a little jealously worming its way onto his face. "Maybe I could teach Magnus a new tactic or two for Firestorm." The growl in his engine spoke of other things he wished to show the unit commander.

Prowl dimmed his optics even as he lifted his doorwings. "Ultra Magnus," Prowl paused to make sure the twin looked up at him. "will quite likely be very busy getting Autobot City prepped for occupation."

Sideswipe stared at Prowl, his inscrutable expression as dangerous as one of his brother's glowers.

Prowl leaned forward, doorwings sweeping back as he took Sideswipe's guardian off the playing field. "Springer is still assigned to his unit."

Sideswipe stiffened. "He's coming?" He looked ready to surge to his feet, to go to his brother.

"Finish the game, Sideswipe" Despite the tone, Prowl let Sideswipe know it was okay to refuse with a flick of his doorwings.

Sideswipe looked at the board, then at Prowl, and finally toward the door, the dilemma clear on his face.

"You're not on duty, Prowl." His wide optics conveyed his unspoken apologies.

Prowl tilted his head, looking at the warrior from under his chevron. "I'll see you cleaning the boosters in the morning, Sideswipe."

The red mech smirked and stood, walking out without another word. The back of his hand negligently knocked into Prowl's shoulder tire, the wheel turned, exciting Prowl's sensors. Prowl froze, his engine betraying him with its purr. Prowl worked to cool his circuits, clearing the table of the pieces and board. He had predicted quite accurately what Sideswipe's reaction to that piece of information would be.

He paused to down the energon, feeling the rush of high grade as it burned in his tanks. No need to waste it.

No matter how much Prowl meant to the Lamborghini, it didn't level with the bond shared between the twins. Prowl had tested Sideswipe's limits in that regard in the past, only to regret having hurt the Toughline. Hurt him by forcing him to choose between his lover and his brother, and ultimately Prowl hurt Sideswipe by forcing him into a retaliatory act that landed Prowl in the med bay and Sideswipe in the brig.

Prowl closed the case, and tucked it under his arm. He would put this back in his quarters. After making a show of stumbling on Jazz.

Sideswipe grinned at Ironhide, otherwise ignoring the red mech.

"Ya have a breem ter talk ter him, then I want ya out."

Sideswipe pouted at Ironhide, his attempt to sneak up on his brother inadvertently foiled by the officer. "Plenty of time."

Sunstreaker glanced away from the monitor to glare at the red twin. "What?"

Sideswipe leaned against the edge of the console, arms crossed over his chest. "I see you're still in a good mood."

"Frag off."

Sideswipe's brow ridge lifted and he fought to keep the smirk off his face. "Fine, I'll just take my news and go." You'll be big and blue later. Matter of fact, you might even be a little green with envy." As with Prowl the twins shared a secret language to convey unspoken intent with key words or looks or gestures. Unlike with Prowl, Sideswipe had never had to sit down and spell anything out with his brother. They just knew.

Sunstreaker jerked in surprise, turning to the red twin. "What?" His voice hitched and his slack jaw slurred the words.

Sideswipe widened his optics, nodding. He couldn't directly say it until the announcement was officially made. Such knowledge was one of the perks of having the second-in-command as his lover. "He's coming."

Sunstreaker's fingers twitched sporadically, betraying his nervous excitement. "You're slagging me."

Sideswipe didn't release his brother's gaze. "Heard it from a very reliable source."

The golden twin's narrowed his optics. "Why did you have to tell me this now? Couldn't it have waited until I got off?"

"Sideswipe," Ironhide rumbled.

"But then I couldn't tell you, cause I'd be cleaning the boosters." Sideswipe stood, grin in place.

"At least you didn't include me in whatever fun landed you with that duty." Sunstreaker turned back to the monitors, his gaze flicking over the multitude of screens.

"Sideswipe…"

The warrior waved Ironhide off. "You know Prowl looks for any excuse, especially when he's in a bad mood."

"Sideswipe, get out."

"I'm going, I'm going. Primus."

A/N: Originally this was going to be a bit piece in a larger story. When I sat down to write it, it grew on it's own. And this would by why I love this pairing.

Edit: Thanks to elvenarchress for pointing out the typos and grammatical errors. Thanks to both elvenarhcress and blood shifter for pointing out bit of bad characterization. Even though it's still there, hopefully it's a little more appropriate.