Chapter 13: Gentle Touches

*gasp* I'm… ALIIIIIIIIIIVE! *notices peeps glaring at me* Um… Hai? *forced grin*

-Is thrown many wrenches, water balloons and paint bombs-

*coughs and blinks the gunk out of eyes* I'm so sorry, my peeps! I just… *squeaks in fear at your glare* Ivebeenreallylazy; imsosorrythewaitwaslongerthantwomonthssopleaseenjoythechapter.

I don't own Transformers.

"Comm link"

"Speech"

'Thought'

"Bond"

Crystal giggled softly, before being silenced by the slightly mentally unstable medic. Thinking back, she recalled how Nightstar had just burst into the communications room and caused everyone to stop whatever they were doing to look at her in shock. After ducking under the white femme's desk, her voice floated up to threaten that 'anyone who gave her away to the twins would be hit by Mister Ukulele'.

None of the bots in the room understood what she was blathering on about, but Crystal had laughed, remembering the now Cybertronian-sized mop the navy blue femme kept in subspace. While it wasn't the medic's favourite weapon (her preferred one being her wrench), it certainly discouraged others from provoking her into attack.

The door slid open, and everyone quickly pretended to look like they were working. Crystal quickly went back to her desk, having left her seat to look at something on the monitor before Nightstar interrupted them.

"Excuse me, but has anyone seen Nightstar? She kinda owes us a few things, so I'd really appreciate it if her location was disclosed to us."

Swiftstreak placed a servo on her hip, her optic ridge quirking as she studied the bots in the communications room. 'Strange… Whenever anyone enters the room at least one of them will raise their helms. They have to be hiding something.' She shared her thought with her twin, who grunted her assent.

Sitting down, Crystal drew the wheeled chair towards the desk, careful not to whack her good friend that was currently cowering behind it. Shadow stood behind the yellow femme, keeping her faceplates carefully neutral. However, Crystal could see the masked fury in the storm blue optics and briefly wondered what Nightstar had done to get Shadow and Swiftstreak so wound up. Nightstar, latching onto Crystal's train of thought, quickly answered her.

"Nein, woman. I is not being le 'coward'. I is hiding awesomely."

"Um… Nightstar? Why are you using the bond when you can use the comm link? It's more private than broadcasting everything to the entire team."

"Oh, Nightstaaaaar~ Where are you, my darling?"

"Frag! Ya got a point, Chris… Anyways, good thing your desk can hide my doorwings."

"I am nowhere, I am everywhere! I might even be watching you now… Mwahahahaha! But I am most definitely not in the Med Bay, hiding in the supply cupboard." She paused for a few nanokliks before continuing, "And now I am not retreating down the corridor to hide under Nova's desk."

The yellow femme turned, silently communicating with her twin. Shadow pursed her lip plates and knitted her optic ridges, turning her helm to look over suspiciously at Crystal. The white femme, remembering that Icewhip often called her 'an open book', began to panic a little.

'Um… Quick! Think of something that has nothing to do with Nightstar! Teletubbies, ukuleles, mops, navy blue… ARGH! Something else! Music, cassettes, tape decks, Blaster…'

The black femme noted the look of utter ditzy bliss on Crystal's faceplates as her baby-blue optics grew unfocused, and summed up that she knew nothing about Nightstar's location. She shook her helm at Swiftstreak, signalling that there was no bot that would be able to tell them where Nightstar was.

"I'm guessing that all of them were busy staring at Crystal before we came in. They must've thought we were Nova or Icewhip, and then remembered what they did to Starscream."

"That is a sound theory; Watson. I concur with your assumption."

"Well, sorry to have interrupted y'all from your work. Carry on!"

The door slid shut behind the two pranksters, and Nightstar let out a loud vent of relief. She wouldn't have to escape again. However, her hopes were dashed as the tell-tale swish of the door sounded out.

"Alright bots! Anything suspicious going on?"

'This is my lucky day! And with Nova and Icewhip out on patrol, I'll finally get the chance to bring those two lovebirds together!' Her mood switched and an evil grin spread on the hiding femme's faceplates, and she quickly made herself comfortable. Just then, the shift-change chime rang, and the grin grew even wider till it threatened to hurt her cheeks. 'Thank you, Primus!'

"You're welcome, Nightstar. I think that Crystal should get a shot at romance too."

"Did I ever tell you how awesome you are?"

A warm chuckle sounded in her audios, even though the source of the laugh was currently not 'with her', so to speak.

"Tell that to Nova, she thinks I'm out for her Energon."

"Which reminds me, could you put some super awkward yet adorkably fluffy situations for the two of them? Only you know if they'll ever get the courage to get together; what with her playing 'hard to get' and Optimus being all noble and stuff."

"I'll see what I can do. But remember this, child. Karma's a glitch."

"Wait, what do ya mean by that?"

Her private conversation with the mech had gone dead, and she silently wondered what Primus meant when he used that metaphor. However, her deep thinking session was interrupted when Blaster began to speak.

"Hey there Crystal!"

Nightstar offlined her optics and imagined the smile quirking the crimson mech's lip plates, which in turn would cause Crystal to-

"B-Blaster, great to see you! I thought you were busy with Wheeljack and you'd be gone the entire cycle. S-So… I hope you don't mind that I did the reports for you…" A smirk of devilish delight lit up Nightstar's features as one of Crystal's pedes crossed behind the other, a sure-fire sign that the mini-bot was feeling both shy and awkward.

"What? You didn't have to!" The tape deck cleared his throat uncomfortably, embarrassed at his outburst. "Um… I mean… Thanks for helping me! Anyway, good job on the network hacking last cycle; it really helped a lot that you were there… helping me…" Nightstar perked up, her doorwings flicking upwards as Blaster's pede steps drew closer and an idea popped up in her processor.

"N-No problem, Blaster. It was easy figuring out the security code anyways. Soundwave's pretty predictable…" Nightstar muffled her cry of horror and indignation. How could her little sister be so oblivious? She ducked her helm, looking at the pedes that appeared right behind her. Just as she was about to carry out her little scheme, she paused and pulled up Blaster's character bio from her memory. She wouldn't want her little Crystal to become involved with a mech of unhealthy habits. (*cough* Of course, she wasn't implying anything about a certain compulsive gambler; nope, definitely not)

A gentle thump sounded above her, and she very nearly squealed with glee. Blaster had placed his servo on her desk and was most probably trying to act casual while attempting to get close to her. Nightstar didn't pay this detail any particular mind, knowing that Blaster would never harm Crystal. After all, the poor mech had been unfortunate enough to have seen Icewhip tear into Starscream.

The medic could just imagine the two after she was through with them; holding servos and skipping down the corridor with beautiful harp music playing in the background. No wait… The action seemed more likely to fit Shadowhunter and Swiftstreak. Her processor wandered, and the twin femmes were soon replaced by a regal mech.

Barely holding back a snort, she inwardly cackled at the thought of the 'Daffodil of Doom, Sunshine and Butterscotch' skipping and smiling as he strutted down the corridor throwing flowers and hugging every bot. A white pede kicked her, and Nightstar held back a swear as the offending frame part connected with her doorwing. Fortunately for her, it seemed that Crystal had forgotten about the sentient being residing under her metal desk; and the sound of the two parts colliding would be mistaken for the mini-bot kicking the piece of furniture. All in all, it was going to make her matchmaker job that much easier.

'Ow… Seems like all the fics that said doorwings were sensitive little beasts guessed right. Fraggin', no good, glitchy-'

Blaster flicked his glossa over his lip plates briefly, silently praying to Primus that he wouldn't do anything stupid. His processor stalled as he gazed into the baby-blue optics that had held his interest since their first interaction. It was as if he was in a trance.

He didn't realise how close he was moving towards her until he felt a servo grip his pede.

'What the-'

In his sudden confusion, he wasn't able to immediately notice the pearly lips on his. It was only when his servo touched warm metal that he finally realised his mouth was occupied. Automatically, the mech registered his servo over Crystal's, and the fact that he was actually kissing the gentle femme. He offlined his cobalt optics, enjoying the tranquil moment he was sharing with the white mini-bot. Sure, he'd gotten a few kisses every now and then in the past, but none had been this innocent or passionate in his entire life.

Crystal mewed softly into the kiss, her mouth moving gently against his. The crimson mech struggled to keep his instincts in check as his very core screamed at him to take her then and there. Blaster knew he was fighting a losing battle; what with the sinfully intoxicating taste of her lips tempting him, inviting him to do all those things to her…

"I CAME!"

The couple broke apart, identical blushes searing their faceplates. "I-I'm so sorry, Blaster! I-I didn't know how… My chair just moved forwards…" Crystal stuttered, unable to look him in the optic. The mech shook his helm forcefully, the last twinges of his desire ebbing away.

Blaster couldn't help the way his spark seemed to sink at her words. 'So, she doesn't like me that way…' He bit the inside of his cheek, before beginning his side of the apology.

"It's alright… I'm at fault too… I didn't mean to do it…" Cobalt optics widened at the implication of his sentence. "N-No, wait! What I meant was…"

But the damage had been done.

"I… see…" Crystal pressed her servo to her mouth, stifling the small sob that had made its way out of her vocaliser. "E-Excuse me…" She inclined her helm, quickly making her way out of the room.

"Crystal!" The scarlet mech cried out, but his call went unnoticed and unanswered.

"Great job, Slick."

Blaster whirled around; shocked that someone had been watching him. "H-How long have you been here?"

Nightstar shrugged, tapping her nasal ridge meaningfully. "I've been here long enough. No need to worry; this little incident's going to stay between both of us. Meanwhile, I'm going to give you a few tips to stay alive."

"A-Alive? What for?" If Blaster was human, his face would be paler than chalk as of present. Nightstar gave him a sad smile and jerked her thumb in the direction of the door before hiding under Crystal's desk once again.

His optics widened as the scream of jet engines alerted him to his doom.

Well, my inspiration told me to stop here. I hope to crank out something in two days or so, in time for Christmas. I hope you all liked this, and in case I don't have the time to, Merry Christmas to all! :3