Title: Present
Rating: K
Continuity: G1 AU Post-war
Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bumblebee
Disclaimer: Don't own
Prompt: 3. public exhibition

In the past, he hadn't been able to paint with people watching. Something about it drove him crazy. He just couldn't stand it.

Now… Now he could do it, though. War had changed them all. He had become a bit of an exhibitionist, what with fighting in front of basically both armies. Where had once been a shy, stay-in-the-shadows mech, there was now a bright, flashy, narcissist who loved being in the spotlight.

Granted, he still did feel slightly awkward having someone leaning over his shoulder as he stood in front of the canvas, but he could ignore the feeling and focus on the painting.

Which he was doing right this moment, but the looming minibot was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Hey-"

~Sunny!~ came a warning whisper through his processor.

~He's looming, Sides!~

~A minibot? Looming?~

Sunstreaker growled, and the minibot behind him flinched back.

"I'm sorry! I didn't- I didn't realize I was so close. I'm sorry! I was just… You're so good at that."

That almost immediately mollified the ex-frontliner. "Of course I'm good at it. I'm the best!"

Bumblebee gave Sunstreaker a grin. "You are."

The yellow Twin gave a heavy vent and a wry smile. "You learned well."

Winking, the former spy leaned forward again and gazed at the painting. "I can't believe how long it's been since we've been there."

The scene was one almost all of Cybertron was familiar with. The back end of an impossibly orange war-class shuttle sticking out of a rocky, organic mountain. Mechs of all shapes and sizes were standing around it, all of them familiar. Red and blue, black and white, white and red, black, green, yellow, red… Even a few little organics at their feet.

"I know," the larger yellow bot said as he took a very small step back. "Why I'm painting it."

"Hey, Sunn- er, Sunstreaker… Your prices are a bit... high… for me, but… I was wondering… do you think… maybe… you could make a small one for me? Um… with all of us in it, like this one? But smaller. I can't really-"

Sunstreaker shot the minibot a glare and he shut up immediately and went back to watching the painter do one of the things he did best.

A couple more dabs of paint, and Sunstreaker took another step back, surveying his work. After a moment, he gave a grunt of approval and glanced sideways at the minibot.

Only then did he realize there was quite a crowd around them. Sideswipe's stall next to his probably had something to do with the high-grade in their hands, but… They were all either watching him paint or gazing in awestruck wonder at the paintings he had hanging on the walls. Most he recognized, knew, as either his former comrades or former enemies, though there were a surprising number of mechs he was sure he had never seen in his life.

Only Bumblebee had dared to get as close as he had, though.

It struck something in the former warrior. The little guy, facing up to these terrible odds. It reminded him vaguely of himself during the war. He and Sideswipe were always the heavy hitters, the ones who took off after, say, a gestalt, or the Seekers, with no backup at all.

His face twitched slightly as he held back a smile.

Bumblebee was looking at him out of the corner of his optics. Scared, probably. Even though the little spy-assassin had probably taken out mechs thrice his size in the past.

~What's got your circuits in a knot, Sunny?~ Sideswipe called, and the yellow Twin gave a mental glance in his direction. Sideswipe was busy, handing out high-grade as fast as he could, but the red Twin had, as both of them always did, a small portion of his processor focused on his brother.

~Bumblebee. He reminds me of us right now.~

~He always was the most tolerable of of the minis.~

Again, Sunstreaker tried to hold back a smile. Face twitching, he turned to the yellow mini.

"You want it?"

Bumblebee blinked those impossibly large, impossibly blue optics. "What?"

"You want it?" he asked again, smirking, as he nodded toward the painting he had just finished.

"You'd- I can't afford it!"

The smirk grew wider. "Take it as a present for being not-super-annoying while we were there."

Bumblebee just gaped.

"Seriously. Take it before I decide to keep it. It is one of my better works…"

"OH!" the yellow minibot gasped, and made to take a step forward before stopping, arms half-lifted in the held-back offer of a tackle-hug. After a moment of shaking armor and stuttering vents, Bumblebee brought his hands together and clapped twice. "Really? Oh, Primus, thank you, Sunstreaker!"

The yellow Twin rolled his optics again and finally let the smirk become the smile he had been holding back. "Not a problem. I know you'll value it for what it's worth, at least."

Bumblebee still looking on, the Twin picked up the painting and set it aside. A new canvas was placed in its place, and the paintbrush was picked back up.

There were definitely some benefits to letting people watch him paint...