"I don't get it."

Glory huffed in exasperation. "I've explained it to you three times now and you still don't get it?"

"It's a pile of junk!" Blitzwing insisted, waving his arm at the hodgepodge of metal scraps, meticulously welded together to form a spiraling tower that reached over Swift's head. "You keep saying there's some kinda deeper meaning to it, but all I'm seeing is all the scraps you dug outta Knock Out's mod shop!"

She gave another irritated sigh. "It's supposed to challenge you to look at the pieces we call garbage and realize that, at one time, they played a vital role in our lives. That they may be broken and used-up, but one can still find some beauty and worth in them if they take time to look."

Blitzwing stared for a long moment at a cluster of cracked hubcaps that fanned out across the lower half of the statue like an organic blossom, then shrugged. "It's still a pile'a junk."

Glory flung her arms up with a growl of frustration. "Why do I bother trying to explain art to a mech who thinks Doom and Wolfenstein are the pinnacle of entertainment?"

"Hey, didn't you write an entire thesis in school about how video games can be art?" Blitzwing retorted.

"That's different!"

Swift muffled a giggle behind her hand. Her parents rarely argued, but anything revolving around Glory's attempts to get Blitzwing to understand and appreciate anything artistic was a sure way to get some minor sparks flying.

The Iacon Museum of Art and Culture was hosting a multiple-artist exhibit this lunar cycle, focusing mainly on mixed-media pieces and found-object sculpture. Normally Glory preferred two-dimensional paintings over anything else, but every so often she got the urge to experiment and venture outside her comfort zone. Which explained why she'd spent weeks gathering junk from Knock Out's shop or just from the streets outside their home, welding them into intricate designs, and dragging her bondmate and daughter into her workshop to show off her work and ask for honest commentary… honest commentary that usually came in the form of a baffled stare.

"Seriously, just tell me what it's supposed to look like!" Blitzwing insisted. "It's a dragon, right? Though I don't see anything that could be wings, so maybe a sea serpent? That row of pointy scraps could be spines…"

"Art doesn't HAVE to look like anything," Glory retorted. "You can see whatever you want to see in it, it doesn't matter what."

Blitzwing scowled. "I STILL don't get it! First you say it's supposed to be about garbage having meaning, now you say it's not supposed to look like anything! Which is it?!"

"Gah!" Glory threw her hands in the air. "Philistine!"

"If you're gonna use human words to insult me, at least tell me what they mean."

"It means you have no appreciation for the arts!"

"I appreciate art when I can fraggin' understand it!"

Glory sighed and turned to face the shuttle-former. "Swift, I can always count on you for an honest opinion. Tell me what you think."

Swift tilted her head to one side as her optics followed a trail of dead batteries up the side of the sculpture. "Mom, I hate to say it, but... don't think I get it either. I mean, it's a neat piece, but… I like your paintings better. Especially the ones of Earth's beaches."

Glory's expression softened. "My ocean series? That one was nice, yes, and the prints still sell well. I guess… I just wanted to explore something else. Do something a little more experimental."

"It was a good experiment," Swift replied, trying to let her mom down gently. "It's just not as nice as your paintings, at least to me."

Her wings drooped slightly at the critique, but she nodded. "Well, I wanted an honest opinion… thank you for giving it to me. I guess there's more to sculpture and found-object art than just throwing things together, right?"

"If it's any consolation, it's still better than Grapple's piece," Swift pointed out. "The stack of empty energon cubes that he said was supposed to represent the perils of consumer culture."

Blitzwing snorted, smiling for the first time since they'd entered the museum. "You mean that stack of cubes the janitors threw away because they thought it was garbage left over from the opening gala?"

Glory giggled behind her hand. "Oh Primus… I felt so bad for him. But I have to admit, it was funny."

"I hope nobody got in trouble for it," Swift noted as the three of them left the statue behind and wandered deeper into the museum. "It was an honest mistake. It'd be awful if the workers got fired for just trying to clean up."

"Oh, Grapple was insistent that they keep their jobs," Glory assured her. "He said that how people interact with a piece of art is just as important as the materials used and how they're utilized. Them disposing of his piece was just an expression of how disposable consumer culture is… or words to that effect. I have to admit I tuned out a lot of his explanation."

"And that's why I don't like hanging out with your artist friends," Blitzwing grumped.

"And now you know how I feel when I have to listen in on your chats with your gamer buddies," Glory retorted, giving him a friendly nudge with her elbow.

Swift laughed softly as they walked through another display of statues, these ones of leaping dynamo-dolphins surrounded by blown glass shaped to resemble sprays of seawater. She was going to miss this when she went off to university - her parents' good-natured bickering, their genuine interest in each other's hobbies even when they didn't fully understand them. She was sure she'd find friends with similar dynamics between them, but it wouldn't be the same.

"So Swift, how was school?" Glory asked. "I'm sorry, I've been so wrapped up in trying to get your father to understand my work-"

"Don't go blaming me for this," Blitzwing grumped.

"-that I haven't even thought to ask you about your day," she finished, ignoring the triple-changer. "How did your meeting with your adviser go?"

Swift sighed. "School went all right… but Datastream wants me to rewrite my essay. She thinks I picked too simple a topic and wants me to try again with something else."

Glory frowned. "If the essay's good enough, then the topic shouldn't matter, should it?"

"I think she's just worried about it getting lost in the crowd." Swift paused to gaze at a glass sculpture of what looked like bolts of lightning frozen mid-strike. "I'll probably rewrite it for the admissions panel, but keep the original."

"That's a good plan," Glory replied with a nod. "Maybe you could let us-"

"Don't push her to share it," Blitzwing cut in. "She already shot me down when I asked to read it. Must be personal."

Swift blushed behind her mask. "It is kinda personal. I might share it later, but not right now."

Glory looked disappointed but nodded. "We'll respect your privacy. But know that we're always happy to read what you write if you want to share."

"I know," Swift replied, continuing to study the glass sculpture. She'd shared very little of her writing with her parents, partly because she wasn't sure of its quality but mostly because much of it was embarrassing fanfiction. It was one thing to have them look over an essay or short story she'd written for school, quite another to let them read one of her Cityspeakers shipping fics…

"Excuse me, but could you step to the side? I can't see this piece."

She yelped and turned, mindful of her wings - she doubted the artist who'd sculpted this piece would call accidentally whacking and shattering it with her wingspan "interacting with artwork." "Sorry!"

"It's okay," the speaker - a short black carbot - assured her. "I just wanted to get a look and couldn't see around you. It sucks being short sometimes." She offered a smile. "No hard feelings?"

Swift shook her head, stepping back to let the carbot get a better look. She'd never met this femme before… but then, she wasn't in Iacon often unless her mom had paintings on display. Her helm came even with Swift's waist, and her sleek black-and-chrome armor had been sculpted into sweeping points befitting a speedster. Her black paint job bore a sheen of rainbow iridescence, like oil on water. And while she didn't wear an Autobot symbol on her plating, her aquamarine optics were sign enough of her Autobot heritage - few Decepticons had blue optics of any shade.

"Um… no, no hard feelings," Swift assured her. "Sorry again. I just forget how big I am sometimes."

"Hey, it's okay," she insisted. "You don't need to apologize for your build." She gazed at the statue. "It's beautiful."

"I always admire artists who dare work with something as fragile as glass," Swift noted. "Transparisteel's functional and strong, but it just can't capture the light like real glass does. And it doesn't have the flaws and air bubbles that make a glass piece unique."

The carbot raised an optic ridge. "You're an artist yourself?"

Swift ducked her head, wondering if she should have just kept her mouth shut. "No, but my mom is. You hang around her artist friends long enough, you pick up a few things."

"That makes sense. My mom's a lawyer, and even though I'd rather get my paint stripped than study law I've forgotten more legal lingo than most people ever learn." She laughed and held out a hand. "Harmony of Unitrex."

"Swift of Polyhex," Swift replied, taking her hand. Her fingers dwarfed Harmony's, but the smaller femme didn't seem intimidated at all.

"I hope this doesn't come across wrong, but I'm surprised that a Decepticon artist would be exhibiting their work in Iacon," Harmony noted. "Does your mom like the museums here better than the ones in Polyhex?"

"There really aren't any museums in Polyhex," Swift confessed. "The city was built to be a military stronghold during the war, and it hasn't changed much since the peace treaty."

"That makes sense," Harmony noted. "What's it like there? I've never really been across the border before."

"It's a beautiful city. It's… well, it's home." She had no idea how to describe the city she'd called home most of her life. She'd never really stopped to think how it might look to an outsider. "Not as many roads as Iacon, but then, more Decepticons are fliers or at least have flight capability."

"Makes sense. You know, I thought about getting a flight mode when I upgraded, but I guess I didn't feel like being that much of a rebel."

Swift frowned. "How is getting the alt mode you want being a rebel?"

Harmony shrugged. "Still not many Autobots getting flight forms. It's still mainly seen as a Decepticon thing. I"m sure it's the same with Decepticons and car modes, right?"

"Actually, there are a lot of Decepticon carformers. More now than during the war, from what my parents say, but none of my friends who got car or motorcycle forms were considered rebellious or anything. Whatever alts they wanted, they could pretty much get."

Granted, some of their decisions regarding their adult frames had raised optic ridges. Her own parents had asked her time and again if she was sure about getting such a bulky alt mode, and she'd had to reassure them several times that it was truly what she wanted. And Ricochet had been terrified to admit to his own family that he had chosen a beast mode… and in all honesty, the Stunticons HAD been disappointed that another racer wouldn't be joining the family. But in the end, they had supported his decision and even welcomed a dragon-former into the family.

"Pit, that sounds nice actually," Harmony replied. "Not getting slag for wanting an alt that's out of the ordinary. It's not like a jet or military vehicle is off-limits, you just catch a lot of flak if you mention wanting, say, a Seeker frame."

Her spark lurched in its chamber. "You didn't get forced into an alt you didn't want, did you?"

"Nah," she assured her, waving a hand dismissively. "Honestly, I like my wheels. I'd have been a terrible flier - I'm not afraid of heights but I have the attention span of a turbognat."

Swift relaxed. "Good. Sorry… my dad was forced into an alt mode he didn't want, and I hate knowing anyone got subjected to that."

"Oh, yeah, don't worry, I was never forced to be a grounder." She gave a little chuckle. "Wow, this conversation took a serious turn. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. It was still interesting. I don't talk to a lot of Autobots, even with the borders open."

"Honestly, same except switch the faction for me," Harmony replied. "But let's talk about something else for a change. What do you do? Work or are you in school?"

Swift's wings relaxed at the shift in subject - she hadn't realized they'd gotten so tense. "I'm almost done with my secondary schooling. I'm looking at options for university right now."

Harmony nodded. "You're about my age, then. I graduate in a couple lunar cycles. Hoping to get into the Iacon medical school, but the competition's pretty fierce. If I don't make it there, at least Tyger Pax has a half-decent medical program."

"Oh, you want to be a medic?" Swift asked.

"Kinda-" began Harmony, but Blitzwing's shout cut her off.

"Swift, we're headin' out!"

"I'm coming!" she called back. "I'm sorry, I gotta run before Mom and Dad leave me behind. Um… maybe I'll see you again later?"

Harmony gave a knowing smile. "How about we cut the 'maybe' and I give you my comm frequency? We can always meet up for a drink later."

Swift smiled back, hoping it reached her optics under the mask. "I'd like that. It was nice talking to you, Harmony."

"Nice talking to you, Swift. Take care."

Swift paused long enough to ensure the carbot's frequency was saved to her comm unit before hurrying after her parents. Technically it wouldn't have been a big deal if they'd left without her - she was an adult now, and could fly home or take transit back to Polyhex on her own. But she'd come here in Blitzwing's company specifically to meet up with Glory, and it felt rude to split off from them now. Besides, there was a chance they might stop by one of her uncles' places on the way home, and it had been awhile since she'd had a chance to visit Astrotrain or Swindle.

Her gaze swept the sculpture gallery one more time, hoping to catch a last glimpse of Harmony before she left. The carbot had already vanished… but another mech was staring at her, a silver mech with an armored-vehicle alt and the crimson optics and violet sigil of a Decepticon. She'd never seen him before in her life, yet he continued to stare at her as she backed out of the gallery and hurried after her parents.

Who was that? He wasn't any Decepticon she was familiar with - too old to be a classmate, and not one of her teachers or a friend of her parents. And why was he so interested in her? Did he recognize her from somewhere, or was he just baffled as to why a young Decepticon flier was in a museum in an Autobot city, chatting up an Autobot grounder? As if he wasn't a Decepticon in an Autobot city himself…

She made a mental note to bring him up to her parents… but by the time they'd boarded the train and were en route to Polyhex, he had slipped her CPU.

The Great War had forged the reputations of many terrifying warriors, and Blitzwing and Astrotrain were among the most notorious. And while Blitzwing had the higher kill count, Astrotrain enjoyed plenty of notoriety himself. Sure, his choice of alt modes had earned him plenty of mockery, but only Blitzwing could razz him to his face and walk away unscathed - lesser mechs that survived the experience generally didn't make that mistake twice. And unlike Blitzwing, he hadn't stepped down from duty to start a family but had continued to serve on the front lines, wearing his warrior status with pride.

Swift knew all this, of course… but it was hard to think of Astrotrain as a mighty and fearsome warrior when his scowl melted into a huge smile the moment she and her parents walked into his apartment.

"Swift!" he bellowed, striding over to wrap her up in a hug. "It's been forever! Where've you been? I've got a Cityspeakers save file with your name on it that's been crying for attention!"

"I missed you too," Swift told him, returning the hug. "Sorry I haven't stopped by. School has been busy."

"How can you be too busy to visit your favorite uncle?" he demanded, giving her a thump on the back before releasing her. "And don't tell me Swindle's your favorite uncle. He might try to buy your affection with presents, but who showed you the secret ending on Drakengard?"

"And got your aft nearly stripped of paint for showing her that game without our permission," Glory reminded him.

"Hey, she lived through it without getting scarred for life," Astrotrain shot back. "And you saw worse during the war."

"I love both my uncles," Swift cut in before Glory could retort. "I promise I'll stop by more often, Uncle Astro, okay? Wildfire says hi, by the way."

"Did he?" Astrotrain asked. "Surprised that drone's still operational after all these vorns. Anyone want drinks?"

"Yes, thank you," Glory replied.

"Only if it's strong," Blitzwing added. "I've spent the past few hours listening to artist gibberish, I need a pick-me-up."

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," Glory insisted.

Astrotrain snorted. "I'll getcha somethin' strong, Blitz. Go have a seat. Swift, I got your favorite."

"Thanks, Uncle Astro."

Swift settled herself in a chair in the living room, checking the viewscreen as she did so. They must have stopped by while Astrotrain was in the middle of a game - and from the look of the pause screen it was Cityspeakers, an action-RPG that he'd managed to get her addicted to a few years ago. She wasn't terribly good at the actual gaming part, but she had fallen in love with the story of a brave city-speaker and her fight to save Cybertron from a horrific alien invasion, and had a lot of fond memories of watching Astrotrain explore the game and discussing fan theories with him.

She smiled softly. Swindle might be the "rich" uncle who liked to spoil her with gifts and treats, but if she had to have a preference she was more fond of Astrotrain. Sure, he had grumbled on occasion when asked to babysit her, and would have died a cruel death before admitting he was fond of the sparkling. But he had always been thrilled to share new games with her (even if some of those games had been inappropriate for a sparkling), and was almost as fiercely protective of her as Blitzwing. And even as a newly upgraded adult she made it a point to visit him whenever she had a chance, whether to play a game together or just share another chapter of her fanfic with him.

You'll share your silly romantic fanfics with Uncle Astro but not your own parents, some snarky voice in the back of her CPU noted, but she shoved it aside. Her parents would just think it was strange. Uncle Astro always made faces at the mushy romantic bits of her writing, but he understood the world of the game and the character dynamics and made a valuable resource for correcting minor details in her writing.

"So how was the art gallery, besides boring?" asked Astrotrain as he swung by Swift's seat to offer her a cube of ruby-colored energon.

"It was NOT boring," Glory insisted, taking her own cube. "There's always something fascinating to see there. Though I confess my latest exhibit was a bit of a failure. Live and learn, I suppose."

Astrotrain shrugged. "Art's not my thing. Prefer destroyin' things to makin' them."

"So I've noticed," Glory noted dryly.

Swift took a swig of her drink to hide a giggle. She knew for a fact that statement wasn't entirely true - if the amount of time he spent on his Minecraft game building a scale replica of Kaon was any indication.

"Though speakin' of makin' things… you two ever hear back from the Vector Sigma folks?"

Blitzwing nodded, beaming with excitement. "We've been approved for key access! There's a waitin' list, yeah, but it's finally happening!"

Astrotrain snorted. "Can't believe you're actually excited about havin' another kid. I thought Swift was gonna be your first an' last."

"We've always talked about creating another child," Glory replied. "We just wanted to wait until Swift was older. We didn't want her to feel like she had to compete for our affection."

Swift ducked her head. She wanted to insist that she wouldn't have minded a brother or sister growing up, but she held her vocalizer. No sense upsetting her parents. And she'd grown up perfectly content with her friends and with Wildfire - she hadn't lacked for playmates.

"And admit it, you're lookin' forward to havin' another little one around to spoil," Blitzwing told him with a cackle. "Swift had you wrapped around her finger, and this new little one'll do it too."

"Oh hush," Astrotrain snarled as he flopped into a chair next to Swift. "Nobody replaces Swift. And I'm over my mushy phase."

Despite Astrotrain's insistence, though, her father's words sent a little chill through Swift. Her parents had talked about having another sparkling for some time, and she had accepted that their love for a new son or daughter would by no means diminish their love for her. But some part of her still balked at the thought of "sharing" her uncles with a new sibling. Swindle was already positively gleeful at the thought of another sparkling to spoil, and as much as Astrotrain claimed otherwise, she knew that his spark would be lost to them the moment they were placed in his arms.

I'm already going to lose Wildfire to them… I don't want to lose my uncles too. Poor Wildfire had lost a lot of his spunk since her upgrade - he was still affectionate towards her, but he no longer demanded to share a berth with her or trailed after her like a loyal turbohound. He had been programmed to protect sparklings, not adult mechs, and now that Swift was upgraded he moped around the house and spent much of his time sulking in a corner or napping.

Glory assured her that another sparkling's presence would perk her old friend right up again… but Swift knew that would only mean that her bodyguard's affections would be transferred to the new sparkling rather than directed at her. And while she didn't begrudge her future sibling the right to know and love Wildfire, she hated the idea of losing him to the newcomer.

Stop it, she told herself. You're a grown-up. Grown-ups don't get jealous of a sparkling who hasn't even been sparked yet.

"Besides, it's not like you're gonna be havin' a new one anytime soon," Astrotrain pointed out. "Everyone knows Autobots get first priority for Sigma Keys."

"That's a pack of lies," Glory insisted. "The list is impartial - it's first come, first served."

"So THEY say," Astrotrain grumbled. "But I heard Steelwing an' her partner have been waiting months for a key, while plenty of Autobot got their access within weeks."

"Really?" asked Glory. "Which Autobots?"

"Dunno," Astrotrain replied, "but Octane says he knows about 'em."

"I trust Octane 'bout as far as the cassettes can throw a Dinobot," Blitzwing retorted. "He's just fulla slag."

"We've come a long way since Springer and his Knights of Cybertron," Glory added. "Favoritism based on faction is a thing of the past - or it SHOULD be."

"Should be, but ain't." Astrotrain tossed back the rest of his drink. "Some days it feels like nothin's changed since the war, except nobody's tryin' to kill each other anymore."

"Since when were YOU the paranoid one?" Blitzwing demanded as he took a drink of his own. His faceplates screwed up in disgust. "Gah… what the frag did you mix this with? Paint thinner?"

"You SAID you wanted it strong!"

Swift tuned her parents and uncle out and focused on her own drink, sipping it slowly to make it last. Astrotrain's words lingered in her processor, however. It seemed Harmony's words were right - despite the war being long over, a lot of tension remained, much of it revolving around the different factions and how they viewed each other. And while the strife might arise from much less serious circumstances - alt modes and Sigma Keys as opposed to oilshed and death - it still bothered her.

But she was just one femme, a quiet student who wrote video game fanfic in her spare time. What could she do about it?