AN: As a general warning, Mikaela does make an offhand remark about killing herself, but it's in regards to a doomsday/zombie scenario and not from her mental state.
On Saturday, Miles went to the only used bookstore that Tranquility had. There was a Barnes n' Noble the town over that would probably have suited his needs better, but he didn't have all that much money saved up and had already regulated a portion to alien expenses. So far that had mainly been gas, but he had no doubt that there was something else down the line.
The first thing he had grabbed had been "Auto Repair for Dummies". Then he had gone to the self help section and gotten a few books from there, hoping that if he just left one behind after a repair session Barricade would pick it up out of curiosity and read it. He might even try to read one himself if that didn't prove to work just to get some good advice to give the mech, because it was obvious Barricade was reluctant to listen to him even when he was right.
Miles knew their life experiences had been totally different, but he also knew that Barricade just surviving was a miserable way to live. He was determined to get him to see that.
He hadn't set out to find any books on space, or to even look at them. He's not sure how he even managed to stumble across the section in the first place with how small it is and he had every intention to walk past when he first spotted it. Instead, he does the exact opposite and spends a couple minutes browsing the titles instead, picking up a few to flick through. His eyes glance over constellations and galaxies that he had never given much thought to before.
Miles knew the basics of it all, of course. Earth and the other planets in the solar system revolve around the sun, shooting stars were actually bits of space rock burning up in the atmosphere, man had been on the moon, and so on. But somehow he had never actually given all that much thought to what might be out there beyond all of that; it had been just another thing to memorize for a test.
Last night, he had spent at least an hour staring at the night sky through his bedroom window and wondering what else was out there. He had wondered about all the things Barricade had seen up there and if there had been any other planets with life on them and whether or not he thought it was as amazing and as beautiful as Miles did.
"Miles?"
Miles was so surprised to hear his name called that he dropped the book he was holding in shock, body jerking as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't be. The page on black holes disappears as it hits the floor, and he quickly picks the book up before turning to blink owlishly at Mikaela and the blond guy standing at her side. He didn't recognize the guy even though he looks like he's their age.
The guy smiled at him and a chill ran down Miles' spine. There was something off about his smile and Miles couldn't pinpoint why. Mikaela just stood beside him with a smirk on her face, obviously pleased with herself for scaring him.
"Always wonderful to see you, Mikaela." Miles huffed. "And who is this poor idiot you have tagging along with you?"
"This is Bee," Mikaela introduced him. "Well, Ben, actually, but I call him Bee!"
Ben had to be Bumblebee, the Autobot he had heard about. Just like that, Miles realized why something had seemed off. It was the uncanny valley effect; Bumblebee was using a holoform that looked a little too perfect, skin unblemished and eyes a little too bright and a weird shade of blue. Like Barricade's holoform, Bumblebee's movements came off as weirdly flat and static. He also wasn't bothering to pretend to breathe, which Miles would have probably never have even noticed if he hadn't been looking so hard.
Miles leaned towards Mikaela and lowered his voice to a mock whisper, "Does Sam know you're cheating on him with a playboy model?"
"Oh, shut up!" Mikaela laughed.
"Oh, no, I think he should keep talking if he's going to compliment me," Bumblebee joked.
"I'm going to be too busy reading to ogle you for much longer, dude." Miles grinned at the holoform, happy to get a laugh from the mech.
Mikaela's attention returned to the books in his arms, eyes glancing over the titles and her face falling a bit. Miles figured "Dealing with Grief" and "How to Stop Being Angry" were probably throwing her for a loop and he almost sighed in relief when she purposefully focused her gaze on the car book.
"You're interested in cars?" Mikaela finally asked.
Miles shrugged, "My dad wants to teach me how to change the oil and a tire before I get my permit but he hasn't done it in years so I thought this would be safer."
"Probably won't help you with much more than that," Mikaela said as she grabbed the book on cars and flipped through it quickly. "Sam gets the boyfriend discount of 20% off at my dad's shop. If you can kiss as well as him you can get 10% off."
"I won't fall for your tricks, Succubus!" Miles attempted to make the sign of the cross at her with his fingers, succeeding only for a moment before he lost his grip on one of the books he was holding again.
Mikaela laughed at his antics while Bumblebee bent down to pick the book up. An odd expression crossed Bumblebee's face as he looked at the book on space. For an absurd second, Miles feared that Bumblebee would somehow figure everything out from just that, but then he straightened up and held the book out for him.
"A man of many interests, I see." Bumblebee commented.
"Oh, yeah." Miles tried to laugh it off, hoping he didn't seem as awkward as he felt. "I started watching X-Files and it got me a little obsessed with the idea that there may be some other form of life out there."
Miles watched with amusement as Mikaela and Bumblebee shared a look. Mikaela was a tad wide eyed but Bumblebee just looked excited. He filed that away for later.
"We were just about to go get milkshakes," Mikaela looked back at him. "Care to join us? It's been a while since we hung out."
Miles narrowed his eyes at her, "You're not going to grill me about Sam, are you?"
"…No."
After Miles bought his books, the trio walked across the street to the diner which everyone in Tranquility agreed had the best milkshakes. Miles sat on one side of the booth and Mikaela and Bumblebee sat on the other. Miles got a strawberry milkshake, Mikaela a chocolate, and Bumblebee claimed lactose intolerance and lack of interest in anything else.
Bumblebee was thrilled to actually get to talk to Miles for once, because playing non-sentient car didn't give him much of an opportunity to really connect with the human. He knew Miles was important to Sam, but he'd also watched as Sam had pulled away from their friendship. Despite talking with Mikaela, neither of them had really been able to pinpoint why that was.
Miles seemed a little more twitchy than usual, but that was the only off thing that Bumblebee could notice about him. He seemed in good health and good spirits, and he and Mikaela were switching from conversation to conversation with little trouble.
"You actually watched that crap?" Mikaela asked, drawing Bumblebee out of his thoughts.
"It's not crap!" Miles defended, "Zombie movies are awesome."
"Some are good," Mikaela allowed, "Like Twenty-eight days later or whatever it was. But most of them are just gore bores."
"Yeah, fine, some of them are." Miles sipped noisily at his milkshake, "But I think they're fun 'cuz they get me thinking. What would y'all do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?"
Bumblebee gave that some thought, "I suppose I'd grab my loved ones and go somewhere secluded. Like the mountains, maybe."
"I'd kill myself," Mikaela said with confidence and zero hesitation.
"Excuse me?!" Bumblebee gaped at her.
"Even if it's the slow ones?" Miles asked.
"Even the slow ones," Mikaela confirmed. "It's not the zombies I'd be worried about, it's the assholes who survive them and take advantage of the situation."
"Oh, that's fair." Miles sounded almost impressed by her thorough thinking.
Bumblebee decided he wasn't a fan of this conversation. Humans had a fascination with the macabre that he would hopefully never understand. It probably had to do with their short lifespans.
"My turn," Bumblebee folded his arms on the table and leaned forward in his seat a little, something he'd seen Sam do multiple times. He was feeling a little mean, so he waited just a moment until he could see Mikaela taking a drink of her milkshake, "What would you do if aliens came to Earth?"
Mikaela choked on her swallow and began to cough. A foot came over and stepped on his, but Bumblebee didn't feel pain from his holoform so it hardly bothered him.
"Hmm…" Miles sat back as he gave it some thought. "Are these aliens looking to take over, or is it like an E.T. situation?"
"E.T. situation."
Bumblebee got a look from Mikaela and knew he was going to get chewed out for it later, but he was curious to see what Miles would say.
"Oh, that's easy." Miles grinned, "I guess I'd probably be scared at first depending on how they looked and arrived and stuff, but if they're not a threat to me and mine then I don't care what they do. It'd be cool if we could be friends or something, it'd be pretty rad to hang with an alien."
"Maybe you could teach the aliens how to skateboard," Mikaela suggested. "Oh, hey, you could teach Ben how to skateboard! He mentioned just the other day how he would love to learn."
He had expected some form of payback for his little question, he just hadn't expected Mikaela to exact her revenge so quickly. Bumblebee had absolutely no interest in learning to skateboard, but he couldn't be an asshole to Miles and say no if he offered to teach him. On the other hand, Sam would no doubt be furious if he and Mikaela began to hang out with Miles of their own accord.
Sam let Mojo out of the back door just as Bumblebee and Mikaela pulled into the driveway. He knew as soon as he saw Mikaela's face through Bumblebee's windshield that he wasn't about to enjoy the conversation they were going to have. Mikaela climbed out of Bumblebee and Bumblebee brought out his holoform so he could join Sam on the grass.
"What's up with Miles?" Mikaela forewent any greeting.
"Uh," Sam said, because he had nothing else to say.
"I know you ignored him last Saturday-" Sam shot a betrayed look at Bumblebee and he made a show of mouthing an apology, "-and we followed him into the bookstore-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sam interrupted her, "You're admitting to stalking him? What the fuck for?"
Mikaela glared at him, "Someone has to try and keep your friendship together and it obviously isn't going to be you."
"Our friendship is fine," Sam denied instantly. Mikaela's glare didn't lighten up, "Okay, it's not fine, but it's fine enough!"
"You two used to be thick as thieves," Mikaela retorted. "Now you barely talk to him!"
"Friends drift apart," Sam defended himself. "There's nothing odd about that."
"I'm not stupid, Sam." Mikaela crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm pretty much the only person you hang out with outside of your parents."
"I hang with—"
Mikaela cut him off, "Bumblebee doesn't count!"
Sam looked to Bumblebee for help but he was making a point to get Mojo out of the flowers. As much as he hated it, Sam knew if he didn't tell the truth then Mikaela would continue to be pissed on Miles' behalf. Usually he loved her stubbornness, but when it was pointed at him he hated it.
"I don't…" Sam scrubbed a hand over his face, struggling with how to put his fears into words. "I don't want to put him in danger, okay? I figure if any Decepticons want revenge against me for killing Megatron then they'll look at the people I'm closest to. You and my parents were with me for that fiasco so you're already targets, but Miles wasn't there for any of it. He doesn't deserve to be dragged in just because he knows me."
"Oh," Mikaela was obviously taken aback. "Oh, Sam. I didn't realize that was why."
"I didn't tell you," Sam sighed. "I should have earlier, but I kind of assumed you two would never get along."
Mikaela gave him a small smile, "We actually had a talk last year about pretending to like each other for you even if we actually hated each other. It just happened that we actually get along."
"And besides," Bumblebee cut in, attempting to be helpful. "If the Decepticons were going to target people you cared about, a little separation like this wouldn't be enough to deter them from making Miles a target."
Sam stared at him in horror and Mikaela sighed. Bumblebee realized he had obviously missed the mark and went over and put an arm around Sam's shoulders, trying to be comforting instead.
"If it helps, they'd be far more likely to target Judy and Ron."
"No, Bumblebee, that does not help!"
Mikaela came up on his other side and wrapped an arm around his waist, "Well, since Bumblebee burst your bubble, I guess I can go ahead and tell you that I signed Bee up for some skateboarding classes from Miles."
Sam groaned, "What the fuck, you guys?"
These two were going to send him into an early grave, he was sure of it.
From Sam: R u ok?
Miles stared at that text for a good minute. He wasn't too surprised that Mikaela had gone and ratted out his peculiar book choice to Sam; had he been in Mikaela's place he probably would have assumed something stressful or sad had happened and he appreciated that she was making sure he was checked on.
Fine, Miles sent back.
A response came almost immediately.
From Sam: Miks said c saw u with sm heavy emotional books
A friend is going through a rough patch and I wanted to be able to help them, Miles replied.
The next response was even faster.
From Sam: K just wanted 2 check
Miles snorted to himself. He loved Sam but sometimes his friend could be annoyingly thickheaded. Most likely the thought that Miles was lying, or in this case that Miles was avoiding saying the whole truth purposefully, hadn't crossed Sam's mind. Sam hadn't even checked to see if it may have been a mutual friend who was going through something, but Miles still knew that if he texted Sam saying he needed help or needed to talk that Sam would be there. Probably.
Miles backed out of his conversation with Sam and opened a new one with Barricade.
I met Bumblebee in holoform today, Miles texted Barricade.
From Officer Barry Ticon: Doing what?
Shopping with Sam's girlfriend I guess, Miles responded.
From Officer Barry Ticon: Sounds like torture.
Do you think they're having a threeway?, Miles asked.
From Officer Barry Ticon: I amend my previous statement. This is obviously what torture is.
