Looook! I got up a new chapter, and you didn't even have to wait half a year! X'D And I have a pretty good start on the next chapter, too. Plus I've been drafting parts of later chapters as well. So we have things to look forward to. THANK YOU guys all so much for the lovely reviews! I really needed those! Got happy tears in my eyes instead of the sad ones that have been so prevalent lately. Much love to you all. Enjoy the Prauri!

Chapter 10

Worth It

"Here is another data pad for you to proofread, my spark," Prowl says to Auri, leaning against her workstation as he offers the pad to her.

"Thank you," she answers, smiling at him with delight as she takes it and adds it to a small stack. "Lunch is in about an hour. Do you have plans?"

"None specifically. Do you?" he replies with a willing shift of his wings.

"I was thinking we might work on my Praxian vocabulary." Her optics twinkle as she moves her hand over to trace up the well-polished armor of his nearby thigh. "I've mastered many words, but there are still those words that were previously inappropriate for us to discuss, my mech. I could have Uplink teach me, of course, but I suspect it would be more fun to learn them from you."

A soft chuckle purrs in Prowl's chest. "Much more fun," he says gently, optics resting on her mischievous expression with pleasure.

"I thought so," Auri says, grinning. "Uplink doesn't appreciate my blushes as much as you do, and I do like a bit of appreciation."

Prowl smiles back and leans over to kiss her. "I would be delighted to give you my appreciation."

Auri's optics twinkle. "Perfect." She flirts with her wings. "Tell me one word ahead of time?"

He moves away just a little. "No," he says with tantalizing lightness, his optics twinkling back. "We must maintain some degree of discipline and focus on our work at hand."

"Aww," she teases.

"Plus, there are delights of delayed gratification," he adds more seriously as he heads back to his desk.

Auri smiles to herself, watching him, his wings, his shifting armor. 'There are other delights, too,' she muses happily before she turns her attention to her data-pads. 'Amended and Restated Request for Mars Mining Permission, Draft Nine.' She shakes her helm. The humans don't actually own Mars, but somehow they seem to have some issue about the Bots just going up there and picking up some ore and bringing it back to earth.

She smiles up at Prowl as he returns.

"Did you change your mind?" she asks with a winsome little shift.

His wings make small dip of apology. "Not in the way you wish," he says, brushing her nose softly with his fingertip. "I would prefer we have the vocabulary lesson tomorrow, so I can make a proper plan for it. It will be better that way; it's… not a subject to rush into at random."

Auri's optics twinkle at her Prowl as her spark warms with affection. Of course, he would want to plan the lesson out with care; that's his way, methodical, thorough. It pleases her. She nods. "I'm happy to wait. I know it'll be worth it."

"Thank you. It will." He plants a kiss on her cheek and then heads back to his desk.

Auri returns to her tasks and keeps busy until the lunch hour arrives. Then she puts the data-pads neatly away and locks her computer quickly, eager to spend every second of the hour with her Prowl. She feels his eagerness as well over their bond, a warm, delightful feeling tugging her toward him.

"We still don't have plans, I realized," Prowl says as he approaches. Getting up from her chair, Auri slides it into place and then faces Prowl.

"Do we really need plans?" she teases, leaning up against him, picking up both his spark-pulse and the good, good smell of his polish. He nuzzles her helm with purr, tickling her audios with that vibration.

"To some degree, yes." Prowl will always need plans.

She tilts her face to his, and he kisses it readily. His hand slips up and cups her chin, and her spark pulses faster at the glow in his optics and the heat of his frame; she feels the anticipation of a hungry and thorough kiss that will leave her rather hot, with her cooling fans gusting and the taste of him on her tongue. He pauses then, though, and the kiss she receives is a gentle light caress on her lips.

"After our bonding ceremony," he whispers, a promise.

She kisses his neck softly, resisting the pull to nip as his sweet cabling. "Very soon. And worth the wait." How good he smells.

He slips his hand into hers. "Now, to the pub?"

"Yes." Yes to everything about Prowl, almost always. She smiles.

They discuss their lunch options as they walk to the pub, pretending to decide whether to eat in or escape to the beach or go to the park, making a game of listing the pros and cons. They know they'll go to the beach, of course, but they still play the game until they reach the pub.

"Hello, you two," Mirage says when they slip inside the quiet pub. "Energons?"

"Yes, please," Auri says, leaning her arms lightly against the bar. "A Light Spice one for me. And also some tin curls, thank you."

"An order of rust bunnies and a Lunar Sunset," Prowl says.

"Right away," Mirage says, already sprinkling spices in a cube for Auri's energon.

"Do I smell noodles?" Prowl asks after a pause.

"A giant batch of noodles," Mirage says, pouring tin curls into a dish. "For the party next week."

"Starlight's party…?" Prowl asks, slightly baffled.

Mirage chuckles as he pours a layer of sweet energon into Prowl's cube. "That's the only one I know of, mech."

Prowl glances at Auri. "We… did not order noodles."

"You did not." Mirage's optics are twinkling in amusement; he's enjoying this. He adds the oil and the coolant while Prowl waits and thinks. He fills the rest of the cube with sparkling energon and gives it a slight slosh to make the layers blossom like the clouds of a sunset. He sets the cube down, and Prowl gives him an interrogative look. "Starlight herself asked if she could have them at the party if she helped me out around here, and I really couldn't say no," he explains.

Auri giggles, and Prowl's wings shift slightly. "Oh…" He halfway smiles, amused but apologetic.

"I truly don't mind the extra work," Mirage says with a chuckle at the Praxian and his ways. "And her reaction when I said 'yes' was a reward itself. The little wings and big optics… I don't how you avoid spoiling her. There's your lunch." He scoots the bag of goodies toward the wingers. "I told her she didn't need to help out, but she insisted because she's a Praxian, so I'm going to have the cutest and most honorable helper in the solar system tomorrow."

"I'll have to come see that," Auri says with a giggle of delight as she takes the bag. "Though I expect there might be a rush!"

"Everybody does love her," Mirage said with nod. "Have a good day."

"You, too!" Auri answers, turning to leave.

Prowl hesitates, but then he follows Auri, getting the door for her and tucking his hand in hers as they enter the sunlight. Auri smiles up at him and the way the sun gleams on his polished armor.

"I am glad he does not think she is spoiled," Prowl says with a small twitch of one wing. "Plenty of adults might take her determinedness the wrong way."

"Does it bother you?" Auri asks, tilting her helm up, thinking of the sparklings they'll have together.

"Not precisely. I said there would not be noodles because they were so much work, and she looked to find way to cut down the work that Mirage would have to do. She did not accept a 'no'; she figured out how remove it. That sort of stubbornness can be good if trained correctly, and it is a rather Praxian trait, but it can makes parenting somewhat of a challenge at times," he explains and then adds with a chuckle, "Ironhide could tell you all about that." Then, in a softer tone, "And sometimes the little ones learn things a harder way. We are surrounded by good bots, though. I do not need to worry much for her. But I still do."

"You would hardly be you if you didn't," Auri reflects. "You're a protector, Prowl. And also, I think everybody worries at least a little for the wellbeing of our femling."

Prowl halts abruptly in the intersection. "Are those lines glittery?"

Following his optics, Auri peeks around to the street on his left. "Oh-! Very much so."

"Sideswipe," Prowl growled.

"At least they're a normal color and not red or green or something."

"They are glittery."

"Maybe they're glow-in-the-dark, too!" Auri thinks aloud, delighted at the prospect. "That would be cool!"

Prowl gives her a mildly alarmed look, and she dips her wings but fails to suppress the mirth on her face. He twitches his wings and then resumes walking.

"We are having lunch," he says. "And then I will talk to him."

They make it to the beach with no further incident, and Prowl spreads out a large blanket for them to settle on so the sand won't get in their armor while they sit.

"I love it out here," Auri says, basking in the sun with the wing playing on her wings.

"I do, too," Prowl says, digging into the bag for their food. "I like the ocean and the open space. The view is nice, as well."

Auri stretches to tease him, knowing he means her. "I've got a pretty good view myself." She puts her hands out to make a picture frame with her thumbs and fingers, and she frames him with a smile, her handsome black and white and gray mech. She loves the monotones and how they set off the very blueness of his optics and the scarlet chevron on his helm above them.

He pauses, thinking. A little mischief twinkles in his optics. "Oh, I expect you could see more of the landscape if I weren't in the way."

She shakes her helm at him. "Prowl."

He lies down, sprawling on his side, legs kicked out. "Now?"

She giggles contentedly and looks him over. "Very nice." She sips her energon, gazing at him, admiring the curves and peaks of his glossy armor and how it fits against his frame, not to mention the peeps of wiring and cables she can see in its little gaps caused by his nicely seductive pose. He eats a couple rust-bunnies and steals a few of her tin curls, smiling up at her as he does so. "You're gonna get your hand smacked," she tells him, grinning.

"I think not," he says.

"Oh?" Her frame warms as she thinks of an alternate to smacking his hand. She would have to move to be able to reach his aft, but that would certainly be worth it, the delicious curve of his armor would fit nicely under her hand. She'd rather caress it than smack it though, she thinks. Her cooling fans gust softly. Still…

Slightly spoiling her tentative plans, he sits up and reaches for the tin curls, baiting her. She reaches to smack his hand (gently, of course), but he catches her by the wrist, his grip firm yet light; he'd release her in an instant if she didn't like being pinioned so, but she's more than willing to be caught by him.

"I still have another hand to smack you with," she says, waving her pretty digits at him. He holds out his free hand and motions for her to surrender hers. She gives it over, placing her palm lightly on his. "Now you have no free hands to steal my food with," she tells him.

"Ah, but wait." He takes her hand and puts it in his other hand, so he's holding both her hands in his one. "Now I have a free hand." He touches her nose softly. "To do anything with as I please." He caresses her cheek and then steals a tin curl while she watches with sparkling optics. He steals another, but he brings it to her lips instead of his own.

She kisses his finger and then, experimentally, she gives it a small swipe with her tongue as she remembers that fingers can be quite sensitive. A surprised and pleased rev of Prowl's engine is her reward for such curiosity, although he nearly drops the twist of metal. Auri chuckles, delighted with her discovery, before nipping the tin curl lightly from his fingers.

"Rust-bunny next, please," she says, laughing softly, and he complies, feeding her the fluffy meringue-like treat. It melts away in a moment, and Prowl uses his hand next to cup her chin, lifting it slightly so he can kiss her once, twice, quite gently. Then he slips his hand to her side and tickles her gently, just enough to make her giggle and squirm the tiniest bit.

He smiles at her, thoughts making his optics sparkle. He leans close and whispers, "There are other things I'd please to do, but I shall save them for later. I do need to drink my energon." He kisses her hands and then releases them.

Auri's hands hover for a moment, and then she crosses arms, tucking her hands away to keep from putting them on her mech that moment. "Are you supposing you can get away with stealing tin curls just like that?" she asks, pretending to be cross as Prowl sips his energon.

He gazes sideways at her. "I daresay I must make some forfeit."

"Yes." Auri smiles.

"You already have my spark," Prowl muses. "And you will have my house in a few weeks… All I have left to offer is my frame."

"That will do nicely," Auri says with a pleased little chuckle.

"And what will you do?" Prowl asks, smiling at her over his energon cube.

She muses for a moment and then smiles tenderly. "Lie down, and I'll show you."

Prowl hesitates, curiosity in his expression, and then he lies down on his belly, keeping his energon cube in one hand as he props himself up on his elbows. Auri scoots over and then begins to rub his back lightly, running a gentle current of energy from her fingers through his sun-warmed armor. His frame deserves the best and kindest care, whether or not it really belongs to her, she thinks. She will look after it always, along with his spark, as far as she can. His wings relax, and a little contented rumble vibrates in his chest.

"I should steal your lunch more often," he purrs, delighting Auri with the growly sound of pleasure. Under the gusts of the beach wind, too, she can hear the soft, contented whirr of his cooling system. A short time later, though, he makes a short hiss of distaste.

"What is it?" Auri asks, pausing the backrub despite doubting it was the problem.

"The time," Prowl says. He rolls onto his side and then sits up, his armor scattering reflections of sunlight as he moves. "We have to start heading back unless we wish to be late."

"That won't do," Auri says, knowing her mech. She reaches for the dishes, and Prowl holds the bag open for her. She deposits them in and then gets to her pedes before he does, holding her hands out to him. He accepts the help up and then pulls her close.

"My sweet spark," he says. He kisses her on the helm. "I enjoyed the backrub, thank you."

"I enjoyed it, too." She smiles up at him. "Couple weeks, and… it'll be a wing-rub for you. But you may have to teach me the technique first."

He purrs at the thought and draws her close to snuggle, mingling the scents of their polish and the heat of their frames. They'll be late to the office if they get much sidetracked, so he releases her with a kiss, and she helps him fold the blanket, both of them trying to stay clear of the sand that blows off.

Fingers interlocked, wingtips occasionally brushing, they walk back into the citied area, heading toward the office.

"Detour," Prowl says partway there. "Sideswipe's working on the next block over."

"I think you should let him have a little fun," Auri says, but continues to walk with him as he changes course. "Yes, glittery road lines are unorthodox, but they don't hurt anything, and novelty is amusing. Plus they'll have better visibility at night than regular road lines."

"Shall I have him paint all the road lines glittery?" Prowl asks, hiding a smile.

"Oh, Prowl!" Auri protests. "That's not-"

He chuckles.

"You are a brat." She releases his hand for a moment to give him a tap on the thigh.

He recaptures her hand. "I am the second in command," he says.

Auri smiles and saves her words for later because they've come around a corner, and Sideswipe is sitting on the pavement, touching up the old road lines with twinkly paint. He glances over his shoulder at them.

"Hello," he says easily, pretending like he doesn't know exactly why they've stopped. "How was lunch?"

"Quite well," Auri answers. "How's the line painting?"

"Time consuming," Sides answers with good humor and grin.

"There is confetti in the paint," Prowl states, his optics not moving from the colorful bits in the white lines.

"Only for the north-south roads," Sides explains. "The east-west roads are just plain glitter."

"I see," Prowl says with no readable inflection.

Sides waits for him to say more, waits for the scolding or at least some words of rebuke.

"Is it glow-in-the-dark?" Prowl asks after a moment.

Surprise flickers in Side's optics. "I thought about it, but I didn't want to be too over-the-top."

"I see," Prowl says, again, with no readable inflection. He nods slightly and then looks contemplatively at Auri before moving away. Auri goes with him, calling a "see you later" back to Sides and leaving Sides to frown in confusion and whisper, "What was that?" twice to himself.

The sweet sparks walk two blocks without a word, and then Auri bursts out giggling.

Prowl tilts a wing slightly, and the giggles morph into a chuckle.

"Oh, Prowl," Auri says, optics twinkling.

"The glitter really does not hurt anything," Prowl states, echoing her words from earlier. "I do not like the confetti, but it also is harmless. And perhaps puzzling over my unusual response will keep Sideswipe's processor a little more occupied."

"Sunny won't hear the end of it for a couple days, I expect," Auri says, smiling, knowing her twins. "And then I shall hear of it from Sunny. And I shall tell you about it."

"I used to understand them so well… before… the war," Prowl says softly. "I hate that everything is broken-" He cuts his words off, but Auri knows what he doesn't verbalize. He hates not being able to fix everything.

"You always do your best, Prowl. And even though they knock helms with you more than you'd like, they still consider you their friend. And I think your relationship with them has improved a bit the past few years. Don't you?"

"It has." Prowl nods. He glances sideways at her and wonders if she knows that it's largely because of her that his relationship with them has improved. She'd been drawn to the twins instantly, and they'd taken to her like she was their long-lost favorite sister, but she'd also had a youngling admiration for him, Prowl, and desire for his approval. He knows he and the twins both eased up on their harder treatment of each other, for the most part, to keep from saddening or upsetting her. The three of them would do anything they could for her. She would do the same for them, he reflects; anything good that could be done for her fellow bots, she would do.

OoO

"Starlight's basically settled in for the night," I tell Prowl as I slip into the bedroom. "She's all excited about having her own room, but I think she'll calm down in a little bit. What?" I ask because I'd seen his wings twitch slightly in that bothered way.

"You just surprised me, mechling," he says, moving a hand across his data-pad. I realize he must have been very absorbed by the topic.

"Okay." I plop down on my side of the bed, loving the extra, extra space. "Deep studies?" I ask him, pointing to the data-pad.

He gazes at me speculatively, so I quit sprawling and settle down into a more attentive curl on my side. "Lots of thoughts in your helm," I say, touching one tip of his chevron, the glossy red paint mirroring on my black finger.

"Lots of thoughts," he agrees, and I see him hesitating to share them, but I really want to know. What thoughts, bad thoughts, good thoughts?

"What about?" I prompt.

He hesitates some more. "A topic… you… generally aren't comfortable with," he finally says, giving up because he knows I'll persist if he doesn't.

It's not really a clear answer, so I have to process it. It takes a minute, first considering things that make me uncomfortable, and then sorting which ones Prowl might have reason to think about. And then I know. Squirmy things. Why would he be studying that?

"Eew," I say to hide my curiosity. "Why, Prowl? You know how to do the stuff already. You had a femme before."

Prowl's wings twitch just a little, so I wish I hadn't mentioned Zephyr, even though not by name, but he goes ahead and answers the question. "Auri's Praxian vocabulary isn't complete," he says. "She wishes to know the words relating to…"

"Squirmy things," I supply so he won't use any actual specific words. Of course she would want to know, I realize. She wants to know everything. I don't like everything. But it is Auri's right to learn whatever she wants to learn, and she loves learning things from Prowl. Her wings float up, and her optics make her whole face glow with happiness once she masters any sort of lesson and he tells her that she's done an excellent job. She's a quick learner, but Prowl's a good teacher, too. Well, sometimes he explains things in too complicated a way, but most other things, he's good at. I guess she'll like learning about squirmy things.

"You and I don't have to talk about it, Prax," Prowl says gently.

"Oh," I say, realizing that I'd been quiet. I was thinking instead of talking. "No, I was just thinking how much she likes learning things. And you're a pretty good teacher. I don't want to be around for that lesson, though."

"Of course not," Prowl makes sure to not laugh or smile at the thought, but I see a hint of it back in his optics.

"Just go somewhere niiiiice and private," I say, sprawling again and putting my hands out to show a very wide space, "And then you can talk about the squirmy things. And oiled bits." I don't know why I add that last thing. Eew.

"We will definitely go somewhere private." Prowl smiles at me, that fond and comforting smile, and then rests his optics on the data-pad again. I pretend to not peek, but I do peek. It's a list of words. I look away, at the ceiling, anywhere.

"She… she'll like it… right?" I ask softly.

"I will do only things she likes, mechling," Prowl says gently.

I roll over and smile to myself as I realize that was a silly question. Of course Prowl will only do things Auri likes. He loves her more than anything and respects her absolutely. My processor is just a little broken; I don't need to worry. As for their squirmy talk, they will have their squirmy talk and like every bit of it. Well, no, Prowl might feel a little uncomfortable because he wants to do his best and might worry about that. But Auri will like every bit of it. Especially if Prowl blushes. She thinks he's adorable when he gets flustered. I don't know why, but she thinks it's cute.

OoO

Auri actually doesn't get her vocabulary lesson over the lunch hour the next day, but she and Prowl agree perfectly that that's for the best. How could anybody focus on reports and financial tables with the prospect of a very warm and tantalizing lunch hour ahead? Worse, how could anybody focus on reports and financial tables after a very warm and tantalizing lunch hour? Prowl's levels of self-control being what they are, he certainly could even if nobody (specifically, Auri) could, but there is also the issue of time. Some vocabulary lists can be tackled in less than an hour, but not this one; an intimate and delicate vocabulary list isn't something to be gabbed through over a cube of energon and a plate of crunchies.

The setting is important, too. The office won't do at all, and the beach feels too exposed, while Prowl's quarters don't feel exactly appropriate. Ironhide and Chromia's quarters would just be weird. The Praxian clubhouse, however, feels just about right. With the Praxian décor and the soothing and pleasing lights, the low couches, and the mural of the city Praxus, it's always the best setting for a lesson regarding anything Praxian.

Prowl and Auri stroll there after work, eagerness practically radiating off Auri. Prowl, always more subdued in public, seems quite calm, but Auri can tell he's a little jittery. The increased spark-pulse rate, the energy flitting through his fingers, and the extra slight twitches in his wings all tell Auri that her mech is slightly on edge.

"What are you worrying about?" she asks, whispering up to him. The street is fairly empty, but she wouldn't dream of letting anyone overhear that Prowl was worried.

He tilts a wing slightly, so she knows he's thinking it over. He thinks about for a several paces, and then he gives her hand a tiny squeeze. "Nothing I really need to worry about," he decides. "I… If I am not mindful, worries wash in and make me afraid that I… that I will not do well enough… that I will not please you. That I will make mistakes."

"Oh, Prowl…" Auri whispers, wishing she could hug him right there.

He halfway smiles, sensing the pull from her spark over their strengthening bond. "For the most part, those thoughts stem from the poisonous words Megatron saturated my audios with, and, at the core, I know they have hardly any truth in them, and I push them from my thoughts. Sometimes, though, I do not realize where they are coming from, and that is when they trouble me."

"You've recognized them now, though, right?" Auri asks.

"Yes." Prowl nods. He leans toward her slightly, turning his helm to hers as they continue to walk. "I know I will do well enough," he whispers. "And I shall please you… very much."

She grins fondly up at him. "I know you will. I have every confidence in you, my mech."

Once they reach the Praxian clubhouse and slip inside, Prowl locks the door, and Auri smiles in adoring amusement as he double-checks it.

"It's not funny," Prowl says, though he is smiling. "It's a rule," he explains, taking her and leading her to the couch. "Whoever initiates must make sure the door –or doors- are locked."

"Oh?" Auri queries with eager interest, letting herself be seated on the couch. Of course she can guess why the door should be locked, but she loves hearing Prowl explain things.

"Verra important rule," Prowl says, his hands guiding her to lie down on her side, her wings among soft pillows, as he kneels beside the couch. She smiles as the Praxian lilt slips into his words, accenting his usually perfect Cy-Standard. He leans in and kisses her softly, fingers caressing her helm, other fingers intertwined with hers. "If you're unsuspecting, an I decide to make advances, I'll lock the door, so nobody will surprise us. An the same if I'm unsuspecting, an you decide to make advances. It's especially important since we'll have Praxus an Starlight in our house. I think Praxus might be less bothered by physical intimacy than he acts, an Starlight is young enough that it wouldn't click in her processor, but still, we don't want either of them happen in on us accidently."

Auri nods in agreement, intent on his face and his tone. Mischief twinkles in her optics a second later as she realizes something. "Was this rule made after an incident happened?" she asks, almost giggling.

Prowl's wings twitch. He tries to speak, but no words come up. He shuts his mouth as his engine revs, and his wings flutter. Auri's mirth slips away as she's realizes that she probably shouldn't have asked, at least not then. She'd been thinking she would get a blush and a "yes," but too late she's realizing that her question must have triggered more than one memory, more than one follow-up thought. Prowl's vocs just makes a little glitching sound that breaks spark entirely.

"Oh, Prowl," she says, her optics filling with tears. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, mech." She tries to move to hug him, but she's at such an angle on the couch that, with her poor leg, she struggles and can't get up.

Prowl touches her arm and caresses her helm. He signs for her to not cry, but the tears still well up. She drops back into place and reaches for his helm, drawing it near to hers, and he shifts to rest his helm on the couch, resting against her. "I just meant to tease a little and get a blush," she explains, her own vocs hitching. "I didn't think about how many thoughts and memories it would trigger, and I'm really sorry, Prowl…"

"Shhhh…" he soothes, caressing her hand.

"I wouldn't do that on purpose for the world, for the solar system-"

Prowl moves his fingers to touch her lips and chin softly and then wipe the tears away.

She sniffles. "I know you can't answer right now," she whispers, "but I want us to talk later, so we- so I can better understand what not to say about- about the past. Okay?"

Prowl nods, giving her a reassuring half-smile.

"Okay," Auri says, her tears easing as Prowl's acceptance brings peace to her spark. She kisses his helm and then caresses it tenderly with her fingertips, running a soothing energy over and in through the sleek armor. "I wish I could make everything all better, instantly."

Prowl makes a little purr for her, and she can't help but smile. She brushes the rest of her tears away and then resumes caressing his helm.

"And here you thought you were going to be the one who was going to mess up," she sighs.

Prowl shifts his helm and looks at her softly, meeting her optics. "Na," he whispers. He knows what he wants to say next, but the words won't materialize. She didn't mess up that badly. He didn't even mind the question –it had just caught him very off-guard, a pebble that triggered a landslide– and he wasn't distressed by it. He is distressed that Auri is upset, though, and he can't speak up to comfort her.

He tries little kisses in place of words after a moment, reassuring her of his affection and devotion with silent lips. She tries to shift positions so she can kiss him back better, but she accidentally sticks her elbow between the couch cushions, and they swallow up her arm, leaving her in a more awkward position.

"Urk," she clicks. "This is very romantic, I'm sure," she says, giggling in despair. Prowl smiles at her, and, getting to his pedes, he helps her out of the cushions. "Much better, thank you," she says once she's sitting up. Then she tugs his hand gently, drawing him to sit beside her, and he cuddles up readily. "Perfect," she says, snuggling him.

"Mm-hm," he agrees as best can, purring since he knows she loves his purr.

"Now… what shall we do with you to help you feel better, Prowl?" she muses. She lists on her fingers. "One, we can just snuggle quietly. Two, we can have our dinner. Three, kisses. Four, I can read to you. Five… um, what else can a femme do for a Prowl?" she asks, making him chuckle and initiate the number three item. They spend several minutes at that, trading kisses back and forth, never quite on the other's mouth, but very close now and then. Prowl's processor shuffles away all the thoughts that he doesn't need for kissing.

"Mmm, three is good," Auri says when Prowl signals a break.

"Three is a crowd," Prowl says, smiling. "Two is company."

Auri giggles, amused at him but also delighted that he's regained at least a few words.

"Which is why we lock the door," he adds, his tone light enough to keep Auri from losing her smile. He smiles back, holds her gaze for a few moments and then blushes and looks away, looking shy. He opens his mouth, but Auri puts her fingers over his lips.

"Don't try to say anything if it will stress you or strain your processor."

He kisses those sweet little fingers. "I won't. An I want you to know, your question didn't distress or upset me; I only thought of too many things at once, past an future things, all at once, but not bad things."

"Okay. I was afraid… that I'd triggered something bad –or painful."

"No." He snuggles her. "Anyway… I was going to say, uh…" She glances up as she hears his engine rev and feels his frame heat. He looks slightly distracted, and his cheeks blush hotter when his optics find hers. "Well…" His cooling fans kick on. "For now, I will simply say… when a bonded pair is having breakfast, and one party is licking drizzled energon off the other's bare chassis, it's highly awkward to have one's brother walk in."

Auri is the speechless one now, her optics widening as her thoughts dash off in several different directions —Prowl's snuggling arm around her is gentle against her armor, but now she's very aware of its presence –How embarrassed Prowl must have been, how embarrassed Zephyr must have been, more or less depending on who was the bare one, also how funny it might been afterwards depending on the response of the brother and which brother (Bee or Jazz). She almost giggles at the thought but the future possibilities make her cheeks warm and her engine rev; if his fingers on her armor send a thrill of delight through her system, his tongue swiping across bare metal and exposed wires-

"Oh, ah," she says, suddenly conscious being very warm, her spark-pulse very quick.

"You like the sound of that, do you?" Prowl purrs, smiling, watching the heat play on her cheeks.

"Yes-" she says, her vocs hitching as her cooling fans gust on. "Er- m-minus th-the brother walking in."

Prowl chuckles softly, all kinds of delighted. "An there is that blush I like so much," he says, and she blushes further under his gaze of approval. In that moment, she really wants that greedy, passionate kiss she's been thinking about since yesterday, the one that must wait, and he knows it. He wants it, too. The kiss that must wait. "Dinner now, I think," he says gently, his optics locked with hers. They must wait. She nods.

She scoots off the couch slowly. "Just stay put." She caresses his helm. "I'll bring the energon and spices over."

He nods. They should take a few minutes apart to cool off and settle down, rebalance the passions that were ready overwhelm them.

He shifts back against the pillows and runs air through his system, thinking of how he and Zephyr had waited; they'd both been eager to explore, but they'd waited until after their bond ceremony, after their formal commitment to each other. It was the Praxian way. It is what he's doing for Auri, holding to the custom out of respect and honor for her.

She comes back with the tray of energon and foods, smiling at him as she sets it on the table before the couch.

"So, breakfast with Prowl as a sparkmate involves energon drizzled on a bare chassis?" she says, wings telegraphing her interest along with her tone as she settles down beside him.

"Now and then," he answers, smiling and blushing again as he selects some choice spices to mix into their energon. He hesitates, and then he slips a data-chip out of subspace. "Here's… the vocabulary."

She takes the chip gently from his fingers and gives him a tiny kiss on the cheek. Opening the contents of the chip on her data-pad, she looks over the Praxian vocabulary words with their Cy-Standard counterparts while Prowl self-consciously mixes their energons. There are a few more words than she expected, and there are a few Praxian words that take several Cy-Stan words to explain.

"Energon, my spark," Prowl says, offering her a cube. She takes it, smiling, and he boots up his own data-pad.

Usually, they would drink their energon and then work on Auri's studies, but tonight is different for a reason. Prowl wants to approach the topic as delicately as possible, and having energon to sip and treats to chew helps them pace the study, gives them reason to pause, something to occupy their hands chastely, a helpful distraction when they need it.

And they do need it, here and there, when Prowl finds too many memories pushing at him, or Auri finds so many ideas overwhelming her processor. They look after each other. Auri redirects the lesson a couple times to writing the words when Prowl gets tongue-tied, and Prowl finds a way to leave the couch several times when he feels she could use some space to process. This tender care of each other brings them through the lesson smoothly and merges in seamlessly with their enjoyment of it.

Auri blushes at times over the new words, and Prowl admires the glow of her cheeks and the heightened sparkle of her optics, the soft whirring of her cooling system. She delights in his admiration and the pleasing sound of his purr. She loves his own moments of self-consciousness, too, as he gently speaks words he hasn't said in a very long time. Intimate words, delicate words, satisfying words, words of deep pleasure, words of warm nights, gusty cooling systems. Lovely words. Words he'll say with a passion when the time is right. Words she'll purr to him.

Once the list of words has been covered, they sit quietly together, taking some time to reflect, fingers intertwined softly. Prowl had kept his hands away from her the entire lesson. She'd been too interested in the lesson to notice, but she realizes as he caresses her palm. It's sweet, she thinks. His respect pleases her as much as his attention delights her and his touch thrills her.

His wings flick when he checks on the time, and she smiles at the motion.

"It's later than I thought –or intended," he explains, shifting his weight leisurely yet still intending to rise.

"I don't mind," she answers as he gets to his pedes. She too content and full of thoughts to consider the hour.

He smiles and gently draws her from the couch. "Worth it?"

"Yes," she answers, smiling back.

He smiles with contentment as she slips her data-pad into subspace. He has done well. She is pleased.