Chapter 17
Spark-Bound
Auri shifts slightly as she starts to wake up, and then Chromia's hand is giving her shoulder a shake.
"Auri!" Chromia's voice breaks through her remaining drowsiness with a tone of urgency. "Femling, wake up! It's your bonding day -How have you overslept!"
Cooling fans kicking in with a sense of panic, Auri scrambles to sit up instantly, blinking her optics open. "How-? What time-? W…" She trails off in confusion as she sees that Chromia is lounging on the bed beside her and wearing a giant, wicked grin, optics twinkling. Ironhide, on the other side of Chromia, has a semi-contrite sort of smirk on his face that Auri has always found a bit endearing.
Only a hint of morning light is filtering through the skylight above, Auri realizes. It's not even close to being late. It's even too early for on time, she reflects. She suppresses a giggle, but that makes Ironhide chuckle aloud, and his chuckle is infectious.
"That's the last wire, you jokers! I'm moving out," she declares, laughing as she takes her pillow and smacks Chromia lightly with it.
Chromia grabs another pillow and blocks a second blow from Auri. "How are you gonna stay warm, though?" she teases, grinning.
"Oh, I know a nice mech!" Auri quips, dodging a swipe from Chromia's pillow.
"Two nice mechs, from what I hear," Ironhide teases, his deep rumble of a chuckle making Auri laugh even as she feigns indignation.
"What?!" She climbs over Chromia to give him a thump with her pillow. "Praxus is my brother, thank you very much!"
Chromia captures her gently from behind so Ironhide can steal her pillow.
"Not fair," Auri giggles as Ironhide wriggles his fingers of his free hand, threatening to tickle her.
"Mmm, you put yourself at the tactical disadvantage by moving in between us," Chromia tells her, chuckling.
Auri leans back against her instead of resisting. "Okay, true." She smiles up at the sky blue femme. Ironhide gives her a light bump with the pillow and then settles it behind his helm.
"You'll learn," he says, optics twinkling gently.
"I'm still moving out, though," Auri teases, grinning.
"Not excited, are you?" Ironhide teases back, his fondness clear in his expression.
"So excited I can hardly wait," Auri replies. She glances at the pale glow of the skylight. "Do you think Prowl's awake yet?"
"Probably," Ironhide answers, smiling at her eagerness. "Gonna elope at dawn instead of waiting for noon?"
Auri giggles. "Don't give me ideas like that."
OoO
"Prowl! It's today!"
Prowl chuckles softly. He'd been lying awake for a full hour before Praxus stirred to consciousness and made that announcement.
"Yes… it's a little too early to be tomorrow," Prowl teases gently, shifting a little and turning his helm on his pillow to smile at the mechling.
Praxus sits up, wings flicking in excitement and a tiny bit of indignation at Prowl's answer. "It's your bonding ceremony day!"
"I know," Prowl says, giving Praxus an understanding smile. "I've been thinking about it ever since I woke up earlier." He keeps a fairly peaceful exterior for Praxus; inside, though, he's a mix of excitement and anxiety.
Praxus checks the time and then snuggles back under the blankets. "I guess it is a little early."
"Yes." Prowl nods. "And it's either this or pacing back and forth." Now he's let some of the anxious truth out. Praxus gives him a reassuring smile and reaches over to give his helm a rub.
"This is better," Praxus says with certainty. "Nice and cozy, snuggle, snuggle." He wriggles over closer to Prowl. "One last morning waking up to my face," he teases, giving Prowl's nose a tiny tap. "Next morning, it will be Auri's face."
Prowl smiles, halfway grins.
"And then it'll be wakey-wakey, smoochy-smoochy," Praxus teases some more, wagging his wings.
Prowl ends up laughing, and he feels some of the nervous tension leaving his frame as his laugh shakes both it and his wings.
"Hey…" Starlight's sleepy little voice comes from the pillows on the other side of Praxus's helm. "Why ya mechs being silly so early?" she asks with a giggle as she sits up.
"We're just a little nervous about today," Prowl tells her, still halfway laughing.
"Why?" she wants to know as she crawls over and snuggles between Praxus's helm and the headboard of the bed.
Prowl think about it, shifting a wing in thought. "Mostly I am excited and happy," he says slowly. "But… being a sparkmate is… it's very special and it's a big commitment, and I… I want to be the best sparkmate I can be, but I worry that I will make mistakes. That's what makes me nervous."
"Well…" Starlight gazes at him contemplatively. They haven't seen optic-to-optic on everything, but those have been only on a very few things. "I don't think ya make too many mistakes," she says with certainty.
Prowl suppresses a fond chuckle at that and gives her a smile. "That's reassuring," he says sincerely, his spark warmed by her confidence.
Praxus grins, optics sparkling with adoration for both his sister and his brother. "I don't think you make too many mistakes either," he chimes in, reaching for Prowl's helm again. "Though you are a silly-helm sometimes," he teases, giving Prowl's helm a tiny shake.
"Mmm… unlike yourself," Prowl teases back.
"Sassy!"
"We all silly-helms sometimes," Starlight declares with a giggle, patting Praxus's helm. Praxus reaches up and pats her helm in return. Then he sits up.
"I think I'm too excited to just lie around for another hour," he says, scooping Starlight up to snuggle.
Prowl is up in an instant. "Yes," he says. He pauses, shaking his helm slightly at himself. "I mean… I feel- I feel the same way."
"You're almost too excited to even talk," Praxus realizes aloud. His smile is gentle as his optics rest on Prowl.
Prowl nods.
"But ya gotta talk to say your vows so Auri can stay wi us," Starlight says, optics wide.
Prowl nods again. "I will," he says. When it's time, he will.
OoO
Morning starts slowly but then it begins to move more quickly. After the initial bantering and snuggles, the bots in both households have their breakfasts and then began preparations for the ceremony.
Elita picks Starlight up from Prowl's quarters and takes her to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters. Then once they arrive, Ironhide leaves, going to Prowl's quarters to help the younger mech get ready. Everyone cleaned and polished their armor the previous day, of course, but there is a layer of ornamental polish to be added in swirling or crystalline designs, not to mention the jewels that need to go on as well.
Uplink joins the femmes, and Bumblebee and the twins join the mechs. Before long, the two parties have armor and polish, cloths and buffers, and makeup and jewel cases scattered about their respective quarters. Starlight inspects the various shades of lipstick while Elita stencils an intricate design on Auri's wings with a thick glittering polish. Chromia touches up a scuff on one of Auri's pedes, and Uplink sorts through Auri's jumbled up jeweled ornaments. Praxus and Sunstreaker paint designs on Prowl's wings while Ironhide goes over his armor to make sure it's perfectly polished and Bee touches up the chipped paint on Prowl's fingers, shaking his helm slightly at the fact that they'd been painted just yesterday. Sides talks to Prowl to distract him.
While the femmes wait for their polish to set, Uplink recites the traditional Praxian bond teachings to Auri, a slightly mythical series of verses with sensible aspects mixed in among the ornate language and elegant imaginary. Ironhide reads the same to Prowl, a little slowly since he's somewhat rusty on reading Praxian, and while Ironhide's never mastered any Praxian accent, Prowl enjoys listening to his guardian, feeling nostalgia as he remembers Ironhide reading to him and his brothers when they were small.
In time, everybody is polished and ready. Then they open the doors to their quarters. Across the base, doors are standing open, bots waiting, sipping energon. Auri wants to peek outdoors, but the older femmes wave her back, and Starlight copies them. Prowl waits, wings trembling in a mix of anxiety and eagerness, and Ironhide rubs him on the shoulder.
After several moments, a single long musical note sounds over the base-wide speaker system. Usually, the speakers are reserved for emergency drills and the occasional actual emergency, but today they have a celebratory purpose.
The note sounds again, and the bots move outdoors.
"There the parade comin'!" Starlight chirps in excitement. She'd been told they would have a parade, and she bounces in excitement and then hugs Auri's leg. "It your parade!"
"It is!" Auri answered, watching the assortment of earth vehicles, Autobots in bipedal mode, and a number of humans on foot make their way up the street toward them, all decorated, polished, adorned, or wearing dressy clothes depending on kind. There is an armored Hummer in front with rose garlands draped over it, and the other earth vehicles, both battle ones and civilian-type, are likewise ornamented. Bots join the parade as it passes their quarters, people accumulate in the parade, too, and then the assembly comes to a halt in front of the femmes.
Several blocks away, a similar parade stops in front of Prowl's quarters.
The Hummers at the front of each parade both have trailers, sturdy trailers with sides and no backs, like chariots. Their metallic paint sparkles in the sunlight.
"Ready?" Ironhide asks. Prowl nods, eyeing the scene, and vaguely wonders what his Praxian ancestors would think. Having a parade is the traditional thing to do, at least, as is conveying the betrothed couple in chariot-like wagons. Hummers and humans… they will be the new earth tradition, he decides.
The speakers play another note again, and then joyous, lively Praxian music streams from them, filling the base with the sound of Cybertronian instrumentals.
Prowl gets into his chariot. Being the center of attention is not ideal. To be with Auri, though, it is worth it, and it's only a short trip, he knows. He'll be okay, he tells himself, he'll be okay. Then, quite untraditionally, Praxus hops up after him and stands beside him, putting a supportive arm around his waist. Prowl almost laughs with relief. Of course Praxus would be there for him.
As for Auri, she is all eagerness to ride in her chariot, and she scoops Starlight up to join her. Chromia or Elita had been planning on carrying the youngling, she knows, but she'd seen Starlight's amazed and excited reaction to seeing the chariot. How could she not bring Starlight up in it when she knows it will make her day?
Starlight squeaks with delight as Auri perches her on the edge of the chariot. Most of the bots have streamers to wave, as do the humans, and Starlight waves her streamers with absolute gusto, waving a hand as well to the humans who have come to watch and wave back.
The two parades move forward, slowly accumulating bots and vehicles and humans as they travel across base toward the beach. Auri bounces a little to the music, dancing slightly as she holds onto Starlight. Looking over her shoulder, she smiles to see others in the parade dancing as well. Not everybody, but a fair amount, even Uplink. Some people are tossing candy out, too, and bots are tossing candy to each other. Auri grins. Had they been in a Cybertronian city, her parade bots would have been throwing candy to onlookers, but all the bots had joined the parade.
After a few turns in their respective streets, the two parades are moving parallel to each other one block apart, and they see each other when they cross a road.
"I see 'em mechs!" Starlight chirps to Auri, waving even more in her excitement.
"I see them, too!" Auri answers, waving as well. Praxus waves back, grinning, and Prowl lifts a hand, looking crowd-shy but happy enough at the sight of her.
They wave at the next several intersections after that, and Auri blows Prowl a kiss at one. Then Auri's parade falls a bit behind. Auri knows it's part of the parade route, but Starlight squirms when she notices it.
"We gotta go faster," she says. "They- they getting away!"
"They're going to meet us at a corner, so they have to hurry ahead to go that extra block," Auri tells her reassuringly.
"Ohhhh…!" Starlight settles down, chuckling a little in hindsight at her unneeded panic. "Okay. I smell the ocean!"
"That means we're almost there," Auri says, feeling anticipation shiver up her frame. Soon, so soon!
They go another couple blocks, and then Prowl's parade merges with theirs at a corner, his Hummer pulling up even with Auri's.
"Mechs!" Starlight squeaks, reaching out as far as she can toward Prowl and Praxus.
"Femmes!" Praxus answers, reaching in return, dancing a bit as he does so. His optics are sparkling with joy and excitement, and his wings flit at nearly every movement he makes. Auri laughs in delight at him. She knows Prowl is just as excited and joyful, but her mech is very still; to Auri, it seems like Praxus is showing the energy of both of them, not just himself.
Prowl meets Auri's optics, and a smile comes to his expression immediately. She grins at him, and he beams back, forgetting all the other bots. He forgets about the humans, too. She keeps dancing in place, and he starts to dance in time with her as they ride up the beach road.
The road disappears into sand, and the Hummers pull to opposite sides of the road. Elita comes forward and collects Starlight, who kisses her happily and cuddles in her arms. Then Chromia guides Auri down from her chariot while Ironhide does the same for Prowl, Praxus bouncing at his side.
A wide path is marked out in the sand, running from the road down toward the damp sand near the ocean's edge. Its two sides widen to make a great circle at its end, and inside the circle are two spirals leading into a smaller circle.
Prowl and Auri start down the path, walking beside each other but not holding hands. They walk slowly, and the other bots and the humans in the party stream down on either side of the path, moving ahead of them to gather around the circle at the end of the path.
Auri steals peeks at Prowl, and he steals peeks back, smiling at her when he does. Amid her joy and excitement, she worries a little that he might get panicky as they near the party, but he never does. His focus is entirely positive and entirely on her now. She feels his love and his happiness over their growing bond. She sees his movements lighten. She shifts her wings to the rhythm of the music, swaying with them, prancing a little. She's halfway dancing, and he halfway dances as well.
Then they reach the end of the path and break away to opposite sides to move along the spirals. Following the spirals, they circle opposite each other, moving in until they are an arm's length apart. They catch and hold each other's hands then, facing each other in the center of the inner circle. Auri feels Prowl's hands trembling, and the energy she feels in them is both nervous and eager. His optics, when she meets them again, are full of excitement and adoration. She squeezes his hands gently, telegraphing along with her flitting wings that she's excited as well.
Prowl returns the squeeze gently, smiling at her. Auri smiles back as he begins making a circle around her, their hands still clasped, and she turns in place.
He makes his vows as their pedes shift on the sand.
Tend and cherish, Keep and love;
Hold and honor, guide and guard;
I give my pedes to walk with you;
I give my arms to hold;
I give my hands to lift you up;
I give my frame to please.
Through dark and light, I'll stay with you;
In storm, in sun, I will protect.
In everything, I'll be with you;
My spark is yours for all of time.
They come to a halt, and Prowl bows to kiss her hand. "D-do you accept?" he asks, meeting her optics.
"I accept," she says with a speeding spark-pulse and glowing optics. She's ready to wrap her arms around him and kiss him wildly, but she has her vows to make. By Praxian tradition, hers are the same as Prowl's; it's a good thing, she thinks, because his vows are echoing in her spark, and she'd probably get them mixed up if she tried to say anything else.
She makes a circle around him, and he turns with her as she makes her vows.
Tend and cherish, Keep and love;
Hold and honor, guide and guard;
I give my pedes to walk with you;
I give my arms to hold;
I give my hands to lift you up;
I give my frame to please.
Through dark and light, I'll stay with you;
In storm, in sun, I will protect.
In everything, I'll be with you;
My spark is yours for all of time.
They come to a halt, as they did with Prowl's vows, and Auri kisses Prowl's hand.
"Do you accept?" she asks eagerly.
"I accept," he answers with a purr.
For a second, Auri can't remember what comes next, but then Prowl is releasing her hands and reaching for the copper braid wrapped around his bicep. Auri grins and removes her own braid.
"Come, witnesses," she calls then.
"Come witness our union and bless us," Prowl calls as their five chosen bots move out of the gathering.
Starlight scampers forward and takes her place between Prowl and Auri as they clasp their right hands above her helm. She reaches up and grasps their hands, beaming up at them, and Praxus, Uplink, Chromia, and Ironhide move to stand around the three of them.
"Bear witness that, on this day, I take Prowl to be my sparkmate," Auri says with a thrill.
"Bear witness that, on this day, I take Auri to be my sparkmate," Prowl answers, his optics glowing with joy as they meet hers.
With their free hands, Prowl and Auri bind their wrists together with their braids, Starlight watching intently the whole time with her helm tilted up. Prowl gives her a tiny nod once the binding is complete.
Starlight nods. "May… uh… " her optics stray over to Uplink, who gives her a little sign. She nods again and restarts her blessing. "Like a youngling, may your loves grow an…. Flourish," she recites, "An be stronger each year. May you learn new things as I do, an find wonder in every day. An may you have little ones like me as you please—but not gimpy-legged," she adds, going off script.
"May it be," Prowl and Auri answer, optics twinkling.
Starlight scampers back to the sidelines, beaming with delight, her little wings flitting with pride as Elita whispers that she did a good job.
Then Praxus moves forward with a bowl of sweet oil and dips his fingers in it.
"May your lives together run smoothly as though well-polished with an oiler's cloth," he pronounces, flicking his fingers to sprinkle the oil on Prowl's and Auri's helms and shoulders. "May any rough patches be eased and overcome. May your thoughts be sweet as new oil sweetened with every good spice."
"May it be," Prowl and Auri answer again, Auri smiling up at Prowl as her wings shift eagerly.
Praxus smiles at them both with pride and shyness, and then he goes to join Starlight, crossing paths with Uplink as she comes forward with a dish of spices. Her rebuilt arm is cradled in a sling, and she has the dish propped in it so her good hand is free.
She gathers up a handful of the spices from the dish, and then she looks to Prowl and Auri with joyful optics.
"May you savor your time together, as the bountiful goodness of savory spices, fragrant and pleasing." She sprinkles their helms and shoulders with the spices, some catching in the crevasses of their armor, some sticking to the oil droplets, some blowing away in the sea breeze. "May your days be rich, and your nights also. May you always have what you need."
"May it be," Prowl and Auri answer again.
Uplink kisses Prowl's cheek and then Auri's. "I love you both," she whispers and then heads away to cross paths with Chromia.
The blue femme grins at the couple as she approaches them with an energon cube, delight sparkling in her optics.
"May your joy be full and flowing as a fountain of liquid energon," she says, pouring the energon in a steady stream on the ground as she makes a circle around them. "May your laughter run freely as a gurgling brook. May your family and friends surround you as a wellspring of life."
"May it be," Prowl and Auri answer.
Chromia touches them both on the helm, and then she leaves the circle of energon, brushing her fingers against Ironhide as he moves in with a flaming torch.
"May your devotion burn hot like a strong fire unquenched," Ironhide says, raising the torch above them. "May it rise up during adversity to consume all obstacles, and when we don't see a wild flame, let us know there are hot coals forever aglow in your sparks to fuel you."
"May it be," Prowl and Auri answer, Auri trembling with excitement. This is almost it, she knows.
She beams in delight at Prowl, missing the fond and proud look Ironhide gives them, and Ironhide chuckles as he steps out of the energon circle. He puts the torch to the energon, and the liquid bursts into flames around the wingers. "As fire melts and forges metal to metal, may your sparks forge together as one," he declares.
"May it be!" all the watching bots call in a strong voice.
Prowl smiles in adoration at the startled yet delighted look on Auri's face as she scoots up against him away from the fire. He cradles her to his chest with his free hand, and she's halfway laughing as her spark-pulse races. She had known about the fire ahead of time, but somehow it still caught her off guard.
"We can have that kiss now," Prowl whispers, nuzzling her softly.
"Oh, yes!" Her free hand goes up behind his helm almost instantly, and she gets her kiss as the energon fire burns around them. "Mmm," she purrs deeply, humming against the rev of Prowl's engine. It's the exact greedy passionate kiss she'd been wanting, just enough gentleness with just enough force, just enough of him in her mouth, taking, giving, pushing, pulling. Her cooling fans kick on, and Prowl pauses to meet her optics.
The bots around send up a cheer of whoops and chirps, clicks and handclapping, and the humans join in, all of them under the impression that that kiss was complete. Prowl hadn't meant it to be, but he looks to Auri to check with her.
She beams up at him and winks. They'll get more of that kiss later. They'll leave the party after a little bit and finish up that kiss. And start another, she thinks with a smile as the energon fire flickers low. Prowl gives her another kiss, a gentle and satisfying kiss, and then, to a second round of applause, they leave the circle as spark-mates.