A/N: I haven't updated in soooo long, sorry! I got really burnout at work last year, and I got stuck with writer's block on this chapter. But I just wrote 500 words on the next chapter in one sitting this afternoon, so hopefully that bodes well for future updates?

Edit to add: I just found out that there is a new(er) setting that makes you opt out of email notifications unless you reset it. If you go to "Account" and then to "Settings" and then scroll down that page, you will see "Email Opt-in." It defaults to "no" every few months, so even if you do follow a story, you won't receive updates unless you set it to "yes." I am not a fan of this new setting.

Chapter 29

Dinner

"I get to pick the poems you read to me, right?" I ask Prowl as we're walking to Sunstreaker's studio.

"Yes," Prowl says (and nothing more).

I'm divided between to trying make him talk some more and figuring out which poems I want him to read, but I'm a little tired, so I decide to just think about the poems. Prowl doesn't want to talk anyway, so trying to make him talk would just be like trying to push a rock up a hill.

"How many poems will you read me?" I ask after a few minutes of mentally sorting through different poems. There are a lot to choose from, lots I like. Not mushy poems.

Prowl shifts his wings, letting me know that he's thinking. I can tell he's a little tired, too. Maybe more than a little tired. His steps are slower than they have been all day. I decide to be patient even though it takes more effort than usual.

"It depends on the length," he says presently. "Two long ones, or five medium-length ones, or ten short ones. Or some mixture thereof."

I think this is fair. "Okay," I said. "Thank you."

Prowl nods softly.

I think over the various poems I'd like to hear, contemplating their lengths, too, and that occupies me all the way to the door of Sunstreaker's studio. Prowl is probably grateful for the silence.

I realize belatedly that nobody said anything to us on the street. Maybe Elita or someone put up a notice saying not to bother Prowl. That would be convenient. I wouldn't miss the humans saying anything. But, I would miss the bots saying "hello" if they never did.

When Prowl and I enter the shop portion of the studio, Sides is putting away the broom, and the floor is clean.

"Hello, hello," Sides says cheerfully. "Ready for some tasty energons?" he asks us as Sunstreaker comes through the door from the studio.

"Only if every mech behaves himself," I say, eyeing Sunstreaker. Sides boosts himself up to sit on the counter facing Prowl and me.

Sunstreaker put his hands up in a surrendering, yielding gesture. "Again," he says gently. "I'm sorry about my behavior in the shower. I wasn't thinking straight. I've had a good amount of sleep since then and have reoriented my thinking."

I'm not sure what the last thing is supposed to mean, but it sounds good enough, so I shrug. "Okay," I say. I start to look over my shoulder to see what Prowl is thinking halfway behind me, and-

…

…

…

I wake up slowly, facedown on a couch in Sunstreaker's studio. I can tell it's that particular couch even with my optics shut because of smell of paints and polish. It's very quiet in here aside from a little music playing softly over the sound system. I don't remember what happened. Did we all drink high-grade and pass out? I check in with myself, and, no, I'm still hungry and I don't feel sick.

Did I suffer some sort of glitch? I don't think so. I'm all alone, and they wouldn't leave me all alone if I'd glitched. Someone would stay with me. Even cranky automation substitute Prowl would stay with me.

There's a particular ache in my back that runs up to my helm.

Ohhh…

I didn't pass out from high-grade. Or from glitching.

Somebody shot me with a stun-blaster. Or something like that.

I blink open my optics and peer around. The room looks normal, though still empty.

I sit up and shake my helm, trying to clear it so I can figure out what's going on. I go over the last things I remember: Prowl and I came into the shop… Sunstreaker and I were talking… and now I'm here.

I rub my back and my helm and wander over to the door to look into the shop. It's empty, lights turned down. We'd been in there. I'd been talking to Sunstreaker, and I'd turned to look at Prowl –

Why had he shot me with a stunner? Why was I all alone? Why would they…

Scrap!

I send three intercoms quickly as I dash across the room to check the backyard.

::SUNSTRKEAR!?::

::SIDEE!?::

::PRWL!::

Then I get my senses together and send a single group intercom to the three of them, ::WHERE RU?:: which I actually didn't need to do because I slam open the backdoor then and see them the backyard.

Sides is a few paces away from Prowl and Sunstreaker, and Sunstreaker is helping Prowl get to his pedes. Prowl has dust and scuffs and dents on him. Sunstreaker has only a few, and those are mainly on his hands and knees and pedes. Sides looks pristine in comparison, aside from the guilty look on his face.

They tricked-

I'm so mad. I make a screech at them.

"It's okay, Praxus," Prowl says in a calming tone. You know, the Prowl who literally shot me in the back.

I run inside and slam the door, run across the floor, hurl myself onto the couch. I was tricked and bribed and shot in the back, and for what?! I shriek into a pillow because nothing makes sense.

I hear the other mechs come in after a couple minutes. They'd better come explain things very clearly to me, or I'm going to intercom Ironhide. No, actually, I'll intercom Chromia. She'll be drunk by now, and she'll take my side angrily and beat their afts.

I guess I'd better not. It might be too chaotic.

I sniffle. Intercomming Ironhide is still an option.

"Heyyy, Praxling," Sides says gently, coming over.

I'm not speaking to any of them.

"I know you're upset, and you have every right to be," he says. "I wasn't happy with this course of action either, but it seemed like the lesser of the two evils, and sometimes that's a choice a bot has to make, like it or not." He rubs his fingers softly on my back, just slightly below my wing-connectors and right on the dorsal column, getting that hard-to-reach place that feels so good.

I've been conspired against. They planned this alllllll out. Prowl bribing me here with promises of being read to. Sides seducing me into calming down with a backrub.

"Sunny's kinda like a time-bomb, you know," Sides goes on. "And sometimes you can't diffuse him. Sometimes the only thing you can do is pick the time and place for him to blow up. And that's what Prowl did. Prowl thought it would be better to take Sunstreaker's fury this evening instead of waiting for it to explode sometime later. Prowl told Sunstreaker that he could have at him to a certain extent, and they discussed it. Sunstreaker agreed he wouldn't beat Prowl up too badly, wouldn't hurt his wings or kick his face and such. And I stood by as referee to make sure Sunstreaker kept to his agreement and to monitor Prowl."

I don't like any of that, but Sides is really good at backrubs, and I guess maybe I can possibly see how they might think letting Sunstreaker beat Prowl up would make sense. Because apparently they can't just talk like sane adults or… I don't know.

Sides keeps talking. "Prowl's gonna be a little bruised up, but we were careful to make sure he didn't get injured. I hope you can forgive us for being a bit tricky. It was… not fair. We couldn't think of a better way to handle the situation, though. We knew there wasn't a chance you'd let anything happen to Prowl as long as you were awake. He couldn't ask for a better friend than you."

I still refuse to speak, and he says a lot more nice things, all of them true and spoken with sincerity. I know Sides can talk for pretty much forever, and I am getting hungry, so after a few more minutes, I sit up and look around.

Prowl and Sunstreaker are over by the sink, and Prowl is swapping out his dusty, dented armor for the lighter-weight set of armor that he'd worn before the shower this morning. Sunstreaker is cleaning the dusty, dented pieces for him and sorting them into piles on the counter. They are talking quietly. Prowl almost smiles at something Sunstreaker says.

I cross my arms and go over to them, and Sides follows me, quiet now.

"Well?" I say, loading the word with a tone that means I want explanations even though Sides has explained everything like three times over. Maybe four.

"It was either this or Sunstreaker causing worse trouble later," Prowl says. He keeps his optics on his armor, and that's so upsetting that my wings hurt.

I cry, "Look at me!"

Prowl flinches and then makes optic contact and holds it. "I'm sorry," he says very softly, and his wings make a gentle sincere motion.

"Me, too," Sunstreaker says quietly. He sounds sincere enough, but he's probably sorry only about upsetting me, not about hitting Prowl.

I sigh and look away from both of them. "I want my dinner."

"That's good," Sides says, rubbing my shoulder. "Cause you're getting your favorites."

They really planned this out well.

I let Sides lead me back to the couches, and then I sit, and he brings over a big serving tray and sets it on the table by the couches. The tray is covered with a cloth, but I can tell it has energon cubes and other things on it, making shapes under the cloth. Sides takes the cloth away, and there are all the foods. Alloy pretzel bites, tin curls, rust bunnies, bedazzled oilcake bites, and an assortment of oils to dip them in. And then there are four energon cubes with mixed energons in them, and I know instantly which one is mine because it's the prettiest one and has tiny candy crystals in it.

It's a really good-looking dinner.

Sides settles down on the other couch, and I look at him.

"Don't think you can pull off a stunt like that again and then just bribe me off again, okay?" I say. I really want that energon, though. And the treats.

"We won't make a habit of it," Sides says, which is (I guess) as reasonable as I can hope for with these glitched bots.

I sigh.

Prowl and Sunstreaker come over. Prowl sits beside me, and I'm still kinda mad at him, so I hiss and flare my wings at him. He glances sideways at me, but he doesn't pick a different place to sit. He keeps still.

Sunstreaker tosses a couch cushion onto the floor so he can sit across from Prowl and me instead of beside anyone on the couches.

I take my energon cube and sip some of it before the other have theirs, which is a little rude of me, but they tricked me earlier, so… Well, I guess we're not really even, but I feel a little justified. And also less mad. The flavor is perfect, and the tiny crystals are so good and they crunch nicely, and it's hard to stay mad when energon is this delicious.

Sunstreaker slides another cube toward Prowl so Prowl won't have to reach as far to pick it up, and then he takes his own cube. Sides takes the last cube.

The music still playing quietly is the only sound for a little while. Our armor makes small noises as we shift, but it's not an intentional noise. Only the music is an intentional noise.

Nobody says anything until Prowl says, "So, what happened on the beach that day…"

Part of me wants to shove a pillow in his face so he can't say anything that will upset himself, but another part wants to know the answer. And another part, crossly, remembers that he'd promised Sunstreaker that he would tell the whole story.

Prowl's energon cube is mostly full, like he's had only two or three sips. Sunstreaker's is mostly full, too. Mine is halfway full. Sides' is three-quarters of the way full.

Prowl cycles air through his system slowly, but he doesn't seem upset.

"We…" Prowl starts, but then he stops. His wings shift. "She was so full of optimism at seeing… Soundwave." His voice shudders a little. "I… wasn't. But… I… I walked with her over to the shield." He stops and shuts his optics and lowers his helm. "I didn't realize she meant to go outside the shield until she kept walking. I-" He breaks off, choking. I touch his shoulder very softly, and he steadies himself.

Sunstreaker waits quietly, tilting his energon cube a little and sipping from it. Sides also takes another drink of energon and swallows hard.

"I wanted to grab her back instantly," Prowl whispers. "But I second-guessed my motives."

"What?" Sunstreaker stares at Prowl, but it's a stare that just looks confused, not condemning. "You second-guessed the instinct to protect…?"

Prowl shudders. "She'd never n-needed to be p-protected from Soundwave," he explains, stuttering and sounding choked as well. "He'd been her guardian-"

"A glitching aft negligent guardian!" Sunstreaker points out angrily, and Prowl flinches.

"But never a violent or cruel one," he counters softly.

Sunstreaker looks unconvinced but doesn't argue.

Prowl sighs. "Soundwave had always been safe for her, and… while he was serving his own interests, he did keep Megatron from killing me."

"Fragger," Sunstreaker mutters, but he doesn't mean Prowl.

Prowl doesn't say anything.

Sunstreaker sighs. "You second-guessed the instinct to protect her from him because she had never needed to be protected from him before," he says quietly. I don't think he's mad anymore.

"Correct," Prowl whispers, his optics focused on the table. "I… I wasn't sure if it was jealousy or pure instinct."

Sunstreaker sighs. "And we know jealousy is bad," he murmurs.

Sides just looks unhappy and doesn't have anything to say.

Then Sunstreaker shifts his helm in a tired sort of way and gets to his pedes and walks away. Prowl and Sides and I just sit still, thinking our thoughts, and Sunstreaker comes back with a container of high-grade. He pours some into his cube and then offers the container to Prowl. Prowl hesitates, maybe doing some calculation or thinking something over, and then he accepts it. I watch as he puts just a tiny amount of the high-grade into his cube, probably not even enough to change the taste, and definitely not enough for him to feel any effect. But maybe it's some sort of thing between him and Sunstreaker, maybe some sort of symbolism, this sharing of high-grade. I don't know. I will never understand them, maybe.

Prowl puts the container on the table, where Sides and I can reach it, but high-grade messes with me pretty easily, so I leave it alone. Sides also leaves it alone.

Prowl drinks some of his energon, drinking more readily, not the doubtful little sips he'd been drinking before. Things between him and Sunstreaker are settled now, I guess. I hope. So maybe he'll feel better now.

"So… gonna go back to the office fulltime then?" Sides asks lightly after a little while, like he's going to make conversation.

I don't think that will happen since Prowl has spoken only the bare minimum of words all day.

But Prowl nods once. "My job still needs to be done," he says quietly. "And Praxus… is going to… going to assist." He clears his vocs. "Um, but it's na fair to keep him around the office all the time, so… s-so I was thinking I might ask you two… if… if you willna mind filling in sometimes."

I look at him, just a bit startled that he's said so much. And also he hadn't said anything to Prime about having Sides around, only Sunstreaker. Then I look over at the twins. They are both surprised, too. Sides has a surprised and sympathetic expression, and I think he's trying to find the right words to answer with. Sunstreaker just looks like he's about to say "what the actual frag, Prowl," in a confused sort of tone.

"Uh, of course," Sides says gently. "I'll be glad to fill in sometimes."

"Y-yeah," Sunstreaker agrees, but a little frown is creasing his expression.

I shift my optics to my energon and drink some before checking on the twins again. Sides is looking contemplative, and Sunstreaker is looking right at me. A little unsettling.

"Did you like how Prowl treated you today?" he asks, and that's not at all what I was expecting him to say. Also, I can't answer that. I have to say something, though.

"I…" I glance around, maybe looking for some quick distraction, but there aren't any. "Nobody was mean to me," I say.

Sunstreaker looks at Prowl like he knows everything I disliked about today. "That's what I thought," he says. He wasn't at all tricked by my evasive answer. He drinks some energon. Prowl shifts his wings just a tiny bit.

Sides tries to offer me some tin curls, but I don't want any right now.

"So, what are you going to do with Praxus?" Sunstreaker says to Prowl, like I'm some item that needs to have something done with it… like stuck in a box labeled "save for later."

I frown at him, and Prowl tucks his helm.

Sides takes a sip, and nobody says anything.

"What do you mean?" I ask Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker eyes me, and for a moment I think he's going to say something rude, but then he just sighs.

"What I mean is," he says slowly and carefully, "Prowl is moving into a phase where he wants to push everyone away as much as possible. And while most of us are used to that, you aren't. If we… don't plan what to do with you…" He trails off for a moment, frowning more. "He'll make you miserable."

I think about how Prowl treated me all day, and my wings shift. I know I wouldn't like to be treated like that every day. Or, I guess, treated like that some days and then completely excluded other days. I look at Prowl, who still hasn't said anything. He's also hardly moved at all since Sunstreaker's question.

"Well, it's been a long day," Sides says. "Let's regroup on this topic tomorrow when we're all better-rested and have had some time to think things over." It's the sort of thing I think Elita or Uplink or Ironhide would say, and they are smart bots, so I nod.

Prowl also nods, very softly.

Sunstreaker takes the high-grade and adds a little more to his cube. Then he nods.

We focus on our energon and food in quiet for a small space of time. I feel like it's been too much time, though. Like if somebody is probably going to say something soon, something I might not like. Or that Prowl might not like. And I wouldn't like that either. If I say something before anyone does, then I'll have control of the topic, sort of, at least briefly. Maybe. I don't really know what to say, though. Mostly, my thoughts are just full of worrying about Prowl. And of course we can't talk about Auri or the future. The other thing on my processor-

"I didn't see Starlight all day," my mouth says before I check it with my processor. Prowl's chin tucks down a little as the twins' attention shifts from their energon cubes. It could be sort of his fault, I guess. "I would like to not miss her bedtime, is what I meant to say," I amend.

"We'll take you back to med-by after this," Sunstreaker says.

"Me and Prowl both?" I ask. They'd better not try to keep him.

"Yup." Sides gives me a smile. "Not like we want Prowl cluttering up our quarters," he teases. "Although, it might incentivize Sunny to clear off the couch."

"Most of that mess is yours," Sunstreaker says, and then he and Sides fill the rest of the time teasing and pretending to argue about the untidy things in their quarters.

Once energon cubes and the little dishes are empty, Sides waves dismissively at them and then waves us toward the door. "They'll wait," he says, "We have more important things to attend to." So the four of us leave, heading toward med-bay.

We start out walking, but then Prowl transforms and drives away. I sigh because I don't feel like transforming and the whole day has seemed unfair.

Then Sides transforms and drives after him.

"He'll look after Prowl," Sunstreaker tells me. "They'll be okay."

I nod. I think I don't have any words left for a while. And I know Sunstreaker doesn't mind if I don't say anything since he likes quiet. But he surprises me when we are almost to med-bay. He asks a question.

"Have you thought about moving into the new quarters?" he asks.

I look at him. Of course I had. Oh… but…

"You mean, without Auri?" I ask.

"Yeah." His face is perfectly unreadable, and this is one of those times where I wish he had wings to give away little secrets.

I don't want to think about it.

"Do you think Prowl wants to?" I ask instead. I guess I'm still thinking about it, but maybe not directly.

Sunstreaker doesn't say anything for a few steps, and then he says, "It's probably not on his radar," very quietly.

I don't know what to say, so we walk quietly for a little while more. I think about asking Sunstreaker why he's so bad, but it doesn't seem like a good idea. He probably doesn't even think hitting Prowl was that bad. And also, maybe Prowl didn't actually mind it. After all, Prowl had helped set things up so Sunstreaker could get at him.

I sighed. They were confusing.

Then I looked over as I saw Prowl and Sides come around the next corner, walking instead of driving, and Starlight is sitting on Prowl's shoulders.

"What's up?" Sunstreaker asks when they reach us. We all stop and stand around, and Prowl hands Starlight over to me. She's kinda grumpy, but quiet about it and doesn't balk.

"Well," Sides says, putting his hand on his hips. "Somebody made it a little more difficult for Chromia to get high grade, and let's just say she's a little mad about it."

"Prowwl did it," Starlight says, adjusting her weight on my shoulders where I've set her. Being able to contribute to the conversation improves her mood, and she continues, "An she said- 'coddy glitch-aft gonna-'"

"Um." I tug gently on her pede to catch her attention. "Are those… um… words you're supposed to say?"

She drums her fingers softly on my helm in the contemplative way she's seen bigger bots do when they're thinking something over. "Maybe not?" she says, guessing.

"They're not," I confirm.

"Oh." She shifts slightly. "Um… what about… well… also maybe not 'fwagged up'?"

"Yeah, that's another phrase you're not supposed to say," I confirm.

"Anything Chromia says when she's mad, you probably shouldn't repeat," Prowl says, finally saying something to help me out in this situation.

"Oooooh," Starlight says. "Okay." I feel her weight shift as she slouches down to rest her chin on her hands atop my helm.

"So, anyway," Sides says, "Ratchet advised we stay away or go somewhere else until Ironhide shows up to calm Chromia down."

"But Mia said she…" Starlight starts and the pauses and thinks. "She wasn' gonna' calm down."

"So I figured we'd just see about sleeping somewhere else tonight," Sides said. "Ratchet said we could. We're got options. Praxian clubhouse, paint studio, our quarters."

"And the new quarters," Prowl adds in a very soft murmur.

"What new ko-doors?" Starlight asks, curiosity in her tone.

Prowl looks up at her. "The… new home where… we were going to live with Auri," he says. I think each word was hard for him to say. It's almost surprising that he didn't stutter.

"Oooh!" Starlight bounces up from her slouch in happy recognition, her little pedes making a small thump on my armor in her excitement. "I wuvved that house! Let's go there!"

"If you're up to it," Sunstreaker says quietly to Prowl, concern in his tone. I watch Prowl hesitate, his wings shifting a tiny bit as he thinks. Then he nods.

"I… think so," he says finally.

"Let's go check it out before making a decision," Sunstreaker says, and I think this is a good idea. Sunstreaker isn't all bad. Prowl nods, and Sides says, "Cool."

It doesn't take very long to get to the new quarters, and soon we're standing in the living room and glancing around. Starlight wants me to set her down, so I do, and she scampers off, going down the hallway to her room. The twins seem to be waiting for something, so I wait as well.

I look at Prowl, just standing there. I think about how he thinks Auri s never coming back, and I look around. I would feel differently about being here if I thought Auri really wasn't coming back. But she is coming back. She has to. She must.

After a little while, Starlight comes scampering back through the hallway and peer at us from the doorway.

"Are we sleepin' here?" she asks, giving us a confused look, probably wondering why we're still just standing around in the living room.

I look at Prowl. It's for him to answer since sleeping here will affect him the most.

He hesitates and then nods. "Yes," he says finally. He shifts his wings in a confirming gesture. "We'll sleep here."

"Otay. Good night," she says, only a trace of doubt in her expression now.

"Good night," Prowl and Sides both reply. Sunstreaker knows better than to speak to her.

I send the three of them an intercom warning them to "Be. Good." and then I follow after Starlight to get her settled and tuck her in.

"I didn'nt see ya awl day," she grumbles at me as she walks ahead of me.

I feel like grumbling myself, but I supposed to be her responsible adult. I will grumble at Prowl or someone else older.

"I know," I say gently, trying to sound sympathetic instead of cranky. "And I'm sorry that happened." I want to blame it all on Prowl, but I guess that wouldn't be fair. "Umm…"

She peeks into the first room and then goes in. It's the one with two berths in it. I don't remember if someone said it was her room or if she just claimed it, but that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that she is happy with it.

"Is this the one you wanted?" I ask. "There are more rooms to pick from, I think."

"I looked at'em," she says, going over to the nearest bed. "An I wanted this one. That way, I can have friends come over. Them nother ones jus have one bed."

"Okay," I say. "That sounds good."

"But I gonna need a step box," she decides, eyeing the height of the bed. She could climb onto it if she really wanted to, but I understand not wanting to put forth much effort sometimes, especially when tired or cranky.

"We'll find one tomorrow," I promise. I lift her onto the berth. "And if we can't find one, I'll ask Ironhide to make one."

"Maybe ya not gonna be around t'morrow either," she grumbles at me, frowning with reproach.

"I'll be around tomorrow," I say softly as I take out a cleansing cloth and start wiping her pedes. "I… I wasn't around today because I left with Prowl, and then he had a lot of things he needed me to help with, and I didn't set boundaries, so I got myself stuck helping him all day. But I don't want to do that again, so I'm going to try to not let it happen again."

She is quiet, considering this, little wings shifting slightly.

"What a 'boun-jurdy'?" she asks after a few moments.

"Umm…" I pause with the cloth, trying to figure out how to explain. "Well… sometimes it's a fence or a wall… It's something that says 'you can come this far, but not farther.'"

She eyes me speculatively.

"I don't really know how to explain it well," I confess. "Um, but here's an example. Tomorrow, instead of just saying 'okay,' to whatever Prowl tells me to do, I will set a boundary. And I will say, 'yes, Prowl, I can do that until lunchtime, but then at lunchtime, I am going to go spend three hours with Starlight.'" That is actually my plan.

"But… what if he still need ya?" she asks. The edge of uncertainty in her tone bothers me.

I get back to cleaning her pedes. "I will say, 'you can get Sunstreaker or Sides or Bumblebee to help you.' They can do just about anything I can do."

Starlight tilts her helm, considering this. "Okay," she finally says. She seems satisfied enough.

I put the cloth away and give her a kiss on the helm. "I love you, and I will do what I can to make tomorrow a better day for you," I promise.

She puts a hand on either side of my face and presses. "Squish," she says. I can tell she's no longer cranky at me, and that is good.

"Boop," I respond, giving her nose a tiny tap. She giggles and lets go of my face. "Do you need anything else before I tuck you in?"

"Ummm…" She tilts her helm and gives her wings a small waggle, making a show of contemplation. "Candy?"

I chuckle, knowing she's just teasing. "You can have candy in the morning," I say.

"Well, that was it," she says, giving a dramatic shrug.

I help her pull back the blankets so she can climb under them.

"Do you want me to sleep in here with you?" I ask.

She pauses and looks around. "Well… well, I thought I was jus gonna have the room myself…" she says slowly, seeming a little reluctant.

"I thought you would, too," I say, "But I can sleepover if you want. Or I can sleep in another room."

"Maybe ya can sleepover wi Prowl," she offers hopefully. I get the sense that she wants her own room all to herself for now, but also wants me to be happy, but isn't quite sure what I want, and she doesn't want to make me feel like she's kicking me out.

"That sounds good," I say. "And if you change your mind, you can come find me."

"Okay." Contented, she snuggles down. "Love you!"

I lean over and cuddle her. "Love you, too! Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dweams," she echoes, smiling up at me, but I don't feel quite ready to leave her.

I get some of her plushies from subspace and tuck them around her in case she wants them, and she readjusts their positions contentedly, snuggling them in.

"Perfect," she says happily, and then I think I can go.

I give her another kiss on the helm, and then I go. I leave the door halfway open, and I head back to the living room, hoping she won't wake up in the middle of the night and feel disoriented or distressed. Then I sort of laugh at myself because I'm the sort of bot who does that. She's never had that problem. And I'm glad of that for her.

The living room is empty. Those bots better not be making trouble.

I listen and hear Sunstreaker talking in the primary suite. That's where everybody is. Sunstreaker's tone is easy, but I still hurry. I go through the door to the suite, and I hurry through the little office area and push open the half-closed door leading into the big bedroom.

"There he is," Sunstreaker says. He's sitting on the edge of the big bed, one pede touching the floor and the other pede lifted up and resting on the other knee as he cleans it. Prowl is sitting cross-legged near the middle of the bed. I can hear the some water splashing in the washroom; that would be Sides.

"Are you behaving?" I ask suspiciously.

"Been good this entire time," Sunstreaker answers, and Prowl nods.

I study them. Sunstreaker looks almost worn out but still composed. It wasn't a very good day for him, and it shows, and even though he is usually one to stay up late, I don't think he's going to stay up late tonight.

And Prowl looks he'll be asleep the second his helm settles on his pillow. Even his wings are sagging, which is a serious sign of exhaustion.

So, no wasting time. I sit on Sunstreaker's side of the bed and lift my right pede to rest on my left knee so I can start cleaning it as I had Starlight's pedes.

"Are we all sleeping in this bed?" I ask. The bed is big enough to fit all us.

"Uh-huh," Sunstreaker says. "We figured you and Prowl in the middle, Sides and I on the outside."

"Okay." I knew Sunstreaker still usually wasn't a fan of snuggling, but I wasn't going to remind him of it. Sunstreaker finishes with his pede-cleaning and shifts to sit entirely on the bed. I focus on my own pede-cleaning. Once I finish my right pede, I swap and do the other.

"How was Starlight?" Prowl ventures to ask.

"Grumpy with me for not seeing her all day," I say, glancing over at him. Then I do a double-taking because Sunstreaker is carefully cleaning one of his wings. Prowl doesn't seem to mind. A hint of a smile brushes his expression, and he gives his other wing a slight shrug to let me it's okay.

"She was grumpy with me, too," he says, and then he adds quietly, "Understandably."

"I'm going to spend three hours –minimum- with her at lunchtime tomorrow," I tell him firmly, ready to argue calmly if he objects. He doesn't.

"That sounds good," he says. "We'll plan for that."

I finish with my pede and shift to crawl to the middle of the bed, toward Prowl. He looks at me as I sit near him.

"I will try to make tomorrow better for you," he says softly.

I smile and almost sort of laugh. "That's what I told Starlight," I say.

"It must be a good thing then." Another hint of a smile crosses Prowl's expression again. Then the quiet sadness that seems permanent filters back into place. "Did you pick out the poems you wanted me to read? I… I don't know if I can read all of them this evening, but I can start."

I nod and take out a data-pad, turning it on. I tap to get to the book of poems and quickly tag the poems I'd come up with earlier. Then I hand the data-pad over to Prowl.

"I tagged them: 'Prowl reads,'" I say, since there are a large number of tags.

Prowl accepts the data-pad silently and then nods slightly at the first poem. It's good one about stars and clouds and shifting skies. He reads in a quiet voice, and I can tell that he's out of practice, but he makes an effort, and it's still a good reading.

Sides comes out of the washroom near the end of the poem, and he stops and eyes us.

"Well, this obviously isn't going to be much of an orgy," he teases.

I scowl at him.

Sunstreaker snorts. "Even if we three were femmes, you wouldn't have a chance," he says. "A loyal monogamist, your sibling, and –probably- an ace? Huh-uh."

Sides chuckles and sprawls out on the lower half of the giant bed.

"And Praxus doesn't like your topic," Sunstreaker adds. "Let's respect that."

Sides cranes his helm to give me an apologetic look. "Right. Sorry, Praxus."

I shrug in acceptance.

"Well, on to a topic you do like," Sides says, rolling over and kicking his heels idly as he gives me a grin. "For breakfast tomorrow, I thought I'd run out first thing and bring back a bunch of stuff from the pub."

I perk up. I definitely like this topic. "That sounds good!" I say.

Sides' grin widens. "I figured you wouldn't argue. And I figured I'd probably be the first one to wake up, so I volunteered myself. But if you wake first and want to make the trip, you're welcome to it."

I nod, thinking about this. Sides is right, that he will probably wake up first. But also there is a chance I might. Either of us can go, but the important thing is that someone stays with Prowl.

"Done," Sunstreaker says, shifting away from Prowl and putting away the cloth he'd been wiping Prowl's wings with. "You can sleep now."

"Hopefully," Prowl murmurs, shifting one wing. Sunstreaker takes my data-pad away from Prowl, gently, and hands it over to me. I put it away.

"You look tired enough to fall asleep within three minutes," Sides says, which I think is an overestimation.

Prowl gets under some blankets. I notice then that the bed has a bunch of separate blankets and not one big blanket, and I think that's clever. Prowl and I usually don't like blankets pulled over our wings because it can annoy them, and I accidentally steal blankets in my sleep, and Sides likes pulling a blanket all the way up to his chin, and Sunstreaker doesn't like blankets on his pedes.

I climb under some other blankets and snuggle against Prowl like usual. Sides puts two more blankets on top of me and then tucks in next to me, pulling his blankets all the way up like I knew he would. He shifts around.

"You got enough space over there, Sunny?" he asks.

"Eh," Sunstreaker murmurs, "Prowl's already out."

I put my helm up and look. Prowl is definitely asleep, wings completely relaxed, more relaxed than I've seen them in a really long time, actually. And Sides has more space than Sunstreaker, but Sunstreaker isn't in any danger of falling over the side of the bed. A flicker of a tired smile crosses his expression.

"It's fine," he tells me, and I put my helm back down, snuggling it into my pillow. Someone turns the light down remotely.

"Good night," Sides says, and I have to think about answering. I'm so cozy and safe that it makes me drowsy, and I'm so much more tired than I realized I was. I'm so tired that I'm not sure I even remember any words. I try.

"G'nigh..." I murmur. That's good.