(Please see all previous disclaimers)
With most of the others seeking out relics or further information regarding them, Optimus and Ratchet were in the base alone. And after making his comm to agent Fowler, Optimus returned to where Ratchet was toiling. Ratchet could tell his old friend was heavily burdened by something or someone. "So, how are thing going with making Lancex your mate?" Ratchet asked, being the nosy medic he was. Optimus sighed even as he blushed a bit before glaring at the medic with tired optics. "You can't stop a bot from honestly inquiring."
"Ratchet, I have no need or desire for Lancex to be my mate" Optimsu lied, though only Ratchet would have known it.
"Oh come off it, Optimus. I have seen the way you act and interact with Lancex. You can call my crazy if you want, but I have noticed that you have been less stressed and happier since he came" Ratchet said.
"Of course, I will be less stressed when we have more soldiers" Optimus retorted, as Ratchet had hit too close to the actual mark.
"Sure, sure… if that is how you explain it to yourself" Ratchet shot back. Optimus glared at the medic. "Fine, answer me this… what do you think of Lancex?"
Optimus looked at the medic. "Well, he is an excellent soldier, very respectful, and has quite a range of abilities and weaponry. I don't care if he is submissive and I care even less if he can carry" Optimus answered, even though he wasn't quite being truthful with the last part, as Optimus blushes slightly at thinking of the bot sparked, but then Optimus shook his head to clear the daydream vision. "He also shows little to no emotion and almost always gives a blank and serious look. Besides, why would such a young bot want an old war horse like me. If he wanted anyone, he would prefer someone like Bulkhead or Bumblebee. They might be more his speed."
Ratchet listened to what Optimus had to say, but felt he needed to add a bit more information. "Optimus, you may not have noticed it, but I have observed that around you, he shows a bit more emotion." Optimus was stunned but just shrugged. He wasn't sure about this whole thing, even if Ratchet was pulling for the old Prime.
Ratchet then thought of something. "It is not always the case, but in some cases, with extremely submissive bots they require more than one mate to satisfy their needs. Would you be willing to share Lancex with a bot like Predaking or allow Bumblebee and Bulkhead to be with him or more if needed?"
Optimus thought about and spoke before he realized what he was saying. "As long as Lancex is happy and treated well, that is all that matters to me. Besides, we know nothing about Lancex's past life. I pulled up the Autobot records. There is no mention of a bot named Lancex. We must be cautious." Optimus secretly didn't want to share Lancex, but if he wasn't the right bot, he knew better than to stand in another bot's way.
Ratceht replied, "that only contained Autobots who fought. It would not contain bots who remained neutral or never fought before. Maybe he was a long lost neutral." Optimus nodded. Still, he had been around for millennia and had never heard of a bot with this name. "Besides, given his abilities, he could have hacked the record and removed himself from it." That made some sense. Ratchet just hoped that one of the teams searching for relics would soon return, and soon both did. And that ended the awkward conversation for now, but things would soon become more awkward.