Hydroburst sighed, taking a good long swig from the oil Bumblebee had lent to him. They were out on the roof, so in case someone woke up they wouldn't hear the two of them. Not from up here anyway.

This had become a sort of nightly ritual for them, Bumblebee had trouble sleeping most nights. His mind constantly raced, pounding with thoughts desperate to be expressed so he made a habit of coming up here so he could let them out. Even if it was essentially just him talking to himself it made it much easier to drift asleep once he let those thoughts out into the air, Hydroburst came up here for a different reason…

But right now it didn't matter, unlike Bee he didn't like letting out his thoughts. He'd rather have a distraction to tire his processor out, that was he could recharge with fear of…well, night terrors. His were pretty destructive thanks to his status as an outlier (the fact this entire planet was covered in water didn't really help either.)

"Ya' almost never drink when we come up here," Bumblebee commented, finishing off the last of his first oil can and throwing it across the roof. It bounced once and then landed right on the old antenna, it didn't work anymore hence the reason they'd started losing it as a target. Bee let out an enthusiastic "Yes!" before clearing his throat and turning back to Hydroburst. "Is something up or what?"

Hydroburst just shrugged, taking another swig. "...Sort of? ...I'm not really sure." Bumblebee blinked before hopping down off the edge of the roof and sitting down beside Hydroburst. He'd warned the other several times to not sit up there but he never listened, even after the numerous close calls they had with getting caught. (Both because Bee was nearly spotted by Prowl on one of his late-night walks, or by Optimus because he woke up super early each morning, and because Bee had almost fallen off and neither one bothered with being quiet in the midst of the panic.)

"Uhm...is it like, the team?" Bee asked, shifting his sitting position every couple of seconds. Hydroburst never minded it when Bee would talk real loud or tap his digits or any of the other things the others claimed were annoying. Bumblebee's presence provided a sense of safety, Hydroburst hated it when it was too quiet. He needed sound, background noise of any kind, otherwise he just started to feel...to feel...

Hydroburst abruptly shook his head and turned back to Bee, what were they talking about again..? "Sorry, uh, repeat that for me?"

That was another quality of Bee's that Hydroburst loved, he never got offended or confused when Hydroburst spaced out. That was more than the likes of Ratchet could say.

"That uh- thing that's up with ya', does it have to do with the team?" Bee repeated, albeit a little awkwardly.

Hydroburst stared up at the sky, absentmindedly tracing shapes in the stars as he gathered his thoughts. "It's not like I'm mad at any of 'em." He eventually managed to say. Bumblebee scooted a bit closer, trying to see the shapes Hydroburst was tracing in the sky. Upon realizing this Hydroburst lifted one arm so Bee could slip beneath it and find a comfortable spot in Hydroburst's lap, with his head resting on the blue mech's chassis.

"But..?" Bumblebee prodded, knowing that wasn't the end of the thought. Hydroburst sighed letting his servos fall to his sides (Well, one fell to his side, the other rested atop Bumblebee's, digits brushing against one another.)

"But, they're just not...they're not understanding that I..." Hydroburst trailed off, looking down to meet Bumblebee's gaze, before reluctantly tearing his optics away.

"They think that I...like to fight but it's just not true." He managed to get out leaning against the raised section of the roof. Bumblebee scooted a bit away from Hydroburst to turn around and look at Hydroburst properly.

"Sometimes I lose my temper and blow off a little steam but...I never enjoyed it." Hydroburst reopened his optics and sat up a bit looking off to the side whilst Bumblebee curled his digits around Hydroburst's servo.

"I'm not a violent bot," He pressed, sucking in a tense breath. "I don't know why I bite..."

A servo pressed against his faceplants, pulling his gaze right back to Bumblebee's fluorescent optics. The smile on Bee's face brought a flush to Hydroburst's cheeks.

"I'm not into tame bots."

It was such a simple sentence, but it made Hydroburst's spark squeeze in all the right ways.

"Thank you..." He breathed out, looking down again as Bumblebee leaned in a tad closer. Hydroburst tensed a bit digits curling around Bumblebee's own tightly, he offered his other servo as well and Hydroburst took it. The silence stretched on for a moment before Bee swallowed and softly asked. "Uhm...do ya' mind if I just..?"

Hydroburst stayed quiet but nodded.

Bee whispered what sounded like an "okay" but Hydroburst barely heard it over the sound of his own pounding spark. They leaned in a bit closer, Hydroburst pulling down his mask as Bumblebee paused. Neither of them addressed it, too wrapped up in their own heads to think about anything else.

Just as they were about to close the gap-

"A bit late for a drink don't you-"

"BY THE ALLSPARK PROWL!?"

"SON OF A FRAGGIN' SLAGGER-"

They both immediately shoved away from each other staring at a poker-faced (but still very obviously surprised) Prowl. The loud duet of shocked yells would've most definitely been heard from downstairs, which made Hydroburst's spark sink. Please don't tell him they were about to get their roof privileges revoked.

"...Am I interrupting something?" Prowl remarked with a raised brow.

Hydroburst failed to bite down on a snarl as he stood up and jabbed a digit in Prowl's general direction. "The frag do you think? Why are you even awake right now!?"

Bumblebee might've tried to shush him but Hydroburst was still reeling from the almost kiss so- wait crap. As Prowl spoke Hydroburst immediately turned back around and fumbled trying to find his mask again, he kept it on specifically because he didn't like it when people could read him.

"I was going to clear my head in the forest and I heard a crash," Prowl's gaze fell to the antenna (with several oil cans scattered around it and on it) he simply let out a small "ah" as he realized.

"I'm very surprised you weren't caught sooner if that's a regular occurrence." Hydroburst crossed his arms irritably, defensive about being caught in such a vulnerable state.

"I bite, Prowl." He snapped, a warning but the response Prowl gave made all the empty threats he had planned die on his glossa.

"But you don't know why."

Bee tensed a bit at that, standing up and rushing to Hydroburst's side as the mini-bot's optics flashed a pure white. Usually a sign he was preparing or currently using his powers, in this case, it was a tell of emotion.

"I heard everything." Prowl elaborated, holding up one servo before Bumblebee could speak. "I'm not going to tell Optimus about this, you can keep coming up here at night if you wish...but you need to be honest with the others."

Hydroburst tensed at that the white fading from his optics as he turned his back to Prowl, the comfort of Bumblebee's touch slipping away. "Why? So they can look at me the same way they always do when I try to explain?" He gritted out, digging his digits into his shoulders.

"Do you really think so little of them you think they wouldn't understand?" Prowl kept his voice soft, Hydroburst's harsh response may have had one thinking there was little point but Bee knew better. Hydroburst didn't need his aggression to be met with more aggression, the mask would fade with time.

"You never listened to me before! I told you before that I didn't know why and you didn't listen, you called me a liar!" Hydroburst snapped back, taking a couple of steps closer to Prowl as Bee took him by the shoulders and tried to calm him down.

"HB... it's okay." Hydroburst forced his optics closed and bit down on the words that wanted to leave him, a firm 'no it isn't' would've felt great to let on anyone besides Bumblebee.

"Ratchet didn't call you a liar because you didn't know, he said it because you insisted that we were trying to antagonize you." Prowl clarified, Bee opened his mouth to snap at the taller but Prowl cut him off once again.

"I'm not saying he was right, both of you have issues with your temper and Ratchet should've known better than to say that without elaboration." Prowl paused taking a couple steps closer to the two, letting Hydroburst's tensity melt away some before continuing to speak.

"I just think you're misreading the others, and if the cycle repeats we won't be able to handle the Decepticons anymore."

"We can barely handle them now..." Bumblebee muttered, earning an awkward one-armed hug from Hydroburst in response.

"Exactly my point, we need your abilities now more than ever-"

Hydroburst bristled at that causing Prowl to pause, he was repeating the words in his mind trying to figure out where the problem was in that sentence when Bumblebee beat him to it.

"We need you more than ever, HB." Prowl blinked, processing the way Hydroburst released the tension in his shoulders to lean into Bee's touch, interlocking digits with the smaller. All the irritation left his body as soon as Bee said that simple sentence…did he not want to be known for his powers?

That...actually explained quite a lot.

Prowl sighed sympathetically, "It seems we all have some work to do in terms of communication." He managed to say, looking up to the sky.

"I don't." Bee asserted suddenly, promptly earning a "Yes you do" from Prowl and Hydroburst at the same time. The short began sputtering suddenly breaking into a series of desperate arguments which Hydroburst failed to keep a straight face through, bursting into a fit of laughter as Bumblebee demanded that he stop laughing. Prowl just watched the situation with a fond look on his face. Maybe things would get better after all...

"What in the PITS are you doing up here!?"

All three suddenly jolted and whipped around to see Ratchet climbing up onto the roof with Optimus not far behind.

...

"...Scraaap-"

"Shit."