(Please see all previous disclaimers)
As Skyfire and Ultra Magnus kept an optic on their sparked mate in the med bay, Ratchet was out and busy scanning the cons to see if any of them would be useful in helping to repopulate the transformers population. Most were not useful, but several would potentially be of use. The handful of bots were Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave, and one other random con. Ratchet had to laugh at the selection. But his part in all of this was over. Now it was time for Perceptor to help see if the five would accept the plan, though it wasn't much of a choice.
Meanwhile, Optimus met up with Cosmos and Grimlock. They needed to talk about Lancex. "Cosmos, you mentioned before you are also a submissive mech. Have you interfaced with Lancex at all?" Optimus asked carefully, knowing Cosmos could be jumpy.
Before Cosmos could answer, Grimlock jumped in. "It no matter. Grimlock want to Frag bot, claim him Lancex" Grimlock boasted, completely forgetting what Ultra Magnus and Skyfire had said to him.
"First off, Grimlock, it matters because if they have interfaced at all, they must come as a pair. Secondly, your idea of just fragging Lancex senseless will drive the bot away. He will feel as if he and his needs are an afterthought and he should never feel that way" Optimus explained to the aggressive Dinobot. Only then did Grimlock settle a bit. Optimsu encouraged Cosmos to answer.
"We… we did interface. We both consented, we both wanted it" Cosmos explained.
"Then you are in a way already bonded to Lancex. We absolutely can't separate you and Lancex. Not that we would want to. You also seek his spark along with us. If you were being pursued, how would you want us to pursue you?" Optimus asked, figuring Cosmos might have the best idea.
"I would want the bots to get to know me, who I am and what matters most to me" Cosmos explained, feeling Lancex likely would be the same way. Optimus nodded and they started to plan how they would go about getting to know the bot better, not including asking Aquaformer.
Meanwhile, in the med bay, Ratchet had returned and Aquaformer's mates left as they needed energon. "My, I never thought they'd leave of their own volition" Aquaformer said, her fierce independence showing through.
"You have to be cautious, Aquaformer. You are bonded and you are sparked. You can't just go off on your own anymore. You have mates who care what happens to you, who love you for who you are" Ratchet replied, reminding the femme.
"I know. I just don't like being babied all the time" Aquaformer replied.
"Sometimes it's not about you, it's about allowing them to show you love, Aquaformer" Jazz piped up, having just entered the med bay.
"Easier said than done. I've never been a femme who likes to be treated as less than and I've never been a big fan of being touched" Aquaformer replied.
"But when you have mates you have to remember that they likely have different love languages than you and you need to allow them to show love in their language as well as return the love in their language" Jazz answered. Aquaformer smiled. Ratchet was relieved someone finally got through to Aquaformer.
Then someone else entered the med bay. It was Lancex. He was surprised that as he entered Jazz, Aquaformer and Ratchet were there, but no one else. He hoped it was for the best.
