Pairing: RID Thunderhoof/Grimlock

Rating: Teen

Details/Themes: Thunderhoof won't admit he's flustered but he wants attention, dates

Requested by LUX10UR10US

"Ay-o, what's this nonsense?" Thunderhoof said.

Grimlock wagged his tail with a cheeky, toothy grin. "Flowers! You're supposed to give them to people you like."

The excited Dinobot gave the mob boss a bouquet of red roses, poppies, and red tulips. Thunderhoof peered between said Dinobot and the...hideous arrangement of vegetation the mech had in his claws. It took him a second to fully comprehend that the Dinobot was serious.

It was something of common courtesy he was raised on that urged Thunderhoof to take them. As a mob boss on Cybertron, gifts were always accepted even if they didn't make sense or weren't anything special. If he didn't like them, he could give them to one of his subordinates or just sell them off. But he couldn't sell useless flowers this planet had growing out in the wild and he had no followers...

"I chose red because they match your optics. I added the off-color poppies because I thought it would add a little spunk," Grimlock said.

Thunderhoof wanted to scoff but he didn't. Instead, he played loosely with the petals. "They are, uh, great, very beautiful...and all."

"Glad you like them!" The Dinobot purred.

He expected the larger mech to do something else but instead, to his surprise, Grimlock walked away content. That...wasn't at all what he anticipated and admittedly, Thunderhoof grew a bit zealous at the notion of someone just leaving him with a simple gift and nothing more to show said "liking" of him.

"Whoa, whoa, where's you think you're going?! That's it?!" Thunderhoof scowled, "No lovey-dovey nonsense?! No asking me out on a date or-or offering to get me more to win me over?! What type of romantic are yous?"

Grimlock was taken aback and whimpered, "I, uh, I thought you wanted some privacy? I don't like to push you into something like that too fast."

The Decepticon pinched the bridge of his noseplate. "Oi, this mech. I like being smothered with praise, one of the few that does. I like being given gifts even if they are useless or meaningful. How is it out of all the mechs to offer me real affection, it's a mech who's not on me like Energon wasps to Energon?"

"So, you want me to give you more attention? You like me too?" The Dinobot asked confused.

"Yes!"

Thunderhoof's outburst shocked Grimlock. The Decepticon grew red as he realized just what he had said. It was so natural of a psychological response that everything had flowed from his emotions to his mouth without any censoring from his processor.

He tried to correct himself, breaking eye contact quickly. "Ahem...what I meant to say was...if yous giving gifts, flowers ain't gonna cut it."

Just then, Grimlock grabbed Thunderhoof and brought him into a tight embrace which had the mob boss reeling with uncertainty. "I get it! You want me to take you out on a date! I can do that!"

"Ay-o! Hang on, that's not-!"

He didn't have much of a choice as an eager Grimlock dragged him along to a nearby lake. At first, the Autobot did nothing but talk which made Thunderhoof sigh in boredom. He didn't care about water or whatever life possibly could exist on this back-slum planet. But then Grimlock began giving him things, random things he had no clue of what their function was.

Flowers, rocks, an organic creature that Grimlock referred to as a woodchuck that kept chirping at him angrily, something shiny, more flowers, someone's bike...Thunderhoof found himself holding a bunch of useless things and yet, he began to like them, especially the shiny stuff.

Watching Grimlock going out of his way to get him more things began to take on a new light. Even if Grimlock was too preoccupied to see it, Thunderhoof could feel a smile slowly building on his faceplates at the effort the Dinobot was giving to impress him. What he didn't realize himself was the more gifts he was given, the less he paid attention to them and instead focused on the bot responsible giving it to him.

The black and green mech was nothing but gleeful and Thunderhoof found a small charm to the child-like personality. When Grimlock came back with a puppy...an animal Thunderhoof began to suspect belonged to a human with the accessories on its neck it supported, Thunderhoof took the creature with newfound appreciation, petting it and smiling as it barked before looking into Grimlock's bright blue optics.

"I, ah, I can't thank yous enough for the gifts. It's gonna be hard to getting these back home, but I'll make do."

The Dinobot purred happily, "I'll help you, it's fine. Besides, I got what I wanted to day too!"

Thunderhoof paused and looked up from the puppy now curled up in his servo. "And what's that?"

"I got to see you smile."

Immediately, the Decepticon froze and was in a deep, flushed state. His spark strained among the influx of heat rising within. He did his best to hide it with a deadpanned response, "I don't know what you's taking about."

"It's okay. You were too busy admiring my gifts to notice. You have quite a nice smile too, you know. It makes me happy to see you happy," Grimlock grinned.

Thunderhoof damn near felt his processor burst as it became clear Grimlock was never preoccupied. He let his emotions out and the Autobot saw every step of his embarrassing crush on the mech. The only thing he could do now was facepalm at his own stupidity.

"This was a nice date!"

"Not a date!" Thunderhoof growled.

AN: Surprisingly, I like this pairing a lot. If anyone could be compatible with Grimlock, Thunderhoof might actually be one of the better choices.