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Rodimus was going back to his hut, and he was sunburned– all pinkish flushed skin with that pretty red hair glowing above his freckles. His long day outdoors had done its best to turn him from a human with a complexion similar to the light golden tea he drank to a human with skin the color of a boiled lobster. It hadn’t quite succeeded, but it was close.
Thundercracker huffed, curling up behind a cloud and watching his charge go inside.
If there was a Sun spirit, he’d probably try and fight them– if only for the doubtful offense of lavishing his Roddy’s skin with rays the human had done nothing to avoid. But Thundercracker was only a minor Water spirit, and he’d evaporate in an instant against anything a Sun spirit, existent or not, had against him.
He sank back down into the waves, thinking.
Rodimus was going to be hurting in the morning, because Rodimus never put on any sunscreen, and Rodimus definitely never put on anything to help his skin feel better after he got burned. If Thundercracker wanted Roddy to not be sad, he had to intervene.
Quietly. Quickly, so Rodimus wouldn’t notice.
Water above and below, help him if Roddy noticed!
Thundercracker slipped out of the water, hovering for a moment, and assumed ethereal form– just the barest bit of water vapor holding him together. He floated out toward the land, toward Rodimus’ hut with its staves of fire surrounding it and the brightly colored flowers that lay strewn across its roof. Rodimus was always colorful. Rodimus was fire, in and out and around, and Thundercracker knew this was exactly why you never fell for a human. Things never worked out.
He peeked into the hut.
Rodimus was sprawled face down across his bed, arms hugging the pillow and legs akimbo– clad in flower-patterned boxer briefs and little else. He was fast asleep, eyelashes as red as his hair fluttering down across flushed cheeks.
Water above and below, but he was pretty.
Thundercracker hurried to his bedside, located the bottle of– what was it called? Aloe? Whatever it was, Rodimus never used it, judging from how full it was.
Thundercracker reached out his hand, calling water from the air and the sea to make it solid, and retrieved a bit of the lotion. It felt cool and smooth on his fingertips.
Don’t wake up, he thought, although if he was honest, the idea of Roddy waking to the sight of him thrilled him with a certain amount of terrified excitement. And he smoothed the lotion onto Rodimus’ burned back and shoulders, happy at the feeling of dried-out, angry skin becoming moisturized and soft at his touch.
Oh.
Now was the hard part.
Thundercracker called more water to come to his hands– trying to make them almost solid– and took ahold of Rodimus’ shoulder, trying to get him to roll over. Roddy twitched and whimpered in his sleep, but– perhaps because he was just so tired from his long day– didn’t awaken as Thundercracker managed to roll him onto his back.
Roddy lay there, his mouth slack in sleep, his strangely thin human eyelids fluttering, and was pretty. Thundercracker pressed his hands to his mouth and muffled a squeak.
Okay, okay.
He squeezed more lotion onto his hands, and gently dabbed at Rodimus’ nose, cheeks, and forehead with it– leaving plenty to soak in overnight. Then, because Roddy was the kind of person who went around all day shirtless (Thundercracker had heard him bragging to his surfing students about how “after everything” he “deserved to never wear a shirt again”) Thundercracker had to put lotion onto his chest and the flushed, circular burn around his belly button.
Then it was done, and Thundercracker was almost sorry he had to get out and leave Rodimus to sleep.
As he sank back into the ocean, he knew Rodimus would wake up the next morning with no knowledge of what he’d done– maybe with a certain amount of surprise that he wasn’t sore and stinging all over, but how soon would he jump to the conclusion that a pining Water spirit had helped him out while he was sleeping?
Never, that’s how soon.
Thundercracker sighed, cuddling in with his cloud again. Maybe one of these days he’d show himself to Roddy. Maybe he’d introduce him to his Buster. Maybe he’d help Roddy surf– he’d bet that he could really make Rodimus’ board go faster and smoother than ever before, maybe even make the waves bigger for him. Maybe– maybe Rodimus would even like him back.
Maybe someday.