Work Text:
"Can you lean down here for a sec'?"
With a raised eyebrow (optical brow?), Optimus slowly complied. Careful to watch where he placed his hands to brace himself in the cluttered 'lab'.
"Little lower."
"If I were any closer to the ground I'd be laying down."
"Then do that."
A deep, agitated sigh and small fit of those wretched coughs followed on its heels. But the broken autobot complied. A grin somehow both unsure and cock-sure was well worn on Cade's face as he strode closer...
...Before planting a big smooch on Optimus' lip plates. The robot tasted like sugar and metal, but bitter. Like taking a bite of raw sugar and being so overwhelmed by the sweetness of it that it would be almost unpleasant. Almost. He would ponder that later.
Optimus reared his head back and was into a sitting position fast enough to make Cade double blink. An awkward silence enveloped the scene. Well, all the awkwardness was mostly on Optimus' part. Cade was quite content with himself for having simply done the deed. Now the grin was all cock-sure. A small laugh that was more like puffing air out his nose, adjusting his cap with both hands, and looking far too pleased with himself.
Optimus only stared. Brows furrowed. Eventually his mouth opened- Then closed again. This process happened thrice more over the following seconds. Just long enough for Cade to think he looked a bit like a fish. A really big, robot fish... With whom he maaayyyy have just broke alien truce becauseofastupidkissahshit. Cade's smile vanished.
"What was that?" The great autobots booming baritone made it sound more like a demand than a question. Cade's hat was promptly removed out of an often scolded child's instinct.
"I- I'm sorry... Just... When I get an experiment to work right I get so excited I just gotta kiss it as a thank you for working..." Optimus didn't answer and his expression didn't shift. So Cade kept talking. "I did that to the dog once. It called the 9-1-1 on me..." Cade's face was now knit together in a negatively contemplated expression, as if suddenly realizing some deep, unexpected and unwelcomed wisdom to be gained from the 'guard' dogs actions.
Optimus broke his over analyze of the automaton creation. "You are- welcomed, then." A curt nod emphasizing the last words. More brusque than it was rude.
Now sure he hadn't broken some galactic truce on a whim, Cade put his hat back on. "Any time," he said with a feigned new-found confidence. And he strode out of the barn a bit too quickly, his step a bit too light.