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You were never someone that you could call bashful or shy. Those words just simply didn’t describe you. You were outgoing, and you wouldn’t even put it behind yourself to make the first move in a relationship, whether that be introducing yourself or asking to take a friendship a step further.
This was different, though.
Working as a human liaison for the Cybertronian ship of the Lost Light came with many perks. One of the best ones, in your opinion, is getting to interact and be around all of these interesting people- er, well, robots, you would often have to correct yourself.
It did take some adjusting at first, but you quickly came to become friends with nearly all of the crew, save for the more standoffish ones like Cyclonus, but you still believed that even he would warm up to you eventually. Yes, you’d made quite a few friends since joining this ship, but the one you chose to spend the most time around was Ambulon.
That meant that, much to Ratchet’s dismay, you would find yourself spending your spare time in the medibay, so long as it wasn’t busy. What Ratchet described as you “pestering his medics” was considered by both Ambulon and yourself to be spending time with friends. It wasn’t as though they had anything better to do, since bots weren’t running in with their arms blown off that often.
You were laying in your room one night, idly keeping yourself busy with your reports and work when you found your mind drifting off to what you had spent the day doing in terms of leisure. Who you had chosen to pass the time with, and what you did. It had been Ambulon, and you had simply sat around in the medibay and kept each other company, as usual. You let yourself dwell on the thoughts for a moment before trying to resume your work, only to realize that you were having trouble doing so. Your brain kept bringing up thoughts of him, making a barricade between you and the stuff you had to be considering in order to properly fill out your work.
It didn’t take you long to realized exactly what was happening. You had grown close to Ambulon, too close to continue considering him as a friend. You tried to think about what you should do next, and where before, those ideas might have come naturally and instantly to you, and you would have been able to act upon them without trepidation, you now found yourself almost frozen.
What would he think? He was a Cybertronian and you were a human. On that note, what would the rest of the crew think? Rodimus certainly wouldn’t boot you off of the ship and revoke your position over a relationship with one of the crew members, would he? That train of thought only led to more worry as you wondered if Ratchet would be alright with any of this, and if he would react poorly and take it out on Ambulon.
While you wouldn’t exactly call Ratchet a friend, he was far from cold to you. He really behaved more like a strict, but well meaning professor, almost. He was one of the mechs to teach you more about Cybertronians when you had first joined the Lost Light.
With that thought in your head, you decided on a plan. Tomorrow, you would go to Ratchet and ask for the best course of action. You may know Ambulon well, but Ratchet has known him longer, and you’re sure that he would have some valuable advice for you.
You hadn’t expected that you’d barely be able to get the words out when you actually showed up to Ratchet’s office. Though he pieced it together quickly and with a sigh.
“Ambulon has been having the same troubles, you know.” He stated, sounding like his usual mix of fond and fed up. “And no, I don’t care if he courts a human. Nobody on this ship should, at least to my knowledge.”
He didn’t even put down his datapad of work to tell you this. While some might find that a little cold, you honestly thought that it was helping to soothe your nerves. If Ratchet wasn’t freaking out over it, then at least that was someone who wasn’t as worried as you.
“He wants you to confess first.” Ratchet tacked on. “Hasn’t told me that, but judging from what I know of him, he doesn’t want to put you in a bad spot. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, I’m sure you know Ambulon isn’t an elaborate mech, just as I’m sure you know what to do.”
You gave Ratchet a resolute nod, though you really didn’t have a concrete plan on what you’d do. You knew that you’d figure it out in time. Turning to leave the office, the CMO spoke up,
“He… Isn’t the easiest mech to get along with. But he’s been much better since he met you. I really hope you know how much you mean to him.” Ratchet says before letting you leave. Looks like he plays a similar, almost fatherly role to Ambulon as well.
So now you just had to figure out how to tell him. Ambulon never really seemed like a bar type of mech to you, so maybe just going to Swerve’s was out of the question. Plus, even though you were now fairly certain that he felt the same way, you weren’t sure if he would respond well to a public confession. Checking the time, you note that he should still be on his off shift in his room, and it wasn’t an odd occurrence for you to meet in his room to pass the time, meaning he probably wouldn’t think it weird if you showed up to his door.
Still, you at least send him a courtesy message, asking if he would be open to you coming over to hang out. As you expected, you receive an affirmative. Your feet feel heavy as you walk towards his habsuite. You’ve never felt this nervous in your life. Not while you sat any exams, not during any job interviews. You knew that Ambulon liked you as well, why was your stomach twisting?
You knock at his door and you hear his heavy footsteps as he approaches to answer.
“Y/N,” He greets with a soft smile when he opens the heavy metal door. “You don’t usually come around this early, but its always nice to see you.” Ambulon says as he steps into the room, leaving you to enter and the door to shut automatically behind you. “Have you eaten something, yet?”
You know what he’s thinking about. Ever since you and him had become friends, he’s taken to keeping some human food around his hab in case you ever got hungry while you were there, but you couldn’t even think about eating at the moment. He notices your trepidation, the slight change in your posture, the crease in your brow and the way your eyes won’t meet his optics.
“Come here,” He says, more of a suggestion than anything as he walks over to the sofa he has in his small living space and sits down. You hop up to sit next to- or opposite to him, since he turned to face you- and you make yourself as comfortable as you can, hoping that it’ll ease your nerves.
“Is everything alright?” He asks, unused to seeing you this way. You clasped your hands together. Waiting around and worrying him wasn’t going to get you anywhere so, as shy as you was, you decide to rip the band-aid off.
“A-Ambulon, I know we’re friends but, um,” Shit, where is this sentence supposed to go? What were you even saying? “Can- I- I know a bit about Cybertronians and c-courting and stuff and I know that it’s different from what humans so but-“ Those caring optics staring at you weren’t helping! “I was wondering if you and me- uh- if you wanted to do that with me? Because I- I want to do that with you.”
That might have been the least graceful, least put together string of words that has ever left your lips, but you hope that it was enough to get the message across, even if you were mentally berating yourself as you wait for a response. But no, Ambulon just looks shocked. Frozen.
“You… You’re interested in me?” He asks. You really hope that you won’t have to repeat yourself. “You want to know if I want to court you?” He almost seemed to be mulling over the words, like he didn’t quite believe it. It took another second, then an enthusiastic smile took over his lips.
“Yes! Frag, yes!” He can’t stop himself from picking you up and plopping you down to sit in his lap. “I was getting worried I’d have to confess to you, first.” He laughs. You’ve seen him laughing and happy before, but maybe it’s the weight lifted off your shoulders, but you’ve never seen him this happy. You throw your arms around his chest and hug him as best you can, letting out a laugh of your own, just so happy that you got that over with and he said yes.
“So you felt the same way?” You ask, chin resting on his chest as you look up at him. He nods, face flushed- though you’re sure he’s not blushing as much as you are.
“I have for a while. I didn’t say anything because you were too good of a friend and I didn’t want to risk anything.” He says, looking away, “But knowing you, I knew that if you felt the same that you would be the one to say something first.”
You wonder for a moment if he didn’t realize just how much you floundered through your confession.
It was going to be tricky, figuring out how to go about this relationship, but you were excited to do it. You would be excited to do anything, so long as it was with him.