Work Text:
Swerve had hoped that everything would go back to normal, or as normal as the Lost Light could be, when he was released from the medbay. He wanted to go run his bar, maybe rewatch Community, and just revel in the fact it was his body doing everything again.
Instead, Swerve was released to a small gathering of mechs who wanted to see how he was doing, and Ultra Magnus. There was a sudden strike of fear where Swerve believed he was being arrested. Instead, he was lead to Rodimus' office. This wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't for the fact that along with Rodimus, Megatron and Rung were also in the room.
"Uh..what's up..?" Swerve asked, trying not to show the nervousness running through his frame.
"So we had to have a discussion about you." Rodimus began, he had his carving knife in his hand which meant this was interrupting something important. "You almost died, Swerve. You made a giant avatar on your deathbed. So for one, you're being added to the list of mandated mechs to see Rung twice a week." Swerve hoped his look of annoyance wasn't noticed by either captain.
"We also feel that you should no longer be without a roommate. We have already sent out a ship wide announcement for those who wish to volunteer." It was Megatron's turn to speak, and Swerve wished he hadn't.
Who would ever want to room with him? No one jumped at the chance when Red Alert got hurt. Who would possibly want to now?
Megatron must have noticed the sour look on Swerve's face, so he began to speak again. "We had an almost immediate response from Skids, and we are just waiting to see if you agree with this choice." He explained, watching the minibot.
Swerve was in shock. Skids? Skids wanted to room with him? He felt like his spark was hammering against his casing.
The excitement over having Skids as a roommate must have made Swerve's reaction time less than ideal, because he was suddenly reminded of where he was by the sound of Rodimus snapping his fingers.
"Hello? Swerve? We asked if you agreed to have Skids as a roommate. You can say no. There's other people on the list. "Rodimus said, sitting back against his chair, propping his pedes up on the desk.
"Skids is fine. More than fine. I just have to cl-" Swerve was cut off by Megatron raising his hand to signal silence. "We have already gone ahead and had your habsuite cleaned. You will just need to go down there to meet Skids once he's ready. "
Swerve nodded in agreement, trying to keep his excitement bottled up. The rest of the meeting had gone almost too slowly, and most of it was just setting up when his appointments with Rung would be. The moment he was dismissed, Swerve was hurrying down the hall as quickly as his pedes could take him.
Skids. Skids . He had volunteered to be Swerve's roommate. He had taken the chance to share a room with the minibot. This was almost like a dream come true, and it felt like a dream before a dreadful thought crossed over the minibot's processor.
Why had Skids agreed to room this time, when he had denied the invitation once before? Was it because he was guilty? Because he felt like he owed him something for being the one to find Swerve dying in his own puddle of fluids? Did he even really want to room with Swerve, or was he feeling forced to because of his own conscience.
The excitement was almost completely gone by the time Swerve returned to his habsuite, typing in the familiar code to get inside. The room was neat and smelled of polish and disinfectant, a clear sign that a cleanup team under the watchful eye of Ultra Magnus had been in here. He figured he would have to learn their names later, he owed them a round of free drinks back at his bar.
For now, he just glanced around the room, taking in the emptiness that had been his companion over the last few months. He really hadn’t decorated much after Red Alert’s departure. The most that could be seen was a datapad on his berth. He had used it to watch Earth media when his holoavatar was rested for the night. The only other thing was a flask that rested on the self on his side of the room. It had belonged to Trailcutter, and had been given to him by Hoist with some comment about how Teebs’ would have wanted him to have it. During some of Swerve’s worst days, he wondered if he would see the large mech again if he hadn’t ended up being found. The minibot tried to shake the thoughts away. He had been found. He was all patched up again. That ache in his shoulder was even gone. He was alive and now had roommate who was probably on his way.
Almost as if on cue, Swerve received a private comm from Skids, asking what the password to the lock was. This caused a moment of confusion. How had Skids gotten in if he hadn’t known the password? A quick glance at the door told Swerve it had been replaced, a new brighter door in it’s wake. So that was what happened. He sent the code quickly and turned, placing a smile on his face.
Skids came in, carrying a small box of belongings. He smiled down at the minibot. “Hey Swerve. I guess we’re roommates now, huh?” He asked, looking at the habsuite. It was clear he was trying not to think about the last time he had been here.
“Yeah it’s pretty nice! Ole’ Skids and Swerve living together, huh? If I had known all I had to do was create, what did Rodimus call it, Swerth to get you to live with me, I should have done it sooner.” Swerve gave a small, awkward laugh. He sat himself on his berth, looking at the blue mech. He felt his spark beating again. As much as he wanted to imagine this was all fun, he still had a sinking suspicion of why Skids was here. “You know…you didn’t have to volunteer right? I’m sure there would have been someone who wanted to room with me. You don’t owe me anything for finding me. I know guilt can make you do things you don’t really wanna do.”
Swerve trained his optics to Skids’ pedes, causing him to miss the frown that plastered itself on the outlier’s face. “Well, I mean, I felt guilty, and I still kind of do. I failed you as a friend Swerve. But I wanted to be your roommate because I enjoy spending time with you.”
Swerve ponded what Skids’ said, still unable to look up at the larger mech. He gave a small sigh, a sad smile spreading across his face. “You know, I’m glad it was you.”
“Excuse me…?” Skids asked, confusion filling his words at the response. He set the box on the empty berth, getting on his knees so he was face to face with Swerve.
“I said I was glad it was you. Who found me, I mean. Even if I was gross looking and all that slag. I had really hoped it would be you who figured it out. Who came down here searching for me. Who stopped me from making a really big mistake.” The minibot explained. He was looking at a piece of chipped paint on his leg as he spoke. It was hard to look at Skids, hard to admit the thing he had been wishing for months.
Skids was speechless. He stared at the minibot, who he was sure had some kind of blush on his faceplate. “Swerve…I was terrible. It took me watching your avatar behind the bar disappear to realize something was wrong.”
“But you were the one who did it. You were the one who thought to check my room, who clearly punched down my door to get in here.” Swerve motioned to the replaced door that was keeping them from the outside. “You knew I was sick up here as much as physically.” He pointed towards his helm. He was smiling now, the first true smile he was sure he had shown anyone in a long time.
Skids couldn’t help but smile back. Swerve’s smiles were infectious, it was one of the things he loved about the minibot. One of the things he couldn’t help but think about while searching for the smaller mech on that alien planet, while waiting for Velocity to clear him from surgery. The long, agonizing hours that he waited had made Skids realized he loved the other much more than just platonically. He was pretty sure he loved him. He loved how Swerve smiled whenever someone put on his favorite song. He loved the way Swerve would laugh, loved the almost constant chatter. He wanted it all to himself and it was driving him crazy. He almost didn’t realize that Swerve was still silent, and was concerned for his new roommate. He looked at him.
“Hey, you’ve gone quiet. Not really like you. Are you alright?” He asked.
Swerve had almost blanked out, his own processor reeling from what he had told the larger mech. He smiled again, nodding quickly. “Yeah, I-uh, just have a lot on my mind.” He admitted.
Skids nodded in understanding. “You know you can unload on me if you’d like?”
“I mean if that’s what you’re into, I wouldn’t mind.” Swerve responded without thinking, and covered his mouth quickly. His faceplate flushed from embarrassment, going to cover his face with his servos.
Skids looked shocked for a moment, his spark beginning to race. He felt a grin break out, continuing to look at the clearly flustered minibot. “Wait, what? Swerve, are you flirting with me?” He asked, reaching one servo up to move Swerve’s away from his face.
Swerve gave a small whine. “No??” He felt like his face was on fire. This was what he got for focusing more on Skids than what he was actually saying. He had had more than one or two images of Skids becoming his roommate, but accidently admitting one like this was a bit much.
“I guess I just kind of hoped this would have happened under better circumstances, you becoming my roommate. I had hoped it would be because we were a thing, not because of something stupid that I did.” Primus, he was stupid. He had to stop running his mouth. He was trying to avoid Skids’ optics, not noticing the way the other’s face seemed to lighten up at the admission.
Skids shifted, a warm smile on his face. “Hey Swerve, come on, look at me.” He said, firmly but a sweet note in his voice. He beamed when Swerve slowly looked up at him. “Do you like me? Like really like me?” He felt his own faceplate begin to flush. “Because I love you.”
Swerve felt like the world had stopped. His engines roared, his optics going wide behind his visor. “Wh-what!? You do!?” He asked, sure that the grin on his face was the biggest he had ever made.
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I realized it when we were on Luna 1. I heard you screaming my name and it made me realize I couldn’t let the Legislators win because I had to come back to you. But then we just kept getting distracted. But then everything happened with Getaway showing back up, and Megatron became a Captain and then our ship disappeared and then Brainstorm ran through time and…we’ve gone through a lot. I guess I just forgot to mention it?” Skids was pretty sure he had never gone talking this long before, trying not to stumble over his words as he confessed everything to the minibot.
He noticed the war Swerve’s grin fell, and wanted to take back everything he said. He wasn’t given the chance however, as the smaller mech closed the space between their mouths, as Skids’ went to speak. Skids was taken off guard for only a moment, before he was grabbing Swerve’s face and kissing back. There was a contented hum in the kiss, like he had been waiting ages to finally do this.
Swerve had, despite the speech from Skids, had a small part of his processor that had assumed either A) Skids would break the kiss and declare that he no longer wanted to be Swerve’s roommate or B) Freeze up and stop the kiss because who the frag would want to kiss him? Option C however, which was the Superlearner’s knack for learning kicking in as he tried to learn every single piece of Swerve’s lips as he kissed back.
The kiss was broken as vents clicked open, the sounds of their fans running alongside each other. Swerve was grinning as he looked at Skids, the larger mech’s hands still on his face. “You know, Velocity told me I need to take it easy. So as nice as that was, we may need to take a break. But you can totally come lay on the berth with me if you want instead of staying on the floor.” He suggested.
Skids nodded quickly, rising to his pedes only to join the minibot on the berth as he lay down. “We can watch a movie then. One of those Earth ones you wanted to show me. Or maybe a TV show?” He suggested.
Swerve adjusted himself, pressing his frame against the warmth of the larger mech. “Yeah. Hand me that datapad. I have a show called Doctor Who I think you’d like.” He smiled, watching as Skids grabbed the pad and handed it over.
“So I guess if the kissing or this didn’t confirm it, we’re kind of a thing?” Skids asked, watching as Swerve booted up the datapad.
“Swerve and Skids, Skids and Swerve, we’ve been a thing since the moment we met.” The minibot smiled in return.