Chapter Text
Optimus was starting to believe there was nothing out there that could impress him anymore. With his age and history, he’d seen more than his fair share of the beautiful, horrific, and absurd. And even though Earth was new to him, it wasn’t anything to write home about. He’d seen countless planets like it before. The only thing making this one notable was the fact he was stuck here. Optimus had spent years trying to get his team home with little progress, and it was exhausting. So when you showed up offering help, he was cautiously hopeful things might improve.
You were a communications specialist who’d lost their team to terrorcons. After you managed to escape, you caught wind of Optimus’ message to the Autobots and answered the call. You were a welcome addition to the team, taking on some of Arcee’s responsibilities to lessen the pressure on her.
Although you were young, you were an expert, and your commitment to doing your work well was something Optimus admired. It wasn’t the only thing he admired about you though. The more time he spent around you, the more Optimus found his attention drifting in your direction. Of course he didn’t mean for it to happen, but something about your self assured attitude and infectious joy struck the Prime. Your youthful vigor lit a flame in him, motivating him to carry on, and your consistent optimism cut through his frequent doubts and despair.
You were everything he felt he was not, and he knew that. Optimus just couldn’t admit to himself what his true feelings were. He felt wrong thinking about you in that light since you were his subordinate, and so much younger than he was. But you were already so good to him, part of him wondered if maybe you felt it too.
He was always shocked when you’d take time he knew you couldn’t really afford just to be around him. It’s like you could sense when he was at his worst no matter how hard he tried to hide it, and you made sure you were there even if it was just to sit together in silence. Optimus didn’t make jokes often, but you always laughed when he did. He knew you didn’t think they were all funny, because they weren’t, but he appreciated the effort taken to encourage him.
It wasn’t long before he was making terrible jokes more often just to make you laugh. Then he began easing up around humans after seeing how naturally you got along with them due to your curious nature. The final straw was when he laughed at something Mirage said. Optimus didn’t even remember what it was because he got too caught up in the realization of what he’d done.
The Prime had grown since you’d been around. You led him to change for the better, and you hadn’t even tried. He couldn’t silently admire you anymore. It felt impossible to resist when you were the first thing in a long time to impress him. Forget the age gap, forget his insecurities, he’d manage rejection if need be. He just had to let you know how much he admired you, no matter the outcome.