Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been early in the cycle when Jazz and Ricochet made themselves known to the world. Jazz flickered on his visor for the first time, taking in the new sights around him before landing on his red doppelganger. Ricochet was also looking around curiously as they both laid in their carrier’s arms. Jazz reached over to touch the other bitlet, curious about his twin before two other forms entered the room.

Jazz beeped curiously at the two, taking in the blues and purples of the mechas armor. They both looked similar in frame type with the only difference being colors. Jazz was about to beep at them again before his carrier’s voice spoke up. “Melody, Lyric, come say hi to your new siblings.”

The purple and black mech with the blue visor was the first to get closer. “They’re so tiny.” The voice spoke. Jazz was about to be offended by that before exhaustion swept over him as he let out a small yawn. He just noted the blue and grey mech with the purple visor step closer before sleepiness overtook him.

—

Melody stared at the small sleeping bitlets before looking at his carrier curiously. “What are their designations? Did they tell you?” He tilted his helm a small bit.

Their carrier let out a soft laugh before nodding. “The silver one is Jazz and the red one is Ricochet. Mels, could you be a dear and put them in their cradle? I need to get some rest and while they are asleep is the perfect time.”

Melody nodded as Lyric got up to move to the door. Melody gently took his baby brothers into his arms as he carried them over to the cradle. He laid them both down gently before turning to leave with his twin. “Have a good rest Ri.” He called back, only receiving a servo wave in return as the older twins slipped away.

—

“Alright, I’m off to work. Mels, you take care of the bitlets. Ly, you're in charge. I’ll see you when I get back.” Their carrier said before leaving the house. Melody made a small face before looking over at Lyric.

“Why am I babysitting even though you're in charge?” Melody huffed a bit as he moved to pick up the younger twins. “Shouldn’t it be the one in charge who is watching the bitlets?”

“I got auditions later. Ri probably wanted to be sure I am free to go to those. Besides, I am the oldest.” Lyric grinned a small bit. “So you have to listen to me~”

Melody rolled his optics. “You're also the dumbest. Isn’t that right, bitties?” Melody looked at the sparklings in his arms before he noticed something odd. He looked closer over the two before looking at Lyric. “There’s a problem. Doorwings.”

Lyric paused at that before moving over to his spark twin to look at what he was seeing. They were still small enough to miss but sure enough, Jazz had tiny doorwings on his back. Melody and Lyric shared a look between each other before Melody passed the twins to Lyric. “Hold them for a moment. I think I have some spare fabric from one of my old recital outfits.” He rushed off to his room.

Lyric held the two bitties closely before looking down at the shared confused looks. “It’s alright. We just need to be careful with the special gift you got Jazzy. You’re alright.” He smiled reassuringly as them before Melody reappeared with something that looked like a small jacket. Melody took Jazz before slipping it onto the bitlet.

He handed a similar one to Lyric to wrestle Rico into. “Just so we don't get questions about one of them wearing something and not the other.” He hummed a bit before setting Jazz in the playpen.

“Brilliant as ever my dearest twin.” Lyric grinned, laughing at the look Melody gave him.

“Leave it for your drama friends.” Melody huffed before moving to sit down at the coffee table, keeping the twins in sight. “Let's just get some of our homework done before you have to leave.”

Lyric let out a groan as he sat down, leaning against his twin. “I don't wanna..”

—

Jazz watched the older duo through the bars of the cage him and Rico were trapped in. The cloth that he was put in was odd and he wanted it off but first he wanted to escape. He attempted to climb the bars but the magnets wouldn’t attach to the material. He pouted a bit before looking around the enclosure.

He spotted some metal blocks as he crawled his way over to them, beeping at Rico to come help him. Together the duo stacked the blocks, watching to be sure the bigger twins were still busy. Jazz attempted to climb the first tower that they built but it crumbled beneath him as soon as he put weight onto it.

They tried to make it wider but that also didn't help. Jazz was about to give up on freedom before he felt himself being lifted into the air by the blue mech. He squirmed in the hold before latching onto his older brother. He looked around to see what was going on when he spotted the purple mech leaving. He looked up at the blue mech before beeping at him in confusion. “Lyric has plans so its just us until Ri gets home.” The voice of the mech spoke. “We’ll make our own fun until then. Big brother Melody’s got ya.”

Chapter Text

Jazz had managed to climb halfway up the wall when the front door burst open. Melody ran past their playpen, looking upset as he locked himself in his and Lyric’s room. “Melody don’t slam doors.” Their Ri called out before looking at Lyric.

“Is he alright?” Jazz heard them say before Lyric shrugged. Jazz turned to continue climbing the wall to escape his enclosure before he was grabbed by Lyric.

“His crush rejected him.” Lyric answered as he held the chaotic little bitlet. “I didn’t pry much into it.” He messed with Jazz’s shawl for a moment before turning to their Ri. “I’m not his keeper. I’m not going to keep constant tabs on him for you.”

Their Ri sighed before moving to the door. “Alright. I’m going to head out for my shift so it’ll just be you 4 for the night again. Let Melody know that he needs to watch the twins when you head to practice.” They opened the door before looking at them. “Stay out of trouble. Last thing I need is enforcers contacting me about leaving younglings alone with 2 bitlets.”

“Whatever you say.” Lyric rolled his optics before moving to the couch with Jazz. He didn’t think much of it when his Ri left. He let out a rough sigh as the door clicked shut before looking at the bitlet. “Stop trying to escape. You’re giving Ricochet ideas.”

Jazz beeped at his oldest brother as he tried to wiggle from his grasp. The small mech wanted to explore and all this talking was keeping him from it. Lyric sighed a small bit.

—

“Jazz, stop trying to bite your twin. You know Rico hates that.” Melody huffed as he separated the two. He had been left to watch over them again. Normally, he'd be alright with it but he wanted to do anything other than watch two bitlets.

Jazz beeped at him, pulling him out of his thoughts for a moment to notice the bitlet trying to climb his arm. Melody picked up both him and Ricochet before heading to his and Lyric’s room. “We’ll go hangout here. Maybe I can get some schoolwork done.”

Melody set them down on his berth before looking around the room. He thought of an idea as he grabbed some paint stuff and set it up at the small table. He grabbed the two baby twins before setting them down. He grabbed his homework stuff to work. “Alright, you two have fun and then when I’m done we can do something else.”

The bitlets blinked at him before getting into the paint. Satisfied that Melody had successfully kept them busy, he started on his school work, glancing up to make sure they weren’t getting carried away. By the time he was finished with his work, Jazz had managed to cover himself and the table in paint and Rico was nearing there as well. Melody rolled his optics under his visor before putting his stuff away. He picked up the two bitlets before heading to the washroom.

“Let's get you cleaned up.” He filled the tub with solvent, adding some bubble bath, before he set the bitlets in there. He laughed a bit as Jazz started splashing about. “Chaotic little gremlin.” He said as he started to clean the paint off of them. He hummed softly as he worked, making sure to get everywhere before calling it good and letting them play around for a moment.

He watched them with a small sigh before his comm went off. He answered it as he sat on the edge of the tub. ::Melody speaking::

::Mels, I’m going to be a bit later than usual. Some things come up at work. Lyric is going to be staying at a friend's place so expect you to keep an eye on the little ones. Be good. Ri loves you.::

Melody couldn’t even respond before the comm disconnected as he stared at the ground. He was knocked out of his thoughts at the two bitties splashing him. He laughed a bit at that before picking them up. “Alright, enough bathtime for both of ya.” He wrapped a towel around them before walking into the living room. “Just us again for tonight.”

—

“Melody, can you go check on Jazz and Ricochet? Ri is dealing with a migraine.” The soft tones of their Ri said as they walked past them to their room.

“Why can’t Lyric do it? He’s closer.” Melody huffed, already a bit tired from the last time he was told to check on them, which was yesterday.

“Because I told you to do it. Do not argue with me.” Ri snapped a bit before slipping into their room. Melody let out a sigh before moving to stand up. A servo on his shoulder stopped him before Lyric walked past and went into the room to collect the younger twins. He brought them into the living room before putting them in their playpen.

“There, now we can both keep our optics on them and get our work done.” Lyric smiled a bit as he sat back down. Melody sent him a grateful smile and feelings of gratitude over their shared spark connection.

“I can always count on you to help.”

“I’ll always be there for you, Mels.”

Chapter Text

“Jazz! Get back here!” Melody called out from behind him as Jazz ran down the beach with a grin. The older twins had decided to take the younger two to the beach for the first time in their existence, outside of the winding caves of Polyhex. Jazz looked at the waves of the mithril sea bashing against the shore of Polyhex. He couldn't wait to jump in, but before he could, two arms lifted him up into Melody’s hold.

Jazz shrank a small bit under his older brother's gaze. “But Mels…”

“Don’t you ‘but Mels’ me. You don’t know how to swim yet. At least let us set up before you go having a death wish.” Melody huffed a bit. “It should be Ri out here teaching ya but they’ve gotta rest for their shift today. Their work is very important for us to keep having energon and a house.”

Jazz nodded a bit at that as he pouted. “I know Mels…” He slumped in Melody’s hold before perking back up again at a thought. “Can I spread out the blanket?” He looked up pleadingly.

Melody looked at him before sighing a bit. “Alright, but, try not to get glass on it. I’d rather not be picking it out of my seams for the next vorn.” Melody set him down before handing him the blanket. Jazz immediately moved to spread the blanket out the best he could with his little servos. He moved around the blanket to straighten it out. Jazz could feel Melody watching him as he made sure the blanket was perfect before securing the edges with the rocks he brought with him.

Melody patted his helm as Lyric set up the umbrella before the older blue mech spoke. “I have a small surprise for us.” He pulled out two folding chairs and a few toys to play in the glass with a small smile.

Lyric only glanced at them for a moment before narrowing his gaze at Melody. “Did you steal them?”

Jazz could see the annoyance on Melody’s face. “No, my last dance recital brought in a bit more shainx than usual. I just wanted to do something nice but if you want to be ungrateful.” Melody crossed his arms, glaring back at his twin. Jazz could tell by the look on Lyric’s face that he was checking if Melody was being honest through their shared bond.

There was silence for a moment before Ricochet picked up a bucket and shovel before asking, “Can we go play until it's time for swimming?” That seemed to have broken the tension between the splitspark twins as Melody just slumped a small bit. Lyric looked over at the two of them before sighing.

“Yeah, go play.” He waved them off before starting to set up the chairs. Jazz grabbed the remaining toys to follow after his own twin, glancing back at the older two with small bit of concern. He could see Lyric saying something and reaching out a servo to Melody before Melody smacked it away and stood up to walk a bit down the beach. Away from them and Lyric.

“Ignore them.” Rico said as he sat down to start shoveling the glass grains into the bucket. “We are just kids. We can’t stop them from fighting.”

Jazz sighed before turning to help Rico. “I just wish they didn’t do it as much. They used to be so happy in pictures…” He started filling up the smaller molds with glass as he pouted. He just wanted to know what changed all of that but he knew that it wasn’t something he was going to get told.

They worked on the glass castle before a bigger form settled next to them. Looking up showed that it was Melody, looking over their work with a blank expression. Jazz waited to hear an insult or compliment before instead hearing Mels say, “Hurry up so we can get your swimming lesson in before the first moon rises. The waves will be too rough to deal with by them and I don’t want to have to explain to Ri that one of you got swept off into the mithril sea.”

Jazz and Ricochet nodded as they added the finishing touches on their glass castle. Jazz looked at Melody for some form of praise before feeling disappointed when the mech just stood and dusted himself off. “Come on.” Melody said, walking to the waters. “Lyric, are you going to help out?”

Lyric looked up from his chair before shaking his helm. “Spark’s on the fritz. I’ll join once it's stable again.” Melody let out a rough sigh, mumbling about how he has to do everything. Jazz bit his lip a small bit before forcing himself to say something, anything.

“We don’t have to go swimming if it's too much for you.” Jazz spoke softly, trying not to anger the older twin. His efforts were in vain as Melody looked at him with a glare on his visor.

“What? Do you think I’m incompetent as well? That I'm just going to fail at something as stupidly simple as getting you younglings to swim?” Melody growled as Jazz flinched away from him. Melody was in a scary mood again.

“I’m sorry…” Jazz said as he looked down. He was genuinely trying to fix the situation but it felt fruitless now. He followed after the bigger mech as Ricochet grabbed a hold of his servo. They may not have been split sparks but Rico always knew how to comfort Jazz.

Despite Melody’s bad attitude at the beginning, the swimming lessons seem to have calmed him down. He didn’t apologize for snapping at them, he never did. Mels liked to ignore those moments even happening a majority of the time. And Jazz wasn’t going to set him off again by bringing it up.

Melody pulled them out the moment the waves started to be too much for their little frames before heading back to Lyric. Everything looked fine for a moment before Melody rushed forward and contacted the emergency line. Lyric had been having one of his strokes. And the scariest part, none of them have any idea how long it had been going on for.

As soon as the ambulance came to collect Lyric, Melody swooped the younger twins into his arms after packing everything up. He quickly ran back home with them as he commed Ri to inform him of the situation. Jazz could feel Melody tense by the conversation, trying to argue with Ri only to back down after a bit. “Ri is going to Lyric to make sure he’s alright. We are going to stay home and wait.”

Jazz hated the idea of waiting, wanting to know if his eldest brother would be fine. One look at Melody’s face showed him that he felt the same if not worse so Jazz had an Idea. “Let’s make a big fort and watch movies until they come home.”

Melody sighed a bit before nodding. “Yeah, let's do that.”

Chapter Text

Jazz let out a groan as the lights in the room flicked on. He buried his helm into Rico’s plating as he ignored the voices on the other side of the room. He tried to get back into recharge when he felt something collide with his helm. He sat up to see it was a jar of cheap polish. He looked up only to meet the glare of Melody. “It's time to get up. You have your first day of school today and I’m not going to wait around for the both of you to get ready.”

Jazz let out a huff before poking Rico awake. “I don’t want school. You and Lyly always complain about it, Mels.”

“It's mandatory. Has been since Praxus and Iacon decided we needed it and our ways were too ‘uncivilized’ for them.” Melody sighed before taking the jar from Jazz. “Hurry up if you want me to do your polish. I’m not going to if I'm making breakfast at the same time so this is your only chance.” Melody then left the room as Jazz got off the berth.

“Why does Lyric get to sleep in?” Rico pouted, drawing attention to the sleeping lump of their eldest brother on his berth.

“He has a doctor’s appointment today. Don’t bother him.” Melody called out of the washroom. Jazz looked at Rico before shrugging as he pulled his twin to the room Melody was in. Melody pulled out a stool before gesturing to Rico to sit. “Ricochet first. He’s less likely to move so much.”

Jazz sat cross legged on the floor as he watched. “No painting today?”

“Your school doesn’t allow it so no. Just a simple polish. I’ll do it this weekend when me and Lyric go get our tattoos done.” Melody said as he focused on Rico’s polish. “I don’t want you two to have any trouble with the teachers because they refuse to understand our culture. Last thing we need is Ri being grumpy because they had to go pick you up instead of resting for work.”

“Why would we get kicked out?” Jazz tilted his helm in confusion trying to think of anything he has done that would lead to that.

“Don’t worry about it. Just… promise me that you’ll listen to the teacher?” Melody let Ricochet off the stool before tapping it for Jazz.

“Why would I-”

“Promise me.” Melody growled a small bit as he looked at Jazz straight on. The look on his faceplate was dead serious. Jazz shrunk a small bit at the look before nodding his helm.

“I promise Mels…”
Melody leaned back with a sigh as he focused on polishing Jazz’s frame. “I can’t be there to protect you. Either of you. And Lyric has his own things to focus on. I don’t want to fight with Ri today…”

Jazz and Rico looked at their older brother with sadness before hugging him as Jazz spoke. “We’ll be good. So Ri doesn’t yell.”

Melody hugged them both before standing up. “Let's go get you some breakfast so you aren’t hungry at school. We already signed the forms to get you lunch but I need to be sure you're both fed.” Melody led them out of the room and to the kitchen before setting them on chairs.

Jazz was about to say something when Melody held a digit up to his lips to silence him. On the couch in the living room was their Ri sleeping after a long shift. Jazz nodded at the gesture before watching Melody make them breakfast.

—

Jazz looked up at the building as Melody walked him and Ricochet towards it. It looked as intimidating as he'd imagined from Mels and Ly’s stories of the place. Melody stopped at the doors before kneeling in front of them. “Remember your promise to be good. I’ll be here to get you after it is over, okay?”

Jazz and Rico both nodded as they gave Melody a hug. Melody squeezed them close before ushering them inside. He waved goodbye before walking away, back to the main road. Jazz watched until his older brother was out of sight before turning to look at the inside of the building. He grabbed Rico’s servo before walking into the group of younglings waiting around.

There were so many different mechas around and Jazz was curious about most of them. Jazz stuck to his twin though, knowing how Rico is with strangers. He was going to need Jazz to help make friends. Jazz was positive about that. Before they could get anywhere, some adults came into the room and started putting them into groups. Luckily for them, Jazz and Rico were put in the same group.

They followed the adult before entering the classroom they would be in. The teacher dismissed them to play around the room to get used to the environment. Rico squeezed Jazz’s servo before letting go. “Let’s explore on our own and we can talk about it later.”

Jazz pouted a bit at this before nodding. “Alright. But be good. Don’t want Mels to be upset with us.” Rico nodded at that before walking off to go look around the classroom. Jazz stood there for a moment before spotting some musical instruments in the corner. He walked over to them to investigate.

There was already a mech over there playing with them so Jazz decided it would be alright to try to make friends while he was here. “Hello, I’m Jazz.” He introduced himself to the red and yellow mechling.

The mechling looked up at him before grinning. “I’m Blaster! You like music too?”

“My family is all about music.” Jazz grinned as he sat down. “My big brother Lyric is an actor in his school's musicals and my other brother Melody is a dancer. They are amazing.”

“That’s so cool!” Blaster said. “I’m the more musically invested one in my family. But they are all nice. Sa can change into a boombox!”

Jazz tilted his helm at that word, a bit confused. “What’s a Sa?”

Blaster gave him what Jazz could describe as a puzzled look. “A Sa is a Sire. Everyone has one.”

“I never had a Sire. It’s just been me, my sibs, and Ri. Ri says our sire passed away before me and Rico were created.” Jazz looked down at his lap.

“I’m sorry..” Blaster said before hugging him. “It’s alright to not have a Sa. You’re still pretty cool in my optics.”

Jazz smiled a small bit at that. “Friends?”

“Friends!”