Work Text:
Lately, Hound had been rather…preoccupied with a new human game he’d discovered.
It wasn’t too unusual a thing to happen. Hound was fascinated by Earth and humans. He was often found studying wildlife or talking to Spike about sports and games and other human hobbies. However, he typically wanted to tell Mirage and Cliffjumper all about them and asked them to join in.
This time, though, it was a single player game that had him captivated.
“They’re called word searches! Spike got me a whole book. They’re real relaxing.”
A week later, Hound had burned through nearly a dozen books of the word games. He’d sit under a tree, or somewhere quiet in the Ark, with his little book and the little banana-scented highlighter Spike had given him, carefully marking each word and smiling to himself. It’s cute, really. He looked adorable. Happy.
Mirage and Cliffjumper loved that. They really did! However, they also love their partner, and currently, the word searches were holding him hostage and preventing him from coming to berth with them.
“Hound, darling, can’t it wait until tomorrow?” Mirage asked, sitting beside Hound on the couch.
“I just have a few more to find. I hate leaving them unfinished…” Hound said, marking off another word on the page.
Cliffjumper climbed onto the back of the couch and rested his chin on Hound’s shoulder. “What’s this one about?”
“Types of flowers. I’m just missing three now: bluebonnet, amaryllis, and sunflower.”
Mirage chuckled. “How interesting. Our flowers.”
“Oh, they are, aren’t they?” Hound’s facial lights flickered. “I suppose I did want to save them for last.”
Mirage rested his helm against Hound. Hound’s so sweet. Right now, though, all that sweetness was doing was making him want to get to the berth more, to have Hound’s attention on him and Cliffjumper. He wanted to cuddle.
“Why don’t we help ya, Hound?” Cliffjumper asked.
Hound blinked. “Oh…well, if you want. You know, I can get you some books, too!”
“Nah, I just wanna help with this one. I prefer watchin’ ya. But I found bluebonnet.”
Cliffjumper hopped down from his spot so he could grab Hound’s servo and guide it to the word on the page. He moved with Hound as he highlighted it, smirking when they finished.
“I got an idea. Whoever’s flower gets highlighted gets a kiss from the other two.” Cliffjumper said.
“I quite like that idea.” Mirage said, looking up at Hound. “That means I get a kiss, yes?”
Hound’s facial lights burned a brighter pink as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Mirage’s lip components. Cliffjumper motioned for Mirage to come closer before grabbing each side of his face and pulling him in.
MWAH
Mirage made a face, but Hound giggled. Cliffjumper could be so silly.
“Well, I’ve found amaryllis.” Mirage said, pointing to the page. “Highlight it, please, my darling?”
Hound nodded. He did as asked before leaning over and kissing Cliffjumper. The shorter mech grinned as Mirage leaned over to do the same.
“I guess that was a good find, but I found…” Cliffjumper said.
“Sunflower.” Mirage said, sticking his glossa out at Cliffjumper.
“Oh, you found it at the same time! I guess we’re all done now, so we can head to…” Hound tried to say.
“No, no, sunflower~ Accept your kisses.”
Cliffjumper nodded. “Yeah, that’s the rules.”
Hound’s faceplate warmed as Mirage kissed one cheek and Cliffjumper the other. His partners could be so creative just to get a little affection. He began to close his book, but Mirage stopped him.
“Why don’t we do one more? Whoever finds the word gets the kisses?” He asked.
“Sounds good to me. But we’re playin’ with a professional, so we gotta really get it in gear.” Cliffjumper joked, butting his helm against Hound.
Hound smiled. He hadn’t thought of playing a word search with his partners before; Spike had said usually it was just for one person. But he turned the page to a new puzzle.
COLORS
His optics immediately landed on the word blue. Then red. His servo moved to highlight them.
“Ah, ah, ah. I found green first.” Mirage said.
Hound giggled as Mirage and Cliffjumper kissed his cheeks again. He supposed that sometimes this game was best played with special partners.