Work Text:
Perceptor was never sure how he should feel about Brainstorm. The mech was reckless, obnoxious, and narcissistic. According to recent events, however, he's not all that he originally had appeared to be. Worst of all, Brainstorm was a coward. He was a flier who couldn't even bring himself to kill a warlord, who destroyed their home, and the one that the flier had loved.
Perceptor also felt it rather important to remember that Brainstorm seemed loyal, beyond intelligent (in Brainstorm's words, "a genius"), and someone who had lost their way In the methods of madness that had consumed him.
Perceptor was never sure of how he should have addressed the mech, or how he should be acting when they are both in the same room. With how everything went down, things had been left...off. Brainstorm was supposed to be supervised, and Perceptor was supposed to be supervising.
Then things got messy. Perceptor had taken time out of his cycle to talk to Brainstorm. He had learned about Brainstorm's point of view, the life he had wanted and the life he could never possibly get. Part of that included Brainstorm's infatuation with Perceptor and how much the flier admired him.
Perceptor wanted to be able to admit the same back to Brainstorm, but it seemed that wasn't in the cards. Perceptor was always emotionally distant. He would rather leave that confrontation up to "fate", if there was such a thing, or never do it at all. The microscope was exhausted, and wanted a stable relationship, something that couldn't hurt him later on. He enjoyed Brainstorm's company, and wanted it to stay that way.
"-which is exactly why I had to put the firing pin in backwards." Brainstorm explained ecstatically. "The stupid thing wouldn't have worked anyways." His wings were gently worked downward until the tips of them grazed the workbench behind the flier.
Perceptor rolled his optics and snorted. "I suppose I'm glad that you have decided not to finish that project."
The teal mech flattened himself over the top of another workbench. "I just wish I had access to more of those supplies. They may be dangerous to an average mech, but to a genius like me..."
"If this is your way of trying to guilt trip me into signing off on providing you a variety of dangerous metals and chemicals, it won't work." Perceptor spun around in slow motion to capture the image of the flier laying over his workbench which was already littered with springs, random bolts and screws, and what look like a jar of acid.
"I'm not guilt tripping, think of it as an investment." Brainstorm stated, looking at Perceptor in full seriousness as he peeled himself off the sticky bench surface.
Perceptor smirked.
Brainstorm, in response, stopped talking, and with a stare of disbelief, asked, "Did my optics deceive me? Or did I just witness the first ever smile from such a cold-sparked mech?"
Starting to laugh, Perceptor composed himself once again before starting toward one of the chemical fridges. He was so caught up in conversation he had stopped paying attention to his own experiment.
"So, there's a new special at Swerve's tonight." Brainstorm inserted in the conversation. "I was hoping to go try it, but I heard it's gonna be really bland and was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"
Perceptor set down a tray of beakers.
"I mean, you are the kind of mech who likes really bland things, right?" He scoffed. "Besides, we can go over research papers in a more fun atmosphere."
Perceptor had thought about it for several minutes before accepting. Socializing in a crowded and loud bar sounds absolutely dreadful, but he decided to allow it. "I suppose so."
Brainstorm nodded once and then twice. Then his helm seemed to attach to his body on a spring because he couldn't stop nodding like a bobblehead. "Great! I will meet you there at 7." And with that, he danced out of the room like someone had called him out into the hall.
Perceptor chose to ignore the odd reaction of the flier. Brainstorm wasn't exactly graceful.
The whole idea of being in a tense situation with an extrovert flier who would probably try to get Perceptor to do anything except hide in the back of the bar with one or two drinks was not what he wanted. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to reject the opportunity.
Perceptor cared for the flier. He hoped that things could remain at this steady pace where not everything clicked painfully, but slid together enough for the two to get along.
The microscope relaxed his shoulders and returned to his workbench to return to his projects. Yet he couldn't keep himself from pondering over what should be expected from tonight.
Following the interaction, Perceptor filled the remainder of his cycle with work. He chose to ignore the lingering thoughts of how tonight would play out until he found himself walking toward the bar.
Brainstorm had been in a booth towards the far end of the bar, sipping on a colorful drink that Perceptor was convinced had more sucrose than engex.
Since the timecase incident, Brainstorm had been a little more open about taking his mask off. It exposed the rest of his face which tended to give away more of the fliers emotions, which were given away anyways considering Perceptor knew a small amount of wingspeak.
Brainstorm appeared content, his optics glued to a datapad that had a variety of math problems next to a news article.
He wasn't one to stare, but Perceptor would consider Brainstorm conventionally attractive. He had a nose that curved downwards and yellow optics that lit his whole face up. The passages into his mouth were quirked upward with amusement.
Perceptor settled himself into the booth awkwardly, pushing his shoulder up against the wall.
Brainstorms expression seemed like he was scrutinizing the datapad in front of him. His wings flicked back up in annoyance as he scrolled his optics up taking in another mech. When he realized who was sitting across from him, the annoyance dropped and he broke out a smile. "You made it."
"I figured it would be rude to not make an appearance."
"Oh, I just meant- ya know, nevermind." Brainstorm waved down a server and promptly ordered for Perceptor. Although the order he put in wasn't exactly what he usually preferred, it was close enough to Perceptor's usual that it didn't make much difference.
"You had said that you wanted to go over research papers?" The microscope inquired, trying to fill the void of nothing to do apart from staring at each other without loud bass music in the background.
Brainstorm held up a datapad. "I started going over it and editing already, but yes, I think this could have a lot of potential." He slid it over for Perceptor to graze over.
The chief scientist stared down at the research paper that had been written by the other. It was clearly a work in progress with Brainstorm's messy handwriting in the margins and notes scribbled on other tabs. Altogether what Percpetor managed to get out of the paper was a new project revolving around a type a fuel for ships that could also power certain weapon types. A fuel that burned faster and stronger.
Trying to compose himself and not make Brainstorm embarrassed by his reaction, he gently slid it back. "It needs...work."
"But?"
Perceptor stared back at the unmasked mech who was now sipping his drink obnoxiously. "I think that you are reaching a bit far with the chemical formula. Its rather unstable."
Brainstorm snorted and the server walked past, setting Perceptor's drink down.
Perceptor took it in one hand and took a large gulped of it. It burned in the back of his throat, but unfortunately he had built up a tolerance to heavy drinks such as this. His drinking habits were foolhardy, but they sometimes aided his thoughts in their spiraling. They prevented the cold feelings that crept their way back to his spark every few cycles.
Brainstorm nodded. "Thats why I think if you helped me, I mean, not that I need it, but you could test it alongside me." He paused, his optics shifting between parts of Perceptor's face, as if he was trying to determine the microscopes thoughts. "Ya know, 'supervise'." He made quotes in the air and grinned bright, looking down at Perceptor's frown.
Perceptor considered the idea. "We will see."
Brainstorm took another sip at his colorful concoction of a drink. He looked to have run out of ideas on things to discuss now that his plans have been thwarted.
Perceptor smiled. "I appreciate that you value my opinion on subjects and matters including your work."
Brainstorms wings raised in clear excitement. "Yeah?"
Perceptor nodded and took another drink. The quickest way to Brainstorms spark was through compliments. Because, as much as the flier boasts, Perceptor noticed that he seemed to have a very low self esteem. In his actions, he put purpose behind every move, he always looked at Perceptor for his input (indirectly) and he constantly sought validation. It was...depressing.
Perceptor had always admired Braindtorms work and the effort put behind things. The excitement Brainstorm always carried when it came to projects he was enthusiastic about. Perceptor never imagined thinking these things about Brainstorm of all mechs until the timecase incident. That was when Brainstorm was called to his attention and that was when Perceptor realized how much Brainstorm was under appreciated. The flier was clearly trying to make everything better in this universe. He just went about it completely wrong.
Perceptor opened his mouth and the closed it. His thoughts were called to attention regarding Brainstorm knowing more about Perceptor than he realized.
The flier looked at him in curiosity. "What?"
Perceptor smirked before staring back at him. He quickly came up with something else to hide his thoughts fromvthe flier. "How did you know my drink order?"
Brainstorm shuffled his feet in nervousness. "Well, i mean, considering how bland that is, I figured it would match you."
"Oh and I suppose this 'bland' drink wouldn't be too much to handle?" Psrceptor thought about Brainstorm's sugary drink.
"My my, what is that supposed to suggest, Perce? Are you suggesting I couldn't handle your drink order?"
Perceptor scoffed. "Considering you need to fill yourself with such a sugary and overpowered sucrose-filled glass, I'd say this might be a bit too strong for you."
Brainstorm blinked. "Psh, I could handle anything you throw at me."
Passing the glass over with the smallest amount left over, Perceptor gave a look of encouragement.
Brainstorm held the glass up, smiled as if he was the star of a TV show, and drank the remainder.
His face contorted in several ways, looking like he had tasted the most sour thing on all of Cybertron. He then set the glass down, and stared back up at Perceptor in defeat. "Alright, Ill admit that was....a bit too much on my taste receptors."
Perceptor smiled.
The two talked for what seemed like cycles. A mere few hours had passed before the two were definitely feeling a buzz and both were leaned over the booth laughing, joking, and feeling content with one another.
Brainstorm then came up with the great idea of going back to their shared laboratory to discuss the upcoming fuel project and to begin calculations.
After all, what could go wrong with two drunk scientists going to their lab to do math?
They both wandered back over to Brainstorm's workstation, which was filthy, but Perceptor chose to ignore that.
It started out with the two mechs dumping math equations and possibilities for the experiment into the whiteboard. Following their minds being emptied of the information for the experiment, Brainstorm started his usual boasting on how he would be able to finish this perfectly. He started giving Perceptor ideas of what he would need the microscope for before slinking around the lab and collecting items.
Perceptor gathered himself before walking over to his own desk and opening one of the drawers to take out a bottle of engex he'd kept for random celebratory moments such as this. He carefully poured equal amounts into two glasses and handed one over to Brainstorm.
The jet swirled the liquid in his cup, his face turning pink. His mask was hooked on his chestplate, making sure he wouldn't forget the thing anywhere.
Perceptor took a sip from his glass and smiled warmly.
"Whats the occassion?" Brainstorm asked, his wings up high in a way that Perceptor didnt recognize. Confidence perhaps?
The microscope looked up from his glass. "No occassion. Just a lovely moment to share with my colleague."
Smiling, Brainstorm seemed to dwell on those words. "I have to tell you..."
Perceptor looked up, his optics locked on the jet. This was the sort of thing that made him nervous. It sounded like Brainstorm would confess something dreadful. Perceptor was not in tune with his own emotions, but he is better equipped to see what others are feeling and thinking.
Brainstorm's expression was between nervousness, fake confidence, and hesitation.
Perceptor always knew that the jet had admired him. He knew that Brainstorm had liked him for a while now and just kept stalling to get the words out. Perceptor wasnt sure what he would say when that moment comes. Except he would have to figure it out quickly because it seemed that moment may be now.
Brainstorm was frozen in place for what seemed like hours. His wings twitching and his face contorting between emotions.
Psrceptor broke out of the trance. "Brainstorm. If this is...I-I would like to be just friends."
He wasn't sure why he said that. He liked Brainstorm. They got along well, he could even admit to something along the lines of thinking that Brainstorm was attractive. But something in him ran cold and he couldn't do that. He couldn't be with the jet. Not in the way that Braindtorm clearly wanted.
Brainstorm looked at him with disappointment. His optics turning things over in that amazing processor of his. "I understand."
Perceptor's intake was shaky and he felt utterly wrong for saying that.
The air was cold and tense. It could shatter if either of them spoke too quickly. Both mechs just stared back and forth. For a long time. It went on forever, staring into the others optics, frowning.
Brainstorm started moving. A gentle walk towards the door. His optics dim. As he approached the door, his mouth opened to speak and he stopped. His helm turned and he moved closer to Perceptor. Calmly, yet quickly. "Can I do something first?"
Perceptor was frozen as the other mech lifted a hand, placing it under the snipers chin and lifting his face to match Brainstorms before carefully sliding their lips together.
The kiss was long lasting. Both scientists captured in a slow, gentle kiss. One that was obviously fighting between being more than friends.
Perceptor didnt pull away, but Brainstorm did.
The jet backed away with a soft smiled and wandered toward the door. He wasn't speeding away, but it was too fast for Perceptor's liking. He didnt know what to do. This was not how he wanted things to end, how he wanted to freeze things. He wanted to just go back to his hab and grieve the loss of his colleague and friend because he screwed himself with his response.
Perceptor opened his mouth as Brainstorm crossed the room and opened the door. "W-wait!"
The room fell silent once again. Brainstorm turned. His optics had a glimmer of something like hope. The jet wanted Perceptor to recall, he wanted Perceptor to change his mind. And something in Perceptor wanted that too.
Perceptor's fuel tank churned. He carefully reached out his servo and crossed the lab floor within seconds, getting to Brainstorms side.
His mind clicked in place and his mouth opened as he spat the words that embodied how he really felt:
"Fuck just being friends."