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Shadowstriker glanced toward the wall as she sipped her engex. When she had asked the medic on a date she hadn’t expected it to be this awkward. Setting the engex down she stared into the liquid tracing the rim of the glass before looking back up at the bot across from her.
“Sooo how was your shift today?” She asked, staring at her own reflection in the glass of their visor, why they had opted to keep that thing down on a first date was beyond her.
“I spent most of it getting stared at by some rando with glitching joints.” Soundmaker replied curtly, “It could’ve been worse though, they were pretty decent looking at least.”
Shadowstriker huffed out a half laugh in response, the compliment in the statement flying straight over her helm. In fairness it was true, she’d spent most of her day getting work done on her joints by the medic. They’d been on the fritz all week, sparks constantly dancing along her wiring and her struts grating at awkward angles sending jolts of pain across her neural net. It wasn’t her fault, if she could go back to how her frame used to be she would but she can’t so she’s stuck spending her days getting repaired by the one medic who she hadn’t pissed off to the point where they refused to deal with her.
“Yeah, me too.” She finally muttered in response leaning back against her seat.
A stilted silence settled over the booth only broken up by the chatter from the other patrons of the bar and the occasional scuff or squeak as one of them shifted on their respective side of the booth. Every once in a while Shadowstriker would open her intake as if to say something but would lose her nerve and shut it again glancing elsewhere. In the end it was Soundmaker who finally decided to break the silence.
“Has your shoulder been treating you well so far?”
“I- yeah I guess so.” She stumbled awkwardly over the sentence not having expected the question. “Does that matter right now? We're on a date not in the medbay.”
This time it was their turn to glance away, their servo coming up to rub the plating covering the tire in their shoulder. “I don’t know, it’s not like you have anything better to talk about. You seem pretty content to look around and nurse your drink.” She said accusingly gesturing toward the glass resting on the table.
“Well it’s not my fault you decided not to drink anything, I asked you out to a bar for primus’s sake.” She shot back.
“You know very well why I don’t drink. Shouldn't've asked me out to a fragging bar.” Soundmaker spat the words out like they were hot coals burning their glossa.
Shadowstriker dragged a servo down her faceplate glancing up at the ceiling. Of course Soundmaker was right, she knew they avoided drinking under the paranoia that they’d have to share their own energon with someone who can’t be given engex to any degree again, a fact that she was certain only she was privy to, but primus did it bug her. She’d been certain that she’d be able to get them to let loose a little but it was wishful thinking at best it seems.
“Yes I know,” She muttered, leaving her servo resting over the lower half of her faceplate but finally looked back at them, or at least at the glass covering most of their own faceplate. “You’re under the care of the Decepticon army now though, you don’t have to worry about that anymore, it won't happen again.”
Leaning closer to the table she extended one of her servos across the table toward them palm up in invitation. They seemed to study it for a moment before accepting the invitation and placing their own three fingered servo into hers.
“I understand that.” Soundmaker said firmly leaning forward against the table as well. “It’s just really hard to believe it.”
Shadowstriker nodded, squeezing their servo slightly in a reassuring gesture. It was no secret that war had treated neither of them kindly thus far but if she had any say in how they dealt with it then she was hoping at the very least she could make it just that little bit easier for both of them.
“Do you want to go racing? Y’know on our way back to base that is.” She asked a playful lilt working its way into her voice in an attempt to lighten the mood once more.
Soundmaker blinked dumbly at her raising an optical ridge, not like Shadowstriker could see that though, before finally replying. “You are aware we’re in the middle of a war right?”
“Well yeah I know that but are you really going to let that stop you?”
“I don’t know…” Soundmaker said, tapping her chin in mock thought. “Do I get to use my secondary alt mode?” She asked, returning the playful tone challengingly.
“Hell, that'll make beating you so much more satisfying.” She said, leaning back and puffing her chest out in a cocky, boastful gesture.
“I guess I’ll just have to beat you then, won't I?”
They stood up from the table placing their servos on either side of their hips looking down at her expectantly. She grinned up at them before knocking back the rest of her drink and swiftly joining them as they began to move toward the exit. She held the door for them with a cheeky expression on her faceplate and she purposefully bumped her shoulder against theirs as she stepped out after them.
As they walked they exchanged playful banter and the occasional ramble about work or coworkers who were pissing them off. Eventually they made their way far enough away from the crowded bar area that they reached a relatively empty road. Shadowstriker looked up and down the length of the road checking for other bots before turning back toward Soundmaker. Her t-cog whirred to life, her transformation sequence engaging, her plating shifted and adjusted into the shape of her alt mode. Components clicked into place and wiring rerouted allowing for the power the alt mode required as energon lines shifted to their proper alignment.
It was a sensation she’d never get tired of nor does she think she’ll ever fully understand but it made her feel just that little bit better about her mismatched frame even if her silhouette was broken up by awkward parts jutting out where they should never have been in the first place. She shifted her tires on the road, her navigations and specialized sensory systems kicking online as her engine rumbled.
“Well?” She asked her speakers crackling online her tone sounding distinctly as if she were smirking. “Don’t wuss out.”
Soundmaker grinned at the goading, engaging her own transformation sequence shifting into her boxier almost showoffish alt mode. How a bot with such a nice alt mode ended up as a medic was something that baffled Shadowstriker, especially when that bot had a secondary alt mode to boot. Primus works in mysterious ways it seems.
The only response she got now was Soundmakers engine rumbling and revving challengingly the bumper of their alt mode lowering to the ground. Breaking the anticipation Shadowstriker shot off in front of them, her engine roaring as she kicked up dust behind her. She had the speed advantage amongst the two, at least on the ground, she’d never really seen Soundmaker hit top speeds in the air with their secondary alt mode, and she was planning on leaving only tire tracks for them to follow.
Darting into a tunnel she heard the gravely echo of their own engine and tires tearing across the ground as they entered the tunnel after her. A jolt of adrenaline flooded her systems and she pushed her engine even harder, her speed kicking up till she zoomed out of the other end of the tunnel. Zipping around a few buildings she thought she was in the clear for a moment until she heard the distinctive buzzing hum of their flight thrusters engaging as they dashed in front of her midair.
Swiveling around they stared straight at her windshield, their tall thorn shaped crest glinting in the light as they hovered in the air. She would bet all her shanix on the fact that they were one hundred percent flashing her the cockiest grin to ever exist in their mind right now, she could just feel it. A few trilling clicks emanated from the crest magnified by its hollow nature, almost like a taunt, oh she was going to gloat so hard when she beat them.
Kicking her engine into overdrive she once again zipped in front of them swerving through back alleys to try and lose them. Occasionally she’d hear their engines hum or their claws clicking against walls but she never saw them in front of her again, a sure sign she was winning certainly. Pushing herself over a makeshift ramp she tore over the wall around the base, her tires thudding gracelessly against the ground. She whipped around engaging her transformation sequence she shifted back into her primary mode, her vents letting off steam as her engine cooled. Her optics darted around looking for the bot who’d be chasing her and her audials pricked listening for any sign of them.
She jumped when she heard a clicking scuttle on the building behind her. Her helm swiveled, optics locking onto the descending form of their secondary alt mode, their insectoid little claws clacking and scraping against the metal as they thudded onto the ground beside her. Their transformation sequence engaged, plating, shifting and sliding until it clicked into place forming their primary mode.
“By the allspark, when did you get here?!” She exclaimed her intake hanging open in a slightly startled but mostly dumbfounded expression.
“Pretty much the same time as you.” Soundmaker responded, rolling their shoulders. “Guess we tied but if you ask me I toootally left you in the dust.”
Shadowstrikers optic twitched at their cheeky reply, her pride flaring up. She was about to offer some scathing remark or rebuttal when she was treated to the view of their visor sliding back revealing their whole faceplate. Blinking dumbly she stared at the faceplate she so rarely got to see.
Their expression was cocky, yes, but it was also a mix of genuine joyful amusement, their optics lit up in a way that was nothing short of delighted, the coal colored tip of their nasal ridge highlighted by the glowing flash of their secondary optics.
She stuttered out a few broken syllables before inventing and then exventing heavily gathering her bearings. Leaning her arm against the wall she attempted to throw on the suavest expression one could possibly muster after gawking at another bot like that, raising her optical ridge and quirking the corner of her intake.
“I suppose this is my reward?” She asked, her voice dropping to a smolder. “Or is it just a bonus?”
Soundmaker laughed, reaching out and lightly shoving her shoulder. “You’re such an idiot, can’t a bot let down her guard every once in a while?”
She returned the laugh, dropping the flirtatious pose to brush her servo against the brim-like bit of Soundmakers visor that still poked out over their faceplate. Her thumb ran along the rim of the glass before dropping to run along the side of their helm and rest on their shoulder. A comfortable silence settled over the moment simply basking in each other's presences in this sliver of time where they had no immediate expectations or judgements forced upon them.
The moment finally slowly passed as Soundmaker turned to look toward the skyline stepping out away from the building.
“Thank you,” They turned to look back at her, “For asking me out, that is, I had a good time.”
She smiled sheepishly at them, “Yeah it’s whatever, don't even worry about it.”
“You’re too humble” They chided, walking back toward her.
The two of them walked toward the entrance moving into the lobby of the building. They began walking through the corridors idly chatting occasionally being told by some disgruntled bot to quiet down, it was after curfew after all, not like any of them were much good at following that rule. They walked until they stopped at the door to the medics habsuite, by that point they had opted to slide their visor back down so she was once again forced to stare at her own reflection. She grimaced slightly at the reflection of the shoulder that wasn’t ever going to really be hers before catching herself and schooling her faceplate once more.
“So I guess this is where we part ways.” She said, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Oh come on, what are you, a teenager? You’re allowed to come in, it’s not like it would be the first time you’ve been to my habsuite.” They replied by punching in the door code to which the door slid open soundlessly.
“I mean I guess,” She floundered, “But that wasn’t after we’ve gone on a date. That was just like hanging out or something, it’s different.” She said gesturing vaguely with her servos.
“Then treat it like we're ‘just hanging out or something’, you’re a capable bot I’m sure you can.”
They walked into the room leaving the door open behind them and her outside to stare at their back foolishly. Her back kibble gave an embarrassing almost flustered flutter that she would hunt someone down for seeing. She looked to her right and then to her left as if checking to see if anyone would see her follow the medic before walking in after them. It’s not like anyone would care, it was no secret that they frequently visited each other's habsuites for one reason or another, they’d grown closer and it was just something that came naturally with that. Logically Shadowstriker knew that but- it was just a little humiliating.
Walking into the habsuite she watched them move around in the kitchenette as she moseyed towards the couch sitting down stiffly. As they walked toward the couch and in turn toward her she twiddled her thumbs and watched them set down a small tray with a few energon goodies stacked on top of it onto the coffee table before settling into the spot beside her.
Reaching out she snatched up one of the small goodies popping it into her intake and breaking it up between her dentae. She nodded her helm finally relaxing, chewing it up the rest of the way she swallowed it before speaking again.
“These are pretty good, did you make them?” She asked, reaching for another.
“Just yesterday,” They replied, reaching for one themself, “Sparkling has a real sweet denta right now so I keep a few around as a treat.”
“Speaking of the little spark, where are they?” She asked, popping the next goodie in her intake leaning back against the couch as she chewed. “Haven’t heard ‘em yet, are you hiding them in your extra subspace again or something?”
“I got Slipstream to babysit earlier,” They said, leaning back as well. “Besides I don’t think I could even store them in my extra subspace anymore anyway, they’ve grown a ton since you all picked us up. They certainly aren’t a little newspark anymore.”
A slightly uncomfortable silence settled over the pair, Soundmaker staring at the far wall clearly thinking too hard about the implications of the sparklings growth and the lingering paranoia of having it all taken away again. Shadowstriker reached out as servo silently placing it on their shoulder, not in a comforting gesture, a high ranking decepticon soldier such as herself may have been just a tad too prideful to call it that, but it was certainly a gesture of understanding. They looked back toward her, flashing her a slightly strained smile.
“That’s good then I’d hate to have to share my food with an armorless glob of protoform.” She said flashing her own much more confident smile at them.
“Oh of course that’d be terrible for you, wouldn’t it?”
She was delighted by the jest, their smile seeming to gain a much more genuine tilt to it. Her spark whirred happily where it sat in her chassis feeling as if it were being brushed by fine silks. The smile on her face widened one of her canines poking out slightly over her lower lip.
For a while they sat like that idly munching on the energon goodies until those ran out and then they spent the rest of their time exchanging jests, their internal chronometers slowly ticking away as the hours passed. Eventually it got late enough that the temptation of recharge began to tug at their processors and one could swear that if they spoke for even a moment longer a disgruntled neighbor would soon be banging on the walls telling them to just shut up already. They both rose from the couch walking toward the door.
“See you tomorrow?” Shadowstriker asked them standing outside their door.
“Pretty sure it is tomorrow.” They said checking their internal chronometer, seems that hunch was right. “Yeah I’ll see you though, I’m expecting an update on how your shoulder’s doing after you actually get to test it in combat.”
“Of course doc, I wouldn’t dream of keeping you from your precious data. Don’t have a spark attack worrying over little old me.”
“Haha, your health and wellness is the funniest joke I’ve ever heard in my whole life.” The medic said sarcastically leaning against the door frame.
For a moment Shadowstriker stared at their visor, trying to look past her own reflection and into their optics. The attempt turned out to be a failure leading to an awkward moment where she seemed to practically glare at them before breaking the gaze and glancing down the corridor.
“I’ll be off then.” And though she said it she didn’t actually move to leave, not yet, like she was trying to hype herself up enough to say something but couldn’t quite muster the courage.
“Next time I’ll ask you out, okay?”
She perked up her optics sliding back to them as they stared at her almost expectantly still leaned against the door. Her processor blanked out momentarily as she absorbed the question before it could escape out her other audial and she forgot it and had to ask them what they said.
“Yeah yeah, next time, you do that.” She mumbled as they turned into their habsuite shutting the door.
Next time, she thought as she began the trek back to her own habsuite, there was going to be a next time. A gleeful attitude blanketed her as she practically skipped and twirled through the halls counting down the seconds until the next time she could visit them.