Work Text:
Shiver gazes at her reflection in the dark surface of an old tablet she'd kept aboard the Nemesis for centuries. It had already lost power during her (so far) short stay on Earth, but it still works fine as a mirror. And without any hope of charging it without being reprimanded (likely by Lugnut) for wasting precious energy, the tablet will continue to serve as a mirror indefinitely.
Shiver stares blankly at the face looking back at her, feeling a distinct sense of wrongness begin to coil around her spark. The angles and contours of this face do vaguely resemble her preferred appearance, but it's never felt like more than a first draft of who she is. And the monocular that functions as one of Shiver's eyes has always deeply unsettled her, acting as a reminder of her concept rather than her identity.
The only aspect of her current image that eases Shiver's crisis is the dark gloss on her lips. She remembers receiving the gloss back when she was stationed aboard the Nemesis 50 years past, when Bloodrush threatened Blackarachnia in exchange for the small item that Shiver had her eye on, yet never openly expressed any desire for. She wasn't fronting at the time, merely resting in headspace, but she panicked when she came to realize what Rush had done. It's never a good idea to get on the bad side of any self-respecting Decepticon, and because Shiver is perceived as the body's host, all the responsibility for her headmates' actions falls on her.
Thankfully, nothing negative occurred as a result of the incident, which Rush attributed to Blackarachnia's verbal dismissal of the situation: "Your insecurity was getting embarrassing, anyway."
Over time, however; Shiver began to treasure that stupid stick of lipgloss, if only for the fact that she treasured the ever-supportive presence of her headmates just as much. It never saw much use until recently, though, as her duties now consist simply of fending off Autobots on supply runs and reporting to Megatron afterward. Shiver has more free time than ever before, and compiled with the stress of Megatron's attention being directed at the only two lieutenants he has on Earth, she's constantly in need of a way to relax and feel better about herself.
After about 10 minutes of idly standing around her quarters and reflecting on her circumstances, Shiver feels Zigzag reach across their spark link in greeting as it returns to her side in headspace.
Upon recognizing Shiver's predicament, Zigzag says, ("You should smear the gloss a bit. Good girls always look a bit messy after hooking up!")
Shiver feels her body heat up a little, but she acquiesces anyway despite her bashfulness. She drags her thumb across her upper lip and looks herself in the eye.
She pictures herself looking back.
She smiles.