#Bulkhead Test Coupling

[midseo]

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[cozzzynook]

TFA idea

Bumblebee returns to base holding one large sparkling of course he quickly explains to both Ratchet and Optimus that it's not his but he found them abandoned in a old building while on patrol. After a quick check up the bittie is given a clean bit of health and Bee decides since he found them he has to take care of them, much to Optimus being worried that Bee might not be ready for the responsibility.

However a couple of weeks later the large sparkling is thriving as they let out cheerful giggles when ever Bumblebee pulls a silly face or tickles their pedes and tanks, it makes everyone smile and Optimus can't be anymore proud.

:>

Bee making everyone proud by being able to take care of a sparkling he found and he’s happy to do this since it feels so natural and familiar to him. But not for the reasons the others might guess.

I like to headcanon tfa bee with angst and make him older. It adds ✨ flavor✨ to his character.

- Bee is so good with sparkling’s because he used to live in a sparkling center on the ruined sides of cybertron.

- bee came from the low class of bots who roamed the wreckage of Cybertron because they were not allowed among the populated cities due to being a mix of sub cybertronians.

- autobots do not take kindly to decepticons, seekers, jets, those with outliers, insecticons and beastformers.

- bee is half insecticon but he keeps his wings hidden. He’s able to keep Ratchet from going anywhere near them during private medical exams since the doc bot is not an expert on insecticon cna and therefore would cause more damage than good should he take a look at them.

- really, its just against insecticon culture to have a non-flying mech take a look at ones wings so closely, even if they were a medic.

- Bee is so good with sparklings because he helped raise so many during his sparklinghood to the days he became a young mech and left the sparkling center.

- bee’s creators were long offline and he couldn’t remember what they looked or sounded like. All he knew was that he inherited his carriers wings and insecticon traits and his sires ability to transform into a car.

- bee lets his wings free during this very patrol and thats how he was able to find the little sparkling.

- they were left in the high tops in hopes of a flier spotting them.

- he flew towards the bitty and the sound of his wings humming was able to lull them to recharge after calming them down.

- he knows what its like to have no creators and he knows what its like to take care of a bitty and focus all his attention on their needs instead of his own.

- he acted childish because he wanted to enjoy the childhood he never had. He just didn’t tell the others any of this since he’s actually very private. The only one who knows is Bulkhead and Bee knows his best friend won’t say anything.

- bee is excellent at taking care of the sparkling. Having a recharge and fueling schedule that impresses everyone along with being able to wake up a few nano-kliks before the sparkling does late at night so he can keep the night cries to a minimum.

- bee can already smell and see the signs the bitty is a seeker and he looks in the first places where color comes in to see if the bitty is one of the cons on Earth but to his findings they aren’t.

- to make sure he’s right he does a thorough scent test and shows the bitty freeze frame video clips of the cons stationed here and gets no reaction.

- bee wonders what a stray seeker was doing here so far out from cybertron or one of their other colonies but he soon gets his answer when Sentinel shows up bragging about shooting down two seekers who tried to flee.

- bee figures out pretty quickly what happened and just snaps.

- sentinel is left on the floor leaking energon with his chin broken off and his frame twitching by the time Bee is done with him.

- none of the others can say anything and they just stand there in shock as Ultra Magnus just gives bee a warning on learning to control his anger while Ratchet grimaces because he doesn’t want to help Sentinel but he has to.

- Ultra Magnus understands very well that Bee is by old law still in his rights to do such a thing since Ultra Magnus knows Bee is older than perceived. He also knows Bee came from the harsher outsides and that both outlanders and the cons held endangering sparklings as one of the worst sins a bot could make.

- Personally, Ultra Magnus feels the same and is not happy with his subordinate not following protocol and detaining the seekers so all this could be avoided.

- Bee meanwhile just carefully picks up his fussing sparkling and goes off to his room where he stays for the rest of the evening.

- Optimus tries to talk with him but Ratchet stops him telling the prime to give him a few joors of alone time with his bitty.

“Its not just you whose the carrier hen around here now Prime.”

“If I’m the carrier hen, doesn’t that make you the grand carrier, Ratchet?”

“Slaggin kids and there smart dermas,” Ratchet grouses as they both walk away.

Prowl doesn’t take the hint, he was listening in from the ceiling, and goes inside to talk to Bee.

Its not really talked about but Bee and Prowl are close. Bulkhead is Bee’s best friend but Prowl is his brother and the feeling is mutual.

—

I want to incorporate the decepticons and blitzwing specifically but i’m not thinking that hard right now lol

[in1-nutshell]

Lithia reaction to Ratchet on Synth-En

SFW, Platonic, Slight Angst, Familial, Cybertronain reader

TFP

Lithia knows Ratchet is skipping out on fueling time.

She has tried getting him to at least get a bit more in, but he refuses.

So as a way of protesting, she fasts too.

She has a bad feeling when Ratchet seems to have almost perfected the formula. Like something bad was going to happen…

“Lithia, I need the spare test tubes in the other room.”--Ratchet

“Got it.”--Lithia

Lithia walks to the room when she hears a loud THUD!

“LITHIA!”--Raf

Lithia turns back running to find Ratchet on the ground and Raf on his chassis with a slightly panicked look.

Lithia runs to her father’s side and immediately goes into her protocols.

Ratchet groans and slowly opens his optics.

“Oh, thank the Allspark—Wait, your optics. They’re green.”--Lithia

Ratchet has Raf in his servo as she helps him stand.

“Are you okay?”--Raf

Ratchet laughs a bit tossing Raf a bit in the air.

“Never better!”--Ratchet

Lithia snatches Raf from the air and holds him close to her chassis.

“That was a bit too rough don’t you think?”--Lithia

She gently puts him down on the balcony and reaches for him when Arcee’s signal goes off.

“She’s hurt. Stay here.”--Ratchet

Ratchet activates the groundbrigde and runs into it.

“Did he just—Oh to the Pits wit this.”--Lithia

Lithia grabs a spare med kit and runs in after him.

She runs straight to an injured Arcee as they both watch Ratchet absolutely demolish the Vechicons.

Even when the entire team gets back to the base Lithia is uncharacteristically quiet.

As soon as Ratchet recommends that everyone take the synth-en she immediately shoots that idea down.

She backs it up saying they didn’t know the true extent of this recipe and could be putting the entire team at risk by doing so.

“We still need more testing to make sure this is safe.”--Lithia

“Please. Am I not proof enough that it works?”--Ratchet

“No, it’s not. We don’t even know what kind of side effect—”--Lithia

She stops when he openly scoffs at her.

“Bulkhead with me.”--Bulkhead

Bulkhead gives an apologetic look before going with Ratchet.

Lithia just stares at the spot where Ratchet was.

She looks at Optimus as if to say ‘Did-you-just-hear-the-same-thing-I-did?’.

He gently places a comforting servo on her shoulder as she sighs tiredly.

“This is going to be a long couple of hours…”--Lithia

Later Lithia decides to take a walk with Bumblebee and Arcee when Bulkhead was literally thrown into the wall.

Lithia quickly goes and checks in on her friend as she sees her father trying to goat Bee into fighting him too.

She just helps Bulkhead up trying to practice some of the deep venting exercises she had seen on the internet.

Then he flirts with Arcee!

Lithia had an angry scowl on her face plate.

She held that annoyed look on her face for the rest of the day as she worked tirelessly to find out more about the synth-en.

She stayed back at the base when the team and Ratchet decided to go look for more energon.

Lithia was working on the main computer when she received a call from Bulkhead.

“Bulkhead?”--Lithia

“You might want to get here.”--Bulkhead

“What happened?”--Lithia

“It’s Ratchet. He’s losing it.”--Bulkhead

Lithia grabs her spare med kit and runs through the groundbrigde.

She spots her father hurting one of the Decepticon miners and runs over.

The young medic kicks him off landing a few feet away.

Lithia turns to the Con whimpering in pain.

“What? Is it your turn now?”--Con

He winces and backs up a bit when she kneel down.

Her gaze softens showing no weapons.

“I’m here to help. It’s a quick patch job.”--Lithia

He flinches a bit when Lithia begins her work.

“Think it as an apology for whatever he did… I am truly sorry for that. I don’t know what got into him.”--Lithia

The Con is silent as she finishes up.

“You can go now.”--Lithia

The miner stands up with her, looks at her for a bit before running to his group.

She turns back to see the rest of Team Prime now looking annoyed at Ratchet.

Optimus was in the middle of reprimanding Ratchet when he interrupted him.

Then calling him soft and that’s why Elita wasn’t here.

Lithia froze hearing this then turned to fury.

Lithia marches up and stands between her father and Optimus.

“You have NO right! How dare YOU!”--Lithia

He glares at her harshly.

“Oh give me a break.”--Ratchet

“No, I’M NOT going to give you a break for what you just said! Dad what’s gotten into you?”--Lithia

“Don’t call me that.”--Ratchet

“What?”--Lithia

“Dad. That isn’t me and you know that.”--Ratchet

Lithia backs a bit.

“You don’t mean that. That’s the Synth-En talking.”--Lithia

“Ratchet, I believe it is best if we go back to base and get this Synth-en out—”--Optimus

“So what?! So, I can go back to being your medic?! Just your medic!? This energon just makes me see the truth clearer. For example.”--Ratchet

He turns to Lithia.

“You are not my daughter. I am simply repaying a debt to a friend. You are just some added responsibility thrusted onto me just like this war has!”--Ratchet

Lithia freezes as the words finally register in her mind.

Optimus narrows his optics gently pushing Lithia back as if shielding her from any more attacks from her father.

Arcee starts to march to Ratchet about to give him a piece of her mind when Bulkhead and Lithia stop her.

Lithia gives her a pleading look.

Arcee slowly backs down, for Lithia’s sake.

Bee gives her a side hug.

Ratchet spots the shift and openly scoffs.

“This is the softness I was talking about. We don’t need softness in war. You should know that by now.”--Ratchet

Bee glares at Ratchet now full hugging Lithia as she buried her face into his neck cables, just hoping this was all a horrible dream.

“That’s enough. We are going back to base.”--Optimus

“You’re going to the base. I’M going to finish this.”--Ratchet

Ratchet transforms and hightails it out of there.

Lithia makes sure that everyone gets checked in the med bay when they return to base.

It’s different this time around.

This time her movements almost felt robotic.

Nothing like her.

As soon as she was done with that, she went straight to the console trying to track down Ratchet silently.

The hard look in her optics didn’t leave her.

Optimus did try and talk to her, but she reminded him that right now it was important to find Ratchet.

As the most experienced medic and missing he was top priority.

Lithia doesn’t go with the group when they go after Ratchet.

She can’t…

There is mild panic when she sees Ratchet’s condition and gets to work.

Ratchet slowly and groggily opens his optics now free of the Synth-en.

“Ratchet?”--Optimus

He groans a bit at the light.

“Optimus?”--Ratchet

He places a reassuring servo on his shoulder.

“You are home now old friend.”--Optimus

He sighs a bit noticing Lithia at the corner reviewing all his scans and slowly approaches him.

“Your vitals are fine. A few more hours on the machine to make sure all the Synth-En is out, a few days of rest and you should make a full recovery.”--Lithia

Ratchet blinks surprised at the plain explanation as she turns back to the console to continue her work.

He does try and get to talking with Lithia afterwards, but she isn’t acting like herself.

He also notices a lot more of their team seems to be in the room when he tries to talk with her.

Ratchet didn’t think much when he saw Optimus by his nieces’ side.

But it was a bit strange when Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead went out of their way to be by her side when he was around.

He was getting frustrated.

He eventually asks Optimus what happened while he was under the influence.

Optimus is hesitant in telling him the news.

But he does.

The absolute look of horror and regret on Ratchet’s face is enough for the Prime to know he does regret everything.

Ratchet approaches Lithia.

Arcee, Bulkhead and Bee begin to move in, but Optimus holds both of their shoulders.

“They need this.”--Optimus

“Prime—”--Arcee

“If anything escalates then we interfere. For now, we watch.”--Optimus

The four bots can’t hear what’s being said between the two, but Lithia drops her tools and lunges at Ratchet in a hug.

Her sobs are audible as Ratchet Cradles her hugging her close gently rocking back and forth.

“Guess it worked out.”--Bulkhead

Bee beeps happily for the two.

Optimus lets a gently smile pass seeing the problem finally resolved.

It was going to take a bit for Lithia to move on from this, but this was a start.

[erimeows]

Transformers: Masterlist

Hi there! I'm Eri, and I write for all sorts of stuff. While I do have everything published on here, I personally choose to have my masterlists linked to my Ao3. As most people who follow me are aware, I do not write for Transformers anymore. I believe Transformers is the thing that got my account going and while I am very appreciative of that, I'm burnt out on Transformers.

Some of these works are NSFW. Be sure to check the ratings and tags on them!

FYI: I do NOT write for transformers anymore, this is a collection of OLD works. Please do NOT send in requests for Transformers prompts.

If you'd like to learn more about me, send in a request, or look at my works for other fandoms, check out my pinned post!

Mixed:

Transformers Headcanons And Scenarios- this is a massive collection of random Transformers headcanons, including x reader and character x character, as well as other random junk. There are so many chapters that tumblr will not let me link them all individually, so please have the entire book!

MegaOp Week- this is the collection of oneshots I did for MegaOp week a couple years back. Enjoy!

Kinktober 2021- this is a compilation of all of the Transformers oneshots I wrote for Kinktober back in 2021. Hope you guys enjoy, everything else from here on out is ficlets!

Character x Character:

Hatefuck (Megatron x Ultra Magnus)

Any Other Way (Blackarachnia x Optimus Prime)

Aftermath (Bumblebee x Prowl)

Winter (Optimus Prime x Ratchet)

Orion's Belt (Optimus Prime x Bumblebee)

Quiet Resource (Optimus Prime x Ratchet)

Synesthesia (Bumblebee x Sentinel Prime)

Happiness Doesn't Wait (Bumblebee x Prowl)

And The Flowers Were Grey (Optimus Prime x Ratchet)

History (Optimus Prime x Sentinel Prime)

Skeletons, Skeletons (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

To Be Known (Bumblebee x Prowl)

Love Us Again (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

Say My Name (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

Blue Cosmos (Optimus Prime x Starscream)

Hellfire (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

To Build A Home (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

A Sight To See (Optimus Prime x Bumblebee)

Evergreen Wasn't Such A Bad Dream (Optimus Prime x Starscream)

Put Your Head On My Shoulder (Optimus Prime x Sentinel Prime)

Derailed (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

Training Wheels (Optimus Prime x Sentinel Prime)

Our Gentle Sin (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

Dreaming Of You (Optimus Prime x Megatron)

Crush (Bumblebee x Optimus Prime)

Happier (Optimus Prime x Sentinel Prime)

Everything Left Unsaid (Optimus Prime x Sentinel Prime)

Ivy (Optimus Prime x Sentinel Prime)

We Don't Make Sense (Optimus Prime x Sentinel Prime)

Character x Reader:

Super Bass (Ultra Magnus x Reader)

Through The Years (Optimus Prime x Reader x Megatron)

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes (Ultra Magnus x Reader x Megatron)

When Your Actions Have Consequences (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Use (Prowl x Reader)

In Your Eyes (Swindle x Reader)

At The Shrine Of Your Lies (Sentinel Prime x Reader)

A Piece Of You (Ultra Magnus x Reader)

Honey Bunches (Megatron x Reader)

Bound To Be (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Snow (Optimus Prime x Reader)

All The Birthdays Optimus Didn't Celebrate + The One He Did

Butterscotch (Prowl x Reader)

Vintage (Megatron x Reader)

Flickering (Lockdown x Reader)

Feel It In The Sunrise (Megatron x Reader)

Pen And Paper (Megatron x Reader)

Crazy (Optimus Prime x Reader)

The Test (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Breaking Point (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Worship (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Bitter (Wasp x Reader)

Mine (Sentinel Prime x Reader)

Are You Bored Yet? (Ultra Magnus x Reader)

Afterthought (Blurr x Reader)

What's Yours Is Mine And What's Mine Is Yours (Starscream x Reader x Megatron)

Twice As Hard (Megatron x Reader)

Poison Paradise (Sentinel Prime x Reader)

Slippery (Bulkhead x Reader)

The Announcement (Megatron x Reader)

Exploration (Jazz x Reader)

Impasse (Optimus Prime x Reader)

White Linen, White Rose (Bulkhead x Reader)

Ultraviolet (Soundwave x Reader)

Strange Land (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Feverish (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Healing (Ratchet x Reader)

Yellow Roses (Bumblebee x Reader)

For You (Optimus Prime x Reader)

Intervention, Baby (Prowl x Reader)

[thoraeth]

Words: 1820

TW: mild language as usual, kisses get hot (nothing explicit, just in case)

Taglist: @lostfirefly

Summary: after one last trial test, Buggy and Ava discuss the weird situation between them. As they agree on moving on, none of them will actually keep their word.

Chapter 4 (PT2) - Ignition

<CH4(PT1) CH5> | Read on Ao3

The pirate rolls over in his bed, massaging his face vigorously after a long nap. “How long was I out?” he wonders, as warm sun rays are coming in from the window.

Too tired to get up, he stares at the room: Ava's side is neatly ordered, bed made, shelves empty.

“She must have stayed at Romi's yesterday. Again.” The jester sleepily scratches his belly.

“It's always Romi and her tests, or those marines’ training or Doc needing help with this and that.” he scoffs.

“If you don't want to be around me just fucking say it.”

The speakers on the ceiling turn on.

“Oi, you up? We're waiting outside.”

Buggy gets up and gathers his boots on the floor, exhausted at the very thought of what awaits him: that blonde idiot avoiding his gaze, his fuel failing again in front of everyone.

Zipping up his gray coverall, he growls at Ava's bed: “She fucked everything up.” He thinks. “Why did she do it?!”

Gritting his teeth, Buggy stomps upstairs and gets through a huge bulkhead door.

He's out on the weather deck, blinded by the light.

“Jester!” Romi shouts. “You took forever! Get the fuel, quick!”

Slowly, Buggy walks towards her: she's mounting on the Drifter, wearing a thick padded suit and a weird helmet on her head.

Behind the Captain, Ava's running the final checks. Their crewmates step back and she places her thumb on the vehicle's dashboard: it switches on, its tiny icons lighting up.

As the blonde feels Buggy's cold stare on her, she turns around to greet him with a faint smile.

They both traffic around the Drifter, clumsily trying not to get in each other's way.

“Ok, all ready.” she announces, as the pirate locks the cycle’s tank.

The Drifter’s engines power up with a loud hiss and the reflections of its spinning wheel dance throughout the deck.

“I’ve got a good feeling this time.”

Ava looks up at Buggy, his face tired and tense in anticipation.

“Or I messed up again and everything’s about to blow up.” the man snaps “You’re not coming to the lab anymore, you can't know.”

“What?”

“Coward.”

A sudden burst of wind startles both of them.

In a blink of an eye, the Drifter cuts through the air, its engines roaring loud as it runs through the deck before surpassing the edge of the ship. Fast and steady, the cycle flies over the sea and climbs up high.

Buggy can't stop looking at that scene: over their head, Romi is floating, spinning, darting through the orange sky of the Belts. They did it.

He did it.

A few minutes later, the Captain descends back on the ship while the crew cheers and shouts.

She gets off the Drifter and throws her helmet away, running to hug everyone.

“Best feelin’ of my entire life!” Romi screams, eyes sparkling in pride.

“That’s just the beginning, babe, buckle up!” Buggy sneers.

The Challengers come flocking around their Captain.

“That was crazy!”

“Please don’t break your helmet.”

“Screw you Labophanse! Ah, ah!”

“I want to fly too!”

“Hell yeah, we'll take turns!” Romi laughs while freeing Ava from her arms.

Soon after, Torres returns from the lower deck with a handful of glassware and a dusty bottle of liquor.

“Time to party!” he shouts as everyone takes a dented glass.

A couple of rounds and Buggy is alone with an empty bottle.

“Hey! If you’ve taken all the booze, I'm feeding the Drifter to the Sea Kings!” he cries out.

Shaking out the last drops, the jester notices Ava, walking towards him with two tumblers filled to the brim.

“Gimme that! You don't even like it.”

“They're both for you.” she rolls her eyes as the man snatches the liquor from her hands.

“I figured you could use a little extra to unwind.”

“Well, it never hurts.” Buggy wipes his mouth on his sleeve. “For your information, though, I’m perfectly chill.”

“Almost icy. At least with me.”

“Oh, pardon me miss.” The pirate shrugs. “But you see, I’m not quite myself lately, ‘cause a good friend of mine has disappeared. One day we're all fun and games and then…puff, gone! Like a magic trick!” His fingers float around. “I wonder what happened to her.”

“I was uneasy around you after the lab, ok? That's what happened.”

“Mh, I think I had a hunch…from how fucking weird you've acted these days!”

“I’m sorry but I needed a little time! I didn't know why I did that, it was embarrassing.” the woman sighs. “And I felt awful.”

The jester bites his lips.

“I guess I was a bit harsh too, back then. Do you, uhm, need more time?”

“Honestly, I don't think it matters. It's just making things weird.” Ava scratches her neck, ignoring the knot in her stomach. ”I'd rather we go back the way we used to be, so… no more talking about the lab.”

“Yes ma’am!” Buggy grabs his second glass, a huge weight lifting from his chest.

While the Challengers run below deck, he walks with Ava, filling her in with his recent adventures at the chemistry lab.

“It burned up?” the woman frowns. “I don't recall any alarm.”

“I asked JoyJoey to disconnect it.”

“You silenced the fire alarm?!”

“Hey, keep it down!” The pirate slides one arm across Ava's shoulders and pulls her close. Giggling, he whispers in her ear: “It kept going off! JoyJoey was fed up too.”

The celebrations continue in the lunchroom with fresh food and loads of drinks, courtesy of Crocodile’s money.

Torres and Ava are cheering on their tipsy Captain, who's running around the table, while Meg and Buggy are pulling a reluctant young man inside the room.

“Leave the kid alone, you two!” Allen laughs, “Poor JoyJoey.” His happy voice is drowned out by the aggressive music playing from the speakers.

Hours later, a terrible headache forces Buggy to slow down.

“Does this fucking song ever change?” he thinks “It’s just hammering and hissing over and over again…ugh. ”

He’s leaning against the kitchen cabinets, looking around the room with a glass in his hand, when his gaze falls on his female crewmates. They’re all in the middle of a conversation, making gestures at each other.

Smiling behind a sip of his drink, the jester feels at peace. “Who knew the science gang would be this fun. Lady luck must be back on my side.” he thinks.

His eyes are fixed on Ava. Hands dirty with black grease, metal on her face: a perfect Egghead specimen, always plunging headlong into the weirdest things. So different from the bland creature who sailed off Fugu, ashamed of eating in front of anyone but him.

The thought of her kiss floods Buggy's mind.

Gripped by a confusing yearning he dares not name, the pirate looks down and sprints out of the lunchroom.

“Damn, get a grip. You’ve had too much to drink and too little sleep, that's all.”

Walking down the silent corridor isn't giving him any relief, his mind crowded with loud thoughts.

The jester gets back to his bedroom and sticks his face under the bathroom’s cold tap water.

“Hey, let’s be real for a sec.”

He talks to the man in the mirror, black water running down his face.

“You know wasted and this is not wasted. Not even close.”

“What's the big fucking deal? You enjoy a little yapping with your roommate who happens to be tolerably good to look at…so what! It's nobody’s fault if that bloody charm of yours makes them all fall for you.”

“Big words for a clown who’s been spit upon for years.” Frantically, the man messes with his hair, fighting the snarky inner voice creeping through his mind. “No wonder you lost your shit at first fucking touch.”

Buggy paces back and forth in the room, trying to escape that familiar voice that's haunting him, making his stomach twist: there's a whole island out there, swarming with minions who worship him like a god, but the only thing he’s ever felt among them is misery.

“Fine. I guess I am feeling some umh… fondness. What then? Should I settle for a constant reminder of Crock’s boot on my neck? Even on my wedding day? Fuck no!”

Buggy freezes as the room's doors slide open.

A bulk of blankets and papers walks in whistling, dropping knick-knacks all over the floor.

“Hello!” Blonde hair is peeking out behind the beddings.

“You just stepped in and it's chaos already!” The jester shouts, his arms open wide.

Ava throws her things on her bed, then kicks her boots away and climbs inside Buggy's module. Legs crossed, she stares at the starry sky outside the window.

“You still haven't told me what's inside the fuel. Oh, and I have some juicy gossip.” the woman says happily.

“I’ll show you tomorrow.” Buggy hops next to her, adjusting the shirt under his half-unzipped suit. “What's this late night tea?”

“Torress…and Meg.” Ava winks at him.

“No fucking way he's into older women!”

“Well, the heart wants what the heart wants, I guess.”

“Heart?” he sneers “It’s just the sailors’ loneliness giving him that itch.”

Gasping loudly, the blonde shoves him by the jaw and Buggy bursts out laughing.

Just like that, a sort of clarity dawns on the pirate: in small, petty moments like that, Croc and Hawk are not in the room with him. Actually, since Ava came around, he’s been doing nothing but laughing and singing and digging his hands in gunpowder. All things happiness is made of, as far as he can tell.

If this is the miracle he kept asking for in Karai Bari…Maybe he should trust his luck one more time.

Ava's heart skips a beat.

She hasn't noticed Buggy getting closer and now his head is sinking in her neck.

“Umh, about the lab thing.”

She struggles to process the man's muffled words as his arms are sliding around her waist, blue hair tickling her cheeks.

“Shall we try again?” he whispers.

Before she could even face him, Ava gets pushed back by a rough, hungry kiss.

She's overwhelmed by the jester desperately pressing on her lips, his coarse chin scratching her skin with every deep breath.

She meets his kisses with equal zeal as she tastes the faint bitterness of his faded face paint.

Hastily, they both get handsy and the blonde stops to observe Buggy trafficking with her coverall’s zipper.

Pulling back, she whispers against his parted lips: “If it's just for tonight, I want to know.”

“Tonight, tomorrow, Friday morning, next month,…”

The pirate stutters incoherently while Ava places lingering kisses on his gold earrings and down his neck.

The woman nuzzles his nose and falls back into the mattress with a teasing smile. Whatever the jester is up to, she doesn't care anymore: at that point, he’s an itch she’s dying to scratch.

[tid-liddell]

Til this month is over, I wanna post everything I prepared for it. Including telling more details about Vita and Kicky, more percisely, the way they meeted...

*It was an usual day in Iacon's orphanage. One of its pupils, Kicky, was sitting at its yard where other sparklings were playing and running around there, looking at the datapad with intriguing information for her: very soon Rescue Bots Academy would begin enrollment for the new course. After such a long time since the first Cybertronian’s ped had stepped on Earth, the secret of iron giants was disclosed, and inhabitants of both planets started their partnership with each other, despite the doubts of people of these two worlds. Hundreds of transformers attended the Academy, but not every bot could repeat the success of the Griffin Rock's heroes. A sudden thought occurred in femme’s processor - she'd got two ways: either keep feeling exceedingly bored in this orphanage or grab this chance and go for the journey.

*The day of going to the Academy had come. In the first lessons Kicky showed a big potential also helping her classmates, especially Vita. It seemed like the femmes were made for working together.

*After a hard, exciting long day the recruits decided to have a rest and tell more about themselves, about their hobbies and families. When it was Kicky's turn, she was trying to not take the theme of rumors about her creators’ destiny and seemed a bit nervous and also suspicious for Vita. After her the red femme told about her family, their autobots friends and her purpose of learning in the Academy. The story for her creators impressed her classmate quite a lot. The orange femme got a thought that maybe she wouldn't treat her with a prejudice like sparklings from the orphanage.

*Every night Vita used to call her creators and brother on communicube before recharging to tell them how she was doing and how was her day

*The next days  when having free time Kicky was spending it by walking around the Academy and more deeply learning about the Earth’s culture and arts, and also started collecting different things, especially the most valuable ones for her were vintage ones. Vita tried to study well, she had a wish to discover more about this planet, but not only for education purposes, she had a soft spot for Earth's culture. At the time when our femmes were studying in the Academy, Earth technology could recreate  various celebrities' for different purposes, concerts using these innovations got quite a popularity. The red femme had been dreaming of visiting those concerts, especially one rock band's..

*Since the two recruits were getting along well, one day Vita introduced Kicky to the world of rock music. After she told her about her wish, later Kicky could take her classmate for a walk. The young femmes could visit a couple of big cities, after mentioning hobbie of Vita’s carrier they once watched a movie in a drive in theater, and of course, some “holographic concerts”. The young medic most of all had been striving to visit one to pay tribute to one earthling, the one Bulkhead was telling about with warmth in his spark - the soloist and guitarist of robo-themed rock band, Miko Nakadai. After it Vita couldn't not shed a tear, because, obviously, the musician died of old age many years ago…

*When seeing that her classmate bursted into tears, Kicky surely sincerely felt sorry for her and quickly tried to sooth her by hugging and… smoothing her cheek, not expecting it herself. Yes, Vita felt better, although at the same time with it faceplates of future rescuers got fully covered with blue blush and the femmes themselves were in a stupor, but returned at the Academy.

*Kicky had seen that Vita used to tell about her staying in the Academy to her family. She felt a bit jealous that her friend had a family she could trust her feelings with.

*One day it was a simulation test where the recruits had to act readily and wisely to save people from catastrophe. This time they got only one try. Before it this team always capped them with the best results, practically the same were the real missions. However   Kicky couldn't stop thinking of her gone creators and Vita’s friendly family, which distracted the orange recruit. Just breaking away from the thoughts, the femme saw a projection of a family, where the parents were on the brink of death right in front of their little child. Feeling overridden, the orange recruit ran to rescue them  first, not even having in mind that there was a way to save the family and the other people at the same time. The test failed. The indignant voices of other rescuers sounded and hearing that they mentioned Kicky’s name, she shamefully ran away. Vita was angry with the failure, but seeing her partner running away from the hall, followed her.

*After finding her partner, the red femme apologized for the situation and said she didn't have to feel guilty. The orange femme finally spilled out her spark to her partner, and explained her actions by never having a family and how it felt to have no relatives, the sparklings in the orphanage never a family to her and… she spilled out about her creators. Vita found out what the orange femme was afraid to tell about,  said that anyone in the universe deserves a second chance, reminded why she decided to go to this place and hugged her. A bit later, the two future rescuers decided to confess to their classmates about the orange recruit's past, holding their servos for confidence. Oddly enough, after Vita’s speech the sparklings quite calmly accepted and forgave their classmate, however considering how they were holding their servos, started to suggest that there's something more than meets the eye between them.

*Later this evening, Vita met her partner at the rooftop of Academy, watching the beautiful sunset. Kicky was thankful to her for making her feel not alone anymore. Taking her servos, Vita uttered: “I'm happily to be your family” not even noticing how their lips touched each other. Realizing what happened and being in a little stupor, young femmes laughed not even realizing it was just a beginning…

If you don't know about this AU, you may read the comic there(PLEASE SEE THE TRIGGER WARNINGS AT THE DESCRIPTION BEFORE READING)

[sparklingpax]

“Don’t be scared” with Optimus saying it to someone please

From this!! (Requests still open actually....^^'')

HIIII ok ok so, I'm not exactly sure if this was what you were looking for, but after ages of thinking and contemplating ideas, this popped into my head all of a sudden!! So....I hope you enjoy???

And of course, I am deeply sorry for the wait..............idk if it's even good at all *sobs* but I enjoyed writing it in the sense that it was like...something I needed to write. Something meaningful to me. So...yea.

-Set in canon

-there are DEFINITELY typos and weird stuff like that.....I'm really really sorry 😭 I'll see it at a later date when I do a read-through editing session days from now I bet 💀 anyways yea.

-We definitely needed more moments of Optimus interacting with the kids. He definitely would be like a gentle, comforting, fatherly figure idk

-Also touching on the HC I have & love, that the kids all think of the base as their home more than where they actually live.

....enjoy...?

///

Miko flicked a pencil to the edge of her desk, then back again, staring off into the distance. In front of her, one kid was passed out and snoring, and another two were trying to have a conversation made entirely of discrete (not really) gestures and facial expressions. The elderly teacher overseeing them was hidden behind a huge newspaper, and Miko wondered if, after this past half hour, he was even awake anymore. 

Bulkhead’s like, apparently too busy to come get me, so…I’m stuck here. 

The multiple calls she tried to make behind her physics textbook had all gone to voicemail, so she could only guess he was out on a mission or something at the moment. She sighed and abruptly swiped up the pencil, switching to tapping its point on the desk as she let her mind drift to other things. 

Like how boring detention already was, and how it was somehow even worse when she actually sat the full duration of it. 

It’s not fair! It’s not like I committed a crime–I even did the damn vocab test! What else do they want?!  

Another huff and she folded her arms, leaving the pencil alone on the desk. 

She could guess the teacher probably hadn’t appreciated her artistic endeavors on the back. Sure, it was a unflattering depiction of half the teacher in the school in unfortunate situations, but it was still funny, quite well-drawn, and deserved! 

A loud snore and the sound of folding paper sounded from the teacher’s desk. 

Is he…? 

Miko looked up at the teacher’s desk to see their overseer was in fact, dead to the world at present. His paper hung limply from his hand, jaw open just a little. 

Who wouldn’t be bored in a place like this? 

The other kids seemed not to notice or care, only one briefly blinking up at Miko, then putting their head down again. It didn’t matter if they shouted anyway, cause Miko made her way out quick. Grinning, backpack strap in hand, she slipped out into the hallways, and promptly bolted. 

As she jogged down the front stairs and into the sidewalk, she was glad to find no one in sight. With a triumphant laugh, she nodded to herself and resolved to simply hang around town until someone returned her calls. 

It couldn’t be too long, right? 

That meant her only job now was to keep busy until then. No biggie! She knew the town, had a couple dollars. 

It was about dinner time, anyway. 

Maybe Jack’s working his shift at that K.O. Burger place! I’ll go bother him while I get dinner, she thought, smirking. 

She turned and practically skipped down the sidewalk. 

///

‘The number you have dialed is not currently in–’

Miko jammed the ‘end call’ button with her thumb, swallowing. 

The sky was no longer a pinkish blue hued with orangey glow, but now a thick tarp of navy and black. The moon was not out tonight, and everything was closed. 

As she exhaled, Miko's breath formed soft white shapes in front of her face, before delicately drifting up and fading.

“Eighth time,” she muttered, huffing sharply. “Pick up, dammit.”

It was something of a mix of both frustration and apprehension stiffening her motion. She felt her heart pounding louder and louder with every passing moment, her mind just barely keeping itself at bay. 

Deep breaths. Breathe in, breathe out, in, out, in…..

He’s not coming. He’s not picking up. Bulkhead forgot. He…

No, he couldn’t. That was irrational. 

She started to shift weight from one side to the other, staring at her phone, then the open road in front of her. Miko opened her phone again, thumb hovering over the keypad for a moment before her hand fell to her side and she thrust her gaze to the barren sky above. She tried again to breathe deeply. 

He’s busy. They’re busy.  

She slid it into her coat pocket, but kept her hand in the pocket, gripping the device. Somehow, that seemed to calm her nerves a small amount. The jitters making her movements so sudden seemed to lift, only by a little. Uneasiness still hovered its fingers around her, as if to strike again when she least expected it.

It’s only 2 am. I can manage. Why do I care?

The sound of a voice shouting in the distance followed by a loud clang gave uneasiness its chance almost instantly. 

With a groan, Miko felt her bones ache with fear and her breath grew so short her stomach started to hurt. Dreading the loss of her cheap but delicious dinner, she backed away from the road and leaned against the brick wall of some antique shop before sinking to a crouch. 

She found herself trying to keep a relatively flat look on her face, as if aiming to maintain some composure. 

But she was alone. Why did it matter how she looked? 

Her situation wasn’t impossible—probably a lack of communication on different accounts; Jack hadn’t been at the burger place, so he was probably busy somewhere. She was supposed to go home with her host family after detention, but…well, that was the past. And now, no one would pick up, not even let her leave a message. 

What if something had happened? And then, what would it be? 

Calm down, Miko. You can’t act like this. You’ve seen zombie-cons and the guts—cables?—pulled right outta guys Bulkhead fought. You’ve almost been killed, crushed…you’ve been in the dark, you’ve been alone before! 

But perhaps that was it, she realized, dropping her head and clenching her fist methodically—open and closed, open and closed—sucking in shaky breaths, trying to calm down. Trying to steady it all out, while her mind seemed to bump up the speed to the max. 

Maybe it was too much all the time, all at once, disregarding the part of her that had already had enough when Miko thought to push on. Put on a laughing face, brush it off like it didn’t matter—nothing mattered. 

That was what she always did, right? Wasn’t consistency important? Was she a liar for being so scared? It wasn’t exactly being alone in the dark that scared her. Not even being in this sketchy part of town by herself…

Where are they? Where is everyone? 

Maybe it was also the suddenness of this fear, the seeming culmination of so much she hadn’t quite considered as deeply—every single thread of thought demanding her attention and her body simply ceasing proper coordination and control. Something she hadn’t anticipated because it was always there in the background, but kept tightly under lock and key. 

Where was the lock and key? Why was this happening? The questions only darkened the feelings bounding about inside like sparks of electricity. 

The darkness and emptiness of the town seemed to press at her, tightening her nerves and causing her arms and legs to feel like jelly all at the same time. She was shaking. 

And regardless of how much her sensible, conscious mind reminded her that if she was alone, it meant alone, her subconscious breathed over and over, over and over….

Someone’s there. Someone’s coming. Someone…no control…you have no control of what’s coming for you…no one remembered you, did they? 

Then, as if fate’s answer to the question, she heard a horn honk down the road. 

At first, her heart skipped a beat—sudden noises in the silence when she was having a low moment weren’t so helpful—but her mind registered instantly. 

And as quickly as it had overtaken her, the fear left, and she felt the shaking in her body intensify—probably out of muscle exhaustion this time. 

Suddenly, the cold ache left her, replaced with a trickling warmth. Maybe it was relief, or something else…Miko wasn’t sure. She watched the semi draw closer, letting her mind go blank for a bit. 

The vehicle rolled down the road rather quietly, coming to a gentle stop across from her, letting off a little hiss as the lights dimmed a bit. Miko could make out that it was indeed, the Autobot leader himself, even though something in the back of her mind had already let her know it was him.  

Optimus…what’s he doing out here? 

She could barely stand, swallowing again before pushing off the ground and unevenly making her way across the road and to the door to the passenger’s seat. She felt like she couldn't control her coordination as well as she’d like, but wasn’t too worries as much as glad to have a warm seat to sit in for now. 

“Miko….”

Optimus rumbled softly, gently, her name. He sounded as if he was going to say something, so she plopped down in the blue seat, waiting quietly. But he seemed to choose silence for the moment. 

After a moment, the headlights brightened and Miko felt the start of the engines. They began down the road, and looking out the window, Miko could see they were headed home—not her house, but home. 

She smiled, letting her body go limp in the seat, eyes wide open and trained on the outside view as it flitted by. Letting herself lie there as the hum of the truck filled the air, she dared not move or else she’d start shaking again. 

Drowsiness lurked in the background somewhere, but before that, she was curious. 

“Ne, Optimus,” she murmured, shifting her gaze to the front window. There was not a soul on the road, only Optimus’s headlight illuminating the navy dark surrounding them. “You were gonna say something, right?”

A pause. 

“I was.” 

“What was it?”

“Well…” Optimus seemed to be searching for words, then spoke again. “You were alone tonight.” 

“Yeah…no one would pick up. Did you get my calls?”

“No,” the mech responded. “But I did realize your absence. Rafael and Jack were having a…schoolwork review session–”

Study session.

“—and the others are scouting a mine in another country.”

That’s why he didn’t pick up. Something funky with phone regions, I bet. 

“Ratchet was otherwise engaged. I asked the boys what had happened to you that you were not there, and they mentioned you were in…detainment again.”

“Yea, detention,” Miko sighed. “Ditched it early though.”

Optimus was silent again, so this time, Miko thought to fill the silence. 

“Hey, Optimus? I’m…sorry if I made you worry,” she murmured, dropping her gaze a little. “I was doing alright…woulda found a way home or something.”

“Miko,” his voice sounded serious. “Are you certain of that?”

The teen thought to answer, then pressed her lips together, unable to respond again. What would she have done if he hadn’t come by? 

“I sense you are troubled,” Optimus continued more softly. “Are you alright?”

Miko felt a flash of indignance, so she masked it with a scoff. “Are you kidding? I’m always good!” But her tone wavered a bit, and she felt herself grow smaller in her seat. But she continued. “What makes you ask?”

“Miko…” 

“Yeah?”

“To answer your initial question, we Autobots are always worried for you three. We realize you are individuals, and that you have time and again proven strong in the face of terrifying circumstances. You especially show much strength.”

There was something else to that, so Miko waited, quietly. 

“You show so much strength that…I feel as if perhaps you carry too much inside.”

Miko swallowed, feeling emotion well up inside her. Not fear, not apprehension…something stronger, deeper…raw. 

“Miko, you were alone tonight. We were unaware of what you needed. For that, I am deeply sorry.”

“N-nah, it’s not…”

“It is. Did anything happen to you?”

“No, I just…” she found herself speaking without thinking. “Seemed like…everyone forgot about me. I’m used to being alone though, I guess…”

“You are not alone, Miko.” Optimus spoke with firm gentleness that seemed to level out the feelings threatening to bubble over the brim. She quickly looked out the window to her side again. “I respect what you wish to tell or not tell me. But something tells me, you were afraid tonight.”

She bit her lip. 

Someone noticed. Someone saw. 

But it was a relieved voice that whispered in her mind. She remained quiet, biting her lip harder. 

“Are you alright, Miko?”

She knew what the question really meant. 

“I was…scared, like…” she swallowed, steadying her breathing as best as she could. A tear slid down her cheek, which she quickly rubbed away. “...I dunno, something…I didn’t know what was happening, it was so…strong. So…bad…”

“I know well the emotions you speak of.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. I know it well even now. Especially now.” 

He deals with so much too…but he’s so…well, I guess we all put up some face. I laugh, Optimus shuts down…whatever keeps the monster at bay. 

“Don’t be scared, Miko,” he finally said gently and simply—yet with so much intent. “You are never alone.”

Miko inhaled sharply, as if debating to control it or let it happen…but only for a moment. She exhaled heavily, her face twisting as she started to cry quietly. But even as she sobbed, a smile peaked through, shimmering in her eyes. 

She needed to cry, she realized. Not light tears of stress, but also the tears that she had pent up every time her heart had pounded so hard her bones hurt. The tears she pent up when she did cry and then bite her tongue to swallow them up. And it was alright. 

It was freeing. 

And as if reading her mind, Optimus remained quiet. But she felt his presence–more than simply knowing he was there. They didn’t really need to say much more, and spent the last of the ride to HQ in silence. 

Because even if Optimus wasn’t using the same words she’d use, she knew what he meant. She always knew what the others meant to say. Robot or human, alien or not, Miko could feel it. 

She knew that he wasn’t ordering her to can it, like she knew she ordered herself to. 

‘Don’t be scared,’ or rather…‘it will not win. You will.’ 

I will. 

///

[gluttonygirls]

doughyduo

something with a huuuge silver wolf struggling to waddle around away from kafka or something

It was really frustrating when Kafka got into one of her moods.

Huffing and wheezing as she lumbered down the hall, her belly dragging along the floor in front of her as she wobbled, Silver Wolf did her best to try and waddle forward. It took herculean effort for her to move, needing a full minute just to take a step. Her legs were so buried in lard that it was a strain, fat fighting her on every motion. Her tubby calves squished around her feet, huge thighs jiggling and quaking against her each other, ass plugging up the whole hall. Even when her foot hit the ground, she could feel her leg fat seep over it, completely covering it.

The weight alone was a challenge, but coupled with the size, it made it harder. Just to push her leg forward, she had to shove aside a gut as big as a car, rolling it out of the way as she twisted her waist and pushed it aside with her blubbery knee. It could only go so far, so her movement with each step was barely anything.

"Wolfie~?"

Silver Wolf groaned as a voice whispered in her ear, the feeling of another fatass sinking into her butt letting her know that Kafka had caught up.

"Don't go anywhere now. I did always want to see if you could dent the ship's bulkhead~ Let's give that a test~"

[tuttle-did-it]

Tom Paris had to plan how to build The Delta Flyer (a large shuttle craft) for years. Paris, Tuvok, Seven of Nine, Harry Kim and B’Elana Torres spent days on the construction working flat out, around the clock.

How did Geordie build a whole damned starship in his spare time in a matter of days? The Enterprise D is the size of a city. They literally have shipyards where they build these giant starships- we’ve seen them in episodes with Utopia Planitia. Hundreds of people working for years to fit every bolt, every bulkhead, every panel, every turbo lift.

And Geordie was able to replicate it all perfectly, in his spare time, by himself, in just a few days? The Enterprise is at least several hundred times bigger than the Delta Flyer. Where were you hiding this humongous side project, Geordie? Why didn’t anyone notice this starship as big as a city in your pocket? Where did you get the materials? Where’d you get the warp core? Who helped you construct it all, or did you do it yourself? Because my man, if you built a fucking giant STARSHIP by yourself, in just a few days, in your SPARE time?? I mean you spent most of your days scolding your adult daughter about how she didn't measure up to you, so how did you possibly have time to build a dumbass ship?

If you managed to build a huge star ship in a matter of days by yourself, you should be the new Prime Minister of the Universe. You are the most powerful human being out there. That's like Q levels of magic.

Cos the entire Voyager crew was really tired working together flat out to build the Delta Flyer- a shuttle— and it still has to do test flights and corrections. The hull even breached on their first outing. They had to upgrade it several times.

How did you happen to know you needed to recreate your old starship to begin with? Again, Q levels of competency, there. Is Livingston the fish in Picard’s ready room replicated, too? Picard's archaeology books? His Shakespeare compendium?

How many test flights did you take out this giant star ship on in the couple of days you were working on this thing? You even had time to get the carpet right? And recreate the plaque? And do all of this without anyone noticing.

Even Data working at super-human speed couldn’t build the Battle Bridge or a shuttle the size of the Delta Flyer in a few days by himself- but you built a whole ass giant ship??

It took over 1000 people to run this giant ship on a normal day. And even with it fully automated, the idea that 7 people could run the entire ship into a battle?

CRUSHER: It's all perfectly logical to you, isn't it? The two of us roaming about the galaxy in the flagship of the Federation. No crew at all.

PICARD: We've never needed a crew before.

At least in ‘Remember Me,’ the idea of such a small number of people running a giant starship was preposterous- laughable. But apparently you can run a ship the size of a city with 7 people when the fuel is nostalgia.

Oh and after he’s rebuilt this perfect Federation ship, they’re not going to put it into service? They just rechristen the Titan instead? Or was it just so poorly put together that just the bridge was perfect and the rest was held together with duct tape? it really could only handle that one little battle? In which case, shouldn't you have spent more time making sure the ship was space-worthy instead of replicating and laying the fucking carpet??

The fact that Picard writers/show runners thought this was passable and not laughable is sad. audiences swallowed this bullshit is just pathetic, and shows how low the bar is for quality as long as nostalgia is the fuel.

Fuck. This. Show. Fuck this nostalgic impossible bullshit. Fuck this magic replica of a giant starship. Fuck Picard. Fuck that carpet.

[govindtbrc]

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In conclusion, the TNC threaded connector market plays a vital role in enabling secure and reliable connections in high-frequency RF and coaxial cable systems across various industries and applications. With their robust construction, versatility, and compatibility, TNC connectors provide engineers and designers with a trusted solution for transmitting signals with minimal interference and loss, ensuring optimal performance and safety in demanding environments. As technology continues to advance and connectivity requirements evolve, the demand for high-performance TNC connectors is expected to grow, driving further innovation and investment in this critical segment of the connector market.

[sumcringeboi]

I thought I’d start posting some short story’s cuz this seems to be my art dump place and I wanted to try writing more stuff at some point, so here’s this, I used a random word generator as inspiration, the 3 words it spat out were:

Decay, smile, grey.

My eyes peel open, once again, as they had countless times before, I awake from awful, disjointed dreams, the feeling of the mind consuming itself, a part of me is glad to put an end to it, another knows that sleep would be preferable.

The morning commute is as it always is, peering through car windows at the faces of others, stuck in gridlock, everyone rushing to be other places, just go back again, like they always do, like i always do. I struggle to see them as people in a sense, I know that they are, a primordial part of me knows that, on the other hand, I perhaps have a habit of taking my work home with me, a very nasty habit. I see them as objects, I suppose I have to in order to keep my sanity.

I arrive, just in time to swallow the delusions of people being unimportant and internalise it, the cold steel doors shriek to the side to let me pass, I walk the unlit corridor, as I had countless times before, as I will countless times again, the light from the crack of the door fades as I continue the trek through the dingy, unwashed corridor, daunting enough to scare off most curious onlookers, those who push on through the rusted steel however would be met with a fingerprint locked elevator, how I wish I was so lucky to be afforded the luxury of turning back, but no, the door opens, my weight shifts upward as I descend, down,

And down,

And down.

When I reach the bottom i am forced to strap on my work face, to force a neutral appearance past the dishevelled depression. The repugnant clack of my docket as I clock in, all too familiar, I check my assignments;

“Task #1: visual inspection of subject 1284”

1284- I breath a sigh… “1284”

Subject 1284, Caucasian male, 36, brown hair, green eyes, no friends, no remaining family, name: unimportant…

Subject 1284 is an unwilling participant of live genetic modification. Modifying a human embryo is a fairly straightforward affair, relatively speaking- that is, encode a strand of DNA or RNA into a CRISPR protein that need to be added or subtracted, introduce the protein to the embryo and wait a couple of hours, couldn’t be simpler. Live modifications however are a different beast entirely, I won’t mortify you with the whole process, mostly for my own sake, my mind is a labyrinth of doors to thoughts and memory’s that must me opened and closed to fit my situation, some doors I prefer to open only if I truely must, this metaphor also describes the door to subject 1284s containment chamber, only opened for scheduled feeding or stimuli testing and only when it is safe.

I thank my lucky stars that I don’t need to go anywhere near that dreaded door, all I need to do is a visual check through a reinforced acrylic bulkhead. Tenuously I make my way to the chamber and gaze through the window. I see a white steel cell caked in smears of thick black, and at the opposite end of the cell, with its back towards the window is a gaunt, humanoid creature, is skin is a faded grey with what I can only assume are shreds of remaining bone visible through the rice paper skin that lays tight around its haunting form. I made no noise and yet, it knew I was there, with shaking legs it rose from its hunched crouch, with that same black viscous fluid stringing from it like honey. The steel echos a piercing slam, within the blink of an eye the creature has bounded towards me faster than human eyes can register and slammed itself against the glass, I stare, unblinking into the piercing eyes of a living monster, perhaps the only part of its skin that is not pulled tight against its anatomy is its face, it’s jaw hangs open nearly to its pectorals, it’s eyes like deflated, melting rubber that gently wobble within loose sockets, though they point on random directions I somehow know it sees me, like it’s staring at me.

The creatures distended maw pulls up to allow the cheeks to widen, I get a clear shot of the back of its throat, all of its insides are different shades of black, no teeth, I see the muscles through the skin on its bloated stomach heave as a strange puckered fleshy shape climbs from its throat like a pelican yawning, after a few strong dry reaches it vomits a splatter of that same black fluid to completely cover the window, it’s shacking hand wipes vertical streak down the centre of the glass revealing that it’s once bloated stomach now sags down, a hollow and empty bag of skin. I watch as it’s sickening face coils into a vile facsimile of a smile as I watch the life drain from its eyes, as if dying was the first positive feeling its had in a long time, perhaps ever. It stumbles and falls backwards, vital signs of the rooms interior registers no ongoing cellular processes.

“Bio experiment 1284: failure”

“Task #2: feeding of subject 1285”

-so yea a little generic and scp inspired but it was my first time opening ia writer in a good while so hopefully with the practice, the idea I got brewing comes out good :3

[trickstercaptain]

       “ That can be arranged. ” Jack didn't even miss a beat, the amusement shining even more brightly in his eyes that Harrington had taken the bait. It would perhaps be a little cruel to toy with him like this, particularly in full view of his crew mates ( and knowing how important harmony was if his first command was to go smoothly enough to impress Beckett ). But whether he'd done so intentionally or not, in not slinking away in defeat, Steve had thrown a proverbial gauntlet at Jack's feet. The crew were not only watching their new spoilt rich boy comrade, but their new captain too, no doubt curious to see how Jack's youth —  and inexperience in command —  would continue to affect his style of leadership.

       It was yet another test, and Jack needed to win it. So he squared up with another sly smile. “ I’m terribly sorry we’re not all up to your exacting standards, my lord. ” The mock bow he extended to Steve was maybe a little unnecessary, but still immensely satisfying. A couple more chuckles echoed from behind him. “ What with drinking water being a valuable commodity, would you rather we were all clean or that we didn’t all die of thirst? ” There. Clean and quick. He didn't need to verbally harangue the boy any more than that. Not while he was one of the few men on this crew around the same age ( even if he did come from a completely different world to his own ), and not while he looked so bloody sorry for himself ( even though he was still a spoilt brat ). With a halting glance behind him, Jack took a few steps closer, ducking under a nearby bulkhead. He lowered his voice this time, ensuring that it didn't carry to the handful of crewmen still watching on. “ Is there nothing I can do to help? You look miserable. ”

         harringtontm : HIS FATHER HAD TOLD HIM  before he’d sent him on this wretched endeavor that he would grow accustomed to being at sea.  &  he should know, having spent most of his days in steve’s youth off building his career with the english navy.  but as of yet steve still hadn’t grown used to it at all.  the constant swaying of the deck made him feel a little ill at all times, the unpredictable movements of the tides turning him clumsy, his footing always uncertain.  &  if that were not bad enough,  steve had been fighting a cold for two days, his nose dripping constantly  &  shivers wracking his spine, unable to be soothed away with lukewarm rations  &  threadbare hammocks.  he longed for his feather bed, his sleeping quarters with their own personal fireplace.  but when his lamentations call the attentions of the captain, his wit comes sharp  &  deft, striking before steve can even think to defend himself.  &  all at once, the crew is laughing at him, the captain’s sly smile at the center of them all.                           &  steve feels his face flush, heat spreading over his cheekbones in spite of the chilly sea breeze.  if he were still within the walls of his father’s estate, none of these men would dare to laugh at him so brazenly.  was this what the newly appointed governor harrington wanted his son to learn in his time at sea :  sickness  &  humiliation ?  if so, he could consider the lesson learned.  but his father isn’t here now,  &   steve has no choice but to brace himself as straight as he can  &  face jack,  refusing to let either captain or crew see him slink away in defeat.  ❝ i’d sooner share my sleeping quarters with a sea lion, ❞  he counters, arms crossing stubbornly in front of his chest.  ❝ at least the beast would smell better than some of these men.  i find the personal hygiene standards on this crew rather sorely lacking, captain. ❞

[thatdorkyauthor]

Can I request tfp Ratchet, Optimus and Megatron's reaction on having a VA (voice actor) male reader who somehow managed to copy their voice and used it to there advantage or just making fun of them in general?

Had to retype it a couple of times, hence why it’s only uploaded now. Hopefully it’s to your liking.  I couldn’t think of anything for Optimus tho, I apologize. As soon as I come up with something I shall post it. Ratchet: - The first time he would hear his own voice coming from somewhere else he would be so confused, and startled. - He would've missed it a couple of times but when he heard something break, followed by a "Bulkhead I needed that." He would jump. - Thinks one of the kids had recorded it to play back, when it turned out it wasn't he would do a self scan, thinking there's something wrong with his audio receptors. - The third time it happened he just asked in general. "Who is doing that?" Hoping to get an answer but knowing that wasn't likely. And as he expected no one spoke up. - He still believed someone recorded it, not knowing or believing humans could "chance" their voices. - Until one day: "Morning (Y/n)!" Miko looked down at you from the balcony, an evil smile on her face. The girl didn't look away from you as you walked up the stairs, quickly realizing one certain bot wasn't around. "Morning Miko, where are the others?" Jack and Raf weren't present yet as Bumblebee and Arcee were still on their way. "They'll be here soon, but." She trailed off, a familiar look of mischief present in her eyes. "Want to prank doc bot?" "And die, no thanks." Her shoulders dropped. "Aw come on, it's harmless and it'd be funny." She watched you hesitate and sigh. "What's the plan?" Raf and Jack shared a look, noticing quickly that their two friends were up to something. Ratchet had entered the main room not to long ago and stood at his usual place again. Miko giggled and grinned like the Cheshire cat as she knocked over a glass. Before Ratchet could turn around he heard his own voice again. “Miko, I needed that!” He turned around spotting you frowning at the girl. “(Y/n)?” He questioned, watching you closely as he turned around. “Yes?” He stepped back, startled to hear his voice coming from your mouth. Miko started to laugh, as the other two boys chuckled silently, amused by the scene unfolding in front of them. “So it was you.” Ratchet pointed a finger at you, slightly annoyed. “But how?” “Well for starters.” He had cut you off. “In your own voice, please.”  “I’m a voice actor, I either copy or make up voices, try them out and use them for entertainment purposes.” Ratchet nodded slowly. “Okay, then. I didn’t know humans were capable of such thing.” He watched a smirk form on your face. “Pu- lease, of course we are.” He narrowed his optics. “Alright, stop mocking me. It’s getting annoying.” He watched you clear your throat and smirk up at him. “Sure thing, sunshine.” “No.” “Why did I hear my voice!” Megatron - He would be wondering where in the pits the voice came from. - Heard it the first time.  - Confused as he was sure soundwave wasn’t in the same room as him, and he was sure he wouldn’t mock him. - Blamed Starscream at first, thinking he was the one making fun of him. - Doesn’t regret punishing him once he figures out it wasn’t him. - He was quite startled when he heard his own voice coming from vents and little corners, so he decides to go to Knockout, who was in on the plan. “Knockout!” The grey mech stormed into the medbay, sick of hearing voices, again. Startled, the cherry red mech turned around, putting his acting skills to the test. “Yes, Lord Megatron?” It took Knockout everything not to turn his head, knowing that you were sitting on one of the shelves. Before Megatron himself could answer he heard his voice. “I need you to scan me, something’s wrong with my audio receptors.” The warlord looked around the room with a scowl, on  his faceplates as he activated on of his guns ready to show what or whomever. Hiding a laugh Knockout crossed his arms, looking at the warlord with worry. “Well, is there anything I can do?”

 Megatron looked at his medic, raising an eyebrow. “You didn’t hear that?” “Heard what? ”The grey mech narrowed his optics at the bot in front of him before huffing. “Just, scan me, I believe there’s something wrong with my audio receptors.” The medic did as ordered and looked at the scans thoroughly. “What makes you thing there’s something wrong?” The warlords voice questioned him tauntingly. Megatron ignored it and glared at the medic who clapped his hands together. “There seems to be nothing wrong my lord.” He calmly walked to the door, doing his best not to laugh at the mechs confused expression. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to head off.” He said quickly before leaving the room. Megatron stood up and looked around the room, before snapping his helm towards the now closed med bay doors, laughter coming from behind it. “What is the meaning of this!” He scanned the room, only now realizing he wasn’t alone. “You.” He stepped towards the shelves, finally spotting you. “Oh shit.”

[erimeows]

Feverish

You were surprised to have been called to the med bay a little bit past nine in the evening, woken up by your phone ringing and Ratchet on the other end. You clutched your robe close to your body as you raced through the hallway, sleep in your eyes and worries in your head.

The lead medic had given you no explanation, only telling you to come meet him outside of the med bay as soon as you could before he hung up on you.

You wondered if it was an emergency, if someone was injured or dying, if something had happened during patrol- Wait, no. Their night patrols didn’t start for another hour or so, and if it had been an emergency, someone like Bumblebee or Optimus would’ve called you in a panic.

Still, the whole situation was weird, and you were worried, so when you saw Ratchet outside of the med bay leaning against one of the walls, you immediately approached him with your concern etched in your features. 

Upon seeing you, Ratchet stood up straight, then put a strong servo on your shoulder in a reassuring manner before looking down at you. His pale blue optics burned into your (e/c) eyes, and though you tried your best, you couldn’t read his expression.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the medic spoke.

“Optimus Prime has fallen ill.”

“What?” You immediately sputtered, and your eyes flew to the door of the med bay; closed, you couldn’t even see Optimus. You just prayed that he was okay. In the time that you’d known the Prime and his team, you’d seen him injured or sick plenty, though the former was much more common. He never prioritized his own health and tried to push himself to do things, even when he was unwell, so he took forever to recover... Hopefully it wasn’t something severe. “How bad is it? Is he awake? Have you told the team yet?”

“Hey, hey, slow down. It’s nothing crazy, (y/n), so don’t worry,” Ratchet’s words, said in an uncharacteristically gentle tone, soothed you, if only a little. If it were serious or ‘crazy’ as he put it, he would’ve told you directly instead of lying, so you believed him. “This morning, I was the first to wake and go into the kitchen to make myself an energy booster when I saw him stumble in... As in, he was literally stumbling over himself and I could see steam rolling off of him from overheat. He insisted he was fine, but something was off, so I dragged him to the medbay for testing. He’s low on energon and coolant, he was overheating, and there was a minor glitch in his vents from some battle damage that I had to fix. He’s recovering fine, but my main concern is that his chassis seems to be overheating to kill an infection. I think it’s just your run-of-the-mill space bug based on the labs I did, so I gave him some antibiotics.”

“You didn’t answer some of my questions-” You started, now concerned with whether you could actually go and see Optimus or not.

It wasn’t uncommon for the red and blue bot to ignore his own needs, but for him to have ignored symptoms that could’ve turned into something much worse had Ratchet not caught them... You wondered if there was something bothering Optimus that was making him neglect himself, more than he usually would.

“So demanding, you youngin’s,” Ratchet huffed and rolled his optics at you. “It’s not that bad, he’s awake, and no, I haven’t told the others yet. Our nightly patrol is soon and I have to break the news to them somehow, which is why I called you here. You can’t go with us anyway and they need me since we’re down one bot, so I want you to stay with Prime. He responds the best to you...” You blinked and then blushed at that, (s/c) cheeks burning bright. It was true that you and Optimus were close, but for Ratchet to acknowledge it like that... Well, you were flattered. You’d loved Optimus for as long as you could remember, and even though Ratchet surely meant that in a platonic way, it was nice to know that the effort you put into your relationship with the bot meant something. “His condition isn’t from a decline in his physical health- I had to pry like hell to find out what it was, but Prime finally broke and told me that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten an energon cube or ran a self-evaluation to make sure he was functioning properly, which is why he’s energy-depleted and why the damage to his vents went unchecked. He’s so stressed from the leadership that this team needs that he isn’t taking care of himself anymore, and now, it’s led to him falling sick again. I think there’s something else going on in that processor of his, too, but he wouldn’t tell me anything else... I just know it’s more mental than anything.”

You stopped, frowning. What else could Optimus be hiding from everyone? Was he doing something dangerous? Had something happened? Was he breaking down from stress?

“O-Oh.. Okay,” You mumbled and leaned into the servo of Ratchet’s that was on your shoulder, sighing when he ran his thumb over a sore spot on the groove between said shoulder and your collar. The two of you had developed a close bond over the past couple years since they’d been on earth, with you, Sari’s tutor and caretaker, also acting as a second medic for the team with Ratchet’s training. While he’d trained you in how to care for the Autobots, you’d given him the basics of human anatomy and medical care, so with that time spent together, you were close- whether the old grump admitted it or not. “What about his medicine? How often does he take it? Is there anything else I need to do?”

“One pill every six human hours, they’re the white gel capsules that are rationed out on the table by Prime’s med-berth. I just gave him a dose, so don’t get him another one until three in the morning. He also needs to drink plenty of energon, coolant, and lubricant to get better, so make him do it, even if he gets pissy with you- shove it down his throat if you have to... But those are all things that I already told him, and he’s fully capable of taking care of himself. I don’t need you in there to take care of him so much as I need you to stay in there to make sure he doesn’t get up and do anything stupid. You know how he gets when he’s sick.”

“Unfortunately, I do...” You let out a long sigh and crossed your arms over your chest. It was going to be hard dealing with Optimus- hell, you could already imagine how he would be trying to sneak out of the med bay to go on patrol or trying to make you bring paperwork for him to do. You wouldn’t allow either, but considering how much larger he was than you, you’d have to convince him to relax instead of just being able to hold his aft down like Ratchet or Bulkhead could. “I’ll make sure he stays put. I’m assuming you’re taking over leadership until he recovers, Ratchet?”

“As the team medic, I’m second in command, so yeah... I have to. I’d let Prowl do it, but Primus knows he doesn’t want to, and I wouldn’t let Bumblebee or Bulkhead within a ten mile radius of any form of responsibility like this. I’m really the only option.”

“Right...” You imagined what a patrol without Optimus, led by a stressed and grouchy Ratchet would be like, and then cringed. “Good luck.”

“Thanks. I’ll need it.”

With that, Ratchet withdrew his servo from your shoulder and waved at you before turning around and walking down the hallway. You figured that Optimus shouldn’t be left alone for too long, so you quickly entered the med bay and shut the door behind you.

It was dark, with a small night light plugged into the walls that illuminated the room just a bit. You could see Optimus, who looked uncharacteristically pathetic, weakly laying on a med berth with a small side table on the ground next to him. On the table were some energon sticks, a cup of coolant, and the white pills that Ratchet had mentioned. 

“(y/n), is that you?” Optimus asked, trying to sit up, but immediately groaning in what you assumed was pain and flopping back down. His eyes squeezed shut, a strained grimace taking over his face-plates. You pulled one of the stools by a wall-counter to the side of the room where Optimus’s berth was and put it right by his side table so you could sit by him. You were close to his face, so you leaned down to look at it as his optics slowly opened back.

He was sick, and it would take at least a few days if not a week to recover; you could tell just by looking at him. His ocean-hued optics were abnormally dark and foggy, his powder blue faceplates were stained dark with heat, and though he wasn’t steaming like Ratchet had described this morning, there was definitely still heat radiating from his frame.

“Yes, Optimus, it’s me... I’m here to watch over you,” You leaned in to kiss the top of his helm, able to feel just how hot the metal felt against you. When you pulled back, you frowned at the absurd amount of heat- almost hot enough to make your lips sting, while Optimus’s normal temperature was a bit cooler than that of an average human’s by a degree or two. “Ratchet called me down here and told me what’s going on a bit ago. The team’s on patrol right now.”

“Slag, I can’t believe Ratchet told you,” Optimus groaned again, this time in annoyance instead of pain. “I told him not to earlier when he was fixing my vents... He’s probably going to tell the rest of the team, too. I have to get up and go supervise the patrol-” He forced himself to sit up this time, forced back a wince, forced his optics to open fully, but the second you pressed a rushed hand to his chest plates and attempted to push him back, he froze.

“Oh, no you don’t!” You argued, eyebrows furrowing in frustration as a pout formed on your face. 

“Oh, yes I do!” The Autobot argued back without hesitation, but didn’t actually move to push your hand away or leave even though he was fully capable of doing so, only resting one of his servos on the one of yours that was on his chest- stumbling and overheating or not, he was much larger and much stronger than you. Then again, he probably knew that Ratchet would beat him to a pulp the second he recovered if he dared lay a single digit on you to escape the med bay. “As much as I appreciate the concern, I don’t want it nor do I need it, and I certainly don’t want it from my team. It’s bad enough that you know. I know they’ll start asking questions when I don’t go on patrol with them, and if they hear that I got sick from overexerting myself and not getting enough rest and energon, they’ll never let me hear the end of it-”

“Well, maybe that’s what you need, so lay your stubborn ass down! I did not come here with my hair all fucked up and in this stupid robe in the middle of the night when I could’ve been sleeping just to have you run away from me when I’m trying to take care of you! You getting up right now just drives home how bad you are about prioritizing yourself,” Optimus’s plump and normally soft lips, now chapped from dehydration, pulled together into a tight frown- it was the face he made when he knew he was in the wrong. “You’re getting out of your bed when you’re supposed to be resting so you can go lie to your team and tell them you’re fine when you’re not, and for what? Your pride?”

“No, I just don’t want them to worry for me. I’m already stressed out enough and the last thing I need is for that to contribute to their struggles. They’re all dealing with so many of their own problems, and I’m sick of being a burden to everyone around me...”

Optimus huffed, but gave up and laid back down, much to your relief. He still held your hand, though, and you let him- even if he was sick, you didn’t want him to let go.

“You’re not a burden, and just like how they’re dealing with their problems, you’re dealing with yours. You don’t have to be perfect to be loved and respected, and not to insult your acting skills, but... They won’t believe you if you walk out there overheating and struggling to stay standing to tell them that you’re perfectly fine. Ratchet told me how you were stumbling around this morning.”

“I hate that you’re right,” He mumbled, and you wondered why he always had to be so childish when he was sick. 

Then again, as much as you hated Optimus’s stubborn personality, it was a major component of who you’d gone and fallen in love with all that time ago. It was crazy, you thought; just the extent that you loved Optimus Prime to, and how terribly unaware he was of it. You thought it best to keep the fact hidden, as you didn’t know what his feelings were, and he had so much on his plate already... It hurt to think that he didn’t know how loved he was- not just by you, but by everyone around him, who he was always bending over backwards for, completely unaware that they’d do the exact same for him.

“And I hate that you treat yourself like this. Plus, as much as Ratchet threatens us all with consequences for our actions, he’s not going to tell them what’s going on in depth; just that you have a fever and that you’re resting, you know he respects patient confidentiality. He’ll probably even downplay it because he knows that’s what’ll make you happy.”

“No, you’re just trying to reassure me, but...” Optimus paused and let go of your hand, fully settling back into the berth. You took your hand back and looked off to the side, already missing his touch. “I know you want to, and that Ratchet probably told you to spend the night here and take care of me, but I’m alright now. I’ll stay and rest, I promise. You can go to your room to sleep, I know you’re usually not up this late, and I’d hate to keep you up with my problems.”

You didn’t really want to leave him, but you were tired, and you believed his words. His tone was genuine enough.

“Are you sure?” You asked and received a nod in return. So, you stood up and collected yourself. “Okay, if you’re sure... I’ll leave and go get some rest, then come back at three to give you your antibiotics and make sure you’ve got something on your stomach.”

Silence. 

The second you turned around to leave, though, Optimus was grabbing the back of your robe and holding the cloth between his digits, tone low as he spoke again.

“Actually, (y/n), wait... Don’t leave me. I need you.”

You turned back around and looked at him, confused. Hadn’t he just told you seconds before that he was fine and that you should leave to go get some rest so that he could fall into recharge as well? What was with the sudden change of heart? Was there something going on with his physical condition, or was it something else?

“Huh? But Optimus, you said you needed to rest...” You muttered, which earned you a shake of his head in return.

“I will,” Optimus promised. “Please, just stay and don’t question it. I lied to you, I don’t know why, but I can’t be alone right now. Don’t leave me.”

The plead from him was unexpectedly vulnerable, honest, open. You appreciated it, but at the same time, you were concerned about what exactly was going on with him- you felt like there was more to the story than stress and leadership and lack of self-care. While all of that was definitely in character for Optimus Prime, there was something else that he wasn’t telling you about, too. With how close you were to him, it wasn’t abnormal for you to have deeper discussions, but for him to admit that he wanted- no, needed you there with him and couldn’t be alone was something you’d never thought you’d hear in your lifetime.

“Okay, I’ll stay until you tell me to go, then. Thank you for being honest with me.”

With that, you sat back down on the stool and looked at him. A little bit of that light had returned to his optics, but he still seemed like he was in rough shape.

“Thank you.”

Silence again.

Instead of adjusting to get comfortable and slip into recharge, Optimus just sat there with his back against the board of the berth, optics trained on you. It had taken a while to get used to when you’d first met him, but nowadays, you were used to the Prime’s intensity, especially when it came to eye/optic-contact. Still, though, the way he was staring at you now... You couldn’t quite interpret it. Then again, could you usually? Optimus was hard to read sometimes.

“You’re not resting,” You teased, but received a serious response in return.

“I’m thinking, and then I’ll rest.”

“You’re sick, the last thing you need to be doing is overthinking like you always do,” You reached out to him, rested your palm on the side of his face and tenderly ran a thumb over the apex of his cheek. Surprisingly, he leaned into your touch with a smile.

“What if it pertains to you? It’s either I tell you and get my closure, which is daunting, or I sit here overthinking it like I always do.”

You felt your heart drop to the bottom of your stomach and flinched. It had been obvious that something was on his processor, but it had to do with you? What was it? Did it have to do with your feelings? Tense, you talked again.

“...Have I done something? I’d rather you tell me.”

“You’ve made me fall in love with you.”

The words were whispered but still felt so loud, filling the room with their impact in a way that made your cheeks hot and your heart beat hard against your chest.

“Your illness must be making you delusional,” You laughed nervously, but Optimus only gave you a sloppy grin and laughed. You moved your hand to the top of his helm to check his temperature, but it hadn’t changed- as much as you wanted to believe it, you were sure he was being serious and not having feverous hallucinations like you’d initially suspected. Still, you thought it proper to ask. “Do you feel hot? Are you overheating again?”

“No, (y/n), I’m just in love with you,” Optimus peered at you, smile falling a bit. “I mean, yes, I am sick, and I’m still overheating, but I’ve been in love with you for- Ah, I’m actually not sure how long it’s been... I just know it’s been too long.”

There was a pause, in which the two of you seemed to be processing what important things were said; in the span of just a minute or two, Optimus had boldly laid his feelings out for you on the table, unabashed and proud, the tension that came with two years worth of pining that you’d been doing solved so... Quickly. You were surprised you hadn’t felt your jaw hit the floor.

Had he really loved you the whole time? Or was this a recent development? Why was he only telling you now? Had his stress over his feelings for you also contributed to his sickness?

“I’m not sure I can talk about this in good conscience when you’re so vulnerable,” You smiled back at him, (e/c) eyes meeting his ocean-hued optics as you removed your hand from his head. Shyly, he reached out to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear. “It feels selfish, but... I love you, too, and that’s why I want you to rest and get better, maybe not stress out so much.”

You kissed the back of his servo as he pulled it away, earning what you hoped was a blush and not more symptoms of overheating.

“I’d kiss you if I weren’t afraid of getting you sick,” Optimus sighed. You were sure that you probably couldn’t catch whatever he had going on since he was a Cybertronian and you were human, but you didn’t want to test that theory, so you left it alone.

“It’s okay,” You reached out to hold one of his servos in both of your hands, squeezing reassuringly. “I can feel the sentiment. Just focus on getting better, okay? We have all the time in the world.”

“Sometimes I fear we don’t- Have all the time, I mean, and I suppose that’s why I finally broke down and did this- I like to believe I’m impervious to everything around me, but I’ve already died once, and every time I get sick, I always think about what will happen if I go offline without telling everyone around me just how much they mean. I didn’t want to be scared anymore, not when it came to you.”

“I...” You stood and got on top of the berth so you could sit next to Optimus, curling into his side. “Me, too.”

“Will you be here when I wake up?” The Prime asked and wrapped an arm around you. Gentle. Strong. Warm.

“Would you like me to be?” You asked in return with a tilt of your head.

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll be here,” Optimus looked at you, clearly somewhat doubtful, but you only shook your head with a smile. “I promise, I won’t leave you. Just get some rest, okay?”

“...Okay.”

So, you stayed, and when Ratchet walked in the next morning to see you curled up by Optimus’s side on the berth with your (lip/chap)stick smeared on his servos, both of you sleeping peacefully for once, he couldn’t help but think that Optimus getting sick once in a while wasn’t so bad after all.

[airplanned]

Trill AU: A whole new episode!

Master list

In which Zelda gets to spend some time with her parents, who insist on being the most difficult people ever.

Part 8

Personal Log: We're currently in orbit around Axanar to accompany Ambassador Trinlee on a diplomatic mission to Rigess 4.  This allows us a few days of shore leave, and--thankfully--a chance for me to see my parents.

"I'm not allowed to take you to main engineering, but I could show you the particle lab later if you want to see our research," Zelda said, guiding her parents through the ship's corridors towards her quarters.

"Whatever you want to show us," her dad said amicably, meaning he wouldn't understand anything she showed them in the lab, and was just happy to be here.

"I want to see where you live," her mom said.  "Have you decorated at all?"

"Not much.  I have a couple art prints and some--"

"Zelda!"

She turned around, and to her mortification Link jogged up to her with only a brief "hi" as he slipped past her parents without really looking at them.  

Thankfully, instead of saying something incriminating, he handed her a pad.  "Scanner reports from the last test flight."

She grabbed it, flipping through the rows and rows of numbers.  "Excellent.  Look at this definite spike."  She turned so he could see the data over her shoulder.  "And another!  I bet they match the harmonic resonance of the baryon cloud."

"Just like you predicted."

She looked up to grin at him, only to realize what an enamored look he was giving her and how close they were standing.  She blinked, remembering where she was.

The silence from beside her was deafening.

She turned to her parents in mortification, announcing a bit too loudly, "These are my parents!"

Link's face fell.  His mouth working as he fought the words out.  "I--Oh.  Hi, uh, Mr. and Ms. Harkinian.  Welcome aboard."  He held out his hand to shake.

Zelda had never seen her parents' eyebrows so high.  She did not like the smile stretching her mother's mouth.

Belatedly, Zelda said, "This is Link."

"Link!" her mom said, shaking his hand with both of her own.  "It's a pleasure."

Zelda could die.

“The pleasure’s mine.  Zelda says only good things about you.”

“Does she?”  Her mom’s look had turned downright evil.

Flailing for something to say, Link tried, “Has she given you the full tour yet?  The arboretum is nice.”

"I heard something about a lab," her dad said.

Link nodded eagerly.  "That's great too.  You can see all the modifications Zelda's making to the coolant injectors.  She increased engine productivity by three percent."

"Did she?" her dad asked.

"Yes."

Her dad's eyes were glinting too much.  She needed to put a stop to this.

"Thank you for this," she said, tapping Link's arm a bit too hard with the pad he'd handed her.

"Right.  Yeah.  You're welcome."  He started to step away.  To her parents he said, "Have a good visit," and to her he said, "Lieutenant."

"Lieutenant."

He didn't run away, but walked a bit quicker than usual.  Zelda helped by turning and continuing to lead her parents.

They didn't move.  They just watched Link until he rounded the corner (where he probably leaned against the bulkhead and hyperventilated).  Then, of course, they turned on her, and her mother hurried up to grab her arm. 

 "Zelda, he is cute!"

Zelda refused to look at either of them and continued on, herding them towards her quarters.  "I hadn't noticed."

Both her parents scoffed, and her face heated at how obvious she'd been.

"Is he from the homeworld?  Does he know about..."  Zelda's parents didn't care at all that she hosted a banished symbiont, but they were well aware that most of the Trill in Starfleet were from the homeworld, and those she ran into usually gave her the cold shoulder.

"He's from Orion," she said.

"Orion!" Her dad practically cheered while her mother's eyes lit.

"Oh, Zelda, that's amazing!"

She rolled her eyes.

"What does he do?" asked her dad.

"He's the helmsman.  He's on the senior staff."

"A pilot!" her mom squealed.

"Is he going to test your engine designs?" her dad asked.

Zelda waved the pad around.  "That's what this is."

Her mom shook her arm and wheedled, "So are you two dating?"

"No."  She stubbornly decided to give her parents as little information as possible.  She had planned to not mention Link at all on this visit, but he'd effectively ruined that. So now she just had to give them nothing else to work with.  They might not care that she hosted a banished symbiont, but they would care if she hooked up with Fi's new host.  Not because it was taboo, but because they didn't like Fi.

"Why aren't you dating!?  He likes you."

"That's obvious," her dad added.

Her mom hissed a carrying whisper.  "Have you kissed yet?"

"No!  We're...we're just talking.  Getting to know each other."

"You know, back in my day, we would get to know each other and kiss at the same time.  It was called dating."

"Are you really trying to tell me what things were like way back when?"

Her mother threw up her hands in surrender.  "We're just excited.  You haven't dated in so long."  Basically since she was joined.  "We just like to see you happy.  He clearly makes you happy."

"He brought me a data file."

"See?  He knows the way to your heart."

Zelda rolled her eyes.

"What's wrong with him that you're not dating?" her dad asked, and Zelda nearly choked on how close he'd landed to the truth.

"We're taking it slow," she said.

"Well, that's...responsible of you," her mother said, sounding disapproving.

Zelda took a deep breath.  "It's...hard for me.  Sometimes I get..."  She flickered her fingers next to her temple, the best way she could think to describe the memory creep that would trickle in in the hours after she and Link leaned too far into each other.  She could only imagine how much worse it would get if they kissed.  She'd probably end up calling him the wrong name in bed.

Actually, his memory creep was worse than hers and he might end up doing it first.  That would be horrifying.

"Oh, sweetheart."  Her mother combed her fingers through her hair.

In a soothing voice, her father said, "It's good that he understands.  He's letting you take your time.  He seems like a nice young man...Terrified of meeting us, but--well--that was kind of funny."

Zelda laughed.

"Oh!  Is he going to pilot the ambassador up to your ship?  That's exciting."

"Why is that exciting?"

"Because," her dad sighed, "It means there will be a picture of them in the paper, and she can show it to all her friends that your gentleman caller got to fly the ambassador around."

Her mom didn't deny it.

In confusion, Zelda said, "I don't think they'll take a picture."  She shook herself, and in a slightly irritated tone said, "The ambassador has his own ship that he's flying up to the Naboris, with his own people and his own pilot."

"Link's busy doing other important things," her father said.  "Just as Zelda is."

"You must not get very much time to socialize," her mother said.

"I get plenty of time to socialize.  I have a group of friends who get together every week to play cards."

"And you soundly beat them all, I bet."

"Mostly.  Link gives me a run for my money though."

She realized her mistake a moment too late and turned to see her parents smirking at each other.

"Don't," she warned.

"When's the next time you're playing cards?"

"They're scheduled for tomorrow night, but I'm skipping it.  I'd much rather have dinner with you.  Don't feel bad about it."

"No, that's wonderful!  That means Link isn't busy."

Zelda stopped walking.  "What." 

"You should bring him along!"

She'd fallen straight into their trap.  "I'm not bringing Link to dinner."

"Of course you are!  He'll appreciate a home cooked meal."

The sad news was that he would.  He definitely would.

She choked on her words, trying to come up with a better excuse, but her father just patted her on the back, looking far too pleased with himself as he pushed her into walking again.

Part 9

[thebountyfucker]

Last Friday Night

Embo and Cad have too much fun after a gig.

This is a lil fic inspired by the bounty hunter group chat. The title was inspired by Last Friday Night by Katy Perry which offered a little bit of inspiration.

(You can decide if this is platonic or shippy. I don't care either way.)

Here's the link to my masterpost!

Anyways, enjoy!

-

It wasn’t often that Cad took gigs with Embo. They were rivals, despite their friendship, and working together did little to further their careers. However, when they were both in a good mood, they made a nigh unstoppable team. Targets feared being hunted by one or the other… but together? Targets damn near shit themselves at the prospect. Cad reveled in this sensation. He fed on the power, and having Bo at his side made him feel even more powerful. That was why Cad liked Bo as much as he did. He was competent. He was talented. Though he wasn’t as good as Cad was, he could get the job done with an efficiency that many others in the field lacked. Bossk was clumsy. Dengar was a bumbling idiot. Aurra cared little about sharing success. Sugi was too honorable. But Bo? He was perfect. He was neither too honorable nor too self-serving. He was graceful and intelligent, though his people skills did leave much to be desired. That just meant he was quiet, though, which was something else Cad admired.

So when they did have the opportunity to work together, Cad took his time to enjoy it, even if Bo demanded an equal cut of the pay. Cad usually didn’t allow that, given his position in the rankings and his general skill. However, Bo was a good partner - he pulled his weight and stayed out of the way when necessary. Though Cad was chagrined to oblige, he ultimately didn’t fight it. It wasn’t worth the hassle.

“Here ya go, Bo.” Cad hummed as he shoved a case full of credits to Embo, who took it without hesitation. When they first took a gig together, Embo had made a show of counting out the credits to make sure they were evenly split. Now, he trusted Cad to keep his word. He took the case and emptied it into the pouch on his hip. “Ya gonna head out after dis?”

“I was thinking of staying around, if you wanted the company.”

“By all means. I was gonna head t’ Delana’s for a couple drinks.” Cad put his share of the pay in his own pouch, and straightened his hat. Bo cocked a browridge at this.

“Perhaps we will part ways, then. I do not want to get in the way.”

“Nonsense. Besides, I’m sure ya could let off some steam too.” Cad looped his thumbs through his belt loops as he leaned against the bulkhead of the Justifier. “What? Have ya never gone t’ a strip club wit’ yer friends before?”

“I do not have many of those, Cad.”

“Neither do I.” Cad chuckled in response before gesturing to the door with his head. “Come on. It’ll be a good time.”

“Alright. If you do not think I will be in the way…”

Cad didn’t respond as he slipped out the door and climbed out onto the Coruscanti streets. He waited for Embo to join him, before starting out toward the strip club in question. Delana’s was a high-end joint that catered to cartel leaders, crime lords, and high-end bounty hunters like themselves. The prices were high but the girls were worth it. Cad had blown thousands of credits there before. He knew tonight would have a similar outcome.

Embo walked a few paces behind Cad, silent as always. Those walking in the opposite direction gave them a wide berth, not wanting to test the patience of either of them. Some stared. Some whispered. Most, though, knew better and kept on walking. Anyone who lingered received a growl from Cad.

It wasn’t long before the obnoxious pink glow of Delana’s sign appeared in their vision. Cad began unholstering his weapons, prepared to leave them at the door as specified by the staff. He could hear Bo doing the same. He dropped them off with the bouncer, who then immediately let him in.

He stepped inside, his gaze sweeping across the floor. Bo stepped in behind him, gently bumping into him. “Sorry.”

“Ain’t gotta ‘pologize, Bo.” Cad chuckled as he started toward the bar. Embo followed him and they both slid up onto bar stools. Embo leaned forward, resting his arms on the bar as his gaze scanned over the bottles of booze behind the bar.

The Twi’lek bartender swayed up to them with a smirk, before leaning forward, exposing her cleavage to them. Cad quirked a browridge. “Hey boys. What can I get ya?”

“A whiskey fer me. A Sex in De Streets fer him.” Cad playfully elbowed Embo’s side. He knew that Bo preferred the fruity drinks over anything else. The Twi’lek looked to Bo for confirmation, and Bo nodded in response.

“Alright. Coming right up.”

Cad leaned back, casting a glance at the stage from over his shoulder. A pretty Theelin girl commanded the stage, crawling on her hands and knees toward the men in the crowd. Cad pulled his gaze away, instead focusing it on Bo. He had removed his mask in anticipation of receiving his drink.

“Do ya have a favorite girl?”

“Hm? No…” Embo looked out at the girls mingling around on the floor. “They come to me, usually.”

“Dey know yer packin’.” Cad smirked as he received the drink from the bartender. Bo shot him an unamused look, to which Cad just shrugged. “Hey, ya can’t deny it.”

Bo just shook his head as he reached for his own drink. They down their drinks together, before ordering seconds. It was around this time that the ladies finally realized they were there, and came over to say hello. Cad basked in the attention, wrapping his arms around their waists and pulling them closer to him. Bo didn’t touch them - not yet. He waited until his second drink was downed before pulling two ladies up onto his lap. They all chatted and flirted as their third drinks were made. The bartender mentioned something about ‘a special extra’ they could add to their drink. They agreed. Cad and Bo drank their third drinks.

It wasn’t long after this that Cad swaggered off with his ladies toward the backrooms for a ‘private dance’. Bo waved him off, content to just sit at the bar with his admirers. They tried to convince him to get a private dance himself. Bo wasn’t terribly interested in it. He was more interested in whatever that ‘special extra’ was because it made him feel very good.

Time began to melt after that. Bo had extra shots while he waited for Cad, and after a while, the ladies wandered off, bored. Bo moved toward the stage to watch the performances. He tipped an exorbitant amount to the pretty Zabrak lady. And to the Nautolan. And the Duros. Cad found Bo leaned up against the railings, laughing to himself as he tossed the club’s ‘funny money’ at the dancer.

“De hell are ya doin’?” Cad muttered as he took to Bo's side, his arm sliding across Bo’s back. Bo turned toward him, scrunching his face up as best he could.

“I love you, man.” Bo slurred.

“Don’ be a sap… Come on, dis place is dead.” Cad steered Bo toward the doorway. Bo didn’t fight him, stumbling the whole way.

Bo paused in their retreat when they reached the bar, stopping Cad in their tracks. Cad grumbled in response. “One last drink… for the road?”

“Yeah, dat wouldn’ hurt.”

They stopped at the bar, got one last drink with the ‘something special’, and settled their tabs. Then, they stumbled toward the bouncer to collect their weapons and went along their way.

“Where t’ next, Bo?”

“I do no’ know…” Bo muttered as he slung his arm over Cad’s shoulder, and gave him a friendly -albeit rough- jostle. The edges of their vision started to blur, and Cad cursed as he leaned into Bo.

“What did dat chick put in our drinks?” He paused for a beat. “Were we drugged?”

“Heh… yeah…”

“Yer an idiot, Bo.”

“No, you.”

Everything went dark. When they awoke, nearly three hours had passed and they were in some booth in this hole-in-the-wall bar. The room reeked of vomit and piss. The table, upon which Bo was resting, was sticky. The cushions on the bench seats were torn open. The music was loud, barely masking a bar fight which was happening about twenty feet away. Cad rubbed his eyes and looked around, trying to center himself. He knew that he was still quite drunk, but whatever they were drugged with had worn off it seemed. He glanced over at Bo, who was slowly coming to.

“Where de hell are we?”

“Huh?” Bo lifted his head off the table, cringing at the sticky sensation. He looked around, before shrugging. “Dunno.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Cad reached down, patting along his side to make sure his blasters were still there. They were, luckily… but his credits were all gone. Whether they had been stolen or had been spent, Cad wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was broke… and this didn’t bode well. “Shit.”

“Huh?”

“I’m broke.”

Bo reached down to pat along his own pouch. “Hm. Me too.”

“Well… shit.” Cad leaned back against the backrest of the bench seat, his hand going to his chin. “Dere goes grocery money.”

“Fuel money.”

“Rent.” Cad cursed as he rubbed his temple. “Bo, we need another gig.”

“Righ’ now?” Cad nodded as Bo tried to rub the sticky sensation from his face. “Cad… that is a bad idea.”

“What, yer tellin’ me ya never took a gig drunk?”

“Never.” Bo muttered. “Is bad business.”

“Only if yer bad at yer job. Or stupid.”

“I am not stupid.”

“Right! So dis will be easy fer ya!” Cad tapped at his wrist gauntlet, watching as one of the buttons on it lit up. He then dug around in his pocket for his datapad. “Ya watch my datapad. I’ll be righ’ back.”

Bo took the datapad and looked down at the screen as Cad stalked toward the bar. His wrist-gauntlet scanned the patrons in the bar, searching for active bounties. Cad stopped at the bar, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. “Ya got any water? Or sarsaparilla? Me and my pal are tryin’ t’ sober up.”

“We’re a bar, bounty hunter. We only have booze.” The grouchy Besalisk bartender frowned. Cad bristled at this and eased back.

“Yer bar’s stupid. Yer face is stupid.” He bit, watching as the Besalisk’s eye twitched. Cad’s hands slipped down to his blasters, and he cocked a brow as if to say: try me, bitch. Luckily, the bartender eased off, and Cad turned back toward Bo. He noticed Bo frantically waving at him, and Cad hurried his return.

“Mislar Abuutkin. This guy.” Bo shoved the datapad at Cad, and Cad glanced up to pinpoint the light-haired human man in question. He was seated a few booths away, his wary gaze watching them both. Cad looked back down at the datapad.

“Ten grand? Eh… dat’ll do.”

When Cad looked up again, Mislar was making his retreat. Cad cursed and shoved the datapad in his pocket.

“He’s getting away, Bo!”

“On it.”

They sprang into action, rushing out after Mislar. Cad lost track of Bo the moment they got out of the bar, and cursed. Maybe Bo wasn’t suited for drunk gigs. No matter - Cad was not his babysitter. If Bo got himself into trouble, he’d have to get himself out. Cad needed this money. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him.

Mislar was crafty - he was not quite as drunk as Cad, which gave him an agility advantage. He weaved through crowds and ducked through alleyways, doing his best to trip Cad up. Cad, though less graceful, was hot on Mislar’s trail. Hunting, at this point, was an instinct of his. It didn’t matter that he was drunk. His body managed to work despite it.

They ran for what felt like miles, and every once in a while, Cad turned to try to see if Bo was following behind him. He wasn’t. Cad frowned. Where in the galaxy could that asshole be? If Cad had to come all the way back to that stars-forsaken bar just to look for Bo he was going to be pissed…

Cad shook his head and focused on the task before him. Mislar. Chase. Chasing Mislar. Ten grand. Mmmm ten grand would be nice. If Bo didn’t help, Cad wouldn’t have to split the pay. Now that was an alluring thought. No. Focus. Focus on Mislar.

Cad managed to chase Mislar into an empty street, and Mislar decided that he had had enough with running away. He stopped in his tracks and whipped around, holding a blaster in his hand. Cad frowned as he looked the man over. Judging by the way his hands shook, he hardly ever used the thing. Cad put his hands on his hips.

“Ya really gonna try t’ shoot me. ME?” Cad gestured to himself, and Mislar nodded.

“I ain’t gonna let you turn me in. I’d rather die.”

“Well… dat can be arranged.” Cad chuckled as he took a step forward. Mislar raised his blaster.

“Don’t get any closer! I’m warning you!” As if to emphasize his point, Mislar cocked the blaster. Cad mockingly raised his hands.

“Oh, I’m scared.”

Mislar fired off a bolt, and Cad twisted away from it. The bolt connected with the wall behind Cad, and Cad growled in response.

“L-lemme go!” Mislar told Cad, his voice shaking. Cad frowned as he reached for his own blasters.

“Yer making a mistake, Abuutkin.”

Before either could move, Bo dropped down behind Mislar from a rooftop nearby. Mislar, hearing the thud behind him, turned around. The moment his gaze caught on Bo, he screamed and dropped his blaster.

“Hello.” Bo waved, before reaching up to thread his hands around Mislar’s neck. He brought the man’s head down at the same time he brought his knee up, slamming Mislar’s face against his leg. Mislar’s nose broke with a sickening crunch, and Mislar let out a howl in response. Bo released Mislar with a shove, still standing on his one leg.

Cad rushed at Mislar, and tackled him onto the ground. The human struggled but ultimately didn’t fight his capture. Cad cuffed Mislar, and hefted him up, watching as Bo wobbled on his one leg.

“Put yer leg down before ya fall, idiot.”

“Oh.” Bo did as he was told, noting his stability with a surprised expression. Cad chuckled and jutted his head toward Mislar.

“Carry him.”

“Okay.” Bo came over and heft Mislar up, dragging him along by the cuffs.

-

“Five grand… as promised.” Cad hummed as he handed Bo his cut of the reward. Bo nodded in thanks as he set his cut on the side-table perched beside the couch. He leaned back with a groan, and Cad chuckled. “Somethin’ wrong?”

“I am tired.”

“Yeah, me too.” Cad affirmed as he shoved his own cut into his coat pocket. He slipped his coat off, and his hat, before approaching. Bo watched him, his gaze dull. Cad shook his head, smirking as he pulled off Embo’s hat and dropped it on the floor. “We can sleep, if ya want.”

“No funny business?”

“No funny business.” Cad promised as he eased up onto the couch, and snuggled up against Bo’s side. Bo pulled him close, and they drifted off to sleep.