#sparkling siblings au | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

wonderwomanpleasesteponme · 1 year ago

Text

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 150 YEARS

For @compaculaaa's wtfiys for the sparkling sibling au.

It has been a long time since they’ve done this, and ‘this’ being a family dinner. It has been a good 150 years since their family has been in the same place. 96 years since Archa 7 where Elita 1 was left behind to become the spiderformer known as Black Arachnia and claimed that she wanted nothing to do with her brothers who had seemly left her behind, 96 years since Optimus was expelled from Autobot Academy by his own sire when he took the fall for his older brother, Sentinel, 50 years since Optimus’ space bridge repair crew was attacked by Megatron leaving them trapped in stasis pods on an unknown planet, 3 years since Optimus’ team awoke on Earth, and a year since Ultra Magnus was attacked by the Decepticon spy Shockwave, who turned out to be Longarm Prime their old daycare teacher turned head of intelligence, and left in a coma for a year.

With Optimus’ return from Earth with a captured Megatron, Lugnut, Starscream’s dead body and the missing Autobot scientist Mesothulas. With everything that has happened to them and how badly the siblings’ relationship has deteriorated over these last few years none of the thought that this family dinner was going to end well. What they weren’t prepared for was Alpha Trion to bring out the family photo album and start telling them stories from when they were younger.

The Prime family dinner so far has been awkward to say the least to say the least so far. They had tried getting Uncle Maccadam to come, but Maccadam’s Old Oil House’s annual drinking contest ended up falling on the same the day that everyone else could agree on to meet, so he wouldn’t join them until much later. Ultra Magnus originally didn’t want to join them and leave it to just be a Carrier/Creation bonding day, as he was set to join the crew of the Lost Light captained by Rodimus Prime after stepping down from being the Magnus, but Alpha Trion had forced him into coming as he wouldn’t be on Cybertron for possibly years.

Finally Alpha Trion had enough of the awkwardness and practicality no one talking to each other. Alpha Trion pulled out a thick oldish looking book from his subspace and slammed it down on the table startling the other members of his family.

“Since nobody’s talking to each other, I think it’s time we go down a little trip down memory lane,” said Alpha Trion as he flipped through pages.

The siblings and their sire nervously looked at each other not knowing what the oldest member of their family was going to throw at them. Finally, he stopped at a page he liked and held up the book so his family could see. The picture was of Ultra Magnus up a five-year-old Sentinel so the shopkeeper of the store that they were in could see him. The shopkeeper was a tall lanky bot who looked a little like Shockwave with their clawed servos and singular yellow optic surrounded by black nothingness. The shopkeeper held up a pointed digit up towards Sentinel with a tired expression while Sentinel gave them a look that could only be read as ‘get the pit out of my face’.

“Darling, you remember this don’t you?” asked Alpha Trion.

Ultra Magnus’ face was filled with displeasure and disappointment looking at the shopkeeper in the photo. Black Arachnia and Optimus found it in themselves to snicker at sparkling Sentinel’s face while grown up Sentinel sat in between them presently. Ultra Magnus gave a sigh before saying that he does.

“I hardly doubt that any of you kids would remember this, but this was when Optimus had that weird obsession with trains and clocks, and wanted a clock that was also a train, I had just wanted to buy a cheap plastic toy train and the glue a small pocket watch on it, but your sire was having none of that and insisted on getting a costume one made,” said Alpha Trion before pausing the story to take a sip of his drink.

“After the war there weren’t many places selling physical clocks that weren’t apart of kitchen appliances, because every bot switched over to using their internal chronometer, so your sire ended up searching all over the planet looking for someone to make this clock, and the only bot who makes costume clocks anymore turned out to be Whirl, who was apart of the last platoon he taught when he was just a drill sergeant,” said Alpha Trion laughing lightly.

That would explain their sire’s sour mode when he saw Whirl in the image. They’ve all heard stories of how all their sire’s Autobot bootcamp students going on to be great and decorated war heroes. So, one having end up as a simple shopkeeper selling and making clocks would be like one of them becoming a dock worker and not going into the military or in a science field.

Optimus felt embarrassed to have his childhood obsession with trains and clocks, of all things, brought up again after having long grown out of it. At least Sari and Bumblebee weren’t there to hear that, because knowing them they would mercilessly bully him for it, albeit playful bullying. Both Sentinel and Black Arachnia gave the faintest of ghost smiles upon being reminded of Optimus’ childhood obsession.

Alpha Trion started flipping back through the book before finding another photo he liked. Once again, he held the book up high for everyone to see.

The photo was another of Sentinel when he was younger, this time he was a youngling instead of a sparkling. He was sitting on the floor, arms crossed and pouting, looking clearly beaten up. Standing beside him was their sire looking disappointed in his son. Next to them was another beaten up kid and their parent. The other kid although was of a smaller frame build, but their armor looked much thicker than Sentinel’s, with a purple, black and yellow paint job and bug like features, and on top of that the kid looked clearly proud of themself. The parent was another tall lanky bot whose most notable feature was that two of their wheels were encased in metal skeleton wings with two arch shaped metal pieces below each of the wings, they had orange coloured optics, which was rare for an Autobot, and the thing holding the look together was their rust red and sliver colour scheme. The winged bot as though they were barely keeping themselves from laughing.

Sentinel’s face flushed upon seeing the picture as he stood up. It looked like Sentinel remembered clearly what led up to that picture being taken.

“Don’t you dare tell them about that!” Sentinel yelled while pointing at their carrier.

While making no attempt to hide the fact that she was laughing, Black Arachnia grabbed ahold of one of Sentinel’s arms. Optimus followed his sister’s lead and grabbed ahold of Sentinel’s other arm. Both of them pulled Sentinel back into his seat while shaking him slightly.

“Come Senty, let carrier tell us the story,” said Black Arachnia in a sing song voice.

“Plus, it had happened a long time ago,” added Optimus.

Sentinel made a face of disgust at them before snaring.

“Well it isn’t your embarrassment being outed,” replied Sentinel.

“Sentinel, it’s in the family album it’s meant to be something to look back and laugh at,” said Black Arachnia in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sentinel crossed his arms and slumped down into his chair. Optimus thought that it made Sentinel look just like he did in the picture, which made Optimus laugh.

“The story behind this, was that Sentinel had gotten into a fight with the kid next to him. Sentinel thought it was a fight he could easily win, but the kid he was fighting with easily beat him,” said Alpha Trion looking fondly on the memory.

“Your sire wasn’t even mad that he got into the fight, but that he lost it, your sire was even more upset with the fact that the kid’s carrier found the whole thing hilarious and said, ‘at least you didn’t lose’ to their kid,” said Alpha Trion.

Black Arachnia and Optimus couldn’t keep it back and burst out laughing. Sentinel glared at his siblings but that made them laugh even harder than before.

“Hot damn, they look fine though,” commented Black Arachnia.

Black Arachnia’s comment made Ultra Magnus spit his drink and for Optimus to stop laughing. Sentinel audibly ew’d at his sister’s comment.

“I’m sorry?” asked Ultra Magnus, still in shock.

“I said what I said that kid’s carrier is fine,” replied Black Arachnia.

“Elita you can’t say that about people you don’t know,” said Alpha Trion.

Black Arachnia let out a low growl at being called Elita. She scoffed and rolled her optics’ at her carrier’s comment.

“Relax carrier, I do know them, they’re the one who introduced me to Sliverbolt in the first place,” said Black Arachnia.

For everyone other than Alpha Trion and Black Arachnia this was their first-time hearing about this Sliverbolt bot. Ultra Magnus had the worst-case scenario pop up in his mind. Was his baby girl courting someone without him knowing? Ultra Magnus shook that thought from his head, there was no way his daughter got into something that serious without telling any of them.

“Who’s Sliverbolt?” Optimus asked.

“Oh, he’s just a friend, Acidbrust introduced to me at a science conference when he was helping them move some things that they needed for their presentation,” said Black Arachnia a little too quickly and while rubbing the back of her head with her servo.

Black Arachnia’s older brothers and sire looked at her speciously, already not trusting this Sliverbolt bot.

“And how do you know Acidburst?” asked Ultra Magnus.

“Oh, I met them after my accident in one of Fortress Maximus’ many labs, they were originally assigned to my case but managed to convince Perceptor to let them transfer back to the project they were working before mine,” said Black Arachnia more casually than when she was talking about Sliverbolt.

Ultra Magnus let the relief wash over him. ‘Good, so this Sliverbot bot is just a lab assistant that she met, nothing to worry about,’ thought Ultra Magnus. Unlike their sire Sentinel and Optimus couldn’t care less if their sister was courting someone or not, it was none of their business and her decision. They would only get involved in their sister’s love life if the guy she happened to be an afthole.

During the time that Ultra Magnus, Sentinel and Optimus took to question Black Arachnia, Alpha Trion flipped through the photo album again looking for another picture he liked. Finally, he found one, slamming his servos down on the table to get everyone’s attention. Once again, he held the book up for everyone to see the image clearly.

The photo was of a Black Arachnia when she was Elita 1 as a young child. Elita appeared not to be happy whatsoever. Laying around her were some of her childhood dolls, and next to her was another youngling who appeared to be holding one of Elita’s dolls and giving Elita a questioning look. The youngling was a femme of a larger build, she also had the same colour scheme as the kid that Sentinel had gotten into a fight with only with slight barely noticeable alterations, on top of her helm was two large grey horns and a red visor covering her optics. All of this gave the youngling Decepticon look.

“As all of you know Elita used to be a bit of a brat when she was younger,” started Alpha Trion, “this was when we decided that you kids needed some friends who weren’t also children of high council members, even though I don’t think that you even got along with most of them.”

Sentinel, Optimus and Black Arachnia remembered their creators painful attempt at getting them to try to make more friends. All the younglings that they tried to get Black Arachnia to befriend all liked to rough house and run around screaming when she didn’t, the kids Optimus was forced to be friends with were way too into horror and gore to be healthy for younglings their age when he couldn’t stand that kind of things at all, and Sentinel could not get along with anyone outside of council kids at all back then. It was a disaster to say the least.

“Elita couldn’t stand the kids we set up playdates with, especially Shrapnel here, because according to Elita she was ‘too wild’, which is funny to look back on when you realize that Shrapnel is also Acidburst’s creation along with the kid, Bombshell, in the picture with Sentinel I just showed you,” said Alpha Trion while smiling.

Now that was kind of funny knowing that Black Arachnia was friends with Acidburst themself and with someone they introduced to her. Black Arachnia had changed quite a lot since childhood especially when her accident happened, so it made sense that she was able to get along with bots that before she normally wouldn’t have gotten along with. Sentinel made a mental note to look up Bombshell’s name in the Autobot database to see what he had been up since their last meeting. Optimus also wondered what they were up nowadays, so he also made a mental note to look up each of Acidburst’s creations on the database.

Black Arachnia cringed thinking about her past behaviour, it was just too embarrassing to be something that she would do now with her disfigurements. She also felt even more embarrassed because her creators were cooing over how cute she used to be as a sparkling and her brothers laughing slightly at it.

” Well, since you told us about our childhood, how about you tell us about yours?” asked Black Arachnia, “it only seems fair.”

Alpha Trion laughed at his child’s comment. Ultra Magnus was worried about this because he knew, judging off the stories he was told by Alpha Trion and Maccadam, that his conjunx and his siblings were menaces to society when they were younger.

“Of course, my child, because unlike some bots I am not ashamed of my childhood misadventures,” said Alpha Trion.

Alpha Trion flipped to the front of the book where the pages had yellowed, and the edges of the paper were heavily damaged. That section of the book was very thin, making everyone else realize that because this was so long-ago Alpha Trion probably didn’t have that many photos of his siblings that survived the years. After a shot time Alpha Trion, found a photo that he liked. Alpha Trion looked sadly at the photo before holding it up for the rest of the family to see.

The photo displayed a youngling of about 13 vorns old, with a dark almost purple blue and black paintjob, a crown like headpiece and a flowing purple cape with stars all over it, but the thing that caught everyone’s attention was the fact that the youngling’s face was obscured was a blinding that travelled down to their chasis, sitting down in front of a fountain. Behind the youngling and fountain in the sky, clear as day was two older younglings sword frighting each other. The two younglings were being lifted into the sky by the thrusters in their pedes, they were quite obviously flyers. The one on the left had a white and magenta paintjob with gold highlights, with rather untraditional wings making it obvious that they weren’t a seeker or any kind of jet. The one on the right had a primarily red paintjob with some white here and there and some purple on their helm, without a doubt the figure in the picture was Alpha Trion when he was a youngling.

“You’re a flyer!” yelled Sentinel in shock.

Black Arachnia froze when she realized this, now that she thought about it, she had never saw her carrier transform for all she knew her carrier could have been forged a monoformer. Suddenly a lot of things made sense for Optimus now knowing the information that his carrier is a flyer. Like how he was able to master flying around with his jetpack on Earth so quickly despite never having flown like that before and why Slipstream had thought that he was Starscream. Sentinel did not like flyers at all, mostly because it seemed like all of them were Decepticons, but he did like the jettwins because the council had complete control over them, so the information that his own carrier was a flyer it him the hardest. Ultra Magnus had known about Alpha Trion’s altmode since they started courting and will forever be guilty about the fact that he made it practically illegal to be a flyer or have an altmode that was warframe aligned on Cybertron, even though Alpha Trion was the one who suggested the law as a way to end the war.

“This was when one of my brothers, Vector, and I had gotten into a fight over something I had long forgotten about and we ended photobombing a picture our carrier was trying to take of our youngest sibling, Orionus, in front of a fountain in the newly founded Metroplex, unseen in this image is Beta laughing like a manic as she climbed a building to try and join our fight while our oldest sibling, Prima, tried to break up our fight,” said Alpha Trion while laughing remembering his siblings and his antics when they were younger.

Everyone took some time to fully process that story. Getting into a fight with one of your siblings and accidentally photobombing their carrier as they tried to take a picture of one of their other siblings seemed like that Sentinel, Optimus and Black Arachnia would do. Ultra Magnus looked like he was glad that his conjunx was no longer like that and has since grown into the role of wise old mentor.

“Who’s Beta?” asked Optimus, “they aren’t in our family tree.”

Alpha Trion’s optics went wide at the question before realizing he was the one who brought up Beta in the first place, before a sad look came across his face. Ultra Magnus looked concerned for his conjunx, he knew that Beta was a sour topic for Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion had only mention Beta a servo full of times, he could count the number of times Alpha Trion mentioned Beta to him on one servo, but from what he knew, Beta was a freedom fighter in the early days of a war long forgotten to modern day historians and later a general in the Destrons army, the combined forces of the Autobots and Decepticons’ military back when they were a single faction.

“Beta was my only conjunx before bonding with your sire, she died long before the Autobot/Decepticon war had begun, the only reason why she wasn’t in any of the family trees was because back then we only added conjunxs to the tree after they had a creation with the family member they were bonded, and well, Beta and I never had any creations during the time we were bonded for,” said Alpha Trion sadly.

This was the most information that Ultra Magnus had ever heard about Beta. He always suspected that Alpha Trion had been involved before, but the elder bot had never told him about any of his past lovers, and he had no interest in finding out about them. The siblings also became sad upon learning about their carrier’s dead conjunx, everyone knew that losing a bondmate was one of the most painful things that could happen to someone not only because they were losing someone, they loved but because they were also losing apart of their spark as well.

Before they could become even more depressed by this information the dinning room door suddenly slammed open. Everyone immediately turned their heads to who had opened the door. Standing in the doorway was Uncle Maccadam and an unknown bot with a white and sliver paintjob who looked like in another life they could have been a flyer but appeared to have a sports car altmode.

“Hopefully, I’m not too late,” said Uncle Maccadam, “also I found this one pacing around outside, he said that he had wanted to talk to Black Arachnia.”

Black Arachnia looked surprised to see the sliver bot there before blushing and turning her face away from him. Ultra Magnus saw this and did not like the picture that was forming in his head.

“Hi,” said the newcomer while waving, “the name’s Sliverbolt.”

The boys and their sire were surprised to hear that this was Sliverbolt because he did not look like a lab assistant, especially one that would be in a biology lab. That was when they noticed his Autobot insignia was that of the Elite guard but there was a thin line of red surrounding it signalling him to be a member of the Autobot Airforce. That was when it hit Ultra Magnus on who Sliverbolt was, he was the youngest Airforce captain, even though when he was just a pilot, he wasn’t named the youngest pilot because that title belonged to a monoformer by the name of Nyx and was the commander of a small team known as the Airealbots despite having a fear of heights. At least he was someone that he could keep tabs on and not some random shopkeeper, but that still doesn’t mean he trusts Sliverbolt’s intentions with his daughter.

Sentinel looked grumpy to find out that Sliverbolt was a member of the airforce but Optimus was just glad to meet someone who was able to make his sister happy after her accident. Sliverbolt looked nervous to see all of Black Arachnia’s family there, he obviously wasn’t expecting a family dinner to be going. Alpha Trion waved at them to join them at the table. It took everything in Ultra Magnus to not turn the family dinner into an interrogation by questioning Sliverbolt about his relationship with Black Arachnia.

The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly. Even though Ultra Magnus and Sentinel were staring daggers at Sliverbolt and Uncle Maccadam annoying the ever-living spark out of Alpha Trion. They spent the afternoon playing boardgames and going over more photos from the photo album with Sliverbolt sharing a few stories about his team which made Optimus respond with stories of his own team. All in all this afternoon made them realize that there was still hope for their family despite all the tragedy their family faced in recent years.

#transformers #maccadam #transformers animated #tfa #optimus prime #sentinel prime #black arachnia #alpha trion #ultra magnus #alchemist prime #even tho he doesn't appear till the end and is called Maccadam #sliverbolt #sparkling siblings au #sparkling siblings WTFIYS #mentioned bombshell and sharpnel #mentioned ocs #mentioned nyx #why am I tagging this like it's ao3?#tf fanfic

56 notes · View notes

nekoastral · 1 year ago

Text

Sparkling Siblings WTFIYS: The Great Cake Fiasco

Most bots would take a few minutes or even a few nano-kliks to make themselves look presentable. Just a quick wash of the faceplate, apply some wax, polish the paint-job, maybe add some freshener if one is so worried about their smell, and then walk out of the bathroom. A routine that would not take very long. Heck it would be no time at all if one did not care about their appearance to begin with.

Unless you were Alpha Trion.

Who takes a mega-cycle and a half to get ready in the morning.

The old judge never strayed far from his morning beauty routine. It begins with washing his face vigorously to wash off the saliva and dirt build up from sleeping. The sheets has not been washed in a deca-cycle so there is a good chance there is some dirt in there. Those need to be washed sometime this cycle. Preferably before the evening so Ultra Magnus and him can enjoy soft, warm sheets. This will minimize the dirt and grime that can clean onto metal and armor. Of course, showering can help get rid of such filth too. Unless the day has been too taxing on a bot and they just want to plop onto the bed and recharge.

Then comes the moisturizers. Alpha has two of them: one to deep clean and the other to exfoliate his faceplate and help him wake up. It usually made his metal tingle from the tiny bits of crystal inside moisturizers. The old councilmen reached into one of the drawers to grab one of his many buffers. This mech owned about nine and each served a different purpose. Or at least in his processor. Ultra Magnus believes they have the same function which lead to him being banned from using his conjunx's buffers for eternity. Or if he has his permission to do so. This particular buffer helps the deep clean moisturizer go further into the metal. Yes, the stuff already does this. However, it can reach further into the metal by using the buffer versus using just his digits. It used to scare his youngest son Optimus whenever he turned on any of his buffers. When Optimus was just a new bitty, it scared the spark out of the poor sparkling and Alpha had to stop using buffers until he was a little older. It was maddening to the old mech since he wanted to be thorough with his beauty routine but not at the expense of scaring his little prince.

Now that Optimus was no longer afraid of his carriers buffers. Alpha Trion could now use his buffers to his sparks content. The sound of the buffer against the faceplate metal echoed in the bathroom and partly into the bedroom. Ultra Magnus had been up since Alpha Trion started his routine. It wasn't hard to wake up since his conjunx struggled to break free from the blankets and his arm. Alpha Trion spent a good twenty minutes trying to untangle himself and escape his husbands' grip. The leader of Cybertron had a hard time trying not to laugh at his love's antics and maintain faking recharge. If his queen found out he had been up during that moment of foolishness, Ultra Magnus would be sentenced to the couch for a thousand years. Not really. Just a few days.

“As much as I like the view, I would like to use the mirror.” Ultra Magnus said from the doorway.

“You have to wait your turn, dear. I am still using it at the moment.” Alpha replied, massaging the second moisturizer onto his faceplate. The crystals inside left a tingly feeling against his metal.

“But there is enough room for another bot. Among the sea of cosmetics on the sink.” The taller mech gestured to bottles and tubes of cosmetics, polish, wax, fresheners, and self care products that took up the entire sink. Ultra called it the cosmetic graveyard. There was barely any room for his denta brush and his dark blue “Best sire ever” cup. That was precariously near the edge because of the anti wrinkle cream and the jar of makeup brushes pressed against it.

There was clearly enough for room for him to at least stand and use the mirror. All he needed was to wash his faceplate with water and maybe a little bit of freshener. However, Alpha Trion was not easy to reason with during his beauty routine. The mirror is for him and him alone.

“It's not easy being the best thing that's happened to you.” Alpha Trion retorted. He reached for the anti-wrinkle cream and started to apply it around his optics.

'And yet the wrinkles remain.' Ultra Magnus thought to himself.

He does not have the spark to say this to Alpha Trion's face. The older mech has grown in confidence since the time they started dating all those years ago. And it also resulted in a slight ego. Alpha Trion would not say something so snarky unless it was his younger brother Maccadam back in the old days. Now he will share the same snark with his husband and a few close friends. Whether they asked for it or not. The 'lack' of space did not stop Ultra Magnus from strutting over to give his queen a quick kiss. Of course he had to wait until Alpha Trion finished applying the cream. He didn't want to get smacked for smearing it. Although he deserved it. Anti-wrinkle cream is somewhat oily and it tastes bad if he decides to kiss right where it was applied. Plus the substance matches the color of Alpha Trion's faceplate so it would look off on Ultra's lips. Bots thought he was coming down with a weird case of the pox and tried to wheel him to a medic the last time he had that cream on him.

Before Alpha Trion had a change to put on a little polish, Ultra Magnus leaned down to sneak a quick kiss. They have been married for many, many years and his kisses never failed to make the old judge blush as bright as a dwarf red sun. Each kiss feels like it was the first time he gotten one. It didn't matter if it was a quick one or a long passionate one. Ultra Magnus' kisses sent Alpha Trions spark asunder. This tender moment was soon interrupted when they heard a tapping noise. Followed by the screech of a thousand annoyances. It was a noise that was too familiar to the duo. They looked down to see three sparklings standing on their creators pedes. The biggest of them was smacking his servo on his sire's leg. That was their eldest son, Sentinel. The smaller mech was trying to climb up his carriers leg with his sister trying to do the same above him. However, she had no grip whatsoever so she would slide on her brother's face. She didn't weigh much, but it was enough to make him slide down as well. An undignified squeak escaped her brother's mouth. These were their youngest son and only daughter, Optimus and Elita.

It wasn't a surprise that their little angels had been getting crafty with escaping their beds. After so many escape attempts at the daycare, they have learned to escape at home just to get to whatever room their creators were in. It was amazing at first and even cute. Another milestone could be checked off the list, despite Sentinel used to sneak into their room and stare from the closet. His creators still wondered where he got that from and neither one is willing to take the blame. Unless some bot asks Maccadam then he will gladly say both Ultra Magnus and Alpha Trion have done some.....questionable things to escape the eye of the public for a quick 'meeting.'

“Your children are awake.” Alpha Trion chuckled.

“Before lunch, they are your children.” Ultra Magnus remarked. Elita tugged on her carrier's cape in an attempt to get his attention back onto her.

Alpha Trion was relieved that they could not climb up the bathroom sink's rails or else chaos would ensue on his perfect 'arrangement' in front of him. He knows how his children are; this poor carrier could only imagine what kind of damage his little angels can do to his beauty products. Sentinel will shove everything and anything off of the sink because they were in his way. A lot of the creams and polish are in fancy glass containers that will shatter on impact. And if he dares to knock over a few spray cans of freshener, that thing can turn into a projectile weapon if it dents a certain way. Optimus would 'battle' with his buffers to defend his broken honor all those mega cycles ago. And to protect his carrier from their evil. No amount of explanation can derail this precious mech's mission. Primus knows Alpha Trion has tried. And sweet, little Elita would hog EVERYTHING. She does not have wrinkles yet she will insist on using the cream. She will demand to be buffered. And the fresheners must smell sweet and not of dank old bot. If not, she will allow her big brother Sentinel to yeet it. There is already a lot of damage in his make up kits thanks to that femme. In conclusion, the day the trio can climb up the rails perfectly, is the day Alpha needs to start locking the bathroom door.

“Good morning, sweetsparks. Did you recharge well?” Alpha Trion said, picking up his daughter and youngest son.

“I believe they did since they're alert.” Ultra Magnus replied as he picked up Sentinel.

“I wasn't talking to you, dear.”

Sentinel and his siblings could not speak yet so Alpha Trion was not expecting an answer. Ultra Magnus just liked to talk to his beloved. Even if he speaks on the kids' behalf. The three sparklings were just happy to finally have their creators' attention.

But alas, it would be short lived.

“I'm sorry, my darlings. But we have an important engagement today. There is a wedding today and I have to be there to officiate the couple. Your sire is going because it is a friend's daughter getting married. You cannot come with us.”

“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” The trio screamed.

It wasn't the first time they had to be dropped off somewhere. But it was the weekend! The daycare is closed on the weekend! It was one of the happiest days of their lives when they learned that because they did not want to part with their creators. It was supposed to be just the five of them! Why are they being sent back?! Are they going to be the only ones at the daycare with Longarm!? Primus, no! They rather try their carriers horrible cooking than be left with Longarm for another day longer! Actually, that's a lie. Optimus would rather endure that. Sentinel would rather he be put into time out for a million years and Elita be in drab armor for an hour.

“I know the daycare is closed, but you aren't going there. Longarm does not watch over sparklings on his days off. Your cousin Garth is willing to watch over you until we come back.” Alpha Trion tried to talk over the screaming.

It suddenly became deafening quiet. Ultra Magnus thought he finally gone deaf. Out of everything this mech has gone through in his life! He has gone through so many battles, an entire war, a bad breakup, and his queen screaming his vocals out while delivering their angels. Has he finally lost all hearing just from his sparkling's screaming? It seems not because he could hear the pitter-patter of little servos and pedes across the bathroom floor and out into the bedroom. Alpha Trion and him peeked from the bathroom door to see their sparklings trying to crawl out of the room.

...What just happened to them????

Not even a nano-kliks ago, the trio was screaming their little helms off.

Alpha Trion used the sacred word: Garth.

Their big cousin Garth.

This meant carrier needed to hurry up with the fancy make up or they will go without him. They can't open the doors yet, but they will try if he doesn't hurry up. It kind of scared Alpha Trion. Normally, Sentinel and his siblings would cry and scream when they have to be handed off while their creators go somewhere. They would also plan their escape to reunite with them later on. This is the first time that they were actively trying to leave the house. Ultra Magnus wheezed when Sentinel looked back at Alpha Trion and gave him the frown of a thousand suns.

“I hope you are ready, love.” Ultra Magnus said, trying not to let his voice break. If he laughs now, he will surely be a offline mech.

“I was only halfway done..” Alpha Trion sighed.

“I'm afraid you are outnumbered.” The taller mech pointed at the three smaller beings.

“My dears, we will be going after I finish my-”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” The sparklings wailed.

It looks like his beauty routine has to be shortened. Much to the old judges dismay. There are routines and guidelines he follows to get that perfect glossy, smooth look. That is now cut in half thanks to three tiny terrors. Ultra Magnus thought his conjunx was still beautiful without all that fancy stuff in their bathroom, but he knows it's not a good time to tell him that. So with a heavy spark, Alpha Trion strutted back to the bathroom so he could put on a few spritz of the fancy freshener that Botanica recommended. It just about the only thing he could do before his children start screaming for him to hurry downstairs.

Once that quick task was done, the two older bots made their way out of their shared room and toward the stairs. Sentinel was halfway down the stairs though he was a little slow. He was easing himself down each step one at a time by climbing. Elita was still too tiny to attempt in this feat so she was still at the top of the stairs. And poor Optimus was stuck between the top and the middle of the staircase because he got cold pedes about the task and just waited for his creators to come rescue him. So it looks like neither of them made it very far from their creators bedroom. No surprise in that.

Ultra Magnus scooped up their only daughter. Alpha Trion picked up their youngest son. And then Ultra Magnus got their eldest son. Sentinel didn't protest as much since it was his sire that got him instead of his carrier. Or perhaps he just wanted to hurry up and get to their destination before his siblings can. It was a change of routine to Ultra Magnus and his conjunx. Neither of bitty was crying.

Maybe once they make it to Maccadam's it will change.

Alpha Trion swore that old oil house keeps inching closer to the Autobot Headquarters. That thought was going through his processor as him and his small family walked out of their home. That bar has been around for as long as he could remember. And he can remember a lot of things. When his younger brother Maccadam got the chance, the chunky mech opened a oil house while Alpha Trion became the judge here on Cybertron. At the time, Alpha didn't think it was a good idea since his brother could do so much better than run a bar. Maccadam was smart; he could lead others into battle should there need to be a bot in need. He was also crafty; Maccadam would be great at mixing complex chemicals in a lab. But, no. Maccadam found it better to be owning a bar and make drinks for thirsty patrons. To this day, Alpha Trion still does not understand his little brother for this.

It still didn't help the fact that the bar was so close to the headquarters.

There was a rumor that the bar has pedes under the foundation to help move across the city. Another rumor indicated the bartender had a portable space bridge in the basement before it was even constructed around Cybertron! A different hearsay says the bar itself is alive. But no bot actually knows the reason. Honestly, it was rather silly hearing all of these stories from drunk civilians, bored house-carriers, and lazy office workers.

And it was also very tiring when Alpha Trion can't find most of the workers until he goes to the bar to find them having a drink. Even his friends on the council goes over to wet their whistle without him! The nerve.

'Every stellar cycle this place seems to be closer than it should be.' Alpha Trion frowned to himself.

It did not take long for him and the others to reach the oil house. They didn't even need to transform and drive over since it wasn't too far to walk. That was one of the perks of having your brothers establishment nearby. However, it was still too far for the old judge's legs despite it was only three block away. The thought of having his magnus princess carry him did cross his processor, but he did not want him to do that in public. Or Primus forbid, his own brother seeing such a scene.

“We are here.” Ultra Magnus said, opening the door for his queen.

“Such a gentle-mech.” Alpha Trion swooned slightly before going inside.

It was....uncharacteristically empty. There were not a bot in sight. It seemed like no bot has been inside of the oil house in quite a bit since the chairs and bar stools were tucked away and there was no sign of snack trays on the table. Normally, it would be very loud from the rowdy customers, the sound of flowing energon going into cups, and obnoxious smacking of denta as they bite on crunchy snacks. Maccadam was nowhere to be seen. He would always be behind the counter while mixing drinks for his customers. It wasn't exactly common for an owner to be at the center of the action, but Maccadam was a welcomed distraction for the patrons and the perfect bot to lead a audio to if one needed to vent.

Ultra Magus and Alpha Trion could not see their nephew Garth either. He would usually be with his sire behind the counter unless he needed to fix up a small meal for a patron or keeping his little sister Corona occupied. Then again, neither the magnus or the judge tried to look into the kitchen yet. They needed to do something quick before their bitties start a tantrum. Well, Sentinel was mostly likely to start one. Optimus and Elita will fuss though.

“Hello? Maccadam? Garth?” Ultra Magnus finally called into the silence.

“Hi, uncle! I'm in the kitchen so come on back!” A voice called from the kitchen window.

Sentinel and his siblings immediately perked up when they heard the voice. They knew who it was. The three smaller beings began to squirm. They wanted to hurry up and get to their big cousin. Ultra Magnus had the hardest time trying to keep a hold on Sentinel. The bigger sparkling was trying to squirm out of his sire's grip so he can be the first one to his cousin. Elita was following her big brother's example and since she was the smallest out of her brothers, she could easily escape her sire's big servos. And he was struggling the most with his daughter. Ultra Magnus kept fumbling his daughter as she tried to free fall to the floor until he finally got a grip on her. Optimus, despite wanting to his cousin, was being a good bean. Alpha Trion did not have to struggle with his youngest son so he just had to sit back and watch his husband attempt in handling their other son and daughter. He could take one of them and give him a break. But it would be ruin the fun.

Alpha Trion and Ultra Magnus walked past the bar counter and through the kitchen doors. It has been a long time since Alpha Trion last came into the kitchen. Nothing has changed in his opinion. Minus what looks like a crate covered by a large orange blanket and four high chairs with small name tags. Each of them had a different name: Sentinel, Optimus, Elita, and Corona. How cute! A little bit of fancy treatment for his three little angels and demonic niece. Before Alpha Trion could call his nephew's name again, the bot of the hour finally made an appearance. The chonky chief-bot was trying squeeze himself out of the walk-in cupboard. He had a large jar of mixed spices in his right servo, a small bottle of vanilla energon extract in his left servo, and many boxes of ingredients sandwiched between his person and arms. They couldn't tell what exactly it was since the covers were pressed against Garth's arms.

“Hey, sorry I wasn't able to come greet you at the door. I have been busy with cooking.” Garth said, slowly setting the boxes near a large mixing bowl and a lot of messy spoons.

“Oh don't worry about it. It's so good to see you again.” Alpha Trion replied, walking over to give him a quick hug.

“Hey little guy.” The large bot cooed at his little cousin.

“Bwaah.” Optimus smiled.

“Where's your sire? I never thought I'd see the day he would not be here.” The old judge scratched the side of his face with his free servo.

“Oh, he was asked to make the drinks at my friends wedding so he's already over there.”

It was infuriating to know his brother beat him at being early. Normally, Alpha Trion would be the one to nag on his brother to arrive early and most of the time Maccadam would still be late. The latter would wave it off saying “I arrived at the right moment.” Not that it was any help in his case. The bartender was never good at making excuses. So would it be different this time? He just assumed it was because this was his son's friends big day. Maccadam will make a huge effort for his children and their friends so that was probably it. Plus, it will take him a moment to get his station ready in another location. He didn't need to do this at his own oil house since he knows where everything is. It was a different story at another location; he has to be aware of his surroundings and set up his system before any bot else gets there.

Regardless, it was still infuriating to the judge.

“Where is your sister?” Ultra Magnus finally spoke up, looking around the kitchen.

“She's under the blanket over there.” Garth replied. He slowly walked over to what looked like a covered crate and slowly pulled the blanket off.

Turns out the 'crate' was just a playpen. The blanket was just to protect the little treasure that was sleeping inside. There was a small femme in a copper colored onesie. This was the tiny demon child known as Corona. Also known as the daughter of Maccadam, little sister of Garth, and the niece of Alpha Trion. She has earned the title of spawn of Unicron because she is able to pull tricks despite being a bitty and give others spark attacks. She is adorable yet evil! She always got into trouble and she would be punished accordingly. Most of the time she got put into time-out since Corona is still small.

Sentinel frowned deeply seeing his little cousin. He is still not on good terms with her and probably never will. Optimus just smiled seeing her and Elita was a little jealous because Corona had fluffy pillows to sleep on. Well, two out of three is good enough.

Despite that, she was still a member of this family. Right now, she was dreaming away in her playpen. Alpha Trion had to admit, she looked so innocent in her sleep. That is until he saw Corona wearing a hanger tied on her helm.

“Uh....why is there a hanger tied around her helm??” The bearded bot asked.

“We think she tried to play catch the lightning.” Garth blinked.

“....Catch the lightning?? What kind of a game is that??” Ultra Magnus looked so confused.

“It's a game that's been around even before I emerged. You know how the generators around here sometimes lets loose a large amount of electricity. But the biggest jolt comes from the top of the Ministry of Science labs. Most of the bots around here can take a shock like that, but those who can't gets fried. The gist of the game is you tie a piece of metal on your armor to act as a lightning rod and try not to get hit.”

“But it's called catch the lightning. Why would you avoid it????” The magnus was confused at this. He never hard of such a game and doesn't know how it actually works.

“That would be be too easy. It's supposed to test your speed and toughness. I never played it, but I have seen some friends try it and had to drag them to medical.”

“Again. Why is there a hanger tied around her helm?” Alpha Trion asked again.

“Sire and I didn't tie it. We were too busy with our food prep this morning so we didn't do it. One of our patrons helped her when she crawled over to him. Both of us didn't know she got out of the bar until one of the regulars screamed there's a sparkling playing with the lightning.” The chief-bot looked away.

This is not a surprise to Alpha Trion. It definitely sounds like something his niece would do. He could only imagine the shock on his brother and nephew once they realized who that 'adventurous' sparkling was. He knew about the lightning problem since a few of the ministry's workers had been sent to a medic after getting their circuits fried due to the overload. The council has been trying to figure out how to deal with that problem because it had been going on longer than it should've. However, they haven't come to a conclusion since Perceptor does not see the trouble in this. He thinks the excess energy is good for the building and is trying to figure out how to contain it rather than replace the generators that's causing them. If some bot gets hit, it should be recorded for science. And it doesn't help that Wheeljack sides with the emotionless bot.

Honestly, they need to come up with a solution soon...

“Who was she competing against???” Alpha Trion asks with a sigh. He was afraid of asking.

“Primus.” Garth said, bluntly.

Alpha Trion facepalmed. He shouldn't have asked. Of course his chaotic niece wants to fight GOD. Why does she even want to challenge him?! She's younger than Elita! Alpha Trion didn't notice his husband was on the verge of crying from laughing so hard. It took a lot not to fall to the floor. Sentinel gave a wicked giggle. He didn't know what his baby cousin did, but from the sounds of it, he would have been rid of her if that game had worked. Optimus didn't quite understand what was going on. But he figured Corona would have been hurt badly if the game worked. He didn't want to lose a playmate. Elita could kind of understand what was going on. She thought maybe Corona would act more like her if she did get struck by lightning. All the while, Corona was waking up from her nap.

“I am not going to say anything else. I have a very long day...” Alpha Trion told his nephew, before handing Optimus to him. “Are you sure you don't mind watching over Sentinel, Optimus, and Elita?”

“I don't mind. Corona can use the company and I can use a few taste testers in the kitchen.” Garth replied.

Sentinel and his siblings got really excited at the sound of that. They love their cousin's food. Garth placed Optimus into his high chair and strapped him in before going over to help his Uncle Magnus with the other two. Sentinel was now screaming to be set free from his sire's grasp.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“I hear you, commander. I hear you. You want to sit at the high table.” Garth told the big helmed sparkling. It didn't take long for Sentinel to calm down once he was taken away and set in the high-chair next to his brother. His was a foot away from Optimus so he can't try and steal his food.

“WAAAAHHH!!!” Elita cried when she didn't get picked up fast enough.

“I'm sorry, your highness. I'm sorry!”

Garth went back to retrieve Elita from her sire. She doesn't let just ANY bot pick her up. She refuses to be picked up by what she deemed peasants. However, it did not exempt him from punishment. The tiny femme grabbed Garth's mustache and yanked it hard. Elita can't really do much damage since she is still a sparkling so she just grabbed what she could. She remembered it hurt her cousin if she pulled on his mustache so this was a good punishment. For not picking her up first before her brothers.

“Owowowowowow!”

Corona was now wide awake. The sound of her big brother in pain woke her up fast. Normally it takes her a while to wake up. She still looked quite silly with the hanger tied on her helm, but she didn't care. The feisty femme looked up to see her cousin Elita yanking the weird facial iron on her brothers face and she let out a warrior screech. She can't do much from her time out playpen. But let her demands be known that no bot should harm her big brother except her. Her battle cry scared Elita enough to make her stop and Garth was able to have her let go. He set her down in her own high-chair then made his way to the playpen to pick up his sister.

“Ready to come out of there, sleepy helm? Let's take that off you finally.”

Corona didn't put up a fight when her brother untied the hanger off her. Him or their sire should have taken it off before they put her in time out. It was actually starting to itch. Corona rubbed her itchy helm against her brother's chest as he hoisted her up in his arms. He has been promoted from big brother to helm scratcher. Sentinel glared when he saw Corona. They do not have a good relationship and no bot thinks it will get any better in the near future.

“We will come back for them after the ceremony. Though if I'm asked to dance, it might be a while before we pick them up.” Alpha Trion explained, glancing at Ultra Magnus with a flirty look in his optics.

A slight pink hue formed on the magnus' faceplate when he saw that look. Alpha Trion is a goddess on the dance floor when it came to elegant forms of dancing. No bot will catch him do the swing or something so....uncouth. The waltz and tango were Alpha Trion's style. And Ultra Magnus had to practice for HOURS trying to perfect his dancing just so he wouldn't embarrass him.

“Should you even be dancing that vigorously? You might throw out your hip.” Garth voiced his concern.

“I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I AM IN PHENOMENAL SHAPE FOR MY AGE!!!” Alpha Trion screeched at his nephew.

It was enough to make Ultra Magnus snort. Garth wasn't trying to insinuate his uncle was too ancient to dance. He was genuinely worried Alpha Trion could break a hip from dancing too much. Honestly, every bot on Cybertron is surprised he hasn't broken anything just by STANDING. Even his own brother sees it as a miracle and he is not that much younger than him! If the judge didn't love his nephew very much, he would have yeet him into the streets just like he would do to Maccadam. But no matter how much rage fit in that slender old frame, Alpha Trion would never yeet his precious nephew.

His husband is a different story.

The towering mech was coughing up a storm and leaning against the end of the kitchen counter for dear life. He had been laughing so much that he was losing breath and on the verge of crying. At the expense of his queen's indignant comment. Garth was surprised the counter has not gave out from his uncle's weight and his strength. Alpha Trion was surprised his husband is not offlined already for laughing at him. Two different point of views. One out of genuine bewilderment. The other out of pure spite.

“We will be back very soon, my dears. Be good for your cousin.” Alpha Trion cooed at his children, giving them a kiss on their cheeks.

“We'll be back before you know it.” Ultra Magnus added. He rubbed their helms.

Sentinel barely reacted when his sire did that. He had tried to smack him away but his reaction time was delayed by a couple of seconds after Ultra Magnus moved his servo away. Normally, the three bitties would be screaming and crying their helms off to make their creators rethink leaving them behind. Cunningly planning their escape once their backs were turn. This time...

They didn't even notice them.

They did not cry.

They did not scream.

They just sat in their highchairs and stared at their big cousin. Sentinel slammed his servos on the tray in frustration. He was getting hungry. And he wasn't the only one. His little brother, sister, and menace of a cousin were also hungry so they joined in the noise.

“They....aren't crying...?” Alpha Trion sniffled.

“Now, go do your job and don't worry about a thing.” Garth said, scooting the two mechs out of the kitchen.

“B-B-But what about the bitties???” Ultra stuttered, looking back at the kitchen.

“They'll be fine. After a meal, they won't notice you're even there.”

This broke their sparks. Their bitties won't notice they even left?! That would have been a relief back at the day care when Ultra Magnus and Alpha Trion have work to do. But when they have a small job today? It was a little different. They weren't going to be gone long...

“Be careful going to the wedding venue.” Garth replied.

“Wait, wait, we don't have to be there that quickly. We can stay for a little bit longer.” Alpha Trion whimpered.

“Nah, Sire said you would want to get there before every bot arrives. We will see you later.”

Once Ultra Magnus and Alpha Trion were out of the oil house, Garth closed the door behind them. Their nephew wasn't trying to be rude about this. Alpha Trion would complain about not arriving early or not being able to prepare before his daily tasks. Maccadam would listen to these complaints or one of his council friends. So it was a shock to the old judge that his beloved nephew knows about this. The couple waited until Garth went away and then slowly opened the door. Neither him or Maccadam locks the door unless they were not in the building so Ultra Magnus didn't have to try and pick the lock. Why does the Magnus know how to pick a lock? That is a story for another cycle. They poked their helms through the door and to their shock, they did not hear crying. All they could hear was their little angels squealing away in the kitchen. They didn't even notice their sire and carrier weren't in the same room as them.

“My darlings....” Their creators whimpered.

They could not stay much longer or else they will be late being early at the venue. Many passerby's witnessed their leader and his husband looking pitiful with swollen optics. There must have been a horrible event going on at headquarters. It was nice to know this power couple still showed emotion.

But if only they knew the truth.

Meanwhile, in the oil house's kitchen. The four bitties were still waiting for Garth to finish his cooking. The chonky bot was stirring a small pot on the stove. They could tell it was going to be tasty from the aroma coming from his direction. Sentinel was extra excited because he was going to be the first one to receive the food. He is the oldest of the four and he WAS the first taste tester Garth had. Sentinel used to be an only child before his brother and sister came into the picture. When his creators were trying to get him to eat solid energon for the first time, he did not want any of that and threw the bowl and spoon at his creators. It was hard to wean him off the sparkling grade energon his carrier made. The big helmed sparkling did not break until his cousin made something that looked like his carrier's energon. After that, it was hard for his own creators to get him to drink out of the bottle without a fuss.

And his troubles only grew when Sentinel became a big brother to Optimus. He tried to fend off being the main taste tester for as long as he can before his little brother was ready for solid foods. Then their sister arrived. She was super picky so there was a chance she may not even want what she's given. But nothing prepared Sentinel for an unexpected and chaotic surprise. That surprise is called Corona. No bot was expecting Maccadam to have another sparkling after Garth grew up. Sentinel remembered his carrier being extremely mad at his uncle and zooming out of the door to get to the medical building. When they met Corona, she was hissing away from her blanket. It boils his energon to know this gremlin of a cousin gets to be a taste tester all the time since she lives here.

“Who's ready for the first course?” Garth glanced over his shoulder.

“AAAAAH!” Sentinel screamed, slamming his servos on the tray. The other three joined in by slamming their servos too.

“Alright, alright, here we are. The first course is a noodle soup just for hungry bitties.”

Garth set four small bowls in front of his cousins and sister. Each bowl had a pale creamy broth with thick, energon noodles. It wasn't just noodles in the broth; there was thinly sliced scallion, a little bit of sweet mercury corn, and a hint of simmered beef. Each ingredient was chopped into manageable pieces for sparklings to eat. Sentinel was the only one who didn't get the scallions. He did not like those. Optimus liked extra mercury corn in his. Nothing changed in Elita or Corona's bowl. Of course, Sentinel got his bowl first. This pleased him greatly. After all, he is older than the other three. Not that it meant anything since he was only the second oldest in the kitchen. Optimus and the girls did not care about getting their food first since they knew they would not be waiting for very long. Elita was excited to see what came with the noodle meal.

Garth had prepared a side dish to go with the first course. A side of tamagoyaki or what other bots call them small rolled omelets. It isn't something big yet it was something hard to make. The process is whipping some eggs with some seasonings and then straining the eggs. This helps pouring into the pan easier. Then it's just cooking the egg little by little and then adding more of the strained egg on the other side of a pan and rolling it carefully while it's still partly half cooked. That's when it gets tricky. The cook cannot let the egg overcook or rip during the folding process or else it's ruined. When it's cooked properly, tamagoyaki has a custardy texture to them. Garth had to learn from Master Yoketron to get the folding done right. It took a lot of practice. Garth likes to put a little bit of cheese inside the tamagoyaki before he starts folding. It's a nice surprise for the bitties when they take a bite out of the sweet egg and to find gooey, stringy cheese in the bite.

This side dish goes well with broth and it's very easy to eat. However, three out of four of the sparklings got the same thing. Elita was one of the pickiest sparklings on Cybertron and that is a feat that is hard to beat. And also hard to please. It didn't help that she got such a trait from her carrier Alpha Trion. Elita was still quite small and has already made over a dozen chiefs cry just because she refuses to try anything that came to her family's table at restaurants. They thought Alpha Trion was horrible. They soon realized his sparkling daughter was even worse.

Elita may not be able to talk yet, but Garth can tell what her standards are: something not stinky. Something not spicy. Something not sour. Something not bitter. Something not hard. Something not bread, not tubers, not porridge, not eggs, and not stew, but something tasty. This isn't easy to do; so many meals have to include some of these things. Now it doesn't mean Elita doesn't like bread or eggs. She has to be in a certain mood for those things. And it was kind of easy to tell on eggs today. Elita was glaring at her brothers' side dish.

“Don't worry, Elita. You won't be having the same thing as them. I got something very special for princess.” Garth told her, setting something in her bowl.

Elita looked down to see a small, light brown pouch in the broth. She tilted her helm confused. What was this thing??? Garth got her fork and poked a hole in the middle of the pouch and her optics grew big seeing what was inside. The pouch was just fried energon tofu that was cut and molded into the shape of a bag. Inside was sweet energon mochi cakes! It's easy to accidentally rip fried tofu when trying to turn it into a small pouch, but it would still be very tasty in broth. Elita squealed seeing the sweet energon mochi cake and took the fork from her cousin so she could dig into her treat. The mochi cake stretched from the bowl as she put a piece into her mouth. It was just as stretchy as the cheese her brothers and cousin got in their tamagoyaki. And just as tasty.

Sentinel was nomming on the stringy cheese that oozed out of his tamagoyaki. Optimus got the idea of putting a few of his side dish into the broth and slurp the pieces in his meal. Corona was already done with her eggy treat and was trying to nom on the thick energon noodles. And Elita was taking her time with her mochi cake. The princess of Cybertron was pleased with her substitute side dish. No punishment to the cook today. While the sparklings finished their meal, Garth had been working on the second course. It wasn't big like the first one, but it was still just as tasty.

“Who's ready for the next one?” Garth called to the small bots.

“Baaaahhh!!!” Corona spoke out.

Corona was a little younger than Elita. And neither the girls or the boys can talk very well. So Garth has to guess what they are saying. He thinks his little sister is saying they are ready for the next bit of food. Sentinel pouted at the fact he didn't voice his opinion first. His is more superior than hers. Optimus and Elita didn't seem to care about who got to say it first. They just wanted more to eat. Garth didn't waste time bringing a large plate over and setting the next course on the bitties' trays. Optimus was the first to get this treat. Something that would make his big brother's energon boil since he wasn't the eldest. He didn't get the chance to scream his lungs out in frustration because Garth put something in his mouth. It tasted very sweet and a little tart. It was enough to leave him stunned. Optimus looked down at the food and then began to clap his servos excitedly. The second course was tiny fruit sandwiches. This made Optimus very excited.

His carrier liked to have tea parties with his friends. Sometimes, he would bring Optimus and his siblings along. And sometimes, it was just one of them. Sentinel did not like the tea parties as much as the next bitty. He thought his carrier and his friends' conversations were boring and meaningless. It was only worth it if his friend Jazz was there or if his sire joined the group. Other than that, Sentinel would just be fussing away until he was taken out of the room. Optimus and Elita loved the tea parties because of the food. Except for one teeny, tiny detail. They usually had cucumber sandwiches. That was the only downside to the party in his opinion.

To Optimus' relief, this wasn't cucumber sandwiches.

This was something much tastier. So much better. The little snack food Alpha Trion had at his socials were always dry and scratchy when swallowed. The cucumbers were the only moist thing in it and they usually tasted nasty to Optimus. He didn't know if the older bots made it on purpose or not. It just seemed like whoever made them just picked the most overripe cucumber in the fridge and doused it into the chunky cream cheese. That was another ingredient in those nasty things. Optimus hated it when his carrier had those nearby.

Garth used soft bread and he even cuts the crust off them. The crusts are saved for a different recipe that Optimus has yet to try. He remembered his sire talking about it one time. That memory is a little hazy since Ultra Magnus was talking about it while Optimus was feeding. Garth also makes the whipped cream by servo. He makes it extra fluffy and a little sweet. Not too much to make any bots' denta hurt and just sweet enough to enjoy. The fruit Garth uses are very juicy. He uses different ones; tangy tangerines, semi-sweet kiwi, tangy-sweet strawberries, bananas, or peaches. Optimus loves the peach and kiwi sandwiches the best. Sentinel preferred the banana and tangerine ones. Elita liked the strawberry and Corona liked the ones that had different kinds in it. These were the best to them.

“Let's not forget the third course. It goes well with this.” Garth interrupted their little snack and set a small bowl near their plate of sandwiches.

“BAAAAAH!” Sentinel screamed. Normally it would be a scream of indifference, spite, or out of rage. This time it was out of excitement.

It's not easy to get a positive squeal from him. It takes a lot of trial and error and a lot of praying. Lots and lots of praying. Because this is one bitty that will hold a grudge for all eternity and possibly even longer than that. And it can be over something so minuscule! Elita may be a stickler with her tastes and the little details, but her oldest brother is the WORST.

Their creators went through war trying to wean Sentinel off the sparkling grade energon. Their first son would not give anything a try. He would sit there with his little arms crossed, pouty lip, and the most deadpan look in his optics. It seemed like they couldn't get him to at least nibble solid energon. It just ended up with a mess to clean up, a shower to get the energon off their armor, and a crying Sentinel. That was until Garth made this dish.

It was nothing special. Inside the bowls was pureed energex strawberry. Something that was so simple to make. Just put fresh energex strawberries into a blender, add some sugar and a squeeze of lemon and blend. Whether it's soupy or have small chunks of strawberry left intact, it was quite tasty. It was considered peasant food by the high class bots and sometimes it can be used as a sauce for desserts. But to Sentinel, it was the first solid food he ate. He actually got a bigger bowl of it than his siblings and cousin.

Pretty pink puree with tiny bits of strawberry chunks. Just the way he likes it. But there was something else that was missing. Garth knew what Sentinel was thinking; he came over to drop a dollop of whip cream on top.

“There you go, little buddy. Enjoy.” Garth said.

It was quite the mess. Sentinel was slurping the strawberry puree up after he ate his fruit sandwich fast. Whip cream spread over his mouth from his sandwich and his whole face was soon buried in the dollop in the puree. He was definitely enjoying this part of the meal. Optimus was taking his time with his own food. He alternated between dipping his sandwiches into the puree and eating without it. His face was also covered with whip cream, but it wasn't as bad as his big brother. Elita had to be careful when she slurped her own bowl. She didn't want the contents to spill on her. But she loved the food regardless. Corona was going to town on her food. She was getting puree and crumbs all over her bib. Her older brother held his laugh at the sight of his messy baby sister and cousins. He got a damp clothe and wiped their mouths clean then replaced Corona's bib with a cleaner one.

“I'm glad you lot like the food, but that doesn't mean you wear it. This next one is a little different from what you guys have eaten before. But it's just as good.” Garth explained, taking the plates and bowls.

The bitties were excited to try the next tasty meal. They already had three courses and it was just getting better. They love their job as Garth's taste testers. There's always something good coming from him. With that mindset, the four bitties waited eagerly for him to come back. The chef bot bought over four small plates then set them in front of the still hungry taste testers. This next one was definitely different. It looked like small black cauldrons sitting on a candied reddish yellow fire. Those cauldrons had bubbled over from the looks of it. There was green substance around the brim and had ran down the sides. That part was hard now so maybe Garth didn't know he added a lot until it was too late. Sitting in the center of the cauldron was a big, luscious red apple.

Sentinel was the only bitty that wasn't pleased. In fact, he had a heavy scowl on his faceplate.

Apples were not a ally to him.

It all started when he wanted to steal his sires' snack. Ultra Magnus always had apples nearby. Green ones to be exact. When he set his snack down to go into the next room, Sentinel took that chance. That bitty has the mindset that if anything is good for the Magnus, then it must be good for him too. He didn't know how sour green apples were until he took a nibble. Ultra Magnus came back into the room with a drink. He found sparkling nibbles on his apple and a very distraught son. Ultra Magnus was sentenced to a sleeping on the couch for a thousand stellar cycles. At least that's what Sentinel still thinks. That punishment only lasted an hour because Alpha Trion can't stand sleeping without his king near him.

But it didn't stop the rage he had toward apples.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” Sentinel screams, slamming his tiny fists into the apple.

“Wait, Sentinel! That's not-” Garth tried to warn him.

But it was too late.

Cake pieces splattered around the highchair tray. Pieces fell onto the floor. Some landed on the walls. That was impressive since the small group wasn't near the walls. There was also pieces hanging on Sentinels' chin.

“That wasn't a real apple.” The chonky bot spoke.

The big chinned bitty glanced back down on the food. Garth was right. It wasn't a real apple. It was a light apple spice cake that was molded into the shape of a apple and covered in a glossy fondant. Must have been very convincing to fool Sentinel. The cauldron wasn't even real. It was a chocolate cauldron filled with a apple mouse, caramel buttercream, and apple filling. The filling had small diced apples so it would be easier for the sparklings to eat. So maybe Sentinel was half right. There was apples in there. He took a diced apple and gave it a nibble. It was...sweet! It wasn't sour like the apples Ultra Magnus eats! It didn't take long for him to eat the rest of the filling and started to eat the rest of his dessert with a huge smile.

His siblings wished he didn't cause a scene over a misunderstanding. Corona was just glaring at her cousin. He ruined her big brother's presentation. How rude. She was going to smack him later on. Despite the sudden theatrics, the fourth course went without a hitch. Optimus liked the apple spice cake and was currently nibbling away the chocolate cauldron. Elita was eating away the caramel buttercream and taking pieces of the cake to dip it in. Corona had already eaten everything except for the buttercream. She doesn't like overly sweet things. Something Garth made a note of for her future construction day cake.

“I see you lot are liking the food so far?”

“Bwaaah!” All the sparklings said in unison.

“I'm glad I haven't served anything you don't like so far. The taste testing is coming to a close. I have one more tasty treat for you to try out.”

This excited the little ones. Garth has been feeding them since Sentinel and his siblings arrived. So far they have eaten four courses. And he catered to their tastes. Minus Sentinels Apple Smash move and making a separate side dish for Elita. Other than that, everything was been smooth sailing. Unknown to the sparklings, the food Garth had them eat is what he made for his friend's wedding. He's known these two since they were really small and it didn't surprise him when they announced their engagement at the bar last solar cycle. They wanted their good friend to cook the food and have his sire make the drinks at the ceremony because they know it would be delicious. Garth spent half a solar cycle trying to figure out what to make. And it seems like his choices were good enough since his cousins and baby sister are enjoying their food.

Garth had made enough food for the big event and one of his other friends has been going back and forth between the venue and the oil house to pick up the food. So Garth has been making a large batch of food while feeding Corona and their cousins. The bitties didn't notice another bot coming from the back to pick up the food after each course. Honestly, most sparklings have a one track processor when it comes to something. Food was definitely a big factor for these four little ones. Sentinel, Optimus, and Elita's creators can't really cook so they would have already prepared meals or go to their grand creators house where their grand-sire makes the best pancakes on Cybertron. Corona has a chef for a big brother and her sire also cooks as well. She didn't have to go far just to get a meal. Though she needs to stop giving her brother a spark attack every time she decides to do something reckless.

Garth took the moment to wheel something out of the freezer. The squeaky wheels echoed in the kitchen and caught Optimus' attention. Always the observant one; he looked up from his food to see a glorious sight. He reached to his right to poke his big brother who gave him a slight whine. Sentinel didn't want to be bothered especially from his little brother. But Optimus kept going until Sentinel finally looked up so he could scream for Garth's attention to make his annoying brother stop. However, he saw what Optimus wanted to show him and his jaw dropped. Then Optimus reached to his left to get his sister's attention. She was easier than Sentinel. The princess glanced up from her food and her optics sparkled. She didn't even get Coronas attention. That devilish bitty was still nomming on apple chunks when she heard the squeaky wheels stop and she looked up.

A five tier cake was sitting on a trolley. But not just any cake. This was the most beautiful cake the four has ever seen. A white vanilla energon cake with white marble icing. Each tier's icing was different; the bottom had loop de loops. The other had fancy swirls going from big to small and big again. The third tier had the frosting in heart form. The fourth was just simple lines going around the middle. And the top tier housed the figures of the bride and groom. A slightly curvy femme and stocky mech stood beside each other at the top. Sentinel frowned at this. Who are these bots? They aren't important. There should be a figure of himself on there! While he was glaring with disdain, the other three was excited to see such a cake. It was all for them!?

“This isn't for you. It's for my friends wedding.” Garth said, seemingly knowing what they're thinking.

“Baaaah!!” Corona called out.

“This is for the wedding.” Garth repeated. “I been working on this cake for days. I just need to finish the final touches and it'll be wheeled away.”

“Waaaaah!!!” Elita wailed.

“Don't worry. I didn't leave you guys out of the loop.”

Garth grabbed their mostly empty and messy plates and went to drop them into the sink. He gathered four small plates that had a slice of cake each. It was the same cake as the wedding cake. Garth had made a small one tier version so Corona and their cousins could still enjoy it. Those four were preoccupied with pouting. Sentinel had a pout and a glare at the figures on the tall cake. He doesn't even know the bots and he already doesn't like them. They can pout all they want, but they aren't getting the big cake.

“Last course before I put you guys down for a nap.”

Despite one of them already had a nap prior to the meal, every tiny bot was kinda sleepy. They always got sleepy after eating their cousins good food. They eyed the slice of cake in front of them and then gave each other the side optic. Well, mostly at Elita and Sentinel. Optimus and Corona immediately dove into their own slices and ate fast. Elita and Sentinel has a habit of sneaking a big chunk of someone else's dessert if one wasn't fast enough. Elita didn't seem phased by it and thought her brother and cousin were just being messy. Sentinel frowned at this. So much for getting extra. The cake was very fluffy and airy while the frosting was quite dense and slightly sweet. This wasn't like any ordinary energon cake the four has had before. It was so much better!! Why can't they have this every day??

“I just have to finish the last tidbits to the cake and it can be wheeled off.” Garth said to himself, slowly pushing the trolley toward the front door of the oil house.

There was one thing he needed to get: the chocolate ganache sign. It was going to be placed in in front of the figures on the top tier. Garth had made several different signs prior to his cousins coming in. He had to stop when his baby sister decided to challenge Primus with a game of catch the lightning. It gave the chocolate time to cool before he was finished pouring it into the sign molds. So he had to work with what he had. He couldn't reheat the chocolate because he was afraid of it burning. So Garth was going to use the cooled ganache for something else.

Once the bitties were done, Garth picked them up one by one and set them in the main room. It was safer in there than it would be in the kitchen. The bar counter was gated so they can't get through. Maccadam made sure his part of the oil house was protected just in case his nephews and niece tries to crawl between the bottles of energon. He has learned from the last accident. His daughter doesn't mess with the bottles so there was some relief in that. The chairs and tables were not going to be trouble; they didn't have any food or any object the foursome would want. The stairway leading to housing area of the oil house was also gated. Corona hasn't tried to climb the stairs just yet, but if there was something tasty upstairs, there is a good chance the others will try. Garth can keep an optic on the four from the kitchen window while he fixes the sign.

“I'll be right in the kitchen. I'm keeping my optic on you. Play nice.” Garth told his cousins and sister as he set them on the floor.

He could move the playpen in the room and put them in. But Sentinel hates being in confined in a pen with his siblings and cousin. He will fight someone and either win or scream when he loses. So it's best to let them crawl around. They can't get into any trouble. As Garth went back to the kitchen, Optimus and the others looked up at the cake trolley. The wedding cake was far from their grasp. They were just bitties. They can't reach for the prize like big bots.

Then they got an idea.

An awful idea.

The sparklings got a wonderful, awful idea.

After Garth took a quick peek from the kitchen window, the chief bot went back to his task. Garth decided to to gather up the ganache signs he already made and slowly cut parts of it off and plaster it one full chocolate ganache sign. This is to give it a little bit of depth. Unknownst to him, his cousins and sister was currently trying to scale up the trolley.

It was not easy to do. Sentinel did not get very far in climbing one trolley leg. Optimus kept sliding down and Elita was still very small so she didn't get very far off the ground. Corona was the only one that was able to make it to the top. She was a little younger than Elita, but she knew how to get past the smooth surfaces of the trolley legs. It wasn't the first time she had climbed it. It was an unexpected surprise for Maccadam when he first found out his daughter could do this. This made Sentinel upset. Why should SHE be first to the cake?! He was ready to whine until Corona grabbed him by the back of his onesie and yanked him up. She was quite strong for her age.

Sentinel was now close to his goal. But he still needed to get his brother and sister up here. He really didn't want to share. He was tempted to shove his cousin off the side and have the cake all to himself. But if he did, she can scream and alert Garth. So, maybe not a good idea. Corona held Sentinel by his pedes as he dangled to grab Optimus' left servo. Elita was also grabbed when Optimus got her by the back of her onesie as they were quickly hoisted up.

Corona was a bit rough bringing the trio back up because it made the trolley start to move. There was more weight going to the front so it began to wheel that way. Sentinel climbed up the tiers to get to the very top of the cake. Elita climbed over Optimus to get to the second tier to the top. Optimus stayed in the third tier while Corona went to the fourth tier. The delicating frosting was ruined from the climbing, but they didn't care.

Garth heard the squeaky wheels from the trolley and his energon froze when he saw the sparklings on the cake as the trolley went through the front doors and into the streets!!!!

“WAIT! STOP! GUYS WAIT!!!” Garth yelled, dropping the chocolate ganache sign in his servo and sprinting after the runaway cake.

The streets were straight until a bot reaches one of the steep inclines. And that alone gave the cake trolley more than enough speed. Garth was not a fast bot to begin with. He was already tired, but he needed to hurry and get Sentinel and the others off the trolley. He did not want his cousins and sister to get her. And he also needed to deliver the wedding cake to his friends! When Garth realized he wasn't going to make it in time, he had only one option: scream out a warning. The trolley wasn't going to severely damage a bot. But it would still cause a nasty dent in the armor. And if they were hit, the bitties will be catapulted away.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY! RUNAWAY CAKE! SOME BOT STOP THOSE SPARKLINGS!!!!”

Many of the passerby's didn't even do that. They didn't know what exactly was speeding down the road! They just know they did not want to be hit by it. It was after getting out of the way or throwing themselves onto the sidewalk that they realized what the object was. Wasn't that the Magnus' sparklings???? And being followed by the bartender's son!?

Meanwhile, at the venue....

The wedding was actually a big hit.

Maccadam was in the middle of mixing drinks when the guests were finishing up on the food. The bride and groom had decided to wait on seeing their wedding cake. No bot seem to object to that since they too wanted to eat the buffet that was waiting on each table. Alpha Trion, on the other hand, wasn't exactly too pleased with it. By tradition, the newly wed couple would cut the cake before the guests even get to sit down and eat. That's what him and Ultra Magnus did on their wedding day. The old judge wished these young bots would just follow the tradition. Prior to this, Maccadam did inform him of what was happening. After Alpha Trion had to fix his makeup.

The bartender was the only bot at the venue who saw the Magnus and judge looking so pitful. It took Maccadam a bit to get the full story from the two sad bots, but he got the gist of it. They were just sad their children did not react to their creators leaving. It did not surprise him since they normally wail and scream when they are dropped off at daycare. He should know; Maccadam drops Corona off at the same place. When the power couple came in a while ago, Maccadam had to tell his brother that his mascara was running. That snapped him out of his depressing stupor enough to rush to the nearest bathroom. Nothing snaps Alpha Trion out of a gloomy rut than telling him his makeup was running.

Now it was time to present the cake to the new couple. Garth was supposed to wheel it down from the oil house. His friend group has offered to come over to pick it up since he had to sparkling-sit his cousins and baby sister, but the chonky bot insisted on delivering the cake himself while the others nap. He would have the bitties sleeping in a comfy wagon while he pushes the trolley. It would be a cute sight for Ultra Magnus and Alpha Trion. But it sure was taking awhile...

One of the guests opened the door to see if there was any sight of the cake when they heard Garth screaming at the top of his vocals. They didn't quite catch what he was saying. But they did see a slightly ruined cake with four bitties riding on the same trolley. It sounded like theose four was having the time of their lives.

But at the expense of going a hundred miles an hour on a busy street!!

“MY SPARKLINGS!!!!” Alpha Trion screamed in horror.

It was a moment no bot was going to forget. The great judge Alpha Trion and their leader Ultra Magnus rushing out of a wedding and down the street to rescue their children. The old bartender Maccadam was not far behind in an attempt to rescue his little daughter. Garth was able to catch up to his sire, but neither of them was fast enough to keep up with Alpha Trion and his husband. Ultra Magnus ran past the trolley to get in front. The towering mech dug his pedes into the ground and grabbed the front of the trolley. Making it come to a halt. Alpha Trion immediately picked up each of his sparklings to check if they were hurt.

They were just sticky and covered in pieces of cake and frosting. Alpha Trion had a hard time prying Sentinel away from the top tier because he was too busy pounding the figures into the pastry. But, despite that, all three of his sparklings was just fine. Maccadam soon caught up with his son and scooped up his little spitfire of a daughter. She was happy to see him. Sticky as well.

The bottom of the cake was just big enough for the guests to eat a piece and whatever parts of the cake that was not touched by the bitties. One would think the four would whine over having to share the cake, but that was not the case. Sentinel, Optimus, Elita, and Corona were sound asleep. Sentinel and Elita napped in their sire's strong arms while Optimus was sleeping on their carriers shoulder. Corona curled up in her sire's left arm while he made drinks with his right. He can move her around if he needed to use his other servo. At first, Garth was going to be scolded for this fiasco. But Alpha Trion knew his nephew didn't do this on purpose.

If anything, Alpha Trion should've realized what his own children were capable of....

#sparkling siblings au #Sparkling Siblings WTFIYS #alpha trion #maccadam #tfa ultra magnus #transformers animated

49 notes · View notes