Simple Misperceptions

Planning Maneuvers

Optimus heard a rap on his office door. Looking up, he nodded for the mech to enter. He was slightly surprised when Demolisher walked in.

“Um, Prime sir. Are you ready to go?” the mech asked. He shifted nervously from foot to foot, still not sure about how to act around his new Commander.

Prime cocked his head in curiosity, as far as he knew there was nothing but paperwork on his schedule today. “Go where Demolisher?” he asked.

“Well, uh, the valley where we’re planning at.” Demolisher looked down at the ground, he hoped Prime wouldn’t get angry that he’d apparently forgotten the appointment.

“What valley? And just what are we planning?” Optimus narrowed his amber optics, for he knew he’d never heard of this on his schedule!

Demolisher was now getting a little anxious; if this was Megatron, he’d have been pounded to the floor by now! Since the Alliance was still fairly new, he still wasn’t sure what to expect out of his new leader. “Um, sir, the.. um.. maneuvers,” he stammered. His engines revved slightly at the anticipated angry response.

Now Prime was absolutely certain there must have been some kind of screw up! “What maneuvers? I’ve never heard of this at all,” he declared. Holding out his hand, he demanded the paperwork that the nervous Decepticon was holding.

The nervous mech fumbled with some paperwork, and handed it to Prime. “Well.. um.. sir.. You signed the agreement that this ‘show’ would be a joint thing between the Commands. And.. um.. signed that you’d personally command our side.. um.. sir!” His coolant fans came on, as his internal temperature skyrocketed with his anxiety over this screw up.

Optimus glanced through the paperwork. Sure enough, he’d signed everything the way that Demolisher said. Silently berating himself for not bothering to read the darned thing, he realized he was stuck doing it. For Optimus Prime never backed out of anything he’d said he’d do!

Sighing internally, he nodded to Demolisher to lead the way, and followed the mech out of Cybertron’s Command Center.

----

“You know, if we came in at a forty-five degree approach, then rolled and banked hard starboard, it’d look freagin’ cool!” Thundercracker said. Leaning over Raptor, he motioned at the points that he thought the second squadron should roll then bank. He made sure to rub his leg against the femme’s as he did it. Cutting a coy glance at Skywarp, he silently challenged his wing mate to top it.

Raptor rubbed her chin in thought, completely ignoring the fact that these two Seekers seemed to be playing a subtle game to try and ‘catch her optics’. She looked up over the expansive valley. Trying to picture the maneuver in her Meta, she could see the blue Seeker’s point. “I like the approach idea, but what about rolling and then going vertical for a thousand. After which, go into a loop, meeting the other squad at the apex?”

“Hmm, chance we might stall trying to vertical that fast,” Skywarp mumbled. Standing on Raptor’s other side; he leaned over the map, his wing rubbing lightly across her side. His optics locked with Thundercracker’s as he enjoyed the other male Seeker’s narrowed optics in silent reply to his ‘move’. The two of them had been playing this coy game for weeks now, both of them trying to position themselves to get the ‘favor’ of the Earth Mech Commander. Whoever caught her optic, could very well become the most influential Decepticon around. And have access to Earth Mech Commands’ immense wealth and political influence. Courting the single femme, was truly the easiest way for a con to increase his rank and power.

They all looked back at the map, discussing various ideas and maneuvers. Both males,
were still trying to think of new subtle moves, to ‘out flirt’ the other.

“Sorry I’m a little late,” Optimus said as he and Demolisher strolled up to the group of Seekers.

All of the Seekers looked up as one, expressions of surprise on their faces.

“What are you two doing here?” Thundercracker asked. He narrowed his red optics as he looked at Raptor’s ‘roommate’. Since the Decepticon Seeker merely considered the ground mech as potential competition for the femme he was trying to get ‘closer’ to.

Demolisher looked from Seeker to Seeker, “Well, uh, that’s what the request you sent us wanted.” His core temperature again started to rise, for after the obvious confusion on Prime’s part back at the Command Center – he really didn’t want to deal with another screw up. It was too nerve racking!

Raptor and Skywarp exchanged a bemused glance. “I thought this was just an aerial show,” Skywarp asked her. His optics also narrowed slightly as he studied Prime, his thoughts running along similar lines as his wing mate’s.

She shrugged, “So did I.” She reached her hand out toward the two ground mechs, motioning for them to hand her the paperwork. Glancing through it, she began to mutter something about daughters under her breath.

Handing it back to Prime, she smiled. “Well, I guess we’ll need to assign a couple squads of mobile artillery units to this show.”

The two male Seekers exchanged a wary glance, not likely this development in the least.

“Mobile artillery – for what?” Thundercracker demanded to know. His intakes fluxed in irritation at both the ground mechs interruption and the fact that the Seekers might have to now share the spotlight with them.

“For the 6 inch mortar rounds of fireworks,” Raptor explained. She was still grinning inside, having recognized the paperwork as having originated from Blacktop’s office. For a femme so young – the bitch was indeed conniving!

Skywarp’s optics narrowed suspiciously. Did they really expect them to fly with fireworks going of around them!? This was outrageous to say the least! “Fireworks! Why in Vector Sigma would we have fireworks!?!”

Raptor chuckled, “Because, that’s apparently the request we sent to Cybertron Command.” She could picture Blacktop snickering all the way back to her quarters after sending that particular request out. Granted, Raptor thought she should be a little ticked, but something about this entire situation made it hysterical. Especially the looks on the two flirtatious male Seeker’s faces when Optimus had walked up, now that had truly been a Kodak moment!

“You mean; you didn’t know about this?” Optimus queried. His amber optics narrowed at his room mate, for she seemed to think this whole srew up was funny for some reason.

His room mate shot him a look, “Nope, but I guarantee that certain daughters of yours knew about this.” She loved it when that black daughter of his, pulled a stunt on the mech. To see him backpedal was hysterical.

Why did she always call them ‘his daughters’ when they caused trouble, and ‘her daughters’ when they didn’t?!?! Optimus would never understand it! “So you didn’t send this request out?” he asked incredulously.

“Nope,” she simply said. Her grin showing him that she wasn’t going to let him live down the fact that he didn’t check with her to confirm.

“But we’ve already prepaid for the order,” he said. A sinking feeling in his core told him that he was now busted for not reading paperwork before signing it. That damned black daughter of his was a smart little aft!

The femme shrugged, “Guess we’ll modify our plans then.” It didn’t really bother her much to go back through the entire planning process again. In fact, it would be humorous to see how these two Seekers would change their ‘subtle’ physical flirting techniques – with her room mate there. She knew they considered the big ground mech as possible competition; which was all the more hysterical in itself, since she knew he was gay.

The other Cybertronians were shifting unneasily as they listened to the two Commanders discuss the unauthorized change in plans. The two male Seekers not liking the fact that they’d have to share the spotlight with ground mechs, and Demolisher expecting one or the other of the Commanders to blow a fuse over the intentional mix-up! Yet, both Prime and Raptor seemed to be taking it in stride.

Optimus sighed; his daughters were forever getting him into situations like this! Walking over to the map spread over the table, he glanced at what the Seekers had been discussing. “So, how many Seeker squads are involved?”

They all turned back to the map, now discussing how to choreograph the maneuvers of the Seekers with each other; but also doing the same with an equal number of mobile light infantry units.

Standing across the table from the three Seekers, Optimus noted how sleek and well-matched the three flyers were. Even though Raptor was a dull-painted stealth Seeker, she seemed to fit right in with the brighter colored males. All of them had the same characteristic sleekness of aerodynamic fighter designs.

Yes, the interest those two male Seekers had in her, was primarily due to her high rank. For Decepticons held position and power, as more desirable to any other characteristic in a potential mate. And for them this would be the easiest way to increase their own rank. They could care less if she was rather plain looking physically. This blatant interest in his room mate was so obvious to Prime’s optics. Especially, now that the two males were giving him looks of evaluation as they made sure to stay on either side of the Earth Commander. He knew they hadn’t been thrilled when he had moved in with her, for now he was considered as ‘possible competition’ in their quest for power.

He considered warning her about these two particular Seekers. But, he was merely her room mate, so was it truly his place to tell her who to date?

But, as the months passed and the pain from Jetfire’s infidelity began to fade, Optimus had caught himself thinking about the femme more-and-more. She seemed to match him in both intelligence and maturity. These traits held more value in his optics than any position or appearance. He could also tell that she’d be the type that a mech could count on to be faithful.

Internally, he sighed. Yes, none of the quality unbonded Seekers would ever look at a bulky ground mech like him. So who was he kidding, that Raptor might consider ever looking at him as more than a mere friend? She had position and power, and all the sleek and handsome Decepticon Seekers would happily court her. Simply because of her title, she could have any Seeker she wanted.

No, Optimus was merely an average looking ground mech. The only thing Raptor would ever consider him – was as a friend…He was certain of that.

----

Raptor smiled across the table at her room mate. Though the debate over maneuvers was fairly intense amongst the five of them, she couldn’t help but glance his way. He was so intelligent and strong, the power obvious in the very way he was built. But as she had watched the depression lift from him these last few months, she had seen the gentle spark within.

Yes, if Prime had a fault; it was that he gave his all to everyone and believed that they’d give the same in return. He wanted to believe the good in everyone. This was why he’d been hurt so deeply by Jetfire.

Now, as she watched him interact with Demolisher, she could see his innate ability to lead. To give others the confidence they needed. The Decepticon was feeding off this encouragement, so unlike what he’d had under Megatron’s command. His crimson optics were beginning to get a look of idolization as he talked with the Autobot.

Yes, Demolisher wasn’t the brightest mech on the block. But he was loyal once he gave you his oath. And like Prime, the Decepticon had a similar physical strength and power - being a ground Mech. Yes, Demolisher was a decent mech, providing he ever caught Prime’s optics.

Raptor sighed; yes she had caught herself thinking more and more about Optimus. But she was just a Seeker. Not built for anything but speed, endurance and maneuverability. She had no strength and power like the tough ground mechs. And worst of all, she was a femme. There was no uncertainty in her mind about Prime’s sole interest being in strong male mechs.

The only thing Prime would ever consider her – was as merely a friend. Raptor was certain of that.

-----

Control of the Remote

“Thanks for the lift,” Raptor said to Thundercracker as she leaped off onto the ground. Her thrusters hit the pavement with a light thud, her knees flexing slightly to absorb the shock.

“It’ll sure be nice when you’ve got clearance to fly again,” he answered. Though, in a sense he enjoyed the fact she was grounded. This meant she had to depend on others to give her a lift. And it’d been pretty easy to offer right before Skywarp did. He knew the purple Seeker would be seething that he’d done it first. The feeling of satisfaction flowed through him at the mere thought of Skywarp’s expression as he had taken off with the femme riding on top of him.

She lightly slapped his blue wing. “But then you won’t be able to keep up with me!” she challenged. Her red optics gleamed at the thought of his expression when she left him in her con trails.

“You mean; you’ll never shake me off your tail!” the Seeker snorted. His tone told her that he was more than up for a challenge. And he meant that in more ways than one.

Raptor just chuckled as the blue Seeker disappeared in the distance. She sure did miss flying! But at least by catching a lift with Thundercracker, she’d beaten Optimus back to their quarters. Yes, there was an advantage to those Seekers always hanging around. They made her feel young again! She grinned as she strolled towards their quarters. Perhaps she should start looking at those two more seriously? Even though she’d live long past both of them, it’d be nice to have a dedicated mate for a time. Yes, she’d have to think on that.

Shaking the thoughts of dating and mates out of her Meta, she threw the door open. Strolling in, she plopped herself down on the hard rubber couch and grabbed the remote. By golly! Tonight SHE would get to watch her shows! Putting her thrusters up on the table, she leaned back and smiled as ‘Fire Power’ came on.

She just loved a good action-filled show!

----

It’d been a rather long drive from the valley, and Prime couldn’t wait to put his feet up when he got home. He was a little happy that Thundercracker had offered a flight to Raptor, since he figured they’d stop for some energon on the way. Knowing those two, they’d get caught up in some debate over air currents or something. In a sense, he was a tad sad, since he enjoyed Raptor’s company and would’ve loved to have given her a lift. But, on the other hand – he’d get home first this time!

He smiled to himself. There was a particular movie that was coming on tonight, and he’d planned to watch it. Whether or not Raptor agreed to or not. It was something about a human that got a strange disease that made him like a God, and how he helped others with the power.

Yes, it was the type of heart warming movie that he had found a taste for. Unlike those violent action flicks that Raptor always seemed to prefer. And if she managed to get home first, there was little hope in getting the damned remote away from her.

Driving into the East Mech Residential Complex, he transformed and headed for their quarters. Thoughts of a relaxing night went through his Meta. His engines slowed to a relaxed idle as he considered the quiet night ahead.

Opening the door, he was dismayed to find his room mate lounging on the couch. Glancing at the big flat screen he saw the familiar intro to his least favorite show.
Groaning inside, he acted like nothing was up and went to grab some energon from the storage unit.

Walking back, his optics noticed the remote lying on the table. A plan began to form in his Meta. Yes, tonight he would make sure they watched HIS channel! A mischievous grin spread under his mask as he prepared himself for action. Glancing back up at Raptor, he made sure she didn’t notice anything was amiss. Nodding his greeting, he sat down with an apparently exhausted grunt. He relaxed for a moment as he calmed his expression enough to maintain his cool façade as he took his face mask off. He slowly lifted the cube to his lips and took a big sip, forcing himself to express a look of enjoyment at its flavor. Then he nonchalantly leaned forward to set the cube on the table.

In the blink of an optic, the remote was now his, as he swiped it off the table in a blur!

“Hey, give me that!” she yelled. Turning quickly, she made an attempt at grabbing it.

With ease, the strong ground mech kept her hands away from the remote. Grinning mischievously, he swiftly changed the channel to the one with his movie on it. His engines purred in contentment, for now that he had the remote – the femme wasn’t getting it back.

“Why you dirty slogger! I’m going to…” Raptor didn’t finish her sentence as she lunged for the remote. She jumped on top of him, desperately trying to grab the remote from his hands.

“Now, now, watch your language. That’s not becoming of a Commander!” he chided, as he juggled the remote from hand-to-hand, keeping it out of her grasp. His grin spread, for this was quite a fun little game – and by golly, he was going to win it!

Now on top of him, Raptor was making a good effort at retaking the remote. With one arm, he easily tossed her light air frame off of him. Then he settled himself down on the couch, giving her his most cocky look, as she slowly stood up at considered her options.

She stood, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. “Just because you are the ‘Great Optimus Prime’, does not mean you get to take the remote from me!” The tone of her voice told him that she was far from through with her attempts to get it back.

He chuckled, knowing she was no match for him in robot mode. Then he stuffed the remote into his cab. “So just what are you going to do about it?” he challenged. He was really enjoying this game, and couldn’t wait to see what the light-built Seeker was going to try next.

Her crimson optics glimmered, outrage mixed with humor. “Ok, you wanna play dirty? I’ll play dirty!”

She jumped on him. As he tried to grab her hands, the damned femme kept twisting her arms. This made it impossible to hold them for long. Ever time she found an opening; she began to wiggle her fingertips into whatever seam she could get to. This created bursts of sensory array stimulation through his secondary networks. A very unsettling sensation to the mech!

“What the - ?” he stammered as he desperately tried to get a firm hold on those twisting arms. “Now you give me those arms!”

She began to laugh as they continued to wrestle, “What? Has the great Prime never been tickled?” her left hand got past his defense, diving into the seam between his cab and grill. Stronger bursts of the unsettling stimulation went through him. Letting go of her other hand, he extracted her fingers, just as her other hand wiggled into another seam.

“What are you doing?” he gasped, as they rolled off the couch onto the floor. He tried to get on top of her, because he knew he’d secure her hands there! But she twisted over him, getting on his back. The Seeker was like trying to hold a snake, she seemed to slither out of his grasp with ease!

Another round of the unsettling stimulation flowed through him, causing him to shiver. But it wasn’t the shiver he associated with pleasurable bonding play – this was an entirely different sort of sensation! A sensation that was both highly unsettling to his systems and also and made him want to – laugh?!?!

Raptor felt his automatic reaction, her laughing increased in volume as the struggle continued. “He, he, I can’t believe you’re so ticklish!” she exclaimed, as she again twisted out of his grasp and went back to finding seams to dig into. Now it was becoming more fun to cause Optimus to lose control and start laughing – than to actually regain the remote. She hadn’t had this much fun since she found out that Falcon was ticklish. Boy, had she had fun torturing that youngling!

“Quit that!” he ordered, knowing it was totally hopeless to order the femme. But he couldn’t stand this unsettling stimulation she was doing. It made him want to - laugh! His optics widened in disbelief, for it made absolutely no sense! His logic circuits tried to make sense of it, but there was absolutely no logic to it.

Once again, he tried to get her under his bulk. Again, his attempts were futile. The lithe Seeker was able to twist free, to continue her strange torture of his sensory nets.

“Oh, come on Prime – you know you have the urge to laugh!” she snickered, her fingers now sliding in the backside of his knee.

Fighting the strange urge, Optimus got a brief hold on that hand, but then her other hand snuck between the seams at his hip. These sensation pulses were much stronger than the others, and he couldn’t help but jerking in response. Finally, he couldn’t help it, he began to laugh!

This only gave her more encouragement, as she continued to sneak past his defenses and find even more sensitive spots to stimulate. Eventually, he could no longer concentrate on trying to catch her hands. All he could do was to spasm, jerk and laugh!

As he became helpless with the unsettling sensory impulses that were coursing through his chassis, Raptor deftly slid her hand into his cab and extracted the remote. Then she quit tickling him as suddenly as she had started, as she leaped up and plopped herself back on the couch.

It took a few minutes for his networks to reset and return to normal functioning. But strangely, he felt ‘happy’ emotionally. Shaking his head at the complete lack of logic concerning the way his nets had responded, Prime picked himself off the floor. He looked at the rather self-satisfied Seeker sitting on the couch.

“I’ve got to ask; just what did you do to my nets?” he asked, as he warily sat down next to her. He kept an optic on her, just knowing she’d do that strange type of torture again.

She shrugged, grinning at him. “I tickled you.” She still thought it was truly hysterical that the big ground mech was so damned ticklish. She’d have never have thought…

“Tickled? I’ve never heard of this, it makes no logical sense.” His confusion was apparent, as he kept a wary optic on her.

“Sure it does. If you stimulate the sensory arrays at ‘sub-pleasure’ levels – then it’s called tickling.” Raptor chuckled as she nudged him with her elbow. “I must say, you are overly ticklish for a mech.”

“So instead of causing true pleasure reaction, it causes you to laugh uncontrollably?” Optimus was still not quite able to believe that this was possible!

“Yep.” She grinned devilishly. Just wait until she told that prankster daughter of his! Blacktop would have a field day with this one.

----

They sat silently for a while. Raptor enjoyed her show of bombs and missiles, while Prime considered this whole idea of ‘tickling’. Obviously, the femme had known about this and had chosen to use ‘dirty tactics’ to best him in their wrestling match over the remote. So perhaps he should pay her back for the torture a bit?

Though he wasn’t a fast as Raptor, Optimus knew he could easily get the best of her. That is, providing he caught her by complete surprise. So he made a show of relaxing next to her on the couch.

As he noticed Raptor had gotten fully engrossed in her program, Prime readied his chassis for action. Silently he began to raise the pressure in his hydraulics so he’d have the fastest reaction.

Suddenly, he was upon her! The femme shrieked in disbelief as she found her hands trapped under him.

“You sneaky aft!” she snarled even as she chuckled. Sure, she could teleport out of the trap, but that was no fun! So she struggled to get her hands free. Knowing if she did, she could tickle the slogger mercilessly again.

Feeling like a young mech again, Optimus grinned in amusement at the trapped Seeker. “I told you never to mess with me on the ground, you’ll never win.” He ran his fingers very, very lightly along her wing/fuselage seam; making sure to keep it at ‘sub-pleasure’ levels. “And pay back is hell.” This was actually quite fun! He enjoyed the sensation of her warm fuselage under his fingertips, her core temperature going up, that look on her face. Yes, almost as fun as bonding – and she was allowing him to tickle her. So she didn’t think it was some kind of come-on or anything. This was great!

“You are an old devil!” she accused, as those unsettling bursts of sensation coursed through her air frame. Jerking, she tried to break free. Her intakes fluxed with her effort.

“I’m three times your weight, so you might as well give that idea up,” he advised her. A gleam came to his amber optics. “If my memory serves me well, isn’t a Seeker’s wings their most sensitive nets?” Oh, was he going to enjoy doing this!

“Oh, you wouldn’t!” she struggled harder to break free. But part of her really enjoyed this attention. If she hadn’t, then she’d have simply teleported out from under him. But what Prime didn’t take into account, was that humans sometimes used tickling as foreplay. So the human-sparked Seeker was enjoying it quite a bit more than he realized. And as she looked up at the mech, she figured he wasn’t thinking of this as anything more than innocent fun. But she sure did like the feel of him holding her down and running his fingers over her.

Suddenly, she was overcome by laughter as Prime tapped his fingers lightly over her wings. As he increased his tickling, she writhed under him, completely helpless to her automatic reactions to the pulses of sensations.

Finally, he released her. Grabbing the remote, he changed the channel back to his movie. Settling himself back on his side of the couch, he watched her wipe her energon tears from her face. His smug smile said it all.

-----

A Different Kind of Pressure

“Looks like we’ll be in direct competition, Sir;” Blurr said as Prime walked by. In fact, Blurr couldn’t wait to see what the two Commanders would come up with. For while Blurr had the speed performance chip, Prime did not – so Blurr figured he’d actually have quite the advantage over the big mech. It’d be very satisfying to win over Optimus for once.

Prime stopped, looking bemusedly at his officer. He had absolutely no idea just what in the hell Blurr was referring to. Competition? What Competition? Before he could even inquire as to exactly what Blurr was referring to, Scavenger slapped him hard on his back.

“Optimus, can’t wait to see what you and Raptor come up with!” he exclaimed. He too, felt that Blurr and IceOwl would have a heck of an opportunity to outshine the two Commanders. But that would just mean that many more mechs would show up to watch it. Which must’ve been why Prime and Raptor had entered in the first place?

Red Alert had been walking by with Scavenger. He nodded at Optimus as he smiled approvingly. “With you two in the dance competition, the charity will raise a lot more than expected. It was a very good idea to enter, sir.” He raised his optic ridges; still a little surprised that Raptor would agree to almost definitely be shown up by her daughter. Prime just didn’t have the same performance capabilities that the speedy Blurr did.

Looking from officer-to-officer, Prime realized they were serious. Somehow, he and Raptor been entered in this charity dance off. Instead of denying it, he just nodded to his men and went into his office. He’d have to get to the bottom of all this.

Suddenly, Raptor appeared in his office, using her teleport to avoid everyone. From the look on her face, she was more than a little miffed. In fact, she was apparently highly pissed.

“What the hell were you thinking? Entering us without asking me!” she demanded to know. She slammed her fist down on his desk, glaring at him. Her crimson optics were bright with rage.

Well, obviously she didn’t enter us. Prime thought in amusement, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew exactly who pulled this one off. “I didn’t. I just found out we were entered about one astrominute ago;” he explained. Now it was his turn to find the situation his daughters had caused – amusing.

Raptor’s crimson optics narrowed. She thought quickly of possible culprits. “If you didn’t then who?- oh those little bitches, I’m going to so kick their afts!” she growled, realizing that it was most likely Jacket and Blacktop that had pulled this one. Her engines cycled at a higher frequency as she prepared to teleport straight to each of them and give them an aft whooping that they’d never forget.

Prime grabbed her wing before she could teleport out and start looking for her daughters. He knew that neither one would stand much of a chance against their angry mother. But he really didn’t want to have to deal with the chaos on Cybertron, of having Raptor chasing her daughters down in public. “No, don’t bother;” he chuckled. “After all it IS for charity. So perhaps it would be good for us to enter.” He had to admit, this stunt was a good one…

She glared at him; she didn’t like to be ‘volunteered’ for anything she hadn’t agreed to. But on the other hand, he did have a point. Though it would feel really good to bend her adult daughters over her knee….Cocking her head, she considered the prospect of dancing with Prime. She had to admit, it would be a good excuse to feel his arms around her – without him thinking it was a come-on or something. And the mech did seem willing. “But you don’t even know how to dance,” she said. Her smile told him that she’d delay getting even with her daughters – for now.

He shrugged, “You could teach me.” He was actually looking forward to this. Raptor wouldn’t think he was flirting with her or anything, and he’d have an excuse to feel her warm fuselage under his hands….

“Akk, those girls still need a good whipping. I just can’t believe…” Raptor still wanted a little satisfaction. Those two femmes were beginning to get out of control with their ‘change of orders’.

“It’s pointless, you know they won’t stop.” Prime shrugged. His daughters were getting more and more creative as time went on. Be interesting to see what stunt they pulled next.

She slumped down in one of his chairs, crossing her arms, her anger at all of it showing in her optics. She thought for a moment, knowing Optimus was absolutely right about it all. “So it’s charity, huh?”

He nodded, “For an intergalactic relief agency.”

She sighed, rolling her optics at her daughters. They’d known that the two of them would be stuck doing it, just out of their support for things like this. Smart, sneaky, group of femmes! “Guess you’re right, we might as well do it.” She couldn’t outwardly act overly thrilled with it, then Prime might realize that she had some interest in him. She didn’t want to insult him or anything. Knowing how he felt about femmes.

Standing up, she studied her room mate. Yes, this stunt her daughters had pulled – could turn out to be rather enjoyable. “Meet me in my practice hall after shift. We’ve got a lot of work to do!” Then she winked out in teleport.

Optimus leaned back in his seat. Yes, those young femmes had really pulled a good one on the two Commanders! But, perhaps it would be enjoyable to learn how to dance? And he’d get to be ‘physical’ with Raptor, without her taking insult. After all, the last ground mech that had tried to be ‘physical’ with the femme – had ended up being dropped into the dump. There were still many a ground mech still chuckling at Demolisher’s misfortune on that date. Raptor had a definite dislike for physical relations with a bulky ground mech it seemed..

Two Left Feet

“One, two, three and left, two, three and - Ouch!” she grunted, as Prime stepped on one of her thrusters again. This was the third time in a row. And God, when he stepped on a thruster – it freagin’ HURT! Sloggin’ heavy ground mech! She thought with disgust and a touch of sarcastic humor. Yes, it was fun to feel his arms around her – but damned did it ‘hurt’ when he predictably stepped on a thruster.

Sitting down, she rubbed her throbbing thruster, looking up at the big mech with humor in her optics. “You’ve got two left feet, Prime.”

Sitting next to her, he grabbed her sore thruster and began to rub it. “Sorry, I was built for battle, for picking things up and throwing them – not for dancing.” He did feel really bad when he stepped on one, but this ‘dancing’ thing was a hell of a lot harder than it looked. He was beginning to feel like it was truly becoming a ‘lost cause’.

Raptor chuckled; she’d been trying for several hours to teach the ground mech some of the slower and more sensual of human dances – to no avail. He just couldn’t do it! But his mention of picking things up, gave her an idea. Why not use a mix of gymnastics and strength for their dance? Perhaps she’d be able to keep her thrusters away from his feet then?

“Ok, lets try something different;” Raptor decided. Hell, anything was better than what they’d been trying!

Standing back up, she explained some of the moves they would try. The gleam in his amber optics told her that this was more his ‘style’ than what they’d been trying.

-----

“Ok, lets go through it piece-by-piece again,” Raptor said. Tapping out a code, she programmed the studio’s sound system to start their song on a delay.

Optimus nodded, going into the stance she had taught him. As the opening chords of their song filled the air, the femme spun in a slow motion leaping roundhouse, ending with a thruster planted in his hands. He lifted her over his head with ease, as she held a graceful pose. Then he tossed her up, spun around quickly, and deftly caught her. Her light-weight air frame not even making his hydraulics strain in the least.

Sliding down his chassis, Raptor ended up in the splits on the floor. Laying her torso across her front leg, she rolled sensuously over, then shifted so that she was on her back with one leg straight and the other bent. Sliding over her, Prime reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and into him. He made sure not to over pressurize his hydraulics for the lift, like he’d accidentally done the first few times they’d performed this sequence of moves. He didn’t want to slam her into him that hard again; though it’d been kind’ve fun.

For two beats, they moved with the music together. Prime concentrating really hard on where Raptor’s thrusters were. He really didn’t want to step on one – again. Then Raptor put one of her long legs straight up, against his shoulder. Optimus loved this move; he could imagine this position in …. Forcing himself back into reality, he grabbed her leg that was on his shoulder and the same side arm. He easily picked her up and began to spin her. As their momentum increased, he raised her until she was again over his head. He was still amazed at how light the tall femme was.

Placing both of her hands on his shoulders, Raptor began a handstand as Prime stopped the spin and went down to one knee. His arms locked on hers to help support her. Angling her legs in sensuous poses, Raptor finished by sliding down his chassis as he stood. Boy, did she really enjoy this dance move. Felt so good to be pressed against his chassis like this! As her thrusters came across his grill, he wrapped his fingers around one and began another spin.

With the momentum causing her air frame to go horizontal again, Raptor put herself into sensuous poses again. Then Prime let her go. As she was flung away from him, she deftly flipped in the air and landed oh-so lightly on her thrusters. They came back together and finished ‘the dance’, both of them not realizing how the other one truly enjoyed their chassis pressed together.
---


“I told you I could learn how to dance,” Optimus chuckled. He’d both; learned to dance, and had an enjoyable evening of touching her lithe air frame. And hadn’t ended up dropped from mid-air for it! Couldn’t beat an evening like this!

Raptor nodded, taking a swig of the energon, she handed it back to him. “Not really traditional dancing, but I think we’ve got a good shot at winning.” She glanced slyly at him. Actually thankful their daughters had pulled this stunt. It was a rather good excuse to be ‘physical’ with the gay mech – without him taking offense.

He took a sip and leaned against the wall. “More importantly, we’ll make mechs want to come back to the next charity.” He was already thinking about volunteering them for the next cycle’s charity dance. Be nice doing this ‘practice’ with her again.. It was the only way a bulky ground mech was ever going to get his hands on the gray/green Seeker – and not have her pissed off about it.

“True, very true;” she agreed. She was also considering volunteering them next cycle. She knew that Prime was a sucker for charities like this, so it’d be a good excuse to get her hands on him again. Without him taking any insult at it.

All for Charity

Optimus’s amber optics widened in amazement as his room mate came out of her room. She had used her holographic projector to ‘repaint’ herself for the charity dance-off. She was now sporting an ‘identical’ paint scheme to his. “Amazing!” he mumbled in shock. He knew she had those projectors, but she rarely used them. So he’d almost forgotten about that particular ability.

Slowly turning a circle, Raptor grinned at him. “I guess I should take that as a – you look good – statement?” She was really enjoying the fact that he had that look in his optics. It felt good to have his optics roving over her air frame.. Even though he was only doing it out of surprise.

He nodded, still not knowing just why the femme had done this. Though the bright red, white and blue color scheme did make the rather plain femme – stand out. He hadn’t realized how just a simple change in paint could make a plain Seeker so breathtaking. And he sure hoped she didn’t do this on a permanent basis. For he’d never be able to keep his hands off of her, and she’d end up kicking his aft over unwanted attentions like that. “So just why did you choose to recolor yourself?” he asked.

The Seeker grinned at him and rapped him lightly on his helm as she walked past. Her optics danced in amusement. These Cybertronians could be so ignorant of the ‘arts’. They just seemed to have so little imagination some times. “Because, silly, Dance partners generally wear matching outfits. It adds something special to their dance routine,” she chuckled as she waltzed out of the door.

Shaking his head slightly, Prime didn’t argue about the seemingly illogical nature of this idea. He’d learned that it was generally better if he let his room mate think she’d had the last word. And as he followed her down the corridor, he had to admit – he sure as hell enjoyed looking at her in this color scheme!

---

Just as Raptor had predicted, they had officially ‘won’ the charity dance off. The large crowd of mechs applauded their approval of their incorporation of standard hand-to-hand combat moves, into a ‘dance routine’. Most of them were quite amazed that Prime could even dance. Much less, do it so well!

As they left the charity event, the room mates spotted the group of their daughters and dates. Grinning mischievously, Raptor nodded to Prime to follow her. By God, she was going to get ‘even’ with those mischievous young femmes! Even if she’d actually enjoyed the time spent teaching Prime to dance.

Walking up to the group, Raptor slammed her hand down on Jacket’s and Blacktop’s shoulders. A devilish grin spread across her face. Boy was she going to enjoy this! “I was so impressed when the paperwork for the next civil project came through my office! Thanks for volunteering for it!” she exclaimed. She acted as if they’d actually signed the paperwork – instead of the fact that she’d forged their signatures. They’d learn that it was better not to pull a stunt on an old prankster such as herself.

Taking Raptor’s quie, Optimus nodded, slapping the backs of Falcon and Jaguar. A grin spread under his facemask as he realized that they were really going to give these deviants some fun payback. “I’m sure you girls will enjoy learning how to build a solar collection station!” he said, making sure to match Raptor’s ‘shock’.

All of the femmes stared at the two Commanders in disbelief. But before they could say anything, Raptor and Optimus walked off, chuckling to each other.

The femmes all looked at each other in dismay – they’d been had! For the two Commanders had said this in front of all their boyfriends, so now they had to do it!

Later that Night

“Didn’t you just love the expression on their faces?!” Raptor hooted as she took another big sip of energon. The thrill of getting even with the ‘girls’ was a beautiful feeling. She Leaned back in her chair, almost falling over since she was so off-balance and over-energized.

Optimus grinned, the over-energized haze starting to settle behind his optics. He was now so energized; he could barely sit up straight. But it felt so good to have gotten some payback on those daughters of his. But he had to admit that his daughters were some of the most intelligent and creative femmes; kind’ve made him proud to be their sire. “You know, their stunts are pretty ingenious.”

She about fell over, snickering at his choice of words; “You only say that, because they’re your girls.” She too, felt a little pride – but that was when she wasn’t ‘the victim’ of their daughters’ creativity. So most of the time, the young femmes just frustrated her to no end.

He took another big sip and simply nodded. It was very nice to have a drinking buddy like her! They could joke and laugh about almost anything it seemed. Granted, he did wish she was more than a ‘drinking buddy’ – but you can’t have everything, can you?

“Well, it’s getting late; guess we should go to bed.” Raptor staggered to her thrusters, leaning against the wall. She grinned drunkenly as she offered a hand to him. Not even considering the fact that he was three times her weight.

Taking her offered hand, Optimus went to get up. But he was so much heavier than her, that he ended up pulling the over-energized Seeker down on top of him. As they crashed down to the floor, they both wailed in laughter as they stared at each other with half-opened optics.

Lying on top of the big mech, with his handsome bared face just mere inches from hers; Raptor had a rather bright idea. Well, to a rather inebriated Seeker that is! Pressing down on her friend, she took his lips with hers. Slipping her glossa in and teasing his, before her gay friend could stop her.

At first, Optimus thought the haze of over-energization was playing tricks with his Meta, as he felt her glossa probe his mouth. A fantasy that his meta was playing out as if it was reality. But then he decided that he really didn’t care if this was some kind of trick, and he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her tighter against him as he responded with his glossa. Her lips were so soft, so tender - so unlike Jetfire’s. He ran his fingers gently over her fuselage, pressing her lithe frame even tighter to his. His engines revved to higher rpm’s as her lips sent tremors through him.

For several minutes they kissed, for time seemed to stand still for the two drunk mechs. But then their systems reacted to the over-energization by initiating automatic shutdown sequences. And the two passed out on the floor.

-----

“Oh, my head hurts so bad..” Raptor grumbled as she staggered to her thrusters. Staggering to the couch, she collapsed into its firm support. She could barely think straight, her head hurt so badly; and there was still the fog of mild over-energization clouding her logic circuits.

She really couldn’t remember much after they’d made it back home. But she did remember something about kissing Optimus passionately. Shock went through her, because she knew how he felt about femmes. But maybe if he was drunk? With a start, she wondered if she and Prime had - ?

Glancing down at her fuselage, she saw that all her armor was still securely latched. With a sigh of relief, she relaxed. But, she was sad inside. For that meant that even when he was drunk, he must still prefer male mechs over femmes.

Sighing sadly, she shut down in defragmentation.

----

The fog slowly lifted, allowing Optimus to stagger to his feet. He was still over-energized and feeling slightly disoriented because of it. But it had felt so good to drink and joke with his room mate.

As his optics cleared a little, he realized he was still on the living room floor. Scanning his surroundings he realized that Raptor was passed out on the couch.

He recalled something fuzzy about her on top of him and them kissing passionately. Knowing how she felt about ground mechs, a look of concern crossed his face. He wondered if he and Raptor had - ?

Looking down, he scanned his chassis. Nope, all of his protective armor was still securely latched. His shoulders drooped in sadness. For that meant that even when she was drunk, she still didn’t find him attractive in that way.

With a sad sigh, he stumbled to his room and passed out on his bunk.

----

Flying Free

“So, how’d the exam go?” Optimus asked as Raptor finally came home. He’d been debating on playing hooky from work. Maybe he’d drive out to inspect how the construction on the new Earth Embassy was coming along. That way, he’d have an excuse to drag Raptor along and spend some time with her.

She shrugged dismissively, but the happy gleam in her optics betrayed her.

He grinned behind his mask, knowing that these months of being grounded had just about driven his room mate nuts. “Ready to fly again?” he inquired. His core plummeted a little, since she’d no longer depend on him for transport. But he had known that eventually her internal repair systems would fix the stress fractures that her long flight hauling his aft had caused.

Laughing happily, she grabbed him in a big hug. “God, I can’t wait to feel the air under my wings again! And guess what?” she pulled back and looked into his amber optics. “Red Alert says the strangest thing has occurred. It seems my internal network has rebuilt my air frame twice as dense as it had been; Seems it reacted to the extreme stress load by adjusting to it. He figure’s it’s because I’m carbon-matrix based, allows my systems to adapt.”

Holding his happy friend in his arms, Prime wasn’t quite following what all this meant. He was never that good with technical terminology, and since Raptor’d been a medic once, she could rattle off so many terms in one sentence – that no one but a medic would have even a clue as to what she’d said.

Looking in his optics the Earth Commander chuckled as she patted his helm. “It means; my air frame can now handle your extra mass, without any problems.” Grinning at her room mate, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. “You know, I like you giving me a lift – so now let me give you a lift – my friend!”

Leaving the housing complex, Raptor transformed. Prime settled himself across her topside, his fingers curled around her wings’ leading edge, his legs between her canted tail fins. She launched vertically, her air frame not even straining as she redirected her powerful engine flows. Then she redirected again, bolting quickly into the sky.

Prime laid his head on the gentle swell behind her cockpit, enjoying the feel of the wind howling over his frame. Being a big ground mech, he rarely got to enjoy flight like this, feeling as if he was actually the Seeker himself. The vibration of her plasma engines flowed through his chassis, reminding him of when she had risked everything – just to bring him back. Even Jetfire hadn’t done that!

It had been months since he’d even talked with his former bond mate. They still avoided each other like the plague. But Jetfire now had Tigress, and from all reports, the two of them were quite happy together – living on the wing and exploring new planets. Yes, they were most suited to each other it seemed.

Optimus rubbed his fingers along Raptor’s wing edge. He was happy that she wanted him to share in her joy of regained flight. Yes, she was also a flyer like Jetfire – but she seemed so much more mature, more settled. These months of living together as room mates, had really allowed him to get to know her fully.

It’d also been a little torturous living with her. For as the months had passed, his attraction to her just kept growing. But he knew the femme had no interest in ground mechs that way. So he’d tried to push those thoughts out of his meta. Forcing himself to just treat her as the platonic friend she wanted to be. But sloggers, the feel of her warm fuselage underneath him were causing those desires to come back into his meta. Pressing himself even tighter against her, He fought those desires down, yet again.

Raptor banked sharply, allowing Prime a beautiful view of the landscape below. He smiled as he saw the newly constructed sky scrapers reaching their frames to the sky. The scars of their civil war; were slowly being covered with the growth of the peace.

A mischievous idea popped into his meta, and he knew Raptor was the type of Seeker that he could actually talk into doing it. “How fast can you go with my mass?” he asked his friend.

“Hmm, my normal level speed without afterburner is around mach 1.2. But you add a significant amount of drag,” she was silent in thought for a bit.

Figuring she was trying to calculate the exact speed, he cut into her thoughts. “If I wanted the actual figure, I’d have asked Perceptor.” He wanted action, not calculations. The type of action where you just did it – and didn’t think about the consequences! Kind’ve like battle, where you ignored the odds and just dove in with both guns blazing.

“So you just want an experimental value?” she chuckled. Excitement began to course through her, as she began to figure out what the ground mech wanted to try. She’d never burned full-out with anyone ‘on board’. For the g-forces created would kill a human pilot, and no ground mech was crazy enough to try and hang on.

Grinning behind his mask, Prime nodded his head. He was feeling like a bold young mech again! The excitement of the anticipation of facing danger flooded through him. Making his engines roar in response. Primus, he hadn’t felt like this since the war ended!

“You realize that you’re going to suffer some aerodynamic heating. That is, if you can hang on,” she warned. Even though she was excited by the mere thought of trying it, she knew she had to at least warn him of some of the dangers. After all, he was a ground mech and most likely unaware of the complications of super sonic flight.

“I can hang on, don’t worry,” he chuckled. “If I fall off, just fetch me with a teleport.” He had no doubt that she could. He knew full well her experiences in battle using her teleport abilities. They had joked about her penchance for ‘dropping’ ground mech opponents from great heights – and letting gravity do most of her fighting for her.

“You’re serious about this?” There was the hint of doubt in her voice. She really did want to try it, but the chance that her best friend could get hurt……

“Yes. Full afterburners, Earth Commander!” he ordered.

Without any more discussion, Raptor did as he asked. Her afterburners roared to life. The combined 70,000 pounds of thrust propelled them forward as if they had no mass. This incredible thrust almost tore his fingers right off her wings!

The ground and sky became a blur as their velocity increased. His armor plating on his shoulders and helm began to heat up with the intense friction of the atmosphere as they surpassed the sound barrier twice over! Yet still she accelerated! Amazement washed over Optimus as he really understood her jokes about her model’s superiority over the Cybertronian Seekers. She wasn’t being arrogant, she was being honest!

Excitement built within him, as his hydraulics strained to keep his fingers curled. The possibility of failure and a resulting fall; caused his very core to leap! He hadn’t felt this alive since his last battle with Megatron!

Then with a screech, his hydraulics reached their upper threshold, and failed. In less than a blink of an optic, Raptor had slid from under him. For a few seconds, he felt like he was truly flying on his own! His immense velocity kept him at an almost horizontal projectory. But then, he slowed and gravity tightened its grip on him. He began to plummet down to the planets surface.

Suddenly, Raptor was next to him, having teleported. Transforming to robot mode, she let herself match his downward velocity. “So now you’re into skydiving, huh?” her radioed voice asked in his head.

He just shrugged, enjoying the sensation of falling without fear. He had no doubt in his mind that the Seeker would ‘catch’ him. So the feeling of plummeting did not seem to bother him in the least.

A big grin crossed her face and she held out her hands to him. Accepting her offer, he pulled her to him, locking his fingers over her wings. As she slowly added more thrust, their descent gradually lessoned, until finally a balance was reached and they hovered together in mid-air.

“Do you realize how ticked off your Command would be, to know that I lost your aft in flight?” she asked him, her crimson optics gleamed with humor. The warmth from her engines and the rushing sound of her intakes, gave the only indication of the immense weight she was keeping aloft with apparent ease.

“No more so, than Red Alert would be, to know you pushed it wide open on your first flight out,” he chuckled. The look in his optics told her that he’d keep his synthesizer shut – if she did.

Enjoying the feel of him pressed against her, Raptor wasn’t quite sure she wanted to land yet. “Do you want to go to the moon?” she asked. Her optics gleamed with an almost childlike humor.

“The only moon we have left?” he asked; a smile behind his mask. He didn’t have to mention that both of them had ‘blown up’ the other ‘moon’ on separate occasions. But he couldn’t help but to tease her over it.

“Well, I’m not the one who blew the second one up. At least recently,” she gave him a wink. It felt good to finally be able to joke about their individual battles with Unicron.

He nodded; amusement in his amber optics. He didn’t really want to go to work anyhow. And hanging out with his favorite femme; sounded like a much better option – even if they were only ‘friends’.

As she transformed, he again settled himself over her topline. “Don’t let go this time!” she ordered, as she changed to their new flight path.

A Night on the Moon

He cradled her to him as she settled herself against him. Retracting her wings, she leaned back, pressing even tighter to his chassis. Together, they looked at the beautiful planet framed in the moon’s sky. The beautiful planet that Prime called home; and Raptor did not.

“It is a beautiful world, your Cybertron.” Her musical voice flowed over the empty landscape of the moon. It seemed to dance amongst the very rocks of the surface.

Setting his chin on top of her helm, Optimus stared sadly at his world. Yes, it was his world, not hers. He could hear a trace of homesickness in her voice. A feeling of trepidation flowed out from his core. “You’re heading back home soon?”

“Hmm, soon, but not immediately; I still have some things to straighten out with our embassy here. And then we have to move everything to the new one when it’s finished.” She seemed to press herself tighter to him. Or maybe he was just imagining things?

He didn’t want to think of her eventual departure, didn’t want to think of coming home to empty quarters again. But he knew she would have to go. And there’d probably be a couple of those handsome Decepticon Seekers following her there.

Yes, Thundercracker had been pursuing her intensely. So it’d probably be him that finally caught the Earth Commander. A bit of jealousy came over the big ground mech, but he fought it back. How could he hope to compete with a good looking Seeker?

----

Raptor enjoyed the feel of Prime’s arms around her. The security of feeling his chassis against hers; filled her with a sense of warmth and belonging. Yes, she could leave immediately. But she didn’t want to. For then she’d face those lonely nights in her empty quarters back at her home Command.

Sure, there were a couple Seekers trying to catch her optic. But they just seemed so immature compared to her roommate. It just tore her up that her roommate was gay.

----

Finding Room

Jaguar stumbled in as he opened the door. Collapsing on the dense rubber-foam couch, she looked to be a true wreck of a Seeker. The dust on her face was streaked with energon tears, and her shoulders sagged in exhaustion.

“Is mom around?” she asked hopefully, her voice hoarse and tired.

“No, she’s on a mapping mission with IceOwl. Won’t be back until tonight,” Optimus replied. Looking at his green daughter with concern, he didn’t think whatever was the problem could wait until his room mate got home.

Sitting on the table in front of her, he gently grabbed one of her hands, just as he’d seen Raptor do when she comforted any of her sparklings. Jaguar’s bottom lip trembled as she looked up at him. “What’s wrong Jag?” he asked softly.

She completely broke down, lunging forward and burying herself in his arms. Sobbing uncontrollably, she wasn’t able to tell him anything. So the big ground mech just held his upset daughter, letting her cry. Just as his room mate had done for him so many months ago.

After a while, the sobs slowed. Shifting himself to the couch, Optimus cradled his daughter in his arms. Finally, she lifted her head and spilled her heart out.

She and Hoist hadn’t worked out, so after their fight this morning, she’d flown out. She’d flown across Cybertron trying to escape her internal pain with the burn of her afterburners, but of course it hadn’t worked. So now, with no place to call her own, she’d shown up at the one place she knew she’d be welcomed – her parents.

Having recently gone through a similar thing with his former bond mate, Jetfire; Prime understood his daughter perhaps even better than her mother would. Holding her to him, he rubbed her back and told her she could have his room.

Sleeping Arrangements

“She’ll be fine, she’s finally sleeping now;” Optimus explained to Raptor. He’d told her the entire story once she’d gotten home. Even with his assurances, the concerned mother still had to go in and check on her daughter.

Leaning on the door frame, Optimus watched as the older femme gently rubbed her sleeping daughter’s helm. The love and concern etched deeply into her face. He remembered how gentle and protective the Seeker had been, when the Autobots had helped rescue her smaller daughters. Prime hadn’t understood the depth of her love then, but as he’d gotten to know her as her room mate – he knew the femme would do anything for her family.

Although they were merely friends - He was certain to his very core, that Raptor now considered him part of that family. A warm feeling spread through his chassis. It felt good to have family.

Standing up, Raptor quietly strolled out of the room, motioning for him to close the door. As he closed the door and turned around, the exhausted Seeker retracted her wings and plopped down on the couch. Lying down, she made herself comfortable.

“You take my room,” she stated. Before he could reply, she deactivated her optics and went into defrag.

Putting his hands on his hips, Optimus shook his head in disbelief. These femmes could be quiet ornery and determined to get their way. But it wasn’t right that Raptor took the couch in her own quarters! So, deciding he’d risk her ire; Prime went over and picked up the light-built Seeker. Carrying her to her room, he laid her gently on her bunk and walked out.

Lying down on the firm foam of the couch, Prime made himself as comfortable as he could and went into defrag.

---

He was rudely re-activated by a thruster prodding him in his side. As he activated his optics he met the rather perturbed crimson optics of his room mate.

“I told you to take my bunk. A couch is not a suitable place for the Cybertronian Commander to be sleeping!” she fumed.

He’d known she’d be ticked, but he was determined to get his way on this. So as he remained laying down, he looked up at her; “This is your place, so you get the bunk. Plus you’re the Earth Mech Commander, so what would mechs think if I made you sleep on a couch while you’re visiting my Command?”

She glared at him, knowing that he greatly outweighed her, so she couldn’t physically get his aft off of the couch. Putting her hands on her hips, she decided on a compromise. “My bunk’s big enough for both of us. So until Jag is Ok and finds her own place, we share.” The tone of her voice indicated that he’d better not argue.

Striding over to her door, Raptor looked back at Prime. “We are both mature mechs, we can share without any overt agendas.”

Sighing, Optimus stood up. Realizing he’d both; lost the argument, and that her idea was the better compromise.

Wandering into her room, he noticed that the Seeker had kept her wings fully retracted and was laying on the other side of the bunk, on her side. She did this in order to give him as much room as she could. “Thanks Raptor,” he mumbled as he lay down next to her.

“What are friends for? Thanks for helping Jags while I was gone.”

“What are dads for,” he simply said.

He felt her silent chuckle. Rolling over, he tentatively laid one of his arms over her. “I’m glad you’re learning how to be a dad, my friend.” Her voice had a soft ring to it.

Feeling her curl her fingers around his, he relaxed against her. “Thanks for bringing me back, so I can learn to be a dad, my friend.”

He felt her shutdown and go into defrag. Her plasma engines went into the low purr of idle, the slight vibration going through his chassis. Pressing tighter against her, he enjoyed the feel of her tall, slender air frame against his bulk. So different from that of Jetfire – who was of a similar bulk to him.

No, he’d never wanted anyone but that shuttle – and now he was alone. Laying here, sharing a bunk with his room mate. Only because his daughter was in his! Sighing, he relaxed against the gray/green fuselage. He liked the feel of some one against him; even if the Seeker only wanted him as a mere friend.

He’d seen her often on her breaks from the Earth Embassy, hanging out with a group of Decepticon Seekers. They sat around at their favorite pub, drinking and joking about aerial maneuvers and accidents. Yes, those Seekers were all built so sleek and aerodynamic; so beautiful in the harmony of their individual parts. The cons had always made sure that their male Seekers were some of the most attractive in their ranks.

Optimus knew that the bulky ground mechs had no comparison to these Seekers. And though Raptor was rather plain in appearance by Cybertronian standards; her intelligence and position of power; would make the con Seekers look at her with interest. Eventually, one of them would catch her optics, just as Starscream once had, and she would be bonded.

Rubbing his fingers lightly against her, he enjoyed this brief time he’d been allowed to be this close to her. For a ground mech like him, who was so self-conscious that he didn’t go in public without his mask - had little chance in catching her optics.

---

As the first rays of Cybertron’s star danced through small window, crimson optics reactivated. Raptor felt the press of the big ground mech’s mass against her. It was a comforting sensation. One she hadn’t had since she had shared Starscream’s quarters those many years ago.

Her thoughts strayed back to that confused red Seeker. He had been so full of potential; but so full of internal confliction. When she’d been forced to leave the Autobots; something had told her to make a clean break, to leave Starscream as well. Even though he hadn’t asked her to become his bond mate, Raptor had sensed that there was that future possibility. But because of the damned war, she knew that to stay with Scream, would’ve met she’d have to choose sides… She’d have had to fight.

Unshed tears filled her optics. At the time of that decision, she hadn’t known she was pregnant, hadn’t even known it was possible. But in retrospect; her decision to make a clean break from the Cybertronian Transformers – had been the only right decision she’d made in a millennia. It had kept her sparklings relatively safe. And when the Cybertronians had left Earth to continue their battles on Cybertron – the Earth-born mechs had created a Mech Nation on Earth’s moon. They had prospered, without the pain of warfare.

Smiling sadly, she saw the irony of it all. Her one chance at a true bond mate had died with Starscream. Now, she lay in the arms of Optimus, her room mate; only sharing a bunk because of their daughter’s misfortune. Though she really did like the big mech, she knew there was no chance of anything truly romantic ever happening between them.

Because of his past history of romance, Raptor was convinced of one thing about the big mech – he was most likely gay. And eventually, another male mech would catch his optics, and he would move out of their shared quarters.

Pressing her air frame tighter against her good friend, she enjoyed this brief feeling of being in his arms.