Stolen
Virtue
By:
Sinead
Part
Seven: Cheating Fate’s Hold
Dinobot came out of the battle-trance he had slipped into while using the
battle-simulation room. He was instantly aware of someone behind him, silent and
unmoving. Turning slowly, he saw Rampage there. The Transmetal said nothing.
Dinobot didn’t expect him to. They could hardly speak to each other without
starting an unintentional argument, or, worse yet, an honest-to-Primus brawl.
And Dinobot was not the type to start an argument with Rampage in this time and
place. The crab now had his full Spark back, and he was more dangerous than ever
before. The fact that he had Bonded, making him faster and stronger, had nothing
to do with his aggression. It was that Lady Venom wasn’t in this time and
place, and the separation from their respective Bonded was starting to wear
tempers thin.
The Maximal bowed slightly from the waist, acknowledging Rampage with
respect. The crab did the same, then indicated the room. Dinobot returned his
sword to subspace before walking closer. Rampage moved away from the door and
Dinobot left, closing it after him. Optimus was on the other side. Dinobot
nodded again, sighing. “I have hardly any control left, Primal. It is nothing
short of a miracle that Megatron, Rampage and I can speak though body language
and not kill one another.”
“I’d say that your letting Rattrap live is a miracle all in
itself.”
Dinobot shrugged, then quickly quit his leader’s presence, feeling a
bloodthirsty urge rise to the surface. He quickly returned to his quarters,
locking the door. Silently, he walked to his bed, then looked past it, through
the window above it. The landscape was turning green again, starting to recover
from the Quantum surge. Rattrap called in, “Dinobot?”
“I’m liable to kill, vermin,” Dinobot replied levelly. “Please,
whatever you do, don’t enter.”
Rattrap’s sigh was filled with pain, his voice defeated. “Yeah, I . .
. I know. But . . . look, Choppuhface, I just wanted t’ tell ’ya dat I’m
nevuh gonna stop bein’ ’ya pal, ’kay?”
“What do you mean by that?” Dinobot asked, bloodthirst starting to
abate.
“Dat I know how you feel. Dat I ain’t gonna blame ’ya for anythin’
dat you do.”
Dinobot sighed, and replied, “But I will end up blaming myself.”
There was silence for a moment upon Rattrap’s end. Dinobot opened the
door, and looked at the shorter Maximal. “Rattrap.”
“Yeah.”
“If . . . if I start . . . if I go berserker . . .” the ex-Predacon
sighed. “Take me out. I won’t die. Sinead’s safe, so there is no feasible
way that I will go permanently off-line.” They locked optics upon optics.
Dinobot continued. “I do not want to endanger anyone.”
“That’s why you’ve been silent. Slag it, Dinobot . . .” Rattrap
sighed deeply, looking away.
“What is it?”
“I want Sapphire.”
“As I want Sinead,” Dinobot replied quietly, his voice softening
further at the name of his Bonded.
Rattrap nodded, and said, “I have to get goin’. Patrol. Even though I
don’t know why, since da Preds ’re our buddies, now.”
“Alien devices,” Dinobot replied. His optics narrowed slightly as he
tried to bar emotion back again. He was barely hanging onto his control. This
would soon end up badly if he didn’t figure out some way to calm himself down.
“Like the one that took Airazor and Tigatron.”
Rattrap shrugged, then started walking away. Yet he said one parting
remark over his shoulder.
“We’ll get our Bonded back, Dino-butt. You just wait. We’ll find a
way. And dere even might be a way t’ get Tigatron and Airazor back, too.”
<> Present Day Earth <>
“Sharpshot!”
“Aww, can’t I watch?”
“Of course not!”
“Why?”
“Because we said so!”
“But . . .”
“Dannn, don’t you even think about entering this.”
“C’mon, girls! What harm can one peek do?”
“You’re not watching the movie!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s a chick-flick!”
“. . . it’s anime. Fushigi Yuugi.”
Sinead looked at Sapphire, who was laughing harder than the rest. Miss
Special replied, “Dannn, Fushigi Yuugi is an anime geared towards
girls. Therefore, a chick-flick series. You’d die of all the
sappiness.”
“You guys are cruel,” Skyfire replied.
“Go watch ‘Freddy vs. Jason,’” Lady Venom said. “I mean, the
weather and all is just perfect for the mood. I hope it starts
thundering out.”
Nurannoniel laughed and said, “Remember to say ‘I love you’ to the
screen when Gary Chalk comes on for me!”
“Ew! No!” Dannn said, laughing.
Sinead opened the door, skillfully blocking their view in. “So you boys
are getting frisky out here?”
The three flushed crimson. Sharpshot replied, “We’re bored.”
“All right. Look, time for you guys to see the western part of the
state.” She looked back at the others. “Who’s up for a road trip?”
The idea was greeted with great enthusiasm.
Seven hours later landed them by a small, family-owned cottage in
Sinead and Sapphire came out, hair completely grey, eyes shut tight as
they sneezed.
Once there was no more dust leaving the leeward side of the cabin, the
group brought their belongings in and settled them in one of the two rooms.
Sinead caught Dannn’s elbow as he tried to go into the room with Miss Special.
“Boy, she’ll kill you.”
“Oh. Right.”
By this time, it was nearly sundown. Sinead ushered the authors back into
the van, with quite a few protests, and brought them up to the top of
She felt arms embrace her, and she came back to herself, seeing
Sinead’s shoulder. A drop of wet fell from Miss Special’s nose. Tears? Why
was she crying? How could she cry? She was stronger than that. She
didn’t need to cry. Nurannoniel and Starath and Lady Venom and Sapphire could,
but . . . no. She shouldn’t cry. She needed to be strong for the rest of her
friends. They needed to see that strength, so that they could be
strong.
But . . . why couldn’t she cry? Why not, indeed? She was
human, too. She was stressed, not having Inferno around her. She was sad that
she had come back without even telling him. Like she could have told
him? She didn’t know that she would be brought back to her time and place.
That hurt. Not being around Inferno hurt.
So if it hurt so much, it was all right to release the hurt . . .
wasn’t it?
What was right, anymore?
Starath and Sapphire gathered around Miss Special as well, each trying to
comfort her the best that they could. Finally, she stopped crying and looked up
at Sinead, seeing that she, too, was shedding tears. Without bothering to wipe
her own, Sinead gathered her sleeve in one hand, and as carefully as she could,
wiped Miss Special’s cheek. The Californian author sighed, then sniffed.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have–”
“Oh, nonsense,” Sinead said in an old-fashioned tone. “Humans have
tear ducts for a reason. You’re human, too. You’re just like the rest of
us.” Sinead looked somewhat bashful. “To be truthful, I thought that we were
the weird ones for a while, each crying and trying not to be seen crying, while
you never cried.”
“But . . .”
“But you thought that you have to be the strong warrior that
shouldn’t show pain and longing,” Sapphire said.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Sinead chuckled. “Well, a very influential person told me
once that it takes real strength to cry. And,” she said, smiling
slightly but kindly, “warriors can cry, too. You see me crying, right? I
consider myself every bit the warrior as Dinobot is. Just in slightly different
fields.”
Miss Special sniffed again, and Sinead then took the time to wipe at her
own face, smiling. With a sigh, Miss Special said, “I just don’t like
crying. Least of all in front of people.”
Sinead smiled sardonically. “I’ve gotten tired of crying all by
myself. It gets real lonely.” She linked her arm through Miss Special’s.
“Come on, you. The guys went to the lodge over there with the rest of the
girls. They should be eating. My treat?”
“You’re already treating us to your cottage!” Starath said.
“Yeah, well, whatever. After this, there should be some movie that
you’d all like to see.”
“Sinead!”
“What?!”
“Stop it!”
“What am I doing?!”
“Being too selfless again, that’s what!”
“So?! I like getting and doing stuff for you guys!”
“Argh!”
“Deal with it!”
<> Time Unknown, Place Unknown <>
Rattrap came to with a groan, feeling as if he had been in a wrestling
match with Dinobot again, with no holds barred. The others were also waking up,
and none of them looked any better than Rattrap felt. Dinobot was still out.
Rattrap reached over, and shook the larger bot’s shoulder. “Yo,
lazy-slag.”
Dinobot shot upwards with a muffled scream, optics wild.
Rattrap scurried back a few paces on his skidplate. “Woah, woah, woah,
woah here!”
The larger Maximal slowly looked at his companion, a haunted look around
his optics. Rattrap crawled back to sit beside his friend, then whispered,
“Was is a nightmare?”
Dinobot nodded, considerably shaken. “Of . . . before my Bonding.”
Rattrap hissed a curse. “Dis is da fourth one, Choppuhface, in as many
nights.”
“I know that, vermin.”
Optimus came over, then asked, “You two are all right?”
Dinobot didn’t bother to hide his emotions as he looked up to his
leader. Optimus winced, then rested his hand briefly upon Dinobot’s shoulder.
“Rampage was the first one up, after myself and Megatron. He’s already done
a reconnaissance patrol, and has found some sort of shelter. Doesn’t look
used, but we should take precautions nonetheless.”
Dinobot stood, then said, “Let’s go.”
<> Present Day Earth <>
Sinead popped the DVD in and sat back on the couch with her friends. They
had decided that a movie out wasn’t that good of an idea since there wasn’t
really anything good out at the moment, and besides, nobody was
agreeing with each other on which one would be the best to see. The episode
“Coming of the Fuzors” was chosen instead of starting at “Aftermath,”
and they settled in for a night of watching Beast Wars, comparing the real thing
to the pitiful reproduction that Mainframe had tried to do. At least they got
the basic stuff right, and for a common fan, that’s all that really mattered.
Not so for those who had Bonded to the actual thing.
<> Time Unknown, Place Unknown <>
Dinobot saw the small house, then looked at Optimus. “I’m going to
look.”
“Wasn’t going to stop you, but if you would take someone with you,
please? Looks like this place was occupied after all,” Optimus replied in a
voice as quiet as Dinobot’s.
Dinobot looked to Rattrap, who nodded. They crept up to the first window,
seeing light flicker dimly upon the ceiling and walls. With movements as fluid
as any velociraptor’s should be, Dinobot peeked into the window, and
immediately had to hold onto Rattrap for support.
<> Present Day Earth <>
Movement caught upon the peripheral of Sapphire’s vision. Slowly, so as
not to alarm her friends, she turned her head towards the window. And saw the
eye of some creature looking in at her. She leaned closer to her friend,
whispering “Sinead? Something’s outside.”
Sinead was on her feet and out the door faster than anything else could
be said. At the door she had grabbed her hardwood walking staff, and brandished
it fiercely at the two crouched creatures underneath the window, both watching
her warily. She dropped the staff and held onto the side of the house, unable to
speak. Arms encircled her, and the owner of those arms fell to his knees,
sobbing bitterly. Holding his head to her shoulder, Sinead sighed and whispered,
“You’re safe, Dinobot. You’re safe.” She turned her head and called back
into the cottage, “Sapph! Get out here!”
Sapphire did, taking the same precautions as Sinead until she saw
Rattrap. The others were soon to follow, and each Bonded was reunited with their
other half.
The next morning, none of the girls wanted to go out to explore the woods
with the boys. What was worse, was that the boys knew that the girls
had a legitimate reason, and that was their Bonded. Dannn, as persistent as
ever, tugged on Sinead’s elbow with both hands. “C’mon, Sinead! You
gotta get up!”
Sinead promptly twisted her arm in such a way that Dannn fell backwards
and landed upon his rear. The young woman gave a satisfied smirk then burrowed
back into Dinobot’s secure hold upon her, sighing as she relaxed within his
arms. Dannn “humphed” and turned to look at Miss Special. Both the young
woman and her Predacon Bonded glared at him, promising him some sort of painful
death if he touched either one of them.
Finally, Dannn walked out to Skyfire and Sharpshot, shrugging.
“They’re all hopeless.”
They crept past the still-sleeping people in the living room to get
outside, where Cheetor, Rhinox, Silverbolt, Waspinator and Quickstrike were
waiting for them. Skyfire sighed, shrugged, and said, “Everyone else is intent
upon sleeping in. Looks like we’re on our own.”
“But we can’t be seen, remember?” Rhinox said. “We’re
spotted, and . . . well, we saw what you were watching last night. And
explaining about who we really are took a lot outta those who took it
upon themselves to explain.”
Silverbolt nodded, and added, “I should be able to scent out if there
are any near.”
“Well,” Sharpshot muttered, “that’s one good thing, I
guess.”
Lady Venom awoke to feel Rampage carefully brushing her hair away from
her face. His emerald optics smiled at her, and she could feel his confidence
and affection towards her radiate through the connection between their souls.
The pair had elected to sleep outside, but not without Rampage insisting that
she bring her blankets with her. She reached over to pull herself upon her
massive chest, then prop herself up on her elbows. Smiling in a sleepy fashion,
she mumbled, “Good morning.”
“For the first time in over a month, I would have to agree with you,”
he replied kindly.
“Thanks for making me feel special.”
“As always.”
“Sarcastic beast.”
“Warmhearted brat.”
Lady Venom blushed, then sighed, sitting up completely, and looking over
at the cottage. Smells of breakfast were starting to waft towards them. “Looks
like Sinead and Sapphire are cooking breakfast again.”
“Mmm . . . any meat involved?”
“You’d be better off hunting. Mind that you clean up after. Not
everyone’s as used to seeing blood all over you as I am,” she replied,
getting off of him and walking towards the cottage.
Rampage picked her blankets up and followed her, handing them to her when
she turned to face him. He rested his hand upon the top of her head, before
letting it gently slide to rest upon her shoulder. “Eat well. I’ll be back
soon.”
“I know you will, you sap.”
Sinead knocked upon the door that lead into the room she had shared with
Dinobot, Sapphire, Rattrap, Miss Special, and Inferno the night before. Everyone
but Dinobot was up and about, helping with breakfast. “Dinobot?”
No answer. She shrugged to Sapphire, who turned back to flipping the
pancakes, and then entered the room, closing the door after quietly. When she
turned to face the room, she blanched, thinking that her eyes were clearly lying
to her. Her face went from dead white to pure red as she realized that she had
been staring. Averting her eyes quickly, she whispered, “Is that you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re stark naked. I’m going to find something for you to
wear.”
Turning, she would have opened the door again, but a hand kept it firmly
shut. “You’re afraid.”
She closed her eyes. “Sort of.”
“Why? I don’t understand it. I can feel that you’re afraid of
something . . . but it is elusive, I feel, even to you.”
Sinead shook her head, then looked up at the human face of her Bonded.
His medium-length black hair had traveled over, but his eyes . . . they were . .
. blue. But it was hard to tell in the darkness what shade, and even then, it
seemed as if they were shifting from one shade to the next. Sinead swallowed,
then answered in a whisper. “Lust. I fear lust, if I must fear anything at
all.”
Sapphire heard Sinead screech her name around
Dinobot looked around the side of the couch, blinking crimson optics.
“Excuse me? Who belongs to who, now?”
“Shut up. You know what I mean.”
“I’m not letting up on this one, Sinead.”
With an irritated sigh, Sinead glared at her Bonded. “You belong to me,
as I belong to you. Happy? But, Sapph, the issue still stands!”
Sapphire was laughing too hard. Sinead’s shoulders sagged a fraction,
until she threw her hands up and stormed outside. Dinobot shook his head.
“Fine. I’ll take care of– Matrix and Primus, Maximal! Get something on
you!”
Rattrap blinked. “Huh?”
“Look down.”
“Oh.”
“At least get those . . . what are they . . . boxers? Why the Pit do
they have such ridiculous names for their clothing?” Dinobot shook his head,
stood, and finished, “Just get something on. You’re disturbing the
population again. I’m going after Sinead.”
He left the cottage and looked at the clearing in front of him. Everyone
else had the advantage of having a human mode, not just the Bonded. It was a
definite blessing. Rampage, a tall, dark-haired and darker-eyed man, looked up
at a robot Dinobot. “You’re forgetting what we had agreed to do when in a
place where we can be seen by anyone.”
With a snort, Dinobot shifted to his human mode and asked, “Seen
Sinead?”
“Went that way in a tizzy. What happened?”
“Rattrap has a rather odd sense of modesty. I’ll leave it at that.”
“Ah. That again. Will it be my turn to remind him next?”
“Negative. Primal’s.”
The human Dinobot strode off towards a minor river that flowed past the
clearing, sensing rather than seeing Sinead by the edge of the small waterfall
that was off to the right of the clearing, shielded from view by a small copse
of trees. She looked up over her shoulder at him when he reached her, wrapping
his arms around her waist. “I dealt with it.”
She looked back away. “Thank you.”
“You’re really that modest, aren’t you?”
“I’ve . . . uh . . . yeah. Sorta.”
Dinobot rested his chin upon the top of her head. “You’re not into
giving me a real answer as of late. Why?”
“You’re full of questions.”
“And you’re full of answers at the moment.”
“Dinobot . . .”
“Aah, Sinead,” he said through a sigh. “If you wish it to be so,
then I will digress.”
“No, Dinobot, don’t you ever give up. I don’t want you to ever give
up on anything. You’re too strong of a person to do something like that.”
“Then what are your reasons, Sinead?”
The young woman looked up at him, then sighed and looked back at the
flowing water. “I’ll tell you when I can. I . . . I’m just . . . oh, I
dunno.”
“Trying to figure yourself out?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
The man looked down at the deep and safe pool not ten feet below them.
And grinned.
“Dinobot, what are you . . . oh, no . . . nonono!!! Dinobooooot!!!”
She hit the water with a satisfyingly loud splash, cutting her shriek off
abruptly. Dinobot grinned as she resurfaced, treading water in the freezing
pool. Her glare back swiftly turned into an evil grin. Dinobot heard a snicker
behind him, and barely had the chance to see a human Megatron shove him over the
lip. He bellowed, then felt the extremely cold water envelop him
completely. Blowing air out in an explosive manner as he surfaced, he
immediately swam towards the first thing out of the water that he could find,
and pulled himself upon the smooth tree trunk, shuddering. “Rampage! Get
’im!”
Sinead grabbed Dinobot’s ankle, pulling him back under, and then
grinned. “Not liking the cold?”
“Matrix!” Dinobot spluttered. A double spray of cold wetness washed
over them, and Starath and Megatron each got up onto the log that crossed the
narrowest part of the pool, almost twenty feet away from the edge of the
waterfall. The four watched as an all-out battle started over who was getting
thrown in next. Rampage seemed to be winning, as he unmercifully dumped almost
the full contingent of humans in. Then Rhinox walked over, dark skin glistening
with sweat as he had been helping to begin building a second cottage. The first
one wasn’t large enough by far to shelter everyone. He popped his knuckles,
waiting for Rampage to make a move.
“Ten bucks on Rhinox!” Rattrap shouted out, still dry, and
thankfully, in jeans.
Rampage used those jeans to lift him and toss him easily into the pool.
Miss Special pushed Sapphire in a split second later. Sapphire and Rattrap went
to where they could stand on a submerged rock and cling to one another. She
called out, “Ten on Rampage!”
“Five on Rampage!” Sinead called out.
“Taken up!” Optimus said, still dry. Rampage inclined his head to
Rhinox, who turned to the early-twenties man and grinned. Optimus’ grey eyes
widened, and he shook his head, saying, “Rhinox, you wouldn’t . . . aaahhh!
Primuuuuuusss!!!”
Another body now swam to the side of the waterhole, fluently cursing.
Sinead grinned. “Your bet, Primal?”
“Ten on Rhinox.”
Cheetor and Waspinator struggled for the upper hand until both Rhinox and
Rampage shoved them in, each using only one hand. Finally, when Lady Venom was
the only human dry, other than Rampage and Rhinox, the two looked at each other.
Rhinox held his hands up, taking a step back.
“She’s
your responsibility, Rampage.”
“Good to know that you approve,” Rampage said, picking Lady Venom up
around her waist and walking towards the edge. Thinking quickly, she dug her
hands into the waist of his jeans, and held on just as he started to throw her.
What had started out as a simple, “innocent” action soon became jeopardy as
neither went out far enough to avoid a shallowly submerged rock. All stared in
horror as Rampage managed to twist in midair, preforming a movement that would
make any flier instantly jealous, shielding Lady Venom from the impact.
A sickening crack echoed off of the stone walls around the waterhole.
Megatron moved swiftly to the spot along with Dinobot and Inferno. Sinead
was rushing to the other side, her stomach rebelling at the noise. She could
handle Cybertronian wounds fine, she could handle watching Cybertronians even
start to rip into each other seriously, but . . . anything human, and . . . she
couldn’t deal with it.
She was quickly joined by others who were just as bad at keeping their
stomachs under control.
Dinobot helped Rampage stay at the surface with Megatron. Inferno helped
support Lady Venom, who was shaking badly. “Rampage!”
Rhinox leapt in and helped support the humanized bot. Blackarachnia was
also of help. Rampage regained consciousness, and he winced. “Matrix that hurts.”
His Bonded was weeping, clawing at Inferno to let her back to Rampage’s
side. The man called back softly, “Hush, my Lady. Five minutes, please,
hush.”
“Wh-what?” Rhinox asked.
“I can’t move my legs, but that will heal in less than the amount of
time she has to wait,” Rampage hissed almost under his breath. “Just keep me
up. I heal slower when human.”
Sapphire was still retching when Sinead recovered enough to look around.
Miss Special was leaning over the log, face an odd color of grey-green, but she
looked as if she hadn’t thrown up yet. That was a plus. They locked gazes, and
Miss Special drew in a deep breath, calming her stomach further. Together they
tended to those worse of than they were. Just when Sinead was hugging Starath,
they heard the sound of wet skin being slapped. Those well enough turned to
stare as Lady Venom screamed, “Don’t you ever do something like that to
me ever again!!!”
Added to that was a line of curses in English, Cybertronian, some Gaelic,
some other in an unrecognizable Germanic language, and then even in Japanese,
which caused Sinead to grin. “Actually, the grammar of that’s kinda off, but
. . .”
“Shut the slag up, Sinead!”
“I’ll go and get towels ready, then, with hot drinks. Miss Special?
Starath and Sapph? Cheets? You four want to help?” Sinead replied amicably.
Once things had calmed down a bit, and Lady Venom was off rummaging
around in her bag for a book, Starath walked briskly up to the human Rampage,
grabbed his collar to bring him closer to her, and slapped his face as hard as
she dared. Her voice was an angry hiss. “If you ever pull a stunt
like that again, I’ll help Lady V kill you. Don’t think that we won’t find
a way.”
Everyone blinked at the scene. A blanket was thrown around Starath’s
shoulders, and Sapphire said, “Don’t frighten him, now. That’s Sinead’s
job. She’s waiting in line to hit him. Then again, she’s also wanting to
thank him for saving Lady Venom.”
Sinead walked in with a tray. “What about me?”
“Nothing!” Sapphire said cheerfully. “Oh, which one is mine?”
“The one in the top corner . . . no, the other top
corner.”
They were inside, the Beast Warriors enjoying the sensation of human
taste as they ate both from a Japanese and a Chinese take-out menu. Inferno was
all for the extra-spicy General Gau’s chicken, while Rattrap liked picking
from the Soba noodles. Sinead sat down to a place full of the best of both
worlds, in her eyes. Dinobot quickly snuck pieces from what she was eating. Lady
Venom sighed, then said, “All right, remember what we decided to talk
about?”
“Names,” the group groaned out.
“Gee, sound all happy about it.”
Rattrap rolled his eyes. “I like my name, though!”
“You don’t have to give it up, vermin,” Megatron said through a
mouthful of food. He swallowed. “Just choose a second one.”
“Preferably one that’ll suit the sorta ethnic background that your
human . . . mode-thing has,” Sharpshot said. “I mean, look at Rampy,
there.”
“Rampage to you, brat,” the Predacon growled.
“Whatever. He’s dark eyes and hair, but with a rather fair
complexion.”
“A guy said ‘complexion’!” Starath giggled, not even sure why she
was laughing. The thought just hit her silly.
Sinead was grinning behind her hand. Dinobot popped a chicken strip into
her mouth the moment it opened, trying to stuff her face with more food so that
she couldn’t add to the comment. Sharpshot glared around the room, then said, “He
looks European, is what I was getting to. So does more than a few of the
others.”
“Silverbolt’s unmistakably Native American, and Rhinox is African,”
Sapphire said. “Then does Dinobot looks Japanese?”
Sinead turned Dinobot’s face towards her, then blinked at him in a dull
fashion. “Swallow your food. Better.” She ran her eyes over his face again,
then shook her head. “I have no idea whatsoever. He has the facial features of
one of almost Japanese origin, but his build is definitely . . . oh, I don’t
know. I never could place which origin he got his build from.”
“Been studying the body more than the soul lately?” Dannn teased.
Dinobot choked on his food, while Sinead merely blinked. “Looks like
it’s the opposite way, Dannn.”
Rattrap and Megatron snickered, while Dinobot turned different shades of
red. Finally, he growled out, “Oh, and as if you two haven’t
been watching your Bonded in a slightly different way, hm?”
Megatron cleared his throat and flushed crimson. Optimus, strangely, was
also blushing. Sinead looked to Nurannoniel, who was laughing quietly. Starath
was grinning openly, then managed to catch Sinead’s gaze. With a fluid motion,
the shorter author stood, walked over to Megatron, and plopped herself in his
lap, still eating. The look on his face caused laughter to bubble out all around
the room. Starath looked as if nothing was out of the usual, as she held
her plate out to Quickstrike, asking, “Could you put some of that house-fired
rice in that clear space, please?”
He fell over laughing.
Silverbolt was watching the entire scene, frowning, not understanding.
Miss Special saw this, and then looked to Nurannoniel, who was sitting next to
her. The Canadian author nodded, stood, and asked, “Is the Mountain Dew all
out?”
“Yeah!” Rattrap said, wiping his tearing eyes on his shirt as he
chuckled.
“All right, I’ll grab some. Hey, Blackarachnia? Could you help,
please?”
Sighing, the she-spider followed Nurannoniel into the kitchen. “Oh,
we’re out.”
“Wait! Don’t you go anywhere,” Nurannoniel hissed. “Look, most of
us know that you and Silverbolt out there are interested in each other.”
The slightly-older woman’s face turned pink. “So? What’s it to you?”
“Hey, I don’t mean any offence, but all I’m trying to say is that
you don’t have to hide. Sure, neither of the leaders are going to really like
the idea, but they have me and Starath to deal with. We’ll vouch for you.”
There was silence for a moment, lasting through another burst of
laughter, and Starath came in, snickering. “That was wonderful . . . oh,
Nurann!”
“Quick,” Blackarachnia said. “If I were to . . . well . . . hook
up with a certain Maximal, what–”
“Oh, you and Silverbolt? You’re cute together! Whatever.”
“Would you speak up for me if Grape-Face and the monkey start to say
something?”
Starath smiled kindly. “Of course.” She looked to Nurannoniel. “Now where’d Sinead hide that Mountain Dew?”