Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand!
It's just an hour or so before sunset and Ratchet finds himself in the common room, sitting on the couch while lazily channel surfing with the remote in his right hand and a half empty can of oil in the other. Beside him, Sari sits with her Nexus photo scrap book open to a new page while she preps a couple of new pictures to be added, a little container of glue, some colorful construction paper, scissors and a package of markers at her side.
"Why not just leave it on the evening news?" Kay approaches the couch a moment later and seats herself, putting the little girl between herself and the medic. The femme is still somewhat on monitor duty but is, as usual, multitasking by keeping one end of her systems trained on her remote police scanners.
"Because it's depressing, that's why!" Ratchet huffs in return as he flicks past an old black and white Christmas movie. "All these news stories about store sales and the holiday shopping insanity are annoying."
"More depressing than car accidents and bank robberies?" Sari glances up at him.
"In a way, yes. It's all the more reason to stay inside. First it was those slagging camera bots and reporters when we first came out of stasis here, now it's the general populace running around like maniacs trying to buy everything under the sun before the twenty-fifth. Traffic is out of control and if anything, people are meaner than usual."
Sari smirks. "You're one to talk about being mean."
"Tch." Ratchet grumbles to himself and pauses on game show before deciding it's boring and changing the channel once more.
"What was the name of that character from that old cartoon you were watching the other night, Sari?" Kay asks with a mischievous gleam in her optics. "The Grinch, wasn't it?"
The little girl snickers. "Ratchet is kind of a Grinch, isn't he?"
Ratchet eyes both females a moment before shifting his gaze back to the plasma screen. "I am not! After all, it's the people that've got me down. Not the holiday."
It's then the main bay doors open and the sounds of rumbling engines precede Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Wreck-Gar as they pull inside. The crew leader is the last to transform, waiting for the other two bots to remove something from a trailer he's hauling - a very large Evergreen pine tree.
"Alright, a Christmas tree! Awesome!" Slipping down off the couch, Sari runs over to watch as Prime moves to help Bumblebee get the tree farther inside, thus relieving Wreck-Gar of the duty, the younger mech a little too excited to really be as careful as he would need to be at the moment with such a job. "Where'd you guys get it?"
"None of the places in town had any good ones went we went looking after patrol, so we drove out in the woods and picked one there," Bumblebee answers with a grin. "And of course by 'good' I mean tall. What's the point of having a tree if it's shorter than everyone but you?"
"Yeah, last year's wasn't nearly as big as this one. It's as tall as Optimus! Good choice, guys!" their human companion says with approval and a big thumbs up.
"I'm the one who picked it! I did a good job, didn't I?" Wreck-Gar scoots around excitedly as Prime and 'Bee set the tree into a water filled base Ratchet built specifically for the purpose, just off side of the television and all the furniture.
"Sure you did, Wreck-Gar," Optimus agrees with a fond smile, finally stepping back and brushing a few stray needles from his armor. "Think you and Sari can keep it watered until after the holidays are over? We want the tree to stay green so it won't be a fire hazard."
"Sir, yes sir!" Wreck-Gar offers his commander a quick salute along with a determined smile before rushing off down the hall to find the boxes of decorations in storage. "Last one to the Christmas lights is a broken bulb!"
"Hey, wait up! I'm helping too!" Sari dashes off after Wreck-Gar, only to be scooped up into Bee's hands as the yellow Autobot follows so they can both help.
"You lot check that tree for live animals and anything dubious looking before cutting it down?" Ratchet inquires with a raised optic ridge, still seated on the couch.
"As best we could, yes," Prime replies. "I'm not the wildlife expert that Prowl is, but I think this one should be alright."
"It is a lovely specimen of a tree. Too bad you had to cut it down in order to bring it here," Kay comments with a frown.
"We'll try to make use of it even after Christmas is over," Prime assures her as he sits down in a nearby chair. "I think Bulkhead said he could use the wood to make sculptures for an upcoming art exhibition early next year?"
Ratchet blinks. "Where is Bulkhead, anyway? I know Prowl's in the Nexus right now."
"In his studio, working on a metal sculpture for a hospital charity auction. Sari came up with the idea, since Bulkhead is, well..." The female among them trails off momentarily while she finds the right words. "He's not always the best when it comes to subtlety in relations or helping physically with human aid programs, obviously, so he's going to donate the sculpture to the auction and if someone purchases it, the money will go to the hospital that's putting the drive together."
"Hopefully someone will buy it," Optimus says with a slightly amused expression. "Bulkhead's art has always been a little, ah..."
Kay chuckles. "We may not understand it, but there are some humans who are apparently fascinated with the idea of a mechanoid who creates art. I think it will sell and when it does, it will be a good thing all around. The hospital will get extra funds, someone will have a unique piece of art and Bulkhead's confidence will benefit."
"Time to deck the halls!" Wreck-Gar comes charging back in, still excited and carrying a box of Christmas decorations.
Bumblebee follows with Sari on his shoulders, carrying another box of ornaments and wearing an Autobot-sized Santa hat on his head. "You guys wouldn't believe how dusty this stuff was! I thought Sari was gonna sneeze her head off."
"Kinda makes me scared for what Spring cleaning around here is gonna be like," the little girl adds with a sniffle before climbing down off Bee's shoulders. "Oh, hey Wreck-Gar! Wanna see my new photos?"
"Photos? Where?" The box of ornaments is momentarily forgotten as Wreck-Gar jogs over to the couch to see what Sari has to show him. Fortunately, he remembers to set the box down, rather than drop it.
"I took these the last time Ratchet and I went to the Nexus." Sari climbs up onto the couch and holds up a number of photos. "See, this is Morgan! He was asking about a pest in his medbay, since he's a doctor sorta like Ratchet. He's also a robot, but he looks really, really human. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Oh, he's not a robot!" Wreck-Gar waves the very idea off as though it simply cannot be believed...then scrutinizes the photo a bit more. "...is he?"
"Mechanical on the inside, according to my scans," Ratchet interjects as he goes back to changing channels.
"And this is an upside down photo I took of Ratchet." Sari hands the young bot another one.
Wreck-Gar looks at it and laughs. "You look funny at that angle, Docbot."
"What? Just at that angle and not at every one?" The medic eyes Wreck-Gar with a smirk, tone joking.
"Hey, guys! Are we gonna decorate the tree or what? You can look at photos afterwards!" Bumblebee calls from the other side of the room.
"Ooh, can we take pictures of the tree?" Wreck-Gar is quick to ask as he hurries back over.
"It'd be better to wait until after you're done decorating it," Prime suggests, obviously amused by the antics of the younger set. "Just remember that I get to set the star on the top at the very end."
"Aww, but I wanted to do that!" Sari pouts. "Um, with Bumelebee's help, I mean!"
"Heh, you know all the arguin' about who'd get to do it last year made Optimus decide that should be his job, Sari." Bulkhead chuckles as he enters the common room, picking up on the conversation. Pausing to examine the new addition to the area, he nods in approval. "Nice tree! Hey, anyone else want any oil?"
"Grab me a can, Bulkhead?" Prime replies.
"One for me as well, if you don't mind," Kay adds, smiling a bit sheepishly from her own seat. In Sari's absence, she's taken it upon herself to glance through the new stack of photos the child left behind in her hurry to rejoin the tree decorating party.
"Sure thing!" Bulkhead wanders off to the supply area and returns a minute later with three cans of oil, two of which he hands off to Prime and Kay. "One for the Bossbot an' one for the lady."
Taking her can, the femme smiles in gratitude. "Thank you. How's the sculpture coming along?"
"Oh, it looks really great! I mean, I think so, anyway. I should have it finished in another day or two, so long as we don't get a lot of interruptions. Any of you guys comin' to the auction?"
"I'll go!" Sari calls from across the way, already half buried in multicolored lights as she and Bumblebee try to get them untangled.
"Oh, eh, why not? I'll go too, buddy," Bumblebee says with a grin.
"I think we should all go, seeing as how it would be a good chance for us all to appear at a worthwhile cause," Optimus Prime suggests with a glance from Bumblebee to Bulkhead. "I'll contact Captain Fanzone and the Mayor to let them know. They've been eager to try and get us good press lately. Besides, it's for a good cause and we're all proud of you for taking part in it, Bulkhead."
The big, green bot parks himself in one of the unoccupied chairs, grinning. "Wow, thanks guys. I really appreciate it. I'm sure the hospital people will appreciate it, too."
Further conversation is put on hold as one of the skylight panes opens and Prowl drops down from above. Attention immediately drawn to the tree and the three around it, the ninja smiles as he joins the others. "I see we have acquired our Christmas tree."
"Pull up a chair and a can of oil, Prowl," Ratchet offers, glad that the arriving mech didn't bring up the subject of tree killing. Then again, they had all been through that with Prowl the year before and agreed to leave the subject be. "So how's the Nexus?"
"The same as it always is," comes the even, but friendly reply as Prowl sits down on his usual mat with a can of oil in hand. "I met a wereleopard female by the name of Zance who made for interesting conversation. There was also a young man with a slightly lower than usual body temperature who claimed to be a big fan of our kind since his youth. Another one of those our reality is their fiction sorts of situations. And, believe it or not, Longarm Prime. I am certain he is not our Longarm Prime, however."
"Well, there is that other reality sort of like ours that isn't," Ratchet sighs with a frown. "Might've been from that one."
"Perhaps, though I did not question him at length since it would be rude and since, well...we have all decided that such information might not be beneficial," Prowl replies before turning to a more pleasant subject. "So, then. Are we still playing Secret Santa?"
Sari cheers the idea by the tree, causing Optimus to chuckle. "I suppose we are, but we'll talk more about it once the tree is finished." A pause. "Ratchet, what are we watching? Did that child just get his tongue stuck to an iced over lamppost?"
The medic merely grimaces and changes the channel once more.
"Why not just leave it on the evening news?" Kay approaches the couch a moment later and seats herself, putting the little girl between herself and the medic. The femme is still somewhat on monitor duty but is, as usual, multitasking by keeping one end of her systems trained on her remote police scanners.
"Because it's depressing, that's why!" Ratchet huffs in return as he flicks past an old black and white Christmas movie. "All these news stories about store sales and the holiday shopping insanity are annoying."
"More depressing than car accidents and bank robberies?" Sari glances up at him.
"In a way, yes. It's all the more reason to stay inside. First it was those slagging camera bots and reporters when we first came out of stasis here, now it's the general populace running around like maniacs trying to buy everything under the sun before the twenty-fifth. Traffic is out of control and if anything, people are meaner than usual."
Sari smirks. "You're one to talk about being mean."
"Tch." Ratchet grumbles to himself and pauses on game show before deciding it's boring and changing the channel once more.
"What was the name of that character from that old cartoon you were watching the other night, Sari?" Kay asks with a mischievous gleam in her optics. "The Grinch, wasn't it?"
The little girl snickers. "Ratchet is kind of a Grinch, isn't he?"
Ratchet eyes both females a moment before shifting his gaze back to the plasma screen. "I am not! After all, it's the people that've got me down. Not the holiday."
It's then the main bay doors open and the sounds of rumbling engines precede Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Wreck-Gar as they pull inside. The crew leader is the last to transform, waiting for the other two bots to remove something from a trailer he's hauling - a very large Evergreen pine tree.
"Alright, a Christmas tree! Awesome!" Slipping down off the couch, Sari runs over to watch as Prime moves to help Bumblebee get the tree farther inside, thus relieving Wreck-Gar of the duty, the younger mech a little too excited to really be as careful as he would need to be at the moment with such a job. "Where'd you guys get it?"
"None of the places in town had any good ones went we went looking after patrol, so we drove out in the woods and picked one there," Bumblebee answers with a grin. "And of course by 'good' I mean tall. What's the point of having a tree if it's shorter than everyone but you?"
"Yeah, last year's wasn't nearly as big as this one. It's as tall as Optimus! Good choice, guys!" their human companion says with approval and a big thumbs up.
"I'm the one who picked it! I did a good job, didn't I?" Wreck-Gar scoots around excitedly as Prime and 'Bee set the tree into a water filled base Ratchet built specifically for the purpose, just off side of the television and all the furniture.
"Sure you did, Wreck-Gar," Optimus agrees with a fond smile, finally stepping back and brushing a few stray needles from his armor. "Think you and Sari can keep it watered until after the holidays are over? We want the tree to stay green so it won't be a fire hazard."
"Sir, yes sir!" Wreck-Gar offers his commander a quick salute along with a determined smile before rushing off down the hall to find the boxes of decorations in storage. "Last one to the Christmas lights is a broken bulb!"
"Hey, wait up! I'm helping too!" Sari dashes off after Wreck-Gar, only to be scooped up into Bee's hands as the yellow Autobot follows so they can both help.
"You lot check that tree for live animals and anything dubious looking before cutting it down?" Ratchet inquires with a raised optic ridge, still seated on the couch.
"As best we could, yes," Prime replies. "I'm not the wildlife expert that Prowl is, but I think this one should be alright."
"It is a lovely specimen of a tree. Too bad you had to cut it down in order to bring it here," Kay comments with a frown.
"We'll try to make use of it even after Christmas is over," Prime assures her as he sits down in a nearby chair. "I think Bulkhead said he could use the wood to make sculptures for an upcoming art exhibition early next year?"
Ratchet blinks. "Where is Bulkhead, anyway? I know Prowl's in the Nexus right now."
"In his studio, working on a metal sculpture for a hospital charity auction. Sari came up with the idea, since Bulkhead is, well..." The female among them trails off momentarily while she finds the right words. "He's not always the best when it comes to subtlety in relations or helping physically with human aid programs, obviously, so he's going to donate the sculpture to the auction and if someone purchases it, the money will go to the hospital that's putting the drive together."
"Hopefully someone will buy it," Optimus says with a slightly amused expression. "Bulkhead's art has always been a little, ah..."
Kay chuckles. "We may not understand it, but there are some humans who are apparently fascinated with the idea of a mechanoid who creates art. I think it will sell and when it does, it will be a good thing all around. The hospital will get extra funds, someone will have a unique piece of art and Bulkhead's confidence will benefit."
"Time to deck the halls!" Wreck-Gar comes charging back in, still excited and carrying a box of Christmas decorations.
Bumblebee follows with Sari on his shoulders, carrying another box of ornaments and wearing an Autobot-sized Santa hat on his head. "You guys wouldn't believe how dusty this stuff was! I thought Sari was gonna sneeze her head off."
"Kinda makes me scared for what Spring cleaning around here is gonna be like," the little girl adds with a sniffle before climbing down off Bee's shoulders. "Oh, hey Wreck-Gar! Wanna see my new photos?"
"Photos? Where?" The box of ornaments is momentarily forgotten as Wreck-Gar jogs over to the couch to see what Sari has to show him. Fortunately, he remembers to set the box down, rather than drop it.
"I took these the last time Ratchet and I went to the Nexus." Sari climbs up onto the couch and holds up a number of photos. "See, this is Morgan! He was asking about a pest in his medbay, since he's a doctor sorta like Ratchet. He's also a robot, but he looks really, really human. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Oh, he's not a robot!" Wreck-Gar waves the very idea off as though it simply cannot be believed...then scrutinizes the photo a bit more. "...is he?"
"Mechanical on the inside, according to my scans," Ratchet interjects as he goes back to changing channels.
"And this is an upside down photo I took of Ratchet." Sari hands the young bot another one.
Wreck-Gar looks at it and laughs. "You look funny at that angle, Docbot."
"What? Just at that angle and not at every one?" The medic eyes Wreck-Gar with a smirk, tone joking.
"Hey, guys! Are we gonna decorate the tree or what? You can look at photos afterwards!" Bumblebee calls from the other side of the room.
"Ooh, can we take pictures of the tree?" Wreck-Gar is quick to ask as he hurries back over.
"It'd be better to wait until after you're done decorating it," Prime suggests, obviously amused by the antics of the younger set. "Just remember that I get to set the star on the top at the very end."
"Aww, but I wanted to do that!" Sari pouts. "Um, with Bumelebee's help, I mean!"
"Heh, you know all the arguin' about who'd get to do it last year made Optimus decide that should be his job, Sari." Bulkhead chuckles as he enters the common room, picking up on the conversation. Pausing to examine the new addition to the area, he nods in approval. "Nice tree! Hey, anyone else want any oil?"
"Grab me a can, Bulkhead?" Prime replies.
"One for me as well, if you don't mind," Kay adds, smiling a bit sheepishly from her own seat. In Sari's absence, she's taken it upon herself to glance through the new stack of photos the child left behind in her hurry to rejoin the tree decorating party.
"Sure thing!" Bulkhead wanders off to the supply area and returns a minute later with three cans of oil, two of which he hands off to Prime and Kay. "One for the Bossbot an' one for the lady."
Taking her can, the femme smiles in gratitude. "Thank you. How's the sculpture coming along?"
"Oh, it looks really great! I mean, I think so, anyway. I should have it finished in another day or two, so long as we don't get a lot of interruptions. Any of you guys comin' to the auction?"
"I'll go!" Sari calls from across the way, already half buried in multicolored lights as she and Bumblebee try to get them untangled.
"Oh, eh, why not? I'll go too, buddy," Bumblebee says with a grin.
"I think we should all go, seeing as how it would be a good chance for us all to appear at a worthwhile cause," Optimus Prime suggests with a glance from Bumblebee to Bulkhead. "I'll contact Captain Fanzone and the Mayor to let them know. They've been eager to try and get us good press lately. Besides, it's for a good cause and we're all proud of you for taking part in it, Bulkhead."
The big, green bot parks himself in one of the unoccupied chairs, grinning. "Wow, thanks guys. I really appreciate it. I'm sure the hospital people will appreciate it, too."
Further conversation is put on hold as one of the skylight panes opens and Prowl drops down from above. Attention immediately drawn to the tree and the three around it, the ninja smiles as he joins the others. "I see we have acquired our Christmas tree."
"Pull up a chair and a can of oil, Prowl," Ratchet offers, glad that the arriving mech didn't bring up the subject of tree killing. Then again, they had all been through that with Prowl the year before and agreed to leave the subject be. "So how's the Nexus?"
"The same as it always is," comes the even, but friendly reply as Prowl sits down on his usual mat with a can of oil in hand. "I met a wereleopard female by the name of Zance who made for interesting conversation. There was also a young man with a slightly lower than usual body temperature who claimed to be a big fan of our kind since his youth. Another one of those our reality is their fiction sorts of situations. And, believe it or not, Longarm Prime. I am certain he is not our Longarm Prime, however."
"Well, there is that other reality sort of like ours that isn't," Ratchet sighs with a frown. "Might've been from that one."
"Perhaps, though I did not question him at length since it would be rude and since, well...we have all decided that such information might not be beneficial," Prowl replies before turning to a more pleasant subject. "So, then. Are we still playing Secret Santa?"
Sari cheers the idea by the tree, causing Optimus to chuckle. "I suppose we are, but we'll talk more about it once the tree is finished." A pause. "Ratchet, what are we watching? Did that child just get his tongue stuck to an iced over lamppost?"
The medic merely grimaces and changes the channel once more.