Star-crossed: Washed Off (FINAL BONUS)
This was supposed to have gone up over a month ago.... whoops.
Title Star-Crossed: Washed Off (33/36)
Pairing/Characters Prowl/Sideswipe, Jazz
Rating M
Summary We can never control who we fall in love with. Those determined to be together will let nothing stand in their way. This is one such pair.
Author's Note Breathe Deep. This is your last gulp of sweet air before the final plunge.
Washed Off
Prowl stumbled down the hall. Mud caked his joints, making it difficult for him to walk. He braced his hand on the wall, shivering from the frigid water that ran down his plating. Prime had assigned him to patrol duty, both to cover for the short-handedness that had resulted from the last battle, and to get the tactician out of the Ark. His route had taken him through a mountain pass, where he'd barely missed the tail end of a mud slide. His sensors had picked up minute vibrations of the ground before his audio receptors heard the rumble. Then he spent the next solar cycle assisting the humans in finding any survivors until the Protectobots had arrived.
Sometime during escaping the mudslide, and pulling out survivors, he wrenched what felt like every single joint in his body. His doorwings hung heavily at his shoulders, weighed down with mud; slick and cold with rain. The water ran into his seams, sending chills through his systems as his body attempted to evaporate the liquid before it had a chance to get into his circuitry.
He should probably go see Ratchet first, but Primus knew that right then all he wanted was to wash this mud off his body. Curling up next to a warm body would be an added bonus, but... He cut that thought off before it had a chance to cycle much further. He really didn't need to subject himself to any depressing thoughts while he was so exhausted (and filthy). He didn't need to invite his battle computer to crash.
He headed for his quarters and the private shower within, wiping his optics clear of water and specks of mud. He muttered appropriate greetings to the mechs he passed, knowing he was doing no damage to his reputation as a sparkless Empty. Though it was up to debate about whether that was good or bad. He trudged into his quarters, grabbing a few towels, as he hadn't had the foresight to stow any away in his subspace before venturing out.
He contacted Blaster and had him send a maintenance drone to the hallways to clean up his water trail.
The towels disappeared into subspace and he entered the single stall in his wash room. A sigh escaped his vents as he switched on the faucet. He leaned against the stall wall, his optics going offline in bliss. He stayed like that for nearly a breem before he realized that nothing was striking his plating. He activated his optics and lifted his head to stare at the faucet. Primus, was his shower broken?
He stubbornly fiddled with the controls, but only received a hiss of air.
"Hoist, this is Prowl. Please acknowledge."
"Hoist here, what can I do for you?"
Prowl stared up at the uncooperative showerhead, tracing the line that connected the wand to the wall. "Did you disconnect the waterlines from my quarters?"
A pause, and Prowl assumed he conferred with Grapple. "I'm sorry, Prowl. We had to disconnect the entire officer corridor. We were experiencing a bad leak; we're still trying to trace it."
Prowl sighed, rubbing at his chevron. "Very well. Thank you. Prowl out." That meant he'd have to use the crew washracks.
He trudged out of the comfort of his quarters (and the oh-so-inviting berth waiting for him to grace it). The crew washracks were located on the other side of the residential deck. By the time Prowl reached the entrance, he was certain he had mud under his plating. He shivered almost without ceasing as he felt something slick and slimy sliding around his left calf and dripping within his torso.
The washracks were empty. Then again it was the middle of the duty cycle and there were still a lot of mechs incapacitated. He would actually still be on duty, except that Prime had told the tactician to take a few megacycles to tend to himself: wash up, catch some recharge, and see Ratchet.
He stopped by the first stall, intending on just using that one and cleaning up as quickly as possible.
His systems seemed to snap on as he straightened in shock at the state of the stall. He turned, jaw hanging loose as he saw that the stall across the way was in the same state, as well as the one next to it. And the one next to that. He walked down the line of stalls taking in the black... stuff that covered the walls and the floors. A flash of red caught his eye.
He wasn't as alone as he thought.
"Sideswipe, what happened here?" He put on his most authoritative tone, but his battle computer whirred; processing facts that it wasn't making quite clear to him just yet.
Sideswipe held a scrub pad in both hands, and a bucket of sudsy liquid by his feet. Black gunk streaked his plating, but it gave him a rugged appearance that Prowl appreciated, and at the same time wanted to wipe clear. The red twin turned, and even though his mouth frowned, his optics lit up. "I don't know." A grin tugged at his lips. "But it sure freaked Tracks out when he came in here."
Prowl crossed his arms under his bumper, doorwings high on his shoulders. "If you don't know, then why are you here cleaning it?"
"Don't know that either." His face betrayed nothing as he gazed at the tactician. "Ironhide just told me that it looked like one of my stunts, so I get to clean it up." As he spoke his optics traveled down Prowl's body, his eyes all but devouring the second-in-command.
Prowl found himself standing taller under that scrutinizing gaze and wishing that the officer showers had been functioning. He was no Sunstreaker, but he didn't like to appear caked in filth before his lover.
"I heard about the mudslide," his voice rumbled out, almost overpowered by the rev of his engine. "I made sure that at least one of the stalls was clean."
The connection was made like lightning to wiring. Prowl angled his doorwings back, his optics wide as he took in his mischevious lover. Sideswipe had caused the leak that resulted in the loss of the private showers water supply. He didn't have to ask to know it to be true. Why had he done that, when he knew Prowl would be coming back in need of a shower?
The ambient chill of water dripping down his plating, inside his joints faded as he gritted his teeth in frustration.
He turned without another word and continued on to the last stall in the washrack. The stall was nearly gleaming from its recent scrubbing. A long-handled brush and a soft sponge sat on the shelf of the stall, next to a bottle of one of the more expensive brands of cleanser. One of the brands that Sunstreaker preferred to use. He reached up and fingered the sponge. It was softer than human flesh (Prowl had to repress a shudder at the memories of cold bodies that comparison brought forth), oh yes, definitely Sunstreaker's supplies. Neither he nor Sideswipe were so particular about their Autobot issued wash supplies.
He glanced toward Sideswipe, who'd turned back to scrubbing the stall he was in.
His ire cooled in the face of his lover's thoughtfulness as he realized just what Sideswipe was trying to do. The Decepticons had been very active the past several months, and the two lovers hadn't had any opportunity to spend time together. The temperature settings for the water would be hotter than normal, but would also provide a nice blanket of steam. Prowl looked up at the shower head, reaching to adjust the detachable faucet when he saw that it had already been adjusted. That Sideswipe had taken such careful consideration of things, and planned it all... well, Primus that... that just made Prowl's engine turn over.
He glanced at the seemingly oblivious warrior again, activating the waterflow. This time scalding hot water streamed from the shower head, pinging off Prowl's body. The tactician knew it would take more than simple water to dislodge this much mud and so he reached for the bristle brush; content to wait for the steam to build up.
He swept the bristle brush along his joints, listening to the plop of mud being dislodged and falling to the floor. The bristles scraped against his armor, a harsh counterpoint to the water pattering at his frame. He rubbed the brush across sensitive seams, wishing it were Sideswipe's hands instead. Wishing he could imagine his lover there attending him. He bit back a throaty moan as it would be unseemly if he were caught stimulating himself in the shower.
He paused as he reached for his back, glancing at the steam that roiled around the stall. He hesitated only for an astrosecond before he called out to the other mech.
"Sideswipe, would you come here for a breem."
Silence, and then the steady steps of a mech approached his stall. "What? I can't get this done if you're distracting me."
The red twin paused just beyond the blanket of steam, a shadow in the midst of white clouds.
"I require your assistance in scrubbing my back."
The hiss of a ventilator as it increased with excitement and the low rumble of an aroused engine gave clue to how excited that made the red Lamborghini. "What am I, your menial slave? Primus."
But the curtain of steam parted to reveal the handsome red mech. The clouds of steam roiled away from the red twin's frame, as he took sure steps to close the distance between them. Sideswipe grabbed the tactician's chevron, tilting Prowl's head up to swoop down for an intoxicating kiss. The overeager warrior shoved the black and white mech against the wall, startling Prowl into dropping the brush at the same time. The clatter of the handle on the floor sounded preternaturally loud, amplified by the steam.
Sideswipe froze, one hand caressing Prowl's jaw, his other hand clutching the tactician's pelvic armor. Only his lips moved silently against Prowl's mouth, continuing their teasing touch. Prowl gripped the warrior's shoulder struts, too exhausted to do more than squeeze Sideswipe's arms. He panted against the twin's lips, engine and vocalizer groaning in tandem. Sideswipe's gaze flicked over to the entry of the stall, the mechanisms of his optics twisting and turning as he adjusted the focus of his lens. Prowl could count the beads of water on his face from condensation (243). He could make out the barely perceptible lines that had once been dents or tears in his face, akin to scars on a human. He admired the strong lines that made up the warrior's face, the black helmet that framed his head.
A streak of black tar marred his otherwise perfect face. Prowl reached up a white hand and tried to wipe the mark away with just his fingers, but only managed to smear it even more. Sideswipe's gaze flicked back to him, and then to the white fingers.
"Look now, I'm not cleaning your hands, too!" He caught Prowl's hand and nibbled on the mud-smeared knuckle. Then he promptly let go, sputtering to clear his mouth of the muck.
Prowl chuckled, leaning away from the spatter of mud that flew out of Sideswipe's mouth. "If I order you to, you will."
Sideswipe flicked some of the mud off his fingers, narrowed optics focused on Prowl. The black fingers stroked up Prowl's chestplate, smearing mud and water over the white paint. He leaned close, engine rumbling a low note that vibrated all the way to his hand. "I love it when you try."
Prowl smiled, flashing his optics at the dare in the mech's voice, but before he had a chance to respond, another voice cut through the steam.
"Prowl?"
Alarmed the two mechs stepped away from each other, optics bright.
They were still too close to each other, without good cause.
"Yes, Jazz?" Prowl called before he flicked his doorwings down in simulated irritation, scowling fiercely at the warrior. He smeared the tar on his hand across the wall. "Does this look clean to you? I'm not sure what's malfunctioning about your optics, but you clearly need them checked out if you missed something so obvious."
Footsteps came down the line of shower stalls.
Prowl leveled a speaking look at his lover, and Sideswipe dutifully attacked the unseemly spot.
Jazz stood outside the stall, a shadow in the steam. "Hey! Ya made it back. How d' ya like Sideswipe's decoratin'?"
Sideswipe stopped and shot a glare at the other mech, though the saboteur couldn't see them. "There's no proof this had anything to do with me."
Prowl huffed his opinion of that.
Jazz laughed. "Who else would it be?"
Sideswipe visibly fought down a slag-chewing grin, though his engine chugged merrily. "Trailbreaker! Why doesn't he ever get any blame?"
Jazz laughed, leaning against the entry to the stall. "Prob'ly cause he ain't stupid enough t' keep gettin' caught."
Sideswipe grumbled back at them; "Slagger gets a kick out of pinning them on me, too."
Jazz laughed again.
Sideswipe swatted his sponge at the black streak.. "You're no better, too."
"Well ya just make it too fun for me."
Prowl flicked his doorwings. "Did you need something, Jazz? I would like to get clean so I can go recharge."
Jazz straightened. "I was wonderin' if ya needed a hand? You scrub my back, I'll scrub yours."
Sideswipe winced, dimming his optics at Prowl.
Prowl hadn't even needed Sideswipe's silent comment about how unwelcome Jazz's presence would be at that time. Jazz's presence would indeed prove to be a detriment if permitted to linger.
Prowl's back was the most difficult part for him to reach, and getting the joining between doorwing and back often proved to be most troublesome of all. He did sometimes ask for assistance in their cleaning, and it generally only seemed proper to ask another officer. So, as unwelcome as Jazz's offer might be, Prowl understood and appreciated the reasoning behind it. Most other times he would gladly take Jazz up on his offer.
"Thank you, Jazz, but no. I will manage on my own."
Jazz took a step closer, blue visor barely visible through the steaming water. "Are ya sure? You've been dripping mud all the way from th' entrance."
Prowl studiously ignored the faces Sideswipe was making out of Jazz's sight. "Would you have maintenance send a drone to clean it up, please? The water's hot enough that it will clean the mud off, with an estimated 98 precent effectiveness."
"Well, if yer sure. Ya know how to reach me." Jazz stepped away and both Prowl and Sideswipe held their figurative breath until his footsteps turned down the corridor.
Sideswipe didn't waste an astrosecond. He reclaimed the space between him and Prowl and wrapped his arms around the tactician, drawing him close. "Slaggit, I thought he would never leave. "
Prowl dipped his wings and leaned in to nip down Sideswipe's cheekguards to his necklines, the water a staccato rhythm against his frame. "I should have anticipated his arrival."
Sideswipe lifted a hand to stroke down Prowl's helm. "You're depleted. I think you're allowed to miss a few details."
Prowl chuffed from his vents and decided he was too depleted to continue down the Lamborghini's hood. "You are so considerate."
Sideswipe's brilliant grin was so palpable, that Prowl didn't even need to look up to see it on his face. "Why yes I am! As a matter of fact, I'm so considerate that I'm gonna scrub all this grime out of your joints."
The sudden rev of his engine drew Prowl out of his somnolence. He blinked up at Sideswipe, mulling those words over in his processor. "That was positively pornographic, Sideswipe."
Sideswipe laughed, a purr of sound under Prowl's fingers. Lips clinked against rounded audio receptors, crackling shocks through Prowl's processors. "I have to admit, everything in my processor is positively pornographic, Prowl."
That surprised a bark of laughter out of Prowl. "I hope you don't expect me to be shocked as if that were news to me." He pulled away from Sideswipe's lips, the feedback more then he could take in his depleted state. He may have been to worn too lift his arm, but that didn't keep him from turning his hand and groping whatever piece of metal he happened to touch. (A hip)
Sideswipe jumped, optics flashing with his surprise, but his grin spread wider on his face. "Bad Sparkles. I can't clean you if you're getting me all revved up like that."
Prowl tilted his chevron at his lover. "You're not already revved up?"
Sideswipe played with Prowl's headlight, squeaking a wet finger in the crevice and along the black bumper. "More revved up." His lips found Prowl's chin, engine humming eagerly.
Prowl's engine revved in response to the vibrating frame next to him, in spite of his drained systems. Prowl lifted his arm and curled it around Sideswipe's shoulder. "Sideswipe," Prowl murmured, "I know you're excited, but I have mud sliding around inside my plating. And if it gets into my engine I will not interface with you again for a vorn."
Sideswipe straightened, blue optics bright and wide. "Frag, Prowl. Do you have to go that far?"
Prowl decided that didn't deserve a response, and tilted his chevron at Sideswipe.
Sideswipe sighed, as though burdened by Prowl's, admittedly demanding, request. He took the soft sponge from Prowl's fingers.
Prowl rapped his fingers against his thighs, not falling for Sideswipe's overly dramatic demeanor.
Sideswipe rubbed the sponge over Prowl's muddy frame. His engine rumble had died down to a sputter. He paused after only completing Prowl's hood. "Okay, Prowl. Where is the mud?"
Prowl didn't hesitate. "There is mud. In my ankle. Clean. It. Out."
Sideswipe hesitated, giving Prowl a confused look. He knelt, and cleaned the foot, rinsing the sponge clean in the stream of water from the shower head. He paused again, looking up at Prowl with an inscrutable look in his optics.
Prowl slid his foot closer, ostensibly to put his ankle and the joint access in a more accessible position.
Sideswipe tilted his head to glance up at Prowl with a flash in his optics. The high performance engine in the red chestplate purred back to life, and Sideswipe nipped Prowl's knee. "You know, I don't think you actually threatened to not interface with me if I didn't clean out the mud from inside your plating."
Prowl narrowed his optics down at his subordinate lover. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't do as you're told."
Sideswipe mouthed at the inside of Prowl's thigh. "Make me."
"Everything becomes a challenge with you, doesn't it, Sides? My threat stands."
The purring engine made an ugly sound of disgruntlement. "You're no fun!" Sideswipe pouted up at Prowl.
Prowl tapped his toelights expectantly. "No, Sideswipe, but I am depleted."
Sideswipe chuckled, "I'm sorry, Sparkles. How completely thoughtless of me." He kissed the glass on Prowl's shin. "You're always fun."
Prowl brushed his white fingertips across Sideswipe's horns. "Or else you would have ended this long before now, no doubt."
Lips curled in a knowing smirk, Sideswipe didn't bother to answer. They both knew the answer and this was simply one of their subtle (or perhaps not-so-subtle) ways of reaffirming their love for one another.
Sideswipe slid his fingers into the small space underneath Prowl's ankle access panel and prized the panel to swing out on its hinges and reveal the mudcaked struts beneath. He made a sound of disgust that would do his twin proud and set to work carefully wiping the insides down to the smallest rods.
The caress of the cloth, warmed by the shower, and the slight bubbling of the cleaner soothed away the slimy, cold mud. Sideswipe hugged Prowl's leg, his fingers buried in the wires and sensors at the unarmored opening behind Prowl's knee.
Prowl vented a sigh, sagging under the masterful touches of a mech who knew his frame and sensors better than even himself. His doorwings shuddered and his engine purred to life, despite his low reserves.
Sideswipe grinned, closing the panel. He stood, the water from the shower pattering off his slick red shoulders, and held up an energon goody to Prowl's lips.
"You're so depleted, Sparkles. Say 'Ah'."
Prowl leaned away, fingers braced against the tarred wall. "I hate those things."
"I know. But I can't exactly carry a cube in subspace."
"And you have a perverse pleasure in feeding me."
"Well, maybe the donuts weren't such a good idea, in retrospect."
Prowl actually did chuckle. Ratchet's reaction to what had filled Prowl's fuel tanks would always amuse him now. "How you convinced one of the human companies to bake pastries that size… I'm not sure I want to know."
"I've always wondered what Carly finds so appealing about that chocolate stuff…"
Prowl put a stop to that line of processing by the simple expedient of catching Sideswipe's hand and chomping down on the energon goodie.
Sideswipe broke off in the middle of his sentence, just as Prowl had predicted.
Prowl didn't stop there, but nibbled at the still extended hand, tracing his lips and dental plates over knuckles and the corners on his fingers.
"Primus," Sideswipe murmured, optics bright.
Black hands caught Prowl's face, turning his mouth up to meet enthusiastic, wet lips. Prowl let his lover press him against the bulkhead. His own hands busied themselves in the opening just below Sideswipe's chestplate that let Sideswipe bend his torso. Wires and sensors, and just out of reach, the purring engine that sent such sweet vibrations through Prowl's frame.
Sideswipe broke away from the kiss. "I can't clean you if you're distracting me, Prowl."
Prowl regarded the other mech. "Considering that I apparently can distract you by simply standing in front of you, I don't believe that you are using an adequate excuse."
Sideswipe snorted. "Well, you look good from just about any angle, so how can I not look at you and be distracted?" Then he slipped around behind Prowl and set to work on his canopy.
Prowl leaned into the touch of the sponge, into the pressure of his lover's touch.
Fingers swept into the space of Prowl's door hinges, seeking sensors. Lips brushed against the soft padding that lined the back of his doorwings.
Those same lips suddenly appeared at Prowl's audio receptor. "You're like putty in my hands . I know you're depleted, but it's so fragging hard not to take advantage of you right now, sparkles."
Prowl hummed, not wanting to break the rhythm of Sideswipe's strokes against his plating. Still, he felt Sides deserved a better response than that. "Self-control, Sides?"
Sidewipe chuckled. "I know, but I hate to disturb you when you're this relaxed. And besides, this is… nice." Sideswipe knelt down, the sponge tracing the edges of Prowl's waist, and delved into the crevice where leg met hip.
Prowl's engine rumbled in a purr that shook his frame down to his very finger tips.
Sideswipe crooned back, digging his fingers into wires and struts.
Prowl couldn't help but jump as Sideswipe suddenly buried his face in his pelvis, dental plates biting at shiny black paint.
Prowl's ventilators whirred online to counter the rising heat in his engine.
Sideswipe rubbed the sponge along Prowl's thighs again. He didn't stay there long. He stood as abruptly as he'd knelt. Bright blue optics gazed down at the second-in-command. The intent gaze swept up Prowl's frame from his toe lights and up the glass shins to the white thighs and over the black hips. Paused on the black stripe of Prowl's bumper.
Sideswipe leaned closer and brought the sponge up to wipe a thick chunk of mud off the bumper. The sponge traveled up Prowl's hood and into the crevice of his shoulder joint.
Mud splattered to the floor of the shower, to be washed away by the steaming water. Falling from Prowl's shoulders, his arms his elbows, and his hands.
Sideswipe worked the sponge deep into mudcaked joints and joins. Even the spaces between Prowl's fingers, where mud could slide deep into the delicate machinery that made up Cybertronian hands.
Sideswipe nipped at the white fingertips. Turned Prowl's hand to curl against his face. "You're clean."
The sponge dropped to the floor with a wet sploosh, a distant sound that only briefly registered on Prowl's sensor net. He had other things he would much rather pay attention to. Like Sideswipe's mouth on his rblfrblfrblfrbl
Prowl lost all lines of thought in the pure sensation of Sideswipe all over his frame. He didn't realize, until Sideswipe activated all the sensors in his doorwings, that they were interfaced. If he could pull his muddled, depleted processing unit into line with his ROM then maybe…
Sideswipe drew his fingers down Prowl's door hinges and Prowl couldn't recall what he was about to think.
Words murmured against his lips.
"Putty."
Prowl's systems burned with desire, and his hands clenched on red armor, unable to return the attentions. His processor muddled by Sideswipe's input.
It was like Sideswipe had devoted all his processing power to the intrusion in Prowl's mind.
Is it really intruding when you let me in here?
No. Anytime, the intrusion would be welcome. Sideswipe had access to everything but his spark. And that was his if he could have taken it.
Might be better this way. Combined package. Wouldn't want Sunstreaker, would you?
They weren't words, just the awareness of Sideswipe spread throughout Prowl's systems within digital pathways that defied explanation.
I love when you're like this. Only can do this when you're depleted.
I want you to do something for me.
Prowl vented the heat from his system, his systems suspended on the command line Sideswipe had to Prowl's systems.
The hand tucked under his bumper where the engine revved and shook.
Overload.
And Prowl did.
--------------------------
Author's Note II: Elvenarchress, I believe it was, once asked for a shower scene. Tada.
With the end coming up (in three chapters, 3 months!), I figure that my end notes should be nice and lengthy, yes? I should start writing them, though I get a lot blabby. And I figure this is a time to ask for reader questions? Things you never saw explained? Or always wondered? Leave it in a comment, or PM me if you don't want it publicly viewed. I've gotten very bad about answering reviews, and I'm terribly sorry for that. I squee with each review I recieve and grin for the rest of the day in glee.
Title Star-Crossed: Washed Off (33/36)
Pairing/Characters Prowl/Sideswipe, Jazz
Rating M
Summary We can never control who we fall in love with. Those determined to be together will let nothing stand in their way. This is one such pair.
Author's Note Breathe Deep. This is your last gulp of sweet air before the final plunge.
Washed Off
Prowl stumbled down the hall. Mud caked his joints, making it difficult for him to walk. He braced his hand on the wall, shivering from the frigid water that ran down his plating. Prime had assigned him to patrol duty, both to cover for the short-handedness that had resulted from the last battle, and to get the tactician out of the Ark. His route had taken him through a mountain pass, where he'd barely missed the tail end of a mud slide. His sensors had picked up minute vibrations of the ground before his audio receptors heard the rumble. Then he spent the next solar cycle assisting the humans in finding any survivors until the Protectobots had arrived.
Sometime during escaping the mudslide, and pulling out survivors, he wrenched what felt like every single joint in his body. His doorwings hung heavily at his shoulders, weighed down with mud; slick and cold with rain. The water ran into his seams, sending chills through his systems as his body attempted to evaporate the liquid before it had a chance to get into his circuitry.
He should probably go see Ratchet first, but Primus knew that right then all he wanted was to wash this mud off his body. Curling up next to a warm body would be an added bonus, but... He cut that thought off before it had a chance to cycle much further. He really didn't need to subject himself to any depressing thoughts while he was so exhausted (and filthy). He didn't need to invite his battle computer to crash.
He headed for his quarters and the private shower within, wiping his optics clear of water and specks of mud. He muttered appropriate greetings to the mechs he passed, knowing he was doing no damage to his reputation as a sparkless Empty. Though it was up to debate about whether that was good or bad. He trudged into his quarters, grabbing a few towels, as he hadn't had the foresight to stow any away in his subspace before venturing out.
He contacted Blaster and had him send a maintenance drone to the hallways to clean up his water trail.
The towels disappeared into subspace and he entered the single stall in his wash room. A sigh escaped his vents as he switched on the faucet. He leaned against the stall wall, his optics going offline in bliss. He stayed like that for nearly a breem before he realized that nothing was striking his plating. He activated his optics and lifted his head to stare at the faucet. Primus, was his shower broken?
He stubbornly fiddled with the controls, but only received a hiss of air.
"Hoist, this is Prowl. Please acknowledge."
"Hoist here, what can I do for you?"
Prowl stared up at the uncooperative showerhead, tracing the line that connected the wand to the wall. "Did you disconnect the waterlines from my quarters?"
A pause, and Prowl assumed he conferred with Grapple. "I'm sorry, Prowl. We had to disconnect the entire officer corridor. We were experiencing a bad leak; we're still trying to trace it."
Prowl sighed, rubbing at his chevron. "Very well. Thank you. Prowl out." That meant he'd have to use the crew washracks.
He trudged out of the comfort of his quarters (and the oh-so-inviting berth waiting for him to grace it). The crew washracks were located on the other side of the residential deck. By the time Prowl reached the entrance, he was certain he had mud under his plating. He shivered almost without ceasing as he felt something slick and slimy sliding around his left calf and dripping within his torso.
The washracks were empty. Then again it was the middle of the duty cycle and there were still a lot of mechs incapacitated. He would actually still be on duty, except that Prime had told the tactician to take a few megacycles to tend to himself: wash up, catch some recharge, and see Ratchet.
He stopped by the first stall, intending on just using that one and cleaning up as quickly as possible.
His systems seemed to snap on as he straightened in shock at the state of the stall. He turned, jaw hanging loose as he saw that the stall across the way was in the same state, as well as the one next to it. And the one next to that. He walked down the line of stalls taking in the black... stuff that covered the walls and the floors. A flash of red caught his eye.
He wasn't as alone as he thought.
"Sideswipe, what happened here?" He put on his most authoritative tone, but his battle computer whirred; processing facts that it wasn't making quite clear to him just yet.
Sideswipe held a scrub pad in both hands, and a bucket of sudsy liquid by his feet. Black gunk streaked his plating, but it gave him a rugged appearance that Prowl appreciated, and at the same time wanted to wipe clear. The red twin turned, and even though his mouth frowned, his optics lit up. "I don't know." A grin tugged at his lips. "But it sure freaked Tracks out when he came in here."
Prowl crossed his arms under his bumper, doorwings high on his shoulders. "If you don't know, then why are you here cleaning it?"
"Don't know that either." His face betrayed nothing as he gazed at the tactician. "Ironhide just told me that it looked like one of my stunts, so I get to clean it up." As he spoke his optics traveled down Prowl's body, his eyes all but devouring the second-in-command.
Prowl found himself standing taller under that scrutinizing gaze and wishing that the officer showers had been functioning. He was no Sunstreaker, but he didn't like to appear caked in filth before his lover.
"I heard about the mudslide," his voice rumbled out, almost overpowered by the rev of his engine. "I made sure that at least one of the stalls was clean."
The connection was made like lightning to wiring. Prowl angled his doorwings back, his optics wide as he took in his mischevious lover. Sideswipe had caused the leak that resulted in the loss of the private showers water supply. He didn't have to ask to know it to be true. Why had he done that, when he knew Prowl would be coming back in need of a shower?
The ambient chill of water dripping down his plating, inside his joints faded as he gritted his teeth in frustration.
He turned without another word and continued on to the last stall in the washrack. The stall was nearly gleaming from its recent scrubbing. A long-handled brush and a soft sponge sat on the shelf of the stall, next to a bottle of one of the more expensive brands of cleanser. One of the brands that Sunstreaker preferred to use. He reached up and fingered the sponge. It was softer than human flesh (Prowl had to repress a shudder at the memories of cold bodies that comparison brought forth), oh yes, definitely Sunstreaker's supplies. Neither he nor Sideswipe were so particular about their Autobot issued wash supplies.
He glanced toward Sideswipe, who'd turned back to scrubbing the stall he was in.
His ire cooled in the face of his lover's thoughtfulness as he realized just what Sideswipe was trying to do. The Decepticons had been very active the past several months, and the two lovers hadn't had any opportunity to spend time together. The temperature settings for the water would be hotter than normal, but would also provide a nice blanket of steam. Prowl looked up at the shower head, reaching to adjust the detachable faucet when he saw that it had already been adjusted. That Sideswipe had taken such careful consideration of things, and planned it all... well, Primus that... that just made Prowl's engine turn over.
He glanced at the seemingly oblivious warrior again, activating the waterflow. This time scalding hot water streamed from the shower head, pinging off Prowl's body. The tactician knew it would take more than simple water to dislodge this much mud and so he reached for the bristle brush; content to wait for the steam to build up.
He swept the bristle brush along his joints, listening to the plop of mud being dislodged and falling to the floor. The bristles scraped against his armor, a harsh counterpoint to the water pattering at his frame. He rubbed the brush across sensitive seams, wishing it were Sideswipe's hands instead. Wishing he could imagine his lover there attending him. He bit back a throaty moan as it would be unseemly if he were caught stimulating himself in the shower.
He paused as he reached for his back, glancing at the steam that roiled around the stall. He hesitated only for an astrosecond before he called out to the other mech.
"Sideswipe, would you come here for a breem."
Silence, and then the steady steps of a mech approached his stall. "What? I can't get this done if you're distracting me."
The red twin paused just beyond the blanket of steam, a shadow in the midst of white clouds.
"I require your assistance in scrubbing my back."
The hiss of a ventilator as it increased with excitement and the low rumble of an aroused engine gave clue to how excited that made the red Lamborghini. "What am I, your menial slave? Primus."
But the curtain of steam parted to reveal the handsome red mech. The clouds of steam roiled away from the red twin's frame, as he took sure steps to close the distance between them. Sideswipe grabbed the tactician's chevron, tilting Prowl's head up to swoop down for an intoxicating kiss. The overeager warrior shoved the black and white mech against the wall, startling Prowl into dropping the brush at the same time. The clatter of the handle on the floor sounded preternaturally loud, amplified by the steam.
Sideswipe froze, one hand caressing Prowl's jaw, his other hand clutching the tactician's pelvic armor. Only his lips moved silently against Prowl's mouth, continuing their teasing touch. Prowl gripped the warrior's shoulder struts, too exhausted to do more than squeeze Sideswipe's arms. He panted against the twin's lips, engine and vocalizer groaning in tandem. Sideswipe's gaze flicked over to the entry of the stall, the mechanisms of his optics twisting and turning as he adjusted the focus of his lens. Prowl could count the beads of water on his face from condensation (243). He could make out the barely perceptible lines that had once been dents or tears in his face, akin to scars on a human. He admired the strong lines that made up the warrior's face, the black helmet that framed his head.
A streak of black tar marred his otherwise perfect face. Prowl reached up a white hand and tried to wipe the mark away with just his fingers, but only managed to smear it even more. Sideswipe's gaze flicked back to him, and then to the white fingers.
"Look now, I'm not cleaning your hands, too!" He caught Prowl's hand and nibbled on the mud-smeared knuckle. Then he promptly let go, sputtering to clear his mouth of the muck.
Prowl chuckled, leaning away from the spatter of mud that flew out of Sideswipe's mouth. "If I order you to, you will."
Sideswipe flicked some of the mud off his fingers, narrowed optics focused on Prowl. The black fingers stroked up Prowl's chestplate, smearing mud and water over the white paint. He leaned close, engine rumbling a low note that vibrated all the way to his hand. "I love it when you try."
Prowl smiled, flashing his optics at the dare in the mech's voice, but before he had a chance to respond, another voice cut through the steam.
"Prowl?"
Alarmed the two mechs stepped away from each other, optics bright.
They were still too close to each other, without good cause.
"Yes, Jazz?" Prowl called before he flicked his doorwings down in simulated irritation, scowling fiercely at the warrior. He smeared the tar on his hand across the wall. "Does this look clean to you? I'm not sure what's malfunctioning about your optics, but you clearly need them checked out if you missed something so obvious."
Footsteps came down the line of shower stalls.
Prowl leveled a speaking look at his lover, and Sideswipe dutifully attacked the unseemly spot.
Jazz stood outside the stall, a shadow in the steam. "Hey! Ya made it back. How d' ya like Sideswipe's decoratin'?"
Sideswipe stopped and shot a glare at the other mech, though the saboteur couldn't see them. "There's no proof this had anything to do with me."
Prowl huffed his opinion of that.
Jazz laughed. "Who else would it be?"
Sideswipe visibly fought down a slag-chewing grin, though his engine chugged merrily. "Trailbreaker! Why doesn't he ever get any blame?"
Jazz laughed, leaning against the entry to the stall. "Prob'ly cause he ain't stupid enough t' keep gettin' caught."
Sideswipe grumbled back at them; "Slagger gets a kick out of pinning them on me, too."
Jazz laughed again.
Sideswipe swatted his sponge at the black streak.. "You're no better, too."
"Well ya just make it too fun for me."
Prowl flicked his doorwings. "Did you need something, Jazz? I would like to get clean so I can go recharge."
Jazz straightened. "I was wonderin' if ya needed a hand? You scrub my back, I'll scrub yours."
Sideswipe winced, dimming his optics at Prowl.
Prowl hadn't even needed Sideswipe's silent comment about how unwelcome Jazz's presence would be at that time. Jazz's presence would indeed prove to be a detriment if permitted to linger.
Prowl's back was the most difficult part for him to reach, and getting the joining between doorwing and back often proved to be most troublesome of all. He did sometimes ask for assistance in their cleaning, and it generally only seemed proper to ask another officer. So, as unwelcome as Jazz's offer might be, Prowl understood and appreciated the reasoning behind it. Most other times he would gladly take Jazz up on his offer.
"Thank you, Jazz, but no. I will manage on my own."
Jazz took a step closer, blue visor barely visible through the steaming water. "Are ya sure? You've been dripping mud all the way from th' entrance."
Prowl studiously ignored the faces Sideswipe was making out of Jazz's sight. "Would you have maintenance send a drone to clean it up, please? The water's hot enough that it will clean the mud off, with an estimated 98 precent effectiveness."
"Well, if yer sure. Ya know how to reach me." Jazz stepped away and both Prowl and Sideswipe held their figurative breath until his footsteps turned down the corridor.
Sideswipe didn't waste an astrosecond. He reclaimed the space between him and Prowl and wrapped his arms around the tactician, drawing him close. "Slaggit, I thought he would never leave. "
Prowl dipped his wings and leaned in to nip down Sideswipe's cheekguards to his necklines, the water a staccato rhythm against his frame. "I should have anticipated his arrival."
Sideswipe lifted a hand to stroke down Prowl's helm. "You're depleted. I think you're allowed to miss a few details."
Prowl chuffed from his vents and decided he was too depleted to continue down the Lamborghini's hood. "You are so considerate."
Sideswipe's brilliant grin was so palpable, that Prowl didn't even need to look up to see it on his face. "Why yes I am! As a matter of fact, I'm so considerate that I'm gonna scrub all this grime out of your joints."
The sudden rev of his engine drew Prowl out of his somnolence. He blinked up at Sideswipe, mulling those words over in his processor. "That was positively pornographic, Sideswipe."
Sideswipe laughed, a purr of sound under Prowl's fingers. Lips clinked against rounded audio receptors, crackling shocks through Prowl's processors. "I have to admit, everything in my processor is positively pornographic, Prowl."
That surprised a bark of laughter out of Prowl. "I hope you don't expect me to be shocked as if that were news to me." He pulled away from Sideswipe's lips, the feedback more then he could take in his depleted state. He may have been to worn too lift his arm, but that didn't keep him from turning his hand and groping whatever piece of metal he happened to touch. (A hip)
Sideswipe jumped, optics flashing with his surprise, but his grin spread wider on his face. "Bad Sparkles. I can't clean you if you're getting me all revved up like that."
Prowl tilted his chevron at his lover. "You're not already revved up?"
Sideswipe played with Prowl's headlight, squeaking a wet finger in the crevice and along the black bumper. "More revved up." His lips found Prowl's chin, engine humming eagerly.
Prowl's engine revved in response to the vibrating frame next to him, in spite of his drained systems. Prowl lifted his arm and curled it around Sideswipe's shoulder. "Sideswipe," Prowl murmured, "I know you're excited, but I have mud sliding around inside my plating. And if it gets into my engine I will not interface with you again for a vorn."
Sideswipe straightened, blue optics bright and wide. "Frag, Prowl. Do you have to go that far?"
Prowl decided that didn't deserve a response, and tilted his chevron at Sideswipe.
Sideswipe sighed, as though burdened by Prowl's, admittedly demanding, request. He took the soft sponge from Prowl's fingers.
Prowl rapped his fingers against his thighs, not falling for Sideswipe's overly dramatic demeanor.
Sideswipe rubbed the sponge over Prowl's muddy frame. His engine rumble had died down to a sputter. He paused after only completing Prowl's hood. "Okay, Prowl. Where is the mud?"
Prowl didn't hesitate. "There is mud. In my ankle. Clean. It. Out."
Sideswipe hesitated, giving Prowl a confused look. He knelt, and cleaned the foot, rinsing the sponge clean in the stream of water from the shower head. He paused again, looking up at Prowl with an inscrutable look in his optics.
Prowl slid his foot closer, ostensibly to put his ankle and the joint access in a more accessible position.
Sideswipe tilted his head to glance up at Prowl with a flash in his optics. The high performance engine in the red chestplate purred back to life, and Sideswipe nipped Prowl's knee. "You know, I don't think you actually threatened to not interface with me if I didn't clean out the mud from inside your plating."
Prowl narrowed his optics down at his subordinate lover. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't do as you're told."
Sideswipe mouthed at the inside of Prowl's thigh. "Make me."
"Everything becomes a challenge with you, doesn't it, Sides? My threat stands."
The purring engine made an ugly sound of disgruntlement. "You're no fun!" Sideswipe pouted up at Prowl.
Prowl tapped his toelights expectantly. "No, Sideswipe, but I am depleted."
Sideswipe chuckled, "I'm sorry, Sparkles. How completely thoughtless of me." He kissed the glass on Prowl's shin. "You're always fun."
Prowl brushed his white fingertips across Sideswipe's horns. "Or else you would have ended this long before now, no doubt."
Lips curled in a knowing smirk, Sideswipe didn't bother to answer. They both knew the answer and this was simply one of their subtle (or perhaps not-so-subtle) ways of reaffirming their love for one another.
Sideswipe slid his fingers into the small space underneath Prowl's ankle access panel and prized the panel to swing out on its hinges and reveal the mudcaked struts beneath. He made a sound of disgust that would do his twin proud and set to work carefully wiping the insides down to the smallest rods.
The caress of the cloth, warmed by the shower, and the slight bubbling of the cleaner soothed away the slimy, cold mud. Sideswipe hugged Prowl's leg, his fingers buried in the wires and sensors at the unarmored opening behind Prowl's knee.
Prowl vented a sigh, sagging under the masterful touches of a mech who knew his frame and sensors better than even himself. His doorwings shuddered and his engine purred to life, despite his low reserves.
Sideswipe grinned, closing the panel. He stood, the water from the shower pattering off his slick red shoulders, and held up an energon goody to Prowl's lips.
"You're so depleted, Sparkles. Say 'Ah'."
Prowl leaned away, fingers braced against the tarred wall. "I hate those things."
"I know. But I can't exactly carry a cube in subspace."
"And you have a perverse pleasure in feeding me."
"Well, maybe the donuts weren't such a good idea, in retrospect."
Prowl actually did chuckle. Ratchet's reaction to what had filled Prowl's fuel tanks would always amuse him now. "How you convinced one of the human companies to bake pastries that size… I'm not sure I want to know."
"I've always wondered what Carly finds so appealing about that chocolate stuff…"
Prowl put a stop to that line of processing by the simple expedient of catching Sideswipe's hand and chomping down on the energon goodie.
Sideswipe broke off in the middle of his sentence, just as Prowl had predicted.
Prowl didn't stop there, but nibbled at the still extended hand, tracing his lips and dental plates over knuckles and the corners on his fingers.
"Primus," Sideswipe murmured, optics bright.
Black hands caught Prowl's face, turning his mouth up to meet enthusiastic, wet lips. Prowl let his lover press him against the bulkhead. His own hands busied themselves in the opening just below Sideswipe's chestplate that let Sideswipe bend his torso. Wires and sensors, and just out of reach, the purring engine that sent such sweet vibrations through Prowl's frame.
Sideswipe broke away from the kiss. "I can't clean you if you're distracting me, Prowl."
Prowl regarded the other mech. "Considering that I apparently can distract you by simply standing in front of you, I don't believe that you are using an adequate excuse."
Sideswipe snorted. "Well, you look good from just about any angle, so how can I not look at you and be distracted?" Then he slipped around behind Prowl and set to work on his canopy.
Prowl leaned into the touch of the sponge, into the pressure of his lover's touch.
Fingers swept into the space of Prowl's door hinges, seeking sensors. Lips brushed against the soft padding that lined the back of his doorwings.
Those same lips suddenly appeared at Prowl's audio receptor. "You're like putty in my hands . I know you're depleted, but it's so fragging hard not to take advantage of you right now, sparkles."
Prowl hummed, not wanting to break the rhythm of Sideswipe's strokes against his plating. Still, he felt Sides deserved a better response than that. "Self-control, Sides?"
Sidewipe chuckled. "I know, but I hate to disturb you when you're this relaxed. And besides, this is… nice." Sideswipe knelt down, the sponge tracing the edges of Prowl's waist, and delved into the crevice where leg met hip.
Prowl's engine rumbled in a purr that shook his frame down to his very finger tips.
Sideswipe crooned back, digging his fingers into wires and struts.
Prowl couldn't help but jump as Sideswipe suddenly buried his face in his pelvis, dental plates biting at shiny black paint.
Prowl's ventilators whirred online to counter the rising heat in his engine.
Sideswipe rubbed the sponge along Prowl's thighs again. He didn't stay there long. He stood as abruptly as he'd knelt. Bright blue optics gazed down at the second-in-command. The intent gaze swept up Prowl's frame from his toe lights and up the glass shins to the white thighs and over the black hips. Paused on the black stripe of Prowl's bumper.
Sideswipe leaned closer and brought the sponge up to wipe a thick chunk of mud off the bumper. The sponge traveled up Prowl's hood and into the crevice of his shoulder joint.
Mud splattered to the floor of the shower, to be washed away by the steaming water. Falling from Prowl's shoulders, his arms his elbows, and his hands.
Sideswipe worked the sponge deep into mudcaked joints and joins. Even the spaces between Prowl's fingers, where mud could slide deep into the delicate machinery that made up Cybertronian hands.
Sideswipe nipped at the white fingertips. Turned Prowl's hand to curl against his face. "You're clean."
The sponge dropped to the floor with a wet sploosh, a distant sound that only briefly registered on Prowl's sensor net. He had other things he would much rather pay attention to. Like Sideswipe's mouth on his rblfrblfrblfrbl
Prowl lost all lines of thought in the pure sensation of Sideswipe all over his frame. He didn't realize, until Sideswipe activated all the sensors in his doorwings, that they were interfaced. If he could pull his muddled, depleted processing unit into line with his ROM then maybe…
Sideswipe drew his fingers down Prowl's door hinges and Prowl couldn't recall what he was about to think.
Words murmured against his lips.
"Putty."
Prowl's systems burned with desire, and his hands clenched on red armor, unable to return the attentions. His processor muddled by Sideswipe's input.
It was like Sideswipe had devoted all his processing power to the intrusion in Prowl's mind.
Is it really intruding when you let me in here?
No. Anytime, the intrusion would be welcome. Sideswipe had access to everything but his spark. And that was his if he could have taken it.
Might be better this way. Combined package. Wouldn't want Sunstreaker, would you?
They weren't words, just the awareness of Sideswipe spread throughout Prowl's systems within digital pathways that defied explanation.
I love when you're like this. Only can do this when you're depleted.
I want you to do something for me.
Prowl vented the heat from his system, his systems suspended on the command line Sideswipe had to Prowl's systems.
The hand tucked under his bumper where the engine revved and shook.
Overload.
And Prowl did.
--------------------------
Author's Note II: Elvenarchress, I believe it was, once asked for a shower scene. Tada.
With the end coming up (in three chapters, 3 months!), I figure that my end notes should be nice and lengthy, yes? I should start writing them, though I get a lot blabby. And I figure this is a time to ask for reader questions? Things you never saw explained? Or always wondered? Leave it in a comment, or PM me if you don't want it publicly viewed. I've gotten very bad about answering reviews, and I'm terribly sorry for that. I squee with each review I recieve and grin for the rest of the day in glee.