Second update of the day!
Prompt: May Challenge 2010 - on the outside looking in
Title: Another's Perspective
Rating: T
Universe: G1 Verse
Characters: Optimus Prime, Jazz, Prowl, mentions of others
Disclaimer: Not mine, I just toy with with them and hand them back in less than pristine condition.
Summary: Optimus muses upon the relationship between his second and third in command
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They were so much alike, but so very different, Optimus Prime mused from where he was currently sat at the top of the conference table. The subjects of his attention were sat opposite him at the other end, although normally they would be sat on either side of him, but they had chosen to migrate to the other end once the senior staff meeting had ended. A small smile quirked the corners of his lip components behind his battle mask as he watched one black and white swing his feet up onto the edge of the table, tipping his chair backwards dangerously whilst he moodily stabbed at a data-pad. His gaze migrated to the other black and white who was giving his companion an irritated look whilst his door panels swept up high and became rigid, a clear sign of his tactician's annoyance. Optimus knew Prowl and Jazz's relationship had always been rocky from the moment they had met, they had constantly butted helms from the most trivial of things to the success of a mission. He knew much of the hostility came from their personalities clashing the majority of the time, after all Jazz was far more out spoken, outgoing, creative in his line of thinking and versatile compared to Prowl's much quieter and more reserved nature.
In fact the Prime believed it was those different characteristics that made the pair of them so compatible as Prowl's quieter nature calmed Jazz's much more reckless side, whilst the saboteur's louder personality brought out the rather interesting quirks the tactician had such as the spontaneous acts of revenge against Sideswipe and the witty remarks he could give. The large red and blue mech watched as his 2IC finally pushed his companion's feet off the table with a shove, his 3IC acted accordingly by shooting his black and white counterpart with a dark glare, and without a doubt giving him a few choice words over the bond if Prowl's door panels rising up into a sharp 'V' were any indication.
Bonded? It was simply a word he would never thought he would associate with his second and third, especially with how different they were. But it seemed they had overcome enough of their differences to become life-mates, although sometimes they did re-emerge and the pair of them would clash over something. Normally their banters were amusing to spectate, but he usually had to step in to play referee if it got out of hand. There were times that not even he could settle it which meant that every Autobot in the vicinity stayed out of the way of the two black and whites to avoid their ire being directed at them instead. Even Ratchet, Sunstreaker and Ironhide avoided them after they had, had an argument. Many of the Autobots had told them that conflicts signalled something was wrong with their relationship, but the pair simply smirked every time and told them that the banters kept things interesting between them in more ways than one.
Optimus sat back in his seat, his gaze never leaving his second and third in command, he was trying to figure out exactly when their relationship had changed from friends to lovers then subsequently spark-mates. The Prime then realised that he had seen the first changes take place not long after Praxus had been razed to the ground, however what went on behind closed doors after that event was only rumour and hearsay. But then he remembered stepping into the officer's lounge one orn after the incident where he had found both black and whites snuggled up together on one of the couches deep in recharge. He knew instantly that something had changed between them then as Prowl rarely let anyone close, even his own brother he kept at arms length, but with Jazz he was willing to let the saboteur get close and allow him to see the other side of him that only the four bare walls of his quarters were only privileged to see. Of course Optimus initially had his doubts about allowing Prowl and Jazz to pursue a relationship since there was always a chance that either one of them could be killed, but it seemed that it was a risk they were willing to take despite the odds stacked against them. After all they needed some form of hope and an ounce of sanity in this seemingly never ending war.
The Prime knew there had been opposition to the black and whites relationship particularly from a certain Diversionary Strategist, the large red and blue mech understood that Smokescreen was only simply trying to look out for his younger brother. After all Jazz was well known for his berth hopping and his lack on interest in pursuing long term commitments with any kind of mech or femme. But Smokescreen's interference, not too mention a few others who opposed them getting together, had created sour arguments, unnecessary tension in the base and a fallout that involved fists being thrown. Optimus chuckled when he recalled the look upon the Diversionary Strategist's facial plates when Prowl had demanded that their leader 'marry' him and the saboteur during a skirmish with the Decepticons. Admittedly he had been shocked himself at the request, but the expressions upon Smokescreen's and Jazz's facial plates had been worth capturing and storing to memory file for future 'blackmailing' purposes. He had managed to get over his own shock that orn to perform an improvised ceremony upon the battlefield much to the amusement and disgruntlement of his officers and soldiers, he even sealed their union with the red ribbon his tactician appropriately had on hand (he hadn't dared ask why Prowl was carrying around such an item in his sub-space in the first place) whilst avoiding a more than livid Megatron in the process.
The Prime shook his head slightly in amusement at the memory before returning his attention to the two black and whites, they were clearly locked in one of their usual disputes if the subtle shifts in their body languages were anything to go by. The large red and blue mech decided that it would probably be best if he remained just in case he was required to mediate.
"Alright you two what's going on?" He inquired gaining both of their attentions.
"Everything's fine sir." Prowl told him although the flicker of door panels told him differently.
"Nothin's wrong boss-bot." Jazz replied with a barely visible frown upon his facial plates "unless ya wanna count Prowl's inability ta forgive."
The tactician shot his bond-mate a glare, one Optimus knew was usually reserved for mechs about to be disciplined "Can you blame me after the mess you got us into this morning."
Ah so that was what they were arguing about over their bond, which also explained why the pair of them had been in such a dark mood after they had returned to the base. The Prime thought it had been unusual for either of them to be in such a sour mood after returning from patrol, but when he had been informed that the pair of them had to be rescued, he realised that their dark moods were justified. Optimus had noticed that something was going on between them for the past week so he had decided to assign them long range patrol together, but now he realised that it was probably not the best of ideas as it seemed to have made the situation worse.
The saboteur returned his mate's glare "So I decided ta find a quicker why home, can ya blame me when it was rainin' by th' bucket loads."
The large red and blue mech vented a sigh out of his intakes as he sat forward and pinched the ridge of his nasal plates, he had read the report from Ratchet, who had been none too happy about repairing the pair of them whilst they were still coated in mud, that Jazz had decided to take a detour which had resulted in the pair of black and whites sliding into one another and getting stuck.
"A dirt track was hardly a detour." Prowl snapped back.
Optimus knew that it was probably best to remain whilst they bantered back and forth about whose fault it was, but he quickly changed his mind when he saw Prowl's door panels flicker in a small motion that he had determined as devious. He quirked an optic ridge up at that before the other joined it moments later when he realised this was probably the last place he wanted to be right now, particularly more so when he saw Jazz's visor darken slightly when he too noticed the small motion. The Prime quickly gathered the data-pads in front of him and excused himself before either one of them decided to jump the others struts right in front of him, after all he had overheard that the pair sometimes resorted to interfacing just to get the frustration out of their systems. The large red and blue mech nearly stumbled over his own chair in his haste as he quickly made his way out of the conference room, although he missed the sudden smirk that had made its way onto his 2IC's facial plates as the doors slid shut behind him. Optimus vented a sigh out of his intakes as he stood just outside of the conference room, although he jumped suddenly when he heard the crashing of furniture and a muffled yelp from within. He would come back and check on them later once they had 'sorted out' their differences.
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A/N: Now that's out of the way, I can get on with my other fics.
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