Bedtime lullabies
Title: Friendly assistance
Rating: Gen (PG/K+)
Character: Jazz, Hound, Daniel Witwicky
Genre/Warning: None - fluff
Author: Rose0mary
Summary: Raising children can e tough. It's nice to know that emergency back-up baby sitters are available (OR - doing a favor for a long-time friend)
PROMPT: Jazz / Hound / Hakuna Matata
The Autobot rec room was nearly empty when Carly and Spike came by. “Jazz,” the mother of toddling Daniel Witwicky spotted the one mech inside.
“Morning Carly,” Jazz turned off the Teletran 1 screen. The silver mech looked at the humans. “You look exhausted.”
“We feel exhausted,” moaned Spike. He let the bag of baby-human supplies drop from his shoulders. “Could you look after our son for the afternoon?”
Jazz hopped over the couch he’d been lounging in. Crouched next to the toddling child hiding behind his mother’s leg. “No prob. Anything special I need to know about?”
Carly tried urging her suddenly shy son in front. “This is Jazz, Daniel, one of mommy’s Autobot friends. You know Jazz?”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Did Wheeljack ever get that VCR player hooked up?” The human father pulled out a VCR tape. Shook it gently.
Daniel spotted the movie, let go of Carly and walked/stumbled over to daddy and the silver mech. The child grabbed the tape and fell against Jazz. His eyes lit up and he offered the movie up to Jazz. “Hakuna hakuna” Daniel said.
Carly Witwicky finally got around to answering Jazz’s question. “We just fed him, it’s almost his EN AY, PEA time, so just plug in The Lion King and let it play. Daniel is still learning to toilet-train himself, but he will tell you when he needs to go.” She brushed some loose strands of hair out of her eyes. “I can’t think of anything else, Spike?”
“We should be back before dinner time, but if Daniel gets hungry there is a banana in the bag.” Spike stepped away while his son looked the other way. “Thanks so much Jazz for letting Carly and I have the afternoon to ourselves.”
The two young parents were gone before Jazz could ask, “Wait! Why could Sparkplug help out?” or even wonder aloud why they spelt out the world ‘Nap’. Bemused at the retreat, Jazz looked at the gift in the gurgling child’s hands. “So, time for your favorite movie, then.”
Carefully picking up the kid and wrapping his fingers around the child, Jazz stood up. He looked at the control board. Vented. No, Wheeljack had not gotten around to installing a VHS player, but there was another option, since he couldn’t hook the tape in directly to Teletran 1. ::Hound, you free?::
The green jeep, recently released from Med-bay, confined to the inside of the Ark until his welds healed to Ratchet’s satisfaction, had been going stir crazy. ::Jazz! You know I am happy for any distraction! What’cha need?::
::Still got that Lion King recording on file?::
Hound barely stopped a groan from escaping. ::Yes, why?:: Blaster’s Symbiotes had an unusual fasination with human entertainment - some of the shows, movies, and sports they watched the rest of the Ark crew could stand and wanted to see with them, but reserving memory space so the cassettes could watch the television recording on demand took things a bit far. Teletraan’s memory storage and its contents did not include theater performances, and Blaster could only store so much. Every mech had one or two favorites they archived in their own processors, but that was it.
::Think you can turn the recording into a holographic show?::
Hound was intrigued. Jazz did not often make request of his skills. ::Can do, why?::
::Spike and Carly dropped off Daniel, and apparently the little tyke wouldn’t sleep unless he watches The Lion King. They brought the movie, but there’s no hook-u.::
Hound stepped out of his quarters. ::You in the rec-room? I’ll be there in a jiffy.:: All the Autobots liked looking after Daniel, even the mechs who professed their dislike of humans and earth in general. ::How come you’re watching the youngest Witwicky and not Spike’s parental unit?::
::Don’t know - they escaped before I got an answer.:: Jazz’s attention was diverted from the coversation when young Daniel started squirming, “wanna Hakuna, wanna Hakuna,”
Hound stepped inside just as the little boy tumbled to the floor. “Thanks, mech.” Daniel wasn’t hurt by the fall, as it was less than a foot drop. Jazz had started lowering his hands and passenger down once he realized the kid would not settle until the movie began playing. “I’ll get you some energon.”
Hound sat in the empty couch. Running the holographic projectors did take some energy and effort, but he didn’t think the requirements would drain his reserves so badly he’d need to refuel. Yet, when Jazz offered to grab some fuel and share a cube, no one said no - the mech was almost as bad as Ratchet in making sure his team and friends were not accidentally starving themselves or forgetting to take their ration.
Hound started the movie - at first, he just projected the image on the screen, until he realized Daniel Witwicky couldn’t see the characters. Then Hound moved it to groundlevel. But from there, the images were so small, he had a hard time seeing the important details, so Hound enlarged it to a more comfortable size.
Sitting in Jazz’s lap, Daniel clapped his hands, clearly loving the large free-formed images. The movie played, and played, and played some more.
::I thought the kid was going to take a nap:: Hound silently commed Jazz as they watched Simba’s father die again.
::So did I:: Jazz retorted. ::I’m no expert in human offspring, but when they’re tired, they fall asleep.::
Both Autobots cringed when Scar’s alliance with the hordes of Hyenas played again. ::Does Daniel ever watch anything else?::
::Probably, but Spike did say this was his favorite movie::
Hound drained the cube, grateful for Jazz’ foresight. He did not have enough energy to play the entire movie again without the added fuel. ::Oh good, the Hakuna part.:: Hound was sarcastic.
Jazz grinned. Sang along with Timon and Pumba, the song lyrics drowned out by Daniel going “hakuna matata, hakuina matata” over and over again, even while the chorus changed to 'It Means no worries / for the rest of our days / its our problem-free / philosophy'.
The movie continued playing, and it was only after Simba reunited with Nala that the two Autobots realized Daniel had finally fallen into dreamland. An appreciative Hound cut off the holograms, while Jazz’s speakers softly played the conversations and background notes. Hound got up to move, when …
::not sure that’s a good idea,:: Jazz warned, when the tiny shifting almost woke the toddler up.
Hound gave up, put his head on the sofa’s headrest and slipped into a light recharge. ::wake me when the parents arrive::
Jazz turned off his optics, giving the impression he was in recharge. ::Imagine, two warriors being derailed by a human sparkling.::
Hound vented. ::Ha, ha, ha. At least it’s not the tar pits.::
::oh, that was nasty mech. I swear, I still got tar in my servos.:: Jazz shuddered in distaste. That was not one of his more fond memories.
That was the scene Carley and Spike walked into much later. “Thanks so much” gushed Carley as she roused Daniel. Spike gathered up the supplies. “We appreciate you guys helping out.”
“No problem you two.” Jazz waved a hand. “Just, tell me, is it normal for Daniel to not drop off right away?”
Spike and Carley traded a look. “Yes.” They said.