Title: Concerning Unneeded Inspections
Verse: G1
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Red Alert, Skyfire
Word Count: 758
Warnings: Touching
Summary: One of Red Alert's nervous inspections turns interesting.
Series: Concerning Skyfire's Unfortunate Courtship
Concerning Unneeded Inspections (Part 1),
Concerning Unneeded Surveillance (Part 2),
Concerning Much Needed Advice (Part 3),
Concerning Several Related Incidents (Part 4),
Notes: I blame
raelynhb. On the plane to Alaska I looked out the window and thought how strange it was to be inside a plane. Then her pairing, these two, smacked me in the face. Airplane muse ftw. 8D
Also, I want to note that this story was written about two months ago and for a while the muse died on me. I am finally posting this here because as of today, I will begin updating this story again.
“So you are absolutely sure that this is safe?”
“Yes.” Skyfire insisted once more. “I have flown thousands of times, at leisure and war and I have yet to crash.”
“You crashed into the North Pole.”
“Due to bad flying conditions and faulty navigation equipment.” Skyfire replied calmly, although his voice was beginning to sound strained. “Currently we are flying toward Washington DC from Los Angeles in the midst of a very mild summer climate. Trust me Red Alert, it is safe.”
The security director looked like he might argue further, but seemed to think better of it at the moment. Instead, he settled into nervously tapping his fingers against one of the jet’s internal walls.
It took only a few moments for the motion to grate on Skyfire’s nerves. “Red Alert, if it would make you feel more secure, feel free to run your own diagnostic on my condition.” He finally offered, though the idea of the nervous mech poking around his insides was far from pleasant.
Red Alert straightened up and stopped his fidgeting. He cast a look towards the cockpit and gave a firm, decisive nod. “If I may.” he said, standing and immediately picking his way toward the front to observe the gauges and dials.
It took a good deal of time before he seemed (mostly) satisfied with what he saw before he moved back to the cargo hold to pick across every section if plating he could reach. This of course made Skyfire far more uncomfortable than he would have liked to admit.
Despite Red Alert’s near constant attempts to wiggle his fingers into seams to see how sturdy his plating was, the jet-former managed to give no reaction for the first ten minutes or so. It was only when Red Alert began running his hands across a section of plating that was rather intimately connected to his wing that his body protested. His wing struts twitched abruptly, causing his entire form to bob in the air. The force was enough to send Red Alert tumbling.
“What was that?! Are we being attacked?!” Red Alert yelped from where he’d fallen.
“Just turbulence.” Skyfire assured him, his voice a tad shaky.
“Well, keep better control! That is very dangerous!” Red Alert huffed, pushing himself back to his pedes. Much to Skyfire’s dismay, the mech immediately went back to probing his seams for weak points.
Skyfire stifled a whimper, disguising it with a thundering of his engines. The sudden increase of speed had the security director staggering back several steps.
“Skyfire!”
“My apologies, my turbines itched.” He responded lamely.
“So you went faster?!”
“They no longer itch.”
Red Alert gave the ceiling of his cargo bay a glare, but dropped the subject. He seemed to understand at least that knocking him over was preferable to a Decepticon attack, which of course was surely the mech’s first thought.
“Please hold still while I finish inspecting your paneling.” The red mech said crossly, once more moving himself back over to that same spot.
Skyfire cursed his luck and prepared for the worst.
The flier was so tense, that by the time the plating was actually touched again, his joints creaked audibly and his flight path weaved ever so slightly.
If Red Alert had a problem with the actions, he made no mention of it, but he did seem to notice as he had removed his hands and glanced toward the cockpit.
Skyfire turned his attention back to his flying, hoping that focusing on the human airway transmissions might help him ignore the inspection.
It might have worked, had the next touch not been a feather light caress over the panel’s surface.
The flier couldn’t hide the strangled sound that escaped his vocalizer, nor could he stop the sharp dip of his nosecone. “Red Alert!”
The security director gave no reaction or reply, but instead brushed his hand across the panel once more. The action elicited a squeak from the jet.
“You seem to be rather sensitive in this area.” Red Alert noted, almost looking amused.
“Of course I am!” Skyfire protested, releasing any hope of getting out of this situation with his dignity intact. “That panel is directly connected to my wing struts in root mode!”
“So?”
“The wing struts of any flier are highly sensitive to touch!”
There was a pause, in which Red Alert seemed to be considering this new information.
Then, what the security director said next almost floored the flier. Literally.
“I believe a further inspection of your weak points will be needed.”