The Things We Do For Love
The Things We Do For Love
Chapter 8
Author: Thalanee
Verse: pre-Movie
Rating: pg-13
Word Count: 3500 words
Warnings: none for this chapter, I think
Disclaimer: Still not mine, sorry.
Summary: A romantic dinner a deux is an absolute must do of course… maybe you should ask for the keys though.
Author’s Notes: Much thanks to ladyoceana, this one is for you (since you gave me the bunny)! XD I quote: “mmm..cook...maybe brake in at Prowl's home and set up romantic dinner ( with romantic music and lovely crystal flowers glowing softly in dark and two high grade energon of course.”
Sorry for taking so long, but the new semester is about to start and work is flooding in -_-
XXXXX
“You’re looking suspiciously fine this morning. Is there anything I should know?”
Prowl didn’t have to look up to know that Barricade’s red optics were narrowed at him. He could feel the larger mechs gaze. “Why are you asking? Everything is as usual.”
“No, it’s not, Prowl, and you know it.” Two black servos appeared in his field of vision, planted on the surface of his desk. Finally looking up, Prowl noticed that Barricade was positively looming over him, invading his personal space.
“You are mistaken. I am fine. There is no reason for you to worry, though I appreciate your concern.” Shooing the other away was worth a try, but the small enforcer might just as well not have bothered. One did not get rid of the tall black mech so easily. Concerning sheer stubbornness the two Praxians had met their match in each other.
“No reason?! That…” Barricade paused for a moment, choking down the ugly names he wanted to call Failsafe, but refraining because it was obvious that Prowl still cared for him in the way he tensed almost imperceptively. “…mech has obviously hurt you. Hurt you so bad you crashed and afterward spent several days moping and pining, and now you’re acting even worse!”
“I do not understand.” Moping? Pining? Had he really been that bad? In the privacy of his own thoughts the enforcer had to admit it was more than likely true, even if Barricade was somewhat prone to exaggeration. It took some effort for his facial expression to remain as neutral as it was supposed to be. He had tried to act as if nothing happened, but he had obviously done something wrong.
“Ok, let’s count it off then. First, you’re only pretending to work, you’re just sitting there staring. Second, you have that stupid `I have no emotion´-mask on your face, which means something is bothering you and you don’t want anyone to notice. And if that isn’t enough your doorwings are twitching all over the place.”
Prowl had to work hard to reign in a bizarre giggle fit that was threatening to break loose. Barricade was obviously worried about his partner, but he misinterpreted every sign the black and white displayed. Prowl’s doorwings were moving alright, but they were fluttering not twitching, revealing how pleased and happy the doorwinger felt. He had his stoic mask in place, so he wouldn’t raise suspicions or creep out his fellow enforcers by constantly smiling. His inability to concentrate on his work was due to the promise Jazz had made him this morning when they had woken together. He had said something about a surprise and now Prowl couldn’t help but wonder what the saboteur was planning…
But Prowl couldn’t let any of it show. They had a short talk before Prowl had to leave for work and agreed it was in their best interest and best for Jazz’s mission, that no one else know who Failsafe really was, not even Barricade. The less bots knew the better. However that meant that Prowl had no way of explaining why he was in such a good mood, so he decided to act like nothing had happened.
And failed obviously. From the looks of it his partner was convinced that Prowl was that short of flying apart at the seams any moment. Prowl wasn’t sure how he knew, but had Jazz been present he would have laughed himself silly.
Stilling the movement of his wings and letting them rise up into a sharp V to appear annoyed or angry, Prowl took a moment to answer Barricade. “There is nothing wrong with me that you can do anything about.” True. He was too much looking forward to meeting Jazz again and really getting to know him. “Give it some time, Barricade.” Until Jazz’s mission was over. Preferably as soon as possible. “Everything will turn out alright, I guess.” The others wouldn’t be thrilled to know Jazz had lied, but they’d understand.
Meanwhile Barricade was leaning back from the table, convinced that his partner was deep in the throes of denial. He’d even used the phrase `Everything will turn out alright´, one he had never agreed with before! Poor Prowl was obviously deeply hurt to be saying such things. He had to talk with Smokescreen soon, surely there was something they could do.
“Alright,” he offered hesitantly, after a while. “But you will talk to me when something bothers you?” Better make sure that Prowl knew he would be willing to provide an audio, the smaller tended to be somewhat obtuse concerning these things.
“Yes, I will, I promise.” Once he had been told that older brothers were lovable, but overprotective pains in the aft. Barricade fit that description perfectly… “Now let us get back to work.”
Ending the discussion both enforcers went back to work, both distracted and counting the hours until shift end, yet for different reasons. Prowl wanted to meet Jazz again. Barricade wanted a session with Smokescreen.
XXXXX
Jazz couldn’t recall ever recharging so well. When he had woken up that morning to feel the comfortable and wonderful weight of Prowl sprawled atop of him, he had never felt so refreshed and relaxed. The silver mech had been content to watch the lazy flutter of Prowl’s doorwings slowly moving in recharge and listen to the barely there sound of the other’s systems.
The blush on the lovely enforcer’s face upon waking and realizing Jazz was still there and embracing him, had been incredibly cute. His cheeks had turned almost as red as his own chevron. The whispered “Good morning, Jazz,” was something the saboteur longed to hear more often.
A shy Prowl was a very cute Prowl in Jazz’s humble opinion. Not to mention the display had Jazz’s protective nature rise to the front, vowing to make sure that Prowl would not be hurt ever again, physically or mentally. And woe betide anyone who even tried! Letting Prowl go to work instead of snuggling up with him for the rest of the day had taken a lot of effort, but Jazz had a plan.
And now that he had acquired everything he needed on the markets, it was time to go back and put the plan into action. It was only when he stood in front the door to Prowl’s apartment again, that he realized there was still a slight obstacle to overcome. The door was locked.
Well, Jazz wasn’t one of the best Special Ops agents by virtue of his shiny armour…
XXXXX
Satisfied with the decorations Jazz looked around the room, hoping Prowl would like them. Placed around the room were several crystals glowing in a variety of colours, an attempt to imitate the effect they had seen when they had spent the Crystal Hour sitting in that tree in the park. It couldn’t compare with the glory of the display, but the soft lighting was perfect to create a romantic atmosphere.
On the table, where the bouquet he had once stolen for Prowl now stood, there were two cubes of vintage Vosnian highgrade, not enough to make them tipsy, because he wanted to spend a quiet enjoyable evening with Prowl, not make him drunk.
Classical music he had found played in the background and completed the atmosphere Jazz had been trying to achieve. Now all he had left to do was finish the self made energon confections and wait for Prowl.
XXXXX
The door was unlocked.
It shouldn’t be unlocked. Prowl was sure he had locked it when he had left for work and Jazz had gone back to whatever he had to do to finish his mission. He always made sure he never left it unlocked, especially ever since he had once come home to surprise a thief in the process of going through his things. He’d arrested the thief of course and soon upgraded the locks on his doors.
And now someone had broken in again. Without leaving a trace on the lock, which meant they were good. Had Jazz’s cover been blown and someone followed him here in hopes of finding him? Pulling his blaster pistol from subspace he held it securely and slowly opened the door as soundlessly as he could. If whoever that was had come for Jazz Prowl would make sure they’d only leave in cuffs.
Soundlessly sneaking down the hallway (his creators had named him Prowl for a reason), Prowl raised his doorwings higher so his sensor could collect more data. There was a strange light coming from the living room and music was playing, possibly to hide the sounds of whatever the intruder was up to. Nonetheless his sensitive doorwings could pick up on the slights sounds of movement from the kitchen unit in the living room.
Smiling to himself he recalled the layout of the apartment and used this knowledge to creep forward, sidling from hiding place to hiding place, ever careful to stay out of sight, which also meant that he didn’t know yet what the intruder looked like. The sensor data from his wings indicated a carformer, a bit taller than Prowl, with stealth systems running, hiding the mech’s spark signature and magnetic field.
When he had reached the kitchen counter Prowl waited for the most opportune moment. As soon as the other’s movements indicated he was going to walk around it, Prowl jumped out of his hiding place and aimed his pistol. “Freeze!”
What he hadn’t counted on, was the other mech moving as quickly as lightning, tossing the tablet he held, and disarm and pin Prowl on the floor in a matter of a fraction of a second.
The saboteur had the enforcer thoroughly pinned, both of Prowl’s servos were clasped over Prowl’s head in one of Jazz’s, while the saboteur’s other hand was pressed over his spark plating, claws extended as if he intended to rip it off. Also the silver mech was practically straddling the black and white, pinning his legs.
Both blinked.
Both realized their mistake.
And started to talk at once, profusely apologizing.
“Primus, Prowler, Ah’m so sorry, mah instincts ran away with me, Ah didn’t realize it was you!”
“Of course it was me, this is my apartment! How did you even get in here, I thought someone had broken into it!”
“Oops,” Jazz sounded very sheepish, “well, Ah could hardly ask ya for tha key, considering Ah was tryin’ ta surprise ya.”
“You succeeded with that, believe me.” He paused. “I myself have to apologize for nearly shooting you. You were only acting as you were obviously trained to do. I should have made my presence known earlier.”
“Nah, don’t worry. I guess I should have left a note or something.” He grinned down at Prowl, as he realized something else. “Gotta say I’m impressed though. Ya’re the first mech apart from ma mentor who ever managed ta sneak up on me. Ah didn’t realize ya were there until ya appeared outta nowhere.”
It was Prowl’s turn to smirk. “There is a reason I am named `Prowl´, Jazz.” Finally the absurdity of the situation made them both laugh.
Until Prowl’s doorwings reminded him of the fact that he was still lying on the floor. Under Jazz. Stammering slightly, Prowl cleared his vocalizer. “Would you… would you mind letting me get up?”
Stopping short, Jazz literally jumped to his pedes in a feat of acrobatics Prowl wasn’t even going to try and comprehend and reached out to the doorwinger to help him up. “Sorry, Ah kind of forgot…” A ping from the cooking unit saved him from having to come up with something else to say. Rushing forward, he retrieved the now finished energon treats from the oven and presented them to an astonished Prowl who had just realized what the things he had picked up with his doorwing sensors actually meant.
“You did all this? Why?” the enforcer sounded genuinely confused.
“So we could spend a quiet evening together, just the two of us. Look, Ah even made goodies! We can have a cube and talk, get ta know each other without any interruptions.” Jazz was nervous what Prowl would say, but did his best to hide it. He really wanted Prowl to enjoy their quiet time together.
Cocking his head a little to the side, Prowl thought about it. At least now he knew what Jazz had been planning. It was something he never would have expected, but it reminded him a little of what he had been told his sire had done for his carrier in their courtship. He remembered wishing someone would do that for him someday. “That sounds wonderful.”
Grinning happily, Jazz held Prowl’s hand in his and lead him to the table, where their cubes and different confections were waiting for them.
“Did you make all of them yourself?” Prowl had never seen some of the confections that were laid out on the table: there were the usual energon cookies and rust sticks, but also confections with different toppings, some that looked as if they were filled with something liquid.
Proudly the saboteur’s visor flashed for a moment. “Yep, just like ma carrier taught me ta. She’s a great cook and everything Ah know about it Ah learnt from her.”
“I remember my own carrier allowing me to help her make some goodies once. But I was still very young, so I was only handing her things she needed and watching.” Prowl smiled slightly at the memory. He had a picture of them doing that somewhere. “Once she turned away for only a minute to answer a knock on the door and while she was away I tried to mix some of the ingredients like she had, only I made a terrible mess. When she came back I was covered from head to pedes in energon and holding up a bowl full of the stuff I concocted. She never scolded me, but praised me for trying. My sire laughed himself silly when he found us and took pictures of course.”
“Heh, Ah did something similar, only Ah spread the mess over the walls too, since ma carrier always flipps those cookies by throwing them up with the pan and then catchin’ them, so Ah tried it too. Tha stains are still there on tha ceiling.”
Before they even knew it they had been talking for hours, going from their sparkling adventures to their hobbies (it turned out that both had a passion for music of all kinds, Prowl even admitted to being able to sing, but wouldn’t be persuaded to do so now, though he promised he would when he felt ready; Jazz was content with that), discussed their favourite books, until Jazz finally managed to scrounge up enough courage to ask about something that had been bugging him for some time already.
“Ya know… back when Ah told ya about my true identity ya collapsed and crashed. When Ah got ya ta Ratchet ah somehow got the impression that didn’t happen the first time, Was it somethin’ Ah did?”
Prowl had stiffened a little, but then deflated with a sigh. “It had nothing to do with you… well, only in part anyway.” Hesitating Prowl held the cube of highgrade in his hands and turned it around and around, looking only at the table top, afraid of how Jazz would react to being told. “I have a glitch ever since I was upgraded into a youngling. Something went wrong when one of the medics involved in the upgrade installed an experimental battle computer by mistake. I have a highly developed logic centre by coding and somehow the battle computer fused with it. For a time it even disrupted the connection to my emotion- centre, though that was soon fixed.”
After sipping at the cube to have some time to collect his own thoughts, Prowl continued. “Needless to say my creators were furious, but there was nothing that could be done, since the battle computer had become so intertwined with my systems that it couldn’t be removed without causing permanent damage there was nothing to be done. Ever since then I lock up when confronted with highly illogical or emotionally stressful situations.”
When there was no answer from Jazz but a growl from his engine Prowl folded in on himself, wings drooping, convinced that Jazz would leave now, especially when Jazz got up from his chair.
But he didn’t leave he went to stand in front of Prowl, his arms outstretched and waiting. He explained when Prowl looked at him quizzically. “Ya need a hug and ya’re getting one whether ya want it or not.” Hesitantly Prowl moved toward Jazz and was soon engulfed in a comforting hug.
“Don’t ya ever think Ah’m gonna leave ya because ya have a glitch!” He tightened his arms around the black and white. “Ah love ya and Ah wanna take care of ya.”
“I have no desire to be pitied Jazz.” The doorwinger knew he wouldn’t be able to stomach that.
“Ah ain’t pitying ya. Ah’m admirin’ ya. Ya managed ta achieve so much despite your glitch, being one of the top enforcers in Praxus despite being much younger than the others. Ya’re intelligent and strong. Ta pity ya would be insulting. All Ah want ya ta know is Ah’m here if ya need me.”
A beatific smile appeared on Prowl’s face (one Jazz instantly vowed he’d do anything to see on Prowl’s face often). “Thank you, Jazz.”
At that moment both of them stilled, looking into each other’s optics, concentrating on each other so deeply they wouldn’t have noticed the house coming down around them.
Carefully Jazz cupped the back of Prowl’s neck with one servo, his other servo on Prowl’s hip and drew closer, watching out for signs from Prowl. If the black and white displayed even the slightest sign of unwillingness Jazz would stop. But he was pleasantly surprised when Prowl didn’t draw away, but did the contrary.
Golden optics were halfway shuttered, their breath intermingled. Almost hesitantly Prowl’s hands came to rest on Jazz shoulders, ever so slowly wrapping around the taller mech’s neck, his doorwings flapping softly. His spark was fluctuating so wildly with anticipation, Prowl thought it might just burst out of his casing to reach Jazz’s.
Closing their optics completely they lost themselves in the moment, their lips coming closer to each other, almost touching, when-
The. Door. Chime. Rang.
The romantic moment torn to shreds they quickly moved away from each other. Jazz was roundly cursing the timing of whatever bot had knocked in his head. One centimeter! One fragging centimeter had been all standing between their first kiss. Jazz stuck out his lower lip in the pout Prowl obviously found so funny and was rewarded by a small chuckle.
“Don’t make me open that door, Prowl.” Barricade could be heard from the other side of the door. “You know I will!”
Jazz flinched. If Barricade found him here and realized who he was, parts would fly. Judging from the look on Prowl’s face, the enforcer thought the same. “That door is tha only exit, ain’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Prowl whispered, before raising his voice to answer his fellow enforcer’s call, “Give me a moment, I’ll be right there!” When Prowl turned, Jazz was already half out of the window, sitting on the sill and waving Prowl over.
“What are you doing? We’re on the eighth floor, you can’t jump that far!” Quickly running over he stood beside Jazz and looked out of the window. Somehow the ground seemed even farther away than usual. “You can hide here.”
“He’ll want to make sure ya’re alright, he’s only worried, besides Ah’m supposed ta be working, but thanks for tha offer, Sparkles. An’ as for tha height…” before Prowl could stop him Jazz had jumped out and a little to the side. But he didn’t fall. One of his servos and both pedes were firmly attached to the wall of the house. “… ma magnets are gonna take care of that problem.”
Again they were interrupted by the mech on the other side of Prowl’s door. “What’s taking you so long?”
“Just a minute, Barricade, let me clear up the mess!” Prowl called back, using the first excuse he could think of. Turning back to Jazz he was surprised with a quick, but loving peck to the golden centre of his sensitive chevron. His spark was fluttering wildly at the gesture.
“See ya soon, Sparkles.” With that Jazz took his leave and slid down the wall of the house, vanishing into the night, leaving behind a blushing Prowl.
To Be Continued
Author’s Notes: Yes, I am evil…but don’t worry, the poor dears will get their first kiss next chapter!
Chapter 8
Author: Thalanee
Verse: pre-Movie
Rating: pg-13
Word Count: 3500 words
Warnings: none for this chapter, I think
Disclaimer: Still not mine, sorry.
Summary: A romantic dinner a deux is an absolute must do of course… maybe you should ask for the keys though.
Author’s Notes: Much thanks to ladyoceana, this one is for you (since you gave me the bunny)! XD I quote: “mmm..cook...maybe brake in at Prowl's home and set up romantic dinner ( with romantic music and lovely crystal flowers glowing softly in dark and two high grade energon of course.”
Sorry for taking so long, but the new semester is about to start and work is flooding in -_-
XXXXX
“You’re looking suspiciously fine this morning. Is there anything I should know?”
Prowl didn’t have to look up to know that Barricade’s red optics were narrowed at him. He could feel the larger mechs gaze. “Why are you asking? Everything is as usual.”
“No, it’s not, Prowl, and you know it.” Two black servos appeared in his field of vision, planted on the surface of his desk. Finally looking up, Prowl noticed that Barricade was positively looming over him, invading his personal space.
“You are mistaken. I am fine. There is no reason for you to worry, though I appreciate your concern.” Shooing the other away was worth a try, but the small enforcer might just as well not have bothered. One did not get rid of the tall black mech so easily. Concerning sheer stubbornness the two Praxians had met their match in each other.
“No reason?! That…” Barricade paused for a moment, choking down the ugly names he wanted to call Failsafe, but refraining because it was obvious that Prowl still cared for him in the way he tensed almost imperceptively. “…mech has obviously hurt you. Hurt you so bad you crashed and afterward spent several days moping and pining, and now you’re acting even worse!”
“I do not understand.” Moping? Pining? Had he really been that bad? In the privacy of his own thoughts the enforcer had to admit it was more than likely true, even if Barricade was somewhat prone to exaggeration. It took some effort for his facial expression to remain as neutral as it was supposed to be. He had tried to act as if nothing happened, but he had obviously done something wrong.
“Ok, let’s count it off then. First, you’re only pretending to work, you’re just sitting there staring. Second, you have that stupid `I have no emotion´-mask on your face, which means something is bothering you and you don’t want anyone to notice. And if that isn’t enough your doorwings are twitching all over the place.”
Prowl had to work hard to reign in a bizarre giggle fit that was threatening to break loose. Barricade was obviously worried about his partner, but he misinterpreted every sign the black and white displayed. Prowl’s doorwings were moving alright, but they were fluttering not twitching, revealing how pleased and happy the doorwinger felt. He had his stoic mask in place, so he wouldn’t raise suspicions or creep out his fellow enforcers by constantly smiling. His inability to concentrate on his work was due to the promise Jazz had made him this morning when they had woken together. He had said something about a surprise and now Prowl couldn’t help but wonder what the saboteur was planning…
But Prowl couldn’t let any of it show. They had a short talk before Prowl had to leave for work and agreed it was in their best interest and best for Jazz’s mission, that no one else know who Failsafe really was, not even Barricade. The less bots knew the better. However that meant that Prowl had no way of explaining why he was in such a good mood, so he decided to act like nothing had happened.
And failed obviously. From the looks of it his partner was convinced that Prowl was that short of flying apart at the seams any moment. Prowl wasn’t sure how he knew, but had Jazz been present he would have laughed himself silly.
Stilling the movement of his wings and letting them rise up into a sharp V to appear annoyed or angry, Prowl took a moment to answer Barricade. “There is nothing wrong with me that you can do anything about.” True. He was too much looking forward to meeting Jazz again and really getting to know him. “Give it some time, Barricade.” Until Jazz’s mission was over. Preferably as soon as possible. “Everything will turn out alright, I guess.” The others wouldn’t be thrilled to know Jazz had lied, but they’d understand.
Meanwhile Barricade was leaning back from the table, convinced that his partner was deep in the throes of denial. He’d even used the phrase `Everything will turn out alright´, one he had never agreed with before! Poor Prowl was obviously deeply hurt to be saying such things. He had to talk with Smokescreen soon, surely there was something they could do.
“Alright,” he offered hesitantly, after a while. “But you will talk to me when something bothers you?” Better make sure that Prowl knew he would be willing to provide an audio, the smaller tended to be somewhat obtuse concerning these things.
“Yes, I will, I promise.” Once he had been told that older brothers were lovable, but overprotective pains in the aft. Barricade fit that description perfectly… “Now let us get back to work.”
Ending the discussion both enforcers went back to work, both distracted and counting the hours until shift end, yet for different reasons. Prowl wanted to meet Jazz again. Barricade wanted a session with Smokescreen.
XXXXX
Jazz couldn’t recall ever recharging so well. When he had woken up that morning to feel the comfortable and wonderful weight of Prowl sprawled atop of him, he had never felt so refreshed and relaxed. The silver mech had been content to watch the lazy flutter of Prowl’s doorwings slowly moving in recharge and listen to the barely there sound of the other’s systems.
The blush on the lovely enforcer’s face upon waking and realizing Jazz was still there and embracing him, had been incredibly cute. His cheeks had turned almost as red as his own chevron. The whispered “Good morning, Jazz,” was something the saboteur longed to hear more often.
A shy Prowl was a very cute Prowl in Jazz’s humble opinion. Not to mention the display had Jazz’s protective nature rise to the front, vowing to make sure that Prowl would not be hurt ever again, physically or mentally. And woe betide anyone who even tried! Letting Prowl go to work instead of snuggling up with him for the rest of the day had taken a lot of effort, but Jazz had a plan.
And now that he had acquired everything he needed on the markets, it was time to go back and put the plan into action. It was only when he stood in front the door to Prowl’s apartment again, that he realized there was still a slight obstacle to overcome. The door was locked.
Well, Jazz wasn’t one of the best Special Ops agents by virtue of his shiny armour…
XXXXX
Satisfied with the decorations Jazz looked around the room, hoping Prowl would like them. Placed around the room were several crystals glowing in a variety of colours, an attempt to imitate the effect they had seen when they had spent the Crystal Hour sitting in that tree in the park. It couldn’t compare with the glory of the display, but the soft lighting was perfect to create a romantic atmosphere.
On the table, where the bouquet he had once stolen for Prowl now stood, there were two cubes of vintage Vosnian highgrade, not enough to make them tipsy, because he wanted to spend a quiet enjoyable evening with Prowl, not make him drunk.
Classical music he had found played in the background and completed the atmosphere Jazz had been trying to achieve. Now all he had left to do was finish the self made energon confections and wait for Prowl.
XXXXX
The door was unlocked.
It shouldn’t be unlocked. Prowl was sure he had locked it when he had left for work and Jazz had gone back to whatever he had to do to finish his mission. He always made sure he never left it unlocked, especially ever since he had once come home to surprise a thief in the process of going through his things. He’d arrested the thief of course and soon upgraded the locks on his doors.
And now someone had broken in again. Without leaving a trace on the lock, which meant they were good. Had Jazz’s cover been blown and someone followed him here in hopes of finding him? Pulling his blaster pistol from subspace he held it securely and slowly opened the door as soundlessly as he could. If whoever that was had come for Jazz Prowl would make sure they’d only leave in cuffs.
Soundlessly sneaking down the hallway (his creators had named him Prowl for a reason), Prowl raised his doorwings higher so his sensor could collect more data. There was a strange light coming from the living room and music was playing, possibly to hide the sounds of whatever the intruder was up to. Nonetheless his sensitive doorwings could pick up on the slights sounds of movement from the kitchen unit in the living room.
Smiling to himself he recalled the layout of the apartment and used this knowledge to creep forward, sidling from hiding place to hiding place, ever careful to stay out of sight, which also meant that he didn’t know yet what the intruder looked like. The sensor data from his wings indicated a carformer, a bit taller than Prowl, with stealth systems running, hiding the mech’s spark signature and magnetic field.
When he had reached the kitchen counter Prowl waited for the most opportune moment. As soon as the other’s movements indicated he was going to walk around it, Prowl jumped out of his hiding place and aimed his pistol. “Freeze!”
What he hadn’t counted on, was the other mech moving as quickly as lightning, tossing the tablet he held, and disarm and pin Prowl on the floor in a matter of a fraction of a second.
The saboteur had the enforcer thoroughly pinned, both of Prowl’s servos were clasped over Prowl’s head in one of Jazz’s, while the saboteur’s other hand was pressed over his spark plating, claws extended as if he intended to rip it off. Also the silver mech was practically straddling the black and white, pinning his legs.
Both blinked.
Both realized their mistake.
And started to talk at once, profusely apologizing.
“Primus, Prowler, Ah’m so sorry, mah instincts ran away with me, Ah didn’t realize it was you!”
“Of course it was me, this is my apartment! How did you even get in here, I thought someone had broken into it!”
“Oops,” Jazz sounded very sheepish, “well, Ah could hardly ask ya for tha key, considering Ah was tryin’ ta surprise ya.”
“You succeeded with that, believe me.” He paused. “I myself have to apologize for nearly shooting you. You were only acting as you were obviously trained to do. I should have made my presence known earlier.”
“Nah, don’t worry. I guess I should have left a note or something.” He grinned down at Prowl, as he realized something else. “Gotta say I’m impressed though. Ya’re the first mech apart from ma mentor who ever managed ta sneak up on me. Ah didn’t realize ya were there until ya appeared outta nowhere.”
It was Prowl’s turn to smirk. “There is a reason I am named `Prowl´, Jazz.” Finally the absurdity of the situation made them both laugh.
Until Prowl’s doorwings reminded him of the fact that he was still lying on the floor. Under Jazz. Stammering slightly, Prowl cleared his vocalizer. “Would you… would you mind letting me get up?”
Stopping short, Jazz literally jumped to his pedes in a feat of acrobatics Prowl wasn’t even going to try and comprehend and reached out to the doorwinger to help him up. “Sorry, Ah kind of forgot…” A ping from the cooking unit saved him from having to come up with something else to say. Rushing forward, he retrieved the now finished energon treats from the oven and presented them to an astonished Prowl who had just realized what the things he had picked up with his doorwing sensors actually meant.
“You did all this? Why?” the enforcer sounded genuinely confused.
“So we could spend a quiet evening together, just the two of us. Look, Ah even made goodies! We can have a cube and talk, get ta know each other without any interruptions.” Jazz was nervous what Prowl would say, but did his best to hide it. He really wanted Prowl to enjoy their quiet time together.
Cocking his head a little to the side, Prowl thought about it. At least now he knew what Jazz had been planning. It was something he never would have expected, but it reminded him a little of what he had been told his sire had done for his carrier in their courtship. He remembered wishing someone would do that for him someday. “That sounds wonderful.”
Grinning happily, Jazz held Prowl’s hand in his and lead him to the table, where their cubes and different confections were waiting for them.
“Did you make all of them yourself?” Prowl had never seen some of the confections that were laid out on the table: there were the usual energon cookies and rust sticks, but also confections with different toppings, some that looked as if they were filled with something liquid.
Proudly the saboteur’s visor flashed for a moment. “Yep, just like ma carrier taught me ta. She’s a great cook and everything Ah know about it Ah learnt from her.”
“I remember my own carrier allowing me to help her make some goodies once. But I was still very young, so I was only handing her things she needed and watching.” Prowl smiled slightly at the memory. He had a picture of them doing that somewhere. “Once she turned away for only a minute to answer a knock on the door and while she was away I tried to mix some of the ingredients like she had, only I made a terrible mess. When she came back I was covered from head to pedes in energon and holding up a bowl full of the stuff I concocted. She never scolded me, but praised me for trying. My sire laughed himself silly when he found us and took pictures of course.”
“Heh, Ah did something similar, only Ah spread the mess over the walls too, since ma carrier always flipps those cookies by throwing them up with the pan and then catchin’ them, so Ah tried it too. Tha stains are still there on tha ceiling.”
Before they even knew it they had been talking for hours, going from their sparkling adventures to their hobbies (it turned out that both had a passion for music of all kinds, Prowl even admitted to being able to sing, but wouldn’t be persuaded to do so now, though he promised he would when he felt ready; Jazz was content with that), discussed their favourite books, until Jazz finally managed to scrounge up enough courage to ask about something that had been bugging him for some time already.
“Ya know… back when Ah told ya about my true identity ya collapsed and crashed. When Ah got ya ta Ratchet ah somehow got the impression that didn’t happen the first time, Was it somethin’ Ah did?”
Prowl had stiffened a little, but then deflated with a sigh. “It had nothing to do with you… well, only in part anyway.” Hesitating Prowl held the cube of highgrade in his hands and turned it around and around, looking only at the table top, afraid of how Jazz would react to being told. “I have a glitch ever since I was upgraded into a youngling. Something went wrong when one of the medics involved in the upgrade installed an experimental battle computer by mistake. I have a highly developed logic centre by coding and somehow the battle computer fused with it. For a time it even disrupted the connection to my emotion- centre, though that was soon fixed.”
After sipping at the cube to have some time to collect his own thoughts, Prowl continued. “Needless to say my creators were furious, but there was nothing that could be done, since the battle computer had become so intertwined with my systems that it couldn’t be removed without causing permanent damage there was nothing to be done. Ever since then I lock up when confronted with highly illogical or emotionally stressful situations.”
When there was no answer from Jazz but a growl from his engine Prowl folded in on himself, wings drooping, convinced that Jazz would leave now, especially when Jazz got up from his chair.
But he didn’t leave he went to stand in front of Prowl, his arms outstretched and waiting. He explained when Prowl looked at him quizzically. “Ya need a hug and ya’re getting one whether ya want it or not.” Hesitantly Prowl moved toward Jazz and was soon engulfed in a comforting hug.
“Don’t ya ever think Ah’m gonna leave ya because ya have a glitch!” He tightened his arms around the black and white. “Ah love ya and Ah wanna take care of ya.”
“I have no desire to be pitied Jazz.” The doorwinger knew he wouldn’t be able to stomach that.
“Ah ain’t pitying ya. Ah’m admirin’ ya. Ya managed ta achieve so much despite your glitch, being one of the top enforcers in Praxus despite being much younger than the others. Ya’re intelligent and strong. Ta pity ya would be insulting. All Ah want ya ta know is Ah’m here if ya need me.”
A beatific smile appeared on Prowl’s face (one Jazz instantly vowed he’d do anything to see on Prowl’s face often). “Thank you, Jazz.”
At that moment both of them stilled, looking into each other’s optics, concentrating on each other so deeply they wouldn’t have noticed the house coming down around them.
Carefully Jazz cupped the back of Prowl’s neck with one servo, his other servo on Prowl’s hip and drew closer, watching out for signs from Prowl. If the black and white displayed even the slightest sign of unwillingness Jazz would stop. But he was pleasantly surprised when Prowl didn’t draw away, but did the contrary.
Golden optics were halfway shuttered, their breath intermingled. Almost hesitantly Prowl’s hands came to rest on Jazz shoulders, ever so slowly wrapping around the taller mech’s neck, his doorwings flapping softly. His spark was fluctuating so wildly with anticipation, Prowl thought it might just burst out of his casing to reach Jazz’s.
Closing their optics completely they lost themselves in the moment, their lips coming closer to each other, almost touching, when-
The. Door. Chime. Rang.
The romantic moment torn to shreds they quickly moved away from each other. Jazz was roundly cursing the timing of whatever bot had knocked in his head. One centimeter! One fragging centimeter had been all standing between their first kiss. Jazz stuck out his lower lip in the pout Prowl obviously found so funny and was rewarded by a small chuckle.
“Don’t make me open that door, Prowl.” Barricade could be heard from the other side of the door. “You know I will!”
Jazz flinched. If Barricade found him here and realized who he was, parts would fly. Judging from the look on Prowl’s face, the enforcer thought the same. “That door is tha only exit, ain’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Prowl whispered, before raising his voice to answer his fellow enforcer’s call, “Give me a moment, I’ll be right there!” When Prowl turned, Jazz was already half out of the window, sitting on the sill and waving Prowl over.
“What are you doing? We’re on the eighth floor, you can’t jump that far!” Quickly running over he stood beside Jazz and looked out of the window. Somehow the ground seemed even farther away than usual. “You can hide here.”
“He’ll want to make sure ya’re alright, he’s only worried, besides Ah’m supposed ta be working, but thanks for tha offer, Sparkles. An’ as for tha height…” before Prowl could stop him Jazz had jumped out and a little to the side. But he didn’t fall. One of his servos and both pedes were firmly attached to the wall of the house. “… ma magnets are gonna take care of that problem.”
Again they were interrupted by the mech on the other side of Prowl’s door. “What’s taking you so long?”
“Just a minute, Barricade, let me clear up the mess!” Prowl called back, using the first excuse he could think of. Turning back to Jazz he was surprised with a quick, but loving peck to the golden centre of his sensitive chevron. His spark was fluttering wildly at the gesture.
“See ya soon, Sparkles.” With that Jazz took his leave and slid down the wall of the house, vanishing into the night, leaving behind a blushing Prowl.
To Be Continued
Author’s Notes: Yes, I am evil…but don’t worry, the poor dears will get their first kiss next chapter!