Fear Itself, a Transformers G1 one shot
Title: Fear Itself
Universe: G1
Rating: G
Characters/Pairing: Kup, Arcee
Prompt: Kup/Arcee-Snow
Warnings: mentions of character death
Notes: written for tf_rare_pairing’s November challenge. many thanks to the ever fabulous (no, laura, not that kind of fabulous) wicked3659 for the beta.
Kup jumped when slender pink arms wrapped around him and a freezing cold chest plate settled against his shoulders. He twisted in his chair to look at Arcee, trying to hide his shock. “Primus, lass! You’re colder than the moon of Crylo Four. What have you been doing?”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.” She’d been with him at that base, after all. “There’s not a single part of me that needs de-icing. We’ve been playing outside with Daniel and Carly.”
“Playing outside? Lass, there’s snow out there.” The old mech shivered at the thought. “Has Carly lost her mind?”
“Oh, Kup.” Arcee hugged him a bit more tightly and rested her head on top of his. “You know Hot Rod and I wouldn’t let anything happen to Daniel. Carly said it was perfectly safe, and Optimus Prime agreed with her.”
Kup shuddered, remembering his first off world post. Cybertron hadn’t even had weather patterns back then; the war hadn’t changed the makeup of the atmosphere yet. They had all been young, so very young, and any sort of danger from something so abstract had never even registered in their processors. Snow-so soft and delicate and beautiful to look at under a zoom setting-certainly hadn’t seemed harmful.
No matter how long he lived, he would never be able to purge the memory of Landquake’s screams as the first flakes of their first snow melted through his armor and into his processor like the finest of acids.
“It’s just like rain,” Arcee continued, loosening her embrace and running her hands down his arms until her hands met his. She twined their fingers together and squeezed comfortingly. “It’s just frozen. Perceptor even told us the science of it. Snow on Earth is just tiny ice particles in pretty shapes. Nothing like whatever it is that you’re remembering.”
He nodded slowly, considering her words. Very little that they had encountered on Earth was as lethal as some of the dangers that could be found in various places throughout the galaxies. And she had been out playing in it with Daniel, something Arcee would never have done if it had been even a little dangerous.
He turned and gave the femme a small smile. “And if it’s safe enough for the Prime, it’s safe enough for you. Right?”
“That’s the spirit.” Arcee beamed at him. “Come on. You have time before you go on duty; I’ll show you.”
“Lass, wait!” Kup’s protest fell on deaf audios as she pulled him out of his chair. Deciding that it was safe enough for Arcee and the others was one thing, but the old mech wasn’t sure he was so ready to be exposed himself.
The way she was tugging out of his quarters and down the hall didn’t leave much room for argument, though.
Arcee stopped them at the door, giving Kup a moment to look outside. The landscape was entirely different from its usual state, blanketed in white and sparkling in the sunlight. The whole mountainside looked softer than it had the day before, peaceful in a way the snow at that first outpost never could have been.
Hot Rod and Springer were crouched in down in the snow, their colors standing out starkly, helping Daniel build something he couldn’t identify, but which seemed to involve packing the snow into spheres of various sizes. Carly watched from the sidelines, hands wrapped tightly around a small white cup and smiling.
“See?” Arcee said softly. “Nothing to worry about at all.”
“No, I guess not. But you can’t blame an old mech for being set in his ways.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to move past our fears,” she agreed. “I remember a certain pink sparkling who was terrified of red eyed monsters in storage closets. Some nights she still comes out of recharge afraid that she’ll see Ravage creeping out of the closet again.”
“Yes, but now that sparkling is one of the best warriors around. I think she’d shoot Ravage first and ask questions later.”
“Right.” Arcee gave him a warm smile, which turned mischievous a moment later. “Watch this.”
She let go of his hand and stepped quietly into the snow at the entrance. Kup watched curiously as she crouched down and packed a small sphere of snow together. His jaw dropped open in surprise as she pulled her arm back and threw the snow, hitting Springer in the middle of his back plates.
“Carly assures me it’s a Human tradition,” Arcee said as Springer stiffened and turned to glare at them.
“There is snow dripping into my transformation cogs,” he said darkly.
The femme broke into peals of laughter. Hot Rod gave his friend an amused look. “You can dish it, but you can’t take it, huh?”
Springer turned his glare on the other mech. “Oh, I’ll show you who can take it.”
A moment later, the red and orange mech was running as the triple changer chased him with a sphere of snow the size of a minibot. Arcee took a moment to run out and scoop Daniel up, then they both began pelting the mechs with smaller spheres of snow.
Prudently, Carly left the battlefield and came to stand next to Kup. “You know, this is where I’d nail all three of them with the biggest snowballs I could make.”
“That’s not fair at all, lass.” The elder mech grinned down at the Human. “They’d hardly stand a chance against both of us.”
Carly returned his grin and set her cup down near the wall. “Let’s find out.”
Arcee shrieked as the first of the snowballs hit her in the side.
Universe: G1
Rating: G
Characters/Pairing: Kup, Arcee
Prompt: Kup/Arcee-Snow
Warnings: mentions of character death
Notes: written for tf_rare_pairing’s November challenge. many thanks to the ever fabulous (no, laura, not that kind of fabulous) wicked3659 for the beta.
Kup jumped when slender pink arms wrapped around him and a freezing cold chest plate settled against his shoulders. He twisted in his chair to look at Arcee, trying to hide his shock. “Primus, lass! You’re colder than the moon of Crylo Four. What have you been doing?”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.” She’d been with him at that base, after all. “There’s not a single part of me that needs de-icing. We’ve been playing outside with Daniel and Carly.”
“Playing outside? Lass, there’s snow out there.” The old mech shivered at the thought. “Has Carly lost her mind?”
“Oh, Kup.” Arcee hugged him a bit more tightly and rested her head on top of his. “You know Hot Rod and I wouldn’t let anything happen to Daniel. Carly said it was perfectly safe, and Optimus Prime agreed with her.”
Kup shuddered, remembering his first off world post. Cybertron hadn’t even had weather patterns back then; the war hadn’t changed the makeup of the atmosphere yet. They had all been young, so very young, and any sort of danger from something so abstract had never even registered in their processors. Snow-so soft and delicate and beautiful to look at under a zoom setting-certainly hadn’t seemed harmful.
No matter how long he lived, he would never be able to purge the memory of Landquake’s screams as the first flakes of their first snow melted through his armor and into his processor like the finest of acids.
“It’s just like rain,” Arcee continued, loosening her embrace and running her hands down his arms until her hands met his. She twined their fingers together and squeezed comfortingly. “It’s just frozen. Perceptor even told us the science of it. Snow on Earth is just tiny ice particles in pretty shapes. Nothing like whatever it is that you’re remembering.”
He nodded slowly, considering her words. Very little that they had encountered on Earth was as lethal as some of the dangers that could be found in various places throughout the galaxies. And she had been out playing in it with Daniel, something Arcee would never have done if it had been even a little dangerous.
He turned and gave the femme a small smile. “And if it’s safe enough for the Prime, it’s safe enough for you. Right?”
“That’s the spirit.” Arcee beamed at him. “Come on. You have time before you go on duty; I’ll show you.”
“Lass, wait!” Kup’s protest fell on deaf audios as she pulled him out of his chair. Deciding that it was safe enough for Arcee and the others was one thing, but the old mech wasn’t sure he was so ready to be exposed himself.
The way she was tugging out of his quarters and down the hall didn’t leave much room for argument, though.
Arcee stopped them at the door, giving Kup a moment to look outside. The landscape was entirely different from its usual state, blanketed in white and sparkling in the sunlight. The whole mountainside looked softer than it had the day before, peaceful in a way the snow at that first outpost never could have been.
Hot Rod and Springer were crouched in down in the snow, their colors standing out starkly, helping Daniel build something he couldn’t identify, but which seemed to involve packing the snow into spheres of various sizes. Carly watched from the sidelines, hands wrapped tightly around a small white cup and smiling.
“See?” Arcee said softly. “Nothing to worry about at all.”
“No, I guess not. But you can’t blame an old mech for being set in his ways.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to move past our fears,” she agreed. “I remember a certain pink sparkling who was terrified of red eyed monsters in storage closets. Some nights she still comes out of recharge afraid that she’ll see Ravage creeping out of the closet again.”
“Yes, but now that sparkling is one of the best warriors around. I think she’d shoot Ravage first and ask questions later.”
“Right.” Arcee gave him a warm smile, which turned mischievous a moment later. “Watch this.”
She let go of his hand and stepped quietly into the snow at the entrance. Kup watched curiously as she crouched down and packed a small sphere of snow together. His jaw dropped open in surprise as she pulled her arm back and threw the snow, hitting Springer in the middle of his back plates.
“Carly assures me it’s a Human tradition,” Arcee said as Springer stiffened and turned to glare at them.
“There is snow dripping into my transformation cogs,” he said darkly.
The femme broke into peals of laughter. Hot Rod gave his friend an amused look. “You can dish it, but you can’t take it, huh?”
Springer turned his glare on the other mech. “Oh, I’ll show you who can take it.”
A moment later, the red and orange mech was running as the triple changer chased him with a sphere of snow the size of a minibot. Arcee took a moment to run out and scoop Daniel up, then they both began pelting the mechs with smaller spheres of snow.
Prudently, Carly left the battlefield and came to stand next to Kup. “You know, this is where I’d nail all three of them with the biggest snowballs I could make.”
“That’s not fair at all, lass.” The elder mech grinned down at the Human. “They’d hardly stand a chance against both of us.”
Carly returned his grin and set her cup down near the wall. “Let’s find out.”
Arcee shrieked as the first of the snowballs hit her in the side.