Chapter Two
Typewith: http://typewith.me/weloveoilslick
Title: The Importance of Modesty
Rating: There is porn in later chapters
Summary: A tale of fanciful dress, romantic intrigue, stalking, and robots.
Includes: Sparks, bondage, mentions of sticky, mentions of non-con acts, stalking serial monogamy, threesomes, clothing on robots.
Optimus wraps his arms around Oil Slick's tiny waist, blinking at the mean femme that picked him up several decacycles ago. Oil Slick's creator's and his creator's are both talking quietly while looking over a lot of datapads on a desk between them, and have been for a very long time. Optimus is very glad that they had that lesson on betrothals, or when he and Oil Slick had been asked to sit in the office in Oil Slick's house - he actually had a house, not an apartment, and Optimus is fairly sure it might just really be a mansion since there are all sorts of servants and cleaning drones all over - and he heard mentions of contracts and brushes, he wouldn't know what was going on.
"I think we're going to get bonded," Optimus says, tone hushed. The teacher had said it would take vorns and vorns and vorns and they had to be adults, but he's pretty sure they're going to go paint their fingers in a megacycle or so, and then they'll have to do stuff as a bonded couple. Optimus is pretty sure that means he and Oil Slick get to recharge together-which they already do-and then maybe make strange noises at night. He's not sure he wants to make strange noises with Oil Slick.
Oil Slick makes a muted happy sound, wiggling on his lap and hugging him excitedly, "So do I!" The cyclebot nuzzles him, "I'm so glad." He's wrapped with the cloak, and nuzzled, "Do you think we'll get out bonding brushes now? I want to paint you now. We should be allowed to paint you now. You made me my cap, so we're already betrothed."
He shakes his head, "Remember what teacher Crunch said, we have to make the brushes ourselves, unless our creators want to give us theirs."
He's nuzzled, "So my mamas can give me theirs, and we can get painted!"
"If they do, we can get painted," Optimus nods, pretty sure that's how it all works. Crunch had said it was not, but Crunch was a mean old bot who lived to make them miserable and give them tests all the time. Optimus looks up at his creators, who are hissing something at the femmes now, and he stands, tugging on Oil Slick's servo, "Show me where your room is." He wonders if Oil Slick does have a room of his own. Optimus still recharges in the common room in his apartment, on a little berth that folds out of the couch. He doesn't need a room, though. He doesn't have many toys to store away.
Oil Slick gives him an excited look, "Okay!" He's pulled out of the room quickly, and through a maze of hallways too fast for his mapping systems to get more than the barest sketch. "You're going to love it, Optimus! My berth is so warm, and covered in metal mesh, and we can play video games in there together, and you can even be first player because I want you to-"
He smiles, "I don't play many video games." He only has a single and very finicky old console, so he doesn't use it very much. He prefers to use his other toys, like the dolls his papas made him.
Oil Slick pulls him into a room, "That's okay, you can still be first player. It doesn't matter who is who. I want you with me."
Optimus blinks, startled by the size of the room. It's bigger than his entire apartment. He suddenly really doesn't want Oil Slick to ever see his home. "Do you ever lose your toys?" If he had this much space, he'd lose all of his favorite toys.
Oil Slick shakes his head, "No. I have chests and shelves to keep them on." He pulls down a pair of transforming toys. "These are my favorite. This one is Ultra Magnus," the figure has dents all over it, "and this one is Megatron. They fight a lot so they have to stay on separate shelves." Optimus takes the Ultra Magnus toy and the Megatron one. They're much bigger than any of his toys are. "You can't have them, but if we're bonded, we can share them."
He nods, not really sure what that's about, but agreeable. He knows that these things are Oil Slick's, and he can't just take them. "If that's what you want."
He's gently pushed into the berth, "We're going to play video games, Optimus. We can play with those two later."
He sits on the berth, and it is the most comfortable berth he's ever been in. The metal meshes are so soft and wonderful, he just wants to roll around and snuggle in them. He isn't sure how he's going to be able to focus on video games when he's laying on this.
Oil Slick stares at him for a klik, and then asks, "Are you okay? Are the meshes not good enough? I can ask my mamas to get better meshes." He pauses, "I can ask them later. I'm not supposed to interrupt them when they have mechs over. We can ask them when it's time for energon." He reaches over and rests a servo over Optimus's, "Maybe you can stay tonight." Optimus hopes so. The berth is so soft and comfy and better than his fold-out berth.
"Maybe. My papas don't like when I'm away from home when they're home."
Oil Slick nuzzles him, "But my mamas normally make sure the mechs are over all night. You will be over all night like them. We will ask when we get energon." The video game is turned on, and the cyclebot climbs in, cuddling close, their cloaks askew and hats off to the side. "Is... is it okay if I take off my gloves and boots?"
He bites his lower lip, knowing that it isn't really allowed, but it is Oil Slick's home. "Yes. We can have them off for family and really close friends. We're going to be bonded."
Oil Slick beams, "Help me with my boots?" The mech moves, laying on his back and wiggling his peds at Optimus, metal mesh hiding all the parts of it that aren't actually used for mobility. "They're always so uncomfortable."
Optimus carefully removes the mesh, tugging at the magnets until they let go of his armor. The peds he reveals are very nice peds, but he can understand why they have to stay covered. They look pretty, and are very distracting. They would also get cold very easily. "It's important to stay covered up," Optimus repeats what his creators have told him dozens of times, when he asked why bots always had to stay under their cloaks in public.
Oil Slick removes his gloves, "When we're outside, I can understand. That's cold. But we're warm in here." The other sparkling tugs at his chest wrap, "You can take this off."
He squirms a little bit, "I don't-"
The mech pulls up a heating blanket, "We can wear this over our cloaks. It's really warm."
He smiles, "Okay." He takes off the chest wrap, letting Oil Slick drop it off the side of the berth with the gloves, hats, and boots. "Heating blanket?"
It gets wrapped around him, and Oil Slick cuddles him closely, "There. Now we can play."
Optimus takes one of the controllers and tries to figure out how to hold it without Oil Slick noticing his fumbling. Luckily, Oil Slick is busy scrolling through the game options and choices, and he doesn't notice how Optimus clumsily adjusts the controller until he's holding it the way Oil Slick is. The mech finally settles on some game Optimus has never even heard of.
"You're going to help me in this one," Oil Slick instructs him. "It's a puzzle game. We're going to have to solve the puzzles together. I've only ever played two-player on it with my moms."
He looks at it nervously, "I'm not sure how well I'll do." Maybe he should be second player.
Oil Slick nuzzles him, "We'll do great! I know it! It isn't hard. I put it on easy, so that you can learn as you go. If you have problems, just ask me. If you want, you can play by yourself, a few times."
He shakes his head, "Maybe you should be first player?" He doesn't want to ruin this if it means that Oil Slick has only ever played with his creators.
The cyclebot shakes his head, "You can do it, I know you can."
"O-okay," Optimus stutters, focusing his attention on the screen. "What do I do?"
Oil Slick giggles, "We pick out what we want our characters to look like first." His half of the screen scrolls through options quickly. Optimus is left staring at a cartoonish model of a bot. He tentatively pushes one of the buttons, and the model type changes. Now he's staring at a jetbot. Oil Slick bumps against him, "You don't want that. If you're not good at the game, picking a flying character only makes it harder. Pick a truck or a tank."
He cautiously hits another button, and the model changes to a spaceship. "I don't know how to change it back."
Oil Slick reaches over and carefully changes his model to a truck, "There. That will make it a lot easier for you. Then you can modify him so he can have a few other things, but he's fine how he is right now until we figure out how you play."
He nods, just glad to get through this. "Right."
Oil Slick cuddles him, sighing happily, "It is really fun. We can do this."
Optimus fiddles with the controller, somehow turning his truckbot a bright lime green. He decides to stop while he's ahead. "I want to play now."
The game starts then, and Optimus finds his character across the room from Oil Slick's. Optimus plays with the controls until he figures out how to control his character, and which button makes him transform.
Oil Slick smiles at him, "You're doing good, Optimus. We have to figure out how to get out of the room, and we won't be able to do it alone. Ready?"
He's as ready as he can be for something like this.
It's several megacycles later, and Optimus is actually starting to get the hang of the game, working with Oil Slick through progressively more difficult rooms. The first time his character had died, Optimus had jerked back, startled by it. He's not used to games where you can offline. Now he's gotten used to the fact that there is very little actual consequence to his character dying other than making it harder on Oil Slick in the game.
Oil Slick pushes the controllers away, tugging him out of the berth, "It is time to fuel, Optimus. Let's go get energon."
He nods, "Okay." He tugs on the hood of his cloak, headfins feeling a little cold for some reason as they step through the hallway. "Where are we going?"
His servo is grabbed, and nicked slightly because of how sharp Oil Slick's claws are, "To the common room. My mamas and your papas should be there, and we can see if you'll be spending the night with me. I hope you are. I want you to be with me always. Maybe you can move in, since we're getting bonded."
"Betrothed bots aren't supposed to live together. It's inappropriate," Optimus remembers because that was one of the questions on the test. There were lots of ways to invalidate a courtship. It was that way on purpose, to make it easy for bots to get out of them if they didn't really want them.
Oil Slick makes a face at him, plates wrinkling up, "You're inappropriate. I want you to live with me, so you will live with me. If mamas allow it."
He sighs, "If they let us, then we will. But I'm not moving without my papas."
He's nuzzled, "I'm sure your papas can stay with us." He's pulled into a very large room, and Oil Slick smiles brightly, "Hello, mamas!"
Their creators are sitting on a couch, sipping on large cubes of energon, and talking quietly. Optimus frowns when he sees paint smears on his creators' chests, and matching ones on Oil Slick's creators's, as well. He wonders why Steelbolt is missing his chestwrap. His papa never goes without it.
Powerdrive frowns at him, "You're naked, Optimus. Why aren't you dressed properly? You should have your chest wrap and your hat on. Come here," he holds out his servos, and Optimus slowly sulks on over, letting his papa scoop him up and wrap his chest with a spare cloth, fitting his second-favorite fuzzy hat on his head. "There you go, sweetspark."
Optimus squirms, "Not fair. You're naked."
Steelbolt gives Wildstar a dark look, "Through no fault of my own, sparkling. We'll fix that by morning." He's given a small kiss on the head, "You don't mind if we all spend the night here, do you? We can go home if you wa-"
Oil Slick hops up into Glitterfrost's lap, "Can they, mamas? Please? Please? I want Optimus to stay! Please?"
The femmes both laugh, and Wildstar pats Oil Slick on the head, which still has the cap Optimus made for him, "Yes, of course. He can stay with us for the night. Powerdrive and Steelbolt are staying, too. You two need to take your energon, though. You can drink it in your room this sol, but only because you have Optimus over and this is the first night with him. Don't expect this special treatment all the time."
"Alright, Mamas." Oil Slick waits patiently as his creators offer him a cube, and pass another one to Optimus. "Did you give him special energon? Optimus needs special energon, because we're going to get bonded and I want him growing up big and strong."
Optimus sips from his cube and bites his lip to keep from making happy sparkling chirps. It's the best thing he's ever tasted. It's sweet and good and makes his glossa tingle just a little bit. He sips more, and Wildstar frowns at his cube, optics widening. She snatches it away from him.
"Who put high grade in the sparkling cubes?"
He can't help it, he makes a tiny sparkbroken sparkling chirp, then flinches, looking away. Glitterfrost looks at him, then pushes the cube back to him, "For Primus's sake, Wildstar, he needs it. We discussed this with them, remember? Just give him the cube. Oil Slick doesn't have it, so don't worry."
There's a bit of furious whispering from the adults he can't make out, but Oil Slick moves over to him, sniffing his cube, "That's the special energon? It smells... icky."
He drinks more, loving how it warms his tank."It tastes delicious."
The cyclebot frowns, "Can I have a sip?"
He looks over at the arguing adults, then to ... his betrothed, and nods. "If you want, but if you don't like it, I don't think you should drink it. They did say that you don't have it, so maybe there's a reason for that."
Oil Slick takes a sip and immediately jerks away, "Ugh. That's awful. That's high-grade. Gross energon." He sticks his glossa out and scrapes at it with his claws, trying to get the taste to go away.
Optimus thinks it's delicious. He pulls the cube closer to himself and sips slowly, trying to make it last as long as possible. It's important to make good things last, because you don't get to have them very often. Optimus hates being hungry and having to tell his creators that he wants more energon, because they never have more for him.
He offlines his optics. "I like it," he murmurs quietly. "Are we going back to your room?"
Oil Slick shifts a little bit, "No. I want a second cube, because I always get a second cube, and mamas forgot this time."
He can't imagine being allowed a second cube, but he will be quiet and not complain, even if he'd like a second cube. "Okay."
By the time he finishes his cube, the adults have finished their whispering, and returned to looking at them. Glitterfrost smiles, standing up, "I think some sparklings are still hungry. Well, we can't let that happen, can we?" She walks over and gives them each two more cubes, gently pushing them off, "Didn't we say you could go fuel in Oil Slick's room? You have more than enough energon that you won't get hungry now, sparklings. If you do, just send us a text."
Optimus stares at his second cube, confused. He doesn't get to have this much energon for free. They must have made some mistake. "I've already had my cube," he says, offering it back to Glitterfrost, no matter how much he wants to just greedily gulp it down. Optimus knows that when he gets extra energon, his papas get less. One is enough, even if it leaves him hungry.
Glitterfrost gives him a strange look, and pushes the cube back into his servos. "We have plenty of energon, sweetspark. That is yours now. Go fuel with Oil Slick."
He looks over at his papas, "But I can't-"
Papa Powerdrive smiles at him, "It's fine, sparkling." Both of his papas hold up full cubes, "See? We're fine, you can have as much as you want."
He's still pretty sure that's a lie, and they're only saying that because he's upset and not sure what's going on, but he nods. "Y-yes, papa."
He interlocks his elbow with Oil Slick, smiling when he notices that his friend's gloves had hidden two long spikes on his arms, and allows himself to be lead away.
"And put your gloves and boots back on," Wildstar orders loudly.
Oil Slick hurries out with Optimus, "I'm not puttin' them back on. They feel weird and make it hard to do things. You don't mind, do you?"
He doesn't really like being naked, but he thinks Oil Slick has really pretty peds and claws. His claws are all sharp and hooked, and Optimus wants to hold them forever, even if they sometimes cut his fingers. "I don't mind. But if we go outside, you have to put them on, okay? We can't be indecent."
Oil Slick nods, "I don't mind wearing them outside. It's cold outside. I don't like being cold. But in here, I don't want to wear gloves and boots. I like curling up with you, because you're so warm. You're the warmest sparkling in class."
He leans his head on Oil Slick's shoulder, "I like curling up with you, too." That's mainly because Oil Slick is the only other sparkling that would let him cuddle, none of the others would. "You are very warm, too."
Oil Slick smiles at him brightly, "Good!"
Wiggling closer to Oil Slick, Optimus sips from his cube and watches Oil Slick select a new game to play on his console. "I'm just gonna watch this time," he says softly, feeling drowsy from the energon. He really wants to take a long stasis nap, but it's too late in the sol for one, and it will ruin his recharge.
Oil Slick hums, dipping his claws in his energon and licking them off, a terribly messy way to eat that Optimus has never seen before.
He drops his hat off the side of the berth, sipping his cube, "What's this game?"
Oil Slick nuzzles him, "This one is a different puzzle game, it is supposed to sharpen your wits, and test your skills. You can help me as I play."
He looks at the controller, "I don't-"
He's nuzzled, "I just mean that you can say the answers if you know them."
"Okay." He doesn't know many trivia answers, and as Oil Slick goes through the game, Optimus finishes his energon and feels his frame getting heavier, harder to hold up straight. His optics keep drifting offline, and he has to force them on again.
Eventually, he loses the fight, and ends up in recharge, head resting on Oil Slick's shoulder.
When he onlines later, he's underneath a metal blanket, and Oil Slick is curled up against him, also in recharge. Optimus wonders who tucked them in.
Rubbing the recharge from his optics, he sits up, and smiles when he sees a cube of energon for each of them on the table next to the berth. Taking one, he sips it slowly in the dark, trying not to online Oil Slick. He feels a bit disappointed when the other sparkling stirs and onlines, blinking his pretty green optics up at him. "Optimus?"
"Y-yes?"
The cyclebot's arms wrap around him in a sleepy hug, "I love you. We're going to be together forever and ever."
Optimus blushes and cuddles against him, "And ever. I bet we'll grow up and have lots of sparklings. Dozens of them, so they won't be lonely."
Oil Slick makes a face, "I don't really want sparklings." He pouts, "I'll have to share all of my toys with them, and I don't want to share with anyone except for you."
Giggling, Optimus slides his fingers down to Oil Slick's narrow waist, tickling his plating the way his papas sometimes tickle his, "I bet you'll change your mind later."
Oil Slick buries his face in his waist, "Nuh-uh. All I ever need is you."
He pets Oil Slick's back, "I think I want sparklings some sol. When we're older."
Oil Slick bites his lower lip, looking up at him with intense optics, "When we're older."
He yawns, putting his half finished cube to the side, "Tired." He snuggles back down into the berth, letting Oil Slick chose a more comfortable position on top of him, head right on his chest, "We should go back to recharge."
"You should take off this stupid chest wrap."
He frowns, then shrugs, "Okay." He squirms, managing to remove it, even with Oil Slick laying on top of him. "There."
Oil Slick takes it, and drop it off the side of the berth, snuggling closer. "There. Now we only have our cloaks, and that's much better. If it was summer, we could take those off."
Optimus has never taken off his cloak unless it was for switching to a different one, so he can't imagine recharging without one. "Won't it be cold?"
Oil Slick snuggles closer, "No. We'll have the blankets and metal meshes, and each other. We'll be fine." The other sparkling makes a pleased chirping sound, the sleepiness making him revert, "Time to recharge, Optimus."
Optimus is rather doubtful of this. His creators don't have a washrack, like he's seen in picture books, or like the one at the sparkling school. They wash with cloths over a small sink. He can't imagine being naked alone, but with another bot?
Well, it is Oil Slick. His betrothed. He guesses it's alright.
Title: The Importance of Modesty
Rating: There is porn in later chapters
Summary: A tale of fanciful dress, romantic intrigue, stalking, and robots.
Includes: Sparks, bondage, mentions of sticky, mentions of non-con acts, stalking serial monogamy, threesomes, clothing on robots.
Optimus wraps his arms around Oil Slick's tiny waist, blinking at the mean femme that picked him up several decacycles ago. Oil Slick's creator's and his creator's are both talking quietly while looking over a lot of datapads on a desk between them, and have been for a very long time. Optimus is very glad that they had that lesson on betrothals, or when he and Oil Slick had been asked to sit in the office in Oil Slick's house - he actually had a house, not an apartment, and Optimus is fairly sure it might just really be a mansion since there are all sorts of servants and cleaning drones all over - and he heard mentions of contracts and brushes, he wouldn't know what was going on.
"I think we're going to get bonded," Optimus says, tone hushed. The teacher had said it would take vorns and vorns and vorns and they had to be adults, but he's pretty sure they're going to go paint their fingers in a megacycle or so, and then they'll have to do stuff as a bonded couple. Optimus is pretty sure that means he and Oil Slick get to recharge together-which they already do-and then maybe make strange noises at night. He's not sure he wants to make strange noises with Oil Slick.
Oil Slick makes a muted happy sound, wiggling on his lap and hugging him excitedly, "So do I!" The cyclebot nuzzles him, "I'm so glad." He's wrapped with the cloak, and nuzzled, "Do you think we'll get out bonding brushes now? I want to paint you now. We should be allowed to paint you now. You made me my cap, so we're already betrothed."
He shakes his head, "Remember what teacher Crunch said, we have to make the brushes ourselves, unless our creators want to give us theirs."
He's nuzzled, "So my mamas can give me theirs, and we can get painted!"
"If they do, we can get painted," Optimus nods, pretty sure that's how it all works. Crunch had said it was not, but Crunch was a mean old bot who lived to make them miserable and give them tests all the time. Optimus looks up at his creators, who are hissing something at the femmes now, and he stands, tugging on Oil Slick's servo, "Show me where your room is." He wonders if Oil Slick does have a room of his own. Optimus still recharges in the common room in his apartment, on a little berth that folds out of the couch. He doesn't need a room, though. He doesn't have many toys to store away.
Oil Slick gives him an excited look, "Okay!" He's pulled out of the room quickly, and through a maze of hallways too fast for his mapping systems to get more than the barest sketch. "You're going to love it, Optimus! My berth is so warm, and covered in metal mesh, and we can play video games in there together, and you can even be first player because I want you to-"
He smiles, "I don't play many video games." He only has a single and very finicky old console, so he doesn't use it very much. He prefers to use his other toys, like the dolls his papas made him.
Oil Slick pulls him into a room, "That's okay, you can still be first player. It doesn't matter who is who. I want you with me."
Optimus blinks, startled by the size of the room. It's bigger than his entire apartment. He suddenly really doesn't want Oil Slick to ever see his home. "Do you ever lose your toys?" If he had this much space, he'd lose all of his favorite toys.
Oil Slick shakes his head, "No. I have chests and shelves to keep them on." He pulls down a pair of transforming toys. "These are my favorite. This one is Ultra Magnus," the figure has dents all over it, "and this one is Megatron. They fight a lot so they have to stay on separate shelves." Optimus takes the Ultra Magnus toy and the Megatron one. They're much bigger than any of his toys are. "You can't have them, but if we're bonded, we can share them."
He nods, not really sure what that's about, but agreeable. He knows that these things are Oil Slick's, and he can't just take them. "If that's what you want."
He's gently pushed into the berth, "We're going to play video games, Optimus. We can play with those two later."
He sits on the berth, and it is the most comfortable berth he's ever been in. The metal meshes are so soft and wonderful, he just wants to roll around and snuggle in them. He isn't sure how he's going to be able to focus on video games when he's laying on this.
Oil Slick stares at him for a klik, and then asks, "Are you okay? Are the meshes not good enough? I can ask my mamas to get better meshes." He pauses, "I can ask them later. I'm not supposed to interrupt them when they have mechs over. We can ask them when it's time for energon." He reaches over and rests a servo over Optimus's, "Maybe you can stay tonight." Optimus hopes so. The berth is so soft and comfy and better than his fold-out berth.
"Maybe. My papas don't like when I'm away from home when they're home."
Oil Slick nuzzles him, "But my mamas normally make sure the mechs are over all night. You will be over all night like them. We will ask when we get energon." The video game is turned on, and the cyclebot climbs in, cuddling close, their cloaks askew and hats off to the side. "Is... is it okay if I take off my gloves and boots?"
He bites his lower lip, knowing that it isn't really allowed, but it is Oil Slick's home. "Yes. We can have them off for family and really close friends. We're going to be bonded."
Oil Slick beams, "Help me with my boots?" The mech moves, laying on his back and wiggling his peds at Optimus, metal mesh hiding all the parts of it that aren't actually used for mobility. "They're always so uncomfortable."
Optimus carefully removes the mesh, tugging at the magnets until they let go of his armor. The peds he reveals are very nice peds, but he can understand why they have to stay covered. They look pretty, and are very distracting. They would also get cold very easily. "It's important to stay covered up," Optimus repeats what his creators have told him dozens of times, when he asked why bots always had to stay under their cloaks in public.
Oil Slick removes his gloves, "When we're outside, I can understand. That's cold. But we're warm in here." The other sparkling tugs at his chest wrap, "You can take this off."
He squirms a little bit, "I don't-"
The mech pulls up a heating blanket, "We can wear this over our cloaks. It's really warm."
He smiles, "Okay." He takes off the chest wrap, letting Oil Slick drop it off the side of the berth with the gloves, hats, and boots. "Heating blanket?"
It gets wrapped around him, and Oil Slick cuddles him closely, "There. Now we can play."
Optimus takes one of the controllers and tries to figure out how to hold it without Oil Slick noticing his fumbling. Luckily, Oil Slick is busy scrolling through the game options and choices, and he doesn't notice how Optimus clumsily adjusts the controller until he's holding it the way Oil Slick is. The mech finally settles on some game Optimus has never even heard of.
"You're going to help me in this one," Oil Slick instructs him. "It's a puzzle game. We're going to have to solve the puzzles together. I've only ever played two-player on it with my moms."
He looks at it nervously, "I'm not sure how well I'll do." Maybe he should be second player.
Oil Slick nuzzles him, "We'll do great! I know it! It isn't hard. I put it on easy, so that you can learn as you go. If you have problems, just ask me. If you want, you can play by yourself, a few times."
He shakes his head, "Maybe you should be first player?" He doesn't want to ruin this if it means that Oil Slick has only ever played with his creators.
The cyclebot shakes his head, "You can do it, I know you can."
"O-okay," Optimus stutters, focusing his attention on the screen. "What do I do?"
Oil Slick giggles, "We pick out what we want our characters to look like first." His half of the screen scrolls through options quickly. Optimus is left staring at a cartoonish model of a bot. He tentatively pushes one of the buttons, and the model type changes. Now he's staring at a jetbot. Oil Slick bumps against him, "You don't want that. If you're not good at the game, picking a flying character only makes it harder. Pick a truck or a tank."
He cautiously hits another button, and the model changes to a spaceship. "I don't know how to change it back."
Oil Slick reaches over and carefully changes his model to a truck, "There. That will make it a lot easier for you. Then you can modify him so he can have a few other things, but he's fine how he is right now until we figure out how you play."
He nods, just glad to get through this. "Right."
Oil Slick cuddles him, sighing happily, "It is really fun. We can do this."
Optimus fiddles with the controller, somehow turning his truckbot a bright lime green. He decides to stop while he's ahead. "I want to play now."
The game starts then, and Optimus finds his character across the room from Oil Slick's. Optimus plays with the controls until he figures out how to control his character, and which button makes him transform.
Oil Slick smiles at him, "You're doing good, Optimus. We have to figure out how to get out of the room, and we won't be able to do it alone. Ready?"
He's as ready as he can be for something like this.
It's several megacycles later, and Optimus is actually starting to get the hang of the game, working with Oil Slick through progressively more difficult rooms. The first time his character had died, Optimus had jerked back, startled by it. He's not used to games where you can offline. Now he's gotten used to the fact that there is very little actual consequence to his character dying other than making it harder on Oil Slick in the game.
Oil Slick pushes the controllers away, tugging him out of the berth, "It is time to fuel, Optimus. Let's go get energon."
He nods, "Okay." He tugs on the hood of his cloak, headfins feeling a little cold for some reason as they step through the hallway. "Where are we going?"
His servo is grabbed, and nicked slightly because of how sharp Oil Slick's claws are, "To the common room. My mamas and your papas should be there, and we can see if you'll be spending the night with me. I hope you are. I want you to be with me always. Maybe you can move in, since we're getting bonded."
"Betrothed bots aren't supposed to live together. It's inappropriate," Optimus remembers because that was one of the questions on the test. There were lots of ways to invalidate a courtship. It was that way on purpose, to make it easy for bots to get out of them if they didn't really want them.
Oil Slick makes a face at him, plates wrinkling up, "You're inappropriate. I want you to live with me, so you will live with me. If mamas allow it."
He sighs, "If they let us, then we will. But I'm not moving without my papas."
He's nuzzled, "I'm sure your papas can stay with us." He's pulled into a very large room, and Oil Slick smiles brightly, "Hello, mamas!"
Their creators are sitting on a couch, sipping on large cubes of energon, and talking quietly. Optimus frowns when he sees paint smears on his creators' chests, and matching ones on Oil Slick's creators's, as well. He wonders why Steelbolt is missing his chestwrap. His papa never goes without it.
Powerdrive frowns at him, "You're naked, Optimus. Why aren't you dressed properly? You should have your chest wrap and your hat on. Come here," he holds out his servos, and Optimus slowly sulks on over, letting his papa scoop him up and wrap his chest with a spare cloth, fitting his second-favorite fuzzy hat on his head. "There you go, sweetspark."
Optimus squirms, "Not fair. You're naked."
Steelbolt gives Wildstar a dark look, "Through no fault of my own, sparkling. We'll fix that by morning." He's given a small kiss on the head, "You don't mind if we all spend the night here, do you? We can go home if you wa-"
Oil Slick hops up into Glitterfrost's lap, "Can they, mamas? Please? Please? I want Optimus to stay! Please?"
The femmes both laugh, and Wildstar pats Oil Slick on the head, which still has the cap Optimus made for him, "Yes, of course. He can stay with us for the night. Powerdrive and Steelbolt are staying, too. You two need to take your energon, though. You can drink it in your room this sol, but only because you have Optimus over and this is the first night with him. Don't expect this special treatment all the time."
"Alright, Mamas." Oil Slick waits patiently as his creators offer him a cube, and pass another one to Optimus. "Did you give him special energon? Optimus needs special energon, because we're going to get bonded and I want him growing up big and strong."
Optimus sips from his cube and bites his lip to keep from making happy sparkling chirps. It's the best thing he's ever tasted. It's sweet and good and makes his glossa tingle just a little bit. He sips more, and Wildstar frowns at his cube, optics widening. She snatches it away from him.
"Who put high grade in the sparkling cubes?"
He can't help it, he makes a tiny sparkbroken sparkling chirp, then flinches, looking away. Glitterfrost looks at him, then pushes the cube back to him, "For Primus's sake, Wildstar, he needs it. We discussed this with them, remember? Just give him the cube. Oil Slick doesn't have it, so don't worry."
There's a bit of furious whispering from the adults he can't make out, but Oil Slick moves over to him, sniffing his cube, "That's the special energon? It smells... icky."
He drinks more, loving how it warms his tank."It tastes delicious."
The cyclebot frowns, "Can I have a sip?"
He looks over at the arguing adults, then to ... his betrothed, and nods. "If you want, but if you don't like it, I don't think you should drink it. They did say that you don't have it, so maybe there's a reason for that."
Oil Slick takes a sip and immediately jerks away, "Ugh. That's awful. That's high-grade. Gross energon." He sticks his glossa out and scrapes at it with his claws, trying to get the taste to go away.
Optimus thinks it's delicious. He pulls the cube closer to himself and sips slowly, trying to make it last as long as possible. It's important to make good things last, because you don't get to have them very often. Optimus hates being hungry and having to tell his creators that he wants more energon, because they never have more for him.
He offlines his optics. "I like it," he murmurs quietly. "Are we going back to your room?"
Oil Slick shifts a little bit, "No. I want a second cube, because I always get a second cube, and mamas forgot this time."
He can't imagine being allowed a second cube, but he will be quiet and not complain, even if he'd like a second cube. "Okay."
By the time he finishes his cube, the adults have finished their whispering, and returned to looking at them. Glitterfrost smiles, standing up, "I think some sparklings are still hungry. Well, we can't let that happen, can we?" She walks over and gives them each two more cubes, gently pushing them off, "Didn't we say you could go fuel in Oil Slick's room? You have more than enough energon that you won't get hungry now, sparklings. If you do, just send us a text."
Optimus stares at his second cube, confused. He doesn't get to have this much energon for free. They must have made some mistake. "I've already had my cube," he says, offering it back to Glitterfrost, no matter how much he wants to just greedily gulp it down. Optimus knows that when he gets extra energon, his papas get less. One is enough, even if it leaves him hungry.
Glitterfrost gives him a strange look, and pushes the cube back into his servos. "We have plenty of energon, sweetspark. That is yours now. Go fuel with Oil Slick."
He looks over at his papas, "But I can't-"
Papa Powerdrive smiles at him, "It's fine, sparkling." Both of his papas hold up full cubes, "See? We're fine, you can have as much as you want."
He's still pretty sure that's a lie, and they're only saying that because he's upset and not sure what's going on, but he nods. "Y-yes, papa."
He interlocks his elbow with Oil Slick, smiling when he notices that his friend's gloves had hidden two long spikes on his arms, and allows himself to be lead away.
"And put your gloves and boots back on," Wildstar orders loudly.
Oil Slick hurries out with Optimus, "I'm not puttin' them back on. They feel weird and make it hard to do things. You don't mind, do you?"
He doesn't really like being naked, but he thinks Oil Slick has really pretty peds and claws. His claws are all sharp and hooked, and Optimus wants to hold them forever, even if they sometimes cut his fingers. "I don't mind. But if we go outside, you have to put them on, okay? We can't be indecent."
Oil Slick nods, "I don't mind wearing them outside. It's cold outside. I don't like being cold. But in here, I don't want to wear gloves and boots. I like curling up with you, because you're so warm. You're the warmest sparkling in class."
He leans his head on Oil Slick's shoulder, "I like curling up with you, too." That's mainly because Oil Slick is the only other sparkling that would let him cuddle, none of the others would. "You are very warm, too."
Oil Slick smiles at him brightly, "Good!"
Wiggling closer to Oil Slick, Optimus sips from his cube and watches Oil Slick select a new game to play on his console. "I'm just gonna watch this time," he says softly, feeling drowsy from the energon. He really wants to take a long stasis nap, but it's too late in the sol for one, and it will ruin his recharge.
Oil Slick hums, dipping his claws in his energon and licking them off, a terribly messy way to eat that Optimus has never seen before.
He drops his hat off the side of the berth, sipping his cube, "What's this game?"
Oil Slick nuzzles him, "This one is a different puzzle game, it is supposed to sharpen your wits, and test your skills. You can help me as I play."
He looks at the controller, "I don't-"
He's nuzzled, "I just mean that you can say the answers if you know them."
"Okay." He doesn't know many trivia answers, and as Oil Slick goes through the game, Optimus finishes his energon and feels his frame getting heavier, harder to hold up straight. His optics keep drifting offline, and he has to force them on again.
Eventually, he loses the fight, and ends up in recharge, head resting on Oil Slick's shoulder.
When he onlines later, he's underneath a metal blanket, and Oil Slick is curled up against him, also in recharge. Optimus wonders who tucked them in.
Rubbing the recharge from his optics, he sits up, and smiles when he sees a cube of energon for each of them on the table next to the berth. Taking one, he sips it slowly in the dark, trying not to online Oil Slick. He feels a bit disappointed when the other sparkling stirs and onlines, blinking his pretty green optics up at him. "Optimus?"
"Y-yes?"
The cyclebot's arms wrap around him in a sleepy hug, "I love you. We're going to be together forever and ever."
Optimus blushes and cuddles against him, "And ever. I bet we'll grow up and have lots of sparklings. Dozens of them, so they won't be lonely."
Oil Slick makes a face, "I don't really want sparklings." He pouts, "I'll have to share all of my toys with them, and I don't want to share with anyone except for you."
Giggling, Optimus slides his fingers down to Oil Slick's narrow waist, tickling his plating the way his papas sometimes tickle his, "I bet you'll change your mind later."
Oil Slick buries his face in his waist, "Nuh-uh. All I ever need is you."
He pets Oil Slick's back, "I think I want sparklings some sol. When we're older."
Oil Slick bites his lower lip, looking up at him with intense optics, "When we're older."
He yawns, putting his half finished cube to the side, "Tired." He snuggles back down into the berth, letting Oil Slick chose a more comfortable position on top of him, head right on his chest, "We should go back to recharge."
"You should take off this stupid chest wrap."
He frowns, then shrugs, "Okay." He squirms, managing to remove it, even with Oil Slick laying on top of him. "There."
Oil Slick takes it, and drop it off the side of the berth, snuggling closer. "There. Now we only have our cloaks, and that's much better. If it was summer, we could take those off."
Optimus has never taken off his cloak unless it was for switching to a different one, so he can't imagine recharging without one. "Won't it be cold?"
Oil Slick snuggles closer, "No. We'll have the blankets and metal meshes, and each other. We'll be fine." The other sparkling makes a pleased chirping sound, the sleepiness making him revert, "Time to recharge, Optimus."
Optimus is rather doubtful of this. His creators don't have a washrack, like he's seen in picture books, or like the one at the sparkling school. They wash with cloths over a small sink. He can't imagine being naked alone, but with another bot?
Well, it is Oil Slick. His betrothed. He guesses it's alright.