Scatter 'verse. The Plant. Ratchet's room
Showtime looked up from her book, wondering at the silence of the plant and strongly suspecting that it meant nothing good.
Though hopefully, it only meant something as bad as two little mechlings getting into something that they didn't want her to find out about, she thought as she set the book (a recent purchase from a Nexus bookstore, and a highly amusing one, "The Allspark Almanac") aside and got to her feet. Though, since one of the two youngsters she was sitting for today was Blaster.... Yes, she needed to find him and Shia fast. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard, since Blaster still had a bit of a cough from the case of solar flare that had knocked him down for a few days, and Shia tended to whine periodically due to the slight case of colic that had kept him from going on the field trip to the war museum with the other sparklets and younglings.
Still, in a place as big as the plant such little sounds would be easy to overlook, and the little stinkers were probably up on the second floor, too.
Wait.
She paused at the mouth of the hallway and turned her head toward the shorter end of it, where Ratchet and Arcee's room and the medi-lab faced Optimus and First Aid's room, her head tilted to try and pinpoint the little cough that had caught her attention. It came again, and she walked over and carefully lifted the door to the room that their head medic now shared with his mate and unborn daughter. Inside everything was the usual blend of Ratchet's bachelorhood and Arcee's absent tidying, with car grills and crayon drawings decorating the walls and a holo of Arcee herself glowing softly by the berth, which held a neat stack of educational media.
Showtime smiled as she caught sight of the tiny human office chair and the stepladder that stood by Ratchet's work bench; tokens from when Sari had been tiny and unable to fly but Ratchet had wanted to give her a way to observe and help with his projects. The sparklets used them now, and Showtime had lost count of the number of times she'd heard the gruff red and white medic calling for some little chair rider to bring it back and come see what he was doing now. This was also the furthest she'd ever been into the room, so what she saw on the second berth near the back wall startled her a little before it made her smile. It was a beautifully restored Model T Ford car, needing only a bit of repainting to make it perfect.
Forgetting her search for a moment, she walked over to touch the old automobile gently, and then chuckled as she spotted a little red and yellow form curled on the seat with his arms around an even smaller blue one. Both little stowaways were soundly in stasis, and purring as only sparklets and younglings can purr.
Showtime reached to touch them gently, knowing that they were worried about Ratchet, sucked away into another reality while his alternate was brought here, then clicked softly and offered to pick them up as they stirred. Both little mechs came and cuddled into her grasp, Blaster coughing softly and Shia whimpering a bit and asking for snuggles. She gently rubbed their backs, then took a last look around the room and turned to go lay on the couch with them.
Though hopefully, it only meant something as bad as two little mechlings getting into something that they didn't want her to find out about, she thought as she set the book (a recent purchase from a Nexus bookstore, and a highly amusing one, "The Allspark Almanac") aside and got to her feet. Though, since one of the two youngsters she was sitting for today was Blaster.... Yes, she needed to find him and Shia fast. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard, since Blaster still had a bit of a cough from the case of solar flare that had knocked him down for a few days, and Shia tended to whine periodically due to the slight case of colic that had kept him from going on the field trip to the war museum with the other sparklets and younglings.
Still, in a place as big as the plant such little sounds would be easy to overlook, and the little stinkers were probably up on the second floor, too.
Wait.
She paused at the mouth of the hallway and turned her head toward the shorter end of it, where Ratchet and Arcee's room and the medi-lab faced Optimus and First Aid's room, her head tilted to try and pinpoint the little cough that had caught her attention. It came again, and she walked over and carefully lifted the door to the room that their head medic now shared with his mate and unborn daughter. Inside everything was the usual blend of Ratchet's bachelorhood and Arcee's absent tidying, with car grills and crayon drawings decorating the walls and a holo of Arcee herself glowing softly by the berth, which held a neat stack of educational media.
Showtime smiled as she caught sight of the tiny human office chair and the stepladder that stood by Ratchet's work bench; tokens from when Sari had been tiny and unable to fly but Ratchet had wanted to give her a way to observe and help with his projects. The sparklets used them now, and Showtime had lost count of the number of times she'd heard the gruff red and white medic calling for some little chair rider to bring it back and come see what he was doing now. This was also the furthest she'd ever been into the room, so what she saw on the second berth near the back wall startled her a little before it made her smile. It was a beautifully restored Model T Ford car, needing only a bit of repainting to make it perfect.
Forgetting her search for a moment, she walked over to touch the old automobile gently, and then chuckled as she spotted a little red and yellow form curled on the seat with his arms around an even smaller blue one. Both little stowaways were soundly in stasis, and purring as only sparklets and younglings can purr.
Showtime reached to touch them gently, knowing that they were worried about Ratchet, sucked away into another reality while his alternate was brought here, then clicked softly and offered to pick them up as they stirred. Both little mechs came and cuddled into her grasp, Blaster coughing softly and Shia whimpering a bit and asking for snuggles. She gently rubbed their backs, then took a last look around the room and turned to go lay on the couch with them.