TF: Story Before Bedtime
Rating: PG
Series: G1
Pairings: None.. because rare pair doesn’t mean a pairing in the conventional sense *whistles*
Summary: The Dinobots like having a story read to them before bedtime. And they have their preferences on which mech reads to them.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I’ve forgotten…
Authors Notes: For the tf_rare_pairing prompt: Grimlock/Hound - Giant metal teddy bear
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.
It was no surprise that the Dinobots liked stories about dinosaurs. It was also no surprise that Hound could often be found reading stories about dinosaurs to them. Nor was it any surprise that if Hound couldn’t read to them, they asked Beachcomber. He would read to them for hours, melodic voice washing over them and sending them into recharge.
Of course, they still loved being read to by Ratchet and Wheeljack, forever known as Mama and Papa thanks to Sideswipe.
This time, however, it was Hound reading to them, continuing the story of The Land Before Time. The Dinobots were positioned around his chair, all in alt mode, which seemed to be their preference for recharging. Sludge was lying on the floor to his left, head resting on his lap. Swoop was perched on the back of his overly large chair (really, it had to be overly large. He’d commissioned Grapple to make it the first time the Dinobots fell into recharge on and around him while he’d been reading to them). Snarl and Slag were curled up together in front of him, and Grimlock was sitting on his right.
‘“Come on, Cera.”’ Hound read, putting on voices for all of the characters as he always did.
‘“We've got green food.” Said Littlefoot. “l can get my own green food. See? l can take care of myself... all by myself.” Cera answered. “And l'm not afraid to be alone! l know my way to go, and l'm not afraid of sharptooth! l hope he doesn't eat any of you.!
“Don't worry. There isn't any sharptooth.” Littlefoot reassured Petri.”’ At the mention of Sharptooth, Grimlock let out a pleased rumble. Hound stopped reading and looked down. All the Dinobots were recharging, Snarl making little snuffling noises through his vents. Swoop was half-sprawled on the back of the chair and his shoulder. Sludge’s head was still on his lap.
“Doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere at the moment…” He muttered to himself, half resigned, half amused. Carefully subspacing the datapad without disturbing the Dinobots, he let his own optics fall offline. Perhaps a few minutes of recharge wouldn’t hurt…
“Now that’s just adorable.” Wheeljack grinned behind his mask. Next to him, Ratchet nodded.
“He looks like a giant metal teddy bear.” He agreed, optics firmly focussed on Hound. “Please tell me you’ve taken image captures?”
“Several.”
“Good.”
The next day, Hound entered the rec room to grab some energon before his shift to find a crowd around the bulletin board they’d set up.
“There’s the teddy bear himself.” Smokescreen alerted the crowd to Hound’s presence.
“What?” He stepped closer to look at the bulletin board, seeing a large image capture of himself and the Dinobots. At some point during their recharge (which had been a lot more than a few minutes), Grimlock had pulled Hound off his chair and rolled over, cuddling him close. It did look a lot like he was being used as a teddy bear, he had to admit.
“That’s actually quite cute.” He grinned. “Wonder who took it.”
“Wheeljack.” Sideswipe had no hesitation in informing Hound of the guilty party.
“Hmmm… wonder if he’s got a copy I could keep.” Hound mused. They really did look adorable, himself being held close to Grimlock, and the other Dinobots curled up close together in what could only be described as a huge metal puppy pile.