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in1-nutshell · 6 months

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Bot Buddy the Autobot who’s unexpected Conjux is Soundwave

SFW, mentions of injury but not specified, platonic, romantic, Cybertronian/ Bot reader

Transformers Earthspark

Autobot Buddy and Soundwave were Conjux Endura shortly before the war broke out, they never made the relationship public. There was too much at risk, especially when tensions on both sides heightened.

Tension between them both rose when discussing which side was better to side with.

“What will it be then? Its clear we both can’t agree on a side. What do we do?”--Soundwave

“… we join different sides.”--Buddy

“What?”--Soundwave

“We join different sides.”--Buddy

“Yes I heard that but—”--Soundwave

“We do that. We pick a side in the war. We stay alive for each other and when someone win, we vouch for the other to come join peacefully.”--Buddy

“…it sounds like a good plan…but what about Us, Buddy? I’m concern on what will happen to Us in this war.”--Soundwave

“Don’t worry. We will be fine, as long as we have the bond, as long as we have each other alive, we will be fine. Just take care of yourself and the mini’s, can you do that?”--Buddy

“I will and…I trust you Buddy… I love you so much, my Spark.”

“I love you too Soundwave… Now and beyond the Allspark.”—Buddy

Buddy went off and joined the Autobot’s and Soundwave and the minicon’s joined the Decepticon’s. Never once telling anyone of their relationship, they promised each the other their safety and they were going to keep it.

Soundwave had set up a private link between them to keep in contact.

“Hey…”--Buddy

“Hello…”--Soundwave

“How was work today? Are you feeling, okay?”--Buddy

“Work was… adequate… and yours?”--Soundwave

“Things are getting harder I’m not going to lie… I miss you…”--Buddy

“…I miss you too…”--Soundwave

“Tell Buddy I said hi!”--Frenzy

“Frenzy!”--Soundwave

“Tell them we all miss them!”--Lazerbeak

“Lazerbeak enough—”--Soundwave

“…”--Ravage

“…”--Soundwave

“…Frenzy, Lazerbeak and Ravage say hello…”--Soundwave

It got harder to keep contact as the war grew longer, especially when both factions came to Earth. Suddenly it was just radio silence from Soundwave. Buddy was upset and concern at the lack of radio response but there was nothing they could do now without drawing too much attention to the both.

“Hey Soundwave? Are you listening? Things have gotten out of control at HQ… its almost funny…”--Buddy

A few days later…

“Soundwave? Are you here? Listen can you give me some sort of sign that your okay? Are the mini’s okay? Please answer as soon as you can.”--Buddy

A few days later…

“Soundwave… please… any sound would do… please just let me know you’re okay… love you, now and beyond the Allspark…”--Buddy

Buddy meets the Terrans and Maltos and they are both delighted and horrified that there’s literal sparkling’s running around with other children in a sketchy base.

“Buddy these are the Maltos and the Terrans I was talking to you about.”--Optimus

“Hi!”--Terrans and Maltos

“…Prime, Megatron, Elita-One… Mind explaining to me why there are literal Sparklings running around!?--Buddy

“Well—”--Megatron

“You know what I don’t. C’mere kids let me introduce myself.”--Buddy

They don’t trust GHOST at all and refuse to wear a GHOST badge. Buddy wears their Autobot badge proudly. They agree with Megatron in advocating for better treatment of “prisoners”. It’s one of the few things they can agree on.

“This isn’t right. Even if they are Decepticon’s, they don’t deserve to be treated like this.”--Buddy

“I agree. Something needs to be done about this.”--Megatron

“…Can’t believe I just agreed with you on something.”—Buddy

Besides agreeing to protect Dot and her family at all costs. They try to visit the Terrans and Maltos as much as possible. It was such a regular occurrence that they got their own bunk in the Dugout.

“Kids? What’s all this?”--Buddy

“Surprise!”—Terrans and Maltos

“Woah! What’s is this?”--Buddy

“Well, you’ve been coming over so much and staying almost regularly now. We all decided to make you your own place here!”--Robie

Yeah, now you don’t have to go back to the base and we can have even more sleepovers!”--Mo

“…”—Buddy

“Do you not like it?”--Thrash

“…”--Buddy

“Maybe it’s the color?”—Nightshade

“…”--Buddy

“No can’t be that.”--Twitch

“Maybe it needs another pillow?”--Jawbreaker

“…”--Buddy

“How about another family portrait?”--Hashtag

“Wait guys hold it.”--Robie

“Buddy? Are you crying—”--Mo

“THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE NICEST THINGS ANYONE HAS DONE IN A LONG TIME! I LOVE YOU ALL!!”—Buddy

Things were going great for Buddy. Enough to occupy their mind from the pain in their spark. One mission got them hurt really bad. They refused to go to GHOST for medical attention.

“I’d rather have Starscream scream in my audials for an hour than set a foot near GHOST.”

Now they were at the Dugout fighting to stay conscious. Due to the power of plot convenience, they need a jumpstart their spark, which would be possible if they weren’t bonded. Being bonded meant that the other that was bonded would have to jump them with a shock through their spark bond. Which would be great but Buddy won’t tell.

“Wheeljack what needs to happen? I feel like I’m dying here.”--Buddy

“Dying!?”—Mo/Robie

“Wrong choice of words. My bad kids.”--Buddy

“Well since you’re bonded, that means that your Sparkmate need make the jump with you. So now the only thing we need to know is the Sparkmate.”--Wheeljack

“…Yeah that’s not going to happen.”--Buddy

“What?”--Wheeljack

“Buddy, did you understand what Wheeljack said? You are going to die if your Sparkmate doesn’t come an do the jump. We don’t know who it is, you need to tell us!”--Dot

“…sorry Dot…but like I said, that’s not going to happen.”--Buddy

Buddy made a dumb promise but they are sure going to keep the last thing they had with Soundwave. Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee, Grimlock, and Elita are trying to remember if Buddy had mentioned their Conjux before in their ranks.

“Lets see… Ironhide?”--Optimus

“Nope.”--Bumblebee

“… Cliffjumper?”—Elita-One

“No.”-- Bumblebee

“Maybe its Jazz.”--Grimlock

“No.”—Bumblebee

“Gears? Ratchet?”—Arcee

“No cant be either of them.”--Bumblebee

“Okay then what’s your idea then?”--Arcee

“…Prowl?”--Bumblebee

“NO!”—Optimus/Elita/Grimlock/Arcee

Wheeljack and Megatron are trying to look through the database of Teletran 1 for any alternative to the medical procedure.

Meanwhile the Terrans are trying to tend to every need Buddy has to the best of their ability.

Robbie and Mo are at both sides of Buddy’s head rubbing it softly as they wince from time to time from the pain.

“C’mon Buddy. Can’t you just tell us?”--Robie

“Please Buddy. Please?”--Mo

“Sorry—urgh—kiddos. No can do.”--Buddy

It’s Alex who brings up the possibility of Buddy’s Conjux not being an Autobot at all.

“I mean what if Buddy’s significant other isn’t an Autobot at all? What if they are human or a Decepticon? Relationship between factions have definitely happened before right?”--Alex

There’s silence and its being considered. Buddy groaning in pain breaks the silence. Megatron heavily considers it, suddenly wondering how many of his own troops entered interfraction relationships.

“No, they—”--Megatron

Suddenly remembers Deadlock and how he would always single out Ratchet in many battles.

“…You know it might be possible…”--Megatron

Megatron asks Hashtag to send a specific message through a cryptic frequency and starts heading out of the Dugout. Dot, Optimus, and Bumblebee follow him, meanwhile the rest stayed to monitor and look for other cures just in case.

Megatron, Dot, Optimus, and Bumblebee reached a clearing a bit far from the house. Not a moment too soon, Soundwave came into view and transformed in front of them deploying Frenzy, Ravage and Lazerbeak standing their ground. The Autobots reach for their weapons, but Megatron tells them to lower them and takes a step forward towards Soundwave.

“Soundwave.”--Megatron

“Megatron. What is the meaning of this traitor?”--Soundwave

“We need your help.”--Megatron

“Give me one good reason to help you.”--Soundwave

“For old time sake, one favor.”--Megatron

“…What is it?”--Soundwave

“We need to know any Decepticon’s who have Conjux Endura’s—”--Megatron

“That is out of the question. You do not have the right to know about their affairs.”--Soundwave

“So, you do know?”—Megaton

“Of course, but I will not tell you.”--Soundwave

“Soundwave—”--Optimus

“Save it Prime!”--Frenzy

Soundwave turns to leave with his minicons, which is when Dot snaps. She wasn’t about to lose a dear friend like this, no not like this.

“Buddy’s dying!”—Dot

This statement stops the Decepticon’s right in their tracks.

“Listen, they don’t have much time. They got hurt real bad last mission. They need their Conjux to help them with the medical procedure.”--Dot

“We don’t know who they are Soundwave. Buddy will not tell us who they are. I will not lose anymore bots when we have a fighting chance. Right now, you are our only way of finding them. Without your help they are going to die.”— Optimus

“Soundwave we wouldn’t be asking you for anything if it weren’t dire. We don’t have the luxury of time because that is something Buddy doesn’t have right now! So, are you going to help or not?”—Bumblebee

The mini’s are looking at their boss in some sort of desperation before Soundwave transforms and agrees to help.

Everyone was ready to move to another location but were surprised when Soundwave asked where Buddy was. That’s when the other realized the shocking truth. Soundwave was Buddy’s Conjux.

They arrive at the Dugout and enter its doors. The Terrans are immediately on guard seeing Soundwave, especially when Buddy yelps in pain squeezing their optics close not knowing who was in the room.

“Freeze!”--Twitch

“Calm down he is here to help Buddy.”--Megatron

“What so is he—”-- Thrash

“Yes.”—Megatron

Soundwave had never felt so much regret of not contacting his Conjux for so long than that moment. He calls to them, this causes Buddy’s optics to snap open in disbelief.

“Buddy…”--Soundwave

“—urgh—Soundwave?”—Buddy

The mini’s came out and started shooing everyone out of the room. Wheeljack gives Soundwave quick instructions on how to do the jump starting before also exiting the room.

Now it’s just Buddy and Soundwave

Soundwave is getting the equipment ready when Buddy calls him over and apologizes for bringing him here where he and the mini’s could get captured. Soundwave finishes setting up the equipment and grabs Buddy’s servo as the process began.

“I’m sorry—”--Buddy

“I apologize—”--Soundwave

“You can go first.”--Soundwave

“I’m sorry for getting you into this mess, you and the mini’s.”--Buddy

“Apology not needed. I should be the one apologizing. If I’d had known… If I had kept in contact…”--Soundwave

“…Can we just forgive each other? I don’t want my last moments here to be just pointless apologizes on childish things we both did.”--Buddy

“You’re not going to die. Not when I have a say in it, my spark. I… I missed you, my spark.”--Soundwave

“I love you too, now and beyond the Allspark.”—Buddy

They both begin talking and catching up on some things. Before they knew it, the procedure had finished, and Buddy was going to make a full recovery.

After the procedure was done, they both walked out servo in servo. The mini’s as it turned out had told the Team a bit about their relationship.

“Yeah, so one time Soundwave thought it was a good idea to fly with Buddy around sunset. But he didn’t know that—”--Lazerbeak

“Lazerbeak.”--Soundwave

“Soundwave! Buddy!”—Frenzy

Everyone there was shocked by the story, but they eventually got over the shock. The longest one to come out of the shock is Megatron. He feels guilty and so blind. How could he not have seen this coming, especially from Soundwave?

Soundwave lets Buddy have one more squeeze before getting the mini’s in his chest compartment. He turns to leave, but he stopped after hearing Dot’s voice.

“You can stay the night here? I think it would be good for Buddy if they knew you were here.”--Dot

“And if you are worried about GHOST, their radar doesn’t come by here. It’s perfectly safe.”—Megatron

He pauses for a minute. Looks back at Buddy and then the setting sun. one night wouldn’t hurt, right? He turns to Megatron stating that if this was a trap, that there would not be a planet he could go to hide from him. With that he swooped in and carried Buddy bridal style and marches into the Dugout as he deployed his mini cons to have fun on the farm.

Meanwhile Soundwave and Buddy cuddled on one of the medical slabs all night long.

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seytazen · 1 year

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🌹🌹🌹🌹

This is so late but dammit life has been rough lately I hope you can forgive me but here's an Earthspark ficlet for ya.

Optimus tapped a digit on the desk, staring at the data form waiting for him to read, fill out, and file it. He glanced at his chronometer mentally noting he had been at this for about an hour now… and not even the first question was done.

Tap tap tap tap tap.

This form was a field report for GHOST, he told himself. Therefore important. This report was already late, so it’s a priority now. Either way it must be done. He shifted in his seat, leaning forwards to get a closer look at the sentence.

Why couldn’t his processor just process the information? He knew how to read in English, so why are these English words registering as gibberish? He fidgeted with the stylus in his hand trying to keep his mind off of the terrible helmache brewing. He was also so tired… he hadn’t actually gotten any recharge in- 42 hours?

His optics glanced over to the other parts of his paperwork he had not gotten to yet. The large messy stack that took up a terribly large portion on his desk contained the various unread reports, to do paperwork, receipt copies covered with sticky notes, empty reusable energon cubes, and an empty orange prescription bottle.

Right… that was why.

He shook his helm. He couldn’t dwell on that too much, Ratchet said there was a shortage of the compounds he needed, but there was a shipment on the way. He just needed to hold out for another week.

Mind over matter…

Tap tap tap tap.

Oh come on, he had done this sort of stuff before. He just had worked through all sorts of things… a helmache and a little fatigue? It should be a walk in the park. He scratched behind his audio with another loud sigh. There's a million things he’d rather be doing right now… basketball sounded like fun. Maybe Elita would be free for a one on one- NO.

No no no.

Important paperwork first.

Important very late paperwork first.

Focus.

He flipped the stylus he was holding around in his right servo. He could do this, it was just a field report… Question one.

Question one…

Question…one.

He fiddled absentmindedly with the stylus in his servo. He sure had a lot of paperwork to do today. He had been terrible about letting it pile up this past week. And he knew that he had to have it finished if he wanted to watch the Lakers Game on Thursday. He still had the budget to do for this quarter, several reports from Megatron and Elita to read, Prowl’s patrol schedule for everyone needed to be confirmed, he still had this field report and the other three to do too for Executive Agent Croft, Agent Schloder had a few wordy reports in here as well.

There were also Arcee’s reports to read and file…

It’s been a little while since he checked up on Bumblebee too-and then the Terrans training needed to be checked up on. Dottie had mentioned something about them. What was it again? Right- he had been meaning to visit and Nightshade was rather curious about Cybertronian history and he still had a few textbooks laying around his quarters that he could loan out. Anything to keep Cybertron’s history alive and breathing right? Now that he thought about it, where did he put those? He knew they were in his quarters somewhere-but where? He really ought to clean his room sometime soon- he was certain that he was the main culprit of the missing cubes from the recreation room. He didn’t even know how many he had accidentally hoarded away, but Jazz was getting very persistent with the base wide emails asking- no pleading for them to be returned. Prowl wouldn’t be very happy if he had to give in and order some more to keep the rest of the autobots fueled. He should set a reminder to do that right now on his comm- oh right- he turned his comm off and he also couldn’t use the internet in his office right now- the router was unplugged. Well it was kind of important that he get a reminder on his comm about the missing reusable cubes, otherwise he would forget about it and then he would feel worse the next time he checked his emails and found another base wide demand for people to return the cubes when they were done with them. Speaking of emails, he should give his inbox a glance while he had his comm on-

Wait, now he was off track again.

Scrap.

He rubbed at his optics tiredly. His helm ached and he could go for a quick powerdown… after he does at least half of this paperwork because he wanted to go to the game on Thursday. Where was that ticking noise coming from? Right right- Earth clocks make noise because they have mechanisms that keep the time. There was one on the wall. How had he wasted another 20 minutes staring at this datapad??

Tap tap tap.

He narrowed his optics to it. Earth time was a lot faster than Cybertronian time, and it was dwindling away in front of him. He leaned against the back of the chair glaring down at the datapad again.

These were his responsibility. People needed him to get his paperwork in. And they needed it like yesterday. There were no excuses for a Prime being so lazy, so he just needed to get it done.

He stayed right where he was. It was like he was stuck…He glanced over at his comm’s full inbox blinking in his peripheral. He needed to do something about that, there was no telling how many messages he had missed while he sat here struggling to do anything about the massive pile of work he had neglected. Oh, there were a few missed calls from Bumblebee here too… maybe he should check up on him, it must be somewhat urgent if he’s calling- wait no! He was doing it again! He had turned off his comm specifically so he wouldn’t get distracted with a call or emails or TikTok videos! These papers were urgent too, and if Bumblebee needed something Elita and Megatron were both available to back him up.

He slumped over, putting his helm in his folded arms with a groan.

It was time to stop messing around. Stop procrastinating, and just do it. He had to. He had to. He had to…

Do it. Do it. Do it, do it, do it. DO IT NOW.

…

This was pointless…

Maybe a walk would help get his helm in order.

Optimus stood up slowly and walked to his office door in defeat, once again guiltily leaving the pile of paperwork behind him. Just 15 minutes. 15 minutes and he would try again. He had to, there was too much to do for him to not get anything accomplished again.

He shut the door behind him quietly as he looked back and forth down the empty hallway. He turned to walk down the hallway. Base was pretty much a long rectangle if you took the halls around the long way. Just to get some energon flowing, he’d take a quick walk and then go back to doing paperwork.

He paced down the hallway, letting his mind wander a little bit, but still watching for humans underfoot.

“OP! There you are, I was hoping I’d catch you,” a familiar voice called from behind him, the footsteps quickening to catch up to him. He froze in his steps before slowly turning around in dread.

Please don’t have another report.

“Elita,” he greeted back watching the pink femme walk up to him with a datapad in hand. He hoped that wasn’t what he was assuming it was… “What can I do for you?”

“Glad you asked,” she replied, holding the datapad out. He grimaced behind his mask, taking it from her servo. She continued to speak, “Saw the Do not Disturb sign so I held off, but hey, since I ran into you might as well give it to you. Getting all caught up?” She elbowed him gently.

He thought about telling her briefly. He really did. But if he admitted he was so far behind she would be appalled and ask why- and then he would have to explain why he couldn’t focus on measly data work, and that would lead to him trying to explain the disorder he had, and THAT would lead to her asking all sorts of questions about how he can want to do something but somehow can’t do it, and he didn’t have the time or the patience.

He didn’t want to be shamed for this, he was already ashamed of this problem as it was and that she knew he was behind in the first place.

“Um. Yes! Yes, I am,” he replied with a stiff nod, keeping a forced smile on his face. He was practically gritting his teeth. He didn’t care about lying, he really didn’t, but he didn’t want to make excuses for a hole he dug for himself. “Nothing quite like getting caught up on paperwork! I’ve just been churning them out, one right after the other!” He chuckled, hoping deeply she would buy it. “Just taking a little bit of a break and then I’ll get right back to work on them. Should be done really soon… Yes, another report should be no issue. Thank you, Elita.”

“Yeah, no problem! Keep up the good work, yeah? I’ll let you get back to your break,” she smiled, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. “I’m hitting the gym. See ya at the watch party OP! Go Lakers!” She called as she jogged away.

He waved to her even as she disappeared around a corner. He slumped where he stood once she was completely out of view looking down at the training report he was just handed. The watch party… if he didn’t finish his paperwork he wouldn’t be permitted to go. And he had been looking forward to this game. He sighed, shaking his helm. What was one more anyway? He slowly turned back around and continued to walk.

He turned another corner through the hallways, holding the datapad from Elita in one hand as he let his thoughts wander as he walked. There was a soft tapping on his shoulder. He turned to see what it could be. He felt more weight settled on top of the report he was already holding. His optics widened a little bit, turning back to look down at his hands. He blinked, finding another two sitting on top of Elita’s newest report.

“Turning in my scouting reports! Thanks Optimus!” Arcee’s voice called from behind him. He wrenched his helm back behind him, watching her frame disappear around the corner he had just turned.

He sighed softly, turning back to stare harshly at the total of three new reports in his servos. “No problem…” he muttered.

…

He completed the loop around the base he had meant to walk, he still had zero interest in doing any of the work already piled on his desk, and he had somehow accumulated 7 more datapads to do.

There was an unpleasant pressure in his chest as he dropped them roughly on top of the pile. How frustrating- he just wanted to throw them all against the wall! He stared at the mess every passing second rage gathering in his spark. He could identify at least 65 different tasks he could do, and yet he couldn’t pinpoint on a single one to start on!

He stared harder, clenching his fists.

Annoyance/Frustration/Overwhelmed colored his field.

This was officially a breaking point. There was too much of it and he was sick of looking at it.

The only way there was to get it out of his sight was to do it.

He could do this.

All he had to do was start.

Just one at a time.

Knock knock knock.

Dammit, not now!

Knock knock knock.

He slowly turned to stare at the door. He could pretend he wasn’t here…

Knock knock knock

“Optimus? It’s Megatron. I know you’re in there!” He called through the door.

Optimus felt his optic twitch. So much for that idea. Begrudgingly, he opened the door a little bit. “What can I do for you, Megatron?” He asked, trying not to sound annoyed, but he knew he had failed when Megatron took a small step back.

Megatron gave him a small sheepish smile. “So how are the reports going?”

His optic twitched as he took a slow vent in. “…good. They’re going good,” he replied stiffly, not breaking optic contact with Megatron.

“Great! That’s great, So you won't mind if I hand you a few more?” He asked, pulling another three datapads from behind his back.

Optimus felt like he was on the verge of glitching. He took a deep intake staring at the additional three reports.

On top of the mess.

Frustration was rapidly building.

“Yes. I can definitely take those. That will not be a problem at all,” he replied, reaching out and trying to take them.

He must not be doing a good job at masking his building anxiety because Megatron gave him a look and pulled the pads back out of his reach. He frowned, raising an eyebrow. “Are you…sure?”

Optimus hesitated. He must have had a tone. He straightened up a little bit, speaking slowly and reminding himself that this was his fault- not Megatron’s. “Yes. I’m sure,” he sighed. “Sorry, I’m just a little tired is all.”

Megatron slowly tried to look over his shoulder and Optimus quickly sidestepped to block his view of the messy office. Megatron narrowed his optics just a little bit. “Optimus, are you absolutely sure you’re okay taking these now? I can always bring them back later if you aren’t caught up-“

“I am caught up! I am. I’ve got it under control. So I’ll just take these now,” he replied, panic seeping into his voice. He couldn’t let Megatron figure out he was drowning in procrastination! Elita finding out was doable, but Megatron would certainly judge him. “It’s no issue! I assure you.”

Megatron seemed to hesitate, looking at Optimus critically. “You just seem kind of… jittery. You know, if you’re having trouble catching up…” Optimus narrowed his optics a little bit, beginning to grow rather short tempered all of a sudden.

“I’m not having any trouble catching up-“ Optimus replied in a low warning tone.

“All I’m saying is if you need a little help-“

“Megatron, I assure you, there’s nothing to worry about. I am on top of it. I do not need help and I am perfectly capable of datawork so why don’t you just hand over the reports!” He snapped, exasperated by Megatron’s concern.

A low whistle from behind him caught his attention. “Wow… quite the stack there, huh?”

His spark sank rather quickly. He knew Dottie was standing by his desk. Shame was burning through him as he turned around to face her. “Lieutenant Malto…”

Dottie chuckled. “I was starting to wonder why my paperwork is still pending…”

Megatron stepped inside the office now that Optimus had been found out and was no longer focused on keeping him out. . “Yikes… and I thought I was terrible with paperwork,” he teased. A part of Optimus knew it was meant to be in good nature, but it tugged at him.

“Usually I’m not this terrible with it…” he replied softly, shutting the door behind Megatron and watching Dottie scale the side of his desk. “Trust me, no one is more frustrated with this mess than I am. If I could I would, but I just… can’t.

“So what’s going on then, Big Rig?” Dot asked as she searched for another crevasse to further her climb up.

Megatron strolled over to the side of the desk to give Dot a boost. The orange bottle caught his optics. He sat Dot down and slowly picked it up.

Optimus visibly bristled at it averting his optics.

Dottie looked between Optimus and the empty bottle Megatron held. “I assume it has something to do with that?” She asked, crossing her arms.

Megatron gave him that concerned look he had practically mastered over the last 15 years.

The one that merely said ‘spill it.’

No point in hiding it now…

He sighed heavily leaning against the door and folding his arms. He looked down at the floor. “…I’ve always had trouble doing desk work,” he said, shaking his helm. “It’s boring and monotonous and I sit down to do them, and I get… stuck… I-I know it sounds strange. I want to sit down, focus, and finish my paperwork, but I can’t do it.”

“Can you elaborate on that?” Dottie asked crossing her arms and looking up and down the piles that towards precariously around her.

Optimus looked back up at the orange bottle Megatron was holding. “It’s not that I don’t want to do it… it’s like my mind won’t let me. I’ll get distracted with thinking about all the other tasks I need to do, or I’ll try to focus on what is in front of me suddenly I’m unable to comprehend any data input I observe, or I’ll set it down for two minutes and accidentally forget I was supposed to do it in the first place, or its something ridiculous- like the sound of electricity or air conditioning drowns out my thoughts. I talked to Ratchet about it years ago, and after I talked to Ratchet I went through a series of tests and he diagnosed me with this uncommon computing disorder. It’s a little bizarre and it sounds like I just don’t want to do it, I know, but It really does render me unable to ‘regulate my attention.’ Ratchet makes this medication for me to help fix it. I don’t know everything that’s in it, but I do know when I take it, it helps me feel much better… I’m able to focus, I feel more in control, and I don’t forget things as often,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So… why is this bottle empty then?” Megatron asked, shaking it gently to illustrate his point. “Why not go get more medicine from Ratchet?”

Optimus sighed, rubbing a servo down his face. “Ratchet can’t refill my prescription right now. He doesn’t have the components he needs to make it…”

Megatron let out a quiet “oh.” Dottie walked over the edge of the desk and sat, her legs dangling. “Sounds a lot like something humans have sometimes. We call it ADHD. It’s actually pretty common on Earth. How long have you been without your meds OP?”

“What day of the week is it?” He asked frowning, trying to remember. “Tuesday.”

Optimus recounted the days. “A week ago?”

“Bots have something called withdrawal, Megs?” Dottie asked, looking over at the former decepticon. “You know, you stop taking something and you get jittery and you start feeling a little sick?”

Megatron gave a firm nod. “We do. It’s not fun,” he said, shaking his helm. “And that certainly explains why you look like you haven’t recharged in a good while.”

Optimus sighed faintly letting himself slide down against the door to sit on the floor, his field still buzzing with distress. He felt pressure beginning to build behind his optics. He felt horribly small in that moment- Optimus Prime defeated by mounds of datapads and sticky notes- that was a line for the history books. He pulled his knees to his chest staring at the floor. “I want to get it over and done with- but all I can think about is how badly I want to sleep and how much my helm aches, and the fact that Prowl is going to end me if he ever finds out about how many cubes I’ve forgotten to return, and how deeply embarrassing it is that I’m still a week and a half behind on data work after I’ve taken every precaution to limit distractions, and I’m never going to catch up ever let alone by Thursday evening because my CPU doesn’t work right.”

“Why is Thursday the deadline?” Dottie asked, tilting her head. “The basketball Game,” Megatron replied, all too familiar with Optimus’s love of the Earth custom. “The game is televised on Thursday night and there’s a watch party. He wants to go, but obviously if Croft or Schoder or Primus forbid- Prowl catches him doing extracurriculars while he’s this far behind on paperwork- they aren’t going to be happy.”

Optimus nodded with a heavy sigh. “There’s 78 datapads on that desk. I’ve completed 3 of them in 10 days. If I want to watch the game with everyone else then I need to complete at least 26 of them today, 26 tomorrow, and 26 before 6 o’clock on Thursday.”

Megatron hummed thoughtfully before he sat down in Optimus’s office chair looking down at the report sitting open and ready to be filled out. “A week ago, you engaged a rogue decepticon during your scheduled patrol, right?”

Optimus frowned, recalling that afternoon. “Yes.” “Out of curiosity- what happened?” Megatron asked, picking up a stylus. “I was patrolling the Southeast quadrant of my route during the morning and I came across a trail of muddy footprints that were far too large to be anything other than a cybertronian’s, so I followed them through a clearing in the tree line. I found and identified Hook, a known Decepticon Medic. I confirmed my suspicions that he was alone then I cornered him and asked him to comply and told him I was arresting him. He resisted, there was a short exchange of blaster fire, I temporarily stunned him with a good shot that landed on his shoulder, I overpowered him and he submitted. He was taken back to base loaded in my trailer.”

There was a beat of silence and the sound of a pen scribbling away. He blinked slowly looking up from the floor and at Megatron. It was only a moment more before the datapad he was writing away at was tossed in his “finished” basket.

Optimus watched as he grabbed the next datapad off the pile.

“Megatron,” he said, frowning. “You really don’t have to do my paperwork for me. It’s my responsibility not yours…I’ll just not go to the watch party- it’s fine.”

He clenched his fists, willing himself to not sound quite so upset about it, because it was just a game- but still.

“I’m not doing your paperwork for you,” he said looking up from the datapad. “You’re telling me what to write. I’m just moving my hand accordingly, Prime.”

They locked optics for a moment, Optimus’s confused and Megatron’s sympathetic. “Why are you helping me with this?” He asked, sounding far smaller than he ever would admit. “I’m sure you’d rather spend your off time doing anything else.”

Megatron gave a small shrug, a ghost of a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth. “Maybe I want my fraggin paperwork processed. And I guess, maybe I also know what it's like drowning in crap you have to get done when it feels pretty damn hard to function and I’ve got some sympathy hidden away in my spark for your sorry backside, Prime.”

“But-”

“But nothin!” Megatron interrupted, pointing the stylus at Optimus. “Let’s just get these blasted datapads where they belong, hmmm? If you feel that bad then you can thank me by owing me a favor later.”

Optimus paused in his half formed protest and slowly smiled at Megatron. “Fine, then.” he sighed, letting one leg stretch out in front of him. “Let’s hear the next one…”

-end

#transformers earthspark #tfe optimus prime #tfe megatron #hints of #tfe megop #megaop #dottie #tfe dot malto #fluffy #in honor of the national shortage on ADHD medicine #adhd #audhd #based on author experience with mental illness #daily does of headcanons #headcanon

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