Airachnophobia (Airachnid X Male Reader)

7. Affiliation or Affection?

     "What? You're joking." The astonished voice of Jack Darby echoed throughout the Autobot's makeshift base of operations. The blue two-wheeler had forgotten about the presence of the children in lieu of recent events, namely the revelation of Airachnid's human ally. She had accidentally let that little tidbit of information slip mid-conversation with Bumblebee as they were returning through the Ground Bridge.

     Arcee vented, rolling her optics at her own carelessness. Now that the cat was out of the bag, she figured she might as well inform her human charge of current events.

     "Airachnid was working with a human? Who was it?" The boy reiterated his concerns. Arcee looked around the base, concluding Jack was the only one of the children within earshot before speaking. Rafael and Miko were nowhere to be seen.

     "I wouldn't tell the others, no need to burden them with concerns about their own kind. I'll only tell you more if you agree to that." The blue bot reasoned. When the boy nodded, she continued. "When we Ground Bridged to Airachnid's coordinates, there was just a man on the ground, waiting next to his car." Arcee paused for a moment, letting Jack ask the question she knew he wanted to.

     "And this wasn't a transforming car, just a normal one? This is just some regular guy?" He asked, something a little bit like disdain in his voice at the prospect of someone other than himself being involved with Cybertronians. Arcee rolled her optics for the second time in five minutes, knowing Jack had a strong ego, before continuing.

     "Probably just a hostage, or she's holding something hostage that he wants. I highly doubt Airachnid would just collaborate with a human unless she had no other option, and I also don't believe a human would agree to it without the pressure of a threat looming over his head." Arcee shared her reasoning with her charge, who seemed deep in thought, trying to put together any strain of human logic that would make sense and apply to the situation.

     "It's possible," he began, eyes shifting, almost as if he was embarrassed about what he was going to say next, "that the guy just thinks Airachnid is... pretty." He finished, grimacing. Arcee gave him the most disgust and disappointment filled expression she could muster, and mimicked a gag reflex, something she had picked up from human media. Jack laughed at that, but then became solemn.

     "All jokes aside, what makes you say that?" She asked the boy. He tilted his head in consideration before responding. He even opened his mouth to speak before thinking better of it and mentally rewording his sentence.

     "Well, when a human male finds a female attractive, he will often go out of his way to make himself useful to her, in a subconscious effort to become important in her mind. Sometimes we do it on purpose, other times our brains do that work for us." He wasn't smiling anymore, but rather stern, giving Arcee his honest thoughts. He scowled and shook his head, speaking again. "But that's not taking into account that she's a fifteen foot tall alien who probably would like nothing more than to put his head on a stick." Jack finished. Arcee let a slight smile adorn her faceplates.

     "It's alright, Jack, you don't have to backtrack for any reason. I'm actually glad to get that insight from you on the thought patterns of humans. If you think of anything else like that, related or not to the situation, let me know. It's interesting." She did her best to alleviate his embarrassment at exposing his entire species for its foolishness. He just nodded as she turned away, hoping to find a moment alone with Optimus to discuss Jack's proposition.

     She was surprised to find the gargantuan bot mid stride, arriving through the Ground Bridge.

     "Optimus," She began questioningly "you took a while." He looked down slowly at her, seemingly lost in thought, and nodded. "If you have a moment..." Arcee trailed off, the request to speak to him alone obvious enough.

~~~~~

     "I'm back." Y/N announced his presence as he opened the door to his house. He was covered in bruises, foliage and green stains from the forest grass. Getting the massive cubes back to Airachnid was not easy, and required multiple trips. His mother, hearing the door, rushed over and started pelting him with questions. His father just stood a few feet back, hands in his pockets, smiling. He was clearly glad to see his son accomplished whatever it was he was doing, especially since he had a few new battle scars to show for it.

     "I've got no idea what you were up to," the older man broke through his wife's chatter, "but it looks like you pulled through. You got my axe?" Y/N grimaced as he recalled the state of the tool. Airachnid had broken it on accident almost immediately after receiving the Energon and regaining the ability to move. She hadn't even mentioned it, and he had been too afraid to call attention to it. At the time, he had just been glad to be dismissed by the titan.

     "Yeah, I'm gonna have to replace that. Don't worry, I will." His dad seemed satisfied with the response, but bewildered at the same time. Y/N could only assume he was trying to deduce how his son had broken an axe by himself in the forest.

    "Please just get yourself cleaned up." Y/N's mother spoke over his thoughts. He changed his focus to her and nodded. Making his way to his room to shower was painful. The forest floor was at least flat, but walking up a flight of stairs with bruises all over his legs wasn't the best experience.

     Y/N spent the night going over the day's events in his head, trying to keep out the intrusive thoughts he knew would win in the end. He couldn't stop thinking about the end of the deal that hadn't been satisfied with the giantess. She had agreed to owing him a favor. In fairness, that offer was made before Y/N knew what she really was, but it still stood in his mind. Even though he couldn't be sure where she would show up next, he had a feeling she would return to the forest eventually, since she's in between factions, likely with nowhere else to go.

     He wanted to talk to Airachnid again.