Mechanical love

Chapter Twenty-four

"Carolina?" came Lennox's voice as he raced up the hallway after hearing her scream, "Are you okay?"

The girl in question was backed up against the wall opposite her front door; her eyes as wide as dinner plates and her face as red as a tomato with sunburn.

"I-I-" she had to pause in between her stuttering before looking down at what she was wearing and gripping the wall behind her in a panic, "I need to go change!"

Lennox placed his hands on her shoulders and got her to look at him, "No; Carol listen to me, go into the dining room and sit down. You'll be fine."

Her eyes darted violently to the door, her embarrassment writhing in her chest. She didn't even dress like this for special occasions, and Optimus Prime had seen her! Her head was throbbing from the sudden stress, "But-!"

"It's okay. Go and sit with Sarah, she'll explain everything. Go."

He pried her away from the wall and gently pushed her towards the kitchen before turning to the door that had just been slammed.

On the other side of the door, Optimus Prime was in a state of shock.

Lennox had not warned him about something like this, was Carolinaa's reaction normal; expected? Had he done something wrong?

A shaking, almost whining noise came from behind him, and as he turned he realized that it was Bumblebee in his Alt mode that was trembling in the driveway. He was laughing at him.

This meant that clearly Carolina's response was not supposed to happen; he'd obviously done something he wasn't supposed to.

Maybe it was the fact that he'd been distracted by the way she looked? But how in the name of Primus had he been supposed to not stare?

Human diversity was truly astounding; he'd had no idea that changing the texture of their hair or the function of their clothing could have such complimenting effects.

She had looked...incomparable... The sort of magnificence that would have a Cybertronian plucking star from the sky just to name them after her.

He felt the Spark in his truck swell with an unusual feeling; a desire to claim.

Before he could assess the possessiveness that jolted through him, the door opened again to reveal Lennox, his expression amused but apologetic.

"Sorry about that Optimus...We uh...didn't tell her you were coming tonight; it was a surprise."

So that was why she reacted so uncharacteristically, Optimus thought to himself with relief, she was simply startled...

"I confess, she did seem...surprised..." he gave a deep sigh and placed his forehead in his hand, massaging the Holoform's temples in a frustrated manner. "I'm confused, did I...do something wrong?"

Lennox looked up at the taller man, still in awe of the complexity he had. It was the perfect physical encompassment of Prime himself; he just didn't get to see it very often, because Optimus had no need to use it around him and the other soldiers.

Carolina was different, he'd seen the gentle, tender interactions between the robot and the mechanic and he had no doubt that Optimus allowed them more human interactions.

But as he'd recalled Optimus saying, he'd clearly not yet actually kissed Carolina.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he explained, gesturing for the leader to make his way inside the house, "She's just...embarrassed with the way Sarah and the other girls dressed her up. I doubt she's used to all this... Come on into the dining room; Sarah's explaining everything to her."