𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆 | 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨

ix. the price paid to love

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄
'𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝗂𝖼𝖾 𝗉𝖺𝗂𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾'

✶ ☽ ⚔︎ ☾ ✶

. ˚✧ 𝑹𝑶𝑶𝑭𝑻𝑶𝑷 𝑰𝑵 𝑰𝑨𝑪𝑶𝑵 – 𝑺𝑲𝒀 * . •

𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐀 bit of fun to their dark-cycle life. With every meetup, it was like a rush of doing something they weren't supposed to even if they technically weren't–at least not yet.

Skywing was a little confused about what seemed to change this dark-cycle. She enjoyed his company, though if she admitted that out loud, she feared his ego might overflow. 

She'd keep the information to herself for now.

But enjoying his company didn't mean doing anything bizarre. To her, she enjoyed the two sitting in silence or chatting about random things in the Observatory. She also enjoyed flying with him, even if she had to carry the mech and avoid patrols. It was fun to watch him keep up with her when he decided he wanted to run or drive along after her.

It was casual, it was easy, and it felt real. That's what she loved about it. It was like a fresh canvas on top of hers that was practically peeling with the amount of layers on it.

But now she was more than a little confused when Neo told her he wanted to do something different. He had caught her interest, a genuine curiosity luring the femme to follow the mech to do something else in that dark-cycle.

Normally their activities didn't draw much attention, for the most part, but this was certainly...attention-grabbing.

First, it was the fact that he took her to get some energon at a much too fancy place. It drew more optics than she would've liked, nor was she used to after being pretty restricted on Vos.

She thought that might've been the end of it, but her amused confusion continued as he insistently began trying to buy her things. It was relentless, not even looking at the price before he'd be shut down by her.

He was shut down yet again when he suggested an appearance at a party or two he had been invited to as the celebrity gladiator he was.

By then, annoyance creeping into her systems, she flew them up to a rooftop, much to his confusion, shaking her helm. "Alright, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Neo replied with his usual casualness, the act he'd been trying to uphold prevailing.

"Your many attempts..." she clarified with little room for denial, watching him falter, "If you truly believe that that was the best way to impress me, you're deeply mistaken."

His expression hardened slightly, and only for a moment did his mask falter as the femme in front of him furrowed her optic-ridges in determination.

"Let me make this clear. I have the things I need. I don't need you to flaunt what you have. What I need, you haven't been able to show me you're capable of handling it. I have bots to protect, duties to uphold, so I don't have time for your games." Her glyphs were fast-spoken, each a little faster than the next as her frustration and lack of patience were quite audible.

Her glyphs were like a puzzle, not entirely clear or vague but she didn't know that he had all the pieces.  He had been annoyingly paying attention to everything he could, as she could always feel his optics.

"Why would you keep me around if I'm so...time-consuming?" Neo smirked almost knowingly as they stared one another down, neither willing to back down or step away.