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The next morning was Christmas, but the base was frigidly cold. I buried my helm under the blankets and curled into a ball to keep warm. The base was never cold like this. In the other berth I could hear Optimus stirring. "Mm...why is it so cold?" he asked. "I don't know," I replied, my voice somewhat muffled by the blankets. The warmth of the blankets wasn't quite sufficient enough, and I found myself still shivering. "Someone must've turned the heat all the way down," Optimus stated,"It never gets this cold." "Optimus, can I uh...lie with you for a few minutes?" I asked, peeking my helm out of the covers, then holding back my squeak of discomfort as cold air hit my face-plates. Optimus smiled and scooted over,"Of course." I quickly tossed off my blankets and with one bound, hit the floor, then climbed into Optimus' berth. Optimus pulled the sheets over me, then snuggled me closer to his chassis. I didn't mind. I curled up with my entire frame pressed against his, sighing contentedly as his warmth soaked into me. Optimus wrapped an arm around my waist and rested his helm just above mine. The cold was soon forgotten and I slowly drifted off to sleep again. When I awoke again, Optimus was no longer lying next to me, but the base was much warmer than before. I quickly sat up in alarm, just as Optimus walked back in. "Sorry," he whispered,"I didn't mean to wake you. The base just kept getting colder so I got up to fix the problem." "And the problem was?" I asked as he locked the door again. "Hexia had turned the thermostat all the way down, and was attempting to turn it down even lower when I arrived," Optimus explained, climbing back into the berth with me. I remained sitting,"What were her motives, other than a massive hangover?" Optimus chuckled, but then his optics saddened,"You do not want to know." "Of course I do," I replied,"Would I ask if I didn't?" Optimus sighed and rubbed his fore-helm. "Her purpose for turning down the thermostat was to complain to me she was too cold and wished to share my berth," Optimus muttered, his face-plates coloring,"I told her 'no' and escorted her back to Wheeljack's room." My face-plates also colored, but with an angry blush. "Hexia really gets on my nerves," I sighed, lying down again. Optimus smiled at me, then softly stroked my cheek and ran his thumb digit over my dermas,"You are my one and only, Chardirakii. There is no other femme in my spark but you. Hexia may try and seduce me, but it shall never work." I smiled,"Yeah, I was kinda hopeful I'd get a loyal Sparkmate." Optimus chuckled again, then wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close once more. "I love you so much," he whispered into my hair. My only response was to sigh and press closer to him. ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''"""""""""""""""""" Suddenly we were both awakened by loud banging on the door. ::CHRISTMAAAS!!:: Bumblebee whirred excitedly. I giggled and Optimus smiled sleepily. "Thank you for the wake-up call, Bumblebee," he called, then stretched. I grabbed his helm and pulled Optimus in for a soft kiss. The Prime closed his optics, then slid his digits through my loose hair and kissed me back. "Merry Christmas, darling," I smiled once we pulled apart again. Optimus smiled back, then kissed my fore-helm,"Merry Christmas, my love." "Mr. Prime," I snickered. Optimus smirked, then pulled me close for a hard, passionate kiss that just took my breath away. I gasped slightly, then smiled onto his dermas and put both my servos on the back of his helm and pulled him even closer with a soft growl. Optimus let out a low groan and slid his servos lower down my back-plates to rest on my hips, his thumb digits softly caressing my waist. "Hey, Optimus! Chardirakii! You coming out yet?!" Bulkhead called, knocking softly on the door. Optimus pulled away, breaking the kiss and I whimpered slightly in disappointment. "Yes, Bulkhead," he answered. Once the Wrecker was gone, Optimus sighed and turned back to me. "Now, where were we?" he asked, leaning closer. I pressed two digits to his dermas,"We should...probably go now. Before anyone...suspects something." Optimus sighed again, then took my servo touching his dermas and lightly kissed the back of my digits,"Very well." I pulled my servo and lightly smacked him on the shoulder-plate with a playful grin before swinging my legs out of the berth and walking over to grab my helm-armor. Once my hair was braided and coiled up inside the helmet, I felt a light kiss on the back of my neck-cables and two servos rest on my waist. I sighed and softly bit my bottom derma, leaning against Optimus slightly. "Shall we?" he asked, his breath warm on my neck-cables. I chuckled and spun out of his arms,"Any longer and we'll be late, Prime." I unlocked the door and walked out, Optimus following. I was grateful to see we weren't the last ones up. Smokescreen, Wheeljack, and Hexia were still in their rooms, the others were awake though. "Good morning," I greeted them all with a smile. Ultra Magnus and Ratchet just nodded, but Bumblebee jumped to his peds and gave me a huge hug. ::Merry Christmas!:: he beeped. I laughed and hugged the sweet mech back,"Thanks, Bee. Merry Christmas to you as well." Smokescreen walked in, rubbing his optics and yawning,"What time is it?" "Precisely 5:54 am," Ultra Magnus replied, then looked down at his wrist,"Ah! Make that 5:55 am." "Oh okay. Only five minutes early," Smokescreen said as he walked by me,"Merry Christmas, Chardirakii." "Merry Christmas," I replied. Wheeljack and Hexia got up five minutes after six, and Bulkhead decided to have a little fun. "Sooo," he said, wrapping his arm around his friend's shoulder-plate,"Have a good time last night?" "You bet!" Wheeljack replied,"I don't even have a hangover!" I raised an optic ridge. It usually took only one drink for me and I'd have a splitting helm-ache in the morning. How many had Wheeljack had? Ten? Eighteen? Hexia patted my shoulder-plate as she passed me,"Mornin', Char...Optimus." "Good morning, Hexia," we greeted her. Once everyone was less tired (except for Bumblebee, he was too excited to be tired) we all gathered around the tree and handed one another gifts. I received one gift, a fairly large box with three holes in each side. I waited until everyone was finished opening their gifts, thinking to be polite. "C'mon, Chardirakii," Arcee urged me excitedly,"Open it." From the grins on all their face-plates I had a sneaking suspicion this had been a co-operative gift from them all. I undid the ribbon and reached to take the lid of the box off. Something popped out the second my claws touched the lid and I let out a surprised yelp. Then my optics widened at what was inside. A baby cyber-panther, probably about three months old, was looking up at me with sweet lime-green optics. I covered my intake with a servo and fought back tears, but a soft squeal of pure joy still erupted from my voice-box. It was so cute! The cyber-panther mewled and tried to climb out of the box, its big paws scrabbling to find a good footing. "Oh my Primus," I whispered hoarsely, reaching down and picking it up,"Where...how..?" "We went on a secret mission to Cybertron to find you an animal companion," Ultra Magnus explained,"It was risky, but we found this little one crying beside its offlined carrier and decided to bring it back with us." "As a gift for you," Arcee added with a huge grin. ::Do you like it?:: Bumblebee asked. I softly hugged the little cyber-panther, who mewled again and snuggled against my chassis. "I love it," I said, a huge smile spreading over my face-plates.
