Beyond (TF: Animated)

Chapter 8

[He's late], Bumblebee thought. His digits drummed a quick rhythm on the side of his ped while his gaze flickered between the horizon and the dark, acicular trees in front of him. It had been about a week since the last contact, they both had agreed upon taking that time in between in fear of giving themselves away if they rushed things now. As agonizing as that might have been. Bee knew that Ratchet, and everyone else, were already suspicious about him, and although they didn't catch him yet and it had died down a little, getting them on his tailpipe again was just about the last thing he needed. Now that it finally seemed to be going his way again. He had spend a lot of time with the grumpy old medic, and, against all expectations - especially his own - didn't actually hate learning first aid things that much. But that could also be because it was one of the few effective distractions he had, along with teaming up with Sari with pranking the DocBot instead of listening to his lectures. Then they always had to step on it.

Suddenly, Bumblebee's audials picked up the faint roar of an engine through the trees. I stopped shortly after. A smile formed on the 'bot's faceplate as he turned around to where even more trees were. He heard distant pedesteps approaching, quickly growing louder. The smile morphed into a devilish grin at the idea forming in his processor, and in a second, he ran off into the forest to the left.

Stalking slowly through the snow and around thick tree trunks, Bee had his optics locked on the tall, dark figure in front of him that was his target. One step, another, a third. Just as the ex-'Con was bathed in grey, he hoped that his own shiny paint job would also be absorbed by the darkness of this winter evening. There were no clouds or so, the sun had simply set hours ago already. The yellow bot bent down and picked up a servo full of snow from the forest floor. Forming it into a ball, he slowly gained on his target until he decided that he was close enough and hid behind a large, snow-ladden thicket. Then, he got into position.

The 'thud' wasn't actually that loud, but it rang through the silence like a cannon shot. Bee retreated around the corner as the larger cybertronian turned around, puzzled, and came back. Then, he decided that that might not be enough, leapt and dove helmfirst into the thicket. From the inside, he observed pedes coming, hesitating, then walking off again. [Ha! He didn't find me!] Secure about his situation, he crawled out from beneath the branches again, straightened up, blinked twice and stretched his limbs. "I'm over h- oooof!" A miniature avalanche, that's what he would have described it to be like. Next thing he knew, he slid across the ground on his behind. When he came to a stop after a few feet, the giant snowball crumbled apart in his lap. He stared at it, dazed, then looked up and fixed his gaze on the ex-'Con's tall figure, who was standing behind a tree with a huge crown. It's branches were bending under the weight of the snow it was carrying. Bee's optics narrowed. [Just you wait!] The yellow one didn't have time to look at what Blitzwing was doing, as, without another word, he transformed and sped off on a collision course with the tree on full throttle. "I zhink jou need to readjust jour heading", Bee heard him comment as his hood connected with the tree. Half a second later, the triple-changer was buried kneeplates-deep in snow. " You think?" "Vhat zhe!?"

Bumblebee transformed back. The sight was priceless. The large Con standing there, powdered in white, startled, with a fluffy-looking hat thingy on his helm. Wing's leading edges and cannon attachment unit were also coated in fine flakes. He looked precisely like this self-multiplying saint-class guy Bee and Sari had seen at the downtown shopping centre. "Shall I be your reindeer?", Bee teased. The other one stared at him, unphased, and with pretended unamusement. "What? Loss of words?" The yellow one leaned with his servo against the tree, [frag is this cold!], crossed his pedes and placed the other servo on his upper ped joint. "It's only wise of you to surrender." "Vhat makes jou zhink I vould do zhat?" Bee closed his optics to truly savor this victory. It was a moment that had to be celebrated! "Because your opponent is the Detroit Master of Winter Fights!" "Vhat rustbucket declared jou zhat?" "I did. I won the championship." The Ex-'Con sighed. "Zhat's just because zhe only two opponents willing to participate vere zhe ninja and zhe girl. And in zhe end jou didn't even fight zhe ninja!" Icicles creaked. "Details don't matter", the smaller one responded, but standing around like this began to get boring, so he straightened up. Or tried, that is. "What in?!" He frantically started pulling his servo. As it turned out, the sound hadn't been icicles creaking, but instead it had been his servo, being frozen to the tree trunk by an ice ray. The struggle to free himself only led to him sliding out on the newly placed layer of ice beneath his pedes, leaving him dangling from the tree, unable to regain his footage or even steady himself, let alone being able to get rid of this chilly cuff, while hysterical laughter filled his audials. He turned his helm around to look over his shoulder plate to see what Blitzwing was up to, and almost burst out laughing himself. His partner had just shaken himself, so now he wasn't powdered anymore, but rather caught in a huge white cloud. He cautiously observed his prey, curious about what his next move would be. Bumblebee stared back at him. He was growing impatient. "Well... Don't just stand there. Give me a servo!", he demanded. But the ex-'Con didn't move an inch. "Blitzbrain, get over here to collect your revenge! ... You know what? Forget the revenge, help me! ... Ugh okay fine, can you help me, PLEASE? ... How long do you want to keep this up?!"

By this time, Bee had managed to get a grip with his pedes on the tree trunk, where there was no ice anymore, now leaning into the pull with all his body's strength. Which wasn't all that much. He rolled his optics. "Alright, alright! I admit it! You won! Now could you help me get free now?" "Of course, vhat else vould I do, sweet little Bee?", he chuckled as he strolled over. Bumblebee grumbled. He didn't appreciate being called that. He also didn't pay attention to Blitzwing kneeling down beside him as he continued his struggle on full effort. Suddenly, his servo quickly grew pretty warm, then, the connection snapped and the momentum of his pull hurtled him backwards. He fell over and slid a little on his back, only coming to a stop when two strong servos grabbed his shoulder plates from behind. "Apologies. I didn't mean to make jou fall zhis time." He blinked at the molten ice, which was already starting to resolidify. "Oh I'm fine with falling, as long as it's you who's going to catch me."

The smaller one scrambled onto his pedes and turned around, twitching at the sudden close proximity of their faceplates. His gaze traveled upwards, where he discovered an expectant glow in his partner's optic, mesmerizing. Something strong was being wrapped around him, just beneath the roof extension on his back, pulling him closer. He stretched, standing on pede-tips. Blitzwing bent down even more. Bee's servos traveled up his opposite's chest and shoulder plating, taking in every scar and every scratch and every single howsoever small imperfection that were such a huge part of this robot and that he admired so much and that the one whose they were was so ashamed of. Closer. He felt his helm being steadied by his partner's other servo. Closer. Bee's servos reached the spinal chords. He closed his optics. Blitzwing did as well. Their derma connected. Time slowed down. The world around faded out. Everything else became unimportant. Bee noticed himself being lifted a little from the ground. One of his servos had somehow found it's way to now stroking the lower edge of the taller one's helm, the other one moved upwards, clutching the upper end of the neckcables. Chills of excitement ran up his own spinal chords as his partner's digits began to draw lines on his back with quite some pressure. He felt himself floating in a warm and soft and peaceful and beautiful space, yet at the same time, it was like skydiving in an upsidedown rollercoaster. His whole faceplate prickled, actually, his whole body did, and he was tensed to the edge, but this was the polar opposite of that battlefield tension most Cybertronians had to cope with at some point. This was amazing. And it hadn't even been their first time, but the first in a long time indeed, and certainty the best so far. Eternity.

Eventually, they broke apart. Bumblebee felt the ground beneath his pedes again, his partner got up on one kneeplate. Their gazes were locked, taking in the last of what had just happened. "So, vhat are ve gonna do now?", Blitzwing finally asked, breaking the trance. The yellow one grinned, audial-wide. He turned around and started walking away through the dark forest, into the direction of the city. "Come on, Blitzbrain. I know just the place to be!", he declared, before bursting into a run, with the triple-changer hurriedly following.
The attentive observer could have picked up the faint sound of multiple jet engines in the distance.

This was... Interesting to write. But fun. I hope it is as romantic and as funny as I intended it to be...