Work Text:
“We’re late.”
Drift hummed unbothered, glancing up briefly from his datapad as he sat cross legged on Perceptor’s workstation.
“ Fashionably late.” He turned back to quickly type out something before adding, “We all know your social meter runs rather short so we should wait for the peak to get there.”
Perceptor…couldn’t quite argue with that logic, but he still felt the anxiety ticking through his frame, his processor tracking the kliks that passed, of the time he was missing, wasting.
For once, he had actually planned to spend the entire night at Swerve’s Holiday Bash . He hadn’t initially when the invitation was sent to nearly every mech aboard the Lost Light over a month ago. In his servos, he held the flimsy tin pamphlet adorn with tiny, twinkly lights and glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. It promised music, drinks and “ fun, Earth customs!” with a crudely drawn snowman holding a cube of energon. Perceptor was going to toss it away, ignore the social gather in favor of focusing on his work but…
His optics darted to the other half of the lab currently unoccupied. Its inhabitant was on the other side of the ship. Probably enjoying music and drinks and whatever Swerve’s best guess at Earth holiday festivities included.
Brainstorm had been giddy when he had received the invitation. His golden optics had met Perceptor’s and casually asked if Perceptor would be going to. Any thoughts of spending the night alone had flown out the window as he gave his lab partner a single, solid nod.
It seemed now, he was back to his usual plans. He wasn’t sure why Drift had insisted they would go together, only to keep Perceptor held up in his lab for nearly an hour, but…it felt like the cosmic forces were against him. Or maybe just Drift. Despite his neutral, calm demeanor, Perceptor felt the other mech was hiding something from him.
“The party is going to be over before we get there,” Perceptor tried again.
Both of Drift’s optic ridges rose as he met Perceptor’s gaze. “Trust me, it won’t. Rodimus is usually the last to leave and I know for a fact he plans to spend the whole night-”
An alert sounded from Drift’s datapad. He immediately looked at it, cutting off his train of thought. A bright grin flashed across his faceplates as he jumped off the counter.
“Actually, let’s go now.”
Suspicion rose across Perceptor’s frame but…he checked his internal chronometer. Brainstorm had left with Nautica and Velocity nearly an hour ago. Perceptor didn’t want to waste anymore time, suspicions and Drift’s general weirdness aside.
“Okay,” he said, standing up quickly, hoping it didn’t come off eager .
Judging by Drift’s widening grin, it did.
They walked in silence. Perceptor forced his pace to remain slow and even, despite wanting to rush down the halls as quickly as possible. He had been amping himself up for weeks about finally making a move and talk to Brainstorm, taking those weeks to plan out his words, gathering up the courage to cross the invisible barrier of lab partners to something more . He was ready and he didn’t want to delay it any further. He just want to get to Swerve’s, find Brainstorm and take him aside to a small, secluded booth and-
A firm hand grabbed Perceptor by the wrist, halting his pace just as the doors to Swerve’s came before them.
Perceptor couldn’t even hold back his annoyance as Drift gave him a sheepish smile.
“One more minute.”
“Why?”
It came out blunt, almost rude. Perceptor only briefly felt bad for his callousness.
Drift opened his mouth to explain but before he could, the doors to Swerve’s opened his optics widened. With two firm hands, Drift pushed Perceptor through the opening, an apologetic wince on his faceplates.
Perceptor stumbled. He bumped into someone and braced his hands against them for support. An apology on his lips as he turned and-
“Percy!” Brainstorm yelped. His golden optics were wide, wingtips twitching with embarrassment as he clung to Perceptor. Behind him, Chromedome stood, his arm still outstretched. “I didn’t know you were coming in! Or that you were coming at all! I thought you weren’t interested or…” the words died in Brainstorm’s intake as the jet’s optics rose up to the doorway. Embarrassment, dread and anxious desperate worry curled around his field, brushing up against Perceptor’s. “Sorry.”
Perceptor remained unmoving as he let his own optics follow Brainstorm’s, landing on a curious bundle of colored aluminum, mangled to look almost like…a flower?
Almost like…a mistletoe…
Oh.
Perceptor’s brief stint on Earth had given him a crash course on Earth and its inhabitant’s culture. Even more so, his own research had supplemented the rest. Even if the craftsmanship of the mistletoe was shoddy at best, its intent was still beyond apparent.
“We…” Brainstorm’s intake made an audible click, “...on Earth, they have to…when humans stand under it…they have to…” the words trailed off once more, Brainstorm’s optics staring at Perceptor’s in complete and utter dismay.
Distantly, Perceptor was aware of multiple eyes on them: Swerve, at the bar, grinning bright and wide; Chromdedome, Nautica and Velocity forming a small crowd beside them; Drift surely as well behind him.
Oh. He turned his gaze from Brainstorm to throw a withering glare at Drift. Unaffected, Drift only nodded his helm back to Brainstorm, ushering with his hands for Perceptor to get on with it .
Evidentially, this had all been planned. Perceptor…didn’t have time to dwell on that. Not with Brainstorm attempting to shrink himself as small as possible while still in Perceptor’s hold.
“Kiss,” Perceptor murmured, dropping his voice low. “Traditionally, speaking.” Brainstorm’s optics were glued to Perceptor, wide and fearful . It made Perceptor’s spark drop painfully. Weeks of courage and weeks of pep talks and weeks of planning all swirling down the drain as he whispered, “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Brainstorm blinked, slow and owlishly. “If…If I don’t want to?”
A sickly warmth crawled up Perceptor’s cheeks. Leave it to Brainstorm to dissect the meaning of his words now . “Yes,” Perceptor gave a faint nod, his optics closing as he added, “I am…not opposed.”
The silence was deafening.
Perceptor began calculating the probability of socially ever being able to recover from this. It truly depended on the Rodimus and Whirl factors. If they were here and watching, the ridicule would be endless. Though with Drift watching behind him, the sting would last a bit longer. He would just have to hole up in his lab for a few weeks. Unless Brainstorm still wanted to be lab partner, then he’d have to steer clear of the labs and-
His thoughts were interrupted with a quiet hiss of depressurization. Before he could open his optics, soft, warm melt brushed against his lips. Shyly, almost timid.
Hope, horrible and all consuming hope, burst in his chest as he reached forward, one hand finding Brainstorm’s arm and the other cupping his cheek.
“Is this okay?” Brainstorm asked quietly, ringing in Perceptor’s audials.
“Yes.” Perceptor onlined his optics to meet Brainstorm’s. “Is this okay with you?”
His grin was on full display, blast mask hanging gingerly between two digits. “Absolutely, Percy.”