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As soon as the last taillights winked out from Ratchet's view, he turned to Ironhide who was in recharge in his alt a few meters away. He reached out and nudged Ironhide once, then twice before the latter finally went online with a rumble of engines. With a lot of willpower he transformed and his optics glanced around, slightly disoriented. When he spotted Ratchet sitting next to him, he smiled a soft soft smile and shuffled a bit closer. "G'morning", Ironhide rumbled with a silent feedback, voice box still loading, while Ratchet leaned slightly into his side. Their servos intertwined lightly and for the next few minutes they simply enjoyed the other's presence, sitting in the morning light, basking in the warmth of the sun and enjoying the early quiet while the distant city was still half asleep.
Ratchet reached for the whiteboard behind one of the old cars where the little human had explained to their group the term 'LGBTQIA+', after Mirage had ended up in a pride parade where the participants had attached rainbow flags to his carrosserie and stickers to his bumper. "I still cannot believe humans are more advanced in this field than we are. They are surprisingly accepting of diversity considering their early stage of existence." Ratchet said while picking up the whiteboard and brushing his thumb lightly over the 'G' written in orange, mindful not to smear it. Underneath it was written 'Gay' and at the bottom written ‘EVERYONE IS VALID' in all caps with a big black marker. "Although the little human said, only a very very small percentage of the population is accepting and in some places, they even get hunted down." Ironhide corrected him, a bitter undertone to his words. "You… have a point. But it is nice to know that there is a term to describe… whatever we have going on. And to have confirmation that our code isn't messed up or corrupted." Ratchet replied, a hint of hopeful desperation tinging his quietly spoken words. Silence settled over them again, as they were both lost in thought.
Ironhide watched Ratchet read the whiteboard again, noticing how his optics flickered over the neatly written words and how the early morning light reflected off of them. How he brushed his thumb every now and then over the orange 'G', so lightly, as if it was something sacred. Like already the tiniest smudge could destroy this perfect little bubble where everything seemed possible, where they may not have to fear or worry about hate and rejection, where it was only the two of them and this fragile, yet strong, feeling of hope. He took his time admiring and appreciating every tiny highlight and reflection cast upon Ratchet by the early morning sun, making him look even more dashing in Ironhide's optics.
The birds began to chirp and the distant city slowly came to life, the smell of burnt gas and the sound of engines roaring to life filling the air. Fortunately the two lovers were far enough from the city to be unfazed by these interruptions and their little bubble of warmth and safety stayed intact.
A small thought crossed Ironhide's processor, which slowly turned into an idea. They didn't get a chance yesterday but now they were alone for half of the day. Ironhide squeezed Ratchet's servo - which was still in his - lightly to get his attention. Ratchet peeled his optics away from the whiteboard and looked at Ironhide, about to say something. The latter cupped his cheek and pulled him in close, watching with delight at how Ratchet's optics widened with surprise and mild embarrassment. He pulled Ratchet closer until their dermas were centimeters away, his optics shifting rapidly from Ratchet's optics then to his dermas and back up again. The air around them was so thick with anticipation and nervousness they could cut it with a knife and feed it to the birds. Ironhide took a deep invent and closed the distance, both their optics fluttering shut as their dermas met. It was soft, slow and sweet and the pressure mounting on them dissolved that instant. Only they existed, only this mattered, in this precious moment where they finally allowed themselves to be vulnerable and drop any facade. Ratchet slowly set the whiteboard down on the dirty floor near him so he could lean harder into the kiss. Ironhide separated their servos, which were still intertwined from before, and wrapped one arm lightly around Ratchet's waist, to keep him close but give him enough space to pull away if wanted to. Eventually they broke away from the kiss and pressed their forehelms together, basking in each other’s presence.
"As much as I hate to interrupt this very sweet and important moment… we should really do that check-up." Ratchet's voice cut through the silence, oddly soft for him. Ironhide's optics fluttered open and he stared at Ratchet for a while. "Seriously? Can't that wait? I was… how do humans call it again…", he muttered under his breath, "... on cloud nine." "I do realise that it may not be the best moment, but Optimus can't keep the other's on mission and patrol forever. He could get us at best another hour. So let's do the check-up now and then we see how to proceed further." Ratchet concluded before they started bickering.
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The check-up was tedious. First Ironhide got scanned, then different logs were checked and he was scanned again. All the while Ironhide tried to steal kisses until Ratchet had enough and scolded him. "How am I supposed to work when you won't stop moving?! Do I have to force you into stasis or something??" He snapped, exasperated. "Calm down, you don't want to fry a circuit, do you?" Ironhide replied, a playful lilt to his tone. Instead of giving Ironhide the satisfaction of an answer, Ratchet ignored him and proceeded as if he were just a pile of scrap metal getting searched for any useful parts. Once the routine on the pile of scrap metal- err, Ironhide reached its conclusion, Ratchet picked up a small bottle of motor oil the little human had generously bought them. It was rare to get oil on Cybertron, but on earth it was nearly everywhere. Although, resources were decreasing drastically. He uncapped the bottle without too much hassle, being used to handling small things due to his profession as a medic, and started oiling Ironhide's joints with practiced motions, his precision unfaltering even as Ironhide squirmed because it tickled lightly.
Once Ironhide was all done and sat up, Ratchet proceeded to list an endless number of things Ironhide should and shouldn't do. Ironhide zoned out, revisiting the memory of their first kiss shared only hours ago. He must have had a dreamy look on his faceplate, because Ratchet stopped talking and Ironhide realised too late. "I uhm… I was thinking of how nice it would be if we could go on patrol together once!" Ironhide said, maybe a bit too enthusiastic, judging by how Ratchet crossed his arms. Then a small smile crept on his dermas. "Oh... that would be a wonderful opportunity to drone on about what you should and shouldn't do so I don’t have to take a *rat's tail* out of your *pede* next check-up." Ironhide glanced at the tail lying a few meters away and shuddered at the thought that he had been home to a rodent for a while.
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They had found themselves drawn closer to each other again and were now sitting on a pile of old, rusty cars, watching how the midday sun shone on this blue planet and bathed everything in light and colour. They were merely waiting for the others to come back so they could all discuss the various mission reports and decide how they should further proceed.
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-Communication channel between ‘Ratchet’, ‘Ironhide’, ‘Optimus Prime’ established successfully-
::Ratchet, Ironhide, we are on our way back. Check-up completed?::
::Affirmative, Prime. Everything is alright with the oldtimer.::
::I am the same age as you, Ratchet…::
-‘Bumblebee’ entered the communication channel-
::The little human wanted to say hi :D::
::Me and Ironhide say 'hi' back, Bee::
::Told them!!::
-Communication channel between ‘Ratchet’, ‘Ironhide’, ‘Optimus Prime’, ‘Bumblebee’ closed successfully-
-All data deleted-