Another old writing warm-up, based on the prompt "ring/s."

Spike stepped out of the auto store, struggling to balance the stack of oil cans in his arms. Peering over the pile, he walked toward the yellow bug parked at the curb.

"Need a hand with those, kid?" A man asked as he walked past.

"No, thanks; I've got it." Spike reached the car and tapped its front tire with a foot. "Open up, Bumblebee, my hands are full."

Instantly, the bug's back door swung open. Spike arranged his cargo in the back seat, ignoring the stares from passerby. The door slammed itself shut when he'd finished, and he himself slid into the passenger's seat.

"Was that all your dad needed?" A disembodied voice asked. It seemed to emanate from the car's stereo—a young male voice, with a slight Brooklyn accent.

"Yep," Spike replied, reclining in his seat. "Let's get back to the shop. He said to hurry."

The car's engine roared to life. With no apparent guidance from its passenger, it maneuvered itself out of the parking space onto the road. Spike propped his feet up on the dashboard. A car that drove itself would have unnerved some people, but when you hung out with Autobots as much as Spike did, you got used to it. And Bumblebee was a better driver than most humans, anyway.

The aforementioned Autobot-in-disguise was unusually silent as they rode through the streets. It was a minute or two before he spoke up. "Something funny happened while you were in the store."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. There were these two humans, a male and a female, standing across the street. Then the male suddenly knelt down and pulled out a little box, and the female went crazy! She was jumping up and down and yelling and crying, all at the same time!" Bumblebee paused. "It was weird."

"Oh, really?" Spike tried to hide his smile. Even after all this time with the Autobots, he was still surprised by their lack of knowledge about Earth culture. Of course, they were from another planet; there was no reason they should know about human customs. After all, he didn't know many of their customs either. Still, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Actually, Bumblebee, it wasn't weird; it's a common occurrence on Earth." Spike began. "See, when a guy wants to marry someone—you know what 'marriage' is, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when a guy wants to marry a girl, he buys a ring for her. And he usually gives it to her kneeling on one knee. The guy you saw was probably proposing to his girlfriend, and she was yelling and crying because she was excited."

"Oh." Bumblebee mulled this information over. "Do all humans do that when they want to get married?"

"Not all of them, but a lot." A question occurred to Spike suddenly. "Did Cybertron have any customs like that?"

"Giving rings?"

"Yeah."

Bumblebee thought for a minute. "I'm not sure… we didn't see much of that during the war, and I haven't been around long enough to know what life was like before then. But hey," Bumblebee's tone turned joking, "Why don't we just ask Prime what he'll do to propose to Elita One?"

Spike stifled a laugh. "Good idea, Bumblebee—then I can see if Autobots blush or not."

...Yeah, I hate the ending. :P Thanks for reading, though!