Hello everyone!
I hope this chapter comes to you at a good time. Be warned, it's a big one.

I have no warnings for this chapter.
These characters are not mine, I am just playing around with them. Enjoy!

"And the concept of 'timshel', I found it very interesting" Soundwave smiled over the rim of his energon cube. He watched as Prowl nodded vigorously, his doorwings were hiked up high.

"Humans truly have a talent for creating words that mean so much" Prowl agreed, "I deeply enjoyed that theme as well".

"At the spark of it, what would you consider the theme to be?" Soundwave leaned further over the table, "agency?".

"perhaps" Prowl murmured, before adding, "and the awareness and weight of free choice".

"I suppose that is a trait we share with the humans"

"I do believe you are correct".

Both mechs nodded and hummed before leaning back to rest into their chairs. Soundwave took a moment to glance around the rec. room, where he and Prowl had decided to share their mid-day fuel. The room was lively, however, quiet enough to allow for a private conversation. Prowl had offered for the two mechs to take their fuel in his private office, however, the rec room had a pleasant atmosphere, and a booth was available.

Soundwave had been looking forward to this lunch for a few days. About a week prior, Prowl had handed Soundwave a mysterious datapad. The Praxian had suggested that Soundwave read the human novel downloaded onto the datapad, and report back. At first Soundwave found himself filled with confusion at the request, however, within a few pages of the novel, he found himself deeply submerged with interest.

The novel was called 'East of Eden', it was written by a human called John Steinbeck. Soundwave did not recognize the name, however, Prowl assured him that the author was well known among the humans.

Within the span of 5 days, Soundwave mowed through the 600+ page novel. Had more free time been available to the telepath, those days would likely have been cut in half. As Prowl had warned him, the datapad had been near impossible to put down. After completing his duties for the day and tending to his creations, Soundwave occupied much of his time with his optics glued to the screen. On a few of the nights, especially towards the end of the novel, Blaster had almost had to pry the datapad from Soundwave's servos to keep his boyfriend from going a night with no recharge. Soundwave appreciated Blaster's consideration… begrudgingly at the time.

On the 6th day, Soundwave had reached out to Prowl in hopes to set up a meeting about the novel. However, their busy schedules did not align on that day. Thus, exactly one week after Prowl gave him the datapad, they met for lunch to discuss it. They talked about the characters, themes, writing style, and of course the word 'timshel'.

Soundwave smiled fondly at his companion. It was so refreshing to have a mech like Prowl in his midst. This kind of friendship, one built on a shared interest of intellectual subjects, was such a novelty to Soundwave. He hadn't been able to have discussions on these kinds of subjects in a very long time. Back on the Nemesis, his reputation as Megatron's lap dog hadn't exactly granted him a lot of trust from the crew. Not to mention the fact that Decepticon high command didn't often have friendships. There was no time, nor trust. Families and bonded trines were seemingly the only exception.

Now however, Soundwave had found a friend in Prowl. It certainly didn't hurt that Prowl shared Soundwave's interests in his tastes of literature, research, and discussion. Soundwave had never been a mech who needed a lot of friends. So long as he had his cassettes, he could be content. For eons, he had assumed that the company of any other mech would be unnecessary. Now, here on the Ark, Soundwave found himself proven wrong; first by Blaster, then by Prowl, and then by Jazz. He didn't mind at all.

"Thank you, again" Soundwave held out the borrowed datapad, "I very much enjoyed reading this novel. However, I enjoyed discussing it with you even more".

For a moment, Prowl hesitated. Then, wordlessly, he plucked the datapad from Soundwave's servo. The Praxian's doorwings twitched for a moment as he rummaged through his subspace. Soundwave blinked at the sudden silence. Prowl, suddenly finding what he was searching for, pulled out a small info-bank drive. He plugged the miniscule device into the datapad and selected a few options on the screen.

Soundwave tilted his helm and regarded his companion. For a brief moment, Prowl glanced up and met Soundwave's optics. The first lieutenant flashed a mysterious smile at his friend before diverting his optics back to the screen. Even more perplexed, Soundwave leaned back into his chair and focused on polishing off his cube of mid-grade. In a sudden fluid motion, Prowl yanked the drive from the datapad and held out the datapad for Soundwave to take. Soundwave hesitated, then reached out to take the offered device when Prowl gave it a small shake.

"I have not removed 'East of Eden', I have simply added another novel to the datapad for you" Prowl stated as he tucked the info-drive back into his subspace.

"You did?" Soundwave breathed as he powered the screen back up. He glanced at the two novels, now displayed like a minuscule archive of two. In a whisper, he read out the title of the new addition, "For Whom the Bell Tolls".

"Indeed" Prowl murmured from across the table.

Soundwave jerked his helm up to meet his visor with the tactician's blue optics, "is this another piece of human literature?".

"It is" Prowl nodded. He suddenly laced his fingers together on the tabletop. "I rather enjoyed discussing 'East of Eden' with you. It was very pleasant to find a shared interest in literature with you. Currently, I am reading 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Hemingway" the Praxian hesitated for a moment before he minced out the rest of his words, "I would deeply enjoy it if you joined me in reading it, and perhaps we could discuss it once we are both finished it… if you wish… of course".

Soundwave felt a ball of warmth gather in his spark. He smiled down at the datapad in his grip, then up at Prowl. The Praxian's doorwings lifted the tiniest bit at the smile.

"I would very much enjoy that" Soundwave said.

"Excellent" Prowl fixed Soundwave with a very rare smile, "I am pleased".

Suddenly, as if pulled by an invisible string, Soundwave's helm swivelled to face the rest of the room. Prowl paused and blinked at his companion's unusual behaviour. He watched as Soundwave tilted his helm, as if to perk up his audios and listen. The Praxian turned the power of his audios up as high as possible and could only hear the low murmur of casual rec. room discussion. Soundwave's brows furrowed in confusion and he glanced around the room once more.

"Is something the matter?" Prowl asked in a low voice.

Soundwave jerked back to look at his friend, almost as if he had forgotten he was with someone to begin with. His faceplates collected a soft blush before he leaned in the tiniest bit and murmured, "I am unable to make out exactly the reason why… but it seems as though I am suddenly a highly discussed and thought about subject in this room". After a moment of consideration, Soundwave corrected himself, "no… across the Ark".

Prowl frowned and turned to observe the mechs in the rec. room, almost as if he also had telepathy to observe what Soundwave was picking up. He narrowed his optics into a squint at the seemingly innocent room, before looking back at Soundwave. The mech in question had taken on a faraway look. His red visor was zoned off into another dimension as he focused on the mental ambience of Ark. His faceplates held a small, concentrating frown.

"It seems as though I am not the only subject of interest" Soundwave murmured, Prowl hummed with interest, "Blaster is being discussed in equal proportion".

Within an instant, both mechs came to the same conclusion. Their gazed snapped together. Soundwave sucked in a breath and Prowl's doorwings tightened on his back.

"Oh no" Soundwave groaned, "I had thought we would have more time".

Prowl hummed empathetically, "news of your relationship with Blaster was bound to get out eventually".

"But how?" Soundwave scrubbed at his brow, "hardly any time has passed since we started dating. How can the entire Ark already know?"

"Is it possible that someone spotted you two together in a way that could be deemed romantic? Particularly in the last couple of days" Prowl inquired.

Soundwave frowned in concentration and shook his helm. "I wouldn't think so…" For a moment, the telepath considered crossing paths with Wheeljack and Ratchet in the hallway. Wheeljack had certainly noticed the way in which Soundwave and Blaster were holding servos. However, Soundwave had also noticed the two said mechs doing the exact same thing. The medic and engineer were not particularly gossip prone mechs; Soundwave suspected that the risk was even lower due to the fact that he also caught them in the act.

His helm suddenly jerked up and he sucked in a breath "unless…". His mind suddenly fixed on the previous night. There had been a moment, however brief, at the end of the double date, when all four mechs stepped into the hallway to conclude their farewells:

"Thanks for comin' by, you two" Jazz practically crooned as he squeezed Blaster in a tight hug. The orange boombox chuckled into the embrace and refrained from wincing. His dorsa thanked in when Jazz's servos released their death grip and allowed him to stand up straight again.

Soundwave was filled with surprise when Jazz suddenly rounded on him with open arms. "Don't think 'yer getting away without a hug too, 'Sounders'" Jazz grinned. Soundwave briefly met optics with Blaster, who was still rubbing his smarting dorsa, before he gave in and leaned down to accept a (shockingly) tight hug from the shorter mech. Soundwave felt as if all the air from his intake vents was squeezed out as Jazz murmured just over his shoulder "now that y'all are together, 'yer part of the family too – like it or not". Soundwave managed a pained laugh and delivered a few awkward pats to Jazz's dorsa before he was finally released from the vise-like hold.

"Thank you, Jazz" Soundwave smiled through a wince as he stood back up, "it was a lovely evening".

"So 'yer sayin' that more double dates are on the table?" Jazz perked up with a grin.

"I think so" Soundwave smiled as he glanced at Blaster. His partner grinned with a nod, "yes" Soundwave finalized. He immediately found himself pulled back down for a hug twice as tight. He laughed as Jazz crooned with excitement before letting him go once more.

Satisfied with his work, Jazz stepped back from the now aching comm.s officers to allow his mate to share his farewells. Prowl shook servos with Blaster and both mechs shared a friendly goodbye. When the Praxian turned to face Soundwave, both mechs hesitated.

Prowl cleared his throat and fidgeted for a moment. Suddenly, he opened his arms to offer a hug. Shocked at the gesture, Soundwave found himself nodding quickly and leaning into a very quick hug. Thankfully, Prowl's embrace lasted for only a moment, and was feather light in comparison to Jazz's spinal-strut crushing hold.

Jazz, seemingly overjoyed at the moment, unleased a myriad of coos and "aaaws". Both Soundwave and Prowl flushed for a moment and shuffled back awkwardly. Jazz's arms suddenly looped around Prowl's as he grinned up at the two boomboxes.

"Look at our nerds," he purred to Blaster, "gettin' along… bein' pals". Blaster chuckled and looped a servo over Soundwave's shoulder. Neither Prowl nor Soundwave protested the title… it was appropriate enough.

"Once again, fellas… I'm just so glad to see ya' together like this" Jazz grinned at the new couple. Soundwave smiled and glanced at Blaster, who shared a warm look with him before they turned back to Jazz. "I've known Blast-mech for eons" Jazz snorted at how old that phrase made him feel, "and I don't think I've ever seen him with a mech that made him half this happy. Congrats, you two… I'm happy for you".

Soundwave smiled and turned his warmed faceplates into Blaster's shoulder. He could feel Blaster's field radiating contentment. They thanked Prowl and Jazz once more before heading home for the night, arms wrapped tight around each other.

"The double date" Soundwave murmured, "at the end… when we said our farewells in the hall".

"Of course,", Prowl leaned back in his seat, "the hallways had seemed empty, but someone must have overheard from around a corner or through a wall".

"Primus" Soundwave sighed as he slid a servo under his visor to rub at his optics, "I cannot believe I didn't notice we were being listened to".

"well… you were sufficiently overcharged" Prowl added, amusement was present in his voice. Soundwave sighed in response with a nod.

"It must be well throughout the Ark by now" Prowl calculated, "news travels fast… especially news pertaining to relationships".

"Like wildfire" Soundwave grumbled as he extended his telepathy into a wider radius again. He rubbed at his chin as he listened to the flow of thoughts and discussions about his relationship with Blaster. Sure enough, Prowl's estimates seemed correct. With the torrent of thoughts and discussions on his relationship, it seemed as though the change in status was the hottest new gossip aboard the Ark. It had only taken 12 hours for the news to travel around the entire ship.

What was worst, in Soundwave's opinion, was the amount of opinions on his relationship with Blaster. Certainly, most of the thoughts carried excitement and positive emotions at the idea of a new relationship. The budding of a new relationship was always fun to observe for the more gossip prone individuals. Some mechs, however, had it in their helms that the gossip was false. They assumed that it was too unlikely, and Soundwave and Blaster were too different. Thus, they dismissed it as a tall tale that had made rounds around the base. Then, of course, there was the occasional processor that seemed to believe in the newest relationship, but foster doubt in how long it would last.

Soundwave frowned to himself at the more hurtful opinions he picked up with his telepathy. Brawn and Huffer, in particular, were engaged in a hushed rant over how unhealthy the relationship must be. In Huffer's opinion, Soundwave was far too boring and quiet, he would never be able to keep up with Blaster. Brawn agreed with enthusiasm, Blaster would likely get sick of "that cold fish" and move on to someone more energetic. Soundwave hurriedly retracted his telepathy out of that exchange and attempted to press it to the very back of his attention. It was reassuring, however, that Brawn and Huffer were within a very small minority on the Ark. In general, the Autobots seemed excited, curious, or at least interested to learn about the new relationship. For that, Soundwave could be thankful.

Soundwave's attention was instantly pulled away from his telepathy when he became suddenly aware of a mech standing directly in his personal space. Soundwave flickered his optics and craned his neck to look up from his seated position at Wheeljack.

"Hey Soundwave, hey Prowl!" the sunny engineer's headfins flashed with a happy blue.

"Good afternoon" Soundwave murmured. He could hear as Prowl also shared his greetings.

"I heard the news" Wheeljack smiled, "it's all over the Ark. Sounds like you and Blaster have made it public, right? That's exciting".

Soundwave smiled tightly and refrained from telling the engineer that neither he nor Blaster had actually intended for their relationship to be out yet. He didn't want to make the well-intended mech feel guilty over the approach.

Wheeljack continued, "well, I just wanted to say congrats on all that. You two seem really nice together… you certainly match". His headfins flickered as he bubbled into a laugh.

Soundwave's smile evolved into a more relaxed and genuine one. "Thank you Wheeljack" he murmured.

"Oh, and Ratch' wanted me to say congrats too" Wheeljack added, then he scratched at his chin, "well… actually Ratchet told me that I shouldn't bug you guys about it, I don't really know why. But then he said that when I ignore his advice and come to chat anyways, to say congrats for him too". He quickly looped back into his sunny tone as he concluded, "but I just couldn't resist! I love hearing happy news, it's refreshing. So, I just wanted to say congrats!".

Soundwave couldn't hold back the soft amused laugh. Wheeljack's sense of joy was always so contagious. He shook the servo held out by the engineer and made sure he didn't stare too long at the scorch marks along his upper arm that somehow didn't seem present past his elbow. If anyone was going to blow off his forearm and get a new one on a weekday, it was Wheeljack.

"Thank you" Soundwave nodded graciously, "and please tell Ratchet that I said thank you as well".

"Yeah of course!" Wheeljack chuckled. He then leaned in a tad closer and lowered his voice into a near whisper "and … uh, now that I have you here, thanks for keeping that thing you saw yesterday on the downlow. Ratch' and I are just testing the waters at the moment, and we don't really want to create a big stir, you know? Lots of mechs have been betting on us for centuries, and if things don't work out, we really don't want to disappoint".

"Of course," Soundwave murmured with an amused smile, "and congratulations to you as well".

Wheeljack's lower mask hid his smile, but the way his optics scrunched up made it clear how large a smile it was. Just like that, the engineer waved to Prowl and headed back to the table he was sharing with Perceptor.

Soundwave let out a condensed breath and leaned back into his seat. He slowly turned his optics back to Prowl, who offered a shrug.

With lunch concluded, Soundwave and Prowl shared a brief goodbye (sans awkward drunk hug) and headed their separate ways. On his way back to his quarters, Soundwave found himself stopped two more times by random, well-meaning mechs.

"Hey! I heard about you and Blaster!" Bumblebee practically bounded down the hall as they crossed paths. Spike and Carly, who were seated on his rounded shoulders, had to hold on tight to avoid being jostled from their seats. Soundwave had to resist a laugh as the teens broke into complaints. Bumblebee grinned apologetically at his human companions before turning his attention back up at Soundwave.

"News around the Ark is that you and Blaster are in love" Bumblebee grinned, "that's great!".

"You and Blaster are in love!" Carly cried as she clasped her hands together in excitement.

"You and Blaster are in love?" Spike asked in a more scrutinizing voice. He gave a whine when his girlfriend lightly slapped him on the arm.

"It would appear so" Soundwave offered with a tired smile.

"Congratulations!" Bumblebee said jubilantly, "it's so nice to hear about new couples. Primus knows that we need to enjoy the little things right now, right?".

After thanking the scout again (and prying his way out of the numerous questions from the humans) Soundwave continued down the hall to his quarters. It bewildered him how open the Ark was in regard to relationships. Certainly, on the Nemesis there was plenty of gossip in regard to who was with who. However, it was more along the line of 'who was fragging who', and 'who got angry over it and tried to murder who'. Most certainly, it wasn't something that any Decepticon would dare approach another in the halls to discuss. Soundwave often found himself boggled at how friendly and open the Autobot culture was. It almost felt invasive… in a very well-intending way.

While rounding a corner, Soundwave found himself faced with another congratulatory mech. Thankfully, Beachcomber was more than happy to share a couple kind words and continue on his way. Soundwave was thankful for that.

After what felt like an impossible trek, Soundwave was finally able to slip into the peace of his own quarters. He firmly closed the door and pressed his dorsa against it with a decisive thump. He slowly onlined his optics to regard Blaster, who was smiled at him with confusion from the couch. The orange mech held a data report in servo as he regarded his boyfriend.

"Everyone knows" Soundwave groaned.

"What?" Blaster's confused smile gained an even more confused tilt.

"About us" Soundwave pushed his dorsa off of the door, "our relationship is the hottest gossip throughout the Ark. Everyone knows".

Blaster let out a sudden burst of laughter. He reached out a servo to his exhausted looking partner. "How many mechs tried to talk to you about it?" Blaster snorted.

"Too many" Soundwave grumbled as he accepted Blaster's servo and allowed himself to be pulled onto the boombox's lap. Blaster stretched out under him to lay back against the armrest of the couch. Soundwave have a thankful hummed and adjusted his frame to lay atop his boyfriend's. He pressed his helm to Blaster's chestplates and felt a soothing wave roll over him as he listened to the strong whirring of his partner's spark. He let out a deep sigh as an orange arm draped over his frame and reached up to rub at his audio. "Thank you" he murmured into warm plating.

"I had a feeling it would get out soon" the amusement was obvious in Blaster's voice, "the Ark is always game for a good love story, and the gossip on this ship is next level".

Soundwave hummed and let his visor retract away from his dimmed optics, "well, at least we have a good love story for them". The chestplate under his helm rumbled as Blaster chuckled.

"Right you are, sweet-spark" he murmured lowly. Soundwave twitched at the pet name and was thankful for a moment that, tucked into his boyfriend's chestplates, Blaster couldn't see how pink his face turned.

A few minutes passed in which Soundwave finally let his frame depressurize. Blaster hummed softly just over the top of his helm as he continued to read over data reports. Of course, it could only last so long. Just as soon as Soundwave let his frame relax completely, the door to their quarters opened.

"Doggy pile!" shriek a small voice from behind Soundwave's helm. Before the telepath could look up to ask what that phrase meant, he found himself and Blaster underneath a tsunami of cassettes. Blaster's chestplates jostled with laughter and Soundwave struggled to wiggle into a new position. As soon as his arms were free, the blue cassette player seized the closest cassette he could find and pulled Rumble into a tight embrace.

"Ahh! He's got me!" Rumble squealed with laugher.

"Oh no! Save him!" Rewind laughed as the cassettes attempted to climb over a laughing Soundwave.

Yes, Soundwave thought to himself. At the very least he and Blaster could supply the Ark with a good love story.

Reflector was shaking, and they couldn't stop.

In fact, they hadn't been able to rid themselves of their trembling for the last couple of weeks. The minibot glanced at their counterpart, another part of themself. Yet there was an empty space. Their processor filled their gaze with errors and warnings. There was only one other part of Reflector standing next to them, they were missing a part of themselves. Two Reflectors, it was wrong. There should be three parts in total, to make a Reflector… and yet there were only two of them. Two was not the right number. Two minibots did not make a Reflector. Without their last counterpart, they didn't know who the remaining two were.

The two minibots scuttled into the war-room. Their tentative optics look in Megatron, who was, as usual, splayed over his throne. The warlord was drunk, Reflector could smell the engex from across the room. That was a lot of engex… if you could smell it from across the room.

The troops were still starving.

"My Lord," one of the Reflectors started, "we have brought you the images you requested".

The second Reflector continued, "yes, we hope this sates your needs". Both Reflectors choked at the silence that greeted them when a third voice should have piped up to complete their statement.

"uh… we- we" the first Reflector stumbled over unnatural words that they weren't supposed to speak, "we were hoping that you would let us be complete again".

A long silence met them. Megatron's helm slowly lolled against the back of his throne. He draped a limp servo out, waiting for the datapad to be deposited in his grasp.

Reflector shifted uneasily; their plating rattled as one of them stepped forward slowly to deposit the datapad in a very large servo. As soon as the pictures were in the grasp of the warlord, Reflector sprinted back out of proximity of the grey mech… they didn't enjoy being within arm's reach of him.

Slowly, the datapad was lifted up to be held before dark burgundy optics. Silence sat upon the war room like a heavy layer of ice. Reflector remember that, once, not that long ago, a datapad of images would have been met with thanks from Megatron. Sometimes, if the warlord was feeling generous, he would even offer them a cycle off, or extra rations for reward. Now, all they were met with was a cold, dead silence.

"M… My lord" Reflector whispered. "One of us… One of the Reflectors has been held in the brig for a long time. We- We were told that more images would grant his freedom".

Dark red optics snapped to take in the two minibots. Reflector jerked at the war lord's optics focused on them.

"You are dismissed", Megatron's low gravelly voice finally broke through the silence.

"My lord" Reflector pleaded.

"Get out of my sight!" Megatron bellowed. By the time the anger cleared from his vision, he was alone in the war room once again.

Megatron relaxed back into his throne, his posture slumped deeper. With a lazy servo, he scrolled through the fresh imaged Reflector had taken. His optics narrowed into slits at the quality of the images. They were far away, taken from outside the Ark's territory. Reflector had been so frightened since Soundwave had caught them taking pictures of him. Ever since his warning, their pictures had declined in quality. The images were from farther away and predominantly from through windows. Certainly, Reflector's zoom skills were impressive. One could still see exactly what Soundwave was up to in said images. However, there was a grainy film over the images taken from so far away. When Reflector zoomed in from far away, they lost the smallest details in the images… the way the light reflected on Soundwave's new Autobot insignia… the miniscule crinkles that always appeared under Soundwave's optics when he smiled… that tiny dimple that sometimes appeared when he laughed… but only ever on the left side of his faceplates, never on the right.

Megatron scoffed at the grainy images. Such a waste. Nonetheless, they would do for now. Looking forward however, Megatron would have to find a new way to "encourage" better image quality from Reflector.

With a heavy sigh, Megatron continued slicking through the images. Then he stopped. His optics narrowed in on a unique picture. In it, Soundwave and Blaster were seated together, on a blanket, on the roof of the Ark. The Warlord shuttered and re-booted his optics before leaning in over the image to ensure he was seeing things correctly. Strewn around the two boomboxes were pillows, candles, and a tray of energon goodies. It looked like a scene from an old Cybertronian romance drama. Megatron's optics honed in on the way Soundwave was leaning on Blaster's frame. The telepath's helm was rested comfortably on an orange shoulder. Blaster's arm was draped warmly over Soundwave's shoulders.

A fine web of cracks crawled across the datapad screen. Pops and snaps of shattering glass and bending metal filled the room as Megatron's servo tightened on the datapad. With a resounding crunch, the image turned into a rainbow of static, then the screen was completely black. The only thing left to look at was Megatron's own enraged reflection, staring back at him.

With an anguished snarl, Megatron hurled the datapad across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into a fine rain of glass. The grey mech shook with rage. In a sudden motion, he jerked himself up from his throne and started to pace the empty room. Within him, a tiny kernel started to open and bloom.

Soundwave with the Autobots. The idea made him sick, it repulsed him. Soundwave with that Autobot. That inconsequential orange Autobot. Who was that Autobot to walk around the universe, holding Soundwave to his frame like that? What gave him the right?

Megatron felt a groan build up in his throat. The kernel suddenly exploded, the room around him stood completely still. That orange Autobot was nothing. Soundwave was wasting his time with the pathetic nobody Autobot. Soundwave was never meant to be with an Autobot, especially not that one.

No, indeed not. Megatron nodded to himself. Soundwave wasn't meant to be with an Autobot. Soundwave was meant to be with a Decepticon.

Soundwave was meant to be with a Decepticon.

Soundwave was meant to be with a Decepticon… like him.

Soundwave was meant to be with him.