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Thunderclash sat on his couch, and re-read an important report he was finishing, not enjoying it but knowing it had to be done, or Magnus would be on his aft about it. And then give him a new datapad to fill it out on if he "lost" it.
He knew Rodimus was doing something around his habsuite, he could tell by the bouncy pedfalls. He didn't mind, having him present made him feel better already. He enjoyed to simply have him near.
Rodimus was honestly just so nice to have nearby. He was warm, and sweet, and perfect in every way, even his flaws made him perfect to Thunderclash.
A dark, possessive part of him wanted to keep him close, and away from others, because if they couldn't do anything but degrade him so frequently, why did they deserve him? If he was the only one who could truly appreciate Rodimus, shouldn't he get to keep him all for himself?
He could allow Drift, the mech was Rodimus's amica after all. And a few others who could actually value and appreciate Rodimus. But why share with people who had no care to see the beauty in something as beautiful in every facet as him.
It annoyed him, greatly. But he knew isolating Roddy would only push him away. If he wanted them to go away and leave his sweet flame alone, then he had to let them fade out of the picture more naturally. And it wasn't overly noble of him to be so possessive. So he would play it off as being nothing more than protective of his brightspark, until then.
And in the meantime, he could simply cherish every smile he put on Rodimus's lips, and every nano-klik spent with him.
"Hey, Thunders?"
"Hm?" He hummed, imploring him to continue.
"Am I straight?" Rodimus asked, which mildly caught him off guard, but he kept up with quick.
"No." He answered honestly, before adding some sass. "Given we've been dating, and interfacing, for a while, and we're both mechs, I wouldn't exactly call that straight."
He was only met with crickets.
"I meant the picture I'm hanging." Rodimus clarified, clearly a bit miffed from his tone.
"Oh." He emitted, and looked up from his datapad.
He looked at the picture, though he did have to squint a little and zoom in a bit. Despite that, he easily recognized it, it was a picture from their first proper date - when they'd gone comet surfing together for the first time. It was gorgeous, and perfect for them. Those pictures made Thunderclash's spark flutter a little every time he saw them.
But regardless, all things considered, that was–
"Still no." He said. "I'd say our first date, also wouldn't be considered very straight."
Rodimus just looked at him like he'd just suggested watching something like Titanic.
"I mean is the fucking picture frame crooked or not!" He raised his voice, now clearly a bit irate, before lowering his voice again, and continuing with an optic roll. "Not "fellas, is it gay to–" bullshit."
"Oh." Thunderclash emitted in a tiny voice, now feeling extremely dumb for that misunderstanding. "I may be a bit dumb."
"Yep, you're a himbo alright." Rodimus said behind a face palm, before adding in a mumble. "Exactly like Drift says..."
Thunderclash remained silent.
After a brief beat, Rodimus took a deep breath. "Sorry for snapping. It's been a stressful week." He apologized. "Can you please tell me if it's crooked?"
Thunderclash smiled. "It's alright, I get it." He said, gracefully accepting the apology. "Yes, the picture is a touch crooked, to the left." He informed him.
"Thank you." Rodimus thanked, meaning it fully, and began to adjust. "Better?"
"Now it's just a sliver too far to the right. Tap it and should probably align right."
Rodimus adjusted again, and it was perfectly angled.
"Perfect."
"Awesome." He said, beginning to smile, and let it go, stepping back to look for himself. "You're right, it is."
"Of course I am." Thunderclash said with a smile. "I'm known for being right in a number of things, such as my recent immaculate taste in mechs."
Rodimus didn't say anything about that, and he could see that Rodimus's aura had turned teal with nervousness, and yellow with some incredulousness, and just the smallest twinge of violet with joy.
"What do you think of the frame?" Rodimus asked, after a beat.
His expression dropped, and he looked at it again– oh, there was a frame on the datapad. Interesting. It was a dark brown, and complimented the picture well. He couldn't identify the material, but it did have lovely engravings in it, of thunderbolts in each corner, and flames up the side, only colored differently - likely by paint or something - in those places.
"I worked hard on it." Rodimus said, his spoilers drooping behind him some, and flicking a bit. He was obviously trying to hide, and very nervous. "And it was my first time doing a proper project with wood and resin, so I think I did at least a half-decent job."
Thunderclash continued to stare at it. If it really was his first time doing this sort of a project, then it was incredible. He didn't even think he'd have known unless Rodimus said, and he highly doubted his utterly ridiculously praised as "excellent" first time with a set of strings and bow in his hands from when he was a youngling was as good as this. Frankly, this blew him out of the water.
Of course, Rodimus had some experience, in these mediums, he must have been practicing, and did a lot of crafts and projects with his hands, and was an adult here, compared to when Thunderclash was a youngling trying a violin the very first time, and he was honestly not really trying, if anything he was trying to make it sound terrible so he could be labeled tone deaf, and be left alone about instruments by his creators.
But either way, it was gorgeous, and he wanted to review over every detail later, which he would likely do.
"I think it's beautiful." He said, turning to Rodimus with a smile. "You did an incredible job."
"Really?" The speedster asked, surprised, and his spoilers bounced up a bit.
"Yes. I don't just say that because we're dating or to assure you. I mean it. It looks incredible, Rodi."
The speedster's face flushed, and he became shy, turning his face down to the floor, and fidgeting with his peds. Thunderclash couldn't tell if it was the praise or the nickname that was doing it.
He decided that his report could wait, and set it down as he got up. He took a step and was right next to Rodimus. The speedster looked at him, and he lowered, and quickly hoisted him up into his arms, and stood upright again. Rodimus squeaked with surprise, but then just looked at him, surprised.
Thunderclash gently brought him into a kiss. The speedster was again taken aback, but melted into it quickly, and they stayed like that for a klik. When they separated, they just rested their foreheads together, optics still closed, and just breathing each other in.
They remained contently silent for a while. They didn't need words, words would make things overly complicated for no reason. They had each other in their arms, so nothing else could possibly matter, when they held the entire world in their palms.
"What's a 'himbo'?" Thunderclash asked, breaking the silence.
"I'll explain in a few minutes, right now I'm enjoying the moment." Rodimus told him, quietly. "But you qualify as one."
"Okay."
So like that they stayed, and the photo hung on the wall in its beautiful frame. Thunderclash looked forward to seeing it everyday, knowing that he'd gotten lucky enough to catch a falling star.