Primal Hunter

Corrected Errors

"The only error here is this useless plumage!" Dinobot snapped back, holding out his arms to emphasize the proto-flight feathers lining each of them almost like little bird wings. "Were they to grant me a tactical advantage such as flight, that would be one thing, but this! This is... is..."

"Kinda... cute?" Optimus chimed in with just a slight note of teasing in his voice, unable to resist reaching out to gently stroke a hand over the soft feathers now covering his mate's back. Dinobot immediately whipped around to snap his jaws at the encroaching touch, though Optimus was just barely able to pull his hand away before he could be bitten.

"You would prefer something softer, wouldn't you, mammal?!" The raptor hissed, almost sounding a bit offended.

"You know that's not what I meant..."

"Alright, if we're done here," Rhinox interrupted, not too keen on being in the middle of some marital spat. "I'd like to give you another scan, Dinobot. If your system has enough spare resources to correct something so non-essential, it must mean your reconfiguration is more or less complete. I want to make sure everything came out alright after that nasty blow you took from Inferno just before it started."

When the conversation shifted to the well-being of the sparkling, the amusement drained from Optimus' face as it settled into stern seriousness. He immediately moved to follow Rhinox out to the bridge, but paused at the door to his quarters. He glanced back, finding that Dinobot hadn't budged from where he stood next to their stasis slab.

"Well? Are you coming?" He prodded gently, but the raptor only seemed to shift awkwardly where he stood, averting his gaze. The commander vented out a sigh, giving Rhinox a small nod to go on ahead before returning to his mate's side.

"I... I do not wish to be seen looking like this..." Dinobot admitted without prompting once Rhinox had left. Optimus couldn't stop an almost pitying little smile from forming on his lips.

"Rattrap?" He guessed instantly. The raptor let out a confirming rumble.

"That malodorous rodent will never let something like this go..."

As Dinobot's head sunk in shame, Optimus reached out to gently stroke the delicate feathers of his mate's lithe neck. The raptor didn't so much as twitch at his touch this time, confirming the ape's suspicion that his mate was simply still uncomfortable with displays of affection when others were around to see.

"I understand you're not looking forward to his reaction, but you can't exactly stay locked up in my room for the rest of your life." Optimus consoled in his usual soft manner. "He's going to see you like this eventually. Don't you think it's best to just get it over with as soon as possible?"

Dinobot seemed to think in silence for a moment, his mind obviously running through all the possible ways he could argue to stay stubbornly locked away until his new feathers magically disappeared. When he came up with nothing, he merely let out a low growl and skulked towards the door. As he walked past, Optimus left his hand where it was to glide down his mate's now cloud-soft back, ending with his fingers running through the fan-like plume at the tip of his tail. He couldn't stop a small shiver across his circuits at the feeling of them. Dinobot may not be thrilled with his new features, but Optimus already loved them.

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Dinobot's face had settled into a sort of bland, almost exhausted annoyance as a certain someone's uncontrollable laughter echoed off the walls of the command center. Rattrap was quite literally rolling on the floor, his arms wrapped around his chassis as though to keep his outer plating from splitting open from the strain. The only solace was that he seemed to be laughing too hard to make any comments on the situation, his vocal unit wheezing in effort to keep up with the rodent's boundless amusement.