Tough Love

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

Thunderhoof didn't have an answer to the rebuke. He narrowed his red optics, compelling Phantomjaw to continue. Unsurprisingly, it starts with a verbal jab.

"Yeah, thought so."

The black and white Lupicon scratched his other ear and cleared his vocalizer.

"Secondly, there's me."

"So?"

The speed and bluntness in which Thunderhoof responded to Phantomjaw seemed to genuinely surprise the latter. His yellow optics dilated slightly and he took an involuntary step back.

"What?" Thunderhoof asked, softening as he was caught off guard by the other mech's reaction.

"I... I guess I just... I don't know what I was thinking, but I thought... You know... We had something?" Phantomjaw stammered, shuffling in place.

Thunderhoof immediately straightened up.

"Uh, come again?"

Phantomjaw vented, his entire frame going slack.

"Maybe it's just me, then."

He raised his golden gaze to meet with his companion's red.

"I think I like you. As in, more than just a casual, platonic kind of like, which doesn't make any sense. Believe me, I've run this whole conversation a thousand times and gave myself a scrap ton of processor aches..."

Thunderhoof could only stand and stare in silence as Phantomjaw started pacing, waving his servos in the air and tail swishing from side-to-side as he rambled on and on about his thoughts and feelings. He tried to follow along, but quickly lost track due to how all over the place the Lupicon was being. He tuned out for a while, at least until Phantomjaw finished his spiel.

"Then I realized that I don't like you more than the other Cons, because my likeness for you is different from my likeness for them! Like, it's not even on the same tier! They can't be put together because it's not the same!"

"Yeah, I'm lost," Thunderhoof admitted. Much to his relief, Phantomjaw stopped moving around and making a fool of himself.

"Long story short?"

The mechs stood in silence for a few minutes, nothing of importance daring to break the spell.

"I like-like you, Thunderhoof, and I want to get to know your other half," Phantomjaw said, voice soft and completely serious. He took two steps forward and placed a clawed servo on Thunderhoof's chassis, avoiding scratching the surface.

"I want to see the side no one else sees."

What follows is their first kiss.

After that come memories of future dates, all occurring in the privacy of their neck of the woods, far away from prying optics.

Not that anyone would be stupid enough to purposefully spy on Thunderhoof, let alone get away with it when a spymaster such as Phantomjaw is around.

Gradually, the pair spends more and more time together and grow quite close. Their intimacy surpasses new boundaries. Eventually, they decide to live together.

A distinct memory plays itself.

It was storming for days, and nobody wanted to leave their shelter for anything short of Energon, or in Underbite's case, chunks of non-living metal. Thunderhoof had no such worries, as he made preparations ahead of time, just in case of emergencies. Granted, rain – non-acidic – never hurt anyone, but weather on a primarily organic planet is no treat. Exposure to the elements isn't good for metal plating or neural wiring.