CHAPTER 39
So You Want To Go On a Date?
"There's no delicate way to put this, dad. So I'm just going to come out and say it," Mark began hanging the conversation the next morning over breakfast with Hound. "I've got my first date this Sunday."
Hound nearly spat his energon out, though he kept himself calm. His first date? Mark was going on his first date? When Hound had promised him dating advice, he didn't expect to be giving it so soon. "Mark, are you sure you're ready to be dating yet?" Hound asked, his optics filled with surprise. "Dating involves a lot of things beyond your fourteen year old comprehension."
"Dad, my other dad already gave me "the talk"," Mark cut him off quickly. "And besides, this is a junior, going to be a senior. How could I pass up a date with her," Hound's optics widened at that "What? Is that worse?"
"Worse?" Hound snorted. "M'boy, you didn't tell me this was an older femme," Hound stated with a fair bit of surprise and elation. "Oh boy, even if you aren't biologically mine, ye must have the old family charm in ye somewhere!"
Mark blinked at his foster father slightly, stunned at how excited he was. He shifted a little and whistled a little as the other soldiers seemed to look over at him in surprise. Well, the whole base would now know that he had a girlfriend. And needless to say he half expected a cavalry of car and truck tails on his date. "Well, at least you're taking this well," Mark laughed a little. "I'm half expecting Prowl to do the most through background check on her in the world."
Hound gave a loud laugh, even though he knew Mark was right. Prowl would run every background check in the book. After all, this was the youngest member of the Autobots they were talking about. This was the baby of the family so-to-speak, none of them were letting any girl they didn't know was good news dating the young lad. "Well yes, there will be a through background check on this Maria," Hound nodded in agreement. "You're the sparkling in our little "family" and we won't be having you get your heart broken."
"So you guys have to approve of who I date?" Mark asked in disbelief.
Hound gave a snort, and nodded his head as if this was nothing. Of course he was approving of the girl that Mark dated, that was a given. Anyone who dated his son was not going to have a massive criminal record for example. With no offense, of course, going to the Autobots old friend Mikaela. "Better believe it! Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of ye," Hound nudged his arm with a knuckle. "Ye got an older femme and you've impressed me. But yer still fourteen, and she has more experience in life I'm sure," He then added. "The pit will fill with water before I let you date anyone that would bring ye trouble."
"Are you going to at least teach me how to impress her?" Mark asked as Hound contemplated this for a moment. "Come on, dad. You promised, this was the deal," Mark pointed at him with a stern look. "I get a date, and you teach me how you got your bondmate. Sideswipe's already kinda helping me out, but I want it from both sides," He motioned towards where Sideswipe was sitting some ways off. "The young, new model," He then motioned to Hound again. "And the old rust bucket."
Hound quickly gave a mock glare, and began to play along with Mark's clear joke. "Old rust bucket? OLD RUST BUCKET!?" Mark was up and rushing to throw the trash away as he started to give chase to him. "Why you little runt, I'll have ye know I'm plenty young! I might just have to haul off and tickle ye for that one," He grinned as he rushed after the boy.
"Dad! Dad! Not in front of everyone," Mark laughed as the mech picked him up, beginning to tickle his ribs. "Dad! Not in front of the soldiers! They'll make fun of me," Mark laughed, though Hound didn't relent even for a moment. "Do you enjoy socially scarring your children for life?"
Hound chuckled evenly as he carefully released Mark from his grip. The boy brushed his brown hair away and looked up at the mech with a mock frown of displeasure. Hound merely rubbed the top of his head slightly, and rolled his optics. "As yer "dad" I reserve the right to embarrass you in public sometimes," Hound snorted as he poked Mark in the stomach. "Now stop being such a wuss. I promised you I'll show ye my moves and I will," He explained heartily. "If only because I'm mighty proud of you for getting a date with a senior."
"When?" Mark asked.
Hound chuckled a bit, setting his foster son back on the ground with a cheeky smirk. He shrugged his shoulders and put his hands on his hips. "Sunday, before your date. That way it will be fresh in your mind," Hound replied teasingly. "Don't worry about it," He laughed as Mark gave a disappointed look on his face. "Fine, on Saturday, the day before. I swear to you, just, you and me."
Mark finally smiled slightly, nodding his head in response, he supposed it made sense. Even if he was convinced he was going on this date, whether he got "permission" or not. "Alright, Saturday," Mark pointed up at Hound. "I'm holding you to that you old rust bucket."
"Do I need to tickle you again?"
"Please don't."
Hound whistled a bit, and nodded his head, nudging Mark. "Besides, you have combat training with Sideswipe in ten minutes," Hound told him sternly. "You're the one that begged him to do it. So you'd better be over there on-time soldier," He teased with a small laugh. "I'll catch up with ye later, alright?"
"Fine," Mark laughed. "Bye dad, love you!"
"Love ye too!"
Hound rumbled his engines a little, a smile spreading on his face. The boy was going on his first date, with an older girl no doubt. It made him swell with pride, and nervous all at once. It was a reminder that Mark, within several months, would be fifteen, and a sophomore. With three years left before he left base and went off to college (if that was his choice), maybe even found a wife and started a family himself. He shook his head, he hadn't even adopted Mark yet, or talked to him about it. He realized perhaps that was the first thing he'd have to worry about before college or anything past that.
For now, he'd just stick to his swelling pride.
...
That day, Mark had nearly all the Autobots asking about this "date". Most of them were just out of pure curiosity, but others... Well. Prowl had gone so far as to immediately ask for Maria Abelli's backstory. And Optimus had tried to caution him against sex before marriage, an awkward note Mark had nearly run away from. Eventually, he settled into his room, and put in the earbuds of his iPhone and blasted Good Charolette through his eardrums to escape any more questions. His silence lasted less than thirty minutes before his door opened and Mark jumped off the bed in surprise.
Prowl, one of the last people he wanted to see, stood in the doorway. His arms were crossed, and he didn't seem to say anything before Mark finally pulled his earbuds out. "So, I've done my background check on your little friend," Prowl explained, leaning against the door frame. "The age gap is the only PRESSING issue both your father and I see," Mark gave a fist pump. "Don't act that way, it was for your own good that we did this. If what happened at the park did not make it obvious, our enemies will take you if they wish to."
Mark sighed, standing to his feet. He knew that Prowl was right, yet highly doubted that they would go that far. "So I get to go?" Prowl nodded his head in response. "YES! Thanks, Prowl! Gotta go thank dad," Mark began to rush off, but soon found Hound joining them. "Aw, crap. There's going to be conditions," Mark said expectantly. "Can't any part of my life be normal?"
"Sorry Mark," Hound rubbed the back of his neck. "We care about you too much not to at least set some boundaries about this date."
Prowl nodded in agreement, his optics staring down at the boy. Mark was simply seating himself on his bed, prepared for whatever was going to be thrown at him. "First of all, whatever you do has to be in town," Prowl explained very calmly. "I know it's a smaller town, but we have sharper eyes in this town, so-to-speak," Mark rolled his eyes, he guessed that made sense. "You will have two escorts on top of Sideswipe that night. But to respect you, they will keep a respectable distance."
Mark nodded his head a little, he guess that was fair. Extra, but hidden protection seemed reasonable, at least. Hound slowly stepped forward then, and began to add more to it. "I want you home by ten o'clock. And not a second later," Hound told him firmly, his optics filled with seriousness. "If you're missing from the base as late as ten-o-five I will call in reinforcements."
"Dad, really, ten?" Mark asked with a groan.
"Yes, ten," Hound told him with all the firmness a father would have. "You're fourteen, Mark. Ten is late enough, and appropriate for a sparkling your age," Mark grunted, though he knew he had no way of arguing against this. "Now we have one final rule about you going on your first date." He continued, looking to Prowl.
Mark watched silently as Prowl walked towards him. The Praxian gave the youngest of the Autobots a stern look as he dropped something into Mark's palm. It was a small object that looked like, and could pass for, your common watch. "You take your own comm channel," Prowl stated firmly. "If your phone stops working, this should pass as an everyday, non-communicable object." He explained as he pointed at it. "The communication part of it is hidden from Decepticon frequencies, but will hone in on each of our communication channels."
Mark looked at the comm, carefully snapping it onto his wrist. He couldn't believe they were trusting him with his own comm. In his cell phone, he of course had Hound, Optimus, and Sideswipe's comms, but now he'd have everyone's. It was a way of them showing they really did trust him, and a big step at that. "Wow, thanks you guys," Mark finally spoke up. "I can get any of you on this?"
"That is what I designed it to do," Prowl explained with a nod. "Now, you'll never have to worry about being abducted without any of us knowing."
Mark rubbed the small "comm-watch" slowly, and nodded. His eyes moved between both Autobots before a small smile spread across his face. "Okay, yeah, your rules are fair," He told them, rubbing his knees slightly. "Just... Promise me you'll trust that I know what I'm doing too," He added, his eyes focusing on Hound more than Prowl. "I know I'm just a kid, but I'm not a complete idiot."
"If we didn't trust your judgement," Prowl turned around and started out the door. "You wouldn't be going at all."
Hound watched his friend leave before crouching low to Mark's level. He reached a finger forward, and gently brushed some of his hair away. "I do trust you," Hound nodded his head. "Prowl's right, if I didn't trust what you were doing... This wouldn't be happening," Mark nodded his head a little bit as the mech looked away. "You know this feels weird to me. Letting you go on your first date," He admitted "It reminds me of how fast the time we have together will go by."
"It won't," Mark shook his head and reached it forward, running it along the mech's finger. "This is my home now. So where do you think I'm going to go "home" in college?" He asked, and Hound shrugged. "Hound, you're my dad now, me dating isn't gonna change that. If anything, with your lifespan it means you're that much closer to being a grandfather."
"Don't say that." Hound groaned.
"The point is," Mark shook his head. "You're going always going to me my dad. Just like my bio dad always will be," Hound let himself smile at that. "And I don't think that changes whether I'm fourteen or I'm thirty-four." He explained, his smile widening. "Unless, y'know, you don't see me-."
"Of course I do," Hound shook his head "Don't even let Coulton's filthy words come out of your mouth."
Mark closed his mouth at that, knowing Hound was right. He'd had no reason to believe that Coulton was right about what he'd said before. So far, the Autobots had done nothing but show that they cared about him. "Right," Mark shook his head. "I'm being silly, I guess."
Hound looked at Mark silently, should he ask him now? No, he told himself, they were still only in their third month. He'd give it another before he seriously approached the topic of adoption. After all, a lot could change once they were past the "honeymoon" phase of fostering as many websites put it. "You know I do love ye," He explained, and pointed at him. "And I am counting on you to give me grandcreations someday," Hound waved his finger slightly. "So don't write that off as a joke you made."
"Yeah, just not on Sunday."
"Better not be," Hound replied, his voice almost stuttering. "If you get a girl pregnant... Well, you won't be dating until I'm really old and rusty," As Mark opened his mouth to make an obvious quip, he grunted. "Don't go there, younglin'."
"Right," Mark laughed. "Don't worry dad, it'll be a while. Gotta work on our whole father-son relationship. Rather than try and bring a new one into this chaos."
"Fair enough."
As Hound turned to walk out and return to his work, Mark frowned a bit. He wondered where that even stood now that he was calling Hound his "dad". Would he end up adopting him? Would social services even ever allow it? Or would he simply go through life as his ward and be his unofficial "son" and his eventual kids his unofficial "grandkids"? "Dad?" Hound stopped to look at him, his optics lighting up. "I'm still expecting those tips from you, so you'd better get them ready."
Mark wanted to slap himself for chickening out. But Hound didn't seem to notice, only smiling, and winking. "Saturday, like I told ye," He replied, waving his finger. "Love ye, sparkling."
"Love you too."
As Hound trudged off, Mark sighed, putting his earbuds in and falling back against the bed. Would he ever be ready to ask Hound about adoption? Did he even for sure want to be adopted? The latter he was more sure of than the former. The former scared him to death. What if Hound didn't want to adopt him? What if he wasn't ready for that yet? He sighed, letting himself close his eyes to the melody of a Green Day song. For now, he'd just get his mind off of all of this, and keep his mind on his date.
Because if he was sure of one thing, it was that he was excited for that.