you've grown accustomed to his voice that fills the silence, picks up effortlessly where there's a sudden, unwelcome falter to keep the conversation going. you swear you could talk to him forever, even if a new topic doesn't arrive to you as quick as it does to him. he has this ability to sense when you're sad to see the discussion fizzle out, but you can't scrounge up a new subject fast enough.

he'd told you that's something you never have to worry about. you want to stay and talk? he's got lots of questions, compliments, encouragement to give, to ask- he'll pick up where you left off like it was rehearsed. as if it were the easiest thing he's ever done.

for someone who is a talker, he's an excellent listener; he can recall anything you've mentioned, offhand or not, like it's stored in some carefully filed manila folder labeled with your name on it.

it's endearing.

"Blue?" you murmur, tipping your head curiously to the side. "Are you okay?"

Bluestreak's shoulders visibly deflate, some sort of exhale, leaning forward from where he's seated in the grass about twenty feet or so away. his elbow rests on one of his crossed legs, chin propped in his servo, looking down at you like you'd hung the moon.

"You know I love you, right?"

it seems to have tumbled out of his voicebox without warning, but the words don't strike him immediately the same way they do to you. he hasn't realized he'd said it, not until he surveys your eyes jumping wide, your entire body going eerily still.

he scrambles to play back what he'd just said, taking in the last ten seconds, and you watch him physically panic in real time.

"I didn't mean-!" he yelps, moving to stand as if to get as far away from you as possible, but then decides that maybe retreat was just as stupid as how he sounded right now. "I mean, I did,- I did mean it, but I didn't want to say it like that, I had a whole plan! I was going over it in my processor just now. I just- I didn't want to scare you off-"

"Blue-"

"You just were standing there, looking so beautiful. It kinda just fell out- well, that sounds bad- but you said my designation the same way you always do, yet it's so much softer than how everyone else says it. It's not Prowl yelling at me or Ratchet telling me to shut up-"

"...Bluestreak?"

"I take it back. Can you do that? Can you take back 'I love you'? Does it mean less after you take it back- I still mean it, but you don't have to say it. We can pretend like this never happened. We can start over. I'll still replay this over and over no matter what, Primus, I- just please don't hate me,"

"I don't hate you," you say softly, and he jerks, he tangibly jolts when he looks down to see you're standing right in front of him, one of your impossibly small hands touching his knee. "You just... caught me off guard, that's all. I... I didn't know. Or I guess I thought you didn't feel the same way,'"

once his processor catches up, you swear he actually leans forward into your touch, just a bit, but enough to feel the shift of his plating. "I... off guard? You don't have to say anything, really, y/n. It's fine, just act like this whole night never happened. Actually, that would really bum me out because it was perfect up until just now, but I'm cool with it never existing-"

you're smiling so hard your cheeks start to hurt. "Bluestreak,"

the way you whisper his name has him going completely still, azure optics attentive and only focusing on you and your body language. "Yes?"

"Come here for a second." you ask softly, and he hesitates. "Please?"

the please really does it for him. he can't say no to that. he really can't say no to you, not at all.

it's almost otherworldly, watching how a twenty-five foot tall mech leans down to meet you on the ground, his servos settling on the grass on either side of you. his doorwings twitch twice, a hopeful yet subconscious display.

your palms find their way to his face-plate, resting on each respective cheek, yourself rising onto your tiptoes so your noses nearly brush. "Bluestreak, I love you too."

to hide the way your entire face erupts into a rosy blush, you tilt your head just enough to press a gentle kiss to the mesh of his upper lip, trying not to be clumsy but failing graciously due to the size difference.

there's something about seeing the way his entire frame shudders, almost a shiver that consumes him as he buzzes with impatience for you to finish your sweet gesture.

he already misses your touch when you go to pull away, to drop back onto your heels, so he acts on impulse.

one massive servo slides around your back, carefully cradling you somehow closer. his free hand quivers in the grass beside you, an involuntary spasm like he's trying very hard not to overwhelm you.

still seated, he nearly folds himself in half so he can press his face into your form, always gentle, but there's a strong desire to be close. unspoken, but loud enough for you to decipher.

"Y'mean it?" he mumbles against your front, and you can feel the way his lips move against your stomach beneath your sweatshirt. "Offer still stands. I'll take it all back in a sparkbeat if it means I'd mess things up with you."

you press a kiss to his helm, fingers sliding along his jaw in a cradling motion. "Please don't take it back. I really do love you, Bluestreak."

his other servo is finished being impatient, one single digit raising to lift your chin as he pulls his head back a few inches. "You're really something else. But I love you, I love you so much more."

you laugh. "Not possible,"

instead of your bed though, you find yourself outside with your heartbeat loud in your ears, swallowing thickly as you loiter about two yards away from the rolling door.

you'd sworn you made last night up. a dream that had wandered too far to the edge of impossibly insane, your own eyes deceiving you as fear threatened to devour you whole.

yet, the first thing you did when you woke up this morning was looked out your window, watching for the same light that had beckoned you out there the night before.

Hound, he had introduced himself as.

you couldn't see it from your bedroom, but the trail of pink life-source still remained, the same that stained the grass that led up to the barn. you'd walked alongside it out of blatant curiosity, wondering if something in there was leaking or damaged by the weather that seems to tip the structure back and forth.

you still don't really know why you went out there last night. your subconscious swears it was the extra set of lights calling your attention, a irregular in the normal scene that has always been the same day in and out.

now, you can't even conjure up a reason as to why you would even return, fear still rising in your chest as you stand here with your arms wrapped around yourself.

he's still in there, as far as you can tell. he'd dimmed his lights the instant you shakily admitted that was why you were standing in front of him, but he waited to ask until you'd calmed down, even if only by a fraction.

"How'd you know ah was here?"

"Your... your lights,"

now, you can still see the faint glow that still seeps beneath the gap in the door, lapping at the dirt and the toes of your sneakers.

he had frowned, actually frowned when you tried to retreat, stumbling backward over your own two feet and grabbing at air looking for the handle.

"'M not gonna hurt you," he'd drawled, tone hushed and gentle. "I- yer scared... ah'm sorry."

he apologized to you. you still don't know why.

there's a lot of questions that persisted unanswered, more than you could even list aloud. you partially assume that why you're standing outside here now, looking for a little more of confirmation and a little less guesswork.

taking a brave step forward, your trembling fingers reach out and wrap around the wooden handle, leaning forward with all your bodyweight to push the rolling door across the track.

once it's open, just enough for you to slip inside, you know immediately you've lost any chance of pretending like you were never there. a soft cerulean light falls across the dirt, and the sound of mechanical humming reaches you the same as it had the night before.

once you'd heaved the door back over, his voice carries across the space immediately.

"You... came back,"

it's not posed as a question, surprise weaving within his words rather loudly. but he still speaks so softly, far quieter than anyone that big should.

his hand still cradles his side, the pink liquid not overflowing from the wound as it had the yesterday, but the substance now lays caked along his army green plating and the ground below him.

pursing your lips together, you nod twice, eyes fixated more on the lawnmower to your left than meeting his gaze.

if he minds, he doesn't express it.

"Good. That's... great. I was thinkin' ah'd scared you too badly." Hound hums, not having moved an inch since the barn door had moved slowly over. "Ah didn't wanna-"

your eyes flit up to meet his blue ones at his pause, the silence between you swelling until it might as well have been a high-pitched scream.

"That wasn't my intention. Ah meant what I said... wasn't gonna hurt ya." then something tumbles from his voice box, dare you say it was a self-deprecating laugh. "S'probably a lot to ask, to trust my word."

to his purposely stifled awe, your shoulders jump up and then fall back down in a display of neutrality. "You didn't hurt me last night, so I guess I can take your word on that,"

"Right." he perks up considerably, as if you just talking to him was a major victory. "And, uh, ah owe you some thanks too,"

now you're confused. "What for?"

"Didn't have any other visitors or the government knockin' on the door," he rumbles, using his free hand to prop himself up a little more, sitting up straighter. "You didn't... tell anyone. So, thank you."

a laugh almost escapes you, a sarcastic rasp of 'who would believe me?', but you stifle that back down. he's trying, and even though the mere thought of a twenty-five foot robot trying to be friendly makes your head spin, he's still doing the most to not frighten you.

"You don't have to thank me." you whisper, hands finally dropping to rest at your sides.

"Sure ah do," another beat of passive quiet. "Could ah be so forward to ask ya one question?"

you hum, meant as go ahead. he takes it that way.

"Didn't catch yer designation,"

you tilt your head to the side, realizing you've been locked with his eyes for a hot minute now. "Designation?" you press softly.

"Er- name. Sorry. Meant yer name."

you exhale quietly. "Oh. It's y/n. I guess I kinda ran out of here kinda quick,"

"Ah don't blame ya for that." Hound confesses, a small smile never leaving his face. "S'nice to meet you, y/n. Circumstances aside."