#maccadamn

Is this what prowl . Looks like.

i drew this with my fingers while sitting on a rocking chair

What continuity is this? IDK. Probably G1. Have some rarepair SoundOP.

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It took some time. Several covert moves. The discreet dismantling of two security cameras. But Optimus made it out of the Autobot base at Iacon without encountering any other bots or otherwise being detected. He transformed and took the last intact road– easier to defend and protect Iacon if they disabled or destroyed the others, was Prowl’s logic– out of the city, skirting the base of the enormous Ark where it sat in its dock, more silhouette than ship even under the full light of Luna-1. 

All the Autobots’ hopes lay in the Ark. Their futures lay in the Ark. And all that was left here was a dying Cybertron. Surely, Optimus could convince him of that in the time they had left. 

He ended up driving for several hours before a small, falcon-esque figure came swooping in from the shadows of the crumbling skyscrapers, once majestic buildings that boasted the gilded dregs of Cybertron’s Golden Age, to float above him, just inside the range of his motion tracker. Laserbeak. 

The recordicon dipped in and out of his detection for a few klicks, then jetted out in front of him, settling into the blare of his headlights. When he turned off the official road and into the remains of a boulevard, Optimus followed, transforming and carefully picking his way through rubble and around craters, stepping over the remnant parts of dead bots and dead cons. The soft light of the moon cast harsh blankets of shadow that made it easy to get lost.

Laserbeak squawked, jolting him from the looming cascade of dark thoughts, then dove away, tumbling down into a wide crevasse; what used to be the below-ground floor of a building before the war, but, like everything else, had been razed. 

There came the soft chic-chic-whirrr of T-cog activation, then Soundwave climbed out, biolights glowing faintly in the shadows.

Optimus suppressed a smile as he strode over and bent to offer a hand. Soundwave’s ability to find a hiding spot surpassed that of any mech he’d ever known, Autobot or otherwise. “I had hoped you’d come.”

Soundwave took the offered hand and let the Prime pull him from the hole, but when he spoke there was an edge to his usual distorted drone. His visor glinted deadly red in Luna-1’s muted light. “I was sure you wouldn’t.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“‘All our efforts must be directed at the Ark. It is imperative that we leave Cybertron as soon as we are able.’” With a click of a button and the whir of tape he replayed Optimus’s own words back at him. Of course, Optimus didn’t ask how or where he’d gotten that information; it was part of the arrangement they had made, when they first began meeting in secret. Away and apart from everything else.

He looked down at their joined hands. Felt and squashed the urge to squeeze, make it so they couldn’t be parted. “We can’t leave yet. But soon. That’s why I wanted to meet. I want you to come with us. Well-” He huffed a half-chuckle, half weary sigh- “I want you to come with me.”

Soundwave jerked his hand away; the abruptness of the gesture suggested he was truly surprised. “Join your Autobots?” He scoffed. “I am loyal only to Lord Megatron.”

Optimus cringed internally at Lord, but nonetheless forged onward. “You of all mechs must know Cybertron is dying. If you stay, you will die.”

Soundwave crossed his arms and said nothing. He was silent for so long that Optimus began to think he’d stumbled on some piece of intel he wasn’t supposed to have, though for the life of him he didn’t know what. Which was why he wasn’t in Intelligence.

Finally, Soundwave looked up. Reached to tentatively trace fingertips across his chest plate. Even after all this time, he still touched Optimus like he was a bomb that might go off. Or like he was fragile. “Damned Autobot fool,” he muttered.

Optimus smiled and triggered the release on his mask, then paused as the sounds of battle burst out, distant blaster fire lighting up the sky even here. Chatter filled his comms, and from the tilt of Soundwave’s helm, he could hear it, too.

He heaved a sigh, but before he could say anything, Soundwave lifted his hand and gripped Optimus’s chin guard, pulling the surprised bot down to his level. Then, he retracted his own mask and pressed their lips together in a kiss that made Optimus’s head swim and his spark surge.

“I’d - I’d like to see you again, before the launch.” He managed, and for the first time he got to see Soundwave smirk.

“Watch for my signal.” Was all he said as he stepped back, mask sliding back into place, once more the Decepticons’ formidable third-in-command. 

Day 10 with Lightbright, love her design!