#maddacam

Chase was absolutely clueless. He didn’t know the first thing about courting, confessing, any of that. What he had learned, though, came from Blades’ movies. Leave love notes, be considerate, be affectionate, all things Chase never thought himself to be an especially skilled mech in, yet, he would try.

What was secret to him was obvious to nearly everyone else on the base, though. He was more than willing to do more patrols with the Chief, when any other bot dreaded them. He had the route committed to memory, and Chief would let him drive while the two of them talked, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. It was the little moments like that which had Chase falling so hard.

Chase began to gradually try to do the things he’d heard about, but he had no clue what to get Chief. He couldn’t cook, he couldn’t shop, most things that he thought he should so, he wasn’t able to for one reason or another.

Blades and Heatwave, though, were the most aware of Chase’s little crush. Blades, being a flight frame, and Heatwave with his expertise in fire training, were both able to easily detect the slight pick up in Chase’s temperature whenever Chief was so much as mentioned.

“You really are desperate!” Blades laughed one night, while he and the other bots were having their weekly movie night. Something had come up that led to Chase trying to dance around the topic of their Chief, but Blades sniffed him out easily. “You’ve got the hugest crush I’ve ever seen! And I’ve seen a lot of those.” Blades pointed at the television screen.

“Oh, on Chief Burns, right?” Boulder jumped in with a correct assumption. As Blades and Heatwave had expected, Chase’s internal temperature ticked up ever so slightly.

“That… May be correct, but it would be improper to engage in any true courting with Chief Burns,” Chase sighed, more morose than any of the bots had ever seen him, “Not only is he a human, bu the is also our superior officer.”

“Aw, come on, I’ve seen lots of good stuff between a boss and his uh… Subordinates,” Blades said, getting cut off when Heatwave lightly punched his arm.

“It wouldn’t… It seems as if it would make our workplace situation different, if not worse. Not just for me, but for everyone.” Chase had a hard time figuring out what words to use, “It would be unjust for me to receive special treatment from the Chief.”

“That’s assuming he even cares about you like that,” Heatwave muttered before he had the chance to think about what he was saying. As soon as the words left his vocalizer, though, the realization hit him of what he’d said.

Chase shrunk back, a contemplative look on his face but sharp worry and hurt in his field.

“Heatwave!” Blades gasped, batting a servo at Heatwave’s shoulder.

“No, Blades, he’s right,” Chase almost whispered, “It would be quite an unusual circumstance if Chief returned my feelings at all. I don’t expect him to.”

“Now,” Boulder started, not letting the conversation lull, “I don’t know as much as Blades does about organic courting, but I think that you should tell Chief Burns how you feel.” The other two bots agreed, along with Heatwave muttering a quick apology for what he’d said. Chase sighed, the credits began to roll on the screen in front of him.

“I think I will be getting to recharge,” He stood up, making to leave, “I’ll think about it, alright?”

With that, Chase left, heading off to turn in for the night. He didn’t expect to get much sleep, given the conversation he’d just had. What if Chief really didn’t like him? Would it be because he was Cybertronian, or something else? Chase did his best to squash that line of thought so he could maybe get some rest.

Morning came with the sound of the humans calling down the bots so that they could get ready to go out for the day. They didn’t have anything planned, and no rescue calls had come up, but Chief thought that it would be beneficial to make a quick check of the island, ensure that nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

Everybody set out with their respective partners to survey Griffin Rock, and everything seemed normal. Blades supposed that Chase hadn’t said anything yet.

That couldn’t be said for when they came back, though, Chief and Chase arriving later than everybody else by a handful of minutes, something Chase wouldn’t ever allow ordinarily. All the humans set off to do their own things, Chase, Blades, Boulder and Heatwave going to lounge about the base.

“So…?” Blades hummed, nudging Chase. “How’d it go? Did you tell him?” Chase fell silent for a moment, thinking on the question.

“Charlie- ah- Chief Burns confirmed that he… Returns my affections, and is willing to continue with courting.” Chase said, slipping up a little and pausing to think. Blades squealed and hugged Chase, congratulating him.