#spark gem

"What in the pits of Kaon are you doing Blitzwing?"

Blitzwing's helm popped up out of a sea of boxes, his jack-o'-lantern smile stretched wide, "I'm wrapping a gift! For my little Schnurzelpurzel!" 

"A gift? Just one? Why do you have so many boxes then?" Lugnut asks, stepping forward and accidentally stepping in one, which he comically shakes off of his leg.

"I'm going to do that thing where I put a tiny box in a bunch of larger boxes, but the last box is going to have a ring in it." He laughs.

"A ring?"

His face spins, stopping on his icy demeanor, "Yes, I've found that humans use those to symbolize their devotion and love for each other," He explains, "I am hoping to bond with them, the same you have with Strika, though I thought they would be more familiar with their own customs."

Lugnut rolls his optics, "And you're doing that in the most obnoxious, ridiculous way possible? I hope they break up with you."

Blitzwing's face spins to his hotheaded personality, "WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW?! YOU BARELY SEE STRIKA, AT LEAST I CAN SEE Y/N EVERY DAY IF I WANT!" He yells, tossing a box at Lugnut's helm.

"That's because Strika is out doing good for the Decepticon cause, I don't need to see her every day to know our bond is true. We don't need a silly ring either."

"GET OUT!" Blitzwing yells while throwing a flurry of boxes at the mech. Lugnut ducks his helm down and covers it with his servos before running out of the room, trying to avoid as many boxes as possible.

Blitzwing stopped throwing boxes as soon as Lugnut left, his face spinning back to icy as he goes back to putting boxes inside each other and wrapping them, humming to himself.

"Yep! They thought if they filled it with herbs, flowers, and spices that would keep the miasma-or bad smells- out because they thought that's what caused disease." You say, tapping away at the keyboard of your laptop, trying to finish your essay from your desk.

Pharma scoffs and rolls his optics, "How primitive..." he says turning the mask again, "I'd imagine they weren't very effective then." 

"No, not really. Apparently of the 18 doctors that were in Venice, only one was left by 1348, a few actually died from the plague. The others went missing, so no one really knows what happened to them," you say, monotoned, as you continue to type, "They did have the good idea to use a cane to examine and direct patients so they wouldn't have to have physical contact with them though, that probably saved them from catching it sooner."

Pharma raises up, "Do you think any of them tried to beat the plague out of their patients with those canes?" he half-jokes, looking back at you.

You pause for a moment, "Probably?" you answer, the sound of tip tapping fills the room again, "I mean… I'm sure at least one had to try it at some point. Especially since not all plague doctors were actual doctors."

"What?" Pharma chuckles, "You're not serious are you? They really just let anyone run around in these get ups and claim to be a doctor?"

"Well… yeah. It was a dark time, many people were dying and no one really checked credentials because they were scared and ready to believe anyone claiming to have a miracle cure for them and their loved ones."

Pharma chuckles again, "The more I learn about your kind's history the more unbelievable it is that humans have survived so long." He says, laying back down, "No offense of course."

"Eh, I understand, I'm a little surprised at how durable we can be too sometimes." You stop typing and look back at him over your shoulder, "Besides, I could say the same about you Cybertronians with your 4 million years of war." You give a teasing smile before going back to your work.

"Touché." He smiles back, "Still, even if it wasn't exactly effective, I do rather admire the aesthetic of these plague doctors. Perhaps I should look into getting a mask of my own in the same style?" He muses, "One that actually works at keeping disease out of course."

"Maybe," you say, "I do think it'd look very good on you."

Rodimus has set up a little tree of his own in his office, a pink one, with a little Rodimus Star on top. It was… tacky, but you thought it was cute how excited he got when asking you what you thought of it and of Christmas as a whole. It seemed like he was trying to mimic your level of enthusiasm. You two have been sort of an unofficial couple for the past few months, and you're pretty sure he was just trying to make sure you think he's cool enough to be seen with you, especially since Swerve is throwing a Christmas party and you're sure he's going to ask you to go with him.

You look through your closet for the perfect outfit, something festive, but not overly so. You decide on a sweater that has reindeer and snowflakes on it and some grey pants. You might throw on a Santa hat too, but you haven't decided yet.

You hear a sudden knock on your door and turn your attention to it. You close your closet and make your way over to the door, opening it to find Rodimus standing there with a light up Christmas light necklace and one arm behind his back, "Hey y/n!" he smiles.

"Oh, hey Roddy. Do you need something?"

"Actually…" he pauses, "I uh… I wanted to ask you something?"

You smile, "Yeah?" you ask pretending you don't know he's about to ask you to the party as his date.

"I uh, was wondering if you would… well..." He pauses again this time turning around to put on a fake white beard before turning back around, "Will you be my ho ho ho?"

You stare at him, your smile slowly deflating, as you slow blink at him.

His smile grows more and more nervous before he coughs into his fist, "Sorry… that was stupid wasn't it-"

"Yes."

He gets a nervous look, "Heh, well, uh…" he takes the beard off, "Man that was stupid." He puts a servo over his face, "I uh, I should have gone about this differently. Would you uh, would you go to Swerve's party with me?" He gives a weak, but hopeful smile.

You don't say anything.

"That's a no huh?"

"I'll go with you."

"Yeah I kinda figur- wait what?"

"I'll go with you." You say again, a bit more firmly this time.

He has a look of disbelief, "Really?"

"Yes, really. I like you Roddy, even if you make stupid jokes."

"...You do?"

"Well, yeah."

He smiles, "Sweet! I'll see you at 8 then!"

"It's a date." You smile back, before closing the door to get ready.

"Wasn't me." Underbite says.

"Who would do such a thing?" Quillfire pipes in.

Fracture rolls his optics, "Okay first of all, I asked you stop referring to my minicons as our kids-"

"They practically are our children." You say, interrupting him, "And as such I'd appreciate it if you didn't make them sad." You throw an arm around Airazor, who is pretty much hugging your side at this point.

"Second of all, I don't like you filling their helms with those human fairytales. Santa isn't real and I don't want them thinking-"

"SANTA ISN'T REAL?!" Quillfire yells out before starting to sniffle.

"But… but… but... who's gonna bring me all that metal I asked for?" Underbite looks down at the ground, his little tail falling limp.

"Oh come on!" Fracture shouts, "You guys too? You're too smar-" he stops and scratches his chin, "Actually you know this does check out for you two. Still," he turn his attention back to you, "No more Santa stories, or Easter Bunnies, or whatever else you humans lie to your kids about."

"THE EASTER BUNNY TOO?!" Quillfire practically sobs.

"Awwww man, I wanted to meet him too." Underbite says in a defeated tone.

Fracture facepalms, sliding the servo down his face and sighing.

"Now look what you've done." You say pointing down to Airazor, his lip quivering, "And you've upset Quillfire and Underbite too!" You cross your arms and give him a stern look.

"Really? You're gonna do that?" 

You don't say anything.

"Babe come on, this is ridiculous." He moves over to you and leans down, "Not in front of the others, I have a reputation to keep." He whispers.

You don't move or talk, you just stand there with a look of anger and disappointment mixed in your expression with your arms crossed.

He stands back up and sighs, "Fiiiiiiiine." He huffs, "Airazor, I was just messing with you, it was a joke, Santa is real." he says flatly.

"Really?" Airazor smiles, optics lighting up as he lets get of you.

"I knew it!" Underbite shouts, wagging his tail.

"Oh what a relief!" Quillfire says wiping his forehelm.

"There, you happy now?" Fracture asks, looking down at you.

"That'll do. For now." 

"What?" 

You beacon him to lean down closer as Airazor runs over to Quillfire and Underbite to talk about what they asked for, "You're gonna help me play Santa now, as payback."

He groans, "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Nope, not at all. Get a Santa hat ready, because you're helping get and hand out gifts."

He pouts and crosses his arms, "You're lucky I find you so cute, you know that?"

You smile and kiss his cheek, "And you're lucky I love you so much."

He quickly transforms and heads inside, hoping to settle down in the heated factory for a nice recharge, but when he gets in he notices all the lights are off.

"Hello? Anyone here?" He says, messing with the light switch, "Shoot, power's off." He mutters to himself.

"O-O-Optimus?" You say through chattering teeth, "Yo-you're back so soon?" You ask, jumping up from the couch, covered in a big puffy coat and two blankets.

"Y/N? What happened? Where is everyone?" He says rushing over to you.

"P-power when out," You say through chattering teeth and he can see your breath, "S-Sari, Bee, and B-Bulkhead w-went to Sari's for a sl-sleep over."

"You should have went with them! You're freezing!" He says scooping you up.

"I k-know, but I wa-wanted to wait f-f-for you."

He pouts, "Where's Prowl and Ratchet?"

"P-Prowl went on a d-dr-drive, and R-Ratchet is in the b-b-basement, trying to ge-get a generator set up."

His optics soften on you as he wraps the blankets around you, "Ratchet gave you these didn't he?"

You nod.

"Well I'll have to thank him for that later," He smiles, "I'm sure he'll get this fixed in no time. Until then let's head back to my room. The power went out and it’s freezing out. We need to cuddle to survive. Or at least make sure you survive anyway." He chuckles

You rest your head against his chassis as he carries you, already feeling much warmer from his body heat, "I can work with that," you joke, "Maybe the power should go out more often then."

He got even more excited when you and the kids set up a tree in the base and stacked presents underneath. So excited in fact that he tried to peek in his own present that you got for him. Once the base was empty he carefully unwrapped the bow and slowly took the top off the box…

Only to be assaulted with a flurry of glitter in his face.

"What the frag?!" He shouts trying bat glitter off his face and chassis. He stops and turns when he hears the sound of another engine pulling in.

Bumblebee drives in, stopping at the base's entrance and opening his door to let you out.

"Thanks for picking me up today Bee." You say climbing out of his passenger seat as he gives you some happy beeps and chirps before transforming.

"Oh someone else is here!" You say spotting Smokescreen out of the corner of your eye. You turn around to see him and start to greet him, "Oh it's you, hey Smoke-" you cut yourself off as soon as you notice he's covered on glitter.

"I can’t believe you booby trapped the presents so I wouldn’t peek!" He shouts in disbelief.

You laugh, "Wow Smoky… I was expecting to catch Miko or Wheeljack with that first, but I had a hunch you'd wanna peek too." 

"Unbelievable! Do you know how many washes it's gonna take for me to get all this off?"

"Don't go snooping then." You smile and laugh again.

And yet, he still hasn't shown up.

You're starting to worry that maybe he's gotten himself into trouble. You can't help but think the worst, and it's making you anxious, yet you can't stop.

Then you hear the familiar roaring of a motorcycle engine pull into your yard and you hop up from your spot on the couch and rush over to the window. You move the curtain a bit to peek out and you let out a sigh of relief as you see the purple, driverless motorcycle park in your snow covered driveway then transform and deploy his minicons.

You rush to the door immediately and open it, Airazor and Divebomb zooming past you to get out of the cold.

"Fracture!" You shout, rushing out in your fuzzy pajamas and slippers.

"Babe hey I-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence before he feels you practically tackle him in a hug.

"I missed you so much! I was worried you weren't gonna come back!" You say squeezing him as tight as you can.

"Heh, missed me that much huh?" He ruffles the top of your hair, "Yeah I missed you too." He says, throwing an arm around you, "And don't worry so much, I know what I'm doing."

"Come here." You say, letting him go and beaconing him down with your finger.

"Hm?" He bends down and you place your palms on his cheeks before planting a kiss right on his mouth.

His face tints blue at the sudden affection but he soon leans down further to deepen the kiss, closing his optics.

You start to pull back… but soon find that you can't.

"Uh-oh." You mumble out.

"Frag." You hear Fracture say muffled.

He picks you up, being as careful as he can with you, and takes you through the front door where it's warm.

"Ewwww!" You hear Airazor exclaim.

"C'mon boss do you have to do that in front of us?" Divebomb says, making a gagging face and motion with his claw.

"We're stuck." Fracture mumbles.

"Your lips actually froze together? How intense was that kiss?" Divebomb asks.

Divebomb and Airazor immediately make a dash to the couch and turn on the TV, flipping through channels hoping to find a good action movie or cartoon on. Fracture stands near the front door, wondering why you didn't call back to him, you normally say something when he comes in, even if you're busy you still at least say hi to him.

"Babe?" He calls out again, thinking  maybe you didn't hear him, but still, there's no answer. Maybe you're just in your room with some music on? Or taking a shower? Still, he can't help the rising feeling within his circuits that something is wrong.

He tries not to show any concern, but with no answer after he's called out to you twice has him worried. He decides to go to your room to see if you're in there taking a nap or listening to music, but once he opens the door and sees you aren't there his panic becomes apparent. Slag, did the Autobots find out about your relationship and take you in for questioning? Did Steeljaw do something?

He rushes back towards the living room, looking around for any sign of struggle, but everything is in place, so obviously someone didn't break in. That's when he decides to check the kitchen and lets out a gasp that even Airazor and Divebomb can hear.

When he sees you laying on the floor passed out he rushes to your side, cradling you in his arms and checking your body for any marks you may not have had before. He notices you're still breathing and lets out a sigh of relief as Airazor and Divebomb come into the kitchen to see what all the commotion is about.

"OH SCRAP ARE THEY DEAD?!" Airazor yells out, placing his servos on his helm as his optics go wide.

"No," Fracture says picking you up bridal style, "Just passed out," He turns and carries you to your room, Airazor and Divebomb shuffling out of the way, and once there he gently places you on your bed and sits down beside you.

Later, once you wake up, you raise up and you're met with Fracture standing next to your bed cutting something up and Divebomb and Airazor curled up at the foot of your bed sleeping.

"About time sleepy head," he says after noticing you open your eyes.

"Fracture? What-"

"You passed out." He says, "I found you passed out on your floor. After checking for any marks I carried you here," he says handing you an apple slice, "I did a quick data search on what exactly could cause this and found out low blood sugar can make you faint," he places a plate of apple and orange slices down beside you, "You gotta take better care of yourself babe, you had those two worried sick." he says pointing at Airazor and Divebomb fast asleep, but the truth was that he was just as worried as they were, maybe even more.

"I know." You respond, hanging your head and taking a bite of the apple slice he handed you, "Sorry for worrying all of you."

"Yeah I know," he says trying to act cool about it, "Just… make sure you're getting enough insulin and eat alright?" He says in a softer tone, letting his worry slip through.

"Alright." You smile and take the plate of fruit into your lap then pat the spot beside you. He sits down and you lean against him, "I'm glad you came by then."