The Start of Something Interesting...

[lastonepercent]

The day was calm, with no recent Decepticon attacks, and none suspected to be incoming for some time.  The cons were too busy licking their wounds from the last battle, one that the Autobots had decidedly come out ahead on.  The celebrations had gone on long into the night and the recreation room was already a mess.

Thus, it was the perfect chance for a lone Autobot to slip casually outside.

Mirage had no shift currently scheduled, so he was free to spend his time as he pleased.  He certainly made no move to hide his departure, greeting his comrades in the halls on the way out, but the box in his hands remained unopened despite any passing curiosity.  It was quietly shifted into subspace before long, and  the former noble shifted into alt mode just as smoothly when he reached the doors.  Despite the completely inappropriate earthen race car mode, the mech had little trouble self-adjusting before driving off into the forest covering the mountain, for business unknown...

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[cliffjumper]

Two days into this (hopefully fruitful) farce, and Cliffjumper was about to fragging explode.

Mostly from this whole... thing. There'd been another, longer, tour of the city yesterday, then another banquet or whatever, though this time in someone's actual home instead of the same building they were staying in.

Mirage was glowing, and Cliffjumper wasn't sure if he meant that literally or metaphorically. Maybe both worked. Either way, the noble was clearly both enjoying himself and knowing exactly what to do, barring the differences another planet and culture made.

It was obvious Mirage was used to this, and Cliffjumper couldn't exactly begrudge him. Still didn't mean it didn't leave him feeling out of sorts and like he had to watch every slagging step.

It was exhausting and driving him spare and leaving him to notice every little motion Mirage did lately.

So, thankfully, he'd been able to escape for an unscheduled and unguarded trip around the city. Of course, people could still tell who he was because literally no one was his size, but everybody left him alone and that was all Cliffjumper cared about as he went looking.

It was risky, yes, but he reasoned that, since he and Mirage were supposed to be bonded, it should be fine... slip in under the cover of 'supposedly a couple'. Now just to find something...

[lastonepercent]

Mirage was feeling quite content, yes. It was like a dream, at times; being back in a world like the one he originally knew. He was privately surprised at how much had stuck with him; at how much still came so easily.

Of course, he was hiding most of his worry. Things were going well, but it didn't stop him from worrying about the various things that could go wrong, or constantly playing the old social ladder game. ...Which was usually also fun for a Towers mech, but it was a foreign world. Ambassador or not, he was still at a disadvantage there.

Which meant, of course, that he was well aware that Cliffjumper had it rather worse. He could tell the minibot was getting a little over-stressed as of late- which is why he shouldn't have been terribly surprised when he heard from the Paradronian's guard service.

::So I hear you've slipped your 'escort'.:: He commed Cliffjumper on their private, encrypted line, not too long after the minibot's 'escape'.

[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper froze for a moment, then frowned and started walking again.

::Escort? What escort? I didn't see anyone...:: Which didn't make Cliffjumper particularly happy, but was probably one point for whoever his escort had supposedly been. Standing against the point of Cliffjumper, who had never been a particularly subtle mech, managing to slip away from their attention even when he didn't know they were there.

But then, he had gone through some standard procedures for getting rid of unwanted tails, shortly after he left the government buildings... reflexively and without thinking about it.

And his size had probably helped too, to be fair.

[lastonepercent]

::...We both have escorts, Cliffjumper.::

Mirage sighed over the commline, amused despite the situation. Cliffjumper had stirred up a bit of a fuss, but it was surprisingly easy to spin in their favor.

He would never, ever tell Cliffjumper, but he was fairly certain the Paradronians were completely charmed by the minibot's size.

::We have escorts that are both for our aid and serving as honor guards. I honestly assumed you knew and snuck off on purpose?::

[cliffjumper]

::Fraggin'...:: scowling, Cliffjumper briefly revved his engine then reined itback in, ::No, I didn't slaggin' notice. I just followed standard procedure.::

Standard procedure for enemy territory, that was. He ought to have noticed, the mini felt like. He'd been a rusted soldier for the past four million years! But he hadn't.

::I'm just checkin' the place out,:: he said after a moment, feeling embarrassment creep up along his circuits for what he was out here to do. Hopefully Mirage would just assume it was to keep their cover, regardless of what he knew or suspected about Cliffjumper's feelings.

It was dumb to use their cover for this, but being able to give Mirage something... Well, he doubted he'd ever be able to do it normally, so he'd take the chance now. Even if it was embarrassingly sentimental.

[lastonepercent]

:Oh.:: Well then. Mirage chuckled over the line, silently relaying an edited version of the situation to the upset guards and ambassadors.

::Well, I'm certainly not going to stop you from investigating. Do be careful, Cliffjumper. Keep your tracker online and comm me if anything unusual happens.::

It would probably do him some good to get out like this. Take the edge of the minibot's temper.

::We may be honored guests here, and you are more than likely safe, but we more more about the Decepticons than we do about the Paradonian's various political factions.::

[cliffjumper]

::When ain't I careful?:: Cliffjumper huffed. Who did Mirage take him for, anyway? But then stopped briefly when Mirage continued, because while politics might not be his forté, he wasn't completely stupid in that regard.

And Mirage was being perfectly clear in what he was saying.

::Blast. Didn't think of that. You noticed anything?:: With a shake of his head, he continued on, having found a street with the sort of shops he thought he might need.

Now that he was worried about his safety, even if it was foolish to not be so. Nonetheless, Cliffjumper was rather arrogantly assuming that he'd be able to deal with anyone who might attack him.

Even if he had completely missed the so-supposed honour guard or whatever, he'd still been a soldier for four million years. If anyone tried to jump him, Cliffjumper was confident he'd be able to deal with them.

[lastonepercent]

OH, but he could name some times...

Mirage kept his comments contained to a raised brow ridge that Cliffjumper thankfully could not see. That wouldn't help the situation. ...Maybe once they were back on Earth. Hmm. Something to think about.

::No, I haven't seen or heard anything. So please do not take it the wrong way or use it as an excuse. It is merely an option we must be aware of- so be aware and be careful.::

Seasoned soldier or not, Cliffjumper was still not the most physically imposing Autobot around. He could easily run into trouble, if said trouble even existed.

[cliffjumper]

Please do not, Mirage.

::Fine.:: He probably shouldn't sound so annoyed about that, because it was probably better this way. But with Mirage having brought up the possibility, Cliffjumper's processors were already working with all the possibilities and the additional enemy fronts they could end up having to deal with.

::I'll be on alert,:: he added after a moment with a brief huff, then rolled his optics as he turned away from a display of carefully cultivated crystal arrangements, ::though I doubt anything's gonna happen in a shopping district.::

Having taken a few steps, Cliffjumper paused and frowned. Turned back to storefront with the crystal arrangements and actually considered them. Mirage might actually like them.

They were utterly useless, delicate and, admittedly, pretty... And seemed like Mirage's thing. Frowning at them, Cliffjumper resolved to keep looking but put this shop as a tentative 'yes', if he found nothing else.

[lastonepercent]

::Good. I should hope not,:: Mirage agreed, already rolling his optics at Cliffjumper's tone. Then he paused.

Shopping? Cliffjumper? Whatever could he be looking-

Never mind. He probably did not want to know.

::Have a good shopping trip, then. Do try to enjoy yourself.:: He sniffed, ending the call to properly reassure the rest of the party what had happened with his 'partner'.

[cliffjumper]

::Who said I was shopping--!:: Cliffjumper's indignant sputtering got lost in the empty nothingness of a disconnected call, and he glowered with (undeserved) rancor the glittering display of ridiculous-looking jewellery.

Eyeing the strings of woven metal strands, polished jewels and crystals, Cliffjumper could see Mirage in something like that, too, especially around here. But he wasn't going to buy something like that; he didn't actually know Mirage's tastes, even if this was the sort of thing Mirage might wear.

He wasn't quite dumb enough when it came to stuff like this he'd buy it completely blind.

Which meant that he put the jewellery out of his mind and continued to look, though two hours later he'd almost resolved to backtrack to the shop with the crystal sculptures when he ended up in a small shop off from the main road he'd been following.

Everything in here seemed to glitter or pulse under his touch, and it took several minutes of appalled staring before Cliffjumper realised it wasn't actually glowing - what he was seeing was similar to the times Mirage had raised energy...

He shivered and almost stomped out immediately, but a delicate sculture-machine caught his attention. Mostly because it was the familiar arrangement of Cybertron with its moons.

Peering closer at it, Cliffjumper blinked. This close, even he could see what it was meant for; calculating and keeping track of planetary and lunar movements and events. Something he knew quite a few on the Ark had bemoaned their inability to do, since the crash had reset the Ark's memory and computers, losing the cybertronian date and counting forward from the crash.

It glowed like anything else in here, and Cliffjumper remembered more than one ceremony or holiday that was reliant on certain planetary or lunar events. Despite his discomfort with the place, he grabbed the delicate-looking (but surprisingly sturdy) and found an attendant.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage sputtered with laughter after he ended the call; Cliffjumper's paranoia was occasionally amusing.

"The shopping district-" he chuckled to himself, wondering what the minibot might actually end up buying for himself- if he bought anything at all. He hoped Cliffjumper actually found something he liked, rather than coming back with only complaints about how 'materialistic' the Paradronians were or something.

He spent the rest of the time Cliffjumper was away chatting up other ambassadors and reassuring the guards that no, Cliffjumper did not need to be tracked and brought back. Really.

Please don't.

[cliffjumper]

Even after getting what he'd intended to get (insofar as he'd intended to get a present), Cliffjumper lingered. Because now, having picked the thing up, now in a wrapped box, Cliffjumper was starting to feel both ridiculous and embarrassed.

How the frag was he supposed to give Mirage this thing, anyway? The mini was also not dumb enough not to be aware that doing this, even under the guise of buying something for his 'bonded', would be as good as yelling about what he felt for Mirage.

Which made him want to go and return the thing. Why had he thought this was a good idea, anyway? But, he already knew Mirage didn't have any feelings for him - why should he? - and at least like this, there would be no one else around to witness his fragging dumb impulse.

And he did still want to give Mirage something he might enjoy - had wanted to for a while, but Earth hadn't really lent itself to that, and it would've been hard to do something like that and not have someone he didn't want to find out do exactly that.

So with a huff, Cliffjumper reluctantly returned, pretending to ignore the escort he gained a few streets away from the building that was his goal - at least this time he did notice them.

Didn't mean he didn't end up staring at the door to their quarters for several moments before he could go in, uncomfortably aware of the fact that his optics were too bright, already.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage heard the relieved pings when Cliffjumper was returning long before the minibot actually got back. He made sure to thank the protective detail for their diligence, passing it along up the ranks to the ambassadors.

A lot of fuss for one little adventure, but it would be worth it if Cliffjumper actually managed to enjoy himself for once.

"Welcome back."

Mirage called from his seemingly relaxed lounge on the settee, across from a freshly-used table setting.

"You just missed the ambassador. They seemed to assume we'd need some 'private time' after your outing."

[cliffjumper]

"Uh--- yeah," Cliffjumper muttered, aware that wasn't very polite, but unable to care at the moment. Especially when Mirage said 'private time'. Sputtering, Cliffjumper ducked his helm and grit his teeth, feeling his EM field flex uneasily.

That was the last thing he needed to hear, especially right now. Normally he would just have rolled his eyes and hidden a slightly sullen thought of how something like that would never happen.

Right now, however, and well aware more than a few people had seen him coming back with his wrapped box, Cliffjumper didn't need to hear something like that. Though... it was perfectly possible that this was the reason why the ambassador and whoever else thought they'd need 'private time'...

Engine revving unevenly, Cliffjumper huffed and stomped across the room, only putting the box down on the low table carefully because he didn't want to jostle what was inside.

Scowling from the box to Mirage, Cliffjumper felt like hiding... but he also wanted to be nearby enough to get an idea of what Mirage thought of it...

His solution was to whirl around and walk over to the huge window.

"Well, I hope that went well, whatever it was you did. That's for you, by the way," Cliffjumper said - or rather, said and then mumbled the last, so whether Mirage had heard it or not was a good question.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage hid a smile behind a polite hand when Cliffjumper's field flexed and went fluttery. Poor minibot. He still didn't seem to know what to do with himself in the face of the ambassador's expectations.

Good thing they were alone.

But his amusement vanished at the words from Cliffjumper that he barely managed to catch.

"...What? For me?"

Glancing between Cliffjumper and the small box that had suddenly appeared on the table, Mirage cautiously approached, kneeling down alongside the table to pick the package up with thin, questioning fingers.

[cliffjumper]

Stiffening a little at Mirage's tone, Cliffjumper ducked his helm and scowled down at the buildings below them outside the window. This had been a bad idea, and he almost wished to turn around, snatch the dumb thing up and storm out.

But he also still wanted Mirage to have it.

"Yeah, for you," Cliffjumper muttered, crossing his arms over his chestplates. He should've waited a few more days before he did this, probably. But he hadn't been able to help himself, when the opportunity presented itself, even if he hadn't initially left with the idea to go buy Mirage something.

[lastonepercent]

Glancing between Cliffjumper and the box again, Mirage beamed, spinning in place with the present clasped in his hands.

"Oh! Well then- Thank you."

Honestly surprised and not quite sure what to think, Mirage quickly moved to unwrap it. He started out quick, almost rushed in a surge of excitement- but the closer he got to the gift itself, the more carefully he handled it.

Until the moon-path sculpture was resting gentle in his open hands, glowing faintly.

"Oh, Cliffjumper," Mirage gasped softly, awed and touched as it watched the delicate model move.

[cliffjumper]

Listening to Mirage first rip into the wrapping and then start to slow down, Cliffjumper shifted on his feet.

Bit his lip and felt his optics brighten and his field twitch at Mirage's gasp and the tone of voice, and he chanced a glance over his shoulder and cursed himself for looking.

Mostly because it was such a sweet expression, and he really didn't need to add that to things he'd seen.

(Yes, he did.)

"... you're welcome," Cliffjumper muttered, staring hard at the view out the window.

[lastonepercent]

Admiring the beautiful, sturdy-yet-delicate device for a long moment, Mirage finally moved to set it carefully on the table like a precious thing. He stared for a long moment. Then Mirage rose to his feet, and strode silently over to where Cliffjumper was staring out the window.

With the lighting as it was, Cliffjumper probably couldn't catch his reflection- which allowed him to slip up behind the minibot- stooping down to press a light kiss to the crown of his helm.

"Really. Thank you. It's lovely, and it was nice of you to think of me on your shopping trip."

[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper noticed when Mirage got up from the couch and came up behind him, of course - that was completely impossible to miss, even if he was distracted. Definitely impossible to miss because he was almost always aware of where Mirage was if they were in the same room. And if Mirage wasn't intentionally trying to go undetected, since then not many would notice him.

"What'd y---"

The light brush of pressure was basically nonexistent, and the static was negligible, but Cliffjumper felt it like a spike through him. Exaggeration, of course, but he blushed fiercely, opened his mouth, closed it, then sputtered.

"I--- it's--- nothing. Nothing big," Cliffjumper finally managed, wanting to demand why Mirage had had to do that, wanted to leave but couldn't get his legs to obey.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage chuckled softly at Cliffjumper's reaction, hand resting briefly on a red shoulder before he pulled away.

"It does not matter. Big or small, I'm still grateful you thought of me."

Really, he hadn't expected it - and it was very, very telling, for Cliffjumper to do such a thing.

Perhaps he needed to rethink a few things.

[cliffjumper]

He was as aware of that hand on his shoulder as he'd been of the light, nearly non-existent kiss, and only barely managed to rein in his EM field before his blush registered in it as well (again).

"Yeah, well--- I'm---" Cliffjumper muttered, gritting his teeth and feeling not just flustered, but utterly embarrassed.

Even if Mirage had clearly liked the gift and that had been the fragging point... Unable to take it any more, Cliffjumper whirled around, intent on escaping and locking himself in one of the other rooms they had available when the door chime sounded and shortly after two people entered.

"Uh...?" Frozen between one step and the next, Cliffjumper scowled, his embarrassment doused cold in surprise.

"Honoured," the taller, slender one that shared some interesting similarities in look to Mirage, murmured, bowing briefly and shooting her companion a thinly veiled frown, "we wanted to make sure you arrived back safe, and it seems that was the case. Though, perhaps, you would allow yourself a guide next time? We could even arrange a tour, since with local knowledge interesting places to visits could be arranged as well."

Cliffjumper huffed and shrugged, glancing over to Mirage's gift where it was on the table, to Mirage, very, very quickly, and then back to the two by the doors.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine."

Not the most diplomatic response, really, but he was too frazzled for anything else.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage reset his optics in surprise, faintly irritated by the sudden arrival- and very nearly late ping they had sent.

Cliffjumper had really worried someone, for them to rush up here like this and barely skirt the edges of formality.

"A pleasure," Mirage said, sweeping over in apparent welcome, sadly leaving Cliffjumper and their lack of discussion until later. Golden optics glancing between the two arrivals, Mirage bobbed his head at the polite offer.

"So good of you to come. I know it may may a bit alarming, but Cliffjumper's free to come and go as far a I am concerned." He clucked lightly, fingers lacing together as he took a polite- but firm- stance on the subject.

If Cliffjumper needed his few freedoms in the place to keep the peace between them, Mirage could hold on to that for him at least.

"A tour, though. I'm sure that will be lovely, the next time my dear Cliffjumper is feeling up to a day trip." He grinned, glancing back over his shoulder toward the frazzled minibot.

[cliffjumper]

Frazzled didn't even begin to describe it, and it didn't get any better when Mirage called him that.

It was just for show. For what they were doing, for what they were pretending to be. Nothing else. The litany sounded flat in Cliffjumper's processor, which wasn't helping. It was true, after all.

He manages a shrug at the ambassador, who nods, smiling faintly.

"Of course. Could we beg a warning off you, next time, however?" A slight little bow as it's spoken slowly and with understanding. Completely ignoring the increasingly annoyed-looking mech beside her.