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...

Comments

[cliffjumper]

"I don't know what half the things in there do," he muttered, then froze for a moment between one step and the next at the noise that slid out of Mirage and he had full control of his EM field and it did not just jangle out all over the place.

Why had he thought this was a good idea? Nevermind that there was some tiny part of him that was very pleased at what sounded like a positive reaction from Mirage.

He hoped, anyway.

"This was a rustin' dumb idea," Cliffjumper said with a hiss, ducking his helm even if Mirage couldn't see his blush-bright (from embarrassment) optics.

[lastonepercent]

"I...think you figured it out well enough."

Mirage coughed politely, straightening in his seat to turn and give Cliffjumper a proper, blatant once-over. Shiny and well-polished, he suddenly didn't look so out of place in the fancy quarters - in fact, he fit in quite well.

The red minibot sure did clean up nice.

"You look good."

The EM field fluctuation made him grin, though.

[cliffjumper]

"'Cause I left most of the stuff alone," he muttered, feeling embarrassed to admit he'd even touched a single extra thing than necessary. Staring out the window, Cliffjumper wondered if he was imagining Mirage's optics on him.

Some part was sure he was, because as if Mirage would have any reason to stare. Another tiny part rather hoped he was---

"I look ridiculous!" Cliffjumper cried, jerking at the compliment and there was no way he could control his EM field as it jangled out again, and there was once again that tiny part of him that was very, very pleased Mirage had noticed.

The rest was just flustered.

[lastonepercent]

Unable to entirely hide the wince that Cliffjumper's jangling field drove out of him, Mirage swung his legs over the side of the lounge, standing and striding over to him.

"What? No, don't be silly!" Mirage scoffed, waving a hand in the direction of Cliffjumper's shiny frame.

"You look quite fine. Perfect, really - for our upcoming tour. You'll fit in quite nicely, if I do say so myself."

[cliffjumper]

"I don't want to fit in," Cliffjumper hissed, staring stonily out the window and hoping Mirage would miss it. It was embarrassing, the way Mirage's direct or roundabout compliments warmed his circuits.

He didn't fragging need to be complimented on his looks, but at the same time he was pleased Mirage apparently liked what he saw. Even if it'd taken cleaning up more than usual for that to happen.

"I shouldn't have to." And now that was just sulky and it was no better than behaving like a newspark, but looking nice for these people wasn't what Cliffjumper cared to do.

Don't expect him to come out for at least two hours, mate

[lastonepercent]

Cliffjumper's embarrassment was a little difficult for a trained spy to miss, but his words had a more impact - and Mirage was tempted to throw up his hands, optics narrowing.

"You don't have to, as you might recall," Mirage said primly, sniffing. "Or you would have had to do it already. Now you just look good, accept it or not. But if you object to it so much, I'm sure we can find some place around here to scuff you back up or something."

Standing up with an exaggerated flourish, Mirage flounced off to take over the underappreciated washroom. His only regret was that the door was incapable of slamming behind him.

8V THAT'S OK

[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper wasn't sure what he felt when Mirage flounced - literally flounced - off, so he couldn't even come up with a comeback to yell after him. Instead he just cast a glance at Mirage's retreating back and then scowled, turning back to the window and crossed his arms.

He had no looked at Mirage's aft.

Ah, slag, whatever. Who was he kidding? Not like he hadn't done that before - and anyway, it was a little hard to miss, with their relative height difference.

Blushing anyway, Cliffjumper stomped over to one of the large chairs that faced the door at an angle, flopped down in it and was determined to keep an optic on that door until Mirage came out.

Somehow, he ended up in a light recharge.

hehe

[lastonepercent]

In the end, Mirage indulged himself for over two hours.

The actual soak in the oil bath was only the beginning of Mirage's stubborn indulgence. Clever, automated supplies freely emerged from well-hidden cabinets and panels: rotary buffing-pad arms, detailers, massagers... And that wasn't even including the hot-wax option on the bath itself. Mirage indulged in it's readily familiarity, once again able to close his eyes and pretend he was back home on Cybertron, young and without the worries of war.

When he finally emerged, languid and relaxed, Mirage was about as waxed and shiny as it was possible to get without going gaudy. Perfect for a visitor of such 'high class' to be seen with the planetary leaders.

[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper came out of his unintentional doze when Mirage's steps came close enough - and at least that meant he was shifting into a more alert position when Mirage came into the big room.

Which meant that, hopefully, he wouldn't have noticed Cliffjumper's lapse. Even if he wouldn't see anything wrong with it, considering the way Mirage had already relaxed. Cliffjumper, on the other hand, was feeling pretty embarrassed over that.

Eyeing Mirage, Cliffjumper tried hard not to blush.

"Was that necessary?" he finally muttered, looking away with a scowl. It just wasn't fair. Anything of it, but Mirage's familiar ease with how he now looked was obvious.

It also made it even more obvious how beautiful the mech was, not that Cliffjumper needed some dumb layer of shine to see that.

[lastonepercent]

"Obviously," Mirage said flippantly, sauntering right past the sullen minibot.

"It's good for relaxation." He stretched as he walked, making a pleased, relaxed sound, and going so far as to stand in front of a mirror by one of the broad windows, examining the look of his polish in more natural star light.

It was very shiny.

[cliffjumper]

Gritting his teeth as he - without wanting to - followed Mirage's progress across the room, to a---

Fragging scrap.

Sinking deeper into his seat, Cliffjumper kept the growl sub-sonic, but only barely, and looked away. He wasn't going to get caught staring.

He wasn't.

"... guess that's true, but I wasn't talkin' 'bout the time you took. I'm talking about everything... else." He gestured in Mirage's direction, peeking out of the edge of his vision and then glaring at the painting on the wall instead.

Mirage looked really good.

he's on to you man

[lastonepercent]

"Why not?" Mirage glanced coyly over his shoulder, still standing in front of the mirror.

"This is a fairly momentous occasion, after all. Both for us and for the people here. I want to look my best, and if I can do that by relaxing under a detailing for a while, then I certainly will."

A pause.

"...do you really <>i>mind it so much?"

oh no this is a catastrophe

[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper accidentally looked back just when Mirage glanced over his shoulder and immediately looked away, field flaring right before he pulled it in tight. Frag, frag, frag.

"I guess," he finally bit out, then gritted his teeth and while he wanted to snap 'yes' or 'of course', what Cliffjumper ended up actually saying wasn't something he wanted to admit to.

Even if it wasn't worse than what Mirage had said to him when he came out of the washracks.

"Only 'cause it seems dumb. You..." trying his hardest to keep control of his field and staring stubbornly at the painting, Cliffjumper grunted, "you look good."

It was okay to say it in this situation. Mirage would probably not notice - and if he did, he'd dismiss it probably.

(And if he didn't, if he actually figured it out, Cliffjumper could only hope he would never know. Because he didn't really think Mirage would ever return any of what he was feeling. They were far too different.)

kehehehe

[lastonepercent]

"Well thank you."

Ignoring Cliffjumper's dithering, Mirage slowly grinned wide when the red mech finally paid him a compliment. He was embarrassed! How adorable.

"That wasn't so hard, was it? It may be 'frivolous' to you, but it can be so very worth it."

It was obviously good for Cliffjumper, seeing how he'd napped outside the door after a good pampering, after all.

[cliffjumper]

"Whatever," Cliffjumper muttered, sinking down in his seat a little, relieved there was no more incriminating comment forthcoming. Of course, Cliffjumper still didn't know whether Mirage had figured it out or not, but he didn't think so.

Which was good.

Really.

"And I don't see how it can be," he added, a bit reluctantly. Maybe this could get the whole thing away from more uncomfortable thoughts - though with Mirage looking like that, Cliffjumper doubted it.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage could only snort. Cliffjumper's answer wasn't terribly surprising at this point, unfortunately.

"How? Socially, it will certainly help us make a good impression on the populous, which will help with our mission. It feels good, for another. Having a way to relax is never to be underappreciated. And really?

Mirage paused, looking Cliffjumper up and down. "Looking good is never not worth it."

[cliffjumper]

Populous. Cliffjumper could only mouth along with that word in pure exasperated consternation. Of course Mirage would use a word like that. He wondered if the mech would end up sounding even more snooty than usual, the longer they stayed here.

The most awful thing was, he'd just realised he usually didn't mind (any longer, anyway) the way Mirage spoke, even when it was annoying. It was just... a part of the (former) noble.

Rolling his optics, Cliffjumper snorted.

"Pretty sure you could impress people even covered in m---" breaking off as he registered what Mirage had just said, what he'd just done, Cliffjumper barely managed to pull his surprised expression into a scowl, but the blush ran away from him.

He doesn't mean anything but exactly what he's saying. Telling himself that very sternly, Cliffjumper huffed and looked away. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, because the first thing that had come to mind was something he'd had thrown in his faceplates before, and not in a positive way.

A layer of shine isn't going to help an ugly personality.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage blinked.

"Well."

That. Was unexpected. If it wasn't for Cliffjumper's reaction to himself, he should have been able to accept such a compliment at face value, but...

"Well," he repeated, a faint surge of heat accompanying the rush of realization. "Thank you," he managed. The polite thing would be to play it off, but.

This...explained so much.

[cliffjumper]

The obvious, graceful thing to do, something which would also downplay his reaction and the importance of what he'd said, would be to wave it off. Sit there and pretend nothing had happened and do absolutely nothing.

Cliffjumper, however, couldn't do that.

Not that he'd realised that Mirage might have figured out a thing or two, but Cliffjumper's nerves about the whole thing and Mirage's response was far too much. So instead he scowled.

"Yeah. Sure. You're welcome." Scowled and blushed and stormed off, not even looking where he was going before the door was closing behind him and staring at a berth.

Great.

But walking back out wasn't something Cliffjumper was about to do right now.

[lastonepercent]

"...well alright then," Mirage said to the closed door. Carefully, he drifted back over to the window seat, draping himself across it in a unconsciously dramatic fashion.

Cliffjumper... liked him?

Well, no, not necessarily. But he was apparently attracted to him. Which was very different. The more ugly, self-confident parts of his processor argued he shouldn't be surprised- he wasn't under any delusions about his looks, after all. He'd been designed to the height of attractiveness when the Towers still stood, after all. But the idea of a minibot who actively seemed to dislike him and everything he had stood for at one point, being attracted to him?

He could honestly say the idea had never crossed his mind.

Despite growing...fond of the little mech during the trials and tribulations between then as of late. Cliffjumper was something of a energon crystal in the slag; there was apparently much more too him than he first appeared.

But now the question was: what should he do about it?