Chapter Text
The evening ended very late, Soundwave had to round up his cassettes and make sure they were all back in his compartment. Each one said they weren't tired but Soundwave could read their energy levels, and they went into recharge moments within docking.
They said goodbye to Thundercracker and Bluestreak, having secured a day for this movie club. Then that just left him and Jazz.
They stayed a little longer; Jazz volunteering to help pack down Blasters equipment, and Soundwave found himself also helping. In the middle of tidying away the equipment Blaster managed to corner him and asked him if he wanted to meet up sometime and discuss their musical collections. Then in no time at all Soundwave had secured a date for that as well.
Finally, he and Jazz left together, and even though Jazz had managed to seem unendingly exuberant the whole night, once they were outside evidence of tiredness was finally visible on his face. A smile was still stubbornly lingering on his face, but there was definitely a level of effort forced in order to keep it on there. His energy starting to sap as if he was now on emergency power mode, only likely to last long enough to find somewhere to sleep. Soundwave had never actually seen that side of Jazz, he'd always seemed to be beaming with energy. Soundwave never even got to see him like this during the days of the war.
"Well, that was a good evening," Jazz said, stretching. His optics were as hidden as Soundwave's, but he had the feeling Jazz's were just as fatigued as his own. "Nothing much to do now but head home and get some good recharge I guess."
"Query: Jazz's home: not too far?"
"I'm over at Prima Vista, so it's not too far."
"Location: over half hour drive. Soundwave's abode: much closer."
Jazz paused.
"Wait, are you inviting me over?"
"Affirmative. Soundwave's abode: minimalist furnishings, but has spare recharge berth."
"Sure, I'll take you up on that," Jazz smiled, "I can transform and you can hop in my alt if you like. I'll just need directions."
"Soundwave: can provide."
Jazz nodded and transformed right in front of him. "Then hop on in."
Soundwave obliged, transforming into his own altmode so he would be able to fit into Jazz's interior.
"Where to from here?"
"Directions: straight forward and then take third left."
"Gotcha."
They drove in mostly silence, aside from Soundwave's occasional directions. It was a comfortable silence though. At least, Soundwave assumed so. He had not spoken for quite some time and suddenly became worried that by not talking he was being a terrible driving companion. Small talk and minor chatter had always escaped his capabilities. He couldn't think of anything to say, and his paranoia about the silence only grew.
"Jazz: would like music?" he finally blurted out.
"Hm? I'm okay for music right now, honestly. We've had plenty tonight. Don't have to if you don't want to."
If Soundwave admitted, he was also drained out on music. He most just wanted to get home, but the paranoia was still eating at him.
"Soundwave: worries Jazz would prefer something else to silence," he decided to just say.
"That's what you're worried about? It's okay, it's been a long day. I don't mind this. This is nice."
"If Jazz is sure?"
"Yeah, don't you worry. Besides, we'll be there soon."
Soundwave was happy for the verbal confirmation, even if a little worry lingered there didn't seem much else he could do.
Eventually Jazz pulled up outside his apartment building, and then Soundwave popped out. He transformed and then made his way over to the entryway and typed in his code, before leading him up the stairs to his habsuite.
Many expected his abode to be minimalist and tidy, but having five cassetticons to look after meant his apartment was more often than not cluttered with mess. It was in a similar state now; when he opened the door there were toys and games strewn all over the floor.
"Soundwave: apologises for mess."
"You haven't seen what Sunny and Sides old barracks looked like. That's nothing compared to this."
"Soundwave: can imagine."
"So where would you like me?"
"Soundwave: will prepare spare recharge slab."
"Oh, so you do have one."
"Affirmative. Query: what did Jazz think would happen otherwise?"
"Not gonna lie, I wondered if you were gonna try and pull a 'whoops sorry, turns out I only have one bed'."
"Deception: would be unsuitable for growing friendship."
Jazz chuckled. "That's true. I did have that happen to me before though. Had a friend who'd been into me for a while and that was their way of asking. To be fair we did date for a while, though it didn't work out in the end."
Soundwave wasn't sure quite how best to respond, so he just nodded. He tapped a panel in the wall, and the slab transformed out of its hidden compartment. Almost the klik it was ready Jazz fell onto it.
"Oh yeah, that's nice. Thanks, Soundwave, for letting me stay," Jazz mumbled before snuggling up into the basic thermal blanket.
"Sentiment: acknowledged. Soundwave: wanted to repay Jazz for evening and introducing various compatriots."
"Hey, that's no problem. I'm really glad you got on with everyone so far."
"Soundwave: wishes pleasant recharge."
"You too, buddy."
As Soundwave left to get into his own recharge bay, he repeated the word 'buddy' in his processor. It was a small thing, but it felt nice, to be given a moniker that indicated friendship.
Under his mask, he smiled as he shut down for recharge.
He woke up to the sound of shouting. Instantly he was up, wondering who would be screaming inside of his habsuite.
Then he remembered about Jazz.
Then he realised his cassettes weren't docked.
He quickly scrambled up and ran to the living room, where he found Jazz was being assaulted by the tiny cassetticons, mostly with pillows. Rumble and Frenzy were hitting him over the head with them while Laserbeak and Buzzsaw swooped around him. Jazz was confusedly caught in the middle of all this trying to throw up his arms to protect himself.
"How'd you get in here?" His cassettes demanded.
"Yeah! You break in or something?"
"Rumble. Frenzy. Desist!"
The cassettes all paused, turning to Soundwave.
"Boss, this guy broke in here."
"Correction: Jazz, did not break in. Soundwave: invited him last night. Incident: occurred while you were all in recharge."
The cassettes all gave little 'O's before they threw down their pillows and finally left Jazz alone. Soundwave gave each one a hard stare, and they had the decency to at least pretend to look guilty.
"Erm… Can I have my visor back?"
It was only then that Soundwave noticed Jazz was indeed missing his visor. It was the first time Soundwave had actually seen his optics; a light amber colour.
"Visor: will be returned."
Rumble sheepishly stepped forward and handed the visor back to him. Once it was on Jazz paused, quickly recalibrating it, before he turned to Soundwave and gave a confused look.
"Who turned on the dog filter?"
This time he heard snickering from Frenzy.
"Soundwave: apologizes."
"Nah, nah, it's okay. No harm done."
"Rumble and Frenzy: will assist Soundwave with cooking."
The two cassettes both groaned but came and helped him anyway as Soundwave started preparing a set of cubes. However, Rumble and Frenzy soon remembered that helping meant that they could select their favourite additives to the energon and quickly stopped complaining after that. As Soundwave assembled a tray with a mix of liquid and hard energon treats he also found himself listening out for what Jazz was doing. He could hear a set of slow footsteps, as if Jazz was slowly examining the apartment. Soundwave started to wish he had properly cleaned up but it seemed a little bit late now.
Once everything was prepared they went back into the room, finding Jazz now sitting comfortably on his sofa. Rumble and Frenzy grabbed their cubes before Soundwave had even had the chance to put the tray down. He put two of the small bowls of hard treats on the side of the table for Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to peck at, and a wide bowl on the floor by his feet for Ravage to lap at. Ravage always prepared to drape her frame over Soundwave's feet as she ate, and Soundwave always obliged.
Once all the other drinks have been given out he passed the final cube to Jazz, who he found staring at him with a fond smile.
"Jazz: alright?"
"Yeah, it's just cute seeing you all like this. You're so attentive to all your little cassettes."
"Soundwave: does best."
"I know you do, it's just cute to see. Back in the day your cassettes were a nightmare for me and my team, and now you're all just a nice happy family."
Soundwave blushed a little under his mask.
Jazz paused, as if he was checking something on his hud.
"Seems Bluestreak sent us a message. He sent a list of films we can watch for the movie night."
Soundwave also checked his messages; they had been invited to a group chat to discuss the movie night, and Bluestreak had sent them an extremely long list of suggestions. It was complete with a set of synopsises to give them an idea of what the films were like, what genre and what era they were made in. Trawling through all this would take ages. Though it was at least a bit amusing to reach the end of the list and see the next message was Thundercracker pleading somewhat too late to not send too much at once.
"Welp, can't fault his enthusiasm," Jazz said.
"Soundwave: supposes not."
"I'll trawl through this later. We got plenty of time to choose," he said as he leaned back and continued sipping his drink. The cassettes all left to do their own things as they finished their food, and Soundwave realised he would have to come up with some sort of small talk.
"Jazz: has any other plans for the day?"
"Admittedly not. I normally set aside a day to just to chill after one of Blaster's gigs. So I don't think I was planning on doing much."
"Then proposal: Jazz would like to stay here?
Jazz looked at him, his visor glowing with a curious light.
"You offering?"
"Jazz: has done much for Soundwave these past few days; brought Soundwave to multiple events, helped Soundwave make contact with several people, helped with social isolation. Soundwave: has done nothing in return. Soundwave: wants to repay Jazz a favour."
"Hey, Soundwave, it's okay. I didn't help you out because I wanted a favour. I just saw you were lonely and wanted to help. I'm just good at making friends. Still though, you don't need to repay me."
"Soundwave: wants to. Soundwave: has now spent lots of time with Blaster, Bluestreak and Thundercracker. Soundwave: has spent less time with Jazz. Wants to spend more. Soundwave: enjoys Jazz's company."
Soundwave gave a pause before he collected himself and spoke again.
"Jazz: has done much for Soundwave. Soundwave: wants to know Jazz more. Would like to spend more time together."
Jazz smiled.
"You want a relationship?"
Soundwave thought about that. It seemed a big step, and they were only just starting to hang out.
"Becoming friends: Adequate for now." Soundwave said.
Jazz nodded. "Yeah, friends sounds good for the moment. We can see how it goes."
"For now… Jazz: would like another drink?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good start."
Soundwave brought Jazz another drink, and they clinked them together.
"I think this is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship."