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It's been two months since D-16 and Orion had met. Starting to talk wasn't difficult, sometimes there were moments of silence but Orion was always the one who started the conversations. Every time they talked, they got to know each other a little better. D-16 now knows that Orion is too energetic, so much so that he can't keep up with him sometimes. Always looking like there's dirt in his chassis and he is moving to get it off.
But he also realized that he is too friendly. It didn't take long to notice how the red and blue mech began to talk to all the miners around and seemed to make friends easily. D-16 thought it was normal, it was fair, he even envied how he could always start conversations when D-16 is sometimes a little shy or complicated to get along with.
And there it was. D-16 had never considered the company of another bot. Ever since he was created and given his coded number, the action of forming bonds didn't seem necessary. But after meeting Orion, he began to feel that maybe having someone by your side must be one of the coolest things that can happen to you in life.
He knows it's early to make that assumption, because the two aren't really very good friends yet, but he's sure of one thing: Orion hasn't broken his promise to watch his back in the mines. And that's something that makes D-16 feel warm inside, talking to him, spending time with him, laughing with him. He even feels like his personality is changing a little and he's picking up habits from him…
Orion has become something very personal for D-16, and he still doesn't quite know how to deal with these kinds of feelings without sounding selfish. Selfish to want him all to himself, as if he were gatekeeping him. And that feeling only grew more when he wasn't sure if Orion really felt the same, maybe D-16 is the one who is so fond of him and Orion just sees him as something to pass the time…
Why? Because Orion has been spending too much time with other bots lately, even during breaks. He goes off with others and leaves D-16 alone, which makes him feel insecure.
Could it be that Orion doesn't care for me the way I care for him?...
He sighed at the thought.
And he sighed again as he walked through the halls of the facility alone. It had been a long day, without any distractions, his body felt heavy and suffocated from tiredness. In his short time working in these mines, he's never felt so exhausted…
He stops and leans against the wall as he feels his processors buzz and start to hurt sharply, he brings his servo up and pressed his digits to the bridge of his nose to massage a little near his optics.
“Agh…” he groaned in pain.
He took a few deep breaths to fill his cooling systems, hoping that way the pain would cease. It was when he heard footsteps behind him that he turned around and when he did that his processor hurt even more from having turned his head so quickly.
But he couldn't help it, because he recognized those footsteps. Energetic, long-stepping footsteps of a tall, long-legged mech with big pedes.
“Heya, 16! Just the mech I was looking for. You're not gonna believe what happened!”
D-16 groaned a little, Orion's voice wasn't annoying, being so deep it wasn't irritating but his processors hurt at any noise right now.
“Pax, please- tell me later.”
Orion stood silent and then just looked at his friend, some worry growing in him.
“Is everything alright? You look… tired.”
The other mech was a bit easily irritated right now, so the obviousness in Orion's words angered him a little. He didn't even answer him, he just closed his optics, feeling how the pain made him feel a little dizzy.
They both remained silent for a moment, until Orion approached and placed his hand on D-16's helm
“Holy Primus! You're burning!”
D-16 just sighed a little and opened his optics, seeing Orion with a tired face
“Yeah… I'm not feeling very Prime today to be honest…”
Orion lowered his hand to place it on D-16’s shoulder, looking at his optics as he spoke “Okay, well, you should take a break, your body must be crying out for a break from the stress of work.”
“Yeah… you're right… I really need to rest right now…” D-16 said as he pushed himself off the wall to walk, he just wanted to throw himself down on one of the berths in the break room.
Orion got close while the other had started walking, his steps were slow so he made sure to go at the same speed.
“Have you been recharging well? Taking your fuel? Taking breaks in general?”
“Pax, please don't ask questions, I can't think right now.”
He said it simply to avoid further questions. Has the other never been in this situation? Or is Orion just a bit distracted?
“Ah, sorry…”
The two continued walking in silence, but each step made D-16's frame feel heavier and more suffocated, his breathing even more labored.
“Hey we can stop if you want to” Orion said with concern.
D-16 stopped, leaning his body against the wall again. “No… agh, I want to get to a place where I can rest as soon as possible.”
In this way, the mech let the weight of his body be carried by the wall, leaning his helm against it and applying some pressure, hoping that in this way his processor would go numb.
Orion thought for a moment, watching as his friend could barely stand without gasping. Then a little smile formed on his face as an idea occurred to him.
D-16 took a long vent and then let it out in a gasp when he felt Orion's arms around him. He looked over his shoulder and thought it was too soon in their friendship to get so affectionate…
“Hey, what are you doing? Are you using me as a heater or something?”
Then another gasp escaped him when the other effortlessly lifted him into his arms in a bridal manner, D-16 felt his own reactions betray him and his cheeks burned.
“HEY WHAT-”
His words were cut off when he felt Orion's servo on his hip, then he just shrugged and looked at the floor. “You don't need to carry me. I can walk on my own…”
Orion laughed in response and then spoke
“Oh come on, you can't even stay on your pedes”
“Urgh, alright, but don't make a show, I don't want the other miners to see me like this…”
“Understood captain!”
Orion started walking with D-16 in his arms, as if he were just carrying light equipment instead of another mech. D-16 looked around, careful not to be seen. He didn't want to give this impression to the other miners, especially the supervisors or captains. If he wanted to be a captain in the future, he couldn't let anyone see him as weak.
Both arrived at the resting place And unfortunately for D-16, it was full of the other miners. D-16 covered his face with his servos as Orion walked in, the other miners laughing a little, all a bunch of mockers.
Jazz laughed louder.
“What a cute princess you found, Orion!”
The others laughed at that, even Orion himself. D-16 growled under his breath.
This isn't what he wanted at all. He couldn't let his cool-guy facade fall because of this…
“Leave him alone, he's feeling sick, his processors are boiling.”
When Orion mentioned that, the miners stopped mocking and instead became curious.
Orion walked to the back of the break room where the berths were. When D-16 was dropped off at one, the others crowded around him in a suffocating manner.
Arcee reached out with her servo and touched D-16's forehead, quickly removing it as she felt the irritating heat.
“Ouch! Oh no, is he going to die?”
To that, the miners gasped. They had all been created just two to three months ago, they didn't know much about their own bodies yet, they only knew how to work, they were like children discovering things.
So of course, they were scared every time they saw something unknown to them, and the idea of death was terrifying because they saw it as something sad.
Jazz got closer and tapped D-16’s overheated shoulder plate.
“Oh, no! D-16, I'm so sorry for everything, I didn't want to be rude or make fun of you. I'll write a song in your honor, yeah? Is it gonna be called… uhm…”
Ironhide pushed Jazz aside and speak firmly
“You were an important member, D-16! We'll miss you, and don't worry. We'll have a good funeral.” The red mech said as he raised one of his fists in the air in a sign of respect.
D-16 sighed loudly
“No! I'm not going to die… uh… am I?”
He looked at Orion, who just shrugged and a worry filled him, what if his systems really get so hot that they melt and he dies!?
Red Alert took a step towards the berth and tapped his chin
“I don't think he's gonna die. Calm down guys, he's just… sick, he needs to rest.” Everyone calmed down a little upon hearing the words of the red and white bot. They all knew that he was the only one who had paid attention to the first aid course that had taken place a month ago.
Hound took a step forward
“Uhm, do you need something D-16? Maybe a bag of freezing fluid to put on your forehead? I saw a soap opera about doctors doing that to lower the temperature systems of a bot!” He didn't say anything else and ran off to get a bag of, well, ice.
Jazz raised his hand
“Yeah, and while you guys are on that, I'll start writing your funeral song, D-16! In case you die or something!”
Jazz left and Prowl followed him after only saying a few words to D-16 “Try not to die at all cost.”
All the miners kept talking and crowding around D-16 which made him extremely uncomfortable, Orion noticed this and cleared his throat loudly.
“AHEM!...”
Everyone looked at him and fell silent.
“I think we should leave him alone. We're bothering him, and it's best if he rests a bit and lets his systems shut down for a while….”
The miners looked at each other and murmured a bit.
Arcee nodded and raised her voice. So everyone could listen to her.
“Yeah! Right. Sorry… What do you guys think if we go play arm wrestling?” She said to the other miners. Some of them cheered and ran away. In this way, part of the group of miners dissipated. The others just walked to do things on their own.
Orion was also going to follow someone else to leave D-16 alone, but stopped when the other grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Hm? Didn't you want to be alone?”
D-16 looked away and his grip on Orion's arms softened as he spoke “But you can stay…”
Orion smiled and sat on the berth at his side. Without saying anything, just keeping him company.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Hm… Not really, but now I can suffer while laying down…”
He closed his optics when he felt the blue servo rest on his forehead, feeling some comfort at the touch.
“Heh, well I guess that's better.”
Orion had placed his other servo on his shoulder and jammed his digits between the arm joints, pulling out a pebble.
D-16 chuckled
“Hah, that was there? I guess that explains why moving my arm was so annoying…”
The moment of peace ended when Jazz came running back with his poor imitation of a guitar, it was just a piece of metal with iron bristles.
“Listen D-16! This song is called… I'm gonna miss you when you're gone and when I'm eating Energon I'll cry because you won't be tasting the amazing flavor!”
He said the super long title of his song in an eccentric way, and barely played some horrible notes on his "guitar" when Orion threw the pebble at him.
“Ouch!”
"Come on Jazz, leave the poor mech alone,” Orion said while looking for something else to throw at him.
“Okay, okay, I surrender. Maybe I need to go find someone who can understand my exquisite music…” Jazz said as he looked around and spotted a bot. “HEY IRONHIDE, WANNA HEAR MY NEXT HIT?” he said as he runned away, the other mech was only heard answering in the background "Sure!”
D-16 groaned a little and hugged himself. At that Orion got very worried and poked his side “Hey, hey! Are you alright?”
“Ugh, I just feel so dizzy… I feel like everything is spinning…”
Orion began to worry more. This was bad, his systems just kept getting hotter and hotter, maybe there really was a chance that D-16... might die…
“Guys! He's worse than we thought!”
Orion yelled at the other miners in panic. Arcee and Sideswipe were playing arm wrestling and stopped in their tracks, running towards D-16. The others stayed back, not wanting to see anything.
“Maybe… maybe he needs fuel?” Sideswipe started.
“Then let's get him some energon, duh. Why didn't anyone think of that before?” Sunstreaker grunted and crossed his arms. Sideswipe hurriedly went to get some of the energon supplies they had in the room.
Orion helped D-16 sit up, holding him firmly but gently, trying to hide the fact that his servos were shaking.
Sideswipe returned with some Energon cubes and offered them to D-16, who took them weakly and added one to his intake; it was difficult to swallow.
Everyone stared at the silver mech, when suddenly he shook a little and felt his tanks tighten, causing the energon he had consumed to return where it had entered.
They had never seen that, they knew that consuming energon made them feel good, so seeing that it made him feel bad, made them get scared immediately.
The room filled with the miners' screams and sobs. Arcee started crying and ran away.
Sideswipe threw the energon away
“This is my fault, oh Primus I'm so sorry I'm so sorry! Ack!” Sunstreaker slapped him on the helm. “Thank you screwhead, now he's gonna die because of you!”
D-16 couldn't think about what was happening around him, he was in shock seeing the energon that had come out of him in his servos. Starting to shake. Then he looked at Orion, to feel some comfort but he saw how those blue optics were full of tears. And he knew that this was it. He was going to die.
Panic continued among the miners until Hound entered the room again.
“Guys!”
It was comical at this point how every time someone raised their voice everyone would stay quiet and still.
Orion spoke on a shaky broken voice
“Hound! Did you bring the pack of freezers?”
“I brought something even better... I brought... Ratchet!”
The old mech entered the room, then everyone instantly cheered, their systems recognizing that Ratchet = everything will be okay.
“Let's see, I'm told there's a bot that isn't very functional around here... And from what I'm seeing, it seems like no one is functional…”
Ratchet looked around and fixated his glare on D-16 who was shaking, with half lidded optics, panting and resting his head on a crying Orion.
The white mech approached the two, crossing his arms as he looked at them.
“Orion Pax, I'm surprised that the one ‘dying’ isn't you this time…”
“Please Ratchet… Please tell me he's going to survive…” Orion pleaded.
Ratchet looked around and saw Red Alert, then pointed at him “You. What did you tell em?”
“I- I said everything was going to be alright but- but they started panicking and- and I panic when others panic- and- I didn't- I-”
Red Alert explained in a nervous and anxious manner, trying to formulate an excuse while moving his servos from side to side.
“It's okay, kid, relax.”
Ratchet looked at D-16 again, and motioned to Orion so he could step aside and let the mech rest his head on the berth.
D-16 looked up at Ratchet.
“Am I going to survive…?”
Ratchet just snorted.
“Of course you'll survive, Cybertron isn't so screwed up yet that they're creating mechs so weak they can't withstand a fever.”
All the bots backed away, leaving Ratchet to work, Orion being the one who wandered off the furthest. Having to go get some fresh air. Arcee followed him and patted his backplates.
Ratchet spoke again.
“Let this be the last time this happens, you hear me? Whenever anyone feels sick, no matter how small, come to me. Don't play doctor.”
“No need to be so grumpy Doc”
Jazz huffed.
“Easy to say, you're not the one dealing with a handful of sparklings.”
Some heavy footsteps were heard and then, a yell.
“Can someone explain to me why Darkwing came to complain that you were making too much noise!”
It was Elita, she was mad, pretty mad. But her expression changed instantly when she saw the scene. The bots were quiet and calm, Orion with his face against the wall, and above all, the doctor and the dying mech.
Ratchet groaned and shouted at her.
“Can't you see I have a patient!”
Elita got silent and her faceplates got red in embarrassment, she didn't expect to see the doctor here.
“I- sorry… I didn't know… uh… ahem! Just don't make any more noise okay? I don't want to be scolded again…”
She sighed and walked away
It wasn't long before Ratchet grabbed his things and headed for the exit.
“Well, that should be enough, please don't bother him anymore... He needs to rest.”
All the bots nodded, feeling scolded, now they were all quiet and well behaved.
Orion was the first to run towards D-16, as soon as Ratchet left
“D, how are you feeling? What did he do?”
D-16 sighed and looked at Orion
“I'm better... He just helped me ventilate better, my body is starting to cool down… Apparently my vents got clogged, causing me to overheat and my systems to start failing…”
Orion sighed in relief, now everything was alright…
The other bots also felt more relaxed, some left the room, others stayed but preferred to leave them both alone for a moment.
Orion sat down next to D-16 again, and took his servo between his own.
“Today I was a nuisance, right?”
D-16 said with a chuckle.
Orion laughed and shook his head.
“Of course not, not at all, but yes… I was really worried…”
“Well, you don't need to stay with me... You should go... Play with the others or whatever you want…”
“Hm, no, I'm fine here. If you want me by your side, I'll be by your side, that's what we promised, right?”
He raised his servo on a fist, waiting for D-16 to bump him. But he didn't.
“Hey, is everything alright?”
D-16 remained silent for a moment, staring at the metallic blue of Orion's servos, a metallic blue that was bright but would become darker due work in some months.
“Just thinking a little, you know... Not about what happened but... For a few days now something's been... bothering me..”
Orion raised an eyebrow.
“Wanna talk about it?”
The other nodded and took a deep vent.
“Well… Maybe I'm being a fool for thinking this kind of thing but... Orion, am I... special to you?”
Orion felt a smile for on his lips as he nodded
“Of course you're special to me, you're the first friend I made here on the mines. The first ever bot I talked to after I was created.”
D-16 looked away.
“Sure… But… look I'm gonna say it, just don't laugh at me… or laugh, I don't care I deserve it if you laugh.” he placed his servos over his face, releasing Orion's servos. The mech got a little concerned at that.
“You've been spending too much time with other bots lately, and I thought that was okay after all, I'm nothing to you other than a passing friend, but it's just- you make me so happy and I-” he cut his words, he was talking to fast that he doesn't even know what was he saying anymore.
“And I… I don't like when I'm alone… I thought I was fine by my own before I met you, but now… I can't stand being alone now, and although anyone can be a good companion, I only feel complete with you…”
Orion's optics shone in amusement at his friend's words.
“I'm being ridiculous, right? Please tell me to stop.”
Orion took D-16’s servos away from his face
“Please don't stop.”
D-16 blinked a few times before speaking again
“But… it’s silly…”
Orion laughed and shook his head.
“It's not silly. Look, when something cool happens, I always think ‘oh wow, I want to tell this to D-16!’ not ‘oh wow, I want to tell this to Jazz or Ironhide’ for example…”
“But… well I guess you're right… but that's the thing, cool things always happen to you when you're with others. Like that time you and Arcee met Jetfire... Or the time you, Jazz and Sideswipe went to the city and saw a light show… And me? When you're alone with me... You tell me all that. I don't have any interesting stories, and the funniest thing that happens to us is me almost dying!…”
His words were from the depths of his vulnerability, which made him feel increasingly foolish.
The truth is that D-16 has nothing special or interesting compared to the other mining bots, his personality is too neutral, the only thing that stands out in him is his fanboyism over Megatronus Prime… but apart from that? Nothing. That's why he feels like he's being left behind, because Orion is so charismatic that he's afraid of being boring to him…
Orion got silent for a moment and then shrugged.
“Well, I like being friends with everyone in these mines.”
That didn't make D-16 feel better at all. That meant he didn't stand out in any way over the others. That Orion shared his affection with everyone, but would never focus on anyone, much less on him.
“Yeah… I… understand…”
He rolled on the berth, giving his back to Orion. Damn, now he felt a lump on his throat and it wasn't because he wanted to puke energon again…
Orion noticed that and felt like he did something wrong. But what? Agh, Elita had already told him that he was bad with words, but can you blame him? He's barely two months old! They may all look like adult bots, but he's practically a kid mentally.
Orion thought and then smiled as he spoke.
“But… among everyone, you're my best friend!”
D-16 looked over his shoulder at Orion.
“Best friend?”
“Yes! That's what comes after being just friends and… Well, as I'm telling you, even though I spend my breaks running and playing with others, it's you I meet up with at the end of the day… Maybe a friend is someone you spend time with, but a best friend is someone you can tell everything to… And I know that I am your best friend because you told me your feelings, and I feel that I can tell you everything equally.”
Orion hoped that could work. And it did! Because D-16 rolled to look at his face again. That was a relief, he doesn't like feeling ignored.
Orion continued.
“A best friend is someone you feel comfortable with, someone you can do everything with that you wouldn't do with someone else... But uh... More!”
D-16 chuckled softly.
“Am I all that?”
Orion nodded.
“You're all that… you're my best friend.”
He raised his servo again in a fist and this time D-16 bumped it with his own. That filled Orion with happiness, he wanted to jump in excitement.
After lowering his arm, Orion didn't know what else to say, because he sometimes uses actions more than words. Oh, that's it!
He raised both arms, opening them wide.
“Hm?”
“Hug? They look comfortable…”
“Hehe, sure.”
D-16 opened his arms and Orion leaned down until he was lying next to him, his arms around him, holding him close.
“You know, I've never hugged anyone else like this, you’re the first… and probably the only one I would feel good doing it with.”
“Well, that does make me feel special…”
“You're special, because you're my best friend.”
“And you're mine as well…”
D-16 may not be the mech with the most personality or character, but Orion had so much that he was sure that he would always be someone by his side. That he would mean something. That he would be seen and appreciated. Like a multi-colored light reflecting off a white wall, filling it with color equally.
And D-16 knows that he will be himself as long as he is by Orion's side.
And the day he's no longer with Orion, he will no longer be himself, because that would mean lost all his colors.
But that's not going to happen.
Never.