#and yes I wrote this exposition instead of the third chapter of CAB

[merlinfromberlin]

Currently working (among other things) on a story that is most likely going to be called "Nooks & Crevices" and is about Bumblebee as well as several other people playing Hide & Seek with him. It will have 6 chapters and fluctuate between fluff and angst.

This is not directly related to this but I'm always so pleased when my word count for a certain scene/chapter is a 'nice' number.

Like. I just now finished the first draft for exposition for the first chapter of this and it is exactly 650 words long. And that is just so very, very neat in my opinion. Makes my brain happy.

I'm aware that it will change because I will edit this at least once (probably more than once because I feel that it is a bit convoluted right now). But for now it is just very neat and makes me happy. :D

And now have a sneak peak under the cut for being so nice as to read this. ^^ And because it will probably be a while before I get to officially upload this. Even if I finish it soon.

Optimus still remembered the cycle he had first taught Bumblebee how to play Hide and Seek well. It had been in the first of those pockets of deceptive non-peace, which had become frequent in the middle stages of the War, after the Autobots had taken in the yellow minibot sparkling.

Early on in the War, when it had still been called a Civil War by the media, after only a few hexacycles of fighting, both Autobots and Decepticons had been forced to concede that the War would not end anytime soon. Rather, it had turned into their new, permanent reality. However, neither of the factions possessed the resources to keep up combat indefinitely. They needed time for their troops to recuperate and their energon reserves to be filled.

Thus, these undiscussed ceasefires had been established. They often lasted only a few decicycles and apart from some minor skirmishes, there would be no major combat. Instead, a cautious and deceptive quiet would settle across deserted battlefields across Cybertron as both factions waited for scouting, inventions or espionage to yield advantageous results before advancing on the enemy once again.

When Optimus and Ratchet had first taken Bumblebee into their care, there had been no more public media outlets left to discuss the difference between War and Civil War; there had not been any in a long time. Temporary ceasefires, however, had long since become a regularity of life.

Still, it had taken several hexacycles before uneasy, combat-free non-peace enveloped Cybertron for the first time after Bumblebee’s rescue out of a collapsed shelter. When the ceasefire finally came, however, it turned out to be one of the longest the factions had seen yet. As quiet cycles stretched into calm decicycles even Optimus had been able to catch up with the never-ending flood of reports and paperwork, allowing the Prime to spend time with his bonded–be they amicae, conjunx or sparkling.

No one could remember the last time they had seen Ratchet this content. When one of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker’s pranks went awry, resulting in a giddy yellow sparkling covered in paint splotches, he did not even threaten the twins with a wrench to the head. Instead, the medic took a photograph to comm to his conjunx before sending the younglings to clean up Bumblebee.

Nevertheless, no matter how good a mimicry of peace this ceasefire may have presented, none of the Autobots could forget that they were living on borrowed time. The fighting would, most likely sooner rather than later, inevitably start up once again, shattering their idyllic fantasy of domesticity. Nevertheless, no matter how much they enjoyed these calm decicycles, none of them could truly forgot the constantly looming threat of warfare–none of them except for Bumblebee.

The newest and youngest member of the Autobot faction had unabashedly relished the apparent peace, delighted by the unusual amount of attention the older bots were paying him. The sparkling seemed completely undaunted, unaware even of the fact that the War had indeed not ended, just slowed down momentarily.

Even if it warmed their sparks, Optimus and Ratchet dreaded the cycle the fighting would begin anew and what the sudden change would do to Bumblebee’s psyche. Still, neither Prime nor medic were willing to rob the sparkling of his illusionary happiness prematurely.

However, even without having to shatter his peace, allowing him to keep his innocence intact for just a bit longer, there were ways to prepare Bumblebee for the realities of the War he had been forged in. They had to. As soon as the Decepticons learned of the new sparkling raised by the Autobot High Command, bonded to Optimus Prime and Ratchet of all bots, he would be a prime target. Just as Hot Rod had been and still was.

Playfully teaching Bumblebee how to behave in emergencies, how to hide and stay safe, Optimus had decided, would just be the first of many covert survival lessons.