Chapter Text
Unfortunately, Rodimus explains, it wasn’t as simple as just setting aside a spare room for you, otherwise he would have made sure yours was at least close by. The Lost Light was a cybertronian ship, so of course most of the rooms were suited for their race. Fortunately, though, this ship was equipped with a few organic-oriented rooms, even if they were as large as everything-and-one else on board.
You gaze warily towards the bathroom, eyeing the toilet in particular. Drowning wasn’t a particularly nice way to go, much less while trying to—
God, you’re not thinking about that. Nope. No. Ew. You’re just glad they’re working on an actual solution to the height issue. So far this ship has been pretty fun, but you’d rather not be forced to have a giant babysitter for the entire duration of your stay.
You begin to get settled into your room, unpacking all of your belongings that Rodimus retrieves for you, from either back home or for your work abroad. Even though you were put here on a bit of a short notice, you had managed to jot down a list of everything essential you would need for the trip, accounting for the fact there would probably be a few hiccups here or there.
Luckily, the process isn’t long, and at the end you flop backwards onto the bed’s soft, oversized mattress. Turns out there are a few perks to being small. You fan your arms and legs out and wave them around like you’re making a snow angel, and Rodimus laughs. “Enjoying the blanket, huh?”
“Very. Almost as soft as the one I have at home…” you sigh, rolling over and snuggling your cheeks in the cushy cotton.
Rodimus hums. “Yeah, you organics can be fussy about some stuff in the berth,” he traces over the gentle fabric.
It takes you a moment to translate the vocabulary barrier before you realize, “Is that an innuendo?” you ask, in disbelief. Part of you wants to be offended, it feels so unprofessional, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t giggling, especially when Rodimus flips his head towards you so fast it almost makes you jerk.
“Shit, uh. I didn't mean it like that, oh my god,” he seems panicked until he realizes you’re laughing, to which he begins cracking up with you.
“At least take me out for dinner, first,” you tease. Rodimus claps his hands together.
“Fuel! That’s right!”
You snort.
“...food. Human food. You know—”
“I know what you meant,” you pat your stomach. You were actually getting pretty hungry, so this was good timing. Luckily you had months worth of rations stored somewhere on this ship.
...
When you and Rodimus eventually find the storage room containing the rations. After instructing him on what flavor cup of ramen to grab, you both head off to Swerve’s. The titular bartender who, after very carefully preparing your food for you, decided to stick around you to talk. You sit down on the barstool, just a bit away from Rodimus, who’s too busy socializing with others to pay attention.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever actually prepared this type of organic food before, did I do it correctly? It’s supposed to be all soft and mushy, right? Well, you’re obviously enjoying it, so I’ll just take that as a yes,”
Oh boy, does he talk. You thought the first time was just because you were new here, and a human much less, but he’s even more chatty than before.
You stir your noodles, eyeing the hot steam as it wafts through the air. Tentatively, you bring a fork full up to your mouth, blowing on it to cool down.
“So what do you guys usually eat beyond that? I’ve seen shows before where you guys eat eggs. Do you eat eggs? I’ve heard humans put eggs in their ramen. That’s ramen, right?”
You’re about to reply, but someone beats you to the punch.
“Uh, Swerve, I think she’s trying to refuel,” comes an unfamiliar voice. You glance behind you to see the owner, a rather adorable white and blue mech that seems to be around Swerve’s smaller size (but still much larger than you, of course).
“Okay, okay, I get it, Tailgate,” Swerve brushes it off and moves to attend to the other patrons of his bar. You smile at him in lieu of thanks, and he stares at you, which you assume means he’s smiling back, behind the mask. Without the pressure to socialize, you take a bite of your noodles— which turn out to still be extremely hot, and you spill the food out of your mouth back into the styrofoam cup.
“Ew,”
“Shit, sorry, sorry!” You cover your mouth, oh god, that was so gross of you to do, even if you’re glad you didn’t burn yourself.
“No, I mean, uh. If that’s— if that’s how you guys refuel, then that’s fine! I’m sorry I said anything!”
“I promise, Tailgate, we don’t usually eat like that, my food was just too hot,” You’re so great at first impressions. Not just of yourself, but of humanity entirely.
“Oh, okay…” he sounds like he’s still unsure. Regardless, you’re still starving, and worrying about how people see you in a professional lens or otherwise doesn’t help.
You stir your noodles harder, silently fuming to yourself over how you just forget something as simple as table manners. When they finally cool down (and you double check they’re actually cool), you chow down. You watch the people surrounding you for entertainment while you eat; the place has a lively and bustling atmosphere. Already you can see a few familiar builds from the meeting Instinctively, you look for Rodimus, who you quickly find around the end of the room, a glass in his hand, chatting and gesturing animatedly with the other to a mech with red streaks down their eyes. He seems to be telling quite the story.
You can’t resist the small, amused huff that leaves your nose.
Eventually, you finish your cup of ramen, and not long after, Rodimus comes back to check up on you. “Hey! You all done?” he leans his elbow down on the bar with a small clang that’s almost immediately swallowed up in the rest of the room’s background noise.
“Just finished, actually! Great timing.”
“Great! I want to introduce you to another of our co-captains, Drift. He wasn’t here for your introduction,” Rodimus reaches out to grasp you in his hand, and you barely have time to adjust your posture, much less dispose of your trash that’s still on Swerve’s bar counter. Either ignoring your protests or unable to hear them in the loud environment, he plops you down onto his shoulder and paces over to where he was earlier, right beside the previous mech.
“Drift! This is Earth’s liaison! The one I was telling you about!”
Drift smiles and waves politely, and you return the gesture.
“Humans are a lot smaller than I expected,” Drift says as he comes up a bit closer to examine you. You giggle at his comment. A lot of mechs seemed to focus on that aspect of yours beyond anything.
“Super soft, too,” Rodimus adds, and pokes you with his finger.
“Hey!” You swat at the offending digit, and he laughs as he apologizes.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I knew Rodimus would pick someone good for this ship.”
“Nice to meet you too, Drift! I look forward to working with you,”
“Work? Ugh,”
You glance at Rodimus, smirking, “Well, yeah. You didn’t think I was here solely to hang out, did you?”
“…”
Your smirk falls. “Did you?”
“So what is it you do for work, then?” Drift asks you, when it’s clear Rodimus isn’t going to answer.
“Ah, well I’m mostly here as another means to foster Human-Cybertronian relations. Quite a few people down there are still a bit unhappy about your kind,” you sigh, but go on, “Not that I feel that way, though. I volunteered for this project to begin with.”
Drift nods with a slight cringe, “I can unfortunately understand their reservation.” Unsure of what to say, you simply stay quiet. Eager for a change in topic, you ask Drift the burning question you’ve had since meeting him.
“Where were you earlier during my introduction?”
“I was just retrieving a few—”
“You know, it’s getting pretty late, for a human,” Rodimus blurts, “I think it’s about time I take you back to your room, huh?” any attempts to protest the sudden interruption are doomed when upon being reminded of the concept of sleep, a deep yawn overtakes you.
Damn, maybe it was late.
“Bye, Drift!” you wave as Rodimus makes his way out of the bar.
He waves back and appears to say something, though it’s hard to hear over the background noise. You smile regardless.
When you two make it back to your room, Rodimus bids you goodnight. The second he shuts the door, you realize you need to pee.
“God damn it.”