042815 - About Damn Time

As the machine of war rumbles to life below, Orion Pax needed to get out of the base proper for a while. Not sure how far he could wander away from his fellow Autobots without worrying them too much, Pax has found his way to the roof where he is taking in the view of the city below. His head is bowed, apparently lost in his thoughts as he prepares for the cycles to come.

He's not the only one to take to quiet contemplation; Ariel is not long after him. "There you are," she states with a smile and a sigh of exasperation. "I was beginning to wonder where you'd gotten off to. Our hosts are certainly keeping you busy."

"I've never been one to rest, Ariel, you know that." Orion offers as he comes out of his thought process and extends a hand to Ariel should she wish to join him. "They and Zeta have given me a great number of things to contemplate on and consider." Turning to look at her, his optics show his apology. "I suppose I could have considered a better time for expressing my feelings finally, hmm?" he admits with a small chuckle.

Ariel walks over to stand next to Pax. "You couldn't have known all this was going to happen, and I'd much rather know than not. Imagine if, Primus forbid, you'd died having never said anything?"

Orion grins faintly beneath his faceplate. "You'd found some mech that isn't so wrapped up in this conflict, a nice desk clerk or something.." he teases her faintly, "Or maybe a paper pusher. Someone stable and nice that'd wake up with fresh energon in the morning and put you in bed at night with a light but proper kiss before shutting down for the evening." He gives her shoulder a small nudge. "Now it seems I get to die, full well in knowledge that I have spoilt you forever."

"Oh, you mean someone safe and boring? Perish the thought, Orion, I'm fully comfortable with being spoiled." Ariel slips an arm around his back and rests against him.

"So what do you make of all this? I've been given so many books to read I'm beginning to feel like I'm the first day of primary programming all over again."

"The Decepticons definetly put their best foot forward when trying to recurit someone, don't they?" Orion asks as his arm finds its way around her in return. It just feels so natural. "Of all the Cybertronians I can feel to trust to say 'trust your spark' to, you would be the highest one on that list, Ariel." he admits as he reaches up with his free hand to release his faceplate and put it away for now.

"I plan to talk to Megatron, try to get a better read on it all. When I spoke with him yesterday, he kept it strictly to the planning of taking down Zeta Prime and how we could benefit from the Decepticons. I want to get back at that spark within the frame. That miner from Tarn that once wrote one of those books you read. Towards Peace?" The same one that Orion has in his quarters back in Autobase.

"I want to still see if he stands by those words as they were intended, or if this..." his free hand gestures out over Kolakular and the rumbling, eager, Decepticon war machine. "...is his new translation. I have written and sent my own words out on the matter.. if you would like to read them?" he asks her, not sure if she had already taken the liberty or not.

He lets out a small exhaust of minor frustration as he continues. "I want to know what Cybertron will exist once this crisis has past. Will he be willing to rebuild and work for a new Cybertron.. or will this.." Another hand gesture. "Be the Brave New World." Same as the last world.

"Well, as I have little to do right now other than read and suffer the predictable leer from the burly brawlers that occupy this fortress, I'd be glad to have a look at what you have to say, Orion," Ariel replies. "I've begun to familiarize myself with the politics involved. To be fair, I always tried to keep my intakes clean and not involve myself in contraband literature, but at this point? I think the fallacy of holding to censorship speaks for itself."

"--And while we have a moment, there's something I need to tell you as well," she adds, with a playful smirk. "Since we've decided to wait until the last minute to divulge our secrets."

"Ironhide and Hound have a running bet on how many advances you'd have to turn down, Ariel." Orion offers in amusement as he gives her side a small squeeze before digging out the dataslug that contains the writings that he had Feint deliver. Handing it over to her so she can persue it on her datapad. "I just wanted to be a street cop that did his best to help everyone around him. I never thought.. I'd be at this point." he admits.

But he pauses his thought as he notices that smirk and looks down at her. "Well, we could both be dead by the end of the luna cycles, so what better time to share the secrets that are in our sparks, hmm?" he says as he allows her the floor.

Ariel takes the datapad in one hand, and takes hold of Orion's hand with the other. She shutters her optics.

A warm pink halo of light begins to form and emanate around her frame, as if she is generating her own source of light - and all around her, the world seems to come to a stop.

No, that's not being romantic. It's literal. Everything but Orion Pax and Ariel has suddenly -frozen in place-.

As the halo envelops them, Pax's fingers tighten within Ariel's. Instead of using this as some romantic moment, as Pax's optics shutter from the sudden burst of light and then reopen, he doesn't notice any difference at first. The light show was nice. He starts to say something, but that is when he notices that a Seeker is suspended in mid-flight. Just hanging there, like an overripe fruit. And that's when it dawns on him.

...he, the herder and protector of outliers...

...has fallen in love with an outlier in her own right. "How...?" he says, though he immediately retracts the question, after all, not many outliers can even begin to explain. As Windcharger once said, 'It's Magic'.

Instead, he finds a different question to ask. "So those in physical contact with you are not affected?"

"That's the best I can do for now," Ariel confesses. "I haven't had much time to try to practice with it or hone it, but yes, I can pull someone else out of phase with time if I touch them. It's not something I felt I could simply display without serious repercussions." The halo stops and time around suddenly snaps back into movement.

Ariel staggers a little, knees weak. "It's ... it's very taxing. I can't do it for long without burning through my energon supplies." She leans onto Orion for support, trusting him implicitly to help her stabilize herself.

"... you see now why I am so circumspect, why I wait to act or speak. One becomes very cautious when one's own nature is grounds for execution."

Moving to catch her in his arms as she staggers, Pax chuckles. "If only I made you so weak in the knees." he comments in quiet amusement, though the worry shows in his optics as the world around them races back to normal speed. As he helps her up, he keeps her close so that their words are shared between them alone.

"I know about the outliers and their abilities.. it was why Sentinel wished me executed in the last Prime. Or at least.. part of the reason." he admits as he reaches up to touch the side of her face. "I will do all I can not to let harm befall you, Ariel. These are difficult cycles, but I look forward to having them with you by my side."

"Give it time, I'm sure you'll make the world stop for us both," Ariel muses with a soft laugh, getting her strength back, exterior lights brightening more by each pulse of her spark. "I'll do what I can to support you in this - not just because I love you, Orion, but because we have a duty to this planet."

She looks up at him. "Can you be a commander as well as a lover? Are you willing to risk using what I can do, and who I am, to bring peace to this world?"

"I have to risk myself first. Those that come with me on this journey know the risks with it as well. I realize what can and has to be done, Ariel. But.. I wish to find that balance, if you are willing to have me as your lover." he says to her with a draw in of an intake of air as he looks down at her in turn. Orion is in uncharted space, but at least he seems eager to explore and figure it out as he goes along. "I've waited.. a very long time to tell you that, Ariel." he admits finally. "I want to explore it all with you. The good. The bad. All of it."

"No, you can't afford to risk yourself first. That's commendable, Orion, and I am so glad you have such a sacrificing spark, but it's time to consider that your place in this world has changed. You've said it yourself, that you are no longer the police officer in Rodion that you once were, that you have been thrust into a position where you are something more. You can't think simply in terms of being the lone hero anymore. You have to think outwards and beyond that." She squeezes Pax's hand gently. "You have to think of all of us that look to you now for guidance, for command, or just as a symbol of hope. You are becoming more than mech. You are becoming a banner held high against the tide of darkness. Because of that, you will need to be lifted up and held by the arms of others."

"A good commander knows how to lead from the front, Ariel. Banner, I may be, but with you, I wish to just be me. Are you willing to accept that, and all that comes with it?" Orion asks as he studies her face and optics. "Will you come on this adventure with me?"

Ariel's answer comes easily as she returns his searching gaze. "I'm already in helm-deep, dear spark."

"Then be careful not to drown, my Ariel." Orion says teasingly as he finally kisses her as she deserves to be kissed. Not in the heat of the moment, not out of fear of death - but because he truly and fully wants to be hers for as long as they both continue to exist.