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“Shockwave: should rest.”
Shockwave didn’t turn his attention away from his console. “Illogical.”
“Emergence protocols: activated. Shockwave: must conserve energy for sparkling’s arrival.”
Soundwave’s servos found their way to Shockwave’s swollen abdominal plating. The plates were nearly too hot to touch, the building energy needed to deliver the sparkling causing his poor bondmate’s systems to overheat.
Shockwave grumbled and shifted uncomfortably on his pedes.
“Shockwave: needs rest.” Soundwave said insistently.
“No. This project must be completed, and I am experiencing an energy surge. Using it to be productive is only logical.” Shockwave protested.
“Shockwave’s actions: not logical. Preparing for sparkling: logical.”
“Allow me to complete this and then I will rest as much as you want.”
“Shockwave’s proposal: accepted.” Soundwave huffed grudgingly. He didn’t move from Shockwave’s side. Despite the heat, his servos stayed pressed against Shockwave’s swollen plating. Shockwave vented heavily but let him be and carried on typing.
Under Soundwave’s servos, Shockwave’s plating tensed. Soundwave rubbed the seams in the stretched metal in an attempt to ease the building pain. Shockwave grunted. The rhythm of his typing faltered. Evidently, the pains were becoming too much for Shockwave to simply carry on working through. His servo gripped the console tightly. It creaked in protest.
Soundwave pulsed his EM field out, to give Shockwave even a small amount of comfort. Shockwave’s pulsed back, letting Soundwave know his efforts were appreciated.
When the pain lessened, Shockwave wavered on his pedes. Soundwave quickly steadied him, trying not to let too much worry seep through their bond and overwhelm his mate.
“It would be logical to conclude this project until the sparkling is delivered.” Shockwave said, with only a slight lag to his voice.
“Soundwave: agrees. Shockwave: would like to rest in berth?”
Shockwave shook his helm. “Your nest would be preferable.”
Soundwave had no hope of containing his glee at that. When he had carried his cassettes, his instincts had driven him to build a nest. While Shockwave had had no such instincts, Soundwave had made him a nest anyway. Mostly, it was the cassettes who used it, but in the later stages of his carrying cycle, Shockwave had found it a more comfortable place to rest when the fatigue struck. The round shape and raised banks of the nest served to better support Shockwave’s rounded frame and aching backstruts than a flat berth.
Soundwave tenderly helped Shockwave down onto the nest. A groan escaped Shockwave’s voice box as he shifted to find a comfortable position.
“Shockwave: require anything?” Soundwave asked.
Shockwave patted the space in the nest beside him. “Just you.”
Soundwave obediently sat down. Shockwave leaned against him. Despite being so much smaller than his bondmate, Soundwave supported him easily.
“Shockwave: rest.” he soothed.
Shockwave vented, optic blinking slowly. Soundwave rubbed his backstruts gently. The two settled into an easy, comfortable silence, waiting for the next pain to hit.
When it did, Shockwave couldn’t contain his pained groan. Soundwave gripped his servo tightly, massaging his backstruts as best he could.
“Shockwave: doing well.”
Shockwave’s EM field pulsed with irritation, and he squeezed Soundwave’s servo tighter.
“It is- ill-illogical to give praise for- for undergoing a necessary biological process.” Shockwave grumbled through heavy vents once the pain had lessened enough for him to speak.
“Irrelevant. Shockwave: doing well.” Soundwave repeated.
Shockwave ran his servo along the curve of his middle. “The sparkling is low. My emergence protocols must have been running before my systems received the alert.”
“Unsurprising. Shockwave: has high pain tolerance. Sparkling: will come soon. Shockwave: will not have to endure pain for long.”
“How long did your cassettes take to emerge?” Shockwave asked, servo clenched tight against his abdominal plating.
“Ravage: two days. Rumble and Frenzy: a day and a half. Lazerbeak: one day. Buzzsaw: 10 hours. Ratbat: 5 hours.”
Shockwave groaned quietly as he adjusted his position. “Diagnostic scans show emergence protocols began only three hours ago. The sparkling may not be here for some time.”
Soundwave’s servo probed Shockwave’s overheated plating. The heat was most intense on the underside of the curve. Soundwave remembered the births of all his cassettes. The heat of his plating was only ever so intense when the end was in sight. He projected as much reassurance as he could through the bond.
“Emergence: not far off. Shockwave: will be fine.”
Shockwave huffed, still trying to find a comfortable position. Eventually he settled for resting his helm in Soundwave’s lap and curling his legs up as much as he could. “Of course I’ll be fine. You’re here.”
His words pierced Soundwave’s spark. Vulnerability and sentimentality did not come easy to Shockwave. Soundwave knew that Shockwave loved him, could feel it through their bond, but hearing him say it out loud sent warmth all throughout his frame. He sent as much through the bond. Shockwave pulsed back, practically melting against Soundwave’s frame.
Shockwave’s vents were running hard and fast. The overheating had spread from his abdominal plating to the rest of his frame. The pains were had increased, both in frequency and intensity. Shockwave had abandoned his place in Soundwave’s lap to instead kneel, bracing himself against Soundwave’s frame.
“Shockwave: should try to keep venting patterns consistent.” Soundwave said.
Shockwave nodded. The effort he gave to regain control of his vents was a valiant one, but for naught. His frame pulsed with pain, and he couldn’t get more than a few steady vents out before a groan or gasp would interrupt and ruin it. Still, Soundwave rubbed his backstruts and poured as much praise as he dared through the bond. While he may have craved someone to hold his servo and heap praise on him while he was birthing his cassettes, Shockwave was more pragmatic. He wanted a steady presence, without fanfare. Soundwave had to respect that, but he still had to give his bondmate the praise he deserved, even without putting it into words.
“You haven’t been contacted in the last five hours.” Shockwave observed through weary rasps.
“Soundwave: alerted Lord Megatron when emergence began. Com link: temporarily disabled.”
“Did you receive permission to take such an action?”
“Soundwave: deemed permission unnecessary. Sparkling’s arrival: priority.”
Shockwave’s engines rumbled. Only a select few- read Soundwave and the cassettes- knew it to be a sound of amusement.
“Lord Megatron will not be pleased.”
“Irrelevant.”
Shockwave’s engines rumbled again, only to be drowned out by his long groan as the pains stuck again. Soundwave felt helpless; all he could do was send affection through the bond and rub his mate’s backstruts. He’d done this five times himself, he knew how it went, but he didn’t like watching his bondmate endure so much pain. It had to be worse than any of his own emergences, surely. Soundwave had only carried mini-cons, not a full sized sparkling as Shockwave was.
“You’re… overthinking- mmmmmh- again.” Shockwave ground out through a harsh groan.
“Apologies.” Soundwave murmured.
The pain took longer than he liked to fade away. When it did, leaving Shockwave’s frame shaking ever so slightly, he nudged his helm to Shockwave’s optic. After a moment, as if his processor couldn’t register the action, Shockwave returned it.
“Shockwave: doing well.”
Shockwave’s only response was to rest his helm on Soundwave’s shoulder. Even his antennae had drooped. Soundwave couldn’t recall ever seeing Shockwave so tired before.
Sensing his mate’s anxiety through the bond, Shockwave mumbled out, “I am alright.”
“Good.”
Then Shockwave’s frame shuddered. He gasped loudly, servo scrabbling for purchase on Soundwave’s frame. Soundwave glanced down to see energon dripping down Shockwave’s thighs.
“My panel has opened.” Shockwave said in a weak mix of relief, exhaustion, and apprehension.
“Sparkling: very nearly here.”
Shockwave’s panel opening meant they were in the final stretch. It meant that the sparkling had finally aligned itself into the correct position for emergence.
Before either of them could say anything else, Shockwave let out a static filled cry. His whole frame tensed, hissing, and steaming. Soundwave watched with rapt attention as Shockwave’s hips spread wider and his plating shifted as something moved downwards.
“Soundwave-” Shockwave moaned.
“Shockwave: do not worry. Sparkling: descending.”
“I can feel it…” Shockwave panted, nudging at his abdominal plating with his gun arm. “So low…”
“Shockwave: do as frame requires.”
Shockwave did. With a long, loud bellow. A rounded shape began to peep out from his valve, only to slide back again once the pain had crested.
“Shockwave: keep going.”
Shockwave’s engines spluttered as the next pain started to build. He cried out again as the helm began to emerge fully. Soundwave reached down to cup it gently. Shockwave tilted his hips with an agonised yell.
And the sparkling slid into Soundwave’s servo.
“Shockwave: has succeeded. Sparkling: is out.”
Shockwave vented heavily. Slowly, his optic turned down to take in his sparkling. The tiny frame clearly took more after him than Soundwave. He was a heavy tank frame, rather than Soundwave’s lithe flight one. His plating however held Soundwave’s blue hues with Shockwave’s purple as accents. There was a panel on his arm that looked as though it could be a built in weapon unit, but they’d have to wait until he was a little older to see if that was the case.
But Shockwave found that none of it really mattered. He watched Soundwave pick the sparkling up and cradle him to his chassis. His spark flooded with warmth, the kind he never thought he would feel. His first instinct was to push the illogical feeling down, but in the face of his own progeny, such a task seemed impossible.
His exhaustion settled heavily over his frame. Soundwave helped him first to lie down and then to cradle the sparkling in his servo arm.
“Shockwave: have designation for sparkling?”
Shockwave shook his helm. “You pick one.”
Soundwave was silent for a moment. “Surge: acceptable?”
Surge. Simple. Nothing grand or flashy about it. The importance creators put on designations had always seemed illogical to Shockwave. His bondmate’s suggestion was perfect.
“Acceptable.”
Soundwave lowered himself to lie beside Shockwave, who was already losing the battle with recharge.
“Shockwave: recharge. Soundwave: will keep watch.”
Shockwave nodded wordlessly. He could rest easy knowing that his family was safe.