Chapter Text
“Who. Is that.”
After Rodimus and Megatron had showed up on the Vis Vitalis, instantly killing billions of “personality ticks”, as Nightbeat had described them, thus saving the day, they were immediately swept up into the endless thanks of Thunderclash and his crew, and were implored to join the no-longer-a-pre-wake celebration. Even the great Megatron couldn’t say no to Thunderclash.
As much as it stung to be in the same 5.9 trillion-mile radius as “The Greatest Autobot of All Time”, Rodimus couldn’t resist a good party, which led to his current predicament. He saw Nautica across the room, introducing someone to members of the Lost Light.
Skids, who had been doing shots with Rodimus until the co-captain had nearly keeled over when he’d caught sight of the literal hothead, glanced in the direction of the other’s gaze. “Oh! That’s Firestar! Apparently he, uh, she, is Nautica’s amica endura.”
Ogling the tall mech across the room with a perplexing mixture of jealousy and infatuation, Rodimus’ brain was too caught up to process anything other than “Blah blah Firestar, blah blah blah Nautica’s amica endura.” He handed his glass to Skids and stood. “Hold my drink.”
With a smirk and a snort, Skids took the glass. “Alright, but I think just about every other person here has flirted with her, including me, so good luck.”
“Au contraire, mon ami,” Rodimus replied casually. “I don’t intend to flirt with her. I’m going to challenge her.”
As he strutted away, Rodimus left a very confused Skids behind him. Scrunching up his faceplates, Skids muttered into his drink, “Whatever the hell that means.”
--
Firestar had been standing with Nautica as her amica endura introduced her around when a mech with a paint job to rival her own made a beeline towards her.
“Hey! You!”
Turning a bright smile towards the mech and eyeing his frame, she crooned, “Aw, you must be a fan! And a big one at that,” she giggled, gesturing to his frame.
“Whoa, hold up-”
“Is that your favorite?” She interrupted distractedly, searching her subspace for a pen to give him an autograph. “‘Hold Up’ isn’t the most popular of my performances, but I suppose it is still an intergalactic favorite.”
Rodimus was baffled. Who the hell did she think she was?!
“Um, excuse me, but I think you’re mistaken. I’m not a fan.”
Firestar froze, optics flicking down to stare at Rodimus. “What?”
Straightening his back to appear tall as possible, he declared, “I am Rodimus of Nyon, Captain-”
Someone out in the mobs of mecha shouted over the music, “Co-captain!”
Rodimus glared in the general direction of the noise and gritted out, “Captain of the Lost Light.” He turned back to face Firestar, who was trying to keep from looking too amused. “I have had this paint job for the past 4.2 million years. Flames are kind of my thing.”
Firestar crossed her arms and smirked. “That’s funny, considering that you don’t even have decal flames, let alone real fire.” She pointed to the blaze atop her head. Nautica had been slowly inching away from the pair of hotheads. Between those two egos, things might get ugly.
“You call that real fire?” Rodimus scoffed. He raised his hand and grinned toothily. “This is real fire.” He lit his hand aflame, smug as Firestar’s jaw dropped.
“What?! You… how?!”
“It’s an outlier ability,” Rodimus explained, the flame on his hand going out when he closed his fist. To his surprise, Firestar grabbed his hand, studying it carefully. “Your plating isn’t even singed! How can you do that without hurting yourself??”
The former prime just shrugged. “Dunno. I’ve never really had it looked into.”
Firestar’s optics flicked up to meet Rodimus’. “Do it again,” she breathed.
Rodimus’ face heated along with his palm. He held her gaze as he relit his hand, and she immediately pulled her hands back. “Ow!” she cried, more surprised than in pain. “So it’s hot enough burn others, but it won’t burn you?”
Another shrug. “I guess. Being able to light my whole body on fire can be pretty useful in a sticky situation, but flaming out leaves me pretty exhausted afterwards.”
The Camien’s eyes sparkled, almost as if a blue flame danced within. “Your entire body can light up like that??”
Rodimus nodded, and startled when she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him a little. “Show me,” she demanded.
“What?! I can’t- we’re in the middle of a very much populated area!” he protested. “What do you want me to do, roast you and everyone within a twenty-yard radius??”
“No,” she mumbled, and then leaned closer. “Let’s get out of here. You can show me somewhere that it can be just the two of us.”
The speedster was glad the music was loud enough to cover the sound of his engine turning over. “Okay,” he said dumbly.
Firestar grinned and took his hand. “C’mon. I know a place.”