Do I have to?

[Prowl]

Characters: @dylanlogan
Location: Prowl's Office, Autobot Outpost
Content Warnings: n/a
Plot Summary: Newly returned to active duty Prowl has been ordered to start acquainting himself with the local base humans. He starts with Dylan.

[Prowl]

He would be getting Optimus back for this. He'd been ordered to learning about the humans that populated their base. There were several, and he was not looking forward to it. Despite the amount of time he'd been on this planet he'd done his best to avoid the tiny organic peoples that were the dominant species on this planet. At first, it was because he was carrying and everyone was against him according to his paranoia, and after he just didn't care enough to be bothered with it.

But Optimus ordered him to, so he had no choice. His displeasure was contained mostly for the benefit of his sparkling, whom he never showed the least bit of negativity towards. That would change once he started getting into things, but for now it was what it was.

He'd chosen a human child by the designation Dylan, mostly because his research told him that the child belonged to Pharma through some situation or the other. He couldn't fathom why the medic would adopt a human teenager, but he seemed the easiest of the group to start with. Hopefully the entire matter would be polite and to the point so he could get on with his day. And if the boy frightened or in any way upset Solaris he would squash him and not feel the least bit of remorse.

Even if Pharma and Ratchet would kill him for it later.

Prowl vented and settled Solaris in the play pen he'd set up in his office so that the sparkling would always be where he could get to him easily. He watched the little one for a long time, then finally sent the comm to the boy in question. ::Dylan Logan, this is Prowl. I would appreciate your presence in my office.::

[Deleted]

Oh God what had he done?

He nearly dropped the small data pad he was using in his confined study of the Cybertronian language when the message came over the handheld comm. Of course he’d heard of Prowl - and learned to fear the dreaded walk to his office if he ever got it.

Given he was so close to being officially adopted he supposed in some ways he was part of the Autobots. And that meant that the Bots did, in a lot of ways, have the power to punish him. They already had several times - for minor things, and the street racing. But to have Prowl want to see him in his office?

Well at least it wasn’t Optimus who was giving him a lecture for whatever he did. He guessed. Then he’d really be in for it.

It took him a good minute to find the way - since the Mech hadn’t been on active-duty for a while. But he he reached it he considered whether to just enter, knock, or run in, fall on his knees, and beg for forgiveness.

He went with knocking and entering. “Prowlllll.... This is unexpected,” he stated as he coughed awkwardly. “Uh. Listen, if this is about the paint bomb that accidentally rolled in on training I promise it was an accident. That was supposed to be for Fowler.” He chuckled nervously.

[Prowl]

Well, at least this was starting out well. The boy was polite and knocked and announced himself as he entered. He didn't appreciate having his designation drawled out like that, but seeing as the other was a youngling he'd let it slide. He noted the curious gaze of his sparkling, another point for the boy that he hadn't moved suddenly and scared the baby. He forced his doorwings to lower an inch, though they remained in alert position.

And then he started talking about an a misguided prank that had gone off for the wrong person and his optics narrowed. "I have no idea to what you refer, but I can assure you I'll be looking into it and having words with your father about a suitable means of punishment for the mess."

He vented and motioned to the little ramp he'd put there so that the human could come up onto his desk and not have to be on the floor. Because he was not picking him up, the very thought made him cringe. He already worried about accidentally hurting his sparkling, there was no way he was touching anything more delicate than Solaris.

"That aside...I asked you here to speak with you. I've been asked to start getting to know the humans on base, since they've become so numerous and are integrating into our lives. I decided to start with you, as your file suggests I'm least likely to be offended by you or you by me." If he handled the crass Ratchet on a regular basis than Prowl's lack of social graces shouldn't be a problem. He hoped.

[Deleted]

Dylan yelped.

Of course. The moment he actually met Prowl he’d get himself in trouble - him and his big fat mouth! He facepalmed, even if I’m this setting that got him in trouble, go figure. He was, however, surprised that Prowl would call Pharma his father. He supposed that wasn’t far off from the truth. But it was still a big adjustment to hear that word and not immediately tense with fear. For so long that title had belonged to a man who had tortured and violated him after all.

None the less he did his best to hide his cringe. “I mean I really am sorry about it. I mean I didn’t really think it through,” he explained, trying his best to talk his way out of trouble as he moved up the ramp and onto the desk. “I just... Old habits die hard. And even if it was sometimes a cry for attention. I actually like pranks.” He shrugged.

He looked even more surprised by him wanting to get to know him. Ok, he got there were a lot of humans. But him? The one he’d most get on with? Well when he thought about it it made a fair bit of sense. This was all new to a lot of the other humans - but he’d been there a long while, and now lived there. “Well that’s... unexpected. I mean, I’m always down for getting to know people. I just wouldn’t think you’d want to get to know me of all people.”

He quietly noted Solaris looking at him from his playpen, and gave a smile and wave. He was one of the few humans to actually know about Prowl’s kids and their names. Mostly because he spent a lot of time in the med bay - and he’d seen Requiem. “Hey cutie. How’re you doing today?” He asked gently. “... How’s Requiem doing by the way? I’ve been busy with homework lately, haven’t been in or seen him in a bit.” He asked Prowl.

[Prowl]

He cringed. Dear Primus the youngling was Sideswipe in a human body. He liked pranking? That did not bode well for their future encounters. "I would rather you didn't pull pranks. I get that enough around here." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, not at all pleased and feeling a processor ache pulling at the edges of his thought processes. "You have no need to use them for getting attention, I'm sure your Father offers you plenty of that. And you have several siblings now as well, do you not? You have been settled into one of the more well established family units on base, you should have all your needs met. So please, no pranks." He paused and vented. "At least not when I'm on duty."

Prowl tipped his head slightly, steeping his fingers and resting his head on them so he could keep an optic on both the human and his sparkling. "I have to start somewhere. You are the least likely of all the humans to make me wish to squish you. There's enough incentive to keep you alive. I don't particularly care for humans, but I understand that while on this planet I must learn to tolerate them. I must warn you, if it isn't already obvious, I lack the capacity for caring if I've been rude or not socially." It didn't matter to him, provided the rude wasn't pointed at his offspring.

He watched as his much more social sparkling cooed and giggled at Dylan like the other could understand his sparkling chatter. While Solaris did speak English, he had to be reminded to do so. "English, Solaris." He got stared at for a full minute before his wish was complied with.

"Hi. Am So-la-ris. You spar-ka-ling?" He snorted. Well, at least his English was passable. He startled when his missing offspring was mentioned by name. It surprised him that Dylan even knew his designation, nevertheless knew to inquire about him. "Still too weak to come home, but he's getting better, thank you for asking."

[Deleted]

Dylan... Didn’t have an argument there. And a part of him didn’t even know why he still played pranks the way he did because of that. Was it purely because of his personality? Or was he just... Still worried? He didn’t really know - but he supposed be could give Prowl a free pass while he worked on being with his kids and being a father. “I know... I know it’s weird. But I’m adjusting... Sort of like you. I’ve never actually been in a family before. It’s weird, in a good way though,” he explained - unsure of how to put it. “Plus I sort of like pranks at the same time... But I can at least refrain while you’re on duty. My friends tend to be more fun anyway.

Huh that was one way to look at it. Dylan supposed he was easy to get along with once you got past his more guarded parts of his personality. Still he would accept Prowl’s attempts to make a connection to him. Until he saw reason to high tail it out of there, of course. “Well I’m not so bad besides the planking. I mean Ratchet kept me around for a long while,” he then added. “And I’m kind of the same way. More of a guard... they say I think. You build a lot of walls in the system. But I try my best to be socially acceptable at least.”

As the Autobot sparkling spoke up, Dylan grinned. He could actually understand it, believe it or not. Or the general gist of it. Perhaps the studying of their language was starting to come in handy. “No it’s OK. I uh... I’m starting to understand a little of it myself,” though Solaris already spoke in English, Dylan gave the Cybetronian part of his response in his native tongue. ”Hi Solaris, my name is Dylan,” he paused. “I hope I said that right. Jetblaze, that new guy, has been helping me learn a little on the side.”

He then addressed his question. “And no I’m not exactly a sparkling. I’m uh... I’m human. But I am a kid like you,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “My guardian, Pharma, he says I’d be a “youngling” or something like that?” He said unsure if he got that right.

At the mention of Requiem, Dylan frowned. He really felt for the little guy - he knew what it was like to be young in a hospital for an extended time.
Memories of being a five year old, taken to the hospital following his rescue flew into his mind rather quickly. He’d spent five weeks recovering from the condition he’d been found in. “Well if he’s anything like you he’s a strong kid, he’ll be OK,” Dylan replied. “I just wish he didn’t have to go through that. I mean... I sort of know what it’s like. But I was a bit older. I’m just glad he’s got you and other Bots around him. Believe it or not it’s probably a lot less terrifying for him because of that.”

[Prowl]

"As long as I am not on duty to have to deal with it I suppose I can deal with your inclination to cause mischief." He vented, passing a hand over his faceplates. Well, at least he was reasonable enough to negotiate on the matter. Now, he'd still hear about it later from whoever got to deal with the matter, but that was better than having to deal with it himself. He had better things to do as Prime's second than deal with troublemakers like this Dylan human. Let someone other than him handle it for once.

"I fail to care what is socially acceptable, it is usually outside my realm of responsibility." He tipped his head. "Its hard to be social when you are responsible for the lives of others, but I have been attempting it for the sake of my sparklings." And this was about as social as he knew how to be. Jazz would have known better what to do, he always had been the more socially adept between the two of them.

Prowl really wished his fellows wouldn't teach their language to the humans. It defeated the purpose of having private conversations around them if they understood what was being said. But there was no stopping it now. "Regardless, Solaris does need to learn English." He cringed internally at the mention of Bluestreak's young human. He didn't want the young man there either, for an entirely different reason.

He had delusions of joining up, which if Prowl had his way wasn't going to happen. They left their troops open to so much more danger if they had to constantly watch after a far more vulnerable member such as the human. It wasn't a responsibility he would ask anyone to take on lightly, if at all. Tactically speaking, a human in their military was not an asset. Not on the front lines, and barely as a spy. Not all places were oxygen rich after all, and unlike an actual Autobot, Jetblaze could die if he were to be damaged.

Prowl pulled himself back to the present when the youngling did a garbled attempt at Cybertronian. Well, he had to admire him for trying, given that most of their language wasn't meant to be spoken in the manner than humans communicated. "You need to work on your diction, but he understood you."

Which he could tell because Solaris was giggling and making the universal sign to be picked up. "You may pick him up, but be careful. He will be damaged if dropped."

Prowl withheld the urge to tell Dylan that he didn't know anything about him to make that assumption. He did realize that was rude, and though he failed to care, he did know enough not to vocalize his thoughts.

"Carrying is a bit different than human pregnancy. Humans can go through their pregnancy and manage all alone, but a Cybertronian is absolutely helpless when we reach the separation stage. And being a single parent, as I am, is very dangerous in all respects. If you are curious as to why, ask Blizzard." He'd been hearing about the risks via said medic for most of the time he'd carried, even as he'd primarily sought advice from Ratchet. She knew what she was talking about, he just didn't trust her to the care of his offspring. Except she had stabilized Requiem's spark, and for that he had to respect her.

In the midterm..."Youngling is the correct term. You are old enough to be cognizant of the world around you and to understand the difference in right and wrong. Solaris, as yet, is not. So youngling would be correct."