Archive of Our Own ^beta

Christmas was weird in general. In space, it was even weirder. There was no snow, no pine trees, so hot chocolate or Christmas cookies. It was weird sure, maybe even a little disappointing, but that was the cost of living with giant robot aliens. Gala however, really couldn’t tell the difference. She was more or less raised in this ship, and had really been aware of ‘earth Christmas’ from movies and books. The only real reason why it had come across her mind was from hearing Nautica briefly mention it the other day. Now, it was all she could think about, much to the annoyance of the Lost Light crew. She lifted her head out of the berth, looking around the room. She had just recently moved into her own room (which was a HUGE deal for a four year old), and she was still not used to not waking up to her parent’s side.

‘Her fault for saying she was a big girl’

She rubbed her little eyes, and hopped out of berth, rubbing her little face. She was already hungry, both for food and attention, she decided to just walk out of the room and look for her daddies. She shut the door behind her and walked down the hallway, avoiding the steps of big robots, and waving at them sweetly as they greeted her. She turned the corner, and stopped in front of a door. ‘Second in command’s office; Ultra Magnus’. She opened the door, and neither Rung, nor Minimus noticed her walked in. She figured. Whenever they were in a room alone together, they were always so terribly sweet to one another. Rung was sitting on his desk, and Minimus was trying (and failing) to do his paperwork.

“Life without you is like a flame without warmth. Like a pen without ink. Like a book with no rules. Like a face without a mustache-”

“Okay, you’re getting ridiculous now.”

Rung chuckled at the twitch of his mustache. He leaned down towards the small mech, pressing his lips against his own. Minimus probably would’ve clung to the kiss for far longer, had it not been for him suddenly seeing his little bundle at the door, freshly woken. He patted his shoulder, pointing in the hallway. Rung turned, a small smile on his face.

“Well, look who woke up! How was the new bedroom for you, my little blossom?”

‘Better than the first night. But she missed you guys. Plus they need their daily dose of cute, so here she is.’

Rung chuckled, getting off the table to pluck his little bundle from the floor. He held her in his arms, lightly cradling her in his soft, metal grip.

“My, someone is VERY affectionate today, even more than usual. If you’d like, you may sleep with us in our room, you don’t need to be in such a rush to grow up so quickly.”

Rung chuckled at her pout. Little bundle was trying so hard to grow up and impress her fathers. It was sweet. Minimus stood up from his seat, joining Rung for the embrace. Minimus was always hesitant to have someone to care for (aside from Rodimus and Drift), but not at all regretting it now.

“Gala, my dear, come now, I understand the change has been hard, but you can put it a bit of effort into your appearance.”

Minimus, as kind of a father as he was, was always firm handed. Always thought other’s had to be attentive and presentable twenty four seven. Rung chuckled as he set her down on the table, reaching in his subspace for some hairbands. He was always ready for occasions like these.

“Oh come now, Minimus. We know not everyone can be perfect all the time. Pardon me, sweetspark”

He combed his servos through her hair, smiling in satisfaction as her hair was finally up in a nice, presentable ponytail. Minimus scoffed, walking up to Rung’s side.

“Rung, don’t encourage laziness. According to the Tyrest Accord, every member of the ship must look presentable, should they be available for active duty.”

Minimus let Gala snicker at the ‘duty’ part, before leaning down to her face.

“Gala, you being out and about in her pajamas is unacceptable. Ergo, you will wear these.”
She expected some sort of uniform to come out from his subspace, only for her to gasp in surprise. A big, red, fluffy sweater, paired with red and green striped socks, and big, fluffy boots. She jumped in place, arms flailing in excitement. Minimus was trying not to smile, and Rung wasn’t holding it back. They assisted in helping her with her new clothes, and Rung even tied a pretty little bow and mistletoe in her hair. She looked down at herself, before looking at her parents in awe, arms lifted high in the air. Rung chuckled as he scooped their little present off the floor. He tried to push a bit of the sweater down, slightly disappointed at the fact that he made it just a tad too big. He should've listened to Minimus and gone smaller.

“And, this isn’t the only surprise I have for you, my little present.”

There was a knock on the door, and Gala nearly leapt out of her father’s hand. The door opened, and Undex was there, grinning. He had fake antlers on his helm, and bells decorated his frame. He put his hands on his hips, clearly proud of himself.

“I look good, right? I’m Blitzwing!”

“Blitzen, kiddo. Nerd, Luigi wannabe.”

Rodimus gave a gentle wave to both of them. Minumus chose to ignore his new nickname, trying not to give it any attention.

“Rodimus. So glad you could bring little Undex over.”

“Hey, so glad you could watch the kiddos for a bit. Now, you play nice with Gala, alright?”

Undex nodded as his dad patted his helm, causing his little audials to shake. He always wanted his sire to be proud of him, so whatever task he was given, he took it more seriously than most. He watched his dad walk off, and grinned as he gently leaned against Gala, looking up at Rung and Minimus.

“So, what’s first on the agenda?”

“Well, Minimus here has other business elsewhere, but you two are going with me to see what Ten has for us! Don’t worry, my little bundle, we’ll meet back up again quite soon. I’ll see you then, darling.”

Rung lightly smooched Minimus’s helm, before carefully guiding the little ones to Swerve’s bar. Ten was there at the counter, grinning and waving at them upon seeing them come in. Rung returned the wave, and helped the little one’s sit at the bar.

“Ten, hello! I take it the surprise is ready?”

“Ten! Ten ten!”

Ten was very careful as he patted their heads, before leaving. Gala and Undex looked at each other, confused, before Ten walked back into the room. Two gingerbread houses, with many bowls of candy. The little ones gasped as he set them down in front of them, smiling. Rung patted his shoulder.

“Thank you VERY much Ten! This was quite the surprise!”

Undex motioned to the plate, to them, then back and forth at least several times.

“We get to decorate these?! Really?”

“Yes, little ones! Decorate them to your heart's content. Take your time, me and Ten are going to be sitting here, in case you need any help.”

Time was lost in the flurry of icing, candy, and gingerbread. They genuinely couldn’t recall how long they spent here, but when it was full of chuckles and sugar, who really cared about time? Gala wiped at her cheek, smearing sprinkles and frosting across his face.

“Done!”

She pushed the plate a bit towards Rung, and he looked over at the piece in front of him. He scowled, giving it a good once over.

“Hmm...I like the use of peppermints here, very alluring. Like the way you used the M&M’s as lights. I do have one question though, why does this marshmallow man get to be covered in green gumdrops? And who’s the orange fellow next to him?”

She looked at them, and pointed at him. Rung put a hand over his spark, nearly 'awwing'.

“Is that...is that me and your father?”

Upon getting a nod from her, he hugged her, tempted to squeeze the life out of her.

“You are the sweetest little thing.”

Undex lifted his own house to be presented.

“Mines good too! I covered this one in purple pop rocks, because that's carrier, and the one covered in red hots is dad!”

“And that’s VERY adorable! Now let’s take the extra candy and-where did it go?”

The little ones gave a shrug, grins trying (and failing) to show innocence. Rung chuckled, shaking his helm.

“I suppose you two were here for a while. We just won’t tell daddy. Now come along, I believe we should show everyone, shall we?”

Rung waved goodbye to Ten, before guiding them down the hallway, into the main room. The children gasped, seeing the room decorated in so many lights, confetti, and a big, green tree in the center. Well, not an organic tree, but a big, green, metal thing, attempting to imitate a tree. Megatron noticed them, and waved with one hand, holding Minimus limply in his other.

“Undex, Gala! There are the little bitlets! Come on in, you’re just in time!”

“Megatron, please don’t do this in front of the children.”

Megatron looked down at him, before realizing he was even there. He finally put him down, Minimus dusting himself off in an attempt to keep his composure. Rung chuckled, picking up little Gala, who proudly presented her gingerbread house. He gave it an intense look over, before nodding.

“I suppose for a first attempt, it isn’t all too bad. I must say, the one covered in orange slices is rather charming, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, the one with the green gumdrops is rather dashing, I’d say.”

Rung chuckled, cheeks a bit flushed as they were about to go in for a kiss, before suddenly being interrupted by a louder than usual Whirl.

“This eggnog stuff? It is the SH-”

Rung covered her ears before she could hear anything, scowling as Whirl dashed off, spilling the white drink on the floor in his wake. Minimus clearly tried not to go off on Whirl, especially given how Undex giddily dashed off to show his parents his little house. Rung lightly poked her nose, a soft smile on his features.

“We also got you a present, my dear. The outfit wasn’t the only thing we got for you, my dear. Minimus?”

From under the tree, he brought forth a small, neatly wrapped box. He held onto her gingerbread house as he handed her the box. She tore apart the wrapping paper, opened the box, and pulled out yet another box. Only this one was small, black, and covered in felt. She opened the lid, showing a shining, golden necklace. It had intricate details carved into it, and it was nothing short of stunning. Rung opened the locket, showing it held a small picture. Minimus and Rung, holding a much smaller Gala. They both leaned in to peck her cute little head, unrestrained smiles laced over their very soft faces. She frowned however, causing them both to look worried.

“My dear, what’s the matter? Do you not like it?”

‘She didn’t them you anything.’

They both shared a chuckle at that. Rung poked her little nose.

“Gala, YOU are the greatest gift we could've ever gotten. We need nothing but your beautiful smile, and your big heart.”

“Although affection is frowned upon in the Tyrest Accord...I will allow it on this occasion, to say that we very much adore you, my little one.”

As she sat there, embraced between them both, she couldn’t help but have one thought.

‘This is way better than ANY earth Christmas ever could be.'