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Firestar was expecting the summons from Rodimus. What she wasn't expecting was for their conference to happen in his quarters- or for the preparations he made for her arrival.
Sure, it was usually traditional to offer refreshment during small meetings, but all the flickering candles and the table cloth- was that asari fabric she recognised?- on his desk seemed a bit much. Maybe he was just trying to impress her, or to compete with her envious helm mod in a way his paint job couldn't.
Firestar had learned never to trust free energon in any case, but she hadn't refueled in over a vorn. Her empty tanks practically echoed with hungry growls as she lingered in the doorway.
"And what do you call all this?" she asked, throwing a servo towards the meager set-up and only briefly entering the room. The air was unusually warm, and her mod wasn't even switched on. She'd decided to leave it off at the last minute, not eager to give the scarlet sparkling any reason to whine.
But, as usual, Rodimus was pouting anyway. He'd arranged two stools on either side of the desk, but he stayed standing beside his own and rocking back and forth on his peds. "Ultra Magnus calls it 'diplomatic relations', I call it a waste of time."
Firestar cocked an eyeridge more out of surprise at Rodimus actually following outsider's advice than offense at his juvenile tone. "Then why not make him do it instead?"
Rodimus begrudgingly brought his optics up from the ground. "Because he's not the captain, and sometimes he scares me. This is one of those times."
He was admitting weakness to get her guard down. How many times had she done that with her own team? Still, she couldn't help a laugh at the thought of the mech cowering under the threat of a Tyrest Accord legislation being forcibly funneled through his audios.
"Alright, then." She stepped into the warm cocoon that embraced the Prime's quarter's and paused just short of her own chair, waiting for Rodimus to take his seat first. The respectfulness of it seemed to ease the tension wrought through his cables somewhat. Metal legs scraped against a metal floor as they seated themselves.
Rodimus cleared his vocaliser in a way that told Firestar he'd been doing it for the past breem spent waiting for her. "I know you're not here just cause you all got lost."
Firestar had to smile at all the blind certainty in his voice. "And what makes you think that?"
"Cause I've learned recently that it's a small universe," Rodimus stated, folding his servos over his chest. He thought it made him look serious when really it just made him look sulky. "You don't get lost unless you want to, and no-one wants to when it's constantly all about to go to hell."
Firestar stopped herself from mocking his eloquence. "What poetry philosophy did you steal that one from?"
Rodimus shrugged. "I paraphrased it."
Firestar laughed just loud enough to cover another groan from her starved tanks. She might as well get right to the spark of the matter."What do you want from us, Rodimus?"
"You tell me what's on your agenda, and I'll let you know."
"We want fuel, somewhere to recharge, and somewhere safe to get dropped off. That's it." She mirrored his stance with servos crossed and actually made it look better- she knew that from how promptly he placed his own servos on the table instead.
Rodimus contemplated for a few moments, picking cautiously at the situation. "What if we don't find somewhere safe?"
"Isn't that your job to find one?" Firestar asked skeptically. Either the implication or her tone hit a soft circuit from how Rodimus' mask faltered.
"You think I'm a bad leader?" It was a question as loaded as Megatron's fusion cannon. Now it was Firestar's turn to shrug and avoid looking right at Rodimus.
"Not necessarily. From what I've heard you're impulsive, reckless, . But..." She heaved in a large vent of air and shuttered her optics for the confession. "You're cute. Sometimes."
Firestar should have been used to Rodimus being caught short by now, but it still amused her to see him gaping like a beached tintrout. He had to reboot his vocaliser with another cough. "Well... I see your good looks suit your personality."
"There you go again, doing the cute thing." She felt a new bloom of heat across the table that wasn't from the candles, and Rodimus' faceplate seemed redder than usual as he leaned in closer.
"This isn't just a way to get rid of my suspicion, is it?"
Well, at least he wasn't completely incompetent. Firestar flashed him a trickster grin before leaning in as well. "You promise me and my friends rations, full access and safe passage onboard and I'll let you know."
There was a flicker of something close to rare respect in Rodimus' optics. "Consider it done."
Firestar could practically feel the mech's fans gently buffetting her, blending with the heat of his internal systems. They each stared at the others mouths, watching each others words twist together in the wavering light of the candles. "Now then..." She pulled herself back before their drift brought their helms together, leaning back on her stool. "I think this calls for a toast."
Despite the disappointment in his features, a smile teased Rodimus' expecting lips before it fully blossomed. He reached under his seat for two glass flutes filled with energon.
"About that 'safe space to recharge'... " Rodimus said, holding the flutes back. "Would this be a good time to offer my berth as one?"
Firestar should have expected it, but she chuckled anyway. "We'll see."
Rodimus seemed content with that much, handing over of the glasses to her. "Don't let it all go to waste," he advised.
Firestar had to struggle to keep her dignity and not gulp the entire glass in one go. "That's the smartest thing you've said all evening."
It was only after they'd drank that she realised he wasn't just talking about wasting energon.