So- I was struck by the Late Night Writing Power and fluffy feelings, which are the best kind, and put this together for you and fans :>
Perceptor pressed his palm to the terminal, prompting the doors to the laboratory to open.
Everything was as he left it. His station, neat and tidy, everything at its place. As expected, he found Brainstorm here as well, at his station. It seemed as if he was too engrossed in his work to notice Perceptor's arrival. The doors slid shut as he walked further into the room on silent peds, sight set on the flier. Coming to a halt next to Brainstorm's workstation, he lightly placed the digittips of his servo on the edge of the surface, to gain the other's attention.
Brainstorm faltered in his scribbling, hunched over one datapad of many strewn over the expanse of his station. Tilting his helm, he looked up the microscope.
"Percy." He greeted, voice mellow, and it wasn't because of his mask. More and more often Brainstorm tended to leave the piece of metal off, a delight every time Perceptor saw his face. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."
"It is alright." Perceptor found himself saying, watching how dim golden optics refocused back down on his datapad, looking at it with no great deal of enthusiasm. Heaving a sigh, the flier laid down his stylus.
"Having trouble?"
"You could say that." Brainstorm huffed, leaning backwards in his chair, staring at the ceiling, wings drooping without frametension at his sides. "It's like I can't string together any thoughts." He muttered, frowning. "I hate it."
"Don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone has moments where they simply have to take a break."
"You don't get it." Raising his arms, Brainstorm rubbed his face with his servos. "It's been cycles. I tried taking a break. Tried, having a shower, fuel, a drink, met up with friends. But every time I come back here I just-" He let his servos fall, gesturing towards his work.
"Sometimes, that break takes longer." Perceptor persuaded.
Shaking his helm, Brainstorm scoffed. "I don't have that luxury. I have to be useful. I have to make for... mistakes I've made."
Silence lingered. Perceptor regarded the other with thoughtful optics. It has been some time since they enetered the new universe. It has been even longer since the timetravel incident. Of course, to learn from one's mistakes was mandatory and necessary, and on all accounts, Brainstorm had done so. He hadn't realized that the flier still held himself with such low selfesteem even now. For all he prided himself to be one of the brightest minds of his time, he could look a little closer to the people that matter most to him.
"Brainstorm." Reaching out, he laid a comfortable palm on Brainstorm shoulder. Meeting golden optics, he couldn't help but the strings of sadness in his spark, spilling out into his field. "Mind indulging me for a moment?"
"Uh. Sure..?" Confusion paired with mild surprise crossed his faceplate. Perceptor held out a servo for him to take, which was readily accepted. Standing, the flier looked expectantly at him. It was endearing, the innocent curiosity clearly visible on his faceplate. Guiding him to the edge of the desk he was just working at, Perceptor gently pushed him backwards until Brainstorm was perched on its edge, their joined servos coming to comfortably rest on a white thigh. Brainstorm was still looking at him with that curiosity in his gaze as he stepped closer, and he could help but smile, optics crinkling.
"What. What are you smiling about?"
"You."
He blinked, helm tilting inward as if to as, 'are you sure?'
"As you should." Came the slow answer. "You can learn a lot from me."
"I know. You always surprise me with something new, challenging my way of thinking, my approach." Perceptor's gaze softened. "There's always something new to learn about you."
"I- I uhm." Brainstorm stammered, optics rapidly blinking, clearly flustered. "Percy, where does this come from?"
"I relaized, I haven't done much in affirming your place and worth. Which is invaluable. No matter how you see yourself, or what you think you have to do to 'earn' your worth and place on this ship- or anywhere. You mean so much. To command, your friends, the crew." Perceptor lifted his free servo to cup Brainstorm's cheek, running his thumb over the mandible cable. "To me."
Brainstorm was staring at him, optics wide and glowing bright. His field was startled into unmoving shock. "I. I-"
Perceptor waited patiently, squeezing the white servo in his hold now and then, field open and earnest, making sure his message came across with all the conviction he felt.
"I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to. Though, I'd like to show you, how much you mean to me. Personally."
Derma parting as if to answer, no glyph came forth, so Brainstorm resorted to nodding. Smile loosing its edge, although no less sincere, he took long moments to just pet Brainstorm's cheek, until the other's field freed itself from it's freeze, meeting his with its usual warmth that was so very Brainstorm at his core.
"Please, if you're uncomfortable at any point, tell me." He said, holding his gaze. Leaning in, he tilted his helm, placing a soft kiss to Brainstorm's cheek. Then another to his jaw, onto his throatcables and collar, trailing down his chassis and cockpit, taking his time. As he went lower, he switched his hold from cheek to a teal hip, hooking his servo beneath a white thigh, squeezing the servo in his hold again before letting go to do the same on the other side. Kneeling in front of the flier, Perceptor looked up at him.
Brainstorm was watching his every move, holding onto the edge of the desk, wings twitching on his back. "Beautiful." He murmured, not wanting to miss even a second of anything Brainstorm would show him. Petting the plating in reach with small soothing motions, he couldn't help but nuzzle a thigh, not once breaking their gaze. "You're so very precious, Brainstorm."
A servo hiding half his faceplate but doing nothing to conceal the blush alight on his cheeks, Brainstorm apparently did not quite believing what was happening. To think that he wasn't expecting this becoming a reality, as if showing how much he cared was something from a farfetched fantasy, even in their pretty young relationship- a glyph Brainstorm hadn't even associated them as until Perceptor specifically named them as such in front of friends- it baffled him.
"I love you, Brainstorm, all of you. Nothing could ever change that, and I will tell you time and time again." He was rewarded with a happy flutter of wings, and field that screamed embarrassment/love, and an even fiercer blush than before.
Gaze soft, reverently so, he hoped to be rewarded with many more expressions like these in the future. Waiting until the wildly lashing field calmed a bit, all the while looking up and continuing his ministrations, he finally tapped against Brainstorm's modesty panel. "Open up for me?"
"Y-you don't have to, y'know. It- I'm fine."
"I want to do this, for you. For both of us." Perceptor reached for a servo again, interlacing their digits. Brainstorm exvented, closing his servo around the other's.
