y’all want some post-war shockop???? ofc you do
(for clarification this is an au in which shockwave regains his emotions and decides not to be a time-traveling asshole)
Shockwave gets his memories back a bit slower than one might expect, as specific events and objects drift in and out of his mind, taking longer to solidify. It’s a slow and arduous process, but he sees a therapist (probably Rung) and is working with it. For instance, one day Shockwave was discussing plans for a community park in Iacon, when a memory hits him. It’s a really strong one— his optic flickers and he sways on his feet, the bot he was talking to becoming concerned at his abrupt stop in conversation. After a minute, Shockwave seems to return to reality, he looks at the bot and says, “I have an idea for the park.”
A few weeks later, Optimus receives a message from Shockwave: “Orion, please come to [coordinates] after work.” When the time comes, he goes to the coordinates in the message to find a new park at the center of Iacon. It’s very pretty, but Optimus is a bit confused as to why Shockwave would want him to come here. But then, he sees the mech himself standing near the edge of a path, by some flowers. When he comes over, Shockwave looks up and says, “Orion! You’ve come on time— I wished to show you something before the park was officially opened.” He steps to the side to reveal a small bench situated in the middle of some flowers. It’s fairly unremarkable, but its design feels very clean and meticulous. Shockwave sounds a little bit nervous as he says “I designed this bench to resemble one I saw in a memory as closely as I could. I- It was of sitting on a bench, here in Iacon next to you. Some aspect of it was… flawed? I cannot remember which, but-well- I believe it was a positive memory.” Shockwave hesitantly looks up at Optimus as he says, “I hope it was the same for you.”
Optimus looks shell-shocked. His optics are wide and blank, and Shockwave feels a vein of alarm go through his spark. Had he assigned the wrong connotation to the memory? He was so sure the location had been a happy one, as all the emotions displayed by Orion in the memory had been positive: with relaxed posture, laughs, smiling… Shockwave is so busy reviewing the memory to see what he got wrong that he misses how Optimus’s optics bead with fluid.
He does, however, notice when Optimus grabs the sides of his face and pulls him into a sudden, deep kiss. Both the logically-oriented and emotionally-oriented subroutines in his processor stall, and Shockwave can only let his hands fall to Optimus’s hips.
When Optimus pulls back, his smile is just like the one in Shockwave’s memory. “Our bench. You remembered our bench.” He chuckles a bit wetly.
“I…” Shockwave is still a bit dazed. “I did not know this object was of, uh, such importance. I simply remembered you being happy there.”
Somehow, Optimus’s optics shine even brighter at that. “I do love this, Senator.” Then his smile becomes a bit sly. “But,” he presses another kiss to the side of Shockwave’s helm before pulling him towards the structure, “it wasn’t the bench that made me happy.”