Hc for Oplita about cookies
Ariel, her whole life, has always liked cookies the way they come store bought, or like from a bakery: solid, can be dipped in milk straight out of the box. Never liked them any other way. So she usually only buys her cookies, instead of making them or anything.
Orion, has always made cookies himself, whether from scratch or store bought cookie dough, he’s put them in the oven himself, and liked them the way they come out all mushy and soft, just about falling apart in your hands as you’re eating them. It’s the only way he’s ever made cookies.
When they started dating, this didn’t change. Orion made soft, falling apart in your hands cookies, and Ariel bought hers from a store most of the time.
But sometimes, in the dead of night, or after something thoroughly unpleasant/draining, Ariel would just eat the cookies he made, sometimes even ask for them specifically.
And slowly, slowly, but ever surely, eventually she started to fall away from her store bought cookies, and gradually began to prefer his homemade cookies. She never said it, and barely even acted differently beyond not buying cookies as often, but began to prefer them.
In the meantime, they have had a longstanding debate over the cookies, each staunchly insisting their preferred cookie is the best way for them to be made.
One day, in the tail end of the war. It’s a normal Tuesday for Optimus, until suddenly his beloved Elita One comes into his office, and there’s tears along the corners, and edges of her blue eyes, a few scant ones dripped down her cheeks, so very frustrated and upset.
He’s up in an instant to be at her side, to comfort her, to get a name of who made her cry, because she never cries, not even out of frustration. It’s so very rare for her to cry. He needs to make sure they know from here on that if they do it again, they’ll inspire something dark, maybe even corrupt, from him. From him, and a few other Autobots who love her so dearly.
And before he can even say anything, she just curls into him, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace, that they both know is all for her in every way. And it shuts that fury down like pouring a bucket of water on a tiny starting flame, and reminds his subconscious- reminds her darling Orion: that’s not his job. His job as her conjux, is to patiently wait on her hand and foot, hang off her every word, and simply be there for her to come home to after a long day.*
So he does that. He just curls around her, and waits for her to tell him what he is to do for her.
After a long moment, he eventually breaks their silence. “Do you want me to do something?” He asks.
She says in a small, quiet voice. “I want cookies.”
“You don’t like the way I make cookies, you hate the way they fall apart in your hands, and think they’re too soft.”
“But they remind me of home.”
He doesn’t say anything in the moment about it, he just nods, and they begin to walk into his actual hab, attached right off his office.
He settles her on the couch, and goes to turn on the oven and lay out some dough - he made a while ago while they had an excess of energon to spare - on a tray, and then he just puts them in the oven.
He comes back over with a blanket for her to settle with, and they talk about what happened. They cuddle a little. The cookies are done, he brings them back, and a glass of coolant. It’s not quite like how things were before, but it’s close enough for how ravaged things are.
After a while of them sitting there, eventually Optimus gets up to get something to read, because even all these years later, he’s still a bookworm, and she holds no objection to listening to her Conjux read his novel out loud as she rests against him.
Ironhide comes in, the door to the habsuite was open, and so he figured that’s where Optimus was. He tells whoever is on the other end of the comm line that “there’s no need to tell Optimus, anymore”, and he’s “found her”.
The femmes realized she was missing, and started searching, and got the Autobot Command on the Ark to help as well.
Optimus comes back right as Ironhide asks why she’s eating cookies.
“Because she said they remind her of home.”
She suddenly realizes she actually said that. She just gave away how much she’s grown to love his cookies. She’s surrendered her ability to win any argument about the cookies anymore.
“Oh Primus, I actually said that.”
“Yes, you did.” Optimus says with a smile, having taken his mask off for a long while now. “I’m going to ride that high for the next six weeks.”
“I am actually going to kill myself.”
“Let’s not.” Ironhide interjects.
“I just lost every single argument about the cookies going forward.”
“Yes, you did. I will use that every time.”
“I hate myself so much right now.”
“Is it really that damn important, right now, you two?” Ironhide interrupts again. “It’s nice that the cookies remind ya of home, ‘Lita, but we gotta talk about you and your disappearin’ acts.”
Optimus just laughs. It’s all Orion. Elita sighs. It’s all Ariel.
“Don’t worry, you two can talk about it in the office there, and when you get back, Ariel, I’ll have some more of those horrible, awful, soft cookies that fall apart in your hands and remind you of home.”
“Don’t, Orion, you pain in the aft.”
They’re both smiling. It’s not their shared apartment, but the scent wafting through the air, and the pad on the makeshift end table makes it close enough, and for just a minute, they’re back home.
(* HC: They engage in a 24/7 domestic roleplay/dynamic, with Elita being the dominant one/“provider”, and Optimus being the submissive one/“homemaker”. Whether N/SFW, they usually engage in it most of the time when they’re together.)
