8 Chapter 8: Baby Steps

The early morning rays invaded through the cave's entrance, casting their light on Solarflare's face. His closed optics scrunched up, trying to block out the sun. The mech's hope of sleeping in diminished when he heard pede steps walking by.

The events of yesterday rushed through his processor, and his blue optics snapped open. With a violent jolt, Solarflare sat up, throwing off the sheet covering his frame.

Firespark's wide orange optics looked at him in surprise, "Are you alright?"

Embarrassed, Solarflare nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'm just excited for the day, is all."

"Oh, what do you plan on doing today?" Firespark asked, with a tilt of her helm.

The mech gave a nervous smile, "I actually don't have plans, so what are you doing up early?"

"I thought I told you last night. I'm going to collect the other cargo containers. I'll call you when I get back so that you can help out." Firespark responded, setting her finished energon cube to the side. "Don't burn the place down while I'm gone, okay?"

Solarflare followed the pink femme toward the cave's mouth, "There's nothing to worry about here. I promise nothing is happening," When she looked at him suspiciously, he yelled, "Okay, go have fun! Love you, bye!" and disappeared into the cavern.

Firespark stood there dumbfounded and mouthed, 'okay' to herself before traveling in the direction of the mineshaft.

The sparkling cooed in delight at the sight of the mech as he pulled off the tarp. "Hey, you. You're so lucky that you slept through the night." Solarflare praised it as he lifted it into his arms. "You're lighter than you look,"

The red and orange mech walked over the stream and grabbed an energon cube for himself. He was surprised, however, when the sparkling leaned over to reach for it. "No, no, no, this is mine, but I'm willing to share if you ask nicely." The sparkling pouted and gazed at him with sky blue optics. "Nice try, but your tricks won't work with me."

Since the sparkling had no way of drinking the energon straight out of the cube, Solarflare had to improvise. He dipped a digit in the liquid and brought it up to sparkling's intake, who delightfully accepted it. This motion went on a couple more times until it had it's fill, and only half of the cube remained. Solarflare drank the rest before bringing the sparkling over his shoulder to release the pressure inside the sparlings tank. The sparklet let out a small burp, pleasing the mech.

Solarflare never had much knowledge with sparklings, but he remembered his carrier telling him stories about her experiences when he and Skyrider were young.

The sparkling seemed bored, so the mech sought out some activities that were sparkling friendly. A shiny sphere object stood glistening on the table, and Solarflare got an idea. Hopefully, the sparklet wouldn't decide to put it in it's mouth.

The mech squatted in front of the sparklet and moved the ball around in small circles, getting it's attention. "Hey, look what I found. Do you like the shiny ball?" It's blue optics were wide in awe as they followed the sparkly object and reached it's servos out to grab it.

Solarflare smiled and sat down with his legs crisscrossed, "All right, I'm going to roll it towards you, but you have to roll it back," he instructed. The sparklet tilted it's helm and gave out a confused noise. "Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it."

He gently released the ball, and it slowly rolled toward the sparkling. With a squeal of delight, the young bot picked up the ball and looked it over. "Now, roll it back to me. You can do it!" Solarflare encouraged.

The smile on the mech's face disappeared when the said object came back to hit him on the helm. Disapproving optics glared at the grey sparkling now lying on the ground. "That's not how the game works,"

A few hours later, attempting to create activities that were sparkling friendly, Solarflare was exhausted. Thankfully for him, the sparklet was in the same boat as him. Tiredly, the duo walked over to the berth and laid down together.

The sparkling yawned and snuggled close to the broad-chested mech, much like a puppy or kitten nestled into their mother's warm comfort. Protectively, Solarflare wrapped his large arm's around the delicate lifeform and fell into a peaceful state.

A whimpering sound woke the red and orange mech from his slumber. Dim blue optics looked at the sparklet who was trying to get his attention. "What's the matter?" A faint rumbling of an empty tank answered his question. "Already? Didn't I feed you four hours ago?"

The worn mech walked over to the swinging ivy and grabbed another cube, the last one off the shelf. He didn't think much of it and proceeded to feed the hungry sparkling. What he also failed to notice was the sound of pede steps entering the cave. Oblivious to the other form in the room, Solarflare rocked the sparkling as it sucked on his digits, "You were hungry, weren't you?"

Solarflare jumped when he heard someone clear their throat. He visibly paled when a pink femme was in his view, and she did not look pleased. "Firespark, uh, why didn't you call?"

"I've been calling," was her reply.

The mech uncomfortably looked at the datapad by the berth, showing three missed calls. "Umm, I can explain." Firespark's orange optics gazed at him, waiting patiently for his answer. He sighed, "I found this sparkling yesterday after I visited Skyrider. I brought it back and have been trying my best to take care of it. I never meant to upset you, but I was afraid of how you would react. I know that there's a lot of factors that would make it challenging to raise a sparkling, but I couldn't just leave it there."

Firespark didn't say a word and looked at the floor in thought. The silence was deafening, and it made Solarflare anxious until the femme looked up. With smooth strides, she took the sparkling and cube out of his servos and wandered toward the medical table. "Instead of using your nasty digits, why don't we use something more acceptable." Carefully she balanced the sparklet in one arm and worked with her other arm.

The sparkling curious sky blue optics gazed up at the new bot and patted her faceplate. Firespark was surprised by the action and smiled widely at it, "Well, hello to you too. Aren't you just a cutie!" The femme reached down a picked up an empty syringe and removed the needle.

The sparklet, growing impatient, gave out a frustrated scream as Firespark dipped the syringe into the precious blue liquid. Working as fast as she could, the sparkling's cries abruptly stopped once she inserted the medical instrument into its intake.

Solarflare watched in awe as his love tended to the sparkling. His recent worries faded when the femme looked over her shoulder, beaming at him. Calmly, the mech walked over to her side and watched the sparkling greedily drinking its meal. "Your amazing, you know that?" he whispered in her audio receptor. Firespark shuddered underneath him, "Well, I have a special mech who tells me that every day."

She removed her attention from the sparkling and looked at him, "I'll let you have a guess. Is it a mechling or femmeling?"

Solarflare gave it some thought before responding, "It's a mechling, isn't it,"

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner, folks," Firespark exclaimed, causing the mech to chuckle. "So, now that we know, what do you think we should name him?"

"Thundercracker,"

Firespark looked questionably at him, amusement evident on her faceplates, "Thundercracker?"

Solarflare shrugged, "I don't know. What are your thoughts?"

With thoughtful orange optics, the femme looked at the peaceful sparkling resting in her arms. "How about Thunderstrike?"

The red and orange mech rested his chin on her shoulder, "Thunderstrike. I like it,"

"Come on, let's go get some recharge before you wind up passing out on the ground,"