Archive of Our Own

 ‘It was often decided that most, if not all, of the Cybertronians that had landed on earth were presumed to be male. Gender was not a concept most Cybertronians had often pondered before the war. Pronouns and gender were arbitrary in the grand scheme of things and often were not considered as an official rule in most dialects and dictionaries that had become mainstream on the planet. Cybertronians did have a measure for gender, ‘mechs’, ‘femmes’, and other terms were widely used depending on the context, but pronouns had always remained remarkably neutral’… At least that’s what Ratchet had told Swoop when he asked about human gender and what their version of it would be during a routine checkup after the whole cybertronium incident. 

He had tried his best to explain, but Swoop still wasn’t really grasping the concept. It was an oddly fine line between the cultures but from what Swoop understood. Pronouns are an inherently human concept and have differing labels depending on the language rules that all differ in some way from any one culture.

It was certainly a fascinating thing to think about, the way that Cybertronians are, supposedly, a remarkably gender apathetic species. Although, being a mech brought up on the earth, Swoop often wondered what did and did not apply to them in respects to both cultures, and even more so if being created on earth made them less Cybertrionian as a whole, even if Wheeljack and Ratchet constantly disputed the point.

Swoop still appreciated their teachings even if his brothers simply did not listen, it made him feel confident that they belonged to both worlds and would be welcomed to go to Cybertron with them in the end if they so wished. Swoop knew there was so much more they could learn there too. But despite the prospect of a new Cybertron he could only remember the one he had seen not so long ago…

The empty cities, the silence, the world felt dead, even the air did not hold the same energy as earth’s did. Everything felt still as if the whole world had suddenly stopped spinning, as if the spark of their planet had gone missing, and became suspended hanging taut on a string that waited to snap and fall out of the cosmos. It was settled with a hopelessness that sank spark deep, Shockwave’s lab did not offer much respite from the outside world. It was sterile and offered no more feeling than the mech that resided within the walls. The lab’s traps had tried to kill them, Spike and Carly too. But that had been nothing when faced with the documentary on Cybertron’s past…

There were many things to consider from that day, but the main thing that caught their attention was.. something Swoop was still unsure about. Mechs, he knew of them well enough, but Femmes?  There was a whole other word for their species, had it been lost? Perhaps forgotten? It was definitely something he’d continue looking into. But he just didn't know enough. If Ratchet could only tell them about the history behind it, perhaps Wheeljack would have something more to apply to this question of his? 

It was certainly worth a try.

***

 It wasn’t long until Swoop found their way back to the science building, it was a place they most often resided after all, their wings tucked in close as they entered the building. The first half was designed specifically for the humans in mind, and Swoop had to constantly keep in mind how careful he had to be when entering so as to not disrupt the work flow or to crush anything under foot. They carefully found their way around as the others bustled around working. They made their way about half way through before they were stopped.

“Heya Swoop!” He looked over to see who called and wasn’t surprised to see Spike waving them over to where he and his friends were looking over a computer Chip was working on. Swoop looked between the entrance to where they knew Wheeljack worked and toward their little friends before smiling a little and carefully making their way over.

“Hi Spike-” He looked around and smiled “Carly and Chip too-” He tried to take a peak at the computer but was unsure what to make of the diagram displayed on it. “What’s that?” He asked gingerly pointing at the schematics on the computer screen.

“Oh it’s-” Spike gets promptly cut off by an excited Chip and just gives a knowing smile to Carly. “It’s those schematics Teletran one was able to gather from Shockwave’s lab!” 

“Oh-” Swoop’s face bunched up in confusion for a moment before asking “Why do you need those?”

“We’re putting together a blueprint for the Autobot’s records” Chip had now turned to face the group rather than the screen and clapped his hands together. “Isn’t it great?” Swoop nodded slowly in understanding. “Oh! I understand, just in case we need more cybertonium and.. stuff.. Right?” Chip nodded before Carly butted in “Do you want to help Swoop? You were with us, and you got a pretty good aerial view of the place too-” She grinned at the mech and he smiled back quickly, becoming excited at the idea of helping their friends with something so important. But they did have their own mystery to solve at the moment. They eyed the area where Wheeljack worked. 

“I would love to! But-” They pulled back a bit and seemed to grow a touch anxious as they mulled it over in their mind. His hands pulled to his face plate, knuckles applying light pressure to their cheek pressing on and off in short bursts while his other hand rested over their chest piece, thumb lightly flicking over the sharp high point, a somewhat distant look to their optics.

“Something wrong Swoop?” Spike asked, tilting his head to follow the mech’s line of sight.

Chip had turned back to his computer and saved the project, just in case, before joining once more. “It doesn’t have to be right now, Do you have somewhere to be?” He asked head tilting in question. 

“Oh-” Swoop looked back at the trio before giving a small smile. “I wanted to talk to..” He tilted his helm toward where Wheeljack was working and Carly chuckled.

“Ahhh! We understand, some father-son bonding time~” She bumped into Spike with her hip and gave an all too knowing look to Spike and he gave a grin, understanding completely. 

“Oh yeah- We understand Swoop- Have a good time with your good ol’ pops” Chip chuckled a bit under his breath at that. Swoop still didn’t understand what was so amusing about this joke, but they laughed a bit anyway, if only because the way he said ‘good ol’ pops’ sounded particularly funny. “You can look over what we have later!” Chip added with a good natured wave of his hand. 

He immediately nodded, bouncing on his heels, wings giving measured flutters as he tried to contain his excitement. “I -uh- I look forward to helping!” Swoop said optics glancing back toward the lab before giving a short wave before carefully rushing off once more to see Wheeljack…

After a few measured steps he had made his way into the much larger section of the building, his wings unfolded and fluttered in a light stretch as they moved around the workbench just in time to see Wheeljack reaching for a wrench from under some new contraption. Swoop quickly picked it up and handed it over. “There it is,” he muttered as he tightened up the component and soon pulled himself out from under the machine. 

He took a rag and whipped some of the dark smudges from his frame before briefly glancing over to the dinobot handing off the rag to them and getting up. “Clean yourself up too-” He said before doing a double take and blinking. “Oh!- Swoop, when did you come in?” He asked looking around as if there would be more accompanying them, there usually wasn’t but sometimes Swoop tried to bring his brothers in to spend time with them, they usually fell asleep or end up wandering off half way through anyway.

He shook his head in the negative “Only me, I came in just now-”

Wheeljack chuckled a bit sheepishly and waved it off. Swoop only chuckled and waved a hand in understanding, he knew how caught up he could get in his work, Swoop was often the same way.

“Came in to work on a new project then?” he asked as he moved around the work bench and began searching for another tool. Swoop made an indecisive noise as he handed him a flat head screw driver that had rolled away from his work sight.

“Thanks.” He said as he looked it over before returning to tightening up some screws on the device. “I, uh, actually wanted to ask you something?” 

“Oh?” Wheeljack hummed while continuing.

“Yeah” Swoop nodded as they somewhat zoned in on the way Wheeljack was adjusting the screws. 

Wheeljack stopped and looked back over to Swoop. “Well go on, you’ve got me curious” He said tilting his helm indicating he was listening.

Swoop made a soft clicking sound before fidgeting with their hands being pulled back and now actively trying to think about how exactly to phrase this. “Well-  Erm…” His brows knit together in concentration before he nodded a bit. “While I was on Cybertron..” might as well ask the same way he asked Ratchet, have some consistency to the question to see how much the answer differs. “There was this video about the war I watched with Spike and Carly…I saw a lot of different frame types-” 

Wheeljack nodded along with the question so far but happened to interrupt Swoop half way through. “I see- You’re curious why you Dinobots look so different from us- well you see Swoop-“ 

Swoop immediately shook their head, getting a little frustrated that Wheeljack cut them off  “No- No- I know that- I wanted to ask: Do Cybertronians genders matter? And why are human genders different?- we have mechs and femmes like Ratchet said and people have male and female… But Ratchet says that gender is Ar-” he took a moment to remember the word “..Arbitrary.. since we don’t have differential- um- biological- attributes..” as Swoop spoke they had at some point began to tap their pede in little rhythmic taps and folded arms that made them look remarkably similar to a thinking Ratchet in the moment. “and that humans use it more than we do because they do(?), even though we have the terms, and now we all use male pronouns or…um- something..” Swoop realised they had been rambling and flushed, pede stopping as they quickly brought their hand up, knuckles once more pressing into their cheek as they looked away.

“Oh” Wheeljack said optics blinking once fairly curious as to what had brought this topic up and why it had stuck so strongly in his dinobot’s mind. “I’ll admit, I hadn’t even noticed-“ he said with a chuckle. Wheeljack smiled a bit and tilted his helm from side to side as he thought about it, his final lights blinking slowly in thought.

“Well, I suppose I’d have to agree with Ratchet on this one. It's always been, well, arbitrary, to try and assign anything to any one mech, but that’s a whole debate I’m not willing to get into” he said while shaking his head clear of the thought. Although at that moment Skyfire seemed to come around the corner holding two cubes and looked between Wheeljack and Swoop. He blinked and gave a small smile, glad to see the Dinobot.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt-” He said as he came through, working his way over and handing off a cube to Wheeljack “I would have brought more if I knew you’d be joining us Swoop, I can get another though..” the larger mech chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck before becoming curious while holding out his own cube to Swoop in offering.

“I couldn’t help but hear- what’s this arbitrary question about?”

Swoop looked at the offered cube and raised their hands and shook their head refusing the offer. “It’s- It’s nothing” they said looking away a bit of embarrassment showing on their faceplates, he hated that he got shy around others. It just didn’t feel like his question was ready for anyone else to answer. It felt as though this wasn’t quite something worth researching, what if Skyfire didn’t like his question? Why waste others time with something that he wanted to ask his creators first? He still didn’t have a gauge of how much effort he should put into trying to solve this.. incomplete hypothesis-

Wheeljack shook his head “It’s not nothing, it’s actually a good question! It could help us understand humans better” Skyfire immediately looked interested again “Oh really?” 

Wheeljack nodded grinning now. “You know how much Optimus loves it when we try some cultural exchanges, I think you might be onto something Swoop!”

He immediately perked up “Really?” That spark of excitement was clear in the mech’s optics and Wheeljack wanted nothing more than Swoop to explore this new interest of theirs. “Of course! This could be an excellent way to further our understanding of their relationship with something we have a vague concept of” he said nodding and Skyfire was quick to chime in. “It could give us a new perspective! I think it’s a an idea you should look into researching” 

“You really think so?” Swoop asked, looking between the two, wings flitting excitedly as they took interest in the question that had been tangling up in his processor for the past few weeks. He was quick to rush around the Workbench and open the drawer that contained his own datapad and frantically turned it on in a rush to create a new file. 

Wheeljack and Skyfire shared a look and watched the young mech write down his notes before Skyfire wondered out loud.

 “Who have you asked so far?”

Swoop looked away, seeming to look back to a now empty computer. He shook his head a bit.  

“Wheeljack and Ratchet..” Swoop stared at Skyfire for a second before tilting their head to the side and pulling up their stylus and writing out something on their datapad and looked back up to the mech.

“What’s your take on Gendered pronouns, Skyfire?” 

Skyfire blinked at the question and hummed softly, considering, before simply saying “I think they’re neat.” Swoop blinked at the answer, an optic ridge rising in question “Neat?” Skyfire smirked a bit, nodding “Yes, Neat. I don’t know how people determine what to call each other, I just remember that some mechs like to be called femmes and some femmes like to be called mechs..”

Swoop stared at Skyfire and sighed dramatically “That makes me more confused-“ they said while throwing up a hand. Before they blinked and tilted their helm from side to side, tasting the idea they were forming. 

 “I.. I think I’ve got an idea!” They said their tone coloured with pure excitement. Their wings fluttered again and they began to rush out, datapad tucked under their arm before screeching to a halt and rushing back to Wheeljack and bending over to give him a big hug and an awkward pat on the arm and wave to Skyfire before rushing off.

Wheeljack was left laughing and Skyfire could only chuckle as Swoop disappeared out the door. He took his cube of energon and took a sip.

“Neat, huh?” He asked looking over to Skyfire as he took his cube as well and leaned against the work bench. “Yeah? They’re an interesting thing to play around with” Wheeljack chuckled softly.

 “Oh really?” He asked, looking at Skyfire with an amused air, “Is it so hard to think of me as a femme?” He asked, pressing a servo to his chest acting almost offended. “Oh no, You make a beautiful femme Sky-” Wheeljack said a smirk playing on his lips “Oh don’t let Star hear you say that, she’ll have your head-”

Wheeljack nearly spat his energon out. “No way,” he said, looking over to Skyfire. Skyfire was already moving toward his work bench giving a vague shrug. “You mean he was- is-” Skyfire nearly snorted. “Was- But you didn’t hear it from me.” He chuckled as he set his cube down. Wheeljack couldn’t help but grin at the mech, pressing his own cube to his lips.

***

Swoop looked over their datapad looking over the results they had gathered so far. They had rushed off to the mess hall to get more results after having Skyfire and Wheeljack’s support.

They thought it would be best to get some other mech’s opinions before moving on to gathering the people’s opinions on his question, they were steadily gathering a plausible hypothesis. Rather they focused on the results thus far.

_________________________________

Cybertronian Participants Answers:

Ratchet: Completely Apathetic toward gendered words and phrases 

Wheeljack: Generally apathetic (agrees with Ratchet)

Skyfire: Says ‘They’re neat’; Seems to enjoy experimenting (fluid?)

Optimus: Very accepting of all terms, doesn’t seem to mind being asked to use specific terms for any mech (accepting to own terms)

Bumblebee: Says ‘They’ve played with it in the past, doesn’t care what others call them’ (fluid)

Ironhide: Enjoys being called a mech (strictly prefers the he/him)

_________________________________

The results continued on with a few other mechs they had asked but the results seemed fairly consistent. Among most mechs they seemed to be overall not caring for the terms they’ve been given, some like the terms strongly, others simply say whatever works works for them. 

They just needed to find some people and hear their side of the story. Swoop walked down the halls of the Ark lightly tapping the blunt end of their stylus against their denta occasionally lightly biting at the end as the thought about the results so far. Would humans generally have a similar outlook or would it be completely different? Swoop simply wasn’t sure how exactly to approach this with them, would they be offended, or not care just as much as the mechs around here?

 They looked over the datapad once more and smiled as they traced the worn edges; Wheeljack had gifted him this ages ago for these personal projects, a prized possession. They tucked it close to themself before hearing a call from the rafters above.

“Hey Swoop! How are you doing buddy?” They looked up to see Spike waving at them, just a few feet above eyelevel on the catwalks. “Oh! Hi Spike” They said with a wave before looking around “Um- Where’s Chip and Carly?”

Spike grinned as he pointed in the direction of a rec-room. “Their debating on which graphics cards to use for the map.” Swoop tilted their head to the side following the point before grinning. Perfect! They could ask them their questions now!

“Hey Spike-“ Spike looked back over and leaned against the railing to show his attention was on swoop. “Yeah Swoop? Got a question on your mind?” Swoop smiled and nodded.

“What is your take on being called he/him?” Spike blinked, a bit surprised. He gave an awkward chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. Swoop recoiled loosing confidence but stilled themself, he hadn’t even answered!

“I like being a guy. If that’s what you mean? I’m not sure how to answer that..” Swoop perked up and began to write before looking back up and deciding to rephrase. “Sorry- Erm..” they tapped the stylus to their lips before speaking again “Does it mean anything to you? Your presentation I mean.”

“Well sure it does.. nothing specific comes to mind right away but there are things that us guys get to do that are pretty great.. like uh..”

“Like playing catch with your dear old dad?” Carly called out as she exited the rec-room and stood at the doorway, Chip coming up next to her looking curiously out at the others.

Swoop looked over to Spike and reached their hand up so they could help him down. “Yeah something like that-“ he said with a chuckle as he came down and was soon standing with the others. They filed back into the rec-room with Swoop in toe and settled around the mech after Swoop sat to better situate themself among them. 

Carly was the first to speak up. “What’s all this about presentation Swoop?” She looked over to Spike hoping for an explanation but he merely shrugged, Chip looked equally as confused.

“Well..” Swoop began looking away before tipping their helm to the side and closing their optics in thought. “You remember the video we saw on Cybertron, right?” Spike and Carly nodded, Chip had heard of it from them but was eager to hear what Swoop had seen.

…

It had been weeks ago and yet the memory still played fresh in their memory banks. The feeling of curiosity had never left them. The hidden away scannable frames made for the mechs of the past, frames that suited mechs and femmes alike, graceful in design and littered with details and soft touches. Frames from the golden ages and beyond, they had discovered after explaining it to Ratchet. 

They remembered making their way into the viewing room, how the mechanical arm picked up the disk and the moment the screen jumped to life. 

The documentary had been a different story. One could be curious about how a frame alone, they were easy to admire and to consider how they could be used, but seeing those frames in action was a completely different story.

Their optics had been set on the screen, a certain curiosity settling over their processor and drawing them to step closer to view it with Spike and Carly. The video played and a low voice played over footage of mechs and femmes alike working together and working hard. There was still the unease from being inside the lab for longer than they likely should have but it was vital information. Information Swoop had not known about before. But even still it was truly something special to see such a record survive so many years of war.

 To see so many mechs working together, united mechs and femmes alike with their own unique styles and to see those mechs in action. It had stuck a cord in Swoop, they had wondered so many things at that moment. What had happened to the femmes? Why did mechs only use the human male pronouns? Could Swoop be that? Could Swoop be that beautiful?

Swoop wanted to be those strong, graceful figures they saw in the video, the ones who drove off the attacks, who tended to the wounded, the figures who worked tirelessly in the labs with that graceful precision and effortless air. 

Perhaps Swoop was misguided on what a femme could be, no one really ever talked about them, but they knew what they felt when they had seen them in that video. 

They knew that they wanted to be that even if no one knew it. Swoop as a femme, it sounded ridiculous in the moment, but with so many mechs having admitted to frankly not caring, and even having been considered as much back on Cybertron it was feeling more plausible by the second. But.. What if they didn’t like being called that? Or anything for that matter? They already felt pretty apathetic toward their current presentation, they could do with or without but they were still curious.

…

“That video mentioned a whole bunch of stuff.. and...” Swoop said, looking over the trio who were nodding along to their explanation. “Now I’m conducting an experiment, I want to know what you think of.. gender? Or is it.. hmm..” They tapped their chin before looking down at the three “Do you like what others call you?, do you feel any way towards it?” They stared up at Swoop before looking between themselves. 

Spike started first, a bit awkward as he spoke on his own experience. “Well..” he thought for a long moment before trying to phrase it correctly he immediately gave up with a shrug “I think being a guy is cool.” Swoop blinks. “What makes it ‘cool’ to you?” Spike tips his head to the side he closes his eyes and lightly taps the side of his forehead before thinking out loud. “I suppose it could be… Working around other guys, feeling some kind of comradery in knowing that your team has your back and you have theirs, cracking jokes while sharing a soda over lunch” 

Swoop nodded along, they thought of their brothers they did feel close to them but not always the closest, so they weren’t sure how to interpret that part. “You just have to know when to ask for help, if not you might be in some trouble” he chuckled a bit and he shrugged “Sorry that’s the best I’ve got, I’ve been working with my dad since I was old enough to properly use a screwdriver..” he chuckled a bit at the thought but the work space he shared with his friends and colleagues was always an important space to him, it was where the jokes flowed as heavy as the sweat on their brows and the place where teamwork wasn’t an option but a choice they made every day.

Carly and Chip nodded along with Spike’s thoughts. It was certainly interesting to hear their friends' perspective on the matter. Swoop was pleased with his answer and began to jot down notes on it. Soon enough Swoop was looking back over to the other two and tilted their helm in question. Carly was shaking her feet side to side as she sat down, arms extended behind her to keep herself propped up. 

“Being a girl is pretty great if you ask me, although I suppose you can’t completely ignore the biological aspects for us humans…” Swoop nodded a little, unsure as to what that meant, their frames were different? How? “We’re prettier for starters~” she said with a light hearted chuckle and Spike couldn’t help but shake his head in feigning disapproval, but was caught up in a chuckle as Chip shook his head as if agreeing strongly with Carly while giving Spike a serious look before all three of them were cracking up into laughter. 

Swoop watched on with curiosity. Prettier? Swoop would argue that they’re the prettiest dino-bot, does that make Swoop a femme? Or maybe it’s something deeper? They lean closer trying to get closer to the conversation. Once the giggling breaks they’re speaking again.

“Girls are pretty, but guys can be too-“ Carly said with a faint hum and the guys blushed looking away at that. Almost embarrassed at the word being used for them. Chip was about to say ‘thank you’ but Spike cut him off before the words could be formed. Interesting. “We prefer handsome” Spike chimed in a small smile breaking through as his cheeks were tinged with pink.

“Oh right-” Carly smirked “Because pretty is too girly for you-” she said with a playful scoff before Spike spoke up “Handsome just implies we’re more manly..” Swoop tapped their digits against the edge of their datapad as they observed. Although they weren’t sure what all this meant. “What is.. handsome?” Spike grinned and pointed to himself and Chip “We are” he said, it was clearly a joke and it at least made Chip and Carly laugh but Swoop only looked more confused.

Chip butted in “Handsome is simply the more masculine way to call someone pretty, It implies that someone has good looking masculine features.” Swoop nodded slowly mulling over the new information. Before trying to understand it.

“You got embarrassed when being called pretty..” Swoop said slowly as they looked at Carly “would you be embarrassed if they called you handsome?” They asked helm tilting in question.

Carly looked at Swoop and blinked. “I don’t like being called handsome, it’s rude.” Swoop nodded slowly. So pretty was more neutral? Although Spike seemed to bring up his preference almost immediately so maybe he got a little offended as well? Carly clearly thought being called handsome was rude, was that just a Carly thing or did most femmes feel like that? After knowing what handsome meant, Swoop wasn’t sure if they would have preferred it either. They’d like to be known for their delicate detailing and softened edges, they wanted to be known as pretty. Did that make them more like a femme then?

“Yeah- If it helps I don’t like being called beautiful..” Spike said with a shrug and an awkward grin. Chip shook his head looking between his two friends. “Honestly guys, You act like these words aren’t just words. I don’t care much for compliments, but I’ll take what’s given.” He said with a shrug. Spike patted his arm and nodded “That’s great Chip!” So was Chip just glad to get the compliment? Swoop wrote some more before looking back to Carly. This was great information actually, but Carly still hasn’t fully answered their question.

“You were saying something about a ‘biological aspect’?” Swoop asked, looking at Carly and she looked back for a few moments before blushing a bit and scratching her cheek. “Oh uh- Nothing you need to know at the moment..” she said eyes darting to the guys then back to Swoop. She was embarrassed? About bodily functions and differences? Why? Ratchet had always told her that it’s important to understand all frame types even if they’re not their own so they can help anyone they need to… what made Carly want to avoid it? Before they could ask, Carly started again.

“Well I guess it could be how you’re raised?” she reasoned while shifting her position into sitting and looking over her nails for a second before dropping her hands to her knees. “Mixing up experiments in the bathroom, fixing the house computer, taking apart the old television..” she giggled, the memories bubbling up as she thought about it. Spike grinned while listening and couldn’t help but chime in “Hey- what ever happened to afternoon tea parties with the stuffed animals, dressing up with mom, playing house with the neighbours?” He asked with a half hidden chuckle, he leaned closer to Carly an almost challenging look.

“How would I have any time for that when I’m playing computer doctor?” She asked leaning in as well before placing a small kiss on his cheek. He let out a breath and laughed a bit. “I should have figured my girl was ambitious from the start.” he said, grinning with pride.

She chuckled at that and pulled back blushing lightly. “I mean- I do enjoy it on occasion, fancying myself up and having some fun at the mall and all, but I like hanging around here a lot more, makeup and clothes can only be so fun for so long- Honestly I don’t know how Astoria does it-” just thinking of the hours long shopping trips made her feel exhausted.

Swoop was absolutely enthralled. They were so different and yet somewhat the same. There weren’t only biological  differences, but environmental ones too.. They looked to Chip and nodded indicating that it was his turn to answer.

Chip was the last to speak, bringing his pointer finger up as if trying to make a point. “Well- I for one don’t feel any particular way about it, If you think about it logistically we all have a roughly fifty-fifty chance of being born either male or female.” Chip shrugged before humming a bit in thought. “My mom always drove home the importance of people. There are just as many amazing women in this world as there are men and I for one don’t think I would be any different than I am now if I was born as a girl. Although, I do appreciate being who I am and that happens to be a guy” he said with a slight chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck hoping the others would understand where he was coming from.

Carly snapped her fingers and pointed to Chip nodding. “You know that’s a great way of putting it! I hadn’t thought of it like that before!” Spike nodded along “Yeah Chip! Wow- That’s really some way of putting it” Chip waved his hand “Oh come on, it’s just putting two and two together- We’re all people at the end of the day so why does it make any difference what we look like or what we happen to be?” He asked with a shrug. Spike and Carly nodded along with his words.

“I like the way you think Chip” Carly said looking thoughtfully toward him. “Yeah, We can always trust you for a unique perspective, it’s impressive really!” Spike said, nodding along.

Swoop tapped their cheek with their stylus once more considering their words. They looked down at the three after they quieted down one question rising up and making Swoop feel oddly nervous.

“So what was the experiment you wanted to conduct?”

 Swoop turned their helm away and fiddled with their hands nervously after setting the datapad down.

“Oh..” they took a moment before stealing their resolve. They straightened up and pointed their index in the air before proclaiming what they needed from the three. “I want to play around with my presentation! I’d like your help- I just need you to refer to me in different erm.. terms! So I can figure out what I like best!”

“Terms- What kind?” Spike asked tilting his head to the side and Swoop was quick to clarify “I was thinking you could each call me something different and I’d choose what I like the most! Spike can continue using ‘Mech’ and refer to me as ‘he/him’ and maybe Carly can call me ‘Femme’ and use ‘she/her’?” They looked between the two, their wings flapping happily. “This sounds like an interesting experiment! But what about Chip?”

 Chip only chuckled and straightened his glasses while he came up with his own suggestion. “How about I use some neutral terms for you? I always thought it was a bit funny that we assigned male pronouns to a race of giant alien mechs from space- I’ll use They/Them for you Swoop, if you’d like that.” 

 “Yes! That sounds great! Thank you Chip!” Swoop’s wings fluttered with delight. Their friends were going to help them! This was great! “Thanks for helping me, you guys” Swoop clasped their hands together, truly thankful.

“No problem, bud”, “Any time girl!” , and “Of course, Swoop” was the barrage of answers that came from the three and Swoop blinked a bit. “Heh- this is going to be interesting..” and the three could only nod their agreement before all of them were exploding into giggles.

***

Swoop’s week had started off well. A great start to the beginning of a new experiment. Schedules had been a bit rough to work around but before long the four had been able to find some sort of rhythm with each other. Swoop had taken to spending the mornings with Chip in the computer lab, their focus was finishing the map. Since Carly and Spike had already contributed all the information, they could provide it was up to Swoop to fill in any potential blanks since they had been there longer and likely had seen some areas the others hadn’t.

Swoop made it a point to arrive early enough to greet Chip each morning. They stood around the entrance of the science building datapad in hand, writing something down, when they had been pulled out of their thoughts by someone calling up to them. 

“Good morning, Swoop!” Chip called with a friendly wave as he finished making his way up a ramp that led into the science buildings. “Good morning, Chip” Swoop greeted back, giving a little wave. “Let’s go inside and get started” he said before unlocking the door before pushing it open and swiftly making his way inside. Swoop was quick to do the same.

Once inside the lab Swoop found their way to the computers with Chip watching him move himself along the pathway in quick efficient motions. It wasn’t long before he was settled in front of the computer he most often used. Swoop had been mapping out the city skyline and the topography of the map with Chip for a few days now, it was almost done to completion but there hadn’t been any measure for how much the information might be useful for the others. They still hoped their dedication would at least be appreciated.

“So, it’s been nearly a week since your project started, have you come up with any results yet?” Chip asked while the computer booted up. Swoop shifted their sitting position behind them. Drawing their knees close so they could rest their datapad there while examining words and phrases they had heard from them and taken note of. “Hmm.. I feel like I’m starting to understand my preferences, I still don’t feel particularly strongly about your neutral terms, if that’s what you’re wondering” They chuckled, putting a hand on their neck and scratching, almost imitating what they’ve seen so many times.

“I like them.” Chip said with a shrug before smiling a little and speaking for himself more than for Swoop. “They feel inclusive.” Swoop nodded and jotted a new note down. “I like it when you say it like that.” Swoop hummed and tapped a digit on their leg, thinking. “Can I be honest about something?” Swoop asked leaning in closer to Chip and he nodded firmly. “Of course.” Swoop gave a nervous look and drew a digit to their derma and lightly held their claw between their denta as they considered how to word it. It shouldn’t be that hard to explain but they really didn’t know where to start.

“Well.. um” They looked away, likely debating whether to actually tell Chip or not. “Uh.. When- hmm..” Swoop hummed and hawed for a decent amount of time before Chip cracked and threw up his hands with an impatient “Spit it out, man!” before blinking as he caught himself and quickly pulled himself back to a decent composure. “I’m sorry. I meant to say, what is it you want to say, Swoop?” Swoop blinked looking down at Chip. They weren’t particularly offended but that was exactly what they were trying to admit.

“That! Right there,” Swoop said, pointing to him. He looked confused, they continued. “ ‘Man’, I don’t think I like being called that.” Chip blinked at the sudden outburst; it wasn’t uncommon for Swoop to get excited and subsequently louder, but he didn’t think that they realized how echoey the lab could be without the usual noise that cluttered it.

“May I ask why? Not that I don’t believe you, but I am curious how you came to that conclusion.” Chip asked, giving a look back to the computer, only halfway booted up. Oh, how he longed for the days they spoke of when computers wouldn’t take nearly twenty minutes to simply boot up. Although it did give them more time to talk on this matter, so he couldn’t be too upset.

“Well… I’ll preface this by saying that Spike is doing absolutely nothing wrong and I love how enthusiastic he has been in helping me with my project, but it’s been revealing the nature of masculine terms and I’m not certain how much I wish for that to apply to me…”

Chip’s eyes widen in understanding. Oh, now that was interesting. “Let me guess- He’s shouting every classic sports dad bit at you?” Swoop looked confused. Chip explained further. “I heard that Spike was teaching you guys how to play a few sports, coaching in a way.. ‘Go get ‘em tiger’ ring a bell?” Swoop nodded frantically, glad that Chip understood.

“Yes! At first, I was confused, I won’t lie, I mean I transformed into a pterodactyl not a tiger, then he explained to me that I had the tiger inside of me and I was a beast on the field? And I suppose that’s half true- But I was still confused.. But then he stopped using that and started calling me ‘sport’ and ‘champ’..” They listed with their digits before going wide opticed and throwing their hands to the side, palms open in confusion “When I won a game he said, ‘You’re the man!’” Swoop sighed dramatically and let their helm fall to their knees and just slumped down in defeat. Chip chuckled softly.

He came closer and gave Swoop’s leg a comforting pat. “Yeah I’m not a big fan of those either” Swoop blinked and looked up at him curiously. “Really?” Chip nodded. “Yeah, I never really got to throw a ball around with my dad, but even when we tried to do something together, he’d still act like I was in a little league. I think it’s just a thing about pride” Chip shrugged. “I’ve told him before; he tries his best. Nowadays he just calls me ‘kiddo’” He gave a slightly awkward chuckle “I’ll take it.”

Swoop nods along with understanding. “Yeah.. I mean. Why do I have to be ‘The Man’? I wasn’t the only mech on my team…” Chip hums in thought before snapping. “Oh! It’s for ego. Most men tend to like to have their ego stroked so they use terms like that to praise each other and make them feel more confident in their abilities… or something along those lines.. It does feel good to know when you’ve done something good, but I can understand how stuff like that can be a bit overzealous.” Swoop looked down at him, confusion mounting before they just let out another hard vent. 

“…What’s ego?” They asked their optics following Chip before he explained it. “Ego is.. um” he never really had to explain it before. “Well. Ego is something inside of you, all of us really, that kind of thing that defines you. Or rather who you are. It’s your sense of self, your self-esteem or rather self-importance. It’s how much you think you matter in the grand scheme of things.”

Swoop blinked for a moment, raising a hand and pressing it to their chest plating. “What if you ‘stroke’ the ego?” Chip blinked for a moment. He hadn’t been prepared for a philosophical talk today, oh well. “Well, it just depends on the person, who they are, how they feel about themself and their place in the world. Some people get a big head, others get awkward. There's no wrong way to process your feelings on a compliment, I say just take it and move on..” He shrugs, feeling indifferent by the idea. They seemed to think about that for a moment. “And what happens if the ego is hurt?” they asked. “Then you feel bad, you lose some of your pride, and you move on” Swoop nods slowly as they process the information. 

“Are men the only ones with egos?” Chip looks surprised before chuckling a little and shaking his head “No, everyone has an ego in some way, shape, or form.” Swoop sighs, too bad, egos sound like they suck to keep together, maybe they could ignore the idea for now… “Don’t tell anyone I said this but Powerglide's ego will be the downfall of him.” Swoop blinked for a moment thinking of the red flyer and scoffed, crossing their arms. “Anyone can do fancy flying with practice, it takes a real expert to have more crashes than successful landings, but to brag about one trick while you normally fly like a dizzy bee? Obnoxious is what he is.” Chip couldn't help the half wheezed laugh that escaped him.

 “Swoop!! Oh my goodness-” He covered his mouth as though he had been the one to have said it. “Swoop, you really shouldn’t say that” he said half in amusement and half in disbelief. Swoop blinked and looked down at Chip processing before blinking before their optics widened “That was mean wasn’t it?” Chip nodded and Swoop looked away, embarrassed tinting their cheeks. “I can’t-” They stopped themself from saying any more on it. “I’m sorry, he just frustrates me sometimes, I shouldn’t say that about him.”  Swoop blinked looking at him before smiling. “But, my lips are sealed.” They said with a giggle. Chip nodded and gracefully changed them back to the topic at hand.

“I appreciate the way Prowl has a handle on his own ego, it's admirable.” It was nice to hear that Prowl had friends outside of the ship.

“Are you going to tell him? Spike, I mean” Chip asked, looking to Swoop clearly curious about how much it was affecting them. Swoop looked away and seemed thoughtful before shaking their head resolutely. “No, not yet.” Chip nods. “Then my lips are sealed as well.” They shared the quiet moment that followed until the loud dial up to the fully booted system boomed through and Chip startled. “Oh right, the map.” Swoop nodded eagerly. “I drew out a few things like you asked me to.” Swoop brought their datapad up and showed off the remembered structures as they settled in for a quiet morning of map refining.

***

It was around the end of the second week mark of her experiment when Swoop had been invited to a little ‘Girls only get together’ hosted by Carly. It was presented as a simple ‘slumber party’ which Swoop had assumed was meant for purely sleeping, silly her apparently because it was a lot more than she had at all expected. She had been told to come around five, which she thought was a bit early for sleeping but who was she to argue with a human sleep schedule? 

Although when she arrived in the designated entertainment room Carly had apparently requested for use she was surprised to see just how much went into the ‘party’ side of this slumber party thing. She looked around as she was greeted into the room by Carly and ushered inside. Astoria was in the corner looking over a few suitcases and digging through them for something, Swoop was glad to see them both but wasn’t exactly sure what to do with herself as she settled down at Carly’s instruction.

Carly clapped her hands together and grinned “Welcome to your first Sleep over Swoop!” Astoria’s attention snapped over at the announcement and she grinned rushing over to Carly’s side. “Yeah! Hey- Say Swoop, is this really your first sleep over?” Swoop chuckled a bit and nodded “Yeah, unless your count sleeping in the same room as my brother’s a sleep over-” Astoria tapped her chin for a moment before asking “Do you give each other make overs?” Swoop blinked “No?” Astoria clapped her hands together. “Then it's not a sleep over! So this is really her first! That’s neat!” She said with a giddy grin. 

“I can’t wait to..” Swoop blinked, unsure how to complete that thought. “Makeover?” She tried and Astoria looked at Carly confused. “Did you not tell her what a sleepover is?” Carly shrugged a bit before kicking one leg out and cradling her neck. “They’re kind of hard to explain and I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise-” Astoria perked up and nodded.

 “Hey- No worries! We’re all going to have a great time!” She rushed back to her bags and started digging out whatever she was looking for once more. Finally after a solid minute she yanked out a journal and she started flipping through the pages before settling on one. “I made a list of classic ideas!” She came over and Carly tried to peek over her shoulder as Astoria slid her finger down the list.

 “List? I thought we could just do what we usually do?” Carly asked looking at Astoria with a raised brow but Astoria was already presenting a new idea. As she slid a finger along the list. “How about indoor tents and a.. Yeah! A catering service?” 

Carly laughed and shook her head “Oh, Astoria” She looked up from the journal and looked between the two confused “What?” Carly simply patted her shoulder. “Think about it..” she suggested. “I did! It sounds delightful!” Swoop poked in leaning down to try and get a better look at the journal. “Whats a catering service?” Astoria blinked looking up at Swoop. “Alright fine- but we can at least get some cake later!” She said shutting her journal with a snap and Carly perked up. “Making a cake sounds like a great idea Astoria!”

Astoria turned to her “You can make cake?” She asked, looking at her like she was some sort of scoreress. “Sure! I’m pretty sure I could whip up something for us in the spare microwave they keep in here if I find some ingredients- My mom used to make them all the time!” Astoria pressed a palm to her forehead, surprised “With a microwave??” 

“Alright, sure. I’m in!” She said almost giggling with excitement. “Just don’t let me near the microwave, it might short circuit and burn the cake-” she said as a good natured joke. Swoop looked at her, curious. “Short circuit? Just from being near it?”

“It’s a curse” She said with a shrug. “That’s why you don’t see her in the Labs, we're pretty sure everything would start exploding.” Carly said, patting her shoulder in a consoling way but the two girls were already giggling.

Swoop looked between them and tilted her head to the side trying to understand exactly what they were trying to get at. But it almost felt like the banter she had with her brothers at times. Maybe they were almost like sisters? That would be an idea! How awesome would it be to have a sister from another world?

What would you even call something like that? She shrugged and threw herself back into watching Carly and Astoria.

“Alright- so a nice long chat and a Spa session has been overdue- you got the stuff Astoria?”

“You know it!” She grinned before once more rushing away and coming back with an entire bag full of beauty products. Carly grinned as she went and got some tins of paint and a bucket of supplies. “Don’t worry Swoop, I’ve got you covered!”

Swoop lit up with curiosity at the sight, touch up paint? Brushes? For her? She looked down at her frame and yeah, her paint was pretty scuffed up wasn’t it? Astoria grinned at the idea “Oh yeah! We can totally fancy you up! So many ideas we could work with!” She said looking over Swoops frame like it was canvas ready for painting. Carly interjected quickly “If you want, that is, Swoop.” 

Swoop was quick to agree, they wished to partake in any activity that was planned for tonight. “Give me the full treatment!~” she cheered, lightly clapping her hands together watching the two excitedly.

It wasn’t long until the ‘salon’ officially opened up. Swoop had made sure to come in cleaned, they felt it was only polite to not stink of mud and grass after spending the evening with her brothers. So Swoop was simply treated to being painted on by the girls. She was trying to hold back her giggles as the brushes danced over the worn down lines on her plating, the faded yellow and red receiving simple touch ups. Although what had once been a straight yellow streak down her thighs had faded beyond recognition.

“Hey-” Carly said looking over the faded plating “Didn’t you have yellow lines here?” she asked, looking over them with a curious tilt of her head. “Hmm?” Swoop lifted her helm a bit to look down to her legs only to have a small insistent pressure pressing against her cheek. “Swoop!! Don’t move! This is a delicate process!” Astoria said and Swoop quickly snapped back down into place and closed her optics so Astoria could continue painting them that royal blue colour she found and exclaimed had been ‘Perfect!’. 

She had insisted on ‘eye’ or rather ‘optic make up’ and Swoop was far too curious to see what she might look like that the idea of it being.. mostly permanent had quickly left her agreeing to the idea. Carly had been quick to tape up and paint new stripes of red on her legs with those sticky feeling paint rollers.

“Do you think I should repaint them?” Swoop asked, trying very hard to keep her optics shut and Carly looked over to Astoria just in time for her to shrug at the thought and continue painting sharp lines over Swoop’s optics. Carly slid a hand over the faded paint and hummed in thought. “If that’s what you want, Swoop. You could always try something new?” Swoop hummed at the idea. “I think I like that idea..” Swoop hummed as she thought. 

The conversation flowed after that. “So what did you guys get up to this week?” Carly asked and Astoria groaned slumping. “Meeting after meeting with those old guys, soooo boring! I know my dad wanted the best for me but seriously, why couldn’t he have at least explained more to me before everything happened? I wanna do well, I just- don’t know how..” Swoop frowned a little at the other’s frustration. 

“Maybe you need to study up a bit?” Swoop asked and Astoria patted Swoop’s cheek gently. “Oh sweet lovely Swoop, if only it were that easy…” Carly scoffed from the back. “I think Swoop is right, you should put in some more effort If you’re going to be the head of that company, or at least hire an advisor you actually like-” Astoria immediately brighted at the suggestion. “Hey! There's an idea! Hiring an advisor, why didn’t I think of that!?” 

“No idea.” Carly mumbled “What's that?” Astoria asked from above and Carly quickly answered with a “Nothing!” and Swoop was left stifling her giggles. “How about you Swoop? Carly told me a little bit about your experiment, how’s that going?”

“It’s going fine, I think I have it mostly figured out now, but I’m waiting to review the data.” Swoop said and Carly and Astoria ‘Ooo’ed at the idea of Swoop having come to a potential conclusion. “Do you know what you want to be called Swoop?” Carly asked curiously. Swoop chuckled and if she could wink she would have but she settled for a soft sing-song “You’ll see~” 

“Other than that- I’ve just been doing the usual.. Me and Chip finished on the map!” Carly perked up “Oh that's great!! I hope it helps the others” Swoop tried hard not to nod. “Mhm.. I’ve been practicing with the others more as well, Spike has been sitting in on training sessions, I think we’ve been making good progress..” Astoria tipped her head to the side thinking. “Sounds busy!” Swoop hummed her agreement again. “It has been…”

It wasn’t long before Astoria had finished with Swoop’s optics and joined Carly in finishing up the painting of fresh lines on her legs and wings. They pulled back and looked over their work with pride. The paint was still a bit wet but it was drying steadily and it wasn’t dripping though which meant Swoop was safe to move about very carefully. 

“It’s going to feel weird at first,” Carly said. “Like when you have your nails painted for the first time?” Carly seemed to think about it “Yeah probably… Do you feel like you can't touch anything Swoop?” Swoop's wings were awkwardly spread out and carefully tipping in odd patterns as if Swoop was resisting the urge to move them. “Yes.” Carly nodded solemnly “Welcome to the club Swoop” Astoria grinned. “Welcome to the club!”

“There’s a club?” Carly shrugs noncommittally “Eh- just something people say” Carly answered but Astoria took the bit further “Of course there is! The Club of sisterhood orrr something like that” Astoria said, chuckling, giving up halfway through whatever bit she was trying to start, shaking their head unsure what they were exactly trying to get at themself. “Well count me in!” Swoop said with a grin.

She instantly moved on, clapping her hands together and pointing to Carly “Our turn!” They rushed to the bag, opening it in record time and immediately began pulling out items. “I’ll let you choose for me Swoop!” Carly said smiling “I feel like you have good taste~” she gave a little wink to Swoop as she picked through the options that Astoria brought. Face masks, nail polish, makeup, even a few fancy lotions Astoria had mentioned before and insisted on bringing.

“Oh! Uh- I’ll do my best?”

“I’m sure you’ll do great!” Carly said, giving her a big thumbs up. “Alright!” She said, sorting through the mud-mask tubes “Uhhh- Pink, white, or …green?” She asked Swoop as she held up the options to Swoop and Astoria was quick to come up at her side shaking her head “Oh Carly, it isn’t about colour- It’s about what it does! Pink softens the skin, white rejuvenates it, and green rehydrates it!” 

Carly blinked and looked down at the tubes “They do different things?” She asked before shrugging and shoving the tubes upward for Swoop to decide for her. Swoop considered for a solid second before pointing down at the pink tube. They liked the colour, it was such a soft vibrate pink and an extra layer of softness didn’t sound bad either. Carly grinned “Pink it is!” Astoria chuckled and took the white tube for herself, the green getting tossed back into the bag. 

Once the masks were applied the girls had settled in on the floor looking over the makeup pallets and lipstick colours. “Ooo! This red would look amazing on you Astoria!” She looked over and examined the colour nodding before taking it. “I think you’ve got a point! I think this shade would look good on you!” She said holding up some muted red lipstick. 

Carly looked over it and hummed before holding it up for Swoop to see. “What do you think Swoop?” Swoop blinked and looked down before gently picking up a tube of fuchsia lipstick. “I was actually thinking this could look good?” Carly took the tube and opened it and grinned wide, turning to show it off to Astoria. “Fuscia? She asked, confused. “What Swoop says goes!” Carly said, looking all too proud of herself. Astoria looked hesitant before sighing. “Alright, whatever you two say.”

Next was make up pallets, and Swoop was rather quick to choose a pallet that contained golds and muted greens. Astoria had been left puzzled at the look Swoop was trying to choose for Carly but, if this is what Carly wanted, she supposed she wouldn’t complain too much. “Green?!” She asked disbelief colouring her features she compared the lipstick to the chosen pallet and knit her brows together in thought. 

Maybe she could make it work? “I mean- I’ll do my best for both of you.. But.. Green?” she asked once more. Swoop shrugged “I think it's pretty..” Astoria vaguely nodded as she considered the provided colours. “Alright. Okay.. I’ll do my best for you guys!” She stared at the pallets once more before setting them down and trying to let the ideas come to her. She could make it work, it was fine… hopefully…

“How about this for you Astoria?” Swoop asked, presenting a pallet of darker eyeshadows. Astoria blinked and looked at the presented idea and hummed considering. Maybe she should try to be more open like Carly had been? She would typically use more natural colours but, maybe a dramatic look would be fun to try? She took the pallet and examined it next to her lipstick colour and nodded slowly. “Alright- I’ll trust you on this Swoop!” She said grinning.

Soon enough it was time to remove the masks, Carly and Astoria had rushed off to the sinks removing the masks and leaving Swoop for a moment. This was a lot more fun than they had thought it would be. They looked down at the faded yellow on their thighs and hummed softly. They gently picked up the painters tape and began to play with shapes on their thighs before settling on a broken up design that had three irregular rectangles trailing down both her thighs, the most irregular shape was the top one. She honestly couldn’t quite explain what inspired the design. 

They looked over the patterns and hummed amused at the idea. When Carly and Astoria returned Swoop was close to picking the tape off and reconsidering. Carly noticed the fidgeting and looked over. “Something up Swoop?” Swoop perked up hearing the voice behind her. “Huh? Oh- it's nothing” She stopped and turned to face the others “Just messing around-” they said, smoothing the tape back down.

 “Woah! Now that’s a neat pattern!” Astoria said, looking over it. “How you made it both gnarly and glam, I will never know!” Swoop blinked looking down. “You think so?” Astoria nodded enthusiastically, Carly was quick to join her. “Yeah! I like the way you worked with the wear pattern!” Swoop blushed and waved a hand gingerly. “I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to keep it.” She admitted and Astoria was almost offended. “But you’d look so cool! You just gotta paint it!” 

Swoop blinked and looked wide eyed at Astoria. “Cool it Astoria, It’s still up to Swoop” Carly said, nudging the other and Astoria blushed and pulled back “Oh- Sorry about that.” She said bringing up a hand to mess with her hair as she tried to calm herself. “No- I think I will. I can always ask Ratchet to help me fix it later…” She said with a hum. 

“Oh-” Carly said looking over Swoop and remembering something “We didn’t get Wheeljack and Ratchet’s permission to beautify you, did we?” Astoria raised a brow before seemingly remembering something and covering her mouth in a disbelieving laugh. “Oh we’ll be in for it now-” Astoria said. Swoop raised a brow ridge completely confused. “Permission? For.. making me pretty?? Why would you need their permission??” Carly was quick to respond “Well they're like your parents right? They created you and all-” Swoop only looked more confused. “Technically yes. But what about it?” 

Carly blinked as if it was the most apparent thing. “Well, they could get to decide for you…” Swoop tensed up at the thought. “I’m my own mech, I make my own decisions, they simply guide me when I need it. Were you controlled by your parents Carly??” Swoop asked, seeming to be very concerned by the idea.

Carly laughed awkwardly “Nevermind! Forget I said anything…” She said, waving her hands in dismissal. It would be an odd concept to a Cybertronian wouldn’t it be? Astoria seemed relieved to hear Swoop’s answer. “You’re luckier than most, Swoop. At least by human standards. Your dads must be real chill.”

“I guess so..” Swoop shrugged and Carly tapped her cheek in thought before shaking her head. Yeah that was a dumb thought. Swoop was luckier than most. But she also didn’t have the same social constraints humans did. It was an interesting difference. And thinking about it properly now.. Wheeljack and Ratchet would be just as confused as to why she would be asking them for permission on what Swoop wanted… It felt like a nice, if not slightly odd, change of pace.

“I say go for it! Have fun while you can!” Astoria said cheering for Swoop’s new patterns and Carly seemed to perk up once more. “Yeah! You can work on it while we fix each other up! Are you ready for your makeover Astoria?~” Astoria nodded eagerly “Born ready!”

It wasn’t long until they all settled into sitting position, Swoop painting over her grey plating with fresh yellow filling in the taped out boxes. Carly did Astoria’s makeup first while they all made some light conversation after the little ordeal.

“How about you Carly? We didn’t ask about your week yet-” She said looking up from her painting and Carly simply shrugged. “Same ol’ Same ol’.” She said while gathering more pigment on her brush and delicately applying over Astoria’s eyelids. “Oh come on Carly, Surely something happened-” Swoop nodded looking up from their painting “Any new projects?” Carly thought before shaking her head “Nope” Astoria smirked “Any new dates?” Carly blushed and shook her head. “Just me and Spike going to the arcade, it was nice.” Astoria hooked into it immediately. “Oh~ The arcade! Did he win you anything?” 

Carly grinned at the memory “We blew it on cherry pop rocks and a yo-yo” She chuckled “You should have seen the look on his face when I showed him ‘rock the baby’, He was so impressed” Astoria sighed dreamily “Oh Carly that sounds so nice-” She said wistfully and Swoop nodded her agreement. “I think I’ve seen some of those yo-yo tricks.. I saw Spike practicing while he was taking a break-” Carly looked over to Swoop “He’s been practicing?” She asked, a bit surprised.

“Ooo~ Sounds like he’s trying to impress you next time!” Carly flushed at the idea. “Yeah, he’s really sweet like that.” She looked over Astoria’s make up and grinned “I think you’re good Astoria! Also- I think the paint should be dry now so you start peeling off that tape Swoop!” She looked over her frame and chuckled. “Good idea.”

Swoop couldn’t help but chuckle at the feeling of the painter's tape being pulled away from the freshly dried paint on her frame, it tickled. She watched with interest as the tape pulled away what would have been messy edges into clean lines. There was an amount of satisfaction there. Their legs, wings and the space around their optics were free from tape and they quietly disposed of the stuff in a decently sized ball that was left next to the trash bin waiting for later disposal. 

Carly was having her makeup done now and Swoop was blowing on the freshly finished paint on her legs. The conversation was quick to restart when Astoria hummed a bit “You know- these colours are actually so good together!” Astoria said looking over the work she had done so far and finding another pallet to add in some contrast and highlights. Swoop looked up and grinned broadly seeing her friends.

 “You two look so beautiful!” Carly blushed and waved a hand “Thank you, Swoop” Astoria quickly struck a pose that showed off her face and puckered her lips. “As always!~” She chuckled “Although, Carly knows how to draw a great lip” Carly chuckled.

 “Well you know how to pull off a great eye-” They dissolved into giggles and Swoop couldn’t help but join. “I can’t wait to see how mine came out!” And Carly couldn’t help herself when she gave a few short claps. “I can’t wait for the grand reveal!!” Astoria took her chin and a clean brush and flicked it over her nose “I’ll be done soon, just keep still!”

Swoop went back to drying the new paint and soon enough they were carefully stripping away the tape again and looked over the new patterns. 

It wasn’t long before they were done with each other's make up. They had gone back into Astoria’s bags and began digging around for finishing touches. “Hey! Astoria- where'd these stickers come from? They're so cute!” Astoria looked over and grinned “Oh yeah! I saw them on the way over and just had to get them!” Carly looked through them. “Any plans for them?” Astoria shrugged “Not really?” She looked over to Swoop and grinned mischievously “Actually I have one idea-”

Swoop was once more laid down on her back and the two had taken up one of her wings decorating the high points with the stickers. “This one’s name is Minty! She’s a bit of a clutz but she means well.” Carly said, showing off the sticker and pressing down onto her wing. Astoria was on her other side pressing down star stickers at random. Though she had soon presented a cute little bear sticker “Her name is daydream bear! Isn’t she cute?” Swoop couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. “I love them.” It wasn’t long before her wings were sporadically covered with sticker hearts, stars, and little characters that Carly and Astoria did their best to describe.

She couldn’t help but grin. “Looking good Swoop!” Carly said, coming off her left wing “Absolutely fantabulous!” Astoria said as she made her way off her right wing.

 “Oh! Swoop go ahead and Stand up me and Astoria figured out a way for you to see all of you!” She said getting up with Astoria and rushing over to the bags and bringing out a camera. They both rushed off Carly holding the camera and adjusting her angles before directing Swoop into a pose.

“Spread your wings a little more-” Astoria tried “And move to a forty-five degree angle- Perfect! Now rest on one knee-” Carly looked through the camera once more “Try looking up, tilt your head up-” Swoop complied and Astoria was jumping in place clapping her hands. “Oh that's perfect!! You look so cute! I can see everything!” 

“Isn’t she?! Just a sec Swoop- You’ll see soon enough too-” Carly snapped the photo and there was a moment before a loud whirling sound started and Swoop looked back over curious.

 “Hurry! Astoria- the box!” Astoria rushed and produced a box that the image was immediately placed into. “You know you can just lay it down and let it develop right?” Astoria asked as she shut the box. “I know, but it's so bright in here, I really don't want it to be washed out.” Astoria shrugged “fair enough-” Astoria seemed to brighten. “Oh wait give me the camera I have an idea!” Carly grinned and gave Astoria the camera and took the box holding it against her hip. 

“I saw someone do this with their friends once! They kind of taught me how to do it-” She flipped the camera around and adjusted their angle until they were sure all three of them were in the frame “Say Cheese!” said with a grin of her own. Swoop turned and looked at the camera and smiled barely able to stifle their giggle. Astoria snapped three pictures, each photo being placed into the box “Okay lets hope this comes out good-” she said as she put the camera down and looked at the other two. “I hope so, It would make for a great keepsake”

 Swoop nodded in agreement before peeking closer and looking at it. “How long will it take?” Carly hummed “Ten maybe fifteen minutes max. Shouldn’t take too long, We’ll check back after pajamas and nails- But first we check the mirror!”

Makeup had been an astounding success, and nails were equally as great. Astoria had chosen red nails, Swoop chose a soft pale pink for Carly and she was loving them. Swoop for her part had been a great sport when it came to the activities they couldn’t fully participate in, but that was because her friends had been incredible at finding ways to include her. When showing off pajamas, which was apparently a sleep over staple, she was labeled as ‘the official judge of any beauty disputes’ aptly named by an exhausted Carly after a short bout of playful bickering. 

Her current task was to name the supposed ‘winner’ of best pajamas. And while she did like Carly’s old MIT shirt and gym shorts combo, it felt remarkably practical and she respected that immensely, but Astoria’s flowy silk night gown and robe combo, with matching.. everything. It was impressive to a degree and as such was the reason why she had won Swoop’s favour. Not to mention how shiny it was. Second dispute was make-up, Swoop chose Carly because she was gloriously colourful. 

Although it wasn’t until Carly announced that the photos should be finished that the whole ‘dispute’ had been a simple distraction. That was fine but  Swoop was far too excited to see how the pictures came out. Soon enough the three were huddled around the box, Swoop dipping in close, kneeling on their knees and holding themself up on their hands looking over Carly and Astoria respectively to see the images. Carly held them fanned out. “Wow! These came out great!” Carly said but Astoria was pouting “Awe-man. The third one was taken from too low of an angle-” Carly looked at it closer “Nah- It’s fine. You’ve got all the faces in there, That’s what matters!”

“I love it..” Swoop said, her optics lighting up with pure joy seeing the image of her kneeling with her new paint on display. There was some emotion behind her voice, she reset her vocaliser as she pulled back and tried to compose herself. Carly and Astoria look up to see Swoop. Their eyes dart to each other before they both turn to face her. 

“You okay Swoop?” Swoop nods before actively fanning their optics trying to prevent the lubricant from falling. “I just never thought I could look like that.” She said and Astoria smiled. “Oh Swoop- You’ve always been beautiful- We just enhanced what's already there-” Carly nodded emphatically “I’m so happy you like it Swoop. But Astoria’s right. You’ve always been beautiful.”

Swoop bit their lower derma and let out a soft vent and the tears silently dripped down her cheeks. She couldn’t hold onto them, and for the first time she didn’t feel ashamed to feel so emotional about something. She let out a shaky vent before lightly looking down feeling hands light patting her plating. “Aww Swoop.” Astoria hugged a leg and Carly patted her knee. “Come on Swoop, You’re a soul sister here- Let the tears flow, You’re safe with us” 

Swoop sniffled a moment and nodded while lightly dapping their hand against their optics and calming themself. “Thank you, both of you…” She said her vocaliser somewhat strained before coming to peace with the moment and feeling the pure warmth. It was an odd feeling to be so completely accepted. Was this that ‘sisterhood’ Astoria had mentioned before?

It took a minute for Swoop to properly come down from the emotional high point of their night.. Astoria and Carly had been left hugging her giving soft pats simply supporting them while they took their moment.

Swoop vented evenly and nodded. “Thank you.” She felt exhausted and still a little shaky from the emotional overwhelm. “Anytime girl” Astoria said, pulling away and Carly pulled back as well. “We’re always here for you” Swoop nods appreciating the sentiment.

“Anyone else feeling ready to sleep?” She asked looking down at the others and Carly chuckled.

“Soon- We still have a movie to watch~” Astoria nodded enthusiastically.

“I brought along the perfect film!” Astoria said, taking the VHS out of one of her bags and proudly presenting it to the two. “Sixteen Candles!” Carly’s eyes widened “Woah! Didn’t that just release?!” She asked, looking over the tape with wonder. “Yup! You did your part right?” She asked looking at Carly and she nodded proudly. “I managed to get the projector up and running for Projecting the VHS.” Astoria grinned “Perfect.”

They were quick to rush off and grab their supplies before setting up the room to display the movie on the wall like it was a home theater. “Oh yeah! Snacks!” Astoria said as she began to open cabinets and the mini fridge in the room.

“We have a cube of energon and a few ruststicks for you on the larger counter Swoop!” She blinked at the mention and smiled brightly. “Aww- Thanks guys!” She hadn’t been expecting snacks to be provided. That was really nice. She hummed softly, going to pick it up. Carly and Astoria washed themselves up at the sink, cleaning off the makeup and making popcorn while taking turns. Carly finished first and looked through the cabinets “Oh perfect!” She said taking out a box of cake mix. She chuckled and found two mugs and began to find other ingredients in the room before having two mugs half full of cake batter.

“Is that.. Cake batter?” 

“Yeah. I promised you some cake didn’t I?”

“I didn’t think you were serious..”

“Oh yeah- Just you wait it’ll be the best microwaved cake you’ve ever had.” Carly said while taking out the finished popcorn and placing one of the mugs inside and setting up a time for the cake. “It’ll be the only microwaved cake I’ve tried.”  Roughly two minutes later a perfectly fluffy mug of cake came out and Astoria blinked. “Okay I won't deny that it doesn't look bad.” Carly chuckled and put her own inside repeating the process before handing Astoria a fork. “Try it, I bet it tastes good too.”

Astoria brought the mug up close and inspected it. “Hmm..” She hesitantly took a bite before blinking wide. “Oh wow! Carly, you really are a sorceress.” She said, staring down at the cake in astoundment.

She simply laughed and waved a hand. “Just save some for the movie! Let's go”

***

“Is it just me, or does Swoop seem happier?” Grimlock asked looking around to the others who had taken their usual positions on the floor. Slug simply gruffed in response, already settled in the altmode of the floor. Snarl was sitting down and picking at the plates on his legs and Sludge rolled on his back and tipped his helm in question at Grimlock’s question. “Happy-er?” He asked before emphatically nodding “Yes! He’s definitely happy-er!” Sludge tilts his helm to the other side looking at Slug “…Why?” 

Slug peaked an eye open and stared at Sludge before sighing. “I don't know, ask Grim.” He looked away and shut his eyes again trying to relax despite the others. Where was Swoop when you needed him to shut the others up without getting Sludge to cry about it? Sludge didn’t look back at Grimlock first but rather to Snarl giggling as if it were a game.

Snarl looked up from his plating trying to get some gravel out of his dorsal plating and sighed. “I don't know either, maybe he’s doing a new experiment” Sludge’s brows knit together as he mouthed the word ‘experiment’ clearly trying to figure out how to say it before shaking his helm and forgetting about the task. “Good point.” Grimlock hummed while tapping his chin in thought. Snarl’s optics fell back down to his plating and started picking at it again. Where’s Swoop when you need him to help preen your plates? Snarl sighed and gave up, transforming and laying next to Slug trying to ignore the itch in his plates with all his might.

Sludge crawled over to Grimlock and laid his helm in his lap. “When- uh.. When’s Swoop coming back?” Grimlock looked down at him and smiled a little. “Not until morning Sludge” Sludge sat up quickly in a panic and nearly head butted Grimlock but he was able to yank himself back before contact was made. “WHAT!?” Slug and Snarl looked at each other before shaking their heads and settling back down waiting for Grimlock, and Swoop if he was here, to deal with the panicking Sludge. 

“Sludge- Calm down, it's okay.” Sludge was violently shaking his head at this point. “Noooo- No! I want, Swoop here!!” Grimlock lightly chewed his bottom derma as Sludge panicked, Swoop usually had an easier time calming down his freak outs. But that’s okay because Grimlock is here and The King of the Dinobots totally has this under control.  Sludge had at some point started to hyperventilate while lubricant started to pool in his optics.

“No- No, Sludge it’s fine! Swoop is just going to be out for a little while, you know how he gets, letting projects run late-” Sludge was sniffling hands balled up and trying to wipe away the on coming flow of tears while nodding a little in understanding. “I-” He gave a shaky vent “I guess..” 

Grimlock sat next to him and gently patted his shoulder nodding in understanding. “It’s only for the night, Sludge. You can have my tail tonight.” Sludge immediately huffed and crossed his arms. “Not as good as Swoop’s wings.” He said with a huff. Grimlock sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nasal ridge with his digits in exasperation. “I’ll let you use Snarl and Slug’s tails too.” Sludge immediately brightened at that, that meant he got center, arguably the best position. 

“Really?!” Snarl and Slug immediately shot up from their resting positions, heads snapping to stare at Grimlock. “Don’t you dare-” Slug started. “He always slobbers on us! Grim, please-” Snarl pleaded but the look that Grimlock fixed them both with had them backing down. “Fine.” Slug snapped and Snarl groaned, rolling his optics  lifting his tail for Sludge to settle under. “Only this once…” He grumbled fixing Grimlock with a glare but when his optics settled on Sludge they revealed some kind of hidden emotion, perhaps some empathy for his brother.

Sludge nodded frantically, glad to have their comfort. He hastily transformed and rammed his head into Grimlock’s back, nudging him closer to the growing pile. “Hurry!” He groaned, straining against the larger mech. Grimlock chuckled and transformed and let sludge take up the center position and he settled quickly wrapping his long neck comfortably between the two mechs who had protested the change, leaving Grimlock to take up one of the outer positions and lay his tail over Sludge’s flank allowing it to curl protectively over his brother. 

There was some squirming and repositioning before they had all finally managed to get comfortable enough to sleep. Sludge is right, it’s never the same without Swoop’s wings. Was probably the last thing Grimlock thought before drifting off into a peaceful recharge.

***

It wasn’t until after the movie when they had finally decided to settle in for some sleep that the night had been truly quiet. Swoop laid on their tank arms crossed and mind thoroughly calmed that they finally felt themself nodding off to sleep. But there was a whisper.

“Hey Swoop?” 

“Hmm?” Swoop hummed, tipping her head slightly. “You asleep?” Carly asked softly. “No..” She mumbled, well she was close to it but this felt more important. Like when Sludge would ask her about things before passing out.

“I hope your project is going well.” She said looking over to Swoop. It was still pretty unbelievable to be sleeping next to a mech, most people would say it wasn’t a good idea, the possibility of being squished or something. But it was Swoop. She wasn’t worried.

“Better than I could have imagined Carly” Swoop muttered shifting a little. Astoria shifted from Carly’s other side making a weird whining noise.

“That's great, I’m glad to hear it..” Carly looked over and startled for a moment seeing Astoria now sitting up and pressing a finger aggressively to her lips. 

“Shhhh… I’m trying to get my beauty sleep” Carly gave an awkward smile “sorry-” She muttered but Swoop was faster. “Oh I’m sorry her highness Astoria has requested silence, Carly” Swoop said probably too dramatically but she was too tired so it felt fine. Astoria made an offended noise. “Pfft-” Carly clapped a hand over her mouth trying desperately not to laugh.

“Shhhhh-” Astoria said, flopping back down and tucking herself back in. “Good night Swoop, Her highness Astoria.” Carly said snickering, the sound of a few pillows shifting around as Carly settled back in.

“G’night..” Swoop said, barely muttering it out.

“Sleep. Please.” Astoria said exasperated. Silence once more fell over the night. Swoop’s helm dipped back down as she extended her wing to reach over the two girls at her side before finally relaxing into recharge.

***

Swoop hummed softly as they sat in the corner of the lab reviewing the notes on their datapad while messing around with a box of Wheeljack’s forgotten side projects. These past weeks had been.. interesting, to say the least, and while they were glad that they had such supportive friends to help them out with this dilemma, they were left with a lot to consider. 

The first few days had been a tad awkward. Getting used to the flow of gendered terms that they weren’t quite familiar with since they had stayed so close to the Cybertronian way of simply not having the language most of the time. It felt like stepping into a whole new world when spending time with Carly, Chip, and Spike.

Away from the brash and playful fights with their brothers. Away from the lab where they worked under the supervision of Wheeljack and Skyfire. Away from the other mechs and scouts that gave their time to teach them new things and simply talk as friends. It was peaceful in a way they weren’t expecting. Almost refreshing to get a taste of a new culture.

There was subtlety to the way Chip would speak to them in the computer room that made it feel like they had been speaking to anyone else on the ship. It was an interesting contrast in the experience they had with their other human friends. 

Chip had been careful about his selection of words at first. He must have observed how the other mechs spoke because he did a remarkably good imitation of them, even if he would occasionally slip up and correct himself in hasty, somehow, well put together sentences. 

Especially Prowl, he could almost give him a run for his money. All in all they felt no different with the terms they had been given. It was remarkably plain. There had been a near complete lack of gendered terms and they were fine with it. Not particularly happy but not really disappointed either.

Although he had to say the indifference was remarkably more pronounced when speaking and playing with Spike. He often spent time outside with Spike, helping with small electrical matters, playing some form of catch or doing training with the other Dinobots while he watched and cheered them on. Hearing Spike speak about them was an interesting thing to observe, but also being called ‘dude, buddy, or man’ and a million other terms they didn’t care to list at the moment made them feel a certain type of deep settled apathy. 

They simply didn’t care for the terms. They weren’t uncomfortable, well maybe just a little since they swore they felt an itch under their plating every time Spike said “good job ‘Champ’” or equally “You got this in the bag, sport!” although the real kicker was always the “You’re the man, Swoop!” They took no offence to it, but something about it just felt so.. odd. Swoop had considered this and determined that they actually didn’t like those terms very much. They kept a mental note of that.

On the other servo there was Carly. She was incredibly sweet to have found ways of including Swoop in all those activities. Apparently Carly and Astoria would do it every once in a while for some weekend relaxation. 

She never thought that it could be so fun to spend the night with anyone but her brothers, playing with Sludge and preening between Snarl’s backplating, talking to Grimlock about their days…

The cuddle pile was nice too, she wouldn’t deny that, but makeovers, inside jokes, watching movies late into the night, and settling in for some stories of how their weeks had been going? Swoop had been able to hint at a conclusion to her project, spoke of her training with the others, stuff like that. It was fun to be allowed to ramble and even better to be listened to. She was glad to be able to look at the memory so fondly. It was truly an optic opening experience for her. Especially after Astoria and Carly’s kind words.

‘Soul sister’

She had felt this odd buzzing warmth when Carly called her that. The kind of feeling you feel when you’re too close to one of Wheeljack’s inventions before it exploded. Although now that she’s thinking about it.. she technically is one of his creations so maybe she was going to explode if she was feeling that way? Maybe Ratchet was able to stabilise her design enough for that not to happen? She hoped so. Her wings flicked, feeling a tad uncomfortable with the thought. It was probably fine. Yeah, it was totally fine. 

They looked back down at the box and picked up an old medical scanner looking it over before shrugging and getting up. At this point Swoop was pretty sure they had their decision, more so now than they did before.

Perhaps it was finally time to bring this project to its end.

***

Now, Swoop had initially planned on talking to Spike about the upcoming reveal of the conclusion to their project after the training with her brothers. But… well…

“Dang dude! That pass was incredible! Swinging that training dummy to Grimlock and seeing him send it flying with his tail again was awesome!” Spike said, rushing to be at Swoop’s side. “I guess it’s pretty cool,” Swoop said with a shrug.

“Nah man- it was amazing! Oh! I was going to ask if you wanted to help me fix a breaker box on one of the outer buildings!” Swoop nodded “Sure” Spike grinned “You’re the man, Swoop! Come on! It’s not too far” He said, leading the way. Swoop looked away and hummed flatly hearing the term. They followed anyway. They walked for a while.

“You got a new paint job?” He asked looking over the mech and Swoop puffed up in pride, wings flaring for better inspection “I actually did, Carly and Astoria helped!” Spike chuckled a bit “of course they’d give you a big ol’ makeover-” Swoop narrowed her optics almost offended by that. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Spike looked over and waved his hands in a placating manner. 

“Oh nothing, Just that they’ll try to find an excuse to pretty just about anyone up.” Spike hummed softly looking over Swoop. “Looks like they got you good, stickers on the wings and all.”

“I love it.” Swoop said simply. “Good! I’m glad you do” Spike said but Swoop was getting mixed signals from him. “You don’t like it do you?” They asked, wings flicking in anticipation. Spike shook his head and he looked at Swoop. “No! I do like it, it’s just- a little dramatic is all. Big change, they did ask you before dragging you into getting all fancy, right?”

Swoop raised a brow ridge even more confused. “Oh come on man, you can tell me.” He said and Swoop placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t think I understand what you’re implying Spike.” They said firmly.

“Well.. You know- the marks around your optics?” He said making lines around his own eyes to put emphasis on his point. Swoop's optic twitched at the suggestion. Was he really suggesting that Carly and Astoria forced her into painting her around her optics and the lids? Surely not.

Swoop stopped and stared at Spike who turned around the moment he realised Swoop wasn’t following. “They didn’t force me to paint around my optics.” Spike nodded slowly. “Alright. Well I’m glad they didn’t.” 

Swoop crossed their arms “I like how I look, Spike.” Spike furrowed his brows in confusion “I would hope so?” He said a touch confused. “Hey- I just wanted to look out for you man- I wouldn’t be able to handle all that girly stuff.” Swoop couldn’t bite their glossa at the  “Spike” that came out of them. It was somewhat drawn out and snapped and Spike looked surprised, almost recoiling. “You’re not listening to me” she said evenly after a moment. Spike nodded, gesturing to her to go on.

Swoop realised how tightly they had been crossing their arms and let go with a sigh. They didn’t mean to snap at him. He was just trying to help.  “Sorry-“ she said, shaking her head and letting their arms fall to their sides, relaxing a bit. “I wanted to tell you that I’ve come to a conclusion for my project” he blinked, clearly surprised by the confession. “Oh! Congrats Swoop! That's so exciting!”

He tipped his head to the side thinking before asking “what’s the results?” Swoop shook her head “I can’t tell you yet..” She said before biting her lower derma and running a digit over the sharp point of their chest plating.

“I want to tell you, Carly, and Chip at the same time..” Swoop said, pressing their hand to their cheek now, feeling a touch nervous at the idea. “Oh cool!” He waited a second expectingly before chuckling “Where are we meeting?” Swoop forgot to mention that- but they were quick to respond all the same “In the lab. Meet me at the lab in two hours? Oh! Remind Carly and Chip too in case I don’t run into them!” 

Spike nodded in understanding. “Sure!” He pointed back toward the building with the broken breaker box. “Still wanna help?” He asked, watching Swoop with an almost knowing look when they saw the almost distant look in their eyes. Swoop snapped out of it and huffed, stomping their pede a little. Fixing a breaker box sounded more fun than helping Grimlock get Sludge out of another tree. Swoop hesitated for a moment, it would probably be bad to ignore Grimlock.. “Swoop?” Spike asked 

“Hmm? Oh- uh.” Swoop’s optics snapped back to Spike and sighed disappointed. “Can’t- sorry- Grimlock needs my help, Sludge got his neck stuck in a tree… again…” 

Spike chuckled a bit “Classic Sludge- Hope he’s okay though, I guess I’ll be seeing you later then” Swoop nodded “See you- Lab. Two hours!! Don’t forget-” They said before rushing off only transforming when they were a decent distance away from Spike so as to not have him knocked over during take off.

***

Swoop let out a huff as they made their way to the lab after helping Sludge out of that tree. She kept telling him that his tanks can’t process organic material, but he just never listened. Although that’s not what she was dragging her wings for. She had asked them, all of her brothers that is, to come with her to the lab. They collectively refused. 

Slug and Snarl already promised to play with Sludge in the watering hole and he had completely refused to change his plans for even a few minutes. Grimlock had said he was working on something and needed to focus on it at all costs. What could be so important Swoop had no idea, but Grimlock said he would listen to her later at least. Which was nice, but it never felt good enough.

Swoop arrived at the lab feeling at least a little dejected. She still had some time to spare before the others would arrive. She let herself in through the usual entrance and drew her wings in and stilled them as she made her way through the lab before popping over to Wheeljack’s side.

“Hey Swoop!” She jumped a little at Skyfire’s greeting. “Oh- umm.. Hi?” She said, waving a little, feeling a touch awkward. Skyfire turned to get a better look at Swoop and his optics widened seeing the paint. “Oh wow, I love how you painted your optics” He said looking over the mech. “Bold” he said with a hum. “Thanks, Astoria painted them” He nodded, showing to be impressed by that. Swoop was already moving to the drawer they kept their datapad in and brought it out.

“Something wrong? It seems like something's bothering you” He said while going to grab his own datapad and examine the data on it. She turned hers on and reviewed the latest project file.

“My brothers didn’t want to come to my announcement” She said flatly. “Oh I see.. What's it about?” She looked over at him before looking down at her data and walked over presenting it. “Oh” he said with a little smile when he noticed the offering and set his own down, taking hers and skimming over the information.

“Oh wow swoop, this is very detailed.” He said, looking through it. “I’m done with my project.” She said taking it back after a moment and pressing it close to her side.

“I’m so happy for you!” He leaned down and whispered so only she could hear “Being a femme is pretty great isn’t it?” He asked before pulling back and winking. She couldn’t help but grin, wings flicking, perking up immediately. “It is!” She smiled but she wanted everyone or at least everyone she cared about to know. She sighed and drummed her digits along the datapad.

“Is WheelJack getting Ratchet?” She asked looking up to Sky and he nodded “I made sure to remind him, like you asked.” She grinned “Thanks Sky” She sighed and pressed a servo to her cheek trying to think about how this would go.

“You’re the only one who knows so far…” She said looking over at him. “Oh! Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” She nodded appreciating the reassurance. 

It wasn’t long until Wheeljack was dragging Ratchet into the lab, the kids arrived not too long after. It wasn’t until everyone had settled down did Swoop begin to speak.

“First, I would like to say thank you. To all of you for helping me in some way with this project. I don’t think I would have started it if it weren’t for Grimlock’s reckless lead into the space bridge, or Ratchet answering all my questions, or even Wheeljack and Skyfire for encouraging me to turn this into a research project. I want to thank you three as well” She said looking down at Carly, Spike, Chip. Astoria wasn’t able to make it but she would be sure to thank her properly later. 

“Thank you for your endless supply of patience and support.” There was a brief cheer from the three, as their voices fought to be heard individually despite being mashed atop of each other. She made a motion for them to settle and Spike was the last to stop his celebratory whistle. She chuckled at that but stilled herself once more. She saw the way Wheeljack and Ratchet glanced at each other, she couldn’t help but smile with them.

“This project was about trying to find the difference between genders, but I’ve discovered so much more than that through my work. I’ve found friendship, understanding, I’ve found more love and support than I know how to handle..” She chuckled a bit “And I’m still figuring out what sisterhood is” Carly chuckled into her hands. “Anyway- I’ve come to a conclusion. And my conclusion to this experiment is that through this past month I haven’t felt more at peace or myself than I have felt being a femme.”

The three humans whooped from below and Skyfire clapped with him. Wheeljack was beaming with pride and Ratchet stared at her wide eyed. “Swoop, that's amazing. I’m so proud of you!!”

“They- She- Huh??” Ratchet asked vaguely Wheeljack seemed to comm him something and he almost immediately recovered. “We made a femme!” Wheeljack nudged Ratchet in the side “Exciting isn’t it!?” Ratchet couldn’t help the smile blooming across his derma. 

“Normally not a big fan of  surprises, but I won’t lie, this is the best one I’ve had in a long time Swoop.” Ratchet said getting up alongside Wheeljack who was already pulling Swoop in for a hug. She chuckled and leaned down. “Thank you.” She hugged Wheeljack and grabbed Ratchet by the arm and pulled him in close as well. “Thank you for always being there for me.” She muttered before letting them go.

“What kind of mechs would we be if we didn’t want the best for our creations?” Wheeljack asked and Ratchet nodded along. “Speaking of which, where are the others?” Swoop shook her head “busy” She said but before moving on to the others.

“Oh this is so exciting! Another lady in STEM! It’s so nice to see!” Carly said to Spike, shaking his arm. “Hey guys” Swoop said, kneeling down to better talk to her friends. She couldn’t help but already smile after overhearing Carly’s excitement.

Spike looked up at her and grinned. “Hey Swoop! Wow what a presentation, that was so good!” Chip nodded his agreement. “Oh Swoop!! I’m so happy for you! I can’t wait to tell Astoria! Anyone for that matter!!” Swoop chuckled “Thank you for your help, all of you I really wouldn’t have been able to know.. And please do tell the other, I plan on spreading the word anyway-” She said looking over the three and Chip waved his hand dismissing the gesture. “Don’t worry about it Swoop, You know we love helping!” Spike nodded “Absolutely, If you need anything just say the word!”

***

High upon the hill overlooking the peak of the Ark, sat Swoop. It was a nook that they often nestled themself into and hid spare bits and parts away in. One could say this was something of a ‘happy place’ for Swoop, or rather that’s what Grimlock liked to call it. ‘Swoop’s Happy Place’, though Swoop didn’t feel particularly happier coming here than they did going anywhere else. So the classification felt wrong in some ways and right in others.

Swoop saw it more as a quiet space where they could think and tinker. Currently that was the situation seeing as held in their hands was a half disassembled, very old, nonfunctional base model handheld medical scanner.

 If they remembered correctly Ratchet had given it to Wheeljack to fix and he had forgotten about it. Swoop had of course seen their opportunity to try themself and snatched it from the box labeled ‘Later’. But when it comes to her creator she knew ‘later’ meant ‘eventually’ which means there’s a 20% chance he’d actually get to it after procrastinating something else.

Swoop tugged down their goggles, settling them over their optics before gently turning the scanner over in their servos while they analyzed it. 

Admittedly, Swoop wasn’t up here to entirely consider the natural wear of a medical device, nor the nearly fried information chip embedded inside. Swoop was up here because they needed to be alone. The past month had been very confusing since they had all come back from Cybertron, conducted the experiment, everything. She fully slumped with a groan at the thought wings slumping before she flicked them and tucked them close to her back.

While Swoop was glad that they could help receive the Cybertronium that the others needed, there had still been a lot of confusion about all that they had seen of Cybertron’s history. This has all been going on for so long, that much they knew, but to see not only see previous models a mech could have scanned before the war. But the footage from the front lines, too? Of all the mechs fighting for a home that Swoop barely knew. It was puzzling to say the least. Although, while her little study did solve one big question she still found that the smaller ones that cluttered her mind were still cheeping as loud as the morning song birds. 

Swoop had thought about mentioning it to Grimlock and the others before, but the right time never seemed to appear, they were all too busy playing or training, and that was okay since it gave her more of a chance to think about what she would even say… While she did want to tell Grimlock more about the war and what they discovered on Cybertron, another thing was already in the forefront of her mind.

“Mmm- I don't know what to tell them..” Swoops voice wavered as they set down the medical scanner across from themself and spoke to it. Sometimes it was easier just to talk about it than hold it in… That’s what Grimlock would say..

Swoop stared at the medical scanner for a few clicks before immediately feeling silly, they removed their goggles allowing the analysis of the device to fall away and letting them better imagine anyone else sitting there. They sighed but forced their resolve into place. “Grimlock-”

The medical scanner remained still, simply sitting in the space in front of Swoop where the cliff met the sky.

“I need to talk to you..” she nodded slowly, letting her optics shut for a second and taking a deep breath out. “Grim, I need your support on this, I haven’t told the others yet.. but I know if you do it they’ll follow..”

There was a sound from beside her. She raised a brow ridge and looked over to the noise before she saw a rock flying up and smashing into the side of the cliff wall. She narrowed her optics before moving to the edge of the ledge and looking down, tipping her helm to the side in curiosity. It only took her a moment to process the scene before her. Snarl standing there with an arm full of decent sized stones and winding up another pitch.

“Snarl?? What are you doing?! You know I have tools up here!!” She shouted down while he threw up another rock at the precise moment, flying straight over her head and clearly smashing into something in the background. She looked backward at the now dented tool and turned back to scowl at him. He immediately dropped the rest of his rocks he was holding onto suddenly becoming antsy.

“GRIMLOCK NEEDS YOU-” He shouted before turning and running away as fast as he could. 

“OH NO YOU DON’T” she shouted back immediately diving off the cliff, transforming mid fall before swooping down at an angle and grabbing Snarl by the shoulder plating giving twice the effort with flapping her wings as he screamed before tossing him into the watering hole they often played in. She transformed and landed at the edge as he came out of the water after flailing about like a dying fish and embarrassedly stood in the center of the water filled pit.

 “You’re mean.” Snarl said in a huff looking dejected as he whipped off a big chunk of mud off his arm plating.  “You had it coming.” Swoop said, crossing her arms and looking at him with a certain sass that was given freely to her brothers, they deserved it after all. 

Her optics widened when she registered Snarl’s arm winding up and she immediately took off from the ground narrowly avoiding a massive mud ball hurled in her direction. He stuck his glossa out at her. She did the same before flying off to find Grimlock. Snarl wasn’t going to tell her where he was after all that. She huffed but decided to simply comm him, like a reasonable mech, and get this sorted out.

: You needed something? :

: Oh! Swoop, come to the mess hall, I need to show you about something :

Swoop adjusted her flight path and made her way back around to the other side of the ship.

: Like what? :

: You’ll see! :

Swoop let out a little noise before clacking her beak in thought. Well if Grimlock needed her help and she already wanted to talk to him, this could go well she just needed to not let him get distracted. Which.. was going to take a lot… Maybe she would ask him to chat later…

Inside the mess hall there was a small crowd gathered around a large pile of.. something that vaguely took the shape of a mech. Swoop blinked when she looked up at it.

“Oh.. Wow..” she muttered and nearly had a spark-attack when Grimlock clapped her on the back and pulled her into a side hug as he gazed up at it… whatever it was. Swoop still didn’t really understand this ‘art’ stuff Grimlock was getting into.

“Isn’t it marvellous?” He asked, looking down at Swoop, she could at least try to understand him. Swoop blinked and looked between the sculpture and Grimlock, slowly nodding. 

“Yeah- it’s.. um.. okay Grim, what am I looking at?” She asked for confusion painting her features. Someone from behind jokingly shouted “A cyber-parrot!” Chuckling a little at the look Grimlock gave them. Another mech shook their head, not even bothering to look up and said “Obviously it’s a cat!” Grimlock shuttered at the mention. “Absolutely not a cat!” Grimlock called, it was obvious they were just trying to mess with him. But it was leaving Swoop even more confused than before. Grimlock would have been shouting at the other mechs rather than playfully laughing along with them.  

It was always fascinating to see how much the frame and brain module refining process had done for them. Wheeljack and Ratchet had sworn time and time again that they would ‘fix those personality modulators’ or ‘tweak those brain modules’ or something of the sort but had never gotten around to it. Until they had and suddenly Swoop began noticing shifts in the usual personalities of their brothers. 

Grimlock was still bold but rather than being overly pompous he was an acceptable amount now that he used most of his time creating things rather than destroying them.. until he changed into his Dinobot mode, he always had a hard time not wanting to smash stuff when he had the power to, but even then he still had the thought to back the power up. 

Snarl was more quiet and considerate, still brash and stupid at times, but he at least thought things through… for the most part. Slug was as brash as ever, probably even more stubborn now as well. But despite the lack of critical thinking skills, which she assumed Primus somehow favoured her having over the others, he was an incredibly hard worker which was still a decent way to get anything done. 

Unfortunately Sludge was still a bit of a dummy, but he was the absolute sweetest thing so all was forgiven on that front. Ratchet and Wheeljack said they all needed time to adjust to the new systems set in place, and said it would take a while for them to fully adjust. And when asked about Sludge they just said he needed more time than the others. Swoop was inclined to believe them, they hadn’t led her astray before.

But even so looking at this awkward yet grand new sculpture of Grimlock’s she was glad for it. “So.. What’s it supposed to be?” She asked, looking at him with a cocked brow ridge unsure exactly what she was meant to do here.

“Hmm? Oh right!” Grimlock said, throwing his arms out as if to silence the crowd of mechs commenting on his art trying to figure it out. “It’s you! And well.. me of course.” The hall went silent.

There was a moment before a series of “Huh?”, “Seriously?”, “Hmm- I guess I could see it..”, and a long general “Ohhhhh-” was heard. Swoop blinked and analysed the sculpture with that in mind. Now that she looked at it she supposed she could see the resemblance.

 “I was going to work on Slug next, but..” his eyes darted to a mech glaring at him in the corner. “Someone said I’m not allowed to make any more sculptures in the mess hall…” he huffed, crossing his arms in defiance.

Swoop kept their eyes on the sculptures and tilted their helm to the side. Now that they had an idea of how to be looking for it was actually quite impressive. Two tarps had made up the wings and something that Swoop couldn’t identify had been messily painted on made up their heads.

“I love them Grim” she said feeling their spark warming in that way that made their plating feel oddly warm.

“I do too!” Grim declared his hands settling on his hips before there was an ‘ehem’ from the corner and Grimlock slumped. “I was going to ask you to help me… move them.”

Swoop raised a brow ridge. Move them? Right, it was in the middle of a very well used room.

“Oh.. -tch- Grim- ” Swoop said looking up at him with some vague disapproving expression. His optics widened and he threw his arms out “What?! Is my artistic expression a crime now?” He asked and a few mechs snickered. He huffed and slumped down. 

“Just help me clean it up.” He said as he started to carefully pull it apart. “I’ll have to rebuild it elsewhere.” He said shoving random materials into Swoop's arms. She struggled to get her arms around it but quickly held it together. “Alright, fine.” She said with a huff. “Where do you want it?” Grimlock came up next to her with an armful of his own stuff. “In the storage room down the hall.”

It wasn’t long until they finished up and moved their way out of The Ark to the open back of the ship. The sun was setting over the mountains, golden light washing their end of the valley in warm light. Grimlock sat on the ledge of the ship and patted the space next to him. Swoop sat, turning a little to face him.

He looked over at her and smiled, “I love the new paint job,” he said, lifting one of her wings and tracing over the fresh lines. “And stickers,” he said, picking one off of her wing. “Did you get into Ratchet’s supply again?” She shooed his hand away and flicked her wing. “Unlike those ruststicks you’d sneak.” She said, giving him a wary look. “Astoria gave these to me.” She said, crossing her arms as Grim stuck the star sticker he stole on his chest plating. She looked away, almost offended by the idea that she would steal Ratchet's stickers. “But- You noticed?” She asked, clearly glad he did.

Grim rolled his optics at the ruststick mentioned but moved on quickly. “Well how could I not? You look amazing! The blue around your eyes is especially striking” he said, pointing at the space under his own eyes to emphasize it. “Why didn’t you say anything before?” She asked, pouting a little “I thought you didn’t like it…” Grimlock shrugged “Now seems more fitting” 

“I guess so.” Swoop said, looking back out to the sunset, optics settling on the pink clouds that lazily swirled into lazy shapes and obscured the sun until it was a vaguely hazy orange dot in the far distance. Grimlock followed her gaze and watched with her. “What did you want to tell me Swoop?”

“What?” She looked over to him and he didn’t look back at first. He took a moment longer appreciating the view before looking into her optics. “Oh come on, it’s so easy to tell when something’s bugging you, what is it?”

“You guys didn’t come to my thing..” She said while kicking her legs over the edge looking down at her lap and tracing the sharp point of her chest plating with her thumb. “I know, I’m sorry, Swoop.” He said looking over “I didn’t know it was so important to you.” She shook her head and pressed the palm of her hand into one of her optics, groaning.

Swoop looks up.

“Grim?”

“Yes?”

“I…” she had just done this, why did it feel so hard now? He waited patiently for her. She just did this, it was so easy then, she felt so prepared but now. She felt unsure again. She didn’t want to lose her brothers. Grimlock waited patiently waiting for her. She took a deep breath before nodding slowly. She wanted to be the one to tell him. Grimlock would accept her. She knew he would.

“I’m a femme”

Grimlock’s brow ridge furrows in blatant confusion “A what?”

 “I’m a femme, Grim… A girl.. I’m like Carly or Astoria.” Swoop said now tracing the patterns on their legs, finding some way to distract herself.

“Oh! I think I get it?” He said tapping his chin before nodding firmly. “Yeah- Alright, well that’s great Swoop!” He definitely had no idea what that implied but it was important to Swoop so he’d try and be a good king and figure it out.

“Grim look.. I don’t know about the others but..” she sighed and steeled her resolve despite her optics going wide and pleading. “I know that if you started calling me a femme then the others would too”

“I find that hard to believe with how Slug and Snarl act sometimes” Grimlock sighs dramatically “I try to be good to them, but they can be so difficult at times!” He feigns exhaustion pressing a servo to his forehead and leaning back on his free arm. “I ask so little and yet they always complain!”

Swoop chuckles “it’s okay Grim, you know I’m here to help..” he smiled and patted her hands “you’re such a good brother” he said looking at Swoop now leaning back on both hands. She couldn’t help but chuckle “I’ll have to teach you some new terms- I’m your sister now.” Grim raised a brow before nodding trying to keep it in mind. “I see… You’re a good sister then.” he said, sitting back up and resting his hands on his lap.

 “…you’re our king Grim.” She said holding one of his larger servos in hers and tracing the lines of his digits. “They always listen to you even if it takes a while to get through their thick helms.” Grimlock chuckled “We were all made with thick helms” and smiled “No wonder why we’re all so stubborn” She said with a mischievous smirk.

He chuckled at the feeling of his digits being messed with but nodded. “Alright, Alright. I’ll make sure to tell them. But for now..” He pulled his hand away and got up from the edge standing. He offered his hand to Swoop and pulled her up before reaching behind him and drawing his sword from where it stayed seethed under his back kibble.

Grimlock smirked before ‘clearing his throat’ a habit he had very obviously picked up from his human friends. She rolled her optics at his dramatics but took the hint and kneeled before him. Her head remained bowed as she fought not to break the perceived seriousness Grimlock had often disillusioned himself with. She bit back a giggle and tried to keep her face serious as well.

 “As your magnificent king, I declare you, Swoop of the Dinobots, A femme.” He said while raising his blade. “I declare thee Swoop the femme from hence forth!” He lightly tapped her shoulders with the flat side of his sword while trying very hard to look serious. “All in my kingdom shall hear the word of your new title, now rise as bright as a new day and join us once more, not as a brother but as a sister.”

She looked up and held their helm up proudly. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works” Swoop said, unable to fight the growing grin.

“I am a KING. And as King I declare that’s exactly how it works.” He said putting his sword away.

“Come along Swoop, let us inform our brethren.” Grimlock said, straightening his posture further. Swoop playfully punched his arm “Drop the act already!” Grimlock couldn’t help the grin that spread over his features. He pulled himself back pressing a hand to his chest plate, offended. “What do you ever mean! I have always acted like this!-” He said looking at Swoop with a surprisingly good mix of offence and confusion.

 “Art thou so blind to your own brother’s behaviors?!” He asked with the most overly dramatic accent he could muster.

They stared at each other for a solid moment before the two broke down into uproarious laughter. The kind of laughter that left an ache in your venting system, that made your knee joints spontaneously weak, that made you clutch your tank and double over as if they had taken a hit. The kind of laughter that made you feel a buzz in your helm and made the world spin just a little faster.

After a while Grimlock was left patting Swoop's shoulder as the mech leaned against her brother hiccuping out soft screechy laughs that could be technically classified as a ‘laughing gull’ call by someone who wasn’t close enough to see where it came from.

“Oh that laugh!” Grimlock said before laughing himself silly once again. Swoop only laughed harder when they saw Grimlock stumble, she barely managed to catch his arms and pull him in close. Their helms pressed together as they wheezed out laugh after laugh.

The second bout had them desperately clinging to each other to not stumble around and ruin anything around them. Swoop shook her helm through the dull ache. “O-Okay.” She said and Grimlock barely managed to stifle his laughter to a chuckle. “It wasn’t even that funny-” Grim said, trying desperately to still himself with Swoop’s aid. They took a few much needed vents before forcing themselves to stand straight and start moving back into the ship.

“Lets go tell the others” Grimlock said, wrapping an arm around Swoop’s shoulders. Swoop nodded and wrapped an arm of her own around Grimlock’s back and followed. 

“Yeah, let's do that.”