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You see… there was a strange seam on Chromedome's neck.
Now, seams around the neck weren't exactly a new thing for a transforming Cybertronian. Tucking your helm was usually the first step, regardless of alt mode.
But what made this one weird was two things. One, he already had a normal one for helm tucking under this one, right where his neck connected to his upper chassis. Two, it was located smack dab in the middle of his throat, like someone had sliced clean through his neck. Never in all his life has Rewind seen such a thing.
Actually… now that he looked back at the infinite knowledge stored in his databanks, he found that wasn't quite true. Brainstorm had one too, right in the same spot.
In his defense, he spent more time looking at and thinking about Chromedome far more than he did Brainstorm.
When asked, Chromedome would brush it off. He'd merely shrug and say "It's not that important." Or occasionally "If I could tell you about it, I would've already. Don't worry too much about it, okay?"
It frustrated Rewind to absolutely no end! He knew it was such a stupid thing to focus on, let alone risk upsetting his admittedly sensitive conjunx over, but the curiosity was simply eating away at Rewind's processor.
First he went to all the data in his memory banks, looking through every bit of information he had ever recorded or filmed and came up short. Then, he asked Blaster if he knew anything of the sort. His sire didn't seem to know either.
"You've always been better at recalling things like this, Rewind." Blaster kept a servo on the cassette bot's shoulder. "But if Chromedome felt it was important to tell you, he would've. Trust in your conjunx okay?" He tilted his chin up a little. "I know how much your memory library means to you, but working yourself into a system crash won't help you get any answers faster."
Rewind let his vents let out a small huff. He knew Blaster was right but he wanted to know so badly! Still, he let Blaster pick him up and transformed in his large servos, sighing quietly when he was docked between Eject and Steeljaw. As much as he preferred sharing a berth with Chromedome, he adored the nostalgic comfort of docking into Blaster's chest. Plus the dark space nestled near his sire's mighty spark was a great place to think.
Still, he couldn't let this mystery seam go. He tried any data file he could find and still no information. In fact, it looked as if someone had purged the information, as Rewind found file upon file with half written information and some with massive chunks of data just stamped out.
Finally he decided to go ask Brainstorm. He probably should've went to him first, all things considered. Who better to ask about something than someone who also had that. But Rewind could now easily admit just how stubborn he was, especially since he was determined to find out on his own.
The mech himself was hunched over a desk, going between working on a project and scribbling away on a data pad. He was probably deep in his helm with another one of his ideas, hence why he didn't hear the door open.
That blasted throat seam was shining in the light, practically taunting Rewind. It was in the exact same place as Chromedome's, same size too. The cassette bot couldn't resist reaching up to touch it.
Brainstorm let out a startled screech, whipping around to glare at Rewind. "What the frag?! Rewind, don't do that!"
"Sorry, I was trying to get your attention," Rewind shrugged. "What is with that seam there anyway? Domey won't tell me about his and both yours and his seem to be pretty sensitive to the touch."
"Well if he's not telling you, it's for a good reason," Brainstorm huffed, gathering the data pads he had knocked to the floor. "What's with the sudden curiosity anyway? I know you want to document everything in that processor of yours, so why now?"
Rewind shrugged. "It's been bothering me for ages but I didn't want to push it just yet. Now that Domey and I are together, it'd be easier." He let out a small sigh through his vents. "Figured he'd at least trust me."
"It's not about trust," Brainstorm finally turned to face him, datapads now organized on the desk. "It's just… well it's complicated."
He gestured with his wrist. "I know you know Chromedome as the broody type who hides his feelings or problems. This is… a lot more than that."
Brainstorm paused, thinking. "You know best about the old functionalist Senate and whatnot, don't you?"
Rewind nodded. Of course he did, he and Dominus had fought against it, survived against it. It felt so long ago and yet like no time at all.
"Then you know how laws are put on the books, but not always removed. Even as the Senate crumbled, not everything gets an immediate change."
"What are you talking about?" Rewind finally asked. "I know what you mean, but what specific thing could affect you or Domey that no one else can fix? You're both practically medics and they've always been more or less free."
But Brainstorm shook his helm. "We're not medics, not even really scientists like you think. It was just skills we picked up when they decided our heads need to stay locked on our chassis."
Rewind blinked at that, or rather the version he could given his visor. "What?"
Brainstorm waved his servo dismissively. "Don't think about it too much, alright? Just know Chromedome doesn't think he can't trust you, he just doesn't necessarily trust others with this and may worry about that putting you in danger."
Rewind felt himself getting frustrated, this was getting him absolutely nowhere. He was about to get up and leave when Brainstorm reached to take his mask off, setting it down on the table.
"You're looking for things about Headmasters, those were made illegal quite some time ago," He put his faceplate in his servos. "I'm sure most of our history was purged… just ask him directly and do not act surprised when you find out things about your conjunx. Just know I'm still his Amica… I am not afraid to hurt you if you hurt him, your relationship be damned."
With that ominous threat in mind, Rewind stood up and returned to his habsuite.
Chromedome was resting on the berth, his long claws that had long been associated with needles extended. He was polishing them, occasionally taking a stone to sharpen them. He looked up when Rewind stepped in, retracting his claws and setting the tools aside.
Rewind stepped up on the berth and nuzzled against Chromedome's throat, earning a purr from his larger mate. Now was the time, rather than putting it off, Rewind decided.
"Domey?"
"Hm?"
"You're a Headmaster, aren't you?"
Chromedome stiffened under Rewind's weight, claws extending like a frightened beast and his engine rumbling like a growl.
Rewind was quick to soothe. "It's okay, I won't tell. I just… I want to know what that is. Please tell me?" He mentally kicked himself, begging was an awful way to go about this.
Chromedome sighed through his vents and sat up, letting Rewind's smaller frame slip to sit in his lap. "Alright… just please don't freak out."
There was a small hiss and a click before Chromedome's helm fell forward into Rewind's servos.
Panic rose in his throat as he held his conjunx's helm but moved to hold it down, trusting his partner. Instead, he held it close and stood up, ignoring as Chromedome's frame slumped forward like dead weight.
Rewind settled onto the floor and set the helm down before him. It transformed with a pop and before him stood a much smaller mech.
It was almost identical to his conjunx, just smaller with a long tail with a plug at the end and shy optics. He was shorter than Rewind, coming up to the cassette bot's chest. It felt… oddly cathartic to look down at his normally huge partner.
Unable to help himself, Rewind scooped Chromedome up and held him close, nuzzling against the neck cables. "So pretty," he managed to get out, muffled by red and brown plating, earning a laugh from Chromedome.
"I've been dying to show you," Chromedome murmured. "So so long."
"Is this… what you really look like?" Rewind asked, pulling back to tilt his helm. Chromedome shook his helm. "No, the frame you knew is still me, as much as this frame is. They just… have their different uses."
He pulled back as if to demonstrate. "The larger frame is stronger, with much thicker armor. It's unfortunately slower and makes going through smaller spaces impossible. This one is faster and lighter, I can sneak and climb, but I'm weaker. I can't take as much of a hit as I can in that frame, plus I can't transform into anything besides a head. A Headmaster has to learn what frame is useful for what and when."
Rewind nodded, keeping his comments to himself. He didn't think Chromedome wanted to hear just how cute he found this frame and he'd rather not make a fool of himself by begging to see more. He wanted so badly to just turn on his camera but held back, remembering what Brainstorm said, his normal memories will have to do.
After a bit of time, the two wound up curled up on the berth, having moved Chromedome's main frame aside so they had room.
"Wish you could stay like this longer…" Rewind finally said. Chromedome hummed in agreement, nuzzling in closer.
"I'll need to go back by morning, but if we ever have a quiet moment like this again, I'll happily do this again."
The two shared a small spark of a kiss and drifted off in each other's arms.