Airachnophobia (Airachnid X Male Reader)

14. It's Not a Date!

Y/N hadn't expected Airachnid to behave on their trip. He had been surprised by her behavior in front of his parents. It was immaculate, regardless of how fake it was. Once they arrived in town, however, she became a nightmare. It wasn't violence, or hatred, or escape attempts that caused him problems. It was the sheer volume of questions she had. As much as she pouted about having to come along in the first place, she seemed to forget about that once her curiosity took a hold of her.

The first place they went was a mall. It wasn't the biggest one Y/N had ever seen, but it was enough to keep the psychopath ex-Decepticon entertained. Some of her questions started with 'what', which were easy enough to answer.

"What is this?" She asked.

"An ice cream machine. It dispenses an edible treat. I know you only have to eat Energon as a Cybertronian, but humans need many different types of nutrition. This one is just for fun though." Y/N answered. Most of it was lost on her as she had already run off to look at the next thing. He just huffed and followed her.

"What about this?"

"That's a guy in a costume." Even without being to see his face, Y/N could tell whoever was in that suit was confused. It's not every day you meet someone who's never seen a mascot.

It was the questions that started with 'why' that were a bit more difficult to answer.

"Why are all the weapons systems on the ceiling?" She looked up, a questioning look in her eyes as she took in the row of water sprinklers that were installed in case of a fire. A few passersby heard her comment, giggling to themselves about this peculiar, short, high energy girl.

Y/N, however, was too focused on her to notice. He was admiring how adorable she was when she looked straight up with wide eyes like someone who had just seen a cloud for the first time.

"Those aren't weapons, Airachnid, those are an emergency system that activates when there is a fire in the building. It sprays water everywhere to keep it from spreading." Y/N answered to the best of his ability. Unfortunately, she retained her confused expression.

"Where are all the guns then? What if someone commits a crime?" Y/N laughed, not at her ignorance, but at the thought of a strip mall with giant guns on every wall, just waiting for someone to steal.

"While I do think that would deter people from committing said crimes, I also think it would deter people from coming in the first place. Not to mention it's highly illegal." As he spoke, the femme stared at him as if he was a foolish sparkling.

"So there are no guns in here. At all." Her jaw dropped. Y/N couldn't help but smile even wider. It was too cute. The five foot killer, with wide eyes, too confused by the lack of guns in a strip mall to care about her own posture. She had bent forward in shock, jaw dropped, with hands out. She looked like an actor in a play trying to over exaggerate their movements.

"Nope. Why, getting ideas?" Y/N asked slyly. The ex-con stood back up and grinned.

"I've had ideas, Y/N. You'll be wishing there were weapons systems in here." As much as she may have wanted to appear intimidating, he couldn't help but laugh off the threat. It didn't elude him that she had used his name.

"Come on, I want to see what you think about laser tag." Y/N motioned for her to follow. She stood still for a second, taking a final look up at the sprinklers before springing towards him with a smile on her face.

~~~~~

Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to bring Airachnid into an activity with guns, even if they were fake. She rolled around the floor the whole game, didn't get tagged once, and was taking prone position on the rafters. Management didn't even know what to do when they saw how bad she had beaten the previous high score. On the way out, Y/N noticed one of the employees staring at Airachnid open-mouthed. She just gave him an evil smile and continued walking.

"Want to go again?" I asked the femme, glad she got to do something she enjoyed. It was the third time we had played, and she still had a smile on her face. As much as Y/N was worried about her putting up a front, making it impossible to tell what her feelings were, he could tell she really enjoyed herself.

"I would, but I'm exhausted. I didn't realize being this small would be so tiring." Airachnid wavered on her feet as she took a shaky step. Y/N put his arm around her to hold her up, laughing at the sight.

"There's probably a bench outside, we can rest there for a bit." He guided her to the nearest exit to the mall. When the doors opened automatically, a cool breeze messed with his hair. After a few uncertain steps, Y/N doing his best to keep Airachnid standing, they made it to a wooden bench. It sat underneath a short tree with yellow leaves. It was only the beginning of Autumn, but it seemed to be an early changer.

As soon as Airachnid found her way to the bench, she slumped into it, letting her head sag. Her eyes were already closed. Y/N carefully sat down next to her. He finally had a few moments of relaxation, and once he let his mind calm down, all the thoughts of the day came rushing in. He realized that it was one of the most enjoyable days he had ever had, and it still wasn't over. It went well, and he was certain Airachnid had fun, regardless of how many threats she had thrown his way over the course of the day. There was one thing that worried him. One feeling he hoped would go away once the femme got her bot form back. Y/N was starting to like spending time with her a little too much. He liked looking at her starstruck eyes while she took in new human concepts a little too much.

It didn't help that she had tipped over in her sleep and was now adorably resting her head against his shoulder.