BEING REWRITTEN A Squid and Her Semi (SplatoonXTransformers)

Chapter 10 (Long Haul)

Kahe put her head against Optimus's dashboard. "Why's Ratchet gotta be so grumpy? I just wanted to ride with him!"  She said, pouting in the passengers seat.

"Ratchet just needs some alone time. He has endured much recently. He needs time to process everything," Optimus said.
"I can understand that one," Maru replies. "This whole thing is crazy."
"The giant, alien robots, the terrorists chasing us, or the whole thing about your sister?" Kahe asked, as matter of factly as she possibly could.
"All of the above," Maru sighed. "The giant robot thing is mostly just cool, honestly. Crazy, but cool."
"I don't follow," Optimus said.
"Oh. Well...uhm...It's like, you hear about stuff from the past all the time, and you know it's real, but seeing it up close for yourself, interacting with it, experiencing it, it's really surreal, I guess."
A slight bit of concern, but most curiosity, rose in Optimus. "You have legends of Autobots in your culture? I thought you were unfamiliar with us?" He asked.
"Well, we are. But we have legends and vague mentions of super, giant robots from the human age. We've only known the terms Autobot and Decepticon for maybe 5 or 6 years, since mentions of them surfaced from the ancient fax machine that decides the SplatFest themes," Maru explained.
"We figured they were just from stories humans told each other, just because of how unusual the them was in comparison to the rest of the SplatFest themes," Kahe added.
"I've heard you speak of these SplatFests. Could you explain to me what they are? It's beneficial for us to better understand one another, culturally," Optimus asked.
Maru and Kahe explained SplTfests, their significance, and how the themes were decided. Essentially, they just regurgitated the lecture they received from Ms. Florence a few days prior.
"I see."
Kahe sat up in her seat, looking at Optimus's steering wheel, "What about you, Optimus. Do you and Ratchet have any weird festivals or something on Cybertron?"
Optimus, caught a little off guard, replied, "Well, I could tell you about many. However, I believe Ratchet would be better suited to inform you. During my time on Cybertron, I was never very engaged in all of the cultural holidays and customs. I was simply far to busy. And then the war broke out, and there was no time for celebrations."
"What'd you do on Cybertron, anyway? Were you, like, a  general, or something? Ratchet seems to look to you for directions and stuff," Maru asked.
"Well, I was mostly an archivist and record clerk. During the war, however, I did take up a leadership role."
"That's pretty cool! Not my thing, but cool!" Kahe exclaimed. "Me, I wanna be a sound engineer! Not a miner, like my pops. Maru's already doing what she wants to do."
"Is that so?"
Maru blushed. "Uh, Yeah. I started workin on cars and stuff about 3 years ago when I moved in with Terry. At first, cars terrified me, but once I got over that fear, turns out I really liked workin on em. And I'm pretty good at it too!"

The Prime, the Squid, and the Octopus continued sharing about themselves and their homes for at least another hour, Optimus making sure to steer clear of mentions of Primus or the fact that he was a Prime and what that meant. He didn't want to really overwhelm Maru.

Noon was fast approaching, the sun st it's highest place in the sky. Over time, the 3 had begun to calm down. Kahe had grown silent, Optimus focused on the road. Maru had begun dozing off.

"Maruuuu!" Kahe whispered, her large friend leaning on hers fast asleep.
"Is she alright?" Optimus asked.
"Yeah, she's fine. I don't think she slept well last night. I know I wouldn't. But she's so heavy!"
"Try gently nudging her off, maybe? I don't think we should wake her."
Optimus said, honestly unsure of what to do.
"Hngh!" Kahe managed to get Maru off, and back onto her own seat. For a moment, Maru's snoring seized, both Prime and octopus holding their breath.But when Maru merely adjusted herself into a scrunched, ball postition, and continued her soft snoring, both of them let out s sigh of relief.
Kahe pauses a moment, realizing something. "You really care about her, don't you?" She observed.
"I do, yes. I feel indebted to her," Optimus relied.
"No, I think it's a bit more than that. I think you genuinely like her. I mean, not in any romantic way, but like, you enjoy hanging out with her, you know?"
"I-yes. I have grown to see her as a friend. What are you getting at?" Optimus replies, ever so slightly apprehensively.
"Nothing. I just think it's cool, that's all. Maru and I aren't exactly popular people. We have eachother, and have fun together, but it's nice to have another person to hang out with. Granted, I never thought it'd be an ancient robot, but I'm not complainin."
"Are you and Maru not social?"
"We're social, don't get me wrong. We're almost friends with Hakaru and Hakari, but both Maru and I have pretty socially awkward things about us. Maru's a colossal that can't swim, and I'm an Octoling straight from the Octarian Dominion," Kahe answered.
"What's so strange about those? You both seem perfectly kind individuals despite those things," Optimus questioned.
"You know, you're so good at conversation, I kind of forgot you're not from Earth. Almost makes me want to spare you the unsavory details of Inkopolis," Kahe said, finally feeling a bit open around Optimus.