Beauty Within

To See Again – 7B

Riding in Droct’s bed, Bee felt exhausted. They had spent the entire day-cycle scavenging, and he was just plain beat. The trailer was full, and Droct was happy. He’d been excitedly telling and describing to Bee all of the various alloys they had run across that day. Going into great detail about why these were more valuable and what they’d eventually be used to make.

Bee had just grinned, not understanding everything that the garbage mech was telling him – but pleased to no end that his friend seemed to be almost as smart as Beechcomber. Well, at least about metals, that is.

As Droct transformed, Bee made his way to the shack that they shared. The hard berth was beckoning his tired mind and frame.

“Hey, Yellow! It looks like your lenses finally came in!” Droct exclaimed.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Bee found his exhaustion lifting like a fog burning off in the sun. Turning to his friend, he absolutely beamed in happiness – for he would see today!

Droct told him to go and lay down on the bunk, while he went to fetch T’ran. Her fingers were more skilled at repairing things like this.

With a renewed bounce to his step, Bee made his way to the bunk and lay down. He had a hard time not fidgeting while he waited for T’ran to get there.

Hearing her familiar footsteps, he clapped in happiness as he heard the sound of the door creaking open. “It seems our friend Yellow, is a little excited,” Her voice observed, the tone filled with enjoyment at his reaction.

Nodding, Bee’s smile spread from audio-to-audio.

“Well, come here and sit in this chair. There’s better light by the door,” she told him.

Jumping up, Bee darted towards her voice, stumbling over the chair a little. He felt her hand grab him, stabilizing him as he straightened back up.

Sitting down, Bumblebee felt T’ran’s gentle fingers probing his optic sensors. She was checking to make sure that they were undamaged, before installing the new lenses. Bee was very excited, he could barely keep himself still as she carefully put his new lenses in.

Suddenly, he could see! Fully activating his optics, Bee looked around the shack he’d been sharing with Droct. It was truly, the most pathetic dwelling he’d ever been in. The rust so thick on the walls, that he could see the sky through them. The support beams were a motley collection of various types of scrap metal, held together with rusted wire. The floor so covered in dirt and dust; that swirls of it filled the air with every step.

He looked up into T’ran’s face. Her gentle blue optics looking at him with satisfaction as she knew that the new lenses were installed properly. She held up two fingers, Bee held up two fingers. She held up four, he held up four. Smiles crossed both of their faces – for Bee could now see and focus.

Turning his head towards where he remembered Droct’s voice coming from, he saw his friend for the first time. The mech had his head down, shyly looking up at Bee. The fear that Bee would find him physically repulsive was in his optics.

Droct had been truthful, when he had told Bee that he was ugly, for the Insecticons didn’t hold a candle to his grotesqueness. He was a collection of completely mismatched parts thrown together. His back humped strangely, one shoulder set much higher than the other. His arms and legs did not match each other in length, type or even color. His build so deformed that it was hard to even see how he transformed. Yes, he was indeed so ugly that Bee completely understood why no one had ever wanted to kiss him.

The only part about the mech that was attractive, were his gentle blue optics. Forcing himself to concentrate on those, Bee stood and walked over to the mech. He put his biggest smile on his face, as he unlatched the bashful mech’s face mask and took it off. Even Droct’s hidden face was hideous, with terrible scars from being burned. But Bee had expected this, for he had felt these scars under his fingertips. So Bee ignored this, concentrating on those wonderful warm optics as he kissed the mech.

T’ran’s mouth fell open in total shock, just as Droct’s optics also filled with wonder. They had both expected Bee to react the same way as all of Droct’s former ‘projects’ had, with mild repulsion. But Yellow hadn’t, Yellow had actually learned to look beyond the physical..

He had seen the beauty that lay within the hideous garbage mech.

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