This takes place a year after Human Error, I guess since its Christmas-themed. This corresponds a bit with 'I Like you, You Love me' by Consuelo Higdon, another oneshot of an amazing couple XD This kinda feels all over the place, and I probably could've written it better at some parts, but no matter hoe many times I went over it I couldn't fix it XP Oh well. I hope you like it! It's REALLY long XD

"Did you know that on Earth most artists are considered eccentric and antisocial?" The cassette informed. He dangled his legs over the edge of the table he was sitting on.

Glyph looked up from the screen and frowned. "Rewind, we're supposed to be researching…" She shot Blaster a look, "…not discussing my date tonight."

"Hey," Blaster smiled, "He's just curious about the `bot. Like me."

"Oh, I'm sure you are." She teased. She knew that Rewind hadn't meant anything wrong with what he said. He had just repeated what Blaster had told him to say to her. It wasn't the first time Blaster had done this.

The library became silent, broken only by Glyph's typing on the computer. Not that it was really a library. It was actually a bit insulting to be called a 'library'. There were no books in sight. No shelves. Not even a crabby old femme supervising (though Glyph was pretty certain that that was just a stereotype). All that was in the Cybertronian 'library' was a bunch of database computers, all set up in a circle that encompassed the whole room, with a few tables and chairs so you won't have to stand the whole time. It was bland, boring and most importantly: not processor-stimulating. How are you supposed to learn in a place that makes you want to go into stasis?

The database she was on had little to nothing on anything about Earth culture, especially not art. She sighed and walked over to another computer. Not that it would probably be any more helpful. She had been at it like this since this morning, and she was almost done checking through all the databases they had. It looked like the only real information she could get for her paper would be from Bulkhead.

Bulkhead. Her date tonight. She felt her spark jump in a mix of excitement and nervousness. It had been a long time since she had been on a date. And she really liked Bulkhead. He was sweet, and obviously cared about her even without knowing her well. It was going to be a great night. But she had to remind herself that she had to get facts about Earth art as well, and not just have fun. It would be hard, but she knew she could control herself.

A grin unconsciously formed on her faceplate.

"Thinking about Blobhead?" Blaster asked casually. Her smile faded. She hated how he could tell exactly what was going on in her processor. Well, he'd known her for so long, it wasn't hard to believe. But it was difficult for her to keep anything from him.

"Bulkhead." She corrected, trying not to let her irritation show. She didn't like it when she got angry.

"Same difference." He shrugged. "So were you?"

"Yeah, I was, actually." She informed.

Blaster raised his servos in victory. "Knew it!" He exclaimed. Then he calmed down again, and looked at her seriously, "You sure he's a good `bot?"

"Positive."

"Won't hurt you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." She replied as she switched to yet another database. He followed her, walking right behind her stabilizing servos every step. She was glad that Blaster was looking out for her, but at this point it was annoying. He didn't want anybot to date her anymore. Too protective, even for being her best friend. Why wouldn't he just believe her about Bulkhead?

Also, wasn't he supposed to be working on his paper too? He had spent most of the research time she had signed out for them talking to her. About this. Maybe he wasn't concerned about the class like she was. He should, considering the grades he had been getting. And if he didn't do well on his thesis paper, he wouldn't get his PhD and finally graduate from the Academy. He wanted to be a translator of auditory codes. But he would need his PhD to garuntee that he was qualified for the position. His attitude sure didn't make it look like he was capable.

He leaned over and stared at her straight in the viz scanners. "Would this be considered…a rebound romance?"

Glyph froze. No. He did not just bring that up, did he? She felt her circuits heat up in the anger she didn't want to feel. Blaster may be a bit insensitive, but she would have thought he would have known not to go there. He knew that it still hurt her. It hurt a lot.

"That depends on your definition. A 'rebound romance' is an ambiguous term, if you didn't know." Rewind piped up. Glyph turned to look at him. The two cassettes had been so quiet, she had almost forgotten they were there, "It could either mean 'a relationship in which one of the participants hasn't resolved their feelings from their previous relationship', or 'a relationship made hastily in the wake of the end of another'. Which were you referring to, Blaster?"

He didn't reply, but instead continued to look at her, as if suggesting it could be a combination of both meanings. That was it. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Blaster, that was over a stellar cycle ago! I'm over it, and I think I can tell when I'm ready to move on! Spark, I don't even know how far I'll get with Bulkhead yet! But how will I ever know unless you let me try? You have to slagging let me try, Blaster!" She huffed, "Now, you better get your gearshaft in gear and start working, or you won't have enough sources for the committee check tomorrow!"

Blaster blinked, taken aback. "You…you just snapped at me. You never snap at me." He frowned, "And did you curse?"

It took Glyph a nanoclick to register everything she had just said.

"I…I…" She stumbled, "Yes. Yes I did…"

She felt stupid. The emotional pain that Blaster reminded her of had dictated her actions and made her lash out at him. And she was always getting on others for being negative. What a hypocrite she was. She slowly turned off the screen in front of her. She wasn't in the mood for researching anymore. Or doing anything really.

Glyph walked over to the table the cassettes were sitting on, grabbed a chair and slumped into it. What was wrong with her? Rewind stared at her solemnly, not talking because she was sure he had no trivia about her predicament. Eject didn't even acknowledge her. He had been rather sullen lately, though she didn't know why. If she wasn't feeling bad enough about herself she would've tried to cheer him up.

Blaster looked awful. He put a servo to his faceplate and sighed.

"…I'm sorry…" He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"No, Blaster." Glyph insisted, "I'm the one who should be sorry. There was no reason for me to get angry at you."

"Yes there was. I shouldn't have used…him as a reason to make you second-guess your date." Blaster explained, "I got caught up in the moment thinking about how what's-his-face might hurt you that I didn't consider how much worse that was…"

"I know. You were just looking out for me. I took it the wrong way." Glyph reassured. Blaster shook his head.

"But that was a line I should never cross. Nobot should, especially me." He maintained, "D'ya forgive me?"

"Of course I do, Blaster!" She said. "You're my best friend. I can't stay angry at you for a little slip of the vocalizer."

She was starting to feel mellow again, though there was still a twinge of sadness. She would just have to ignore the feelings associated with the memories and keep going. At least through her date. She would not let this cause her to be a downer tonight. Besides, Bulkhead might just be the `bot that will help her put that part of her past behind her permanently.

"Same here." He nodded, "Hey, you done researching?"

"Yeah. I have more than enough sources for Flip Sides tomorrow." Flip Sides was the supervisor of the two of theirs thesis committees. And their favorite teacher by far. If only she was her teacher for code analysis. Then maybe she wouldn't be getting so much slag from Kup about her choice in a paper. Although Flip Sides was editing the paper and making sure that it was making good progress, she was not the one who in the end decided if it passed or failed. "How about you? How many have you gotten?"

"Slag, Glyph, it's all about the sources lately with you, isn't it? 'You need to find the source'. 'Go back to the source'." He imitated in a way-too high pitched voice and smiled playfully. "Rewind and Eject have been all over it. Haven't you guys?"

"Certainly!" Rewind replied eagerly as he displayed his finds via holoscreen, "But, I'm afraid I can't say the same for Eject…"

The blue cassette grunted at the mention of his name, but didn't say anything. He was staring distantly at the floor, his head propped up by his servos. Like he had nothing better to do but to sit there. It was a depressing scene.

"'The slag are you doing, Eject?" Blaster scowled, "You're supposed to be monitoring frequencies."

"I don't really feel like it…" Eject answered, "Rewind has found enough information to cover up mine twice over. You know how he is with research and all." Rewind beamed in pride, obviously unaware of the spiteful tone in which his counterpart spoke.

And with that, the cassette hopped off of the table and walked out of the library without even looking back at them. Probably to avoid Blaster yelling at him. Glyph watched as he left, only wondering what could be troubling him. Eject wasn't the most talkative `bot, but he was never quite this quiet or sad-looking.

"He's been like that for too long now…" Blaster muttered, "Might have to take him in for a reprogramming."

"Don't do that! It's your fault for overworking him anyways. Have you ever done any homework for yourself?" She asked, "Besides, he's part of your spark, and thus has your lazy personality. No matter how many times you reprogram him I doubt he'll come out any different."

And there was also the fact that he wouldn't have any of his memories. Glyph would find it awkward trying to get used to a new Eject when she already knew who he was before. And Rewind would too. It would probably be especially hard for him to cope. Eject was his brother, if not his twin. You can't just do that to two `bots that are that close. It would tear Rewind apart. Although at the moment it didn't seem like Eject liked him much, Glyph knew for a fact that they usually got along very well.

"You're right. As usual." He grinned. "So…Bulkhead…he's an artist, huh?"

Glyph didn't know how they got back on this subject, but at least he wasn't questioning to try to make her reconsider her date. "Yeah. And a really good one too."

"It's Earth art." He made a face, "There is nothing 'good' about it."

"Earth culture really isn't that bad. Neither is anything organic, really."

"Why couldn't it have been Quintessons?" Blaster groaned, "I would've been able to deal with you liking them, but not organics!"

"You'd take Quintessons over organics?" Glyph asked, incredulous. That was completely absurd. She didn't think even the most anti-organic `bot would reasonably make that statement.

"At least they don't have squishy insides."

"So you have no reason for disliking them…except that they have 'squishy insides'? What about all the damage the Quintessons have done?" She questioned, "If other `bots hadn't told you that organics were stupid and disgusting, would you have come to that conclusion by yourself?"

He sighed. "Probably not."

"There is a lot more about Earth's culture that is interesting Like sports, which is an athletic competition. And movies, which are stories that are recorded being told by actors. But I know something you would like even more." She said, "Humans have this form of entertainment where they take sounds and somehow put it together and add words to it. It's called 'music'. It's like a catchy combination of car horns, whistles, and voices singing."

"…it's still made by organics…" He said. He was trying to hide his interest, but she could see right through him.

"I could send you one of the radio frequencies so you could listen to some of it." She offered.

"Uh…no, that's fine…" He replied, looking uncomfortable. "Hey, isn't your date soon?"

She wanted to slap herself for almost forgetting. She had to get back to her room and get ready. Hopefully Flareup would be able to help a bit. She wasn't sure how much experience she had with formal dating though. Either way, she knew she had to have some sense of looking presentable. After all, she had those adorable high-heels.

Wait. Blaster had reminded her about the date. She looked up at him.

"So, you're okay with it, now?" She asked.

He shrugged. "As okay as I'll ever be."

"Thanks, Blaster." She said softly. She knew it was hard for him to do this. He didn't want to see 'his little sister' hurt again. But he didn't know Bulkhead like she did. He was the farthest thing from dangerous.

"No problem."

She nodded a farewell and began to walk out of the library. Well, it was more of a controlled run actually. But she didn't want to seem too excited. She stopped at the door to sign them out, as was regulation. This was because of an incident caused by a `bot who decided to send a laugh-inducing virus throughout the whole school via a computer in the library. She couldn't remember his name. Maybe it was 'Mudflap'. But that was a weird name, now wasn't it?

She felt something tugging at her stabilizing servo. She turned and looked down. A white cassette was next to her.

"What do you need, Rewind?" She asked. He looked a little nervous, which was extremely uncommon for him.

He gulped. "Did you know that more than half of the couples on Cybertron don't make it past the first date?"

Glyph hadn't felt this happy in a long time. The evening had been filled with laughter and banter. Bulkhead was still a bit uncomfortable being around her; she could tell. His faceplate seemed to be permanently flushed. It was cute, but she didn't want him feeling awkward at her expense. At least he was talking without stumbling all the time. It was indeed an improvement.

She never knew that just talking could be so much fun. That was pretty much all they had done so far. Talk. She tried to let him do more of it, because she hated to control the conversation, which usually happened if she got on a subject she liked. It wasn't her fault. When she had something to say, she just talked about it. A lot. Sometimes with big words nobot understood. Blaster had said she was very eloquent. Flareup had said it was very annoying.

Bulkhead may not have quite been 'eloquent' per se, but he still spoke with a passion that far outdid that of an average `bot. Or maybe that was just her seeing his words for what they really meant. She might not be the expert on audible codes like Blaster, but she still understood them fairly well from helping him on his homework. Bulkhead spoke from his spark, and that made her like him even more.

He had a lot to say about Earth. Everything was so intriguing about the lifestyle organics lived. They weren't burdened by constant warfare (though they still had their fair share of it), and they focused more on living life to its fullest. Recreation was also very important. And there were all kinds of strange and amazing affairs as well. Like taxes. She loved how the society worked together to pay for something that would benefit everybody. It was much better than the everybot-for-himself attitude that Cybertron seemed to have.

"But most humans don't really like taxes." Bulkhead had informed with a laugh.

He had explained that sometimes humans didn't have the energon (which, from what she could pick up, either was called 'money', 'cash', or 'moolah'. She still wasn't sure which one was the official designation) to pay for taxes and for their own needs, so it was generally looked down upon. Especially when the rates were raised. Oh well. She still liked the idea.

Bulkhead had had to remind her that she had to get information for her paper. She had gotten so caught up in things that she had forgotten. Like she had been afraid of doing. Why was she so predictable? Now she was waiting for him. He had gone into another room to get something. Though he failed to mention what. She waited patiently, wondering what he could be retrieving to help her for her paper.

"Here it is!" He appeared in the hallway with a large canvas in one servo and several buckets of paint in the other. He set it down gently on the ground. Well, as gently as possible. She had learned that Bulkhead wasn't the most coordinated `bot. Not that she was very coordinated either, but since she was so petite the aftereffects of her clumsiness wasn't as apparent. Small flecks of paint splattered out as the buckets vibrated from the motion.

Glyph stared at it for a nanoclick.

"Are you going to paint something? Now?" She asked. She dearly hoped he was. She had never seen anything like that live before. In fact, she didn't think she had seen a recording of something like that either. And it would give her great insight on how art worked.

"Once I find that brush, I will. It always seems to disappear when I need it…" He answered as he walked back out into the hall.

She looked at the canvas. It was so pure, completely white and smooth. It was the perfect base for the work that was about to be done. To be able to create from nothing, just what was in your processor and in your spark. To express everything you felt in strokes of paint. It was almost magical how it worked. And she was going to see it done. Now! She was thrilled.

She could hear Bulkhead clambering around in the hall. She got up from her seat to help him look. It felt rude to just sit and wait. As she did, her servo brushed against something on the table next to her. It didn't feel like anything metal. She looked down. The brush! It was big and unwieldy compared to many of the ones she had seen in pictures, but then again this was Bulkhead's brush. It fit him to a T.

"Bulkhead, it's in here!" She called. Almost instantly he was back in the room. He looked a bit flustered, but as soon as he saw the brush he relaxed.

"There it is! Where'dja find it?" He asked as she handed over to him.

Glyph considered lying and saying it was hidden behind something, but decided that probably wouldn't help the trust factor between them. "It was on the table."

"Gah! I should've known." He brought his faceplate to the palm of his servo and sighed. Then he walked over and began to prepare his 'studio'. There were some messy sheets in the corner of the room which he spread over the floor.

"What are you going to paint?" Glyph asked. She was curious and excited at the same time.

"Not sure." He replied as he set up an object (Glyph was pretty certain it was called an 'easel') and placed the canvas neatly on it. "Whaddaya think I should do?"

The first thing that sprang into her processor was taxes, but she was pretty sure that that wasn't something you could visualize very well.

"How about the sky?" She offered. That had always been something she had wanted to see.

Earth had something called an 'atmosphere', which collected sunlight and thus created a blue color that covered all visibility of outer space. Except at night, when the sun was out of sight. All of the other planets she had been too never had an atmosphere like that. She wondered what it would be like not to always see stars and distant planets when you looked up. Apparently, it made the surface look brighter too. Bulkhead had said that Cybertron was very dark in comparison.

"The sky? Yeah, that sounds good." He nodded and pushed the buckets of paint closer to the easel with his stabilizing servo. "Should it be cloudy, or not? Closer to morning, noon, or evening?"

Glyph blinked, not sure of anything he had just said. "What is 'cloudy'? And 'noon'?"

"Oh, yeah I forgot." He chuckled, "I'll just do an average sky then."

She hadn't been aware there was more than one sky. Did they take turns on which one would be out? How did they switch without the humans noticing? It was so interesting!

Glyph stared in wonderment as Bulkhead began his work. Although he was clumsy with everything else, suddenly all his movements were graceful and refined. What was once an empty plain now began to have a blue hue. He used a wide collection of colors, mixing to get correct shades. She was sure to carefully watch his selection. She needed to know how artists chose their paints. It was important to the code itself.

Half a megacycle later, and it was almost complete. She was surprised at how much it evolved as the process went on. It began with a simple base of blue, but then it became much more intricate. She catalogued more than at least twenty different tones of the color at this point. And then the sun was also there. It had a magnificent golden glow that reached all edges of the canvas. It was so realistic that Glyph almost felt her chassis warm up from its rays.

Bulkhead began to combine a deep blue and a cream to get a new shade. The brush twisted around on a small can lid that he used to blend on, globs of paint in its bristles.

"I've…had a lot of fun tonight, Glyph…" Bulkhead began as he applied the new coat of color.

"Me too." Glyph smiled.

"To tell ya the truth…I was a little nervous…" He laughed softly and turned to look at her, "This is the first date I've ever been on."

"You're first?" She blinked. "You've never been on a date before?" It was a stupid rephrasing, but Glyph couldn't believe it. Bulkhead was older than her. She was sure he would've at least dated once before. This was the last time she would assume something because of age.

"Nope." He replied. "So…uh…you have, then?"

Glyph winced. It was a logical chain of thoughts. She couldn't blame Bulkhead for being curious. Besides, he didn't know. She didn't really want him to know, but she knew if this was going to go anywhere, he would have to find out eventually. Memories came back for the second time that orbital cycle. It still made her spark ache with pain.

"Y-Yeah…but that was awhile ago…and…" She frowned, "I won't let mechs like Tap-Out fool me again."

Bulkhead's faceplate grew redder than it ever had. He looked like he was almost going to drop his brush.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked..." He apologized sincerely. Then he turned back to his painting, as if trying to pretend he hadn't inadvertently hurt her feelings. She noticed that his strokes suddenly became more rigid and haphazard.

"Oh no, it's okay!" Glyph insisted. She didn't want to ruin everything by making him feel bad about her, "He reminds me why I'm so lucky to have met you."

Bulkhead stopped painting for a nanoclick. Then he resumed. Glyph sighed inwardly in relief as she recognized the flowing movements of the brush that he had been doing earlier. Actually, it almost seemed to be more fluid. As if he was happier. She couldn't see his expression, but she was sure he was smiling. It felt good to make him happy. And it helped her forget about Tap-Out.

She looked back at the picture he was creating. It was almost done, she could tell. Not that she knew what a sky looked like, but it was in how he was touching up everything. She actually wondered if this was truly a faithful rendition of the sky. Bulkhead sometimes used abstract styles in his art, which were more difficult but definitely more fun to try to decode. This looked pretty realistic though, so she doubted it.

"Hey…uh…Glyph? I was wondering…I mean, I need to ask you something…" He stumbled.

"Ask me about what?" She asked. She tried to sound as comforting as possible. She could tell he was having trouble with his nerves around her again.

"W-Wouldja like to go to a party with me?"

"Please tell me I'm seeing things…" Flareup groaned as she entered the room.

Glyph forced a grin. "No, I'm afraid not."

She would have been horrified too, if she had come home to the room in this state. There was paint splattered all over the floor, some on the wall. Even parts of the couch was now speckled in different colors. It was like somebot had thrown up after drinking 'liquid death', a popular drink that combined multi-color juices and greasy oil. And in the middle of it all was Glyph, standing innocently next to a small canvas with several cans of paint around her, some lying on their sides with paint oozing out.

"I leave you for less than three megacycles, three megacycles, and you already have managed to screw up the whole slagged place! I thought you said you were going to be researching!" She walked forward only to knock over one of the cans. "Slaggit! Now look what I've done!" She lifted up her high heel in disgust, now covered in a bright green coat of paint.

"Deep breaths. Slowly let it out." Glyph instructed. Flareup glared at her.

"This is going to take forever to clean up! Why don't you ever want to do normal, unmessy things!?" She asked. Glyph was about to answer that she didn't usually pick activities that were messy, when Flareup caught a glance at the canvas, "How'd the slag did you manage to get the whole room screwed up and not a drop on that slagged thing!?"

The canvas was pure white. No paint had caressed its papery structure. Clean. Depressingly empty. Void of all thought. The opposite of what Glyph had wanted.

"Well…I was setting up and I forgot to put down the sheet to cover the floor…and then I dropped that one bucket and then…" She shook her head and sighed, "Maybe I'm not cut out to do this after all…"

"Yah think!?" Flareup cocked a viz scanner, "I mean, seriously, Glyph! It's like looking after a slaggin' protoform! You're book smart, I know that! But why can't you be head-smart, SLAGGIT!?"

Glyph didn't take any of her roommate's words to spark. Like her name implied, Flareup just got a little angry sometimes. Not too much. She had heard of a mech who worked for intel that had a temper that could match, if not top, Flareup's. And she had been working on controlling it a lot lately.

"Sorry…" Glyph mumbled.

"So, when will we start cleaning up this slag so that I can actually live here again?" Flareup asked.

"Uh…once I finish this painting…" Glyph answered slowly.

"But you haven't even started!" Flareup frowned, "And you yourself just said you weren't cut out to do it."

"But I have to do this, Flareup!" Glyph insisted, "It's for Bulkhead."

Flareup stared at her for a nanoclick. "You really like him, don't you?" She seemed to calm a bit, though only a little.

"More than any mech I've ever met." Glyph replied, "He really cares about me."

"That's what Tap-Out said, too."

Glyph wanted to scream in frustration. Tap-Out had been mentioned way too often recently. She hadn't even thought about him for the longest time, and now he was suddenly a very talkative subject. Why couldn't her friends just accept that he was a slip-up, and that Bulkhead was nothing like him? She had learned from her mistakes.

In order not to fuel Flareup's anger, Glyph carefully planned out her answer.

"Jetfire's met Bulkhead, you know. Maybe you should ask him for an opinion on his character." Glyph informed. Flareup froze, made a face, then backed down. She had no comeback for that.

"So, why are you painting for him, anyways?" She asked. Now she was very calm, though there was still an edge in her voice.

"He invited me to a Christmas party." She explained.

"A 'Kris Muss' party? What in the pits is that?"

"It's a holiday…er….custom from Earth. Christmas is an annual time when humans especially value love, joy, family, and thanksgiving. It's a very festive occasion." Glyph mused. "With lights, energon treats, and so much more…"

Bulkhead had tried explaining Christmas verbally, like she just had, but it hadn't worked very well. So, instead, he showed her a picture he had made last Christmastime. It had been of a very green bristly tree covered with beautiful decoration and lights, with a brilliant star on the top. Or at least, it was called a 'star'. It didn't look like any star Glyph had ever seen. Aptly designated a 'Christmas tree', it was a central part in the traditions.

Glyph had seen in that painting the feel of Christmas. The warmth in your spark. The undying and uplifting joy. The feeling that nothing would ever go wrong. It was truly a wonderful thing.

"Only a `bot like you would talk about something organic like that…" Flareup sighed, "Why do you need a picture for the party?"

"A big part of Christmas is having a gift exchange with those that mean the most to you." Glyph said, "And I wanted to paint my gift for Bulkhead."

"So, where'd you get all this stuff anyways?" Flareup asked.

"I asked him for some spare supplies so I could 'practice' for my paper." Glyph admitted sheepishly.

"Then wouldn't he be expecting it?"

At this point Glyph actually laughed out loud. "Bulkhead doesn't really pay attention to stuff like that."

"Oh great." Flareup rolled her viz scanners, "Two airheads."

Glyph ignored the insult and looked back at the empty canvas. She had no idea what to paint. What could she do to show Bulkhead how she really felt? Something that he would really appreciate. How would she start it? What colors should she use? Her processor began to spin with all the choices she had. Why couldn't this be easier? Artists must be super smart or something. She could barely imagine how to do this for a living.

She picked up the brush nimbly, still not sure what she was doing. Ever so slightly she pressed it into the red paint bucket. Then she withdrew it, realizing this wasn't the color she wanted to start with. Wait…what were you supposed to do if you picked the wrong color? Where was the paint supposed to go? Desperately, she flicked the brush around, trying to get rid of it. To her horror, flecks of red landed on the canvas.

"Slaggit!!" She shouted, stomping down her stabilizing servo. Why did everything she do go wrong!?

"Woah, did you just curse?" Flareup asked. She had sat down on the couch and was typing something up on a small computer. Though now she was fixated on Glyph, a little shocked.

"Yes! As a matter of fact, I can curse!" Glyph replied, "Is it that hard to believe!?"

"Well…I guess not…"

"I mean, I'm not 'little-miss-perfect'! I make mistakes! I actually make mistakes all the time it seems!" She cried, "With Tap-Out, choosing my topic, and now…now this!" She waved at the now-soiled canvas overdramatically. She felt like crying. Now, when she needed to do something really important, she couldn't do it. It wasn't fair.

Flareup stared at it. "It really doesn't look that bad, y'know. You're just starting, I guess…"

"B-But it's nothing compared to what Bulkhead would like and…and…" Glyph frowned, "Like you'd even know! You don't even care about Earth art! You think I'm weird for liking it! Don't pretend now to make me feel better!"

Flareup marched straight up to Glyph. Without even hesitating, she slapped her on the faceplate. Glyph blinked, and oil formed in her viz scanners.

"Now ya listen up `ere! I'm not goin' ta just stand an' let ya go off like that!" Flareup growled. She was speaking in her accent. She was seriously ticked. Only then did her accent ever show up. Because it was then she had the least control.

"B-But…"

"NO!" Flareup grabbed her around the shoulders and began to shake her violently, "Ya can't get on me fer my issues an' then I can't have a slaggin' say `bout the way yah actin'!"

Glyph didn't respond. She was too frightened.

"Now, if Bulkhead is half the `bot that yah sayin' he is, I don't think'll give a slag `bout yah gift either way! As long as it's from ya, I'm sure'll like it!" Flareup said, "So stop whinin' and gettin' on yahself! I…WON'T…HAVE IT!"

She pushed Glyph away forcefully and stomped back over to the couch, leaving Glyph to tend to her stinging faceplate. She shouldn't have expected anything less from Flareup, but it was still a bit surprising. What was most surprising was probably the real insight she had given her. Flareup said that Bulkhead wouldn't care what her gift was. It was because it was from her. As long as she put her spark in it, he would like it.

She couldn't believe it. Flareup had actually made sense during her screaming.

"Thanks…" She said softly. Flareup looked up and grunted.

"Had ta getcha ta understand sum way." She shrugged, her accent still present.

Next time, Glyph hoped the slap wouldn't be necessary.

"Blaster! Open up!" Glyph called as she knocked on the door once again, "C'mon! You said for me to tell you when I was leaving, and now you won't even answer your commlink?"

Still nothing. But there was noise coming from the room, so there had to be somebot in there. What could Blaster be doing that was so important that he would ignore her like this? Especially when it was him who was so insistent about her letting him know when she was going. Surely not studying, though it would help him a lot. He never did that on his own accord. Never.

The lock clicked, and ever so slowly the door opened. Finally. Glyph had to make this quick, or she'd be late to the party.

"TOOUUCHDOOOWN!!!"

Glyph jumped back, startled. Rewind was holding the door open while Eject danced in victory next to him, listening to some transmission via a small radio. Whatever it was, it was loud. She could almost clearly make out all the voices coming through it, though the feedback made it hard to tell what they were saying.

"Sorry," Rewind said, "He's been a little hyper lately. You want to see Blaster, right?"

Glyph nodded, and the cassette led her into the room. She couldn't help staring at Eject as he continued to dance around. He had been a total mess. And now he was completely different. Like he had chugged down some Ultra-Energon or something. She liked that he was no longer depressed, but she didn't understand the sudden change at all.

As she passed by Blaster's pile of stuff on the table (which pretty much is a sample of the whole room: it is completely and utterly in disarray) she caught a snippet of the transmission he was listening to.

"…Andrews is going for a field goal…and-OH! A FAKE! They've got the other team in a tizzy! Unbelievable!"

"Go team, go! Kick their gearshafts outta Tigatron Stadium!" Eject shouted to the radio. Not like it could hear him. Rewind shook his head and sighed, as if unable to compute his counterpart's enthusiasm.

Glyph had heard terms like these before. What was it again…?

"Sports!" She realized out loud. 'Football' she believed was the specific event. Even though, to her understanding, humans didn't use much of their 'foot' in the American version of the game, and it actually involved more passing.

"Yes, Eject has been obsessed with them ever since I relayed to him the conversation that he had missed when he left so abruptly at the library." Rewind informed, "Did you know that eighty-five percent of the organic mechs that watch these games lose more than half of their intelligence?"

Eject stopped dancing and glared. "And did you know that sixty percent of statistics are made up on the spot?"

"W-Well! This one wasn't!" Rewind insisted, though he looked a bit unsure.

Glyph giggled as they kept on debating, stepping over empty cans scattered across the floor in order to get towards the recharger. She could see the red chassis of Blaster slumped down in it. Was he stasis-napping? That would explain some things. But usually commlink calls were loud enough to wake even the deepest sleepers. And she had called several times.

As she approached the recharger, she noticed that the headphones that Blaster used to listen in on frequencies for his paper was over his audio receptors. And they were on, she could hear noises coming out of them. She leaned closer, trying her best not to wake him. A smile appeared on her faceplate as she recognized the sound of human voices. Singing.

"You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record baby, round, round, round…"

Maybe she had gotten through to him after all.

Glyph stared at the wrapped present in front of her, not sure what to think. She had known this was going to be a gift exchange, but somehow she had forgotten that that meant she would get something too. She had been too anxious about her painting being revealed. She was still very unnerved about that. What if he didn't like it? What would his friends say? Bumblebee and Sari seemed nice, but they also had a better knowledge of Earth art than her. They probably wouldn't hide their opinions

"You're supposed to open it, not look at it." Bumblebee informed.

"BB!" Sari, who was seated on his shoulder, gave him a good smack.

"What? What'd I do?" He asked, though he winced as if expecting to be hit again.

Glyph smiled and looked around the room again. It was absolutely stunning. The combination of the warm lights, the tree (which was fake, but Sari had said that not many humans used real trees anymore anyways) all trimmed up, the sweet smell that she couldn't indentify, and small holiday-themed decorations made the joy in her spark soar. Under the tree was her poorly-wrapped gift for Bulkhead. That didn't quite muster the same feelings.

"She can open it when she wants to. It's her first Christmas, give her a break!" Sari said, "I'm sure she just wants to savor the moment."

Something like that. Glyph returned her gaze to the gift. What could he have gotten her? It was about twice the size of her servo, and felt a bit heavy. Carefully, she began to pick at the wrapping paper, unsure of how to remove it. It was taut and hard to pull away. After a few nanoclicks of wrestling with it, Bulkhead came over.

"Here, I'll help." He said.

"That's okay!" Sari insisted, flying up to Glyph, "I'll do it." Bulkhead nodded and stepped back. Glyph assumed Sari was making sure he wouldn't break his present.

The techno-organic ripped at the paper, and it became easier to handle.

"Thanks!" Glyph said.

"No problem." Sari winked and returned to her seat on Bumblebee's shoulder. Glyph liked her. She was real sweet. And partially organic to boot. Bumblebee was nice too, but he also was a bit arrogant and didn't think before he spoke. She didn't know what he would be like if he didn't have Sari to keep him in line.

Glyph removed the paper, revealing…what appeared to be a handheld computer.

"Oh…thanks, Bulkhead!" She said over-eagerly, having no idea what this was. She had seen something like them before, but usually they had buttons on them to press. This was was completely a computer screen. She couldn't disappoint him though. Even now he was looking at her, his faceplate as nervous as she felt about her own present for him.

"Switch it on. The switch is on the side." He instructed.

She felt around for it and flicked it. The screen came to life with a hum. Five words appeared. She blinked, hardly believing it. It couldn't be!

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

"A…A…" She stammered, unable to form intelligible words.

"I know it's not a real book, but it's the closest thing we can get. Since…y'know, we'd squish them since they're so small…" Bulkhead explained, "It's called a Data-Pad. You can download all kinds of stories and translate them into several different languages, so you can use it to study and stuff. I've got an instruction manual for it, on how to set up your account and download and all that."

"I…I love it, Bulkhead!" She exclaimed, holding it firmly, as if afraid it would disappear, "This is the best present ever!" It sounded corny, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. It was the best present she had ever gotten.

It may not be a real book, but she would treat it just like one. And she could hold more than one book in it, so it was like a compilation. It was better than that! She would finally be able to have literature on servo, not having to go to the library, wait for Flareup to get off their computer or wait for the internet to come back on. It would always be there.

Bulkhead beamed. "I'm glad you like it. Well…I knew you would, but…yeah…"

"Can y'all hurry up a bit? I'd like to get to my present, thank you." Bumblebee interjected. Immeadiately after he shouted and slumped down, Sari having whacked him one more time. He didn't learn very well.

Glyph turned to her painting and all the happiness she felt froze. It wasn't good enough. Not compared to what he had just given her. But she couldn't do anything about it now. She set down the Data-Pad and grabbed the painting, cringing at the sight of the side of the canvas showing through the paper. She and Flareup hadn't had any idea of how to cover it with the wrapping.

"Uh…here you go, Bulkhead…" She said hesitantly as she passed it to him.

She heard the paper rip off, but she didn't look. She didn't want to look. Didn't want to see his faceplate when he saw it. She was such a failure. It was quiet for awhile. Everybot but her was seeing what she had painted.

"Oh, Glyph! It's so pretty!" Sari exclaimed.

The authenticity in Sari's voice made Glyph let down her guard and turn back towards the painting. She regretted it instantly.

It was so plain. So boring. Not even of anything in particular. Just blobs of color everywhere. Mostly reds, pinks, and a bit of orange. There was a base of bright red in the background. Flecks of white around the corners. And in the middle was a shape humans called a 'heart', although it didn't resemble the body part it was named for at all. She had been thinking about how she felt about Bulkhead, but it had all come out wrong. This didn't convey the level of emotion she really had. She couldn't express it properly.

Oil welled up in her viz scanners. No. She wouldn't cry. Not here. She had done that too much in front of Bulkhead already. She quickly wiped it away.

"This is only your first time painting?" Bumblebee asked, "I can't even hold the brush! This is great!"

"…No its not…" She insisted, "…I should've done it better…"

A servo touched her shoulder. A big servo. She looked up.

"Hey," Bulkhead said softly, "I like it."

Suddenly all of her anxiety faded away. She still wasn't happy about how it turned out, but it didn't matter what she thought. Flareup had been right: he did like it!

"R-Really?"

"It's better than half the stuff I have at the gallery." He said. Jokingly, she hoped.

She sighed. "Well…uh…I think that this right here is supposed to be…" She began to point towards one of the random shapes she had painted, but Bulkhead gently pushed it away.

"I already know what it means." He said with a smile.

And then he did it. He pressed his olfactory sensor against hers. She was so taken by surprise she couldn't move. She could hear Bumblebee woot and then be slapped one more time, but it was distant and fuzzy. A kiss. She was being what organics would be called 'kissed'. And important step in a relationship.

She was in Bulkhead's stabilizing servos. She knew what it was like to be bigger than everybot else, not smaller like she usually was. To have that kibble that looked like they could poke out somebot's viz scanners. It was so different. And yet it felt so right. Like pure happiness. Nothing could go wrong.

Slowly, they drew away from each other, both faceplates redder than Sari's hair.

"Merry Christmas, Glyph."

I love 'you spin me right round (like a record player)' by Dead or Alive. So I added it. I hate Great Expectations on the other hand...so I don't know why that's there. Oh well.