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pb524830 · 10 hours

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right where you left me

part: 1 pairing: paige bueckers x oc word count: 2.6k c/w: language a/n: heyyyy everyone! my anons have been begging for another series like anyone else, so here's one i've been thinking about for a second and finally put to paper. i hope you like this just as much as 'anyone else'. btw, if you guys want to send in long ass asks live reacting to my writing (whoever @imaginespazzi 's anon is that does this, i LOVE it) it's such a great way to know what you do and don't like about my writing, and i'd so appreciate it. love you guys!

I blink as the sun hits my eyes, almost blinding me. I stretch at my front door, loosening my muscles that are still a little tight from sleep. I squint against the blaring sunlight, then push my AirPods in and start off down my street. It’s this quaint little neighborhood in Virginia, a not-too-far cry from my home state of Minnesota.

My run is peaceful, Kendrick Lamar blaring in my ears, the music a smooth symphony of artful lyrics backed by a spurring beat. I take down about three miles, reaching what looks to be an old basketball court before slowing to a jog, then a halt. I pant, placing my hands on my hips and allowing my chest to heave as I recover from the run. My sports bra and shorts are soaked with sweat, but the summer air is refreshing.

I tip my head back, soaking in the sun, when I hear a voice behind me. “Hey, you shooting or…” I whip my head around, the voice impossibly and frighteningly familiar.

No fucking way.

“Maya.”

“Paige,” I breathe.

She hesitates, a ball braced at her side, and it looks so natural, just as it always has. She’s wearing a white tee shirt and dark shorts, with blue, red, and white shoes on her feet. Her hair is parted down the middle, slung into a bun at the base of her neck. My breath catches when my eyes meet her stark, blue ones - pools of crystal that glimmer in the summer sun. Her limbs are long and she’s tan, her lips stuck in that damned half-smirk that used to drive me crazy. It fades from her face a little as she takes me in, and I cross my arms over my stomach self-consciously.

“What are you… what are you doing here?” I swallow hard as I stutter over my words.

She coughs awkwardly, tossing the ball back and forth between her hands. “My friend, Azzi - don’t know if you remember her, um… She lives here. In this neighborhood. But we also moved to Virginia when we- when I left for school.”

I remember Azzi. She was one of Paige’s basketball friends, a tall, pretty girl with dark hair and a kind smile. Paige clears her throat. “You… uh, what about you?” I blink. “Oh, um. Yeah, same, actually, my family moved here. Also.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

We’re quiet for a few more minutes. It’s my turn to clear my throat awkwardly.

“Still dancing?” She asks.

I laugh nervously. “Can’t seem to stop. Still hooping?”

She smiles a little more at that. “Can’t seem to stop,” she echoes back to me. Paige hesitates for a moment.

“You look good,” she admits after a few moments.

My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh! Thanks, um… you do, too. Look good, I mean. You look great!”

She raises an eyebrow at my rambling. “Great?” She muses.

I scoff. “No, good. You look good.”

“No, I got it the first time.” Her smirk is widening, her tone teasing.

“Good.”

“Not great?” She’s pushing my buttons now.

“Paige, stop,” I blurt out.

It hangs over us - my usage of her name, the undeniable tension that lingers in the air, nearly suffocating.

She looks down at the ground, kicking at it. “Sorry,” she mumbles.

I sigh. “No, you’re fine. I should- I should go.”

“Maya, don’t do that. Look, I’m sorry-”

“No, I should get home. It was good to see you.”

Stubbornly, I plug my headphones in, pretending not to hear her voice calling out my name, the sound of it echoing behind me, praying I can drown out the past if I just turn my music up loud enough.

************

“You’re doing it wrong. Put your foot down on the off beat.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Paige demands, and I bite back a grin.

Patiently, I re-explain the 8 count to her. “It’s just a stupid TikTok. Bro, you’re so extra,” she whines. I hold my hands up. “You’re the one who said you wanted to learn it for real. Like, dancer-style.”

“I never said that.”

“I think those were actually your exact words. Okay, look-”

Paige groans. “Can we take a break?” She begs, grabbing her phone and tossing it onto her bed. She collapses onto it right after, shrugging her shirt off before falling back onto the pillows. I roll my eyes, grabbing my own phone. I sigh, looking at my notifications. Paige’s eyes flicker to mine. “What? Nicky again?” I shake my head. “It’s just… I need to break up with her.” Paige tries and fails to stifle a grin. “You think she knows?” She asks. There’s a hint of smugness to her tone that I don’t like.

I narrow my eyes as she eases off the bed and approaches me, slinging her arms around my waist. “Knows what?” I ask. Paige smirks. “You know what,” she smiles, dipping her head to mine. I shove at her chest, but she pulls me closer. “Knows what we’re really doing?” Paige teases. “Shut up, Paige,” I chide, but she moves in, anyway, slotting her lips against mine in a slow, meaningful kiss.

Her lips work against mine skillfully, and though I’ve only kissed Paige a few times by now, melting into her is only instinct. “Did you eat my Nerds?” She demands, pulling away and licking her lips. I crinkle my nose at her. “Maybe?” She shakes her head at me, mischief glinting in her eyes, before she hoists me up, tossing me onto the bed. “You’re gonna pay for that,” she warns playfully, before tackling me, fingers poking into my sides and eliciting raucous laughter from the both of us. “Okay, okay! I’ll buy you more, stop! Stop!” I shriek. She collapses on top of me, ignoring the way I push at her shoulders.

Paige stares down at me, then leans down to connect our lips again, mouth dancing languidly with mine. I sigh, pushing a hand into her hair and responding eagerly, winding my leg between hers. “Tell her,” she urges, pecking me once. I sigh. “I know. I feel awful about it.” She pushes her body slightly up and nudges my nose with hers. “Come on. She’s not stupid.” She tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “We’re… obvious. You know?” I raise my eyebrow. “If you mean that everyone can tell how bad you want me, then yeah,” I tell her. She sucks her teeth, hitting me on the shoulder. “Tch. You know what I mean. We… were gonna happen.”

I grin at her, though I don’t mean to. “You seem pretty confident about that,” I muse. She grins back at me, her mouth hovering over mine. “Good. I am.”

***************

My run home is more of a sprint, and I’m absolutely spent when I shove through my front door. “Maya!” My mom calls. “Come help with the groceries!” I oblige, unlacing my shoes and skidding into the kitchen. My mom’s head is stuck in the fridge, trying to make room for all the new produce she’s just bought, so I make myself busy storing away the pantry foods.

“You will not believe who I ran into at the store!” My mom exclaims, poking her head out from behind the fridge door. She’s still in her scrubs, probably just having finished off a shift at work. I raise an eyebrow. “Michelle Obama?” I ask. She frowns at me. “You’re not funny.” I shrug. “I beg to differ.”

My mom is definitely more of my best friend than my actual mom. I mean, she works so much, and I’ve had to practically raise my brother. Plus, with my dad out of the picture since… forever, she’s really all I had.

“Anyway,” she says pointedly, dusting off her hands. “I was at the store, and I ran into Bob Bueckers! Isn’t that crazy? I haven’t seen the Bueckers’ in years, and you and Paige were so close…” My mom continues speaking, I’m sure, but there’s a sudden muffled tone to it, like there’s water in my ears.

It’s just the mention of her name. I hadn’t heard it in years, had tried my best not to even think of her because I knew it would hurt. And seeing her today…

It isn’t fair. She does look great - better, somehow. Not the tall, lanky teenager I was used to. She’s a whole woman, now - muscled and lean, much more sure of herself. And yet… so much is the same - that damned perpetual half smile on her face, the way she tilts her head, the way her eyes glint. I can’t help but wonder if other things are the same, as well.

If her hands are as warm as they always used to be.

If she still picks her face when she’s nervous.

Fuck. Stop it.

“Did you hear what I said, sweetie?”

I shake my head out of my reverie, turning back to my mom. “Uh, no?”

“I invited them over for dinner tonight. Wear something nice.”

I splutter, processing what she’s just said. “I’m sorry. You what?”

*************************************

“Uh… here.”

I gingerly take the loaf of banana bread from Paige. I don’t meet her eyes as I let her, her brother, her dad, and her stepmom into the house. “Thanks,” I mumble. Drew stares up at me. “You look different,” he says matter of factly. I smile a little at him. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I tease. He narrows his eyes at me. “I’ll let you know,” he informs me, then skips past me. My little brother, Matthew, catches sight of him, and the two of them run off eagerly to play together.

My heart squeezes a bit at this. I hadn’t realized that Paige and I… growing apart, I suppose one could call it, would mean that our brothers would lose a friendship, too. “He’s, uh… He’s tall, now,” she tries, hesitantly. I glance up at her from the side of my eye, walking to place the dessert on the dining table. She follows me. I hate that she does. I hate that she still smells like herself, that the way she looms over me feels oh-so-familiar.

I toy with the sleeve of my top nervously. “Is that- is that mine?” Paige blurts out suddenly. I glance down at my navy blue top, and my eyes widen. She’s right. It is her shirt, and I hadn’t even realized. It’s a bit big on me, and I’d found it in a box after we’d moved to the new house. “Oh. I guess so, do you want it back? I can go change?” I yammer, and she shakes her head frantically. “No! You don’t have to- That’s not what I meant, you-” She clears her throat.

“It looks nice on you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

I chance a glance at my feet, my hands, anywhere but her. She sighs. “Well, this is fucking awkward,” she mutters. I laugh hollowly. “Whose fault is that, hm?” I say, and I can’t keep the acrid taste of resentment out of my voice. I don’t miss the way her eyes flit to mine, mouth twisting with an unspoken response. “Maya-” she starts. “We should go help,” I interrupt, turning on my heel and walking quickly to the kitchen.

As though it couldn’t get any more awkward, Paige ends up right across from me at dinner. Our parents chatter away, our little brothers in some heated discussion about basketball, and all she and I can do is pick at our food. There are onions in the stir-fry my mom made.

Paige hates onions.

I stifle a grin, despite myself. She’ll eat them, anyway, but I see her pushing them around her plate, putting it off. “Problem, Paige?” I ask sweetly. She narrows her eyes at me. “Not at all,” she shoots back. My mom abruptly stops the conversation she’s having. “Are you alright, honey? Is the food okay?” Paige nods hastily.

“Yes, Ms. Jacobs! It’s so good,” she reassures her. My mom cocks her head, sharp as ever. “Well, you’ve hardly touched it!” I bite back a laugh as Paige shovels a huge scoop into her mouth. “Really good,” she says around the food, smiling as best as she can at my mom. My mom nods, satisfied, and turns away. Paige shoots me a look, kicking me under the table.

I’m shocked. So shocked that the action is natural for her, and shocked at what I do next: kick her back. She gasps, and I guess the huge bite she’s just taken goes down the wrong pipe. She begins coughing violently, and my eyes widen. “Paige? Maya, honey, take her to the kitchen! Get her some water,” she instructs, concerned. Paige thumps her chest, holding up a hand. “All good, I swear,” she tries to say, but her coughs swallow her words.

“Okay, get up. Come on,” I sigh, walking around the table to haul her to her feet by her elbow. I drag her to the kitchen, patting her on the back. I hand her a water bottle from the fridge and she accepts it gratefully. When she looks to the ceiling, her eyes are glassy with tears. “You’re such a little shit,” I sneer. “Me?” She demands indignantly. “Yes! I didn’t even kick you that hard,” I complain.

She raises an eyebrow. “What? You want me to show you?”

“You kicked me first!”

“You were instigating,” she hisses back.

“Spell ‘instigating’, Paige.”

“Kiss my ass.”

“Find someone else to do it. That’s what college is for, isn’t it?”

We both fall silent at that. Then, realizing how close we’ve gotten, we back away.

“Sorry,” I mumble.

She sighs. “No, it’s… I deserve that.”

I bite my lip, glancing at the ceiling. “It’s fine. It’s been… what, three years?”

“Still. I should’ve-”

“Look, dude, I’m over it. I’m just giving you a hard time,” I say. Lies. I’m not over it. Not even close.

She blinks. “Yeah, no. Of course. I’m- I’m over it, too.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

It’s so painfully awkward that I want to scream. This is someone who had seen me at my worst, who had held me sobbing when I hadn’t gotten into the school I wanted.

This is the person who sat with me when my dad died, and I had grappled with the grief of losing someone I had hardly ever known.

This is the person who had seen all of me, who had taken my virginity, who had kissed away all my fears and made me feel loved and safe and whole - and the person who had made all of that come crashing down in one fell swoop.

And now I look at her, standing in my kitchen, far from the Minnesota homes we both grew up in. The sharp pain of ‘I don’t fucking know you anymore’ stabs at my heart, nestles into my throat, and I feel tears pricking at my eyes.

I turn away from her and march back into the dining room.

I’m done letting her make me cry.

It’s later that night, long after Paige and her family have left, when I’m finishing up washing the dishes that I hear a knock on the door. I frown, wondering if my mom is expecting someone. Drying my hands off with a towel, I warily open the door.

It’s Paige. My breath catches.

“Hi,” she starts uneasily.

“Hey. Did you forget something?” I ask, keeping my distance.

“Huh? Oh, no. I just…” She swallows hard, looking at her feet.

She clears her throat. “Can we talk?”

#paige bueckers #paige bueckers fic #wcbb #fic #uconn wbb #✂️ anon #ncaaw #paige bueckers x oc #fic talk

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coffe-and-tea-time · 10 hours

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𓆩♡𓆪 ｢better that sleeping pills｣ 𓆩♡𓆪

Hi! Coffee being delusional speaking! This time I was wondering

How did you deal with your sleep problems, dear?

TW: stalking, yandere behavior, delusions, insomniac reader, sleeping pills mention, somewhat willing reader, light paranoia?

Yet again another night dealing with insomnia, being told over and over that you should stop using the phone at night and, instead, pretend to sleep, that eventually dreamland will come to you like that. People that don't know what it is to be alone with thoughts and exasperation. But once again, you try to do so, hoping that maybe this time it would actually help.

tik tok tik tok tik tok

How much time has passed? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? You try to keep your mind on blank but it's impossible at some point.

An unexpected sound catch quickly your interest although you can't really recognize it, trying to dismiss it, thinking must've an hallucination or something outside, in the silence of the night, people tend to be more perspective to any sounds, right?

And just like a bad plot, once your body relaxes, you hear that sound again. . . Unconsciously welcoming the return to old habits, covering more with the blankets and turning around with the eyes still closed, as if that will make a safe shield.

Alright, this isn't your first rodeo, your brain's favorite hobby surely is playing tricks to scare the hell out of you. Taking a deep breath to relax once again, choosing to be delusional to forget everything has to be the best option right now.

What about if the sounds are because a stalker helplessly in love with you just broke into your house? A good night kiss on the forehead sounds lovely, maybe the dark romance or Tumblr posts are affecting your brain already but why care? Cuddling to sleep with someone that loves you unconditionally sounds like a perfect situation, you wouldn't really mind your sleeplessness if you could have that.

Although the normal will be calling the police, why do so if it's not a threat? In your mind, you picture your perfect obsessive s/o, no need to worry about being cheated on if the only thing in his eyes is you, no need to worry about being too much, no need to worry about his feelings ever fading away, isn't that perfect? Yes, it may come with some disadvantages like everything, but nothing you can't handle, you just need to love them, and they will be happy on a daily basis.

As you smile because of your silly fantasies while looking 'asleep' on the outside, you hear an even more unexpected sound. . . a whispering.

“oh, are you having a good sleep? It worries me how long it takes you to sleep every night, it's gonna end up being awful for your health. Maybe it will be better if I start using sleeping pills on you? You always do so much, you need a good rest, my cherry”

You stay still, unable to think what to do, a light but sweet smell invades your nostrils. Does this count as manifestation? Why is he already calling you by a pet name?

“My lovely cherry, my heart ache when I think about how exasperating must feel to hear the constant naging of those who don't really care about at least try empathize, if only I could help with something, I won't think it twice”

Feeling a gentle caress on your hair makes you wonder, this doesn't feel bad at all. Common sense screaming that you need to worry but the warm feeling of his touch disperse that though faster than you're willing to admit.

“Mmm, maybe my desires are taking over my brain already? But I think a perfect medicine for you will be if you snuggle in my embrace, I promise to have the right temperature for you to be comfy all night… if you just let me kiss that addictive face of yours, it will be enough payment for even my soul if you wish to have it”

His voice… sounds familiar, do you know him?

Even if you recognize that self-preservation should be a top priority, it's hard to care when his voice is this honeyed, using the exact words that attract you like a bee as if he can read your mind. As you feel a faint kiss on the top of your head, you start to ask yourself…

Is bad manners not to reply when someone speaks to you, isn't it? Or maybe it's better to keep pretending to sleep to see what he usually does?

Decisions decisions…

sorry for any misspellings or weird sentence structure ❣

images from pinterest

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copperbadge · 2 days

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Hey Sam! Long-time fan of your writing here. I read Six Harvests a couple of weekends ago and absolutely loved the casual mysticism vibes.

Possibly a weird question, but — what are your thoughts on folk music? I feel like you might vibe with Carter & Grammer’s discography. Carter’s lyrics have a lot of Southern Magical Realism energy. “Tillman County”, “Ordinary Town”, and “Flowers of Evangeline” spring to mind.

Somewhat relatedly, there’s a seriously spooky song called Аделаида (“Adelaide”) by a Soviet band called Aquarium. There isn’t a great translation available, sadly, but it’s about two people in a house who hear the North Wind knocking at the window. The narrator is telling his companion not to worry — the Wind is his friend, and he’s come to clear a path in the sky for the rising of a star named Adelaide — but there’s some seriously witchy vibes. There’s a great bit where the narrator goes, “the pulse you keep hearing — / that’s the scythe striking stone”, which is creepy as hell? But also the North Wind seems largely benevolent, despite being Very Powerful — “he cradles us into his palms”, etc. In any case, I feel like this has some conceptual overlap with the church in Six Harvests that I thought you might appreciate. It’s also a really gorgeous-sounding piece of music, especially with headphones.

Oh yes, I'm very familiar with them! Tillman County and Crocodile Man were both on my regular playlist rotation for years, and Hey Ho and Cat Eye Willie were frequent guests as well. While I wasn't specifically thinking of Carter and Grammer when I wrote Six Harvests it's undeniable that they and other folk artists like them heavily influenced the writing of it in general.

I had a listen to Adelaide and it is very atmospheric. Because of the way I experience music (I guess most people get mental images with music, but the aphantasia means I don't) I tend to lean very heavily towards English-language songs with a narrative, especially when they're slower like Adelaide is. I don't think it'll go into the music library, but it's cool to hear about and I do love the "scythe striking stone" as a poetic concept.

If folks want to listen, I found a pretty good live performance with English subs. I don't know how accurate the subs are, since they translate "scythe striking stone" as "diamond hitting diamond", but the gist comes through, I think.

youtube

#jimin-nothing-stronger #music

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in1-nutshell · 2 days

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Maxima meeting Team Bee

SFW, Platonic, Cybertronian reader

RiD 2015

Maxima was not having a good time.

She had been searching for Bumblebee non-stop after he went radio silent for the past couple of weeks.

Maxima had been looking all around, asking for favors, and taking long hours to find him.

Until she got a vision from her late father.

Optimus Prime.

She thought she had finally joined him in the Well because she felt her spark pulsing out of her chassis.

He looked just how he had when… when…

His booming voice reached her audials like a nostalgic song.

Her own voice constricted in her throat.

Optimus tells her to go to Earth to help Bumblebee and his team.

A portal opened in front of her.

Without a second thought, Maxima ran in.

She lands straight into a scrapyard.

Maxima carefully looks around the place for any sign of hostilities.

She finds her first one in the form of a giant green Dinobot.

Grimlock had just come over to this corner of the scrapyard to find something Sideswipe mentioned.

Which now thinking about, sounded made up.

He did notice the mysterious bot in the corner though.

Grimlock and Maxima stared at each other for a bit.

“Ummm… can I help you?”--Grimlock

Maxima shakes her helm a bit and points at her Autobot badge.

“Friendly.”--Maxima

Grimlock relaxes a bit seeing that it was a friendlier bot.

“And actually I could use some help.”--Maxima

“Oh okay! What do you need help with?”--Grimlock

“I’m looking for a friend of mine. I was told I could find him here.”--Maxima

Grimlock scratches his helm a bit.

“I don’t know too much about finding bots. BUT Fix-it might know! C’mon! I’ll even introduce you to the team!”--Grimlock

Maxima smiles at the infectious grin on the Dinobot.

“Lead the way… what’s your name?”--Maxima

“Grimlock! And yours?”--Grimlock

“Maxima.”--Maxima

“That’s a nice name.”--Grimlock

“So is yours.”--Maxima

The two talk and walk to what looked like the main area.

There were three bots and an orange minibot on a ship console that was partially buried in the mountain.

The three bots immediately pulled out their weapons seeing Maxima with Grimlock.

“Hey! Hey! She’s a bot like us!”--Grimlock

“And how do you know she isn’t just lying?”--Strongarm

Maxima squints her optics a bit at Strongarm.

“Now why do you look familiar…”--Maxima

Drift steps forward.

“What is your reason for being here?”--Drift

“Grimlock was taking me to see a ‘Fix-it’.”--Maxima

“That’s me!”—Fix-it

Maxima looks over at the orange minibot.

“And why would you need to see Fix-it?”--Sideswipe

“She’s looking for a friend, right?”--Grimlock

“Yeah—Wait! Your Strongarm aren’t you?”--Maxima

“How do you know my name?”--Strongarm

“Team, we have a situation—”--Bumblebee

Everyone looks at Bumblebee.

Bee looks optics with Maxima.

“Maxima?”--Bumblebee

Maxima gives a smile while walking over to him.

“So, this is where you’ve been?”--Maxima

“Yeah—”--Bumblebee

Maxima slaps the back of his helm.

“Hey!”--Bumblebee

“That’s for leaving without letting me know.”--Maxima

Maxima pulls him in a denting hug.

“Thank the Primes you’re okay…”--Maxima

Bee, feeling a bit guilty, hugs back.

“…When did we get a new bot?”--Russel

“Sweet Solus Prime Bee! You already got found by humans again?!”—Maxima

Maxima makes a quick first impression with everyone on the team.

She makes it clear to Bee that she isn’t going to leave him high and dry.

Bumblebee is glad to have an extra pair of servos helping around.

She becomes his unofficial, official second in Command of the Team.

If he is being honest, he was a bit afraid of Maxima taking the reigns of the team and leading.

Maybe she would have a better chance at leading like her father.

“All I’m saying is that you could definitely lead the team.”--Bumblebee

“Yeah, if I must. I wouldn’t want your job, Bee.”--Maxima

“But you’re a natural leader, just like Optimus was.”—Bumblebee

Maxima pauses for a split second before turning back to her work.

“A natural leader? Yeah, that’s just called ‘Survive long enough for the original leader to come back.’ Bee, do you not think your team would riot if you gave me the command?”--Maxima

“Well…”--Bumblebee

Maxima gives him a stern look.

“You’re a good leader Bee—”--Maxima

“But I’m not Optimus!”--Bumblebee

Both look at each other in silence.

“Maxima… I didn’t mean--”--Bumblebee

“Bumblebee. No one wants you to be Optimus. Not Strongarm, not Sideswipe, not Drift, not Grimlock, and defiantly not me. We want you. You and all of your flaws, terrible jokes and racing stripes.”--Maxima

Bee looks down a bit.

Maxima pats his shoulders in reassurance.

“…I miss him too; I miss him so much Bee. But right now, I think he’d want me to talk some sense into you. So here it is. The leader who you are now, that’s what this team needs. I’ll step in when its needed and give advice, but I’m not going to lead your team, got that Bee?”--Maxima

“Yeah… Thanks for talking sense into my processor.”—Bumblebee

Maxima flicks his door wings a bit.

“Someone has to. Consider it my job to look after your bumbling behind.”—Maxima

Bumblebee swats one of Maxima’s tires.

“Hey!”--Bumblebee

It was quick work to get along with most of Team Bee.

Maxima, Strongarm and Sideswipe made regular sparing partners.

Who knew that a monster truck could have agility?

Not them apparently.

Sideswipe is a bit let down that he can’t patrol with Maxima due to her alt mode drawing too much attention.

But off-road patrols are the best ones yet.

Maxima lets him do stuff on patrol that Bumblebee doesn’t let him.

Strongarm respects Maxima for being a former team member of the legendary Team Prime.

Though there was a time where her respect was more on a ‘tolerance level’ than genuine respect.

Strongarm did think that Maxima was a little bit like Sideswipe but didn’t really vocalize it too much.

That was until Sideswipe tried to take advantage of Maxima’s lax and got in trouble.

Maxima was the first on the scene.

Maxima and the team looking at Grimlock stuck in a rock arch.

Bumblebee and Maxima turn back to Sideswipe with, both with arms crossed.

“Sideswipe. What you did was reckless and endangered not only yourself, but also Grimlock.”--Bumblebee

“It was not my fault that Grimlock fell in the rock! If he’d—”--Sideswipe

“Grimlock was your partner for patrol today, Sideswipe. You both are supposed to have each other’s backs, not just one. If we wanted solo patrols, we would have authorized that. You put yourself and Grimlock in danger when you started blaring the music too loud and got ambushed. Which brings us here.”--Maxima

Grimlock was stuck in his Dinobot mode and stuck on a rock arch.

“It could be worse. Anyways Grims fine, aren’t ya!”--Sideswipe

Grimlock groans a bit.

“Yeah I’m fine… when did we get another Drift… and Strongarm…”--Grimlock

Maxima looks at him unamused and turns to Strongarm.

“Strongarm, take Sideswipe back to the scrapyard, I got Grimlock. We’ll be taking the scenic route to get back before the sun comes up.”--Maxima

“What!?”--Sideswipe

“What?”--Strongarm

“You heard Maxima.”--Bumblebee

“Maxima, with all due respect, how are you going to get Grimlock out by yourself? Let alone get him back home in one piece?”--Strongarm

Maxima walks over to the arch and punches the rock at an angle.

The rock crumbles releasing Grimlock with a small thud.

Everyone was stunned by this.

“H-how—”--Drift

Maxima throws Grimlock over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and starts the opposite path.

She stops momentarily and turns back slightly.

“You better have a good apology when you get back to the scrapyard Sideswipe because I can get pretty creative with enforcement when I want to.”

Maxima and Grimlock disappear from view.

“…”—Team Bee

Sideswipe looks at Bumblebee.

“Did you know she was that strong?”—Sideswipe

Bumblebee shrugs almost looking smug.

“She’s wrestled with Predacons bigger than Grimlock, Sideswipe. And she isn’t kidding about the ‘creative enforcements. Either.”--Bumblebee

Bumblebee transforms and drives out.

“That didn’t answer the question!”—Sideswipe

“Did he mention Predacons?”—Drift

“… Lets just get back home.”--Strongarm

Strongarm defiantly looks at Maxima in a different light after that night.

She sees her as another mentor figure alongside Bumblebee.

Drift was a bit on edge with Maxima joining the team.

He did give the benefit of the doubt considering that Maxima was on Team Prime with Bumblebee during the war.

She couldn’t be bad if Bee tolerated her.

Drift truly began to open when his former master came back taunting him for his Decepticon past.

Maxima did not judge him or give him pity sympathy.

She earned some respect points from him that day.

The minis like to hang out with Maxima whenever they have a break.

She will come to the mini’s defense at any moment, something that he is grateful for.

Maxima shielding the mini’s with her frame from the Decepticon.

“Wrong move Con. Wrong move.”--Maxima

Maxima judo flips the Con and drop kicks him to Drift’s pedes knocked out.

“Where did you learn that kick?”--Drift

Maxima shrugged.

“Mulan.”--Maxima

“What’s Mulan.”--Drift

“…Russel! I have the perfect movie for tonight!”—Maxima

Grimlock liked Maxima from day 1.

She already seemed like a nice bot and boy was he right!

Of all the team, his favorite sparring partner was Maxima.

She could take in more hits and more time than most of the members of the team.

And did he mention how strong she was?

Sometimes Grimlock would start arm wrestling matches between the two of them on slower days in the scrapyard.

It was always fun to see how long each other would struggle to bring the other one down.

Bets have been made those days.

Bumblebee currently has the best luck in the betting pool for Maxima, which many don’t think its fair considering that he has known Maxima for longer, therefore, knows more about her than they do.

Drift and Sideswipe are tied at the bottom of the betting pool.

Grimlock also likes how Maxima refuses to hear the team treat him less.

That being said…

The team has learned that the duo sometimes cannot be left alone for too long.

“Hey, has anyone seen Maxima?”--Bumblebee

“Now that you’ve said it, I haven’t seen Grimlock either.”--Russel

“I’m sure they’re fine.”--Denny

BOOM!

Grimlock comes in running fast in.

“Coming through!”--Grimlock

Bumblebee quickly grabbed Denny and Russel and moved out of the Dinobot’s way.

“Grimlock!”--Bumblebee