two hundred forty-six times

He had resorted to avoiding Jazz.

If the Porsche was in a room, whether it be the main control room or the medbay, Prowl would always find an excuse to be in a completely different area. As long as he could help it. There were things that he couldn’t ignore, like Optimus' orders or a particularly nasty injury that couldn’t wait to be tended to. But at those times, he had something to focus on besides Jazz.

Jazz and his new habit of throwing every pick-up line Cybertron and Earth had combined at the second-in-command.

At first, it was a shock, to walk into the control center and be greeted by “If you were a laser, you’d be set on stunning.” A twitch had been enough to show the other Autobot that it had been enough, and Prowl was damned sure that Jazz had started stalking him after that! Everywhere he went, Jazz was waiting with a new and more ridiculous line every day. It became almost routine for the rest of the base, but Prowl had been trying with all of his circuits to find a way to avoid Jazz.

Needless to say, nothing had worked for more than two days. It was as if suddenly, Jazz had more excuses to be around Prowl than the Datsun had to get away from Jazz. That was why he was so surprised that his newest tactic had worked for so long. Today had ended the third day that Prowl had gotten away from Jazz and avoided his embarrassing lines. Or would he consider them jokes?

That's what bothered Prowl the most. He couldn’t figure out if Jazz was serious or not, not for the sake of his Spark. But something else bothered him. Maybe it had become so rudimentary for Jazz's unorthodox greetings to come up that Prowl had started to miss them.

Pausing a moment over the datapad in front of him, Prowl puzzled over that idea.
The gestures hadn’t been unwanted, Prowl actually found some of Jazz's lines to be quite amusing at times. Just the right thing to lighten up a rather dark mood. They were just... confusing. He couldn’t tell if they were meant to be for real or just a joke...

Sighing, Prowl shook his head. If it was enjoyable, why should he question his old friend? Surely, he meant him no true harm. And even if they were just jokes, Prowl didn’t mind. Did he?

Pushing that thought from his mind, Prowl stood up from his desk and moved out of his office. Most of the ark had retired to their rooms for the night, but if Prowl was correct, then Jazz wouldn’t have gone just yet. It amused and worried the commander how Jazz would stay up some nights, listening to some ridiculous Earth music, sometimes into the early mornings. It used to be daily that Jazz did that, until Ratchet found out and forced him to go recharge like the rest of them. But Prowl doubted that the medic had gotten the chance to tonight.

Moving around in the strangely deserted ark, Prowl thought that it must have been later than what he first thought. But the idea of checking his internal chronometer, did not click, since the next turn he made put him in the closest vicinity he'd been to Jazz in what seemed like forever. ‘Illogical; it's been three days since I’ve been this close to him.’ Then why did it seem like it had been forever? Brushing the thought aside, Prowl continued to move towards Jazz, who was too caught up in his midnight music to notice Prowl. Using that and the knowledge that Jazz could in fact hear someone when they were close enough to his audio receptors, Prowl leaned forward, his chest nearly touching Jazz's back.

“I think you could be an integral part of my project life cycle.”

It had to have been the lamest thing Prowl had ever heard himself say, ever heard anyone say, but it did its job in catching Jazz's attention.

Prowl knew when Jazz had turned his radio down, if not off, and waited patiently for the other commander to turn around. When he did, the Datsun was sure that he was the last person Jazz expected to be standing there.

Slowly, like the picture of a flower blooming I slow motion, the confused look on the Porsche’s face faded into a smile, and then, a laugh. And it felt good to make him laugh. What happened next was something that Prowl had been expecting and then again, not.

As Jazz leaned closer to let their lips touch, Prowl didn’t feel himself move away. Instead, he accepted the rather awkward kiss, even if it only lasted a few seconds.
Once Jazz had pulled back, Prowl's circuits finally put together what his Spark had known the entire time. “How long'd it take ya?” Jazz's grin remained in place as he teased the other leader, and Prowl responded honestly.

“About the two hundred forty-sixth line.”