Archive of Our Own ^beta

Having the night off on game day… What could be better? Nothing, as far as Eject was concerned. True, Blaster and his brothers were on night shift, but that wasn’t gonna stop him from enjoying the game with his friends. He’d gotten all his work done early, somehow managing to stay on task despite his processor buzzing excitedly at the prospect of watching the first real game of the season later that night. He really hoped his brother Rewind wouldn’t later find that any of his important files had been replaced with baseball footage, at least.

He had chosen to wear his matching set of custom jersey and bottoms - he insisted that it wouldn't be right to wear one without the other, no matter how much Steeljaw and Ramhorn teased him about the shorts. As he made his way down the long corridors of the Ark, Red Alert and Inferno came into view.

“Red!! ‘Ferno!! Game day!!!”

Squeezing past Inferno and the head of security, the little cassette sprinted excitedly towards the warm glow of the rec room - but not before nearly making Red Alert jump out of his plating by scrambling across his legs like a turborat.

“Yea, we heard,” Inferno said, trying his best to keep Red Alert from popping a fuel line.

Disregarding them, Eject sprinted down the hall and skirted the corner then practically sprang through the doorway to the Rec Room. The room was home to everything a mech could want to keep them entertained during peacetime: Energon dispensers, game tables, a cabinet full of various board games, cards and even a small bar in the corner. Eject’s favorite, though, was mounted high up on the wall; it was a big beautiful screen that was supposed to be a backup for Teletraan, but was rarely used these days for anything other than movie and video game nights.

He wasted no time in launching himself onto the couch closest to the screen and colliding with another Autobot in the process. Another minibot to be exact.

“TOUCHDOOOOW-Woah, sorry Bee!”

“Aha, no worries, ’Ject. I heard you coming a mile away. Sweet jersey, by the way,” Bumblebee replied.

“Thanks!” said Eject, as he untangled himself from the yellow VW bug and helped him to his feet.

”I was just taking a bit of a break from helping Grapple and Hoist set up for today’s game. We’ve got plenty of snacks - even after the terror twins did an early raid.” Bumblebee ended the sentence with an expression of annoyance.

At the sound of “snacks” a long, excited gurgle emitted from Eject’s tank. He rubbed at it gingerly.

“Woah, think my tank is all charged up too!”

Bee chuckled. “Take a look at the spread!”

”I’ll grab a plate for you!” Promised Eject.

Before Bumblebee could even finish, Eject had bounded over to the snack table. Bee wasn’t kidding, it was packed with all kinds of cybertronian desserts… There were a few newly-invented ones cooked up from Earth’s resources, too. Weren't they lucky, that their latest scouting mission brought back enough energon for this? It was a rarity, and he was totally going to take advantage of it. He hadn't even taken his morning ration in preparation for the glorious spread before him.

A stupendous array of confections was laid out: energon doughnuts and cubes, dense oil cake, aluminum sticks, cobalt-covered nails and screws, ingot flakes, ore squares slathered in petrolatum… It all made his tank let out another embarrassingly loud whine.

“You should get that checked out, Eject.”

Well, it was nice to see Gears had made it. Eject saw on the schedule that the poor minibot had mountain scouting duty this morning, and given how much Gears loathed the organic planet (or at least how much he said he did) it couldn’t have been a good day for him.

“Aheh, I’m just hungry, Sourball. Been saving my tank for today.” He gave his grumbling middle a pat.

“Who’s gonna save your tank from you though?” Chided Gears.

Eject ignored the comment in favor of strutting over and picking up a plate. The cassette got right to heaping it with a plethora of treats. “You sure you don’t want any of this? Look at this oil cake! I think those are copper shavings!”

Gears looked the table over. “Primus, I think Sparkplug provided the screws… Most of this is gonna upset my tank… I’ll stick to the rust sticks.” He sighed drearily.

“C’mooon, Bee is waiting.” Eject tugged excitedly on Gears’ arm, leading him away, as he miraculously balanced two plates chock-full of food and two drinks, which teetered on his shoulders. Poor Gears was cut short from meticulously picking out the best looking sticks.

“Hey, look who I found sulking by the treat table!” Eject said as he passed Bee his plate.

“Gears! Had a fun time outside today?” Asked Bumblebee.

“I know you are joking, Bee, but those woods are no joke. A marten crawled inside my engine block the other day. Do you know how much organic gunk I had to clean out of my… Anyways, I just want to sit and do nothing for the rest of the day.” Gears flopped in the seat next to Eject and made himself comfy.

Autobots slowly trailed in, some fans of the American sport and some just happy to be around others in a recreational and amicable environment. It was hard not to get wrapped up in the sport alongside excitable Eject.

Bee munched happily on his own energon cube, enjoying the game as much as he could - which wasn’t much, given he wasn’t all that well versed in the rules of football. “So like, how do we know when they score a point..?”

Bee turned to see Eject demolishing a rather large energon doughnut - one with creamy nitrate filling no doubt. The cassette exhaled with an air of playful exasperation, taking another large bite of his nitrate pastry before continuing.

“Primus Bee, what’d you do without me?”

The cassette mumbled around a piece of doughnut, which caused a few stray crumbs to fall out of his mouth. Eject blushed and snapped his face shield up, hurriedly gulping down the rest of his glazed confection.

Bee had a moment's respite before his friend launched into an explanation that the yellow bot was hardly able to wrap his processor around. He didn't mind; it made Eject happy. Gears saw Bee’s confusion and stepped in, pointing at a group of humans, who looked way larger than Gears knew they actually were.

“Uhh, who are they?”

“Those scary big guys? The quarterbacks.There’s Jeremy Wikenspooner, he’s got the most tackles in the country-”

“Feh. They don’t look so tough.” Oh. Brawn. Of course Eject’s blissful infodump about his favorite thing in the whole world couldn’t last.

Bumblebee greeted the macho minibot. “Brawn! Here to cheer on the Sea Eagles?”

“I’m here for the free chow.” He grumbled, already helping himself to a generous amount of energon gels from Gears’ plate. Brawn then smushed himself between Gears and Eject and propped his feet up on the table in front of them.

“Well they’re as tough as humans come, anyways.” Eject pouted, feeling defensive. He reached for his engex to keep himself from saying anything that would have Brawn send him flying into the side of the room. He took a swig and pulled a face. The drink was strong and stung on the way down - it wasn’t the sweet variety he’d hoped it was. Eject heard the trickling gurgle of fluid going to his empty tank. Eject nudged Bee and Gears to get their attention as he grabbed a few energon goodies from their plates. The cassette proceeded to plop a couple sweet cubes into the bright pink mix before crushing them up with a rust stick. There. Palatable. “One of the more useful things Brawn taught me.”

“I’d teach you more if Ratchet didn’t climb up my tailpipe for it.” Grumbled Brawn.

Finally feeling situated, Eject reclined back against the couch, glancing up at the endless display of pre-game commercials.

His tank gave a yearning groan, it wanted more. He wanted to save the rest of his plate till the game started but… The real game would be on soon, and a few snacks to pass the time wouldn't hurt.

So, unshielding his face, he promptly dug in.

He started with a handful of energon gummies that, while tough to chew, supplied pleasant bursts of tartness when bit into. Some he didn’t bother chewing, since the smooth texture of them whole felt nice sliding down his throat.

GluurrrRp~

His stomach sang its praises for getting sustenance. Noshing his way through lustrous silver coating gummies to get at the creamy center only whetted his appetite for more. Optics gleaming and mouth drooling as he moved onto his slice of cake.

Using his fork to slice into the thick wedge of oil cake, his intake watered at the gooey oil trickling out. He made sure to gather some shiny copper shavings from the top in his forkful. He had to be quick; the oil from the cake was messy, threatening to drip down his fork as he brought it to his face.

The first bite he savored, swilling the slick oil from the moist cake around with his tongue before tilting his head back and feeling it slowly drop down his esophageal tube. Oh, that was heavenly. This is what they should be selling at baseball stadiums, Instead of those processed… dog things. Maybe one day when Autobots are better integrated into human society...Eject went in for another bite, but he realized that the oil smudged across his mouth had also dripped down his fork onto his fingers. Gears cringed as Eject cleaned them off, his little tongue darting around his digits searching for the rich oil.

Oh, drat, now the stupid oil was cascading down his arm. Well, he’d better clean that up too -

“Okay, please stop, Eject. Here’s a napkin. You’re gonna make Gears cry.” Eject let Bumblebee clean him off with only a few embarrassed grumbles about how he was as bad as Steeljaw.

The rest of the slice was quickly finished off, a noticeable weight being added to his tank with it. More engex chased it happily down his gullet, washing away the sweet coating at the back of his intake.

He worked his way through the meal, tank gradually inching out to accommodate each new addition of food it was being given. Especially after downing a gelled hydrocarbon square with bentonite powdering, which was known to swell in the tank. It was so tasty that Eject couldn’t help himself to a few.

He idly munched sweet-crusted ingot flakes, too engaged in the game and laughing with his friends to realize he was mindlessly inhaling his food - that was, until his fork scraped the empty plate.

Hm, that was fast.

But a commercial break was the best time to refill one's plate.

A gurgly twinge in the bottom of Eject’s tank had begun to make itself known. Nothing a good belch or two couldn’t remedy, right?

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The game had started an hour ago and was in full swing.

“TOUCHDOOOO-hic-OOOWN!!”

Eject himself was in full swing too.

Bee gave a concerned glance at Eject slamming down his third shot. “Woah Eject, maybe pace yourself a little there? Dont wanna get sick.”

“Whaaaat? C‘mon Bee, don't be such a buzzkill. You sound like my brohhther.”

Bee looked amused. “Which one?”

”..All of them. Cept Ramhorn. Hic! Anywaays, I can just do this…”

Buuuuuwauurup!

Eject pounded at his chest until he had a belch roll out, which was rewarded with some cheers from the other side of the room.

Eject shot Bee a lopsided grin, sighing with release. “Ahhhhhh, see? That made some room!” He patted his stomach, emphasising his point.

“If you say so…” Said Bee.

At this point, Eject felt pleasantly stuffed and a bit buzzed. His gaze shifted from football to some antimony wedges sitting tantalizingly on his plate.

He really should take advantage of all this food, though. For all he knew they’d go back to rationing next week, whether due to Wheeljack ‘borrowing’ a ton of energon, or to one of the lambo twin’s ‘epic pranks’, or some other nonsense.

So, having alleviated some pressure, Eject promptly started stuffing his face again.
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First quarter, second quarter, a few touchdowns. Autobots came and went. More engex shots, more plates of food… The night stretched on and Eject had become noticeably less enthused - though not because his team wasn’t winning.

After he got up for the third plate… Fourth plate… This isn’t baseball, here.

After the fourth plate his middle felt restricted and heavy. Eject gazed down to see that his jersey was riding up his middle, the fabric stretched taut by his stomach. The cassette’s face suddenly felt hot behind his face shield as he quickly glanced back at the sitting area.

Had the others noticed?

Despite his incredible fullness and embarrassment, his tank still felt it needed something. Maybe a drink to wash it all down with? More energon? He was rather parched after that oil cake…Yeah, that might work. Drown all that food.

He heard Rewind’s voice in the back of his processor already chiding him. He grabbed another full glass and made his way back to the couch, ignoring the way his stuffed insides roiled.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gears groaned, rubbing his own middle gingerly. “I-urrp… ’scuse me, I don’t think those rust sticks agreed with me.” Eject’s tank gave a sickly churn at that.

Don’t think they’re agreeing with me either.

Turns out, glugging back another two glasses of engex isn’t the best thing for an already struggling tank.

“Nothing agrees with you, Gears.”

To Eject’s horror, he could now feel his armor seams pulling tightly against his abdomen. Not to mention that there had been multiple eyes drifting over to him for the past half hour and some not so quiet comments. It wasn’t exactly the kind of attention he wanted…

“Lil fella is over there eating his weight in energon goodies.”

“Scrap, I’ve never seen a minibot pack away so much…”

“Is he going to be alright? Should someone go check on him? Get Blaster before he makes himself sick?”

At least it's halftime…

Eject wasn’t all that into music, unlike his creator or, say, Jazz. He enjoyed the baseball jingles but it wasn’t his style. More than a few mechs seemed to recognize the music being played at half time, though he wasn’t so sure. Blaster was always making the cassettes listen to the “oldies” radio station (Eject didn’t enjoy it much, though the ‘Beat-els’ were quite good). If he were here he’d really enjoy this… Chuck Berry, was it?

The cassette was too preoccupied to keep track of it, focused on somehow keeping in his middle calm without being too suspicious.

A sick-sounding gurgle of a belch squeezed out of the nauseous minibot. Eject clapped his hands over his mouth, but it was too late. It didn’t escape the notice of some of the other Autobots in the room... Even some of the larger ones.

”Howdy ‘Ject, enjoying the game? Made any big bets?” Asked Ironhide, a red Nissan vanette, in his strong accent, looking down at the gaggle of minibots. Despite his appearance and how gruff he usually seemed, Ironhide was a really nice guy, Eject felt safe around him. Spike might call him a ‘dad friend’.

“Hi, H-Hide, not today-“

BURRrrGLLLLGUHLLLL

Unfortunately it seemed Eject’s tank was more concerned about digesting the mass of food in it than keeping his dignity intact. Suddenly flustered, Eject gripped his middle, attempting to shut it up. The action just made the tank seethe angrily under his palms and freed a giant gas bubble that had been festering for a while.

“Oh-BwwwraHHHHHUURP~”

That was loud.

What would usually be a huge relief only brought up the taste of energon - and not in a good way. Ironhide guffawed and gave the cassette’s shoulder a friendly clap.

“Better out than in! I think you’ve got Blaster beat with that one!”

Eject hid his face In his hands and groaned. Oh, yes, “dad friends” were also embarrassing. Brawn whistled at his gassy outburst and gave him a thumbs up.

His other friends weren’t much better.

All this attention towards his belly was not helping with the pain in the slightest. It was getting worse. Was he getting anxious indigestion? Only Rewind got that! It was beginning to become too much, he couldn't even focus on the game let alone feel excited about it anymore. He sunk deeper into the couch, gingerly rubbing at his bubbling middle, stuffed with too much engex and too many sweets.

“BlUgghh. I think… I think I ate too much.” Grumbled Eject.

“We noticed. What, that was only like three or four plates you had?” Replied Brawn.

“Most of us aren’t bottomless pits like you are, Brawn.”

Brawn snorted back. “I take that as a compliment.”

“Will you even be able to fit in Blaster’s dock like that?”

Eject only seemed to sink further into the couch at each comment, too sick for a rebuttal. The yellow minibot glared at the other two in a “you’re not helping” way. Bumblebee frowned back in sympathy at Eject.

“Hey, your tank sounds pretty upset… Do you need a belly rub…?” Bee reached out, his hand ready to help his friend.

Belly rub?? Here?? In front of everyone? Eject appreciated the offer, he really did, but it would be way too embarrassing in such a public space. The cassette spluttered, his hands waving and his faceplate heating up.

“H-heh! Thanks but no thanks, Bee! I’m alright!”

Perhaps Gears didn’t catch this, because while Eject was blushing at Bee’s forwardness he reached over and gave Eject’s plumped belly a firm pat. It slorshed noisily in response. Eject hiccuped and muffled a hearty belch with a fist.

“Hic-muurrrppb… H-Hey! What did I just say?! Foul!! Foul!”

Gears had the decency to look sheepish at least. “Do you need to go to Ratchet?”

Oh, oh, no. He couldn’t go there… Not when Ratchet was dealing with patients who needed actual serious help: broken turbines, severed limbs, super-glued fingers… He couldn't walk in there all hey doc I’m suffering from self-Inflicted gastro intestinal issues I’ll just take up this berth right here Is that okay? Oh Skyfire just came in with grave injuries? Sorry he needs to wait my tummy needs help now.

One of Blaster’s units in the medbay because of a tummy-ache. He didn’t know if his pride could take a blow like that. At this point, though, he figured he probably deserved it.

“Yeah, the Hatchet would like that. Waaachet? Could I get some teaaa or a tummy wuuub?” Teased Brawn.

Bumblebee was quick to support Eject. “Shut up, Brawn. Eject, Ratchet cares about us. He deals with all kind of medical situations, please, if you're not feeling well you should go, it could be a blockage-”

“Nope, nonono… Sorry, Bee.“ Eject shook his head and gesticulated wildly with his hands, fumbling for an answer. “I heard Slingshot is in there getting his fuselage repaired.” If that jerk was playing football he’d be benched within the first inning for unsportsmanlike conduct. “You know he’d tell the rest of his flight-hazard team...”

Gears mumbled under his breath. “I think you’re overestimating Slingshot’s ability to think about anyone but himself-” .

Suddenly, another throbbing cramp tore through Eject’s middle with a squelching churn and he let out a whine he couldn’t stifle. Even Brawn looked concerned.

The overwhelming urge to be comforted and held, no matter how embarrassing or childish was there, as he bit back another whimper. Was it too late to take Bumblebee up on his belly rub offer? He wanted out. If Blaster were here he’d make it better. Blaster… His spark pulsed with longing. “T-timeout, timeout… I gotta go, guys...”

“Gotta go where?”

Eject stumbled off the couch, trying to ignore the crushing feeling of dragging himself away from the game and his friends. “Just s-somewhere else…”

Bumblebee stared after the retreating cassette. He waited until Eject was out of sight before getting up. ”I’m gonna go check on him.” The yellow minibot turned to the entrance of the rec room and nearly collided with the knee joint of a certain communications officer. Impeccable timing.

“Woah sorry, Bee! Almost took you out!” Blaster looked over the trio, noticing Gears looked pretty miserable, which was usual, but he still had to shove down the urge to dock him snuggly in his chest. His optics scanned the room, searching for his little cassette. “Is Eject with you guys?”

Three sets of optics blinked up at him.

Bee piped up. “About that, Blaster…”

“What’s up, lil B?”

Brawn interrupted with a sneer. “Your little sports fanatic just left. Think he’s got a severe case of tummy ache.”

Bee elbowed him roughly and hissed. “Brawn! Don’t be rude.”

Blaster noted the demolition expert’s tone and gave Brawn a stern look that promptly shut him up. Even Brawn knew it wasn’t smart to mess with a superior officer who was also a notorious papa bear.

Blaster vented a heavy sigh and rubbed his face. “Oh, Eject… He was really excited for the game tonight… Is he okay? Did he go to the medbay?”

Bumblebee started nervously fiddling with his tires. “I’m not sure, but he wasn’t big on going to Ratchet. Can you please go check on him, Blaster?”

“Course. He probably made a beeline back to our room. Thanks for letting me know.”

With a farewell wave to the minibots Blaster turned on his heel and went off to find his normally-peppy cassette.
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Eject waddled carefully down the halls, the pep in his step completely extinguished. He was holding his aching middle, trying to keep his insides from sloshing against the walls of his tank. The goal was to make the trek back to their shared habsuite. As much as he wanted comfort, he didn’t want to come across his siblings or creator and worry them.

Feeling his middle through the soft fabric of the jersey, he noticed his belly pressing uncomfortably against his shorts’ waistband… Had it gotten bigger?

He hadn’t even been eating anymore! This sucked… Maybe it'd feel better by the time the third-quarter started…?

His tank vehemently shot that hope down, clenching around his meal and causing the minibot to hunch over and feverishly nurse his middle. Needing a break, he hunkered down in the shadow of some heavy machinery.

Venting a shaky huff, he shimmied his shorts below his middle and pulled up his jersey so that his belly had some free room. It sat in his lap, looking utterly ridiculous on the rest of his small and usually skinny frame. His tank gurgled ominously.

“Owh… ow…”

He rubbed tender circles into his middle, feeling just how tightly his plating was pulled outward. He could even feel the gentle pulse of his spark through his stretched tank.
He was positively stuffed.

As he rubbed, another full belch rumbled up and out his throat, sadly not helping much with the pressure. His overworked insides felt like a repeated cluster of collisions. His attention was diverted away from the pain by heavy footsteps and a familiar thrum filling his spark. He had a split second to react before-

“Buddy, what’s going on? You feelin alright?”

“Wha? B-Blaster!” I thought you were on shift till late!” Realizing how stupid he probably looked hiding, Eject scrambled to his feet, praying his stomach didn’t bulge quite so noticeably standing up. His tank wasn’t happy about the sudden shift and released a grumbly groan.

grrrgguuurrllll

Eject tugged at the hem of his stretched jersey, attempting to conceal his pot belly...With very limited success. As relieved as part of him was to see Blaster, it would still be embarrassing for his creator to see that he ate himself into gastric distress like a new spark who still needed supervision.

It was now clear he was an adult who still needed supervision.

“Got Jazz to cover the rest of my shift, wanted to catch some of the game with you.”

Eject felt a pang in his chest at that. “Awh, big guy…”

Before Eject could fumble out an apology for causing trouble, he stopped as Blaster tilted his head down towards the cassette. He was giving him an odd look, narrowing his optics slightly as if to see him better.

“What’s this?” Blaster grinned, pointing curiously in the direction of his cassette’s middle.

Momentary excitement replaced the knot of pain in his tank. “Oh! That's my custom Sea Eagle jersey! Sparkplug was able to get it made to my size, which wasn’t a huge deal since I’m not much larger than him but it’s more my shoulders you know-“

“Heh heh, you showed me this morning, bud- it looks radical. I meant this-''

Blaster reached down and gently nudged the jersey up, revealing most of the cassette’s bowed-out middle. He gave the side of it a kind rub with his thumb. Eject immediately slumped into the touch while its heavy contents gave a rich churn. Eject raised a hand to muffle a deep belch.

“O-oh…’Scuse me…” Oof. He felt so full.

Blaster laughed at Eject’s mixed expression of sleepiness and contentment at the touch, his visor pinched slightly upwards.

”Ya look a bit like Carly when she was due to have Danny!”

Oh. Well, now Eject just looked annoyed. He straightened up, crossed his arms and huffed indignantly through his vents. “What? Nuh-uh.”

He did not look like a pregnant organic… Did he? Oh Primus he probably did.

“It's a food baby.”

“Blaster!”

He swatted the boombox’s coddling hand away, but couldn’t keep a smile from cracking across his features, visor flashing brightly. Blaster hid an equally huge grin behind his hand. Eject’s stomach immediately missed the gentle and caring pressure and expressed this with a long and unhappy gurgle. Eject’s hands grasped at his “food baby” and tried to stifle the noise. Blaster’s expression softened into something like paternal concern.

“Buddy, yer gut is complaining more than Ramhorn when he found out he had a shift with Mirage tonight. Need a bit of a time out?”

“Y-yeah… it really hurts…” Eject crumpled in on himself before a warm and gentle hand rested on his back and rubbed in soothing circles.The larger Autobot then kneeled down to his cassette’s level.

“Do you want in?” Blaster motioned to open his deck. As nice as it would feel to have Blaster’s systems lull him into a deep sleep to end this whole day, he just felt too damn bloated. He’d probably just get sick all over Blaster’s insides anyways.

“N-nah I feel too full for that… Could you just… Carry me...?” Eject said with an uncharacteristic amount of meekness.

“Course, little man. Give me a second here.”

Blaster brought a hand up to his head, paging. “Optimus? Might be a bit late, I got a windy and slightly sloshed cassette to tend to. No, no it's fine.Thanks, sir. Alrighty, see ya bright ‘n early.”

Eject leaned his weight against Blaster’s leg, bulbous stomach sagging. He looked more sheepish than before.

“Why'd you tell Optimuuus..? M’ not windy…” Now his internals felt hot too. Probably from embarrassment. A blushing stomach… Or maybe it was just indigestion.

Blaster chuckled. “Not windy yet. I didn’t say which cassette it was and it's the big man, he doesn’t judge.” A whine was all the boombox got in response.

“Awwh, alright, c’mere. Let's go.” Blaster scooped his cassette up carefully, the new weight on his cassette’s frame not causing any issue. The red Autobot’s EM field pulsed comfortingly and Eject met the field with longing, curling himself into Blaster’s chest, soaking up the contact.

Being close to his creator's spark was calming, even as his aching tank burbled against the smooth glass of the deck. Memories of when he was a younger spark seeped back to him: Blaster carrying him to bed after staying up late binging the sports channel or passing out after a particularly exhausting battle with those decepti-jerks.

Times didn’t change too much did they?

Blaster felt the little tank rumble against him. “Must’ve been quite the feast. What’d ya eat?”

“Everything..!” Eject nearly sobbed as his middle cramped.

Blaster glanced down at the form in his arms and crooned in sympathy. “Everything, buddy? That’ll do it.” He Instinctively thumbed at Eject’s middle, hoping to alleviate some pain. As Blaster rounded the corner a pair of mechs came into view, Eject squirmed in his hold. Blaster smiled and nodded at them, being mindful to shield his cassette from view-an easy task given his size.

“Did you eat anything beforehand? Your morning energon?”

Eject’s head slowly descended into his frame as he guiltily picked at the seams of Blaster’s deck. “No…”

Blaster made a thoughtful noise. This wasn’t the first time that Eject had overindulged. His first time trying high-grade engex? Oof. One way ticket to sick town. Population: one cassette. Mirage wouldn’t speak to him for a week after the incident. How was he supposed to know the towermech just had a new wax job? The way he yelled at his cassette too. Mirage was lucky he didn’t show him what an actual ruined wax job was. Jerk could stick it up his gear shaft.

Whatever. He had Eject to focus on right now. Blaster knew his little guy would settle right down after a belly rub and being able to rave to someone about his longtime hyperfixation.
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The room was honestly a mess, not too surprising considering that it was shared with five different mechs. All of varying cleanliness habits. Multiple card binders, each dedicated to a particular sport and stacked towers of cards waiting to be organized littered the floor. There were dents and gouges in the wall from Ramhorn.They really needed to invest in a scratching post for him and Steeljaw. Empty energon containers had been slowly accumulating in a corner, too, until Blaster could find the energy to return them to storage.

The worst was Steeljaw’s mess; he’d taken to collecting anything with a smell he liked and concealing them in the room. One never knew when they’d come across a pine branch or entire bush stuffed in the covers of the bed. Carly Witwicky had given him a bunch of perfume after he’d mentioned how much he liked the smell of her “essence”. So now everything in the room smelled like “essence of Carly.”

Blaster had fully given up trying to get his creations to clean - the only cassette who cared about the state of the room was Rewind. Eject and Ramhorn only added to the chaos in the room and the former was always able to find a way to weasel himself out of tidying up until inspection day.

Even then, he usually just crammed all his sports memorabilia in Rewind’s cubby.

Is it any wonder that Tracks never wanted to stay over Blaster’s place?

Still, the mess made the habsuite their own, something neither of them had back on Cybertron.

Eject dared to peek out from between Blaster’s arms. Oh, thank Primus none of his siblings were here. Ramhorn and Steeljaw were taking the night shift, and Rewind… Eject didn’t actually know where Rewind was. Probably doing nerd stuff. Either way, he didn’t need to have his brothers see him in this pathetic state. Blaster knelt beside their shared berth and carefully deposited his cassette onto it. Eject immediately rolled onto his side and cradled his full middle; the cramps were kicking in again.

“Hic!” So were the hiccups.

“Do you want some tea? Might help a bit.” Asked Blaster.

Eject responded with a sickly belch.

“Bluur-HIC!-ghhhh… No thanks, B… I don’t wanna put anything else in here right now-hiCUp-ugh…!”

A few more high-pitch peeping hiccups popped out. Under better circumstances Blaster would’ve thought his cassette’s hiccups cute… Okay, they were still cute. He didn’t like that they were paired with his cassette's discomfort, though. “Just let me know, aight, buddy?.”

“Okay…”

Eject easily slipped off the constricting shorts, flinging them across the room, aiming for his cubby. They missed and flopped unceremoniously onto the floor.

His fullness must’ve been messing with his aim.

Blaster sighed, walking over to pick them up. Eject huffed and palmed his middle while it groaned in appreciation. It felt marginally better without being restricted.

The jersey, however, was a totally different story. When Blaster turned back to his cassette he barked out a laugh. The poor minibot was a tangle of limbs and custom jersey. “Need some help there?”

“Naaah I got this-hiCkurp!… I got this… Hic!”

Even with a custom fit, getting into the jersey was easier than getting out of it. Those damn shoulders of his… The sports enthusiast struggled for a bit, almost falling off the bed before Blaster caught him in a large palm. One pitiful hiccup later and Eject allowed Blaster to free him from his jersey prison, after folding into cassette mode and being carefully wriggled out.

As soon as he was released, he crumbled back into robot mode, holding his stomach and looking worse for wear. “S-shouldn't have transformed…”

Cramps bloomed across his frame, stemming from the clump of undigested food in his guts. In the privacy and safety of Blaster’s presence, he allowed himself a pained whimper.

Blaster was folding up the clothing neatly when he heard it. “Oh, Eject, Shhh shh. I’m here.”

The communications officer climbed over onto the bed, being mindful of the minicassette. Eject reached for his creator, and was carefully pulled over his large lap. Blaster’s hand immediately rested on the problem area.

Under his hand, Blaster could feel just how tight and compacted it was. “Have you loosened your plating at all?”

“Not manually, no… It was already big enough and I didn’t wanna draw more attention to myself… ”

“Well, that’s somethin’ new.” Blaster quipped. “No worries, I’ll get it.”

Blaster reached for the capstan and pinch roller opening near Eject’s lower chest, right where the bulging belly started. The bloat made it tricky to reach the area, and was putting more pressure on the cassette’s torso cables. Eject tried to press his stomach down so Blaster could access them better, squeezing out a few loose belches in the process. Large digits brushed against his sides and thumbed into the seams, trying to find the clasps, when Eject’s frame suddenly jumped.

“You okay?” Asked Blaster. His field pulsed with worry, but quickly settled down when he realized what it was.

“T-tickles…”

“Ah, sorry. It's finicky. Almost got it.”

A click and whirr were heard before the pressure pad finally released. The minicassette’s belly surged out with a slosh. Cables and wires loosened, allowing his belly more breathing room.The mesh under his plating was stretched to its absolute limits, but it was finally freed from its constrictive confines. The room allowed for better internal movement and Eject’s tank let out a cacophony of digestion.

Blaster gaped at the distended gut of his cassette. “You haven’t happened to pick up basketball swallowing now have you? I’m surprised none of your rivets popped off…”

“That's not funnyyy…”

“And here I thought Ramhorn was the big eater. How’d ya fit so much in there?” Blaster stroked the tender mesh tummy.

“I liked all the food sooo m-hic!-much… I made it fit.”

Blaster felt the hiccup pulse through his cassette’s frame. “Well, mission accomplished. It’s certainly not liking you back though.” A warbling gurgle echoed out, agreeing with the communications officer.

“Nuh uh...”

“Would you like me to rub it some more?”

“Uh huh...”

The large Autobot pressed a heated palm down onto the stretched stomach and held it there, feeling Eject groan and melt under his hand. Blaster chuckled gently and started to rub, his hand nearly encompassing the entirety of Eject’s belly bulge. Blaster felt an abundance of activity going on in the cassette’s overfilled stomach, only amplified by his attentive touch. Strained gastric noises made it clear the tank was struggling to process its current load.

“Let's get some more belches outta ya first. Gas pains are no joke… Ahem, so I’ve heard from Ratchet.” Blaster rearranged the cassette so he was facing him and he was supporting the back of Eject with his other hand. He started gingerly kneading the cassette’s bloat paired with rubbing his back. while the cassette groaned, uncomfortable. ”And with how great your manners are I’m sure you’ve managed to swallow a fair bit of air with your snacking.”

“Manners are for ‘Wind.” Eject tried to force a belch, but was sorely disappointed as the gas sitting in his chest gurgled back down into his tank. Blaster took notice and tenderly rubbed over the spot that called out.

“Manners are for individuals who don’t want to end up with a gassy tank while missing their game.” He chided, giving a nudge to the gurgling belly for emphasis. “There’s a reason why your twin never has gastric issues.”

Anything Eject was going to retort with was interrupted by a massive gurgle from his insides, echoing off the metal walls of their habsuite. “Urrrrrrrrrrrrrp! O-owh.”

“So much noise for such a small thing, I think I know where he gets it…”

Another echoing burble.

“Awh, did Eject overwork you? He did? Is that why yer so grumbly?”

“Ughhh, Primus, Blaster…”

Eject took to staring at the ceiling, torn between feeling embarrassed by the tummy talk and secretly liking the attention. Even more silly was that his stomach was responding to him.

Blaster noted his cassette's embarrassment and eased up. “Aheh, Sorry. It couldn’t be helped.”

Blaster pressed his thumb into Eject’s side, working out a gas cramp. There were plenty of air pockets stuck inside, roiling around from Blaster’s pressing hand. He moved his fingers to give special attention to the underside of the swollen stomach, feeling for any tense spots. He patted the cassette’s back in encouragement until he felt a deep gurgle and a shifting of pressure under his hand. He then gave the side of the dense stomach a merciful squeeze.

“BwwwwhuuurrRrrrrRp!!!... Hic!”

The softest hiccup and sigh followed the expulsion of released air. Blaster rubbed his audio nub. “Nearly blasted my audios out!”

“S’what you get for baby-talking my tank.” Eject tried to snark, but sounded far too winded for it to carry any real bite. His tank sounded appreciative, grumbling with the release of air.

“I guess it is.” Blaster used his thumbs to work at more tight spots as his cassette lazily arched himself more into the touch.

“Hic! Man, I’m just glad football season is here finally, even if I couldn’t get through the first friggin game… Uhh maybe up here?” Eject guided Blaster’s large hand up to the apex of his swollen belly, prompting the boombox to knead there and over another air pocket-freeing another belch.

“Can’t win them all. How ‘bout you tell me about what you got to see from tonight’s game?”

Eject’s visor lit up and the dam broke.

The minicassette proceeded to unload all the knowledge anyone could possibly ever want to know about the sport. Blaster had heard this ramble endless times, but he was all too happy to ask questions and let his cassette go on about his favorite fixation. Blaster always tried to take interest in his cassette’s hobbies, as much as he didn’t always understand them.The fact that his cassette was feeling well enough to infodump about sports was fantastic news.

After a while, Blaster almost didn’t realize when a lazy silence fell upon them. He thought that maybe Eject might’ve dozed off due to the belly rub but then he felt a humming In the small chest compartment of his cassette.

A warm surge of fondness bloomed within him as he realized Eject’s tape reels were spinning lazily in contentment, in tune with his own. Oh, his cute little cassette. Blaster would grab any opportunity to shower his units in affection. He lifted up his cassette and tucked him under his chin, cradling him as he let his own tapes whirl loudly.

“Whuh…?”

“Your tape reels are happy! I love ya so much.”

At the sudden movement, Eject tensed before he felt a deep pocket of air work itself up his throat and release with a sonorous noise. Effectively interrupting the moment.

“Awh, I love you too - Baaahuuuuuurrrrrhaap!”

Blaster’s audios rang from the noise but he rubbed deeply into his cassette’s upper tank anyway, coaxing out as much gas as he could. When it ended, Eject huffed and rubbed his chest, feeling his tank’s pressure levels decrease immensely. Much better.

“Always knew you had a bit of musical talent in you.”

“You mean like the… hARrrp?”

“Heh! Always thought a brass instrument would be more your style. Though, a wind instrument would currently be more fitting.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the next hour, Eject’s belly softened under Blaster’s petting fingers. The tightness had eased, leaving Blaster with a very lethargic cassette. Digestive solvent had started to seep in, turning the tide of Eject’s attempts to surmount his meal. He could feel gentle gurgling and industrious churns of energon slush getting pumped from his tank into his intestinal tubes. The belly’s underside had become somewhat puffy due to all the newly produced gas. That would come out later, hopefully not while Eject was docked inside him.

Aside from the occasional cramp and airy belch being soothed out by Blaster’s working fingers, Eject’s insides were mostly all settled. A comfortable silence set in, but then an uncharastically small voice was heard.

“Sorry about tonight… We could be watching the game together and instead you’re here helping me with my stupid stomach.” Eject glared down at his middle, as if it somehow was his stomach‘s fault they were in this predicament.

The boombox gave his cassette a comforting squeeze. “Eject, I enjoy any time I get to spend with you or your siblings. No need to apologize. I’m only sorry you had to deal with such a painful tankache.” Blaster puffed out his chest in pride before continuing.

“You’re like your creator, you can get a little too ahead of yourself when you wanna have a good time! Gotta remember to pace yourself, though, you know how Rewind gets those awful processor aches when he overdoes it. And be nice to your stomach, it’s been through a lot tonight.” The larger Autobot rubbed into the underside of the softly grumbling stomach. “It’s been very good for all that you packed into it - got straight to digestin’!”

Eject pouted. “I guess I really haven’t been a team player to my belly… Stuffing it full then letting it do all the hard work.” His stomach piped up again, letting its opinion be heard. Eject seemed to drift into thought for a second, visor glazed over. “Has Rewind ever done something like this..?”

Blaster stroked his chin in mock thought, then proceeded to do a poor, yet unmistakable impression of the archivist. “That is confidential information.”

“Oh c‘mon old man- eep!!”

Blaster wriggled his thumbs into Eject’s swollen and sensitive sides, eliciting snorting giggles. “Old man? Some sass coming from someone who I know has the most ticklish little sides… I’m not even close to Kup’s age.”

“Ehehehheh! S-sthohohAhaap I’m ssorryeeheeE-”Eject twisted in Blaster's grip, trying to evade the teasing fingers.

Blaster toned the tickles down to light scritches and a soothing rub against the crest of Eject’s stomach before the poor middle got upset again.

Eject settled against Blaster’s open palm, residual giggles falling out of his vocalizer.

“Cheeky cassette. Now I know you’re feeling better. Do ya wanna catch the rest of the game?”

“Nah…Too comfy now…hrp!” He snuggled into Blaster’s palm, hugging onto a single finger. “Also... I think I’ve had enough of Brawn for the entire week.”

Blaster grinned at the cassette making himself right at home in his hands. “Don’t get too comfy now. Gonna have to head out in a minute. Sorry to say but you’re off limits from my deck for a day or two. I don’t want you hot boxing everyone in your sleep.”

“That was one time…”

“Well, I didn’t hear the end of it from your siblings, and I smelled like exhaust on my night out with Tracks. So. Keeping your stinky butt out ‘til then.”

Eject would’ve kept arguing, but the urge to yawn interrupted him, visor dimming in exhaustion. His tank starting to digest the lump of sugar and grease was finally taking its toll on the small Autobot.

“Sleepy?”

Eject made an unhappy noise as Blaster eased him off of his palm. The communications officer rummaged around for a few soft blankets (Steeljaw was always stealing them from the bed) to wrap the small cassette in. He piled a few pillows onto Eject, letting him get comfortable. When Blaster was done, he looked like a baby bird in an oversized nest. “Thanks, Blaster… Love you.”

Blaster leaned over and nuzzled the side of Eject’s head vent, chuffing lightly. He petted the cassette’s form in firm, warmstrokes while his stomach chugged along busily. The warmth and pressure pulled him deeper and deeper into his food coma…

“Night, my little sports star…” Said Blaster, softly.

----------------------------------------------------------💤🌙-------------------------------------------------------------

Eject was roused out of his food-induced coma by the habsuite door sliding open. Two pedes pattering against the floor… It could only be one of his brothers, probably coming to scold him.

“Eject? Are you here?”

He was still quite full, but now it was a comfy, warm kind of full that made him want to burrow deeper into his blankets and go back to sleep. Even now, his gut was talkative, although for a different reason. Pockets of gas that had been produced overnight were content on rolling through his lower tubes. It was a lot of energy for his smaller frame to process, especially lower grade “junk” fuel that didn’t convert cleanly… And as such there were a lot of… Gases produced.

“Eject? Ejeeeect.”

Maybe if he stayed quiet and hidden, the walking encyclopedia would leave...

His hopes were dashed as Rewind swung himself up onto the recharge slab, staring into the sea of blankets for his lost twin.

“You missed quite the game. I can’t believe that-”

Eject shot straight up.

“Don’t tell me who won!!”

“There you are.”

Eject realized his mistake and quickly burrowed back into his pile before his sibling could dig him out. Despite his courageous efforts, Rewind was able to pull back blankets to make sure he didn’t lose his twin in the comfy heap again.

Eject pouted and shoved his face in blankets after being tricked out of his cozy nest.

After a beat, the sporty cassette's middle emitted a thick gurgle, causing Rewind to go wide-eyed at the obscene noise before poorly stifling a giggle. ”Oh, you poor idiot… Blaster told me.”

Eject grumbled into his blanket ignoring the amusement in his brother’s spark. “Blaster said I looked pregnant. Organic pregnant.”

“Well, you kinda do.” Rewind eyed the round lump that was his brother's middle.

A groan.

“I’m kidding. It only looks about four or five months to me.” Rewind gave his twin's belly a playful pat.

A louder groan.

Eject pulled the blanket around himself and rolled over in a half-hearted attempt to escape Rewind’s teasing. His stomach gave a burbling slosh at the movement, pressure building, wanting to release.

Bluuuurougluuosssh…

“I don’t have to hold in my exhaust for you.“

Rewind gave a mock gasp of offense. “You’re threatening me with your gross aft fumes? After all I’ve done for you…”

Eject rolled back to face Rewind, optics wide in curiosity.

Rewind mirrored Eject’s expression in disbelief. “I recorded it for you, jerk. I can get it to you later today. I know it won’t be the same as live but I thought you’d like it.” Rewind gave his sleepy twin a scratch on the head.

“Lucky for you I'm an amazing brother, huh? I’ll even be extra amazing and give you till the end of the week to revert my files you replaced with Jackie Robinson highlights.”

The Eject-shaped lump emitted a noise, smothered by the soft layers.

Rewind, being patient, moved closer. “Yessss?”

The lump moved. Eject inched an arm out of his blankets and waved it around in his approximation of c'mere I want to hug you but I don’t want to move. Humoring him, Rewind rolled his optics but allowed Eject to latch onto him in a hug.

“Thank you… I’ll save it for Steeljaw. The backfiring I mean.”

“I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed.” Rewind patted Eject’s back while trying to disentangle himself from his cuddly twin. “I‘ll let you get back to your beauty rest then.” Rewind folded the blankets back over his twin, making sure to snug the blanket under his frame… But not before sneaking a teasing tweak at Eject’s sensitive neck cables.

“H-hehhey! S-seriously dude-I will blast.”

Rewind snapped his hands away from his twin. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All four of Blaster’s cassettes walked down the hall for the morning brief, casually passing a ball between them.

A bit of mesh pudge on Eject’s middle had formed from his binge, settling comfortably over his hips. Thankfully, he could still flip into cassette mode without pinching anything. Eject, of course, was thinking about how he could use this to his advantage. “I always wanted to try sumo wrestling…”

Ramhorn snorted, spearing the ball with the blunt side of his horn back at Eject. “Sumo wrestling??” You got a itty bitty pouch of baby fat. You’d get flattened.” The rhino cassette shoved Eject with his wide flank.

“The only thing that's gonna flatten anything is your ginormous butt!” Eject slapped Ramhorn’s rump and quickly hid behind Rewind before the rhino considered that as a challenge. Eject then took aim at his other beastformer brother.

“Heads up, Cubbie!” He punched the ball towards Steeljaw.

It sailed above his head, but Steeljaw, with all the dexterity of a catformer, sprang up and spiked it down the hall.

“Awh, Jaws!!” Whined Eject. Steeljaw’s tail flicked out of the way of Eject's grabby hand.

“Well, I think that belly looks ridiculous on you.” Steeljaw said.

Eject looked skeptical. “Reeeally? Because if I recall correctly you were stuck to my ”ridiculous” middle like a ball handler to a basketball last night.”

The typically stoic lion bit back a hiss, mane plates flaring up in indignation. “I-I was not.”

“You were purring too.” Rewind helpfully added.

Ramhorm delivered the finishing blow. “Oh yeeeah, he was kneading it and everything. Even after Eject ripped a backfire so loud it- “

“I have to meet Mirage and do a thing.” The catformer sprinted off down the hall with a growl before his traitorous siblings (who were now laughing at him) could inflict any more damage.

“I didn’t mean to, you used your claws..!” Eject yelled after him.

The three brothers watched the eldest scurry out of sight before Eject jogged over to fetch the ball, belly sloshing with every step. “Unfortunately for Mr. Grumpy kitty, I’ll have his new pillow worked down by tomorrow.” Eject said, flicking a bit of his small belly.

Speaking of which...

The ball flew past Rewind’s head.

“Go long, nerd!”