Cosmos kept a careful distance between their flight paths, thrusters humming in a happy, almost musical cadence as he glided alongside you. The endless dark of space stretched around you both, pricked with stars like scattered energon sparks, and he couldn’t stop himself from doing a slow, playful roll before righting himself again.

“Can you see it yet?” Cosmos asked, voice bright over the comm. “The charts say the planet has rings, Dear. Actual rings. Not debris fields—rings. I’ve never landed on a ringed world before.”

Your space ship alt-mode shifted slightly closer, winglets angling to match his course. “You asked me that three minutes ago,” you replied, amusement warm in your tone. “And no, not yet. It’s still several astro-units out.”

Cosmos let out a delighted hum anyway. “That’s fine! That just means we get more time like this.” He adjusted his trajectory again, perfectly matching your glide now. “No duties, no alerts, no emergency jumps. Just us, open space, and a planet that doesn’t even know it’s about to be visited by two very relaxed Autobots.”

Your engines softened, speed easing just enough for him to notice. “You’re really looking forward to this.”

“Of course I am!” Cosmos said, unable to hide the grin in his voice. “I’ve been planning this since you said ‘vacation’ instead of ‘mission.’ I even checked—twice—that the planet has scenic views and museums. And there’s supposed to be bioluminescent flora on the nightside.”

There was a brief pause on the comm, then you angled closer until your shadows overlapped against the starlight. “That does sound nice,” You admitted. “Thank you for planning all of this.”

Cosmos’ thrusters flared just a touch brighter, excitement bleeding through every system. “Anything for you. Besides,” he added, glancing at the distant, faint glimmer of their destination on his sensors, “exploring the universe is better when you have someone to share the view with.”