Title: Kiseru
Pairing: Megatron x Shockwave
Continuity: Edoverse
Rating: PG, linked ending is NC-17
Author's Note: Lol Starscream. The prompt for this one was "pipe". Ojiisan means grandfather; minna-san means everyone; hayaku means hurry. -kou is a suffix meaning "Lord".
"We should be more cautious! This is dangerous, Megatron—you're getting sloppy! The governor's men are going to be all over this place and you want one lookout?! We're going to get slaughtered at this rate!"
Megatron raised his head and fixed Starscream with a cold look.
"Starscream... I do not know how many times I must tell you: I was doing this while you were still a helpless infant. I know how many lookouts are required, and when. You're a worthless fool—get out of my sight!"
Starscream narrowed his eyes, holding his glare for a second longer before turning away and pulling his hat down.
"Hai, ojiisan."
He shut the screen door sharply behind him, ignoring Megatron's growl of displeasure, and left the room. The air outside was still full of smoke, the burning wheat crops a visible ember about a mile from the village itself. The young lieutenant commander rubbed his eyes with the heel of one hand, scowling as he inhaled the thick, hot air, and let one hand rest on his swords as he walked coolly out toward the village perimeter. Thundercracker, the first lookout, was fairly competent, Starscream could concede that; but he was only one man. The village was not as isolated as it could have been; someone could see the fires and alert the authories. Megatron was getting sloppy, very sloppy indeed and Starscream was damned if he was going to lose his life to the warlord's incompetence...
A quiet scuffle around the side of a house caught his attention. He froze, crouching and moving forwards like a cat, pursuing the noise. The person was hiding from him... sneaking about. Only one man; perhaps a woman or child, an easy kill, which would suit Starscream better. The Decepticons left no survivors.
His back flat to the wall of the house, he peeked out around the corner—a shadow lay along the ground in the moonlight. Broad shoulders, extremely tall even judging from his shadow, long-limbed, narrow chest and hips, and two katana. Starscream scowled; a man, well-armed. The least easy kill.
He turned and slipped quietly down the side of the house—and then the man moved, and Starscream caught a glimpse of his kimono before parrying out of blind instinct and finding himself face to face with his opponent. His kimono was fine turquoise silk, and his haori fine gray wool. Even without his official insignia, it was obvious that he was a high-ranking government official, a samurai. Starscream drew his other sword and cut upwards, his arm meeting the expected resistance as that was parried also. Shit; a skillful samurai.
"MINNA-SAN! HAYAKU!"
If one thing could be said for Starscream, it was that his voice carried well. The sound of a door snapping open indicated that he'd been heard, hopefully by Megatron. Another thrust and parry, a spin and a complete failure to cut the samurai's ankles, and finally Megatron arrived on the scene.
"What," the warlord growled, "is going on here?"
"The government saw us! I told you, Megatron! I warned you!"
Starscream sprang back, both swords poised, and was caught completely by surprise when the samurai sheathed both weapons and sank to his knees in obeisance.
"Megatron-kou... My Lord."
Starscream stared. "Wha..?"
"Baka no Starscream," Megatron snarled, stalking past his Lieutenant and toward the kneeling samurai. "Rise, Shockwave. You did well to find me here."
Starscream said nothing, clenching his jaw, his face reddening with humiliation.
"Thank you, Lord Megatron. I request permission to accompany you to your current residence?"
"As always, Shockwave, permission granted."
Shockwave fell into step beside the warlord as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Starscream glared after him, finally turning and storming off to find somewhere away from company to regain his dignity.
***
"I was wondering when I would see you again, Shockwave. It has been all too long."
Megatron settled back into his seat by the fireplace in the house he had reappropriated as his own for the duration of their stay, and Shockwave gracefully knelt beside him. He was almost Megatron's height, and perhaps half the warlord's size. Despite the breadth of his shoulders, overall Shockwave was an extremely slender man, angular and stark in physique, cold-faced and permanently expressionless. Starscream hated him; for Megatron, he was a breath of fresh air.
"I agree, my Lord. I assure you that there have been no flaws whatsoever in my mission thus far. No hitches, no problems."
Megatron nodded, removing from the folds of his kimono a pipe and tobacco and handing them to Shockwave, who accepted them like an award and set to work methodically filling the pipe.
"I have come to expect no less from you, my faithful servant. You have never so much as inconvenienced me, let alone failed me."
"It is an honor," Shockwave replied, lighting the pipe in his own mouth and then handing it to Megatron with a bow. The warlord took it, inhaling deeply.
"Shockwave," he murmured, smoke wreathing from his lips. "Take your damn eye out. It's hideous."
Shockwave bowed his head, fiddling with his glass eye for a moment or two before taking its box from his sleeve, removing the eyepatch inside and setting the eye down. He fixed the eyepatch around his head, looking up at Megatron and receiving a pleased noise.
"Much better. That piece of glass might put those government men at ease, but I prefer my most loyal Decepticon without artifice. Come closer, Shockwave."
If Shockwave had been any other man, he would have smiled. "My Lord," he said quietly, shifting closer. Smoke wreathed around their faces as Megatron exhaled, his pipe cupped effortlessly in his fingers.
[Read the rest, rated too high for ffnet, at my LJ, oxbridgefemme dot livejournal dot com slash 7778 dot html! Onegaishimasu!!]