Art of the Match 1: Rules of the Game
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Blueshine dipped his sensor wings before straightening them out. He had to be strong and firm in front of the second creation he'd carried until it entered this world and grew up to become his darling Bluestreak. He could feel over the bond with his wonderful Solarflare that his mate was similarly stressed at what they would have to do before introducing their creation to the world as a mechling and suitable for courting.
Only three orns ago Bluestreak had gone into stasis a final stage youngling, only to come out of it an orn later a first stage mechling with full interface protocols.
Now he would need to fully understand his place in society, what he was expected to know, and how he was expected to compose himself. Blueshine hoped that his smart and curious creation could accept being a submissive partner for another mech. Bluestreak would have made a wonderful dominant creation, but being a second creation meant that it was not to be.
"Creators!" Bluestreak greeted them warmly and rushed to hug his carrier before doing the same to his sire. "I like this new frame. It looks so much better than my last one."
"Good," Solarflare smiled, taking a moment to really look at his second creation and see what he would be as a full adult. It was clear now, his coloring and build. Sleek with silver, black and red. He was lovely.
He was also very quick to pick up what was around him.
"What is wrong, creators?"
"Becoming a mechling means more changes than just your frame," Blueshine began with a flutter of his wings. "It means your finding your place in society and everything that will be expected of you."
"I'll have a bonded, and when I'm in my adult frame I'll carry sparklings for them," Bluestreak nodded, already knowing that much.
"It is more than that. You must attract your bonded without being too forward," Solarflare focused on him. "Mecha do not like a second creation that is too bold. That is the place of the first and third creations."
"He must approach you, offer to spend time with you," Blueshine added. "His say is final, much like with your sire."
Bluestreak nodded. "I did get the lessons, carrier."
"It is much different than what we have allowed you to be at home, and I worry," Blueshine said softly, resting a hand on his creation's shoulder.
"The sooner we have contracted a match for you, the better," Solarflare added. "Especially with the time your brother is taking to find one to suit him. You are a good creation, and we do not wish for you to have a poor reputation."
"I'll behave!" Bluestreak insisted and promised all in one, horrified at the idea of shaming his creators. "You know I can when I try."
"We know," Blueshine soothed.
"Your first test as a mechling will be the party this evening," Solarflare said. "Since its purpose is to introduce you to society, every optic will be on you."
Bluestreak nodded seriously. "I will be on my best behavior," he promised. "I will not embarrass you."
"Good," his sire nodded.
"Servants will be ready soon to help you prepare," Blueshine added. "You will be stunning when they are through."
"I will make you proud, creators," Bluestreak smiled brightly at them, his promise carrying through his field.
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Bluestreak stood with his brother Windsheer, chatting with the mechs who came by to be introduced. As an unbonded dominant creation, it had been Windsheer's duty to escort him into the party and make sure the new mechling could handle himself. He was also a font of information on all of the mechs at the party, which the silver and black mechling was taking advantage of.
"I must excuse myself. I see my intended's creators and I should go greet them," one of Windsheer's friends said, nodding to the two of them before heading off.
"If he has an Intended, was it okay that he seemed interested in me?" Bluestreak asked, his voice quiet enough not to be overheard.
"Yes, though it can be taken as an insult by his Intended's creators if he was serious about it," Windsheer explained. "That was friendly flirting, being sociable, rather than an effort to court you."
Bluestreak hummed in understanding. "Who here doesn't have an Intended?" he asked curiously, wanting to know who he should show the most interest in.
"The Crystal City Twins," he motioned slightly to the pair that didn't look all that similar to Bluestreak. One was a rich yellow and black with elegantly oversized stripped helm vents. The other was a rich red and black with stubby sensor horns. Only their optics and alt mode builds matched. "Sunstreaker is the elder. The red one is Sideswipe."
Bluestreak looked them over, mostly managing to suppress the flutter of his wings at the sight. They might not have been Praxian, but both were still very good-looking mechs. "What are they like?"
"Sunstreaker is an artist, a painter and muralist. He is much like you would expect of a Primus-gifted artist. Focused, not terribly social, erratic at times. He's strong though, and smart. His brother is the social one. A bit mischievous and has quite the reputation for getting around," he glanced at his younger brother. "In a first creation, that's not a significant issue. It does make him less likely to remain exclusive after he's bonded, however."
"Is there anyone else?" Bluestreak asked, though his optics remained on the twins, watching them with interest.
"Tracks," he motioned to a mostly blue mech chatting it up with someone across the room. "He's one I'd recommend avoiding. He's unpleasant company after a while." He paused, scanning the room, though he knew every mecha there at least by reputation and pointed out several others.
Bluestreak made noises of understanding as he listened to his brother, but his gaze followed the yellow twin as he made his way around the edge of the room. It looked like he was going from art piece to art piece, which made sense with him being an artist.
After a couple breems, he glanced at Windsheer. "Would it be alright if I look around the room?"
Of course," he smiled indulgently. "I'll never be far away. This is for you to meet and greet as many mecha as you can while being polite."
"Meaning they have to approach me," Bluestreak grinned back. He grabbed a small cube of energon and started wandering around. Several times he was stopped by mechs approaching him to introduce themselves. The silver mechling chatted politely with them, but a thread of his attention was on the yellow Crystal City twin, tracking his progress from piece to piece.
Eventually Bluestreak managed to extract himself and settle in at an art piece a breem before he figured the yellow twin would be there. He appeared to be studying the piece, though only a small part of his attention was on the painting. He felt Sunstreaker approach, the smooth seriousness of his field with a tiny jagged crackle around the edge that settled out as he stared at the stylized rendition of the Helix Gardens. At this range Bluestreak could actually teek that his spark was not a normal one, the frequency a bit off. Kind of like his creators after a deep merge, but not really.
After more than half a breem he gave a huff and looked directly at Bluestreak. His bright blue optics took in the mechling in a way that was somehow both flattering and unsettling. An object being studied, but not in a predatory way. Bluestreak's sensor wings fluttered under that gaze, unconsciously spreading to be shown to their best advantage.
"I'm Sunstreaker," he introduced himself. "You're Bluestreak."
"Hello Sunstreaker," he replied with a bright smile. "It's good to meet you."
"Why are you hunting me?" Sunstreaker asked. Despite the words, the harmonics weren't offended, or even aggressive.
"You're interesting," he replied, matching the yellow mech's bluntness and teeked rather than saw something shift, a lessening of the stiffness. "I've heard you're an artist. Can you tell me about that?" His smile didn't falter, wings perking.
"It makes you an outsider, appreciated for what you make rather than anything about you," Sunstreaker shrugged. "The gift's more curse than useful."
"What do you want others to see in you, then?" the mechling asked. He felt how startled the question made the yellow mech, though there was no outward sign.
A snicker drew his attention to the red twin that was walking up. "He wants to be appreciated for other skills. Only trouble is that they aren't ones to show off in public. At least not for our caste."
"Sides!" Sunstreaker hissed sharply, his field giving away both his mortification and the truth of it.
Bluestreak giggled at that, politely waiting for Sideswipe to introduce himself, though it was obvious who he was.
"That's me," the red mech grinned unrepentantly. "Sideswipe." He offered a slight bow to Bluestreak as the focus of the celebration. "I'm Sunshine's twin."
"My designation is Sunstreaker," he hissed, almost too strongly to be polite.
"My main job is making sure he doesn't take himself too seriously," Sideswipe grinned.
"Nice to meet you, Sideswipe," Bluestreak chirped, wings fluttering again. "What other skills do you two have? I promise not to tell." His optics twinkled at that, his smile turning into a mischievous grin.
Sideswipe leaned in close and whispered. "The kind that makes you forget your designation, but never ours."
Sunstreaker nearly choked, embarrassment radiating off him for a brief moment.
Bluestreak felt a jolt of something new and unfamiliar at the tone-arousal and desire. "Too bad you can't show me," he purred back quietly. "What else do you two do?" he asked louder to keep up appearances.
"Try not to get into too much trouble," Sideswipe grinned, his field caressing Bluestreak's with definite interest. "I like trade and racing. Sunny here likes to hide out in his studio and pretend he's not a noble."
"I do not," Sunstreaker rumbled dangerously, though it didn't make any impression at all on his brother. "I enjoy traveling, seeing new things. Especially off world when he's going shopping."
"What kinds of worlds do you two go to?" the silver mechling asked with a curiosity that was just shy of being too blatant for the setting.
"All kinds. Though we stick to the reasonably well settled ones. Frontier and expedition travel is not as fun as it sounds." Sideswipe happily chatted, and tried to silently flirt with the subject of the party. It was lost on none of them that even though Sunstreaker was once more studying the painting, he wasn't moving away, and he was much more relaxed with his brother so close.
It wasn't hard for Bluestreak to guess that even though Sunstreaker was the older of the pair by a few breems and thus the one who made the legal decisions, he wasn't the naturally dominant one. He surrendered center stage, and with it control, to his brother too far too quickly and easily.
"What do you purchase out there? What kinds of people do you meet?" Bluestreak asked, leaning slightly towards the red mech in interest. Every so often his gaze would turn to the yellow mech before returning to Sideswipe, obviously interested in both mechs even though it was clear that Sunstreaker wasn't as intent on the conversation.
"Whatever I think will sell for a profit, usually," Sideswipe chuckled. "Organics, crystals, minerals that are hard to come by here, unique energon products. Sometimes we head out to the artist colony on Braxius 2 so my dear brother can spend some time with his own kind," he teased, earning a huff from his brother. "I bring back art from there, and a sincere appreciation of how sane my other half really is."
Sunstreaker chuckled lowly at that. "He didn't believe me until I dragged him out there the first time that I'm really not that eccentric."
"Not for an artist at least," Sideswipe shook his helm. "We meet all kinds."
"And he does mean that," Sunstreaker added absently. "Most of the time he even manages to avoid irritating them enough they want to shoot him."
"That sounds so interesting," Bluestreak said, a distinct note of longing in his voice.
"They don't let you go out, even with a guard?" Sideswipe teeked of genuine surprise.
"Not offworld," Bluestreak replied. "They've let me explore Praxus, and have taken me to various places around Cybertron, whenever one caught my interest."
"What about now that you're a mechling?" Sunstreaker quietly reprimanded his brother for even thinking a youngling would go off world.
"I haven't tried asking yet," Bluestreak replied, optics lighting up at the idea.
"Maybe you should," Sideswipe trilled into a rumble. "We could take you on our next trip."
Sunstreaker snorted. "Not if his creators value his reputation they won't. Not if you're going to be along."
"He's right," Bluestreak said sadly. "But maybe, if you knew of someplace more local that could give me an idea?" He looked between them hopefully.
"What do you like?" Sideswipe asked instead of a direct answer. "If it's any fun..."
"Or culture-worthy," Sunstreaker broke in.
"We know about it," Sideswipe finished, the pair speaking as if one being.
"Mind you, his idea of fun is gambling, racing and getting seriously overcharged," Sunstreaker added.
"Not all the time," Sideswipe shot his brother a scowl.
"I like to explore new places," Bluestreak said, wings fluttering. "Sometimes it's going to watch a race, or the museums, or an art gallery, or the gardens..."
"Braxius 2," they responded in unison.
"You'd probably enjoy the tourist mecca of Andrilel 6 too," Sideswipe suggested. "It was a lot of fun when we were younger."
"I'll have to ask my creators about taking a trip there," Bluestreak said. "And what about place more local?" he purred, optics lighting in interest.
Sideswipe caught it easily. Sunstreaker managed to hold back a groan, but not the dark warning look he shot his brother. Sideswipe simply rolled his optics at it.
"Why don't we show you around the shopping district of Crystal City?" Sideswipe purred, leaning in a bit closer.
It was too close for Windsheer, who made his presence and disapproval known with nothing more than a step closer to the group.
"It's a proper enough place," Sideswipe turned his helm to address Windsheer, though he obediently shifted out of Bluestreak's personal space.
"I'd like that," Bluestreak answered, turning to his brother to give him a pleading look that had always worked in the past.
"It is proper enough," the older Praxian acquiesced. "It will not be without an escort from this House for now. Not if Sideswipe will be there."
"I've never done anything that wasn't asked for," the red twin growled softly, his armor fluffing out slightly at the implied insult and as a display for Bluestreak.
"Of that I have no doubt," Windsheer soothed it over. "He will have escort until we are sure that he will not ask for what he should not."
Bluestreak's field flared with excitement when his brother agreed, optics lighting up. "When would be a good time?"
"Six orns," Sunstreaker spoke before Sideswipe could. "We can come by and pick you and your escort up."
Windsheer paused to comm his creators before nodding. "That is acceptable."
The mechling was nearly vibrating. "I can't wait!"