Dancing, romance.
written for deers! i participated in the biggayrobotchristmas secret santa exchange and here's a gift on my behalf. mirage teaching hound how to dance. it's slightly suggestive at the end, but nothing nsfw :' here's the song they danced to (starts from "The first sultry note..." ~ tunneldotru/userfiles/ck/files/10/06_Gotan_Project_Mi_Confesi_C3_B3n_1dotmp3 ; just substitute the dots with actual .!
"Lift it up, now slide—ah yes, good. Step to the side. One more. Perfect. Just remember," Mirage's voice was a murmur, and his hands gently moved from Hound's shoulders to cradle his face, "Our helms are to touch most of the time."
Hound couldn't really remember Mirage's optics to be so blue before. But holding the mech like this, with the top of their helms in contact; the intense colour of said optics was making Hound's processor spin. They were definitely within kissing distance—not that Hound was even considering a kiss, oh no, he wasn't—and Mirage had this pleasant little smile curving his lip components that made Hound's spark stutter.
He had an arm around Mirage's waist in an embrace, their legs almost tangled together. Or at least it seemed so to him. Mirage, nevertheless, appeared to be perfectly content with their stance, even tilting a foot along the wheel of Hound's own, causing the appendage to rotate a little. Hound could only hope his full-frame shudder wasn't too obvious.
"Raj?"
"Hm?" Mirage had crossed his legs, feet daintily tapping Hound's stationary ones before moving away, just as graceful. He repeated the motion a few times so his hips swayed from side to side, and Hound found it really hard to look away.
"Uh, I…don't think I'm very good at this. I mean. It's a really lovely way of dancing and I want to learn, but I'm pretty bad."
"Nonsense," another step to the side, and Mirage lightly bumped their fronts together, "You're doing quite well for a beginner." He twisted around and Hound let go of his waist, lifting Mirage's arm so the mech could execute a neat little twirl. His partner's smile was blinding when he faced Hound again, "See? We're compatible."
Hound chuckled a little shyly, "I guess. Did you dance often before?"
"Yes. It was a hobby, I suppose. Dancing always made me feel…unrestrained. It was quite popular in the day."
His hand rested on Hound's shoulder again, tracing a circle over the green plating before settling down. Hound smiled, hesitantly sliding his own arm around Mirage's waist again, "Mechs in the Towers danced a lot, then?"
Mirage's responding smirk was telling, "Not quite. This sort of dancing wasn't really formal or proper, you see. It was more of an indulgence. And I indulged very often."
"Oh," Hound said, feeling his faceplates heat up slowly, "I think I get it."
"Do you?" Mirage's teasing tone wasn't doing anything to alleviate Hound's blush, merely intensified it when their helms touched again, "I want to teach you something else. This time, I lead. Okay?"
Hound knew enough that it meant they would switch the positions of their hands, and he nodded, reaching up for Mirage's shoulders. Mirage simply slid his palms downwards, gliding along Hound's sides to rest over the mech's hips, and even that simple movement seemed full of grace. Hound was quite overwhelmed, really.
His partner's legs made contact with the sides of his own, and Mirage was fiddling with the missile mounted onto his shoulder. The touch was teasing, and Hound had to snap himself back to focus a few times. Mirage's hands on his hips pushed lightly, as they started to move again.
"Just do what I did earlier, move your legs. Sway your hips, " Mirage said, "And follow my movements."
Hound tried. He really did make an attempt, mimicking Mirage's smooth gestures, and felt terribly stupid. His feet were huge and blocky in contrast to Mirage's shapely limbs and his inexperience made his movements clumsy. He felt like a cityformer trying to not trample on some unfortunate, miniscule organic, and it made his faceplates heat up in humiliation.
He stopped doing it, "This isn't going to work. It's embarrassing and I suck at it." Almost pouting, he dropped his head onto Mirage's shoulder, hiding his face. Dancing definitely wasn't his forte, and being out of his comfort zone was making him a little shyer than usual. Especially when he was stomping all over the place like an idiot; Mirage must be laughing at him. Heck, he'd laugh at himself if it wasn't so acutely embarrassing.
But of course Mirage wasn't laughing. "It's just us, Hound," Mirage tilted his head and kissed Hound's cheek, his tone imploring against Hound's plating, "No one else is going to see. Just me. I want to share this with you so we can dance all the time in the future. I want to be as close to you as possible, and I think this is a good way for that. I want to enjoy things with you. Please?"
And Mirage was right too. It just him and Hound in the Ark's hull. They both had free time and Hound hadn't felt like driving out to commune with nature like he usually did. Instead, he wanted to spend time with Mirage and show him some music from Earth that Spike had recommended when Hound asked about it a few days ago. Spike even lent him a boom box to play said music.
Mirage had gotten really excited at the prospect of listening to human music, and it wasn't until he produced a little cassette of his own did Hound realize that Mirage had wanted to show him something too. Then everything just devolved to light touches to his plating, the fluidity of moving limbs, and Mirage's optics locked on his own. They haven't even started listening to the music yet, Mirage just right away took Hound's servos in his own and expressed his desire to teach Hound how to dance. He had been so eager.
"Okay," Hound vented, smiling a little at the excited flare of Mirage's field in response. He held onto Mirage firmly, crossed his legs in the way Mirage taught him to, feeling terribly awkward as his frame swayed with the motion. Mirage himself was moving, watching Hound's feet with focus, and eventually slipped a leg in between Hound's, mid-cross. Hound couldn't move, halted by Mirage's foot.
Mirage guided Hound by the hips, pushing him back and Hound's leg kicked up lightly by the force, and the back of his thigh collided with Mirage's leg with a slight 'tink'. He made a noise of surprise, and Mirage laughed airily, "That's how you do it! Did you get it? We'll do it again, but this time, you don't need to control your movements so much. Just follow the motion, and let your frame go."
"But Mirage, I don't think I could do what we just did without scraping your paint!" Hound reset his optics, wobbling a little in place as his leg hovered in mid-air. Mirage guided him back to his feet, and Hound worriedly glanced at Mirage's thigh, "I'd mess your paintjob up."
Mirage's giggling was reassuring, somehow, "We'll do it very gently. But don't stiffen yourself, Hound, move with me. Worst case scenario is that you'll have to give me a buff and polish later. Okay?"
It was more than okay. Hound adored giving Mirage a polish, despite how perfect the mech's plating seemed at all times. Mirage after proper frame maintenance was very endearing, and Hound found himself wanting to give Mirage polishes constantly if he could. But they were both busy with things they had to do, what with Mirage being in Spec Ops, so Hound's chances were limited. And now Mirage was offering him such an opportunity.
"I'll try to not scuff you so much," Hound murmured, and stepped away from Mirage's foot, stabilizing himself.
The little smile curving Mirage's lip components made him look pleased, and his optics were dim, signifying contentment, "I'm sure you won't. Now, switch. Just one more thing before we dance properly."
"Oh? We haven't been doing that?" teased Hound, feeling a little lighter now. He really didn't think kicking his legs to and fro were his speciality, his grace was akin to an organic baby deer, or at least he thought so, "And I thought you said this form of dancing wasn't so proper."
Mirage draped an arm over Hound's shoulder, moving close so their fronts made contact again, "So we'll dance improperly, then. Just one more thing. I need you to support my weight at times, I'll tell you when. I promise I won't be too heavy."
Hound snickered, but nodded. They danced again, to non-existent music, and Hound felt that his frame was much more agreeable now, their moving together somehow less awkward than before. Mirage was a really good teacher. He felt the shift in weight rather than see it, Mirage leaning a little closer suddenly, and Hound knew what to do in an instant. He swung Mirage's frame with his, like a puppet, and his partner hummed in approval.
Mirage's face was extremely close to his again, their cheekplates rubbing against one another, and Mirage did that thing again; his foot sliding up Hound's. "Push my leg with yours," he murmured, shifting his head to look down, his optics casting a blue glow over the white of his face, "Yes, like that. All the way."
Hound complied, guiding Mirage's foot that was aligned with his away from their bodies, somehow feeling utterly in control of everything for once. Mirage's bright smile was a delight.
"That was called a drag. Quite literally, too," Mirage laughed against Hound's cheek, holding onto his shoulder a little loosely now, "You can just move me however you want. As long as it'd look good, it feels right and we won't topple over or anything as ridiculous."
"I think I understand," he stepped to the side, brought Mirage around in a circle, and pulled the mech close in a light jerk, "I'm getting the hang of this."
"You are! I guess we're ready for the music, then?" Mirage slinked out of Hound's arm, and it was odd how unnatural it felt to not have Mirage in his hold after so long being in an embrace. Mirage daintily pressed on the boom box's buttons, apparently already familiar with it. They could have asked Blaster to play the music, but of course, it wouldn't be as private as they would have liked.
The first sultry note of the music played, and Mirage turned to him, his expression almost…predatory. Hound hadn't realized that they were already dancing, not till Mirage moved towards him with his hips swaying, taking steps with the beat of the music. Something made Hound's spark flare, and he followed suit. When they met halfway it was with their fronts colliding, Hounds arms snaking around Mirage the way they had practiced. Their helms came together with a slight sound, and Mirage's gentle venting against his faceplates was doing terrible things to Hound.
And they danced.
He still felt clumsy, putting quite some effort to keep up with Mirage's fluidity, but Mirage was wearing a wide, delighted smile, their legs moving in counterpoint.
"Back home, the music isn't this aggressive, actually," Mirage mused, as the sides of their legs slid against each other once again, and Hound was a little worried that he'd mess up and they'd go tumbling in a heap to the floor, but they seemed to be doing fine so far. "It's fast, but not as…rhythmic. I love this, though, human music is quite enjoyable."
He let Hound carry his weight at a point, bodily lifting him up from the floor in a twirl, and setting him down gently, leaning forward to Mirage's body curved backwards from how their frames slotted along one another, "It is. Where'd you find it? I admit I've been really curious about that."
"I'm quite resourceful, you know that," Mirage flashed Hound a teasing smile, "I have my ways. And Spike helped me."
Hound chuckled lightly, and Mirage pushed him back up with steady pressure, returning to their previous posture. He loved the thought of Mirage actively searching for human music. Maybe some time in the future they could bond even more over that particular interest.
As of now, Mirage had taken to lightly nuzzling the side of Hound's nose as they danced, and the mech had a hard time thinking of anything else.
The tempo of the song increased gradually, and so did their movements, Hound's spark seeming to pulse in a rhythm.
Hound held Mirage steady by the waist and Mirage was swinging his hips side to side, before he paused to lift a leg, playfully dragging the tip of his pedes against Hound's progressively heating plating. He lifted it high enough Hound could see the cables connecting the leg with Mirage's pelvic array, frame edging to the side to fully stretch his leg, and brought it down in a graceful arc, tapping the floor lightly. Hound gaped.
"I never knew you were this flexible, Raj," he said in awe, almost breathless.
Mirage hummed, shaking his head, "It's not really about flexibility, dear Hound. It's about moving your frame to the music. You don't need to think about it," he faced Hound again, optics bright with his enjoyment, "You just do. Move with me. Focus on nothing but the music, and me."
Easy. Hound could physically feel his attention narrow down to concentrate completely on Mirage as he obliged. The sensual music washed over him, a background to Mirage's face so close to his, and the interlocking of their legs to the tempo felt seamless.
He could feel his spark swell in rising passion, and he wanted.
Mirage's hips were swaying against his, the sides of that blue plating coyly tapping his own as they danced, and it was maddening. Something prompted Hound to slide his hands a little farther down Mirage's back, an anchor, and he lowered the frame he was holding backwards in a dip. Mirage's lip components twisted into an amused smile. A leg lifted so Hound could steady their stance, hold Mirage by the thigh, and their gazes locked.
Standing like that, with Mirage looking up at him with intense blue optics and that intoxicating smile, Hound just had to lean forward himself, intent as clear as crystal. He had been thinking about kissing Mirage senseless for a while now, and it seemed to be a good time.
Apparently not so. Mirage's left hand rose slowly to press fingers over Hound's mouth, and pushed him back so they were both properly on their feet again.
"Not yet," he hummed, tapping Hound's lips with a finger, "Not while dancing."
He spun away from Hound then, suddenly out of Hound's arms and the loss almost made the mech whine. No more of this.
The music still went on, and someone was singing in it, a language that Hound knew but couldn't find it in himself to pinpoint just yet. He made his way to the dancing Mirage, who was watching him, ever amused, and gently placed his hands on Mirage's shoulders to guide him to the wall.
Mirage followed, resetting his optics when his back met the hard surface, and Hound couldn't help himself. Dancing this way with Mirage was so much build up. He pressed the side of his face against Mirage's, his cooling fans already whirring, "Raj. Can we be done with dancing? I really wanna—"
"I'm afraid not, sweetspark," Mirage lightly petted the side of Hound's head, and Hound moved into the contact, almost needy, "I think there is one more dance we should do."
"But Miraaage," Hound huffed, but relented, obviously not happy with the denial of his request, "Are we going to learn everything from scratch, again?"
Mirage shook his head, lip components curving into a meaningful smile, "There is no need for that. You're already really good at this particular dance, Hound." His hips gyrated and Hound caught on almost instantly then, pulling Mirage close and they kissed, the earlier passion translated into something more carnal.
And dance they did.