'And the walls came tumbling down!' - exclaimed Starscream, saluting himself with a cube of high-grade. Cons were celebrating. The towers of Iacon stood no more.
The seeker had been high on battle and destruction when this party started, now he was positively wasted on high-grade and probably even virus plugs. That didn't stop him from singing the War Hymn of Vos. His trinemates, as plastered as their leader sang along out of sync. The sound was awful, it screeched and scrambled the audials, but no one seemed to mind.
Megatron smiled his little evil smile watching his officers indulge themselves. He'd give them this cycle - they had earned it.
The warlord was rather drunk himself, though he still posessed enough self-control (and dignity) not to make anything stupid. His reputation would hardly get damaged by whatever stunt he may pull under stimulation, but he led this army by example and that meant he had to maintain control.
Speaking of control. Megatron wasn't the only one to restrain himself from too much booze this evening. Vermillion optics focused on Chief Communication's officer, who strolled from the energon dispenser with a fresh cube in his servo returning to his usuale place beside Megatron. This was only the second cube for the spy (which was far behind the rest of celebrating company) and his pace was as confident as ever as he maneuvered between dancing and mingling cons.
'Soundwave!' Breakdown reached for the passing officer with a friendly, though somewhat exaggerated gesture, seemingly wanting to give him a hug and Soundwave shifted away for the sweep, sidestepping the ex-wrecker smoothly. Not a drop of energon was spilled.
Megatron wondered what Soundwave would look like when he relinquished that control and made a silent decision to make his spy lose it today. It may not be the wisest decision, but he was drunk and didn't they just finally destroy Iaconian resistance?
Megatron shook his own cube a little stirring the energon within. Soundwave sat down beside him. 'My lord?' - the spy asked sensing his superior attention on himself.
'You puzzle me' - Megatron said, taking a sip of his en. Soundwave waited for him to continue, but the warlord gestured at the untouched cube in his hands, indicating that he should drink. Soundwave retracted his visor to make a gulp of en, then slid it back down. It wasn't like he was repulsive to drinking in front of the rest of cons, it was more out of habit than anything else that he kept his face hidded now. Besides, he found that it worked for his reputation.
'Details: appreciated' - he said, accepting the light tone offered by his superior.
'I saw Blitzwing's report' - and Megatron took another sip from his cube. He made sure his tone remained neutral and unjudging not to alert Soundwave, but the Communication's Chief tensed anyway. He had a close call this time, getting cornered by four of Iaconian elite guard and the triple changer's timing was accurate. Of course Blitzwing had to stress how useful or maybe even vital his aid to his superior officer had been today.
Again, Megatron paused, looking at Soundwave expectantly and the navy mech obediently sipped at his cube.
'Situations of this sort: hard to be avoided' - the spy said carefully.
'True' - Megatron paused before pretending to take another sip and this time Soundwave followed suit. 'Could have happened to anyone' - he turned to watch the celebrations - everything went on its course. He spotted what looked like virus chips switching hands and narrowed his gaze. Virus plugs weren't allowed for cons under normal circumstances and both dealing and applying them was punishable, but he would turn a blind eye toward this just this once. Otherwise he would have to chew out Starscream for his SIC obviously plugged at least one, and that just didn't feel right at the moment.
He would make sure that anyone who turned to medbay the next cycle for virus purge would spend a nice shift in anti-contamination quarantine in the prison brig. That should be enough to ensure they didn't mistake this one-time slip for a new rule.
'Of course' - Megatron said, stil eyeing the cheerful crowd, 'I wouldn't need aid if I were in this situation' - he turned to throw a glance as his TIC, tilting his cube a little in a short tost before making another sip that was way smaller than it seemed.
Nonplussed, Soundwave mirrored his gesture and drank too.
'Megatron: superior?' - he responded, unsure where this conversation was going.
'Again: true. But I wonder...' - a sip, a glare, a sip on Soundwave's part, - 'maybe you're getting rusty. Once you could hold your ground against me... now it doesn't seem so'
He had to hide a grin now, so amusing Soundwave's subtle reaction were. A side observer would not pick it up probably, but Megatron spent quite a lot of time around the secretive con and he knew him well enough to see wounded pride and agitation behind a smooth motion that brought the cube up to Soundwave's face - this time without a prompt from his comrade.
'Asessment: not accurate. Battle protocols: fully operational. However, my abilities: best used off the battleground'
'Oh, I'm aware of that' - Megatron took another sip and came to realise he needed to refill. 'I'm not questioning your abilities, I'm saying you were just _lucky_ that _one_time.'
That earned him a pause, then Soundwave finished off his drink in one big gulp, set the empty cube down with a distinct clang and rose from his seat. Megatron silently counted one point in his favor. 'Luck: not part of this equasion. Challenge: accepted'.
Megatron grinned, measuring his officer from knee joints up, still sitting. A lazy smile played on his face. This little show was getting spectators. For what Megatron had planned, spectators were a hindrance.
'A challenge? No way. You are too useful for the Cause to offline over some stupid challenge' and he added via comm /No need to make a show of this...and get me a refill while you're at it/
/Megatron: big talk/ - Soundwave switched to internal comm too, catching the warlord's drift and obediently went to fetch the booze. Megatron's gaze followed the TIC up to energon dispensor. From what the warlord read off Soundwave, the TIC swallowed the bait, the hook and half of the line.
/Prove me wrong, then.../ - Megatron responded, not avert to teasing.
On the way back with a new load of en, Soundwave nearly collided with Starscream who stepped on unsteady peds into his path. Megatron watched the interaction between his two rival lieutenants. With Soundwave being... well, Soundwave, and Starscream being both drunk and faced away from him, he could only guess what was being said.
It was hardly of significance, anyway, but it was a timely distraction. Megatron rose and went out.
He was halfway to the training grounds, his steps resounding in empty hallways, when Soundwave got rid of clingy Starscream and discovered his absence. The decepticon base looked deserted, everyone off duty celebrating.
/My lord?/ - the TIC's transmission carried over his confusion.
/Come to training grounds. Bring the high-grade/
He didn't have to wait for too long.