"I can carry these on my own..."
"But you do not need to. So there." Breakdown huffed, resting his chin on the stack of synth-en crates in his arms. Dreadwing followed at his heel, balancing two stacks in either hand. Shockwave had requested more samples of the green stuff, so Knock Out produced around fifteen cubes worth, then tasked Breakdown with carrying them to Shockwave's laboratory on the other side of the ship. The Stunticon didn't mind, it was his job to help the smaller bot around his work space, but Dreadwing had of course swooped in with that silly chivalry of his and took ten cubes himself.
He huffed, marching along just a bit quicker. He appreciated his partner's intention to help, but it felt more like he was being coddled. And that was something he wouldn't stand for.
"It's my job, Dreads. I do as Knock Out tells me, you do as Megatron tells you. It's simple as that."
"Perhaps, but being second in command does provide me with some liberties," Dreadwing replied nonchalantly, easily keeping up with those long legs of his. "And besides, I would not be so callous as to put myself above the kind of work my beloved undertook."
"Ah, I see." He glanced back over his shoulder. "You mean grunt work."
"I didn't say-"
"Because the medic's bodyguard and assistant always undertakes menial and useless work."
"Breakdown, that is not what I meant!" The Seeker looked thoroughly disgruntled, torn between looking panicked that his partner was mad at him, and irritated that he was seemingly jumping to conclusions. The lighter blue bot just sniggered.
"'Course not," he replied with a teasing grin, then tipped his head back as though he had hair to toss. "You meant you see yourself as an equal with everyone else on this boat, no matter how small their roll is." Dreadwing stopped, watching Breakdown and blinking in surprise. The Stunticon however didn't stop, and just glanced over his shoulder with his singular optic glowing playfully, a tricky little smile on his face. "That doesn't mean I want you to baby me."
Dreadwing stared for a long moment, processing this. Breakdown always surprised him with how perceptive he really was, and thanks to years of travelling with Knock Out, he'd clearly picked up the medic's infuriating ability to mislead and tease people. It'd be cute, if Dreadwing didn't fall for it so easily. It was difficult to tell when Breakdown was simply playing around or really letting his insecurities get the better of him. He supposed that was a sign of decent acting.
Still, the message was clear. While his lover appreciated his help, he preferred to get his work done by himself. He didn't require or want Dreadwing's assistance in what he was well practised at doing. And Dreadwing would respect that.
He jogged to catch up with the Stunticon again, giving him a meek smile as apology. "I understand... though now that we are almost at Shockwave's laboratory, I'll help you finish this task at least." Breakdown nodded, giving him a soft smile in return. He appreciated that, and the smile made Dreadwing's half-spark flutter a mile a minute.
As they came to the door, Breakdown leaned the crates against his chest in one arm, and pressed the comm button outside.
"Shockwave, sir?," he called through. "We have the synthetic energon you requested. May we come in?" Silence stretched out, and the two bots glanced at each other. Breakdown drummed his fingers against the crates thoughtfully, looking puzzled.
"Perhaps... we should leave them outside?," Dreadwing suggested, tilting his helm. His partner shook his helm.
"Not a chance. This stuff is so volatile, Knock Out and Shockwave would kill us if we just left them sitting around in the hallway." The Seeker hummed thoughtfully, then set one stack of crates down on the floor to free up a hand, and leaned over Breakdown's shoulder to type into the keypad. A moment later, the door bleeped and slid open. The Stunticon blinked, then looked up at his boyfriend in surprise. The Seeker shrugged a shoulder, giving him a quaint smile.
"Override codes. Soundwave gave them to me," he explained, picking up the crates again. "One of those liberties I mentioned." Breakdown beamed at him, and the Seeker gave him a playful wink, before following the Stunticon into Shockwave's lab.
The lab itself was something of a labyrinth, consisting of three floors going down from the level at the door. Each level was lined and riddled with shelves, containment units and glass cells filled with horrid, twisted monstrosities. Dreadwing avoided looking at them for too long, awkwardly following his lover through the maze. Breakdown clearly hadn't mastered navigating the lab, but he seemed to have general familiarity to it. Megatron had granted Shockwave permission to pass orders down to the Stunticon as Knock Out did, since he was actually quite an effective lab assist. Chances were, the cyclops had tasked him with running around the place more than once.
As they made their way down the to second floor, a low grunting sound could be heard over the edge. They stopped, looking at each other with puzzled expressions. They moved to the barrier around the edge, glancing over to the bottom floor where Shockwave's main work bench and console was. Low and behold, Shockwave had Soundwave pinned on his back on top of the console, grunting and huffing as he slammed his spike into the comms officer.
Their optics popped open wide, Dreadwing reeling backwards and turning away, biting his lip to stifle an undignified squawk. Breakdown puffed up his cheeks, a hand flying to his mouth but a muted giggle spilled through anyway. Dreadwing looked back at his partner in muted horror, but the Stunticon just looked back with a sparkle of amusement in his optic. Dreadwing grimaced, but chanced another look over the barrier out of morbid curiosity. Primus knew he never wanted to see Shockwave in that kind of position, but he was more surprised by the fact that Soundwave was in the submissive role.
They peered down at the couple again, both interested for very different reasons. Then, to Dreadwing's horror, Soundwave's helm tilted up and he look straight at them.
A winking emoticon appeared on Soundwave's mask screen, and Dreadwing immediately piled the crates by the barrier, snatching Breakdown's arm and all but bolting back for the door. His partner managed to place down his own stack along the way, staggering after the Seeker until they were out the door, Dreadwing slamming on the shutting mechanism as soon as he could. Once it had shut, Breakdown burst out into fits of raucous laughter, while Dreadwing bent over, panting with his hands on his knees.
"You think that was funny?!," he exclaimed. The Stunticon fell back against the door, sliding to the floor and clutching his belly.
"Fraggin' hilarious!," he cackled, a leg kicking involuntarily. "Oh my Primus, I didn't know Soundwave had a sense of humour! Ahahaha!"
Dreadwing shuddered, straightening his back and pinching the bridge of his nose with a groan. Shaking his helm, he turned and started walking away, leaving his boyfriend to get the laughter out of his system.
He needed brain bleach after that.