Starcrossed Mirage 2: Courting
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Mirage was restless. He'd managed little quality recharge, his field wanting to be surrounded by the two strong, protective ones he'd been with on his first mission with them. Normally he could ignore it. It had been vorns since they'd been that close to him until three orns before when he'd overloaded them by field manipulation. Of course, he still wasn't sure how he felt about that, either. On one hand he knew he wanted them, they wanted him and he'd kept his interface covers closed. He hadn't touched their spikes or valves in any way. On the other, he had overloaded them, and he'd wanted to do so much more so very badly.

He wanted.

Just that was enough to send his coding and processors into jagged loops that did not end well. He shouldn't want, not like this. He couldn't help but worry at Jazz's reaction when he found out. He was positive Jazz wouldn't deactivate his own creations over it, Mirage knew he wasn't compromised, but he could still make them disappear as far as Mirage was concerned. There were plenty of places that needed good frontliners.

When his alarm went off he reluctantly got up and began his morning routine of checking messages and skimming new intel while he cleaned, polished and performed minor maintenance on his frame. Today he needed to look especially perfect. In a joor he was to stand by his Lord's side while the mecha he desired so much asked for permission to court him.

He was there precisely on time, exactly when the twins arrived, as well. Sideswipe had polished and shined and it looked like he'd even done touch-up work on his armor. Sunstreaker looked, if possible, more perfect than he usually did, and Mirage finally realized once he was close enough to see clearly that he'd used a different grade of polish.

They offered him tight, stressed smiles and flickered their fields in greeting. Mirage nodded back, doing a better job than they were of hiding his stress, and gestured to the agent that had escorted them here that he would take over for the time being.

A ping and the door opened, Jazz gesturing them in and looking up from his datapad. He paused when he saw them, fixing on Mirage and Sideswipe's appearances, and frowned. "You said you needed to talk to me about Mirage," he said as his agent came to stand next to him while the twins sat across from the desk.

Sideswipe nodded once, glanced at his twin and took the offered support, then faced his carrier directly. "We want to court Mirage for a love-bond, and we're here for your permission."

Jazz's visor cycled once, then again, and his engine snarled as pure darkness closed in on his features. "That is not funny."

Mirage did an alarmed, bright-opticked double take at his commander before looking back to the twins, who didn't seem fazed, and tried to stay calm.

"It isn't a joke," Sunstreaker growled, before a light touch on his leg from Sideswipe settled him enough to quiet his engine.

Sideswipe shrugged carelessly once he faced Jazz again. "It isn't, though," he said.

"You wish to court and bond with your brother." Jazz said it outright, staring at them. "That is not normal."

Sunstreaker's optics glittered oddly. "Blame our genetics for the inclination," he said, then, "Hey!" when Sideswipe grabbed one of his helm fins and yanked.

"Brother-in-law," Sideswipe corrected, glaring at his twin. "We weren't raised together and we can create with him, any relation is by technicality and only by name, not spark."

Jazz twitched, slightly mollified by the truth and annoyed by it all the same. Ancient coding, social training that had been drilled into him for vorns as a youth rose all but unbidden to shape his response to a formal request. "Why should I give my youngest to you?"

Sideswipe x-vented carefully. This was the part he was less certain of. He was better at stating a desire and punching his way to it than talking. "We've proven our willingness and ability to take care of him again and again," he recited. "We want him to be safe and happy, and we-well, we like him. A lot," he added, a little uncertain if that was going to be helpful or not.

"You are barely nobility, a claim only by spark," Jazz pushed down his regret at doing this to the mecha he'd given life and frame to. "You were not even raised as people. How can you support a noble when you are only grunts and aspire to nothing better?"

::He's baiting you.:: Mirage commed them quickly.

Sideswipe hesitated. "We are Prime's Guard," he finally said, and found footing there. "Entrusted to watch over the leader of the Autobots. Our upbringing shaped much of who we are, made us capable of protecting what we care for, and..." He floundered for a few moments.

~Until now we had nothing to aspire to,~ Sunstreaker offered. ~You know the Pit we crawled out of and how far we've come, we're not done yet.~

Sideswipe sent a grateful feeling back and repeated it out loud.

Jazz regarded them steadily, trying to suppress his pride in the answer and how they were handling it with limited success. "So what do you aspire to now?"

"Making sure all three of us survive the war," Sideswipe said honestly. "Ending it as soon as possible."

"And after?" Jazz asked.

"Earning a contract with your youngest. Seeing what kind of world is left and trying to succeed in it."

Jazz gave a hum of acceptance with a sub-harmonic, badly suppressed, of his pride in them. "You understand that success means that you will lead a House one orn. My House."

"Right, sure," Sideswipe said, ready to agree to just about whatever Jazz wanted at the moment, while Sunstreaker gave his carrier a somewhat panicked look.

"Your House?" he asked.

"Mirage has been my heir-select," Jazz told them. "The mech entrusted with the future of my House and estate when I have deactivated. Since you are first creations and will bond to him as such, the responsibility will fall to Sideswipe as the dominant mate, and Sunstreaker by extension. I will not accept a contract unless I believe the mech is suitable to inherit my title and estate."

::I'll help you,:: Mirage commed quickly. ::It sounds scarier than it is.::

"Mirage," Jazz chastised lightly, not looking at him. "They don't need help." Mirage winced slightly.

"We'll figure it out," Sideswipe said quickly.

"...Does that mean yes, for the courting part?" Sunstreaker asked.

Jazz considered them for a long, tense klik before focusing on Mirage. "Is this what you want?"

"Yes," Mirage said immediately, subharmonics ringing with formality and desire and craving. Pleasure-bliss slipped in before he could stop it, notes that sung to physical pleasure and all that he wanted from them, with them, for them, everything he'd kept hidden before he'd realized what they were.

It earned him a sharper look, but Jazz said nothing. He turned his attention back to the twins. "You may court him. You will not attempt to ditch his chaperone. You will not touch him with desire. Break the rules and I will break you both."

Despite the fearsome words, the harmonics didn't quite back it up. Oh, there was no doubt that Jazz was serious about there being consequences, but not that serious.

Sunstreaker's field rippled in protest-how was one supposed to court or whatever it was without touching-but Sideswipe's hold on him held anything spoken back.

"Thank you," Sideswipe said, and couldn't quite keep his grin down when he looked at Mirage.

"Until you are told otherwise, you will arrange all meetings through me," Jazz was very serious now.

Sideswipe deflated a little. "What if we're both in the same public place?"

"Mirage will tell me when he's leaving this domain and you do not come here without escort," Jazz told them. "You will not cross paths without someone to chaperone."

~That's less freedom than we had before!~ Sunstreaker protested. ~All because we said we're interested!~

~I think that's the point,~ Sideswipe sighed. "You know we were his chaperones a few times," he pointed out dryly.

"Of course," Jazz inclined his helm. "That was also work. I trust Mirage to keep his possessors on his duties when he's on a job."

"Yeah?" Sideswipe grinned, stretching his arms up to show his frame off as much as he could. "But not when he's around us off duty? Knew you had an optic for quality, Jazz."

Jazz huffed. "You've already proven that I can't. You've done far more than just touch him, and we all know it. Out with you. I need to chat with my youngest."

The twins rose and nodded to Jazz, grinned at Mirage, and headed out of the office.

~...Prowl?~ Sunstreaker asked.

~Definitely Prowl,~ Sideswipe answered, and the door closed behind them.

Mirage watched them go, then faced his commander, Lord, adopted creator, helm properly lowered.

"Is pleasure all you want of them?" Jazz's tone was gentle.

"I..." Mirage said, then trailed off, giving the question more thought. "There's attraction, there's definitely attraction. I want there to be more. I want to see if it's possible. I think there could be more. This is the only way to find out."

Jazz nodded. "They are good mecha. You know I trust them with your life. However, if you decide that all you want is pleasure, I will give you leave to enjoy them for that. Simply keep it in mind as they court you."

"I'm not giving my seals and my pleasure away for so little," Mirage said, shaking his head. "But I will keep it in mind."

"I will trust your judgment in what you want with them," Jazz told him with definite pride in the fact. "I'll be as nice or scary as you need. Just keep me apprised of it. You may go."

"Thank you," Mirage said, bowed properly, and slipped out.

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"This is weird," Sunstreaker muttered, looking around as they walked into the commissary. They hadn't seen Mirage since the meeting with him and Jazz, not even talked to him, and Prowl had warned them that comming Mirage directly would not be permitted and to not even try. So they had commed Jazz instead and arranged a meeting with Mirage for one of the first orns when their duties wouldn't interfere. "Comm Jazz, meet Mirage."

"Nobles are strange," Sideswipe shrugged, palming the dispenser and getting his ornly ration. His twin followed after and then they hesitated, unsure if they should find a table or wait for Mirage, which resulted in standing awkwardly near the doorway. It was not long before Mirage swept in with all the grace, poise and snooty command of one created, bred and raised to be better than anyone else.

Shadowing him was a smaller mech. Built much the same as Mirage, all lithe and smooth angles, but matte black. Not even his visor reflected light.

~Ah, frag,~ Sideswipe said as Sunstreaker grunted in agreement. "Whiplash," he greeted tentatively.

"Do not acknowledge him," Mirage said coolly as he glided over. "You're here for me."

"Yes sir," Sideswipe grinned. Sunstreaker kept his optics on Whiplash for another moment before looking at Mirage.

"Hey," he greeted, shifting awkwardly, uncomfortable with the entire arrangement.

"Hello," Mirage inclined his helm faintly while Whiplash moved silently to fetch his energon.

Sunstreaker couldn't quite keep himself from monitoring Whiplash as they moved to an empty table. Whiplash was definitely categorized as #Threat# and the younger twin had never been able to stop monitoring one of those, no matter how long they'd been out of the arenas and away from the frontlines. Sideswipe wasn't any better, he was just slightly better at hiding it.

Once all four had settled Sideswipe cleared out his vocalizer, realizing that the social pressure from the strange engagement was quickly ruining his twin's already limited ability to interact. "So, this might actually be the strangest thing I've ever done," he said with an offered smile for the noble.

"It is a pleasant change for me," Mirage managed to chastise and thank them all in the same phrase. "My Lord seems to think well of you despite your upbringing. It would be pleasant to prove him right."

"We're gonna make sure we do," Sideswipe said, leaning back in his chair and searching for something else to say. Whiplash sitting there silently watching them was really, really distracting. "Do escorts always ... I mean, do they ever sort of hide somewhere? Could he sort of ... stand over there?"

"Surely you are not afraid of my chaperone?" Mirage raised an optic ridge while Whiplash struggled not to laugh and grin like a maniac.

"Not afraid of him," Sunstreaker grumbled. "He's just ... watching. It's creepy."

Sideswipe sighed. "And I think we have to get used to it." ~Come on, we're gonna let something like a mech watching us ruin this?~

~Creepy,~ Sunstreaker insisted, but there was agreement there as well.

"Definitely not afraid of him," Sideswipe said with a touch of injured pride about him. "Right. So. We know you like racing, and good polish, and Ops, and ... well, us," the red twin grinned at the noble. "But what else?"

"Culture," Mirage summed up so many things in a single, very, very complex glyph. "I enjoy dancing, the theater, parties and playing the lyre and harp, both grand and hand."

~Lyre?~ Sunstreaker asked.

~Er...~ Sideswipe tried to decide if asking would be an insult, then figured none of this could really get worse. "What's a lyre, like a different kind of harp?"

Mirage paused and considered who he was speaking to. "It is classified as a small yoke lute. Something between a hand harp and a guitar."

"Okay, yeah," Sideswipe said, nodding. "There was a mech on the frontlines had a guitar, made life way less boring."

"Will you play for us?" Sunstreaker asked, quiet hopefulness in the subharmonics. "You're probably a lot better than he was."

"I have no doubt I am," Mirage replied with a smooth smugness. "Yes. It does require somewhere reasonably quiet to enjoy."

"So later, then," Sideswipe agreed, and gave Mirage a rueful smile. "I'm sorry, we're not very good at this, I think. We don't usually ... take the slow route like this. Kind of a new thing."

Mirage hesitated, opened his mouth, then closed it again and just smiled at him.

~Why is this so hard?~ Sideswipe groaned at his twin. ~It wasn't this hard before!~

~Beats me.~

~What did we talk to him about before?~

~Polish, sniping, racing?~ Sunstreaker suggested.

Sideswipe perked up and looked at Whiplash, about to ask something, then remembered and quickly looked back at Mirage. "I assume he stops me if I start to break rules, so go with me here. Ever ventured into the slummier parts of Iacon?"

"Not willingly," Mirage said carefully.

Sunstreaker suddenly brightened, too. "Oh, yeah, that place," he said. "Polish supplier, but not quite-"

"He's pricey," Sideswipe interrupted quickly. "But makes the best polish available anymore. At least that we've found. ... Wanna go?"

"Polish he makes, not found?" Mirage asked, careful even as he was rather excited by the prospect of good polish. It was becoming harder to come by every vorn.

"Yeah he makes it," Sideswipe said, as all four finished their energon and stood. "Just about a half groon once off base, c'mon," he gestured for Mirage to follow and lead the way, radiating excitement.

Mirage cast a glance at Whiplash, who nodded, and followed the pair out.

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Mirage managed to keep the pleased hum internal, showing only through his field, but he was in an unusually good mood. The big screen holo-vid production, seen in an actual facility for it, not someone's entertainment center, was a welcome bit of history and good memories for him. The holo-vid itself was sweet, a classic tale of a brave knight, evil warrior and beautiful noble in distress; exactly the kind that Mirage had loved to watch when he'd been younger. It brought so many warm memories to the fore, and it was nice to spend a few joors with the twins and not have to talk. That was still rather stilted, though it was getting better. At least sometimes.

The presence of the escort seemed to have destroyed all the chemistry they'd had before, and even now, their matte black shadow was trailing behind them by several paces, completely silent. But they couldn't see him or teek him, which seemed to put both twins immensely more at ease. They did much better when they forgot that they were being observed, like when they'd gotten focused on their work when they'd spent an afternoon training together, and then at a third outing on the race track.

Sideswipe offered his arm in a slightly clumsy mimic of something he'd seen in the film, but it was worth it for the smile he got and the way Mirage wrapped his hand around his elbow. Sideswipe teeked, then grinned at him. "You liked that!"

"It was a pleasant diversion," Mirage managed not to purr. "I do enjoy the classic story form and it was not badly crafted."

"Good," Sideswipe said, and he did purr. "I was worried it might be a flop, hard to tell with these reruns. Maybe coulda used a few more fights scenes..."

"A lot more fight scenes," Sunstreaker said, walking on the other side of Mirage. "The noble looked nice though."

"Not as nice as this one," Sideswipe said.

"Flattery," Mirage laughed, soft and light, just as he would have in the Towers to a welcome flirtation. The twins might not have understood that, but they understood his good mood and approval. "I must say though that I have been spoiled. The knight was not nearly as appealing as he should have been."

"Isn't flattery if it's true," Sunstreaker rumbled, unable to hide the pleased flare in his field from the compliment.

"Were the Towers nobles like that?" Sideswipe asked curiously. "We lived in an estate for a while, until we were younglings, I don't remember the nobles there being quite so..."

"In distress?" Sunstreaker said. "Yeah but they weren't being chased by an evil warrior."

"Not that we saw much of them," Sideswipe shrugged. "The seneschal was raising us."

"Prowl's kin, I expect," Mirage was sure of it. "The situation in the story never happened in the Towers, so no. Nobles are masters, but only of civilization. In ancient times, yes, that would have been a reasonable reaction for a second creation taken so far away from home, safety and his Lord. Put in uncivilized surroundings, many would be at least that distressed. We do not belong in such places any more than scavengers belonged in the Towers."

"Do you feel like you belong here, with the Autobots?" Sideswipe asked quietly.

"On occasion," Mirage answered even more quietly. "Mostly below, with Ops."

Sideswipe frowned, glanced at his twin who confirmed that the noble's teek had definitely turned gloomier, then focused back on Mirage. "What were the Towers like?" he asked, hoping that the subject would lift the noble's mood a little. "I always heard they were pretty spectacular."

"Oh yes," Mirage's field smoothed and warmed, almost fluttering with nostalgia. "They were amazing. Each tower resonated differently. A skilled listener could tell which one a mecha was from, or which a piece of music was composed for with only a few notes sung. They glittered every night, but the parties were truly spectacular. The best singers could bring the very core of the tower to life with their harmonies. It was amazing to feel as much as hear the choir."

"They ... resonated?" Sideswipe asked. "From singing? How?"

"Glittered, like actually lit up?" Sunstreaker asked, suddenly and intensely curious.

"Yes and yes," Mirage happily delved into memories of an existence long ago destroyed. "Every substance and object has a resonant frequency where it will vibrate with more strength than what is put into it. The Towers were crafted in such a way that a skilled choir could create the resonance in it despite its size and complexity."

"Sounds beautiful," Sunstreaker purred. "And each tower was different?"

"Yes, and it was," Mirage smiled fondly.

"Which one were you from?" Sideswipe asked carefully, subharmonics indicating that Mirage didn't need to answer if the subject was too painful.

"The House of Swift Sky, descendant from the House of Star Fire. We resided in the Star Fire Tower," Mirage said with no small amount of pride.

~Good pick on the flic,~ Sunstreaker told his brother while they continued to ask about Mirage's life in the Towers.

~It was ... painfully sappy,~ Sideswipe said. ~But I'm just glad he liked it. At least he's adorable when he's gushing.~

~It's a whole lot better than when he's snooty,~ Sunstreaker agreed.

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Their sixth date had taken long enough to arrange, mostly thanks to Mirage being on a mission for three metacycles, that Sideswipe had won the metacycle tournament again. For once, he hadn't made high grade with his winnings, much to the shock and distress of many. What he had done with it he refused to say, but he was excited. By the time they'd managed to meet Mirage at the race track again the twins needed the racing desperately and rather surprised the noble with how completely they outlapped him.

They transformed after their last race with racing engines and frames panting out the heat, grinning at Mirage. "How about those taillights, huh?" Sideswipe teased the noble as he joined them. "C'mon, let's go refuel."

"Yes," Mirage said, his lighter armor venting the heat more easily as he followed them, Whiplash their ever-present shadow remaining out of teeking range. "Have you been abstinent in my absence?"

"How could you tell?" Sunstreaker asked dryly, his field flush with the excitement of the race.

Sideswipe slung an arm around his twin's shoulders. "It's 'cause we're so mellow, isn't it," he said, grinning at Mirage.

"Yes, actually," Mirage gave them a tiny smile. "The energy buildup you must have experienced is impressive. What I do not understand is why."

"Um," Sunstreaker said, glancing at his twin. "Why not?"

Mirage paused, then gave them one of those tiny smiles that said they'd both just crossed a bizarre cultural line and he was immensely pleased, if perplexed, by their response.

"There is no expectation of it and it does not seem in your natures. I do not understand why you would ignore your desires that way," Mirage elaborated while he ignored the silent hysterics of the black mech shadowing them.

"It just didn't seem like, um, the polite thing to do?" Sunstreaker almost asked, not entirely sure what they'd done right or wrong but willing to just give thanks that Mirage wasn't displeased.

"Though if it bothers you," Sideswipe said, chuckling, "We could start 'facing around..."

"Loyalty could never bother me," Mirage gave them an affectionate brush of his field. "Though it seems wrong to be the reason you no longer indulge your bonded."

The twins glanced at each other. "Well with each other it's-"

"-With you being gone and all-"

"-We just kept-"

"-And then we'd worry-"

"-And in the end-"

"-It was more frustrating than not," Sunstreaker finished ruefully.

Mirage actually came to a physical stop and looked at them. "You desire me that much?" He couldn't quite keep the awe out of his tone.

The twins stopped a step later and turned towards him. "Well, yeah," Sideswipe said, glanced at Whiplash, and stepped close enough to brush his knuckles almost against Mirage's face.

"You think we'd have patience for all this," Sunstreaker waved his hand, indicating the entire courting ritual, "If we didn't?"

"No, I suppose not," Mirage murmured, reminded that they saw the process so very differently. His field latched onto the near contact and wrapped around Sideswipe's hand, caressing and pulsing into it with how pleased he was that they were and did. "I never expected it, that I would be that much of a focus."

Sideswipe hummed, smiling, then started back towards the base as they asked Mirage about his mission and tried to hide how excited they were to have him back. They hardly cared that pretty much everything about the mission was something Mirage couldn't talk about.

"So we have something for you," Sideswipe said, once they were seated in the commissary with their rations. "'Cause you've been living off field rations and we had a lot of time to tinker while you were gone." He pushed a box forward.

Mirage extended his hand, trusting more than he normally would be with anyone else, and drew the box to him before sliding it open. Yellow optics brightened noticeably and his mouth formed a delighted 'o' as he took in the contents. "How ever did you manage?"

"Energon from the double rations," Sideswipe said proudly. "Sunny's really creative with the additives."

"And Sides knows how to work energon," Sunstreaker said. "Though there were some disastrous test trials."

"Thank you," Mirage actually cooed as he selected one of the candies and slid it into his mouth, making a seductive show for the twins of his acceptance of their gift.

The twins purred, captivated, and Sunstreaker lifted a second treat once Mirage had finished, holding it out for the noble to take, and then they watched as he delicately accepted it between his lips, a look of bliss on his face as it melted in his mouth.

"Oh Mirage," said a sudden voice from behind. "This is what you've lowered yourself to? Performing like a pleasurebot to a pair of drooling ruffians?"

The spell broken, both twins felt the flare of tightly controlled fury and disgust roil up in Mirage's field before being corralled and suppressed. "Be careful whom you insult, Tracks," he snipped back, intentionally stripping the mech's noble titles from the designation so only the Autobot Tracks was said.

"Sweetspark," Tracks drawled, unfazed, "I don't need to insult you, you're doing a plenty fine job of doing that on your own. Puh-lease tell me this is all a bad social experiment, I simply cannot accept that you would choose them."

"Hey, slag-for-gears," Sunstreaker snarled, rising. "Wanna back off?"

"I was referring to their creators," Mirage said calmly as he brushed his field towards the twins, trying to calm them even as it said how very much he would enjoy their rage taken out on the other noble.

"Like I'm worried about a gutter's whore," Tracks said, and sneered at Sunstreaker. "Still trying to keep up your unkempt finish?"

Mirage stood with lethal grace and put a hand on Sunstreaker's arm, motioning him to stand down and step back. "You do not insult my Lord and our SIC with impunity, Tracks," Mirage's tone was ice cold and suddenly Whiplash was at his side, a silent threat. "I should turn you over to Jazz for that."

Tracks sniffed disdainfully, completely missing the message that Mirage had given him about the identity of those creators. "I'm not in that department, your wits have apparently fled with your sense of propriety."

Sideswipe rose to flank his twin, scowling at the other first creation. "I'd start thinking before speaking, Tracks," he said in a low growl.

"I'd start thinking before acting," Tracks said. "You honestly think you have anything he could want? He was created to be at the side of someone refined and powerful, you cannot appreciate the role he was intended to fill."

"Maybe not, but we can appreciate him as who he is," Sunstreaker snarled, but Mirage's light touch kept him from lunging.

"He is only upset because I refused his attentions and accepted yours," Mirage said loudly enough for anyone to hear, then lowered his voice and hissed, his armor ruffling at the insult to him and his House. "Do you truly believe Lord Jazz will take being called a gutter's whore very well? Or that I would let such an insult to my House Lord go unchallenged?"

Tracks gave a startled double take at him, then at the imposing presence of the twins behind him, finally putting all the small clues together. Optics brightened, and then his expression twisted into something sneering and ugly. "I do apologize, I misspoke and acknowledge my error. I mistakenly implied that he was from the gutters."

It was Sideswipe's attack that came flying forward and his fist pummeled Tracks's face, knocking the other noble flat to the ground. Sunstreaker was on him a fraction of a klik later.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker," Mirage tried to call them off, though even he admitted that he was highly gratified to see the other noble torn apart.

"Enough!" Prowl's commanding bellow rocked the room only kliks after that.

Sideswipe froze at that voice and immediately grabbed his twin, yanking him back as best he could. Sunstreaker was too focused on the mech and even Mirage got snarled at when he knelt down to help. Between the two of them they managed to get the battle-fogged frontliner back in time to look up to see Prowl glaring down at the whole lot.

"So who is going to explain what I saw and heard on the security recording?" Prowl's glare deepened at them before giving a meaningful glance towards Whiplash.

Whiplash held his hands up innocently. "My orders are to be a neutral presence," he said, then glanced at the three on the floor and the threatening stance he'd taken next to them. "Mostly."

"He called Mirage a pleasurebot," Sunstreaker snarled, gaze still fixed on Tracks, who was starting to push himself up.

"And Jazz a whore," Sideswipe growled with a warning flare of his armor to the groaning first creation.

"And you," Mirage said, glaring at Tracks. "Technically. Gutter's whore."

Each accusation respoken turned Prowl's field a shade darker, reminded the few in the room who knew his past that he was still that mech, still the SpecOps trained survivor that had spent eleven centuries in Kaon hunting and killing Decepticons with nothing but his partner as backup and support. Even those who didn't know that truth did know that Jazz and Prowl were mates, very, very long-time mates and it was never a bright idea to insult such ranking officers.

"Words, an insult," Prowl still appeared to be completely composed. Only those close enough to teek him knew how furious he was as his gaze locked onto Tracks as the medics arrived to look the battered mech over. "You will explain why you walked up to them and intentionally provoked them to a fight."

"They threw the first punch," Tracks complained, still completely sure of his position, but clearly rattled by the SIC. "I'm merely attempting to point out the facade of this-this-farce of a courting, it's a mockery of our refined culture, an utter travesty! He's demeaning himself!"

"How dare you-!" Sunstreaker snarled.

"Enough!" Prowl's voice rose to a volume and pitch rarely heard outside the battlefield and the entire room froze on reflex. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, my office for punishment detail. Baited or not, you did fight. Tracks," and now his fury was on cold display as the medics were waved away. "Autobots do not have nobility. The law applies to all mecha equally. If you cannot accept that truth, I will have you discharged."

Tracks blanched at that, and backed down. "Yes sir," he said tersely, but couldn't stop a smug look at the twins as they rose and dutifully left for Prowl's office.

It left Mirage there looking at Prowl a little hesitantly. "And me, sir?" he questioned.

"You were not part of the fight. You are free to go," Prowl kept his attention fixed on Tracks as the blue and white noble and his matte black shadow slipped silently away, the box on the table disappearing with them. "You will report to the brig now. I will determine your punishment after I deal with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."

Tracks scowled but did not object and got shakily to his pedes, limping away.

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Picking their way through the rumble of the Star Fire Tower, long ago scavenged clean of anything of conventional value, Sideswipe mused once more over their luck. Sure, their relationship with their creators was tense and occasionally explosive, but it was times like this where he knew without a doubt that the older mecha weren't holding grudges. Jazz could have made courting Mirage impossible, and Sideswipe honestly didn't want to know the mental gymnastics Prowl must have gone through to approve their extended leave and authorization to be here.

~It's guilt,~ Sunstreaker said matter-of-factly, catching the trail of thought. ~For getting us dragged into the youngling pits. We could get away with just about anything with them as long as it isn't actually breaking rules.~

~Jazz wouldn't have let us court Mirage just for guilt,~ Sideswipe said, picking through the crystal-embedded wreckage of the tower walls.

~It's not like he could have stopped us,~ Sunstreaker pointed out. ~We don't need his permission.~

~We do, because Mirage does,~ Sideswipe said. ~I like him but Primus nobles are something else. Go through all this just to find a mate because rules say so? If Jazz told him no he woulda shut us out.~

Sunstreaker wanted to argue, but he knew in his core that it was true. Mirage was unfailingly dedicated to Jazz and as many of the noble ways as he could manage.

~What's really weird though, is that Prowl and Jazz hate the caste system. I mean really hate it,~ Sideswipe continued to shift the topic a bit. ~Which is also weird, given Jazz came from the privileged ones.~

Sunstreaker snorted. ~Privileged ones that sold him to a glitched fragger. What I don't get is why he ran away from it, aren't second creations supposed to, I don't know, conform? I mean, to anything?~

~Yeah, but have you listened to Prowl talk about their early vorns? They were both totally in love from way before it was physical. Kinda like us. It'll override code if it's strong enough.~ Sideswipe said, though he wasn't as sure as he wanted to be. ~I think they bonded their loyalty code to each other instead of where it belonged.~

~Mm. That'd make sense. So that's probably why he hates the caste system. Screwed him over. Prowl hates it because it screwed Jazz over. So then, what was all that about inheriting his estate?~ Sunstreaker frowned.

~Mirage,~ Sideswipe shrugged. ~It's all for Mirage. You know he thinks of Jazz as his House Lord, and Mirage is Jazz's heir, so the House goes to Mirage, and by their screwed up laws, to us if we're with him. Does it even matter if the House only exists between the two of them? It makes Mirage feel better.~

~As long as we don't have to host stupid parties and slag,~ Sunstreaker growled, then softened. ~But if it makes Mirage feel better, I guess ... but none of that, that dancing slag they did in that vid.~

Sideswipe laughed. ~You know full well you'd do it if it would make Mirage happy enough. I think the singing with the crystal will be enough though. If we can find the blasted thing.~

Sunstreaker huffed, kicking at a painting that had no doubt been considered extremely valuable art, turning it over to look. ~You'd do anything too,~ he grumbled, cocking his head at the canvas.

~Yeah, I would, but I don't contest it either,~ Sideswipe teased him back.

Sunstreaker ignored him in favor of examining the painting. ~Look at this, the style's all cold and static and unfeeling. No passion to it at all.~

Sideswipe glanced over his twin's shoulder and hummed. ~Think he might sit still for you to show him what a real portrait looks like?~

Sunstreaker brightened and looked at his twin, then drooped again. ~Haven't painted a proper portrait in so long, Sides,~ he sighed, then smirked at his red half. ~Wanna sit for a few?~

~Sure,~ Sideswipe smiled, delighted to have prodded his twin into his only peaceful hobby. ~The results always look good.~ His attention sharpened suddenly, focusing on something mostly buried and covered with dust.

~Maybe we'll make some of them the slightly more interesting kind of portrait,~ Sunstreaker purred as he followed his twin's gaze down and cocked his head. ~Kinda looks like...~

The twins knelt down and cleared away the debris and pulled out a carving. It had been painted, once, but much of that had chipped away and the edges were chipped and cracked, but the design was still clear. "Hey!" Sunstreaker said, forgetting about being quiet in his excitement. "It's that thing!"

"His House ... insignia thing," Sideswipe agreed, his voice low to remind his brother. ~And I'd love for some to be interesting portraits. It's not the crystal, but I bet we can patch this up, paint it and he'd go all swooning over the effort.~

~A swooning Mirage is a good Mirage,~ Sunstreaker agreed, cringing as he quieted again. Six, seven, eight dates had passed and Whiplash was still shadowing. As much as they'd gotten used to his presence, it was discouraging that Jazz hadn't called him off yet.

Likely because the sixth date had ended with them in the brig, though, so neither had started complaining. Yet.

~C'mon, that crystal has to be around here somewhere. There's tiny ones everywhere, they can't be valuable to scavengers. What'd he call it, the core of the tower? So...~ Sunstreaker pulled up the map they had of the area and placed their coordinates on it. ~Looks like the towers all fell that way...~ He pointed. ~Was it the literal center?~

~Yeah, at least Prowl was pretty sure of it,~ Sideswipe nodded as he subspaced the crest and they moved towards the base of the tower where large chunks of the core support should still be close to where the map had it. ~Even he wasn't sure.~

~I always thought there was just, you know, nobles,~ Sunstreaker said as they walked. ~Not much difference between 'em. Now there are more kinds than I can count,~ he rolled his optics. ~Oh, hello,~ he purred as they all but stumbled onto a giant pile of shattered crystal. ~That looks promising. Leads...~ He lined his fingers up to the trail. ~There.~

It took them a few kliks to get there and dig it out, but once they had, they looked at each other, grinning.

~Sensors say there's nothing for megamiles. Want to try singing out here, where no one will hear it, and we can shoot them if they do?~ Sideswipe asked, uneasy about trying this trick back at base where there was limited privacy, even if they had noticeably more than most.

~...Oh yeah,~ Sunstreaker grumbled. ~Singing. Hey, how about you sing, I guard.~

Sideswipe scowled, but nodded. ~No laughing. You're next.~

~But Sides,~ Sunstreaker said innocently, ~I'm sure you'll do it so well I won't have to!~

~Since we both have to sing to him at a major party, you're going to want to be on key,~ Sideswipe pointed out dryly. ~You don't sing, you don't get to move on.~ He drew in a deep vent of air and began to shift his vocalizer through pitches.

Sunstreaker huffed, settled in, and listened. Breems later, nothing had happened in the pile.

"I was kinda hoping this would be easy," Sunstreaker complained, kicking at the pile. "I wonder if it works if they're all piled together."

"We have to try singing to them one at a time?" Sideswipe said, and threw his hands up in defeat.

"Well?" Sunstreaker said. "Have any better ideas?"

Sideswipe forced himself to still, calm down and really think. "Okay, the original core was symmetrical and without flaws. Let's try to find or shape a chunk that looks like the original."

"Better than nothing," Sunstreaker shrugged, and they started the tedious process of sorting through the crystal wreckage.

By the end they had a collection lined up of possible candidates, from their idea of most likely to least likely.

"Your turn," Sideswipe smirked at his twin.

Sunstreaker glared, but dutifully plopped down and began going through different notes. On the fifth crystal, set carefully upright, it flickered.

~See that?~ Sideswipe's excitement was electric.

~I saw.~ Sunstreaker repeated the frequency, then Sideswipe added to it in perfect harmony and it flickered more and began to resonate, humming in reply to them.

~That is so cool,~ Sideswipe's amazement didn't interrupt his voice.

Sunstreaker's own enjoyment was vibrant over the bond as they carefully shifted their voices together, one of them always on the same pitch in a different harmonic. When they'd explored and recorded a variety of notes and harmonics, they quieted, grinning at each other.

"So now all we have to do is write a song," Sunstreaker said.

"Or adapt one," Sideswipe said.

Sunstreaker nodded as they stood up, fields bright with their success. "Think he'd like anything else from all this? I'm amazed he survived ... he was here, right? When it happened?"

"I don't think we've ever asked," Sideswipe admitted. "But he's talked about hunting and music a lot. Maybe there's a gun, or turbofox or instrument that made it." Sideswipe paused. "You know ... Prowl's done a lot to help us. If we find a game... Sovereign, treck ... it'd be nice, ya know."

"Yeah it would be," Sunstreaker hummed. "Yeah, sure, if we see something, I guess. ... We should ask him, about that," he said quietly, switching back to wondering if Mirage had been here when the Towers fell. "Sometime. When we can. If it isn't going to hurt too much, I guess. He gets all quiet sometimes."

"Like we don't?" Sideswipe murmured as they began a systematic search for anything interesting now that they had what they'd come for. "Is there anybody we know that doesn't?"

"No, but..." Sunstreaker gestured for a moment, searching for words. "I care when he does."

"Yeah, I know," Sideswipe gave his brother a reassuring look. "Like he cares when we go quiet. But ... sometimes I want to tell him about that stuff, just so he knows why we are."

"Yeah," Sunstreaker agreed, frowning. "Do you think ... if we survive this war, if anything is left ... are we too messed up for him?"

Sideswipe still, digesting that all the way to his spark before answering. "No," he answered softly. "No, we aren't. He cares about us, and we care about him. Just look at Prowl and Jazz. They make us seem way right in the processors, but not even you can say they don't support each other. We'll make it work. Like we told Jazz, we have something to aspire to now."

Sunstreaker nodded quickly, latching onto his twin's certainty. "I want to ... try and get better for him. I know I'll never be ... right, y'know? But better. 'Cause ... I think he wants sparklings. He gets all glowy when he talks about them."

"Yeah," Sideswipe walked up and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Yeah, he does. It'd be nice, you know, having something that's really the future from us. Might want to find out even twins even can kindle, before going too far down that path."

"Prowl said he thought we could, just that we'd both have to be involved, 'causa the split spark thing," Sunstreaker said. "Just hope we make it that long."

"Yeah, but he's not a medic either," Sideswipe shoved that whole debate to the bottom of his processing queue. "We made it this far just on surviving for its own sake." ~We have a reason to make it now,~ he added over the bond. ~Don't go all morbid on me. Not when life's just starting to show some promise of not sucking big time.~

~It's also a reason to be afraid of deactivation,~ Sunstreaker pointed out. ~Never had one of those before.~ He kicked at the ground, then pulled out a bent and mangled hunting rifle that had once been a work of art as well as functional. ~Makes us fight better, though. Betcha someone can fix this up.~

~I'm sure of it,~ Sideswipe agreed, allowing Sunstreaker to subspace that prize before they continued the scavenger hunt.

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Mirage had been more than a little dubious about this particular venue, as he'd described it, for a date, but the twins had insisted and he'd finally agreed to attend one of the regular metacycle parties that followed the fighting tournaments. A few joors after the fights ended it always calmed down and turned into more of a social event for mecha who were so inclined to attend. It was the closest they could get to a proper event.

~...No, I changed my mind,~ Sunstreaker said, from where he was plastered against the wall, watching Mirage smile as he talked with another SpecOps agent. ~I can't do this.~

~Then I'll do it by myself,~ Sideswipe half insulted, half reassured him he wouldn't be alone. ~Mirage is worth it. It's not like you have much to lose here. I'm the one with a social standing.~

~Flattery will get you nowhere,~ Sunstreaker said sarcastically, but puffed up a little at the implication in Sideswipe's voice that he might be afraid of something. ~Okay. It'll be over soon, Mirage is worth it,~ he repeated again, and pushed off the wall. It didn't escape his attention that as soon as they started heading towards the blue and white noble, Jazz appeared from out of the crowd to serve as escort.

~He is. He's worth all this slag and more. Just look at how he looks at us,~ Sideswipe smiled at Mirage while he purred his desire to his brother. ~No one's ever looked at us like that before.~

Sunstreaker could only purr his agreement back at his twin as Mirage turned to face them, smiling and dipping his helm in a familiar but still proper greeting. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.

Sunstreaker immediately froze up and forgot what words were, and shoved his brother over the bond.

Sideswipe sent a soothing, I've got it pulse back and inclined his helm in the prior reply. With fingers he was trying very hard to keep from trembling, he brought the crystal from the Star Fire tower out and offered it. "We would sing for you tonight."

Mirage's reaction was immediate and dramatic, yellow optics brightened and fixated on the crystal, then went up to one twin, then the other, as his field rippled out in waves, stunned. Even Jazz's mouth dropped open slightly, though neither twin was looking at him, and Prowl only smiled softly.

"This is..." Mirage said, and reached out to brush his fingers against the crystal, and as his focused his field against it, it glittered faintly, barely visible in the light but there. "How did you..."

His reaction drew more than a little attention, and the expression on Jazz's face drew the rest, to the point where everyone who could see them hushed, and the rest of the room went quiet in response and started straining to see what was happening in the center.

~...I think I'm gonna crash,~ Sunstreaker said.

~Don't you dare. You've performed for much bigger crowds,~ Sideswipe pushed over the bond as he answered Mirage. "You are worth it." With all his remaining courage, he began to hum. Pure notes that had take entirely too much to learn how to do, both in practice and in watching the single vid they could scrounge out of the archives of such a performance.

Sunstreaker joined in a moment later, latching onto his twin's momentum and following, and after a few bars, the crowd and all the optics and all the expressions pointed at them just faded away, until it was just them, Mirage, and the crystal that was beginning to glow.

They'd modified the glyphwork in the song a little to work better for Mirage, but they'd lucked onto a fairly generic sounding poem that suited their purposes and stuck with that, and had to hope that the noble liked it.

From the way his field was glowing, "like" was an understatement.

As their voices drew the poem to a close, Mirage's voice rose in answer. Clear and strong, far more refined and practiced even after having given up on ever singing again for so long, it was full of acceptance, returned desire and hope for the future. The crystal in Mirage's hands glowed all the more brightly as it hummed in resonance to their voices, a background hint of what had once been a visceral experience for all in the building.

The room, if possible, was even more silent than it had been while the twins were singing on their own, and when Mirage's final, ringing note stopped echoing, there was a hushed moment of awe.

The twins, exhilarated and amazed, couldn't hide the way their fields and optics lit up, and even Sunstreaker forgot how nervous he'd been when he saw the look on Mirage's face.

"We ... got you something else," Sunstreaker murmured, leaning in close to Mirage's audial, taking the moment to brush their fingertips together. "We asked Jazz to put it in your quarters."

Mirage quivered, his armor ruffling in the most obvious expression of something other than snootiness that most mecha there had seen. It made him suddenly so very normal. He gave a quick nod and moved towards the exit, his frame almost gliding but his field alive with anticipation. He trusted Jazz to do his part as chaperone, either himself or with another.

~Come on.~ Sideswipe gave his brother a quick shove and tried to contain his excitement enough to have some dignity in following Mirage.

On the way out, they saw quite a few astounded faces, glimpsed Prowl's proud one, and somehow managed to not stick their glossas out at Tracks, who looked like he might melt if he simmered for much longer. Jazz became their immediate shadow, following a respectful distance behind.

With Jazz and Mirage accompanying, there was no resistance offered to enter the underground Ops facility and they followed Mirage to his chambers, glancing at Jazz before following him in. Jazz stood in the open doorway, watching as Mirage came to an abrupt halt at seeing the display on the far wall, centered perfectly on the doorway.

The cracked, chipped and faded House of Swift Sky crest was now in perfect condition. The flaws filled and corrected and painted to a vibrancy it hadn't known since Mirage had seen it in his home tower. Under it rested a hunting riffle of exquisite craftsmanship. Though its finer details had been lost to damage and repair, it still looked like it could have been brand new and was painted to make up for the lost carvings.

Mirage clutched the crystal from his tower's core all the tighter as his emotional control threatened to dissolve completely.

"Sorry, is it-we hoped it wouldn't be too much but-we thought you might like-" Sunstreaker stammered, uncertain of what to make of the noble's staring silence. "But if ... I mean, too much and tell us and-"

"If it's too much, we'll take it," Sideswipe cut in softly, translating for his twin who was more susceptible to emotion in general than he was. He was taking the moment to look around the room they'd never seen before, seeing more trinkets on shelves and hanging from the walls. The crest fit in well.

"No, no, please don't take it," Mirage found his voice and reached out with his field to try and express just how amazing this was, how deeply it touched him. Eventually he regained enough control of his frame and all but launched himself against Sunstreaker for a kiss so full of passion that Jazz felt the need to cycle his vocalizer.

Sunstreaker regretfully let Mirage back but didn't take his hands off the noble's waist. "Glad you like it," he purred, nuzzling.

"Hey," Sideswipe looked at Jazz, "Since he got a kiss, do I get one too? It's only fair."

"A kiss is acceptable," Mirage smiled at him, giddy and almost dizzy at all he'd been given in the last joor. He reluctantly pulled away from Sunstreaker to embrace Sideswipe and kiss him the same heated, engine-revving kiss his brother had received. "He was warning me against going further."

The twins both looked somewhat hopefully at Jazz after a few moments when the kiss broke. This was going on their tenth official, planned outing and they both felt that it had been incredibly successful, but he looked back with no expression, and no indication that he planned on moving from the doorway.

Mirage reached over and drew Sunstreaker against his back and purred between them to distract them, head on Sideswipe's chest and looking at the crest. "Who painted that? It's amazing work."

Sideswipe pulsed support and encouragement over the bond, reminding Sunstreaker of how well everything had gone so far.

"I did," Sunstreaker melted into the contact, feeling how right it was to have this mech between them. "I ... do paintings, sometimes. Do you think ... maybe you'd sit for one, sometime soon?"

"A portrait?" Mirage said, trilling with curious interest and pleasant surprise at that knowledge, something he hadn't expected from Sunstreaker, and nodded his agreement. "I would enjoy that very much." He looked at Jazz, who inclined his helm in permission.

"I will contact you to arrange an appropriate time," Jazz said.

Mirage smiled and hummed and relaxed in the twins' arms, happy to simply rest there for as long as they were allowed.

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Three sets of guards were responsible for the personal safety of the Prime, which meant Sunstreaker and Sideswipe only had to bribe two mecha to clear out of their shared quarters for the afternoon. Sunstreaker had been obsessively going over his paint, brushes, and canvas, checking that everything was in the order he preferred, perfectly spaced, and the highest quality they were capable of obtaining.

Sideswipe arrived late, which was almost enough to make Sunstreaker panic, but he had retrieved the last part of their gift from the Towers from Wheeljack and Sunstreaker settled as soon as his twin was there. He'd practiced for this, Mirage would enjoy it.

"Ready?" Sideswipe asked, looking over the set-up.

"As I'll ever be," Sunstreaker controlled a quiver of his armor. "The fox is all set up, nothing to go boom?"

"Hope not," Sideswipe gave it a slightly wary look. "Ratchet promised me he looked it over ... though knowing him he might have set something up," he rolled his optics. "That'd probably start us completely back over with this escort deal."

"We'll have to trust them," Sunstreaker made a face. "We'll know soon enough."

Sideswipe nodded with an eager resettling of his armor as the door chimed. They sent the command for it to open simultaneously and it slid away to allow Mirage, followed by Jazz, into the room.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker. It is good to see you," Mirage inclined his helm to them in a proper greeting, but his frame and armor, subtle as it was, told of great excitement.

The twins tried to hide their disappointment as Jazz first looked around, nodded his satisfaction, and then settled against the wall to watch, and instead focused on Mirage. Sunstreaker rose, fiddling with one of his brushes. "Hey," he said, with a half-grin. "So, I thought I'd paint you sitting, if you wanted, or maybe reclining, it's up to you. You'll have to hold the pose for a bit, but talking is okay."

Mirage nodded his understanding and considered the options for a klik before deciding to sit on the floor, his legs tucked under him and lounged to the side. It was a seductive pose if the viewer wanted it to be, but utterly proper as well, and posed perfectly for Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker purred and nodded, walking over and circling the lithe noble to get a feel of the position and angles, recording the 360 view for later reference, and then knelt down in front of him. "Chin up a touch," he said, voice low, lifting with his finger. "Hand here, fingers relaxed. There. Try not to move."

"You can move a little," Sideswipe said, getting a glare from his twin. He looked back with wide-opticked innocence. "What? He can! If you tell that mech not to move he will be indistinguishable from stasis the entire time." He looked back at Mirage. "Optics can move, you can talk, make expressions."

"Well, yeah, those," Sunstreaker relented.

"I understand," Mirage didn't hide his smile or the pride he felt at Sideswipe's description of his 'do not move' response. "I have posed a few times for more artistically inclined kin."

"You'll do a lot of posing for Sunny if you're around," Sideswipe said, looking at his twin with a smirk. "For reasons unknown he doesn't like mecha to know he paints."

Sunstreaker glowered at him. "Who ever heard of a frontliner painting?"

"Who ever heard of a frontliner noble since well before the Golden Age?" Mirage teased back. "Though I do believe our Prime earns the highest marks for 'how did that happen?' histories. Truly, a dock worker becoming a warrior-Prime? It's beyond comprehension, yet it happened. A miner becoming as powerful as a Prime is almost as ridiculous, yet it also occurred."

"At least those are strong things to become," Sunstreaker said as he began mixing paints, now that he had Mirage in front of him to compare shades. "Warriors. Painting isn't exactly useful for staying alive."

"Perhaps not, but without any joys in existence or promise of them in the future, what is the purpose to continuing?" Mirage asked quite seriously. "Culture is valuable. Skills that give others pleasure are valuable. The war must end. When it does we will need artisans, brewers and confectioners more than warriors."

"Suppose," Sunstreaker said.

"Especially brewers," Sideswipe grinned, looking over his twin's shoulder.

"I doubt my work would sell, anyway," Sunstreaker shrugged.

"May I see some?" Mirage asked hopefully. "I have a good education in art history and the market."

"I was never trained," Sunstreaker said apologetically as Sideswipe slipped away into the room that currently served as theirs and came back with a large sketchbook that had canvas pages spilling out of it.

"Last three are those ones of you, Sides," Sunstreaker said.

"Got it," Sideswipe said, and rifled through the book, taking three sheets out and tucking them into the back cover, upside down, before settling on the ground next to Mirage and opening the book, slowly turning the pages.

"Don't have any of the stuff I drew on the frontlines anymore," Sunstreaker said. "Oil on sheet metal, mostly. Don't preserve well or travel easy."

"Sometimes coming into something self-trained is what is needed," Mirage murmured. He kept his frame completely still, only his optics moving to take in images of mecha, many of whom he recognized the basic design of. They tended to be lighter frames, like himself and Whiplash, but what was striking was the raw emotion captured in what was sometimes only a few dozen brush strokes. Bleak landscapes of shattered cities and wastelands were interspersed, and to Mirage's shock held just as much intensity as those of mecha.

"No one has ever trained you?" Mirage whispered in stunned awe, but also belief. It was enough to draw Jazz closer, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"No?" Sunstreaker said, glancing up for the first time from his work at the tone of the noble's voice, looking between him and Jazz as the two watched. "Just always sort of ... needed to put things into images."

~Oh, you should teek him,~ Sideswipe said, and Sunstreaker sent the warm giddiness in his spark back.

"Very different, but exceptional," Jazz offered his opinion.

"Definitely," Mirage agreed. "Nothing like what the masters were creating before the war, but there were Houses that would have been a strong patron for you and this style."

"Heh. If you say so," Sunstreaker said, and dipped his brush into the first shade of light blue and drew it across the paper. "I know it's amazing work, of course, but not the most popular style."

"It could easily become such when the war is done," Mirage said reasonably as Jazz backed away. "After all, there is no popular style at the moment and you have very powerful patrons should you choose to use them."

As he finished speaking, no one in the room missed the door opening and then sliding closed with the black and white mech on the far side of it.

The twins froze, then looked at the door, as if they were expecting to open again immediately as the SpecOps commander changed his mind, and then when it stayed shut, looked at Mirage.

"Does that mean..." Sunstreaker said.

"We are no longer under chaperone," Mirage quivered with anticipation. "It means we can kiss in public, and we can share any pleasure that does not break my seals."

Sunstreaker's hand shook and he had to quickly pull the brush back from the page. "Sides," he murmured after a moment. "You should show him those ones of you, those are my favorite."

Sideswipe quickly nodded and pulled the three sheets from the back of the portfolio. There was no way to miss the catch of Mirage's vents or the surge of desire in his field when he saw the first one. It wasn't explicit, but it was most definitely erotic on a level that Mirage's pose wasn't.

Sunstreaker smiled slightly in memory. Sideswipe was on his back in that one, up on one elbow, looking down between splayed legs. That one had been for perspective practice.

The next was a speedpaint, and even without looking Sunstreaker knew the moment Sideswipe switched to that one when he heard the muffled groan. It was rougher, more blurry, but he'd had to paint it in the time it took Sideswipe to bring himself to overload with his hand on his spike.

"How long did you have?" Mirage's voice was shaky.

"Breem or so, d'ya think, Sides?" Sunstreaker asked, and smirked. "He wasn't being helpful."

"You need the practice," Sideswipe smirked back. "Just lookin' out for ya, bro."

Mirage's ventilations picked up sharply and his optics sought out Sideswipe's. "Do you have any captures of Sunstreaker?"

Sideswipe gave a pleased hum. "Plenty, but none quite so beautiful as his work, just memory captures." He flipped to the last page, a more traditional style that had taken longer, a simple pose, still, with his spike and valve bared.

"No, there's some mirror work in there," Sunstreaker said, looking up. "Somewhere in the middle, when you weren't around a few times."

"Holding out on me?" Sideswipe teased as he began searching for the right ones.

Sunstreaker snorted. "Like you haven't seen all of it in every incarnation it's taken," he said.

"Please," Mirage whispered, wanting so very badly he ached.

"A few more breems?" Sunstreaker pleaded, knowing what they all wanted. "I want to finish this."

"He won't finish things that get interrupted," Sideswipe said, and found the mirror paintings, turning the book for Mirage to see. Sunstreaker rarely painted anything explicitly erotic of himself, but there were a few, preceded by several pages full of small sketches of slender frames, and Sideswipe briefly flipped through those to give Mirage some context for the work.

The noble groaned, his optics riveted on the image before moving over to the mech they were of. "You must be intense to watch."

"Guess you'll get to find out?" Sideswipe said with an excited rumble, then looked at his twin. "Would you hurry up?"

Sunstreaker glowered at him. "You want me to just hurry up."

"Well ... yeah?"

"You're just lucky I want him too," Sunstreaker muttered as he worked. "Or I'd slow down to piss you off. But I'm not hurrying."

Sideswipe sulked at him, tried to ignore the noble's quiet laughter, and kept turning pages in the sketchbook for Mirage to look at while they waited. While the complements were not unexpected from a potential lover, the honesty was refreshing, and for Sunstreaker so were the other comments about value, how to display and sell. Mirage admitted he was far from an expert, but he was a noble and collecting art was simply part of the basic education.

"All right, you can move now," Sunstreaker finally reached a stage where he was content with the work.

Mirage smiled, leaned in to catch a quick kiss from Sideswipe, then stood and stretched, making a display of himself for his lovers before walking over to Sunstreaker to look at the painting and fondle the distinctive helm vents.

Sunstreaker purred and pressed into the contact, touch from someone he trusted soothing so many stresses. He turned and wrapped an arm around Mirage's waist and pulled him halfway into his lap while they looked over the painting together. Sideswipe came around behind them.

"Kind of rushed," Sunstreaker admitted.

"You will have many more opportunities when we are not so eager to move," Mirage purred and pressed against him, subtly subbing their chests together. "You've done my frame justice for the time you had."

"Like your frame," Sunstreaker rumbled, then tugged Mirage's hips against his and stood, lifting Mirage in his arms. The spy wrapped his legs around Sunstreaker's waist, balancing, holding onto broad shoulders.

"I keep expecting Jazz to burst back in," Sideswipe admitted as he followed his twin and their courted noble back to the berthroom, bringing the sketchbook with him and tucking it back beneath the berth while Sunstreaker laid Mirage down on top of it and kissed him.

"He will not," Mirage assured them between kisses. His hands moved to explore Sunstreaker's frame, enjoying the strength and warmth of it. Big, strong frontliner builds were rare in Ops, and even rarer in the Towers. "What pleasures may I indulge you in?"

"U-uhm," Sunstreaker stammered, jolting back from the kisses, and looked at his twin, who gave him a half shrug back. "With the seals, isn't there not much..."

"That ... thing you did with your field," Sideswipe said, half questioning, and pushed at his twin's shoulder, moving him a little to the side so he could lean in for his own kiss. By the time he pulled away, he was panting with want. "Are you allowed to overload? Can you overload?"

"Yes, I am allowed, and yes, I can," Mirage gave them a curious look. "There are many ways to share pleasure that do not involve my seals. Field play, which I did earlier. Hardline, memory and tactile are all viable for my pleasure."

"We don't know what any of those are," Sideswipe admitted after a moment's consultation over the bond, as Sunstreaker moved back enough for him to fit on the berth. Mirage rolled to his side, facing the yellow twin, while the red one came up behind him, black hands a sharp contrast as they wandered his lighter colored frame.

"Then I will teach you, if you wish to learn," Mirage told them easily as he pressed into Sideswipe's hands with a pleased hum. "Hardline interfacing comes in two primary forms. One is exchanging energy, the other is doing so with data packs to immerse one partner into a memory. Tactical is what it sounds like. Touching to build arousal and charge until overload."

"That one," Sunstreaker said quickly. Anything where he could be touching the noble, nothing that involved memories, and Sideswipe hummed his agreement as they effectively trapped Mirage between them. Sunstreaker claimed another kiss, heated and deep and finally-finally-finally surged through his field.

"I am quite willing to pleasure your spikes and valves, just not with my own," Mirage moaned at the welcome assault and made an effort to touch them in return. "Tactile requires some patience."

Sideswipe groaned and clutched him, face pressed to the side of his neck and their legs hooked together. "Yeah, patience was never really..."

"...Our strong point," Sunstreaker finished as his hands joined his twin's on the slender frame, touching and exploring and rapidly categorizing the noises Mirage was making as they stroked and moved over different seams. His spike cover slid away and the housing spiraled open. "Just ... wanna keep doing this," he managed before pressing into another kiss.

"Yes, please!" Mirage gasped at the raw intensity rolling of them both into him. "Feels so good."

Sunstreaker managed a grunt of agreement to that before his engines revved and he pushed Mirage to his back, moving smoothly with his twin as he came over top of the smaller frame and pressed him down, ravishing his mouth and grinding against his frame, heat and lust and want all fusing together and swirling around. Sideswipe settled beside, kissing Mirage's neck and rubbing his pelvis against both the others, just as wrapped up in the intoxicating field mix as his brother was.

Sunstreaker couldn't keep his spike from extending, not even if he'd tried, not with Mirage beneath him and kissing him and touching all over with one hand while the other reached out to Sideswipe. Slender black fingers reached for the gold and black spike, caressing it at first just with fingertips, then the full flat of his palm.

It made Sunstreaker shudder and created an instinctive impulse-push-bury-now reaction to cascade through his processor and his hips moved, his twin's presence keeping him steady and where he was, just pushing into the welcome hand, sliding against the palm.

Sideswipe moaned next to them, feeling everything for the first time through the bond, as his spike pressurized out as soon as the cover retracted away. "Good, like that," he whispered of what Mirage was doing with his fingertips against his twin. "He's loving that."

"And you?" Mirage easily split his attention to explore Sideswipe's spike with his other hand without either mech being neglected. Every line, curve and sensor in the well-crafted and sensitive lengths was explored with infinite patience but also with close attention to the desires of the mechs being touched.

"Yes," Sideswipe moaned, and he went still but for the shivers in his frame, a sharp contrast to his twin's sharp, pushing thrusts. "Yes it's good."

"You can tell me anything," Mirage purred to them both as he continued to stroke and tease. "Anything I can do for you, I will."

"Just keep doing that," Sideswipe said, speaking for them both because Sunstreaker was rapidly reaching the point where he wasn't good for much other than reacting. He reached down to cover Mirage's hand with his own, shifting the grip to where he liked best, and then cried out at the next stroke. "Harder," he managed. "Try and finish me first."

Immediately slender black fingers closed a bit more tightly and stroked him fast and hard. Mirage thrust his field deep into Sideswipe, encouraging his charge to build that much faster.

Sunstreaker gave a sharp whine at the attention he could suddenly feel his twin getting but Sideswipe's deep, reassuring rumble settled him again quickly and the red twin went back to enjoying the attentions of the mech they had won the right to touch.

It didn't take long, not with Mirage's programming identifying gasps and teeks and cataloguing them all with the motions that created them, syncing pressure and speed and location. It was everything he'd been created for, pleasing another in the way they liked best and his coding sang with the freedom to finally touch them.

"Frag," Sideswipe gasped, half of his processor still trying his best to move his hand over Mirage's frame, clumsy compared to the noble, and then a short, sharp groan caught in his vocalizer as he overloaded, spilling over black fingers, shuddering and gripping.

It earned a flared of pleasure from Mirage, deeply imbedded coding praising the noble for pleasuring his courter. The heat and crackle of the gooey fluid would normally have disgusted him, but linked into Sideswipe and interfacing and permission it was a welcome sensation. Mirage continued to stroke the red and black spike to draw out the pleasure as long as possible before Sideswipe crumpled, gasping and momentarily spent.

That was when the teek from above suddenly changed, shifted, and Sunstreaker's arms were around him, pulling him tight and close as thighs clenched down and his hips pistoned forward. Insistent and wanting and when Sideswipe shifted up and put a hand on his twin's shoulder, there was a very soft growl from the engine.

It quieted in the next moment when Sideswipe flared his field out. "Pull your hand back," the older twin instructed. "Just let him control this."

Mirage shifted that little bit, drawing his hand out and resting both of them on Sunstreaker's shoulders. He put no strength to it, no effort to control, simply a loose embrace and contact as the much heavier mech grunted and ground against him. As much as Mirage tried to hold still, his frame tingled and a soft whine escaped him as his hips tried to rise into the thrusts.

It felt insanely good, driving him towards protocols that were not yet active and wouldn't be until a contract for him was signed. He knew how long that wait might be and he shoved that thought process to the side, enjoying the coding thrill of pleasuring an accepted courted, something he hadn't been sure he would ever enjoy again.

The spike rubbing against his pelvis with all the force and weight of the frontliner behind it was hot, heavy, thick, driving forward with jagged, uneven thrusts as the mech panted harshly. Every drive seemed faster, harder, until Sunstreaker was shouting and gripping and pushed down so hard that Mirage almost wondered if his hips would be able to take the force behind it. Sunstreaker erupted between their frames, shooting burst after burst of transfluid onto Mirage's abdomen.

Coding purred at him more and made the charge dancing across his circuitry feel pleasant rather than frustrating. His courters were satisfied and that was enough for him.

The pitch of Sunstreaker's engine gradually shifted up into a lighter purr and his frame slowly relaxed and settled. When Sideswipe reached in to turn Mirage's head for a kiss, he got a less than thrilled plating ruffle, but Sunstreaker didn't protest.

"How d'we do that tactile thing?" Sideswipe asked a few kliks later, when his twin was fully relaxed and had shifted half off of Mirage.

Such a simple question with such a complex answer.

"The same touches that arouse, that feel good, will eventually cause an overload," Mirage hoped he explained it well enough. "When the protocols engage, most touching will cause a small charge. With continued stimulation that charge will get high enough."

"So like this," Sideswipe said, brushing his fingers down Mirage's side, while Sunstreaker leaned in and kissed down the side of Mirage's helm, going to his jaw, then his neck. "Really? Just this?"

"Yes," the noble moaned and pressed into the touch. "It takes patience. It is the longest and most difficult method to master," he rambled slightly as black fingers that were entirely too nimble for their large size stroked and caressed him, exploring his frame with strokes of molten pleasure. "Feels so good."

"Heh." Sideswipe grinned, propping himself up on one elbow to get a better view and started carefully running his hand over Mirage's entire frame, exploring every micron that he could reach, watching for reactions to both what he was doing and his twin's movements. "I think you're just saying that but thanks. We usually do about a klik of this and then frag. If that."

Instead of speaking Mirage reached out with his field, entwining his with theirs to share what he was experiencing and how good it felt, physically and emotionally.

"We'll be ready for another round before you're done at this rate," Sunstreaker chuckled slightly, not at all objecting to the idea.

"Perhaps, mmm, I can watch you together then?" Mirage gasped slightly when Sideswipe's hand slid along his open hip joint. "See what you have."

"That'd be good," Sideswipe said, exploring the hip further, dipping his fingers in and rubbing them along the smooth cabling inside. Sunstreaker leaned down and followed transformation seams with his glossa, engine rumbling with the enjoyment of this way to make their courted noble feel good.

"A solid frag with you watching would be better than good," Sunstreaker purred. "Kept thinking about you the whole time when it was just us."

"Really?" Mirage moaned, shivering and pressing into their touches. "Wheels are sensitive."

"Yeah?" Sideswipe said, moving curiously down to one of the ankle wheels while Sunstreaker moved up to the ones behind his shoulders. Sideswipe dipped his fingers into the support spokes and stroked while Sunstreaker reached behind to run his fingers through what he could reach of the suspension systems. "And yeah. We did."

Pride uncurled through Mirage's field, but far stronger was a sense that he was preening at the words, deeply thrilled by the admission. It didn't take long for the preening to be overshadowed by pleasure though, as the twin's efforts were rewarded by a noticeable charge in Mirage's field.

They felt it and purred, just as proud as their lover was at their effect on him, as subtle as it was compared to the charge they could create in each other in moments just by touching their interfacing equipment.

~This kind of takes forever,~ Sunstreaker said a while later, drawing kisses along the treads.

~Yeah but it's different, could get used to it,~ Sideswipe said, half covering Mirage with his own frame, one hand deep in the spokes as he mouthed at the bumper, fully enjoying the soft moans and whimpers their attention was eliciting.

~Hope we're doing it right,~ Sunstreaker said, and his twin could feel his frustration over the bond with the time.

~Listen to him, we're doing it right,~ Sideswipe said, wringing a deep, needy moan from their lover and the first crackle of energy across Mirage's armor. ~There, he's getting closer.~

Sunstreaker hummed and reached around to the other shoulder, playing and tugging with the wires he could feel beneath the loosened armor. He wasn't sure about this method, and Sideswipe could feel it, but as long as Mirage was enjoying what they were doing he'd adjust to it. ~Looks nice,~ he said as another arch of blue static raced beneath plating and sparked where they touched.

~Sounds pretty good too, and his field...~ Sideswipe purred as they both felt Mirage begin to tip over the edge to where an overload was almost inevitable.

~His field is amazing,~ Sunstreaker purred back, and it was, just the teek of it was enough to push his own charge back up and the promise of his twin after Mirage's overload just made it better. His mouth on one tire, one hand on the other, his second hand on Mirage's neck while Sideswipe paid attention to wheel, bumper, and hip, the twins synced their movements easily and moved with the pulses in the noble's field.

Mirage's gasps grew higher, faster, harder, and his back began to arch, pushing up off the berth into their touches, and the strangled cry that came with his overload cut off halfway through when the charge hit his vocalizer and shorted the entire system, leaving him caught in a silent scream. His field flared and thrashed in an effort to release some of the charge, slamming into the twins with all the subtlety of Astrotrain on a bender until Mirage slumped down, spent and dazed in a very happy way.

Sideswipe lunged up for a kiss, hand pressed to Mirage's face as their mouths clashed together, thrilled at having managed to overload him in such a foreign way. "That was so cool," he said, grinning down at him for a moment before turning that same grin at his twin. "That was really cool, right?"

"It was fun," Sunstreaker admitted.

"It was amazing," Mirage smiled at them, still somewhat dazed as he reached up to coax Sunstreaker over for a kiss. "Still willing to allow me to watch you together?"

Sunstreaker's engine revved and Sideswipe purred deeply, focusing on his twin with lust-darkened optics.

~Sides-~ Sunstreaker said quickly.

~I know,~ Sideswipe said. ~I'll top.~

Gratitude, relief, something as close to love as Sunstreaker was capable of feeling came over the bond as the yellow twin rolled onto his back. Sideswipe moved and came in over him, pressing him back in a familiar motion, frames that moved flawlessly together.

From Mirage's perspective it was crude, barely worthy of being called rutting as Sideswipe buried his spike in his brother and began to thrust, hard, fast and relentless. It didn't look like it was anything to enjoy, no skill at all and no care for Sunstreaker. Yet on the same berth, Mirage could teek them, and understood that whatever he was seeing worked very well for them both. He expected Sideswipe's pleasure, but he could teek Sunstreaker's being just as high and that there was care between them.

Care, more than what Mirage recognized as outright love, but it ran deep and more potent through their fields where they meshed than he'd felt with any other joining fields.

Coding that was designed to understand the needs, wants, and motivations of a lover began to work and record, preparing Mirage for entering into this relationship. Unsure of what, if any, triad coding they might have inherited from Prowl, he held off on allowing the dormant trine coding that had made him so valuable as a second creation for a Seeker-descended House from taking hold. He had time to learn more later.

For now, he was just enjoying feeling their pleasure, and feeling the wonder-joy that was directed at him and expressing his joy at their desire for him and their affection for each other.

SxSxSxSxSxSxSxSx S===================S SxSxSxSxSxSxSxS

Mirage booted up well before the pair of heavy, powerful mechs he was sandwiched between and was quite content to remain there, enjoying their fields and the relative peace they displayed in recharge. He was debating between slipping away or waking them up to say goodbye before he was due to report to Jazz when he teeked Sunstreaker beginning to boot and decided on relaxing for a few more kliks while they came around on their own.

One of the first things he noticed was a focused, searching teek that stretched out around them, and when he extended his field in reply, it made the yellow frontliner go into a rapid boot sequence while his field turned suddenly and incredibly hostile.

Mirage withdrew quickly, and answering from behind was Sideswipe's field. Moments later Sunstreaker was online and growling, blue optics flickering on and focusing on him. A shift of Sunstreaker's frame and Mirage immediately had his arm up in defense and his frame primed to escape and flee.

A red arm shot over his middle, grabbing Sunstreaker's wrist and holding his arm in place as Mirage took the opening to squirm out from between them and get clear, though instead of bolting he held still at the side of the berth, waiting. As he watched, Sideswipe was staring his twin down, focused, and there was no way their bond wasn't alive with the struggle.

And then it was over, and Sunstreaker's optics blinked and refocused, and he was the mech that Mirage was familiar with again.

"...Sorry," he muttered, looking away.

Mirage shot Sideswipe a look and got a nod to approach. "It's all right, Sunstreaker," he kept his voice calm and level and carefully put a hand on the yellow warrior's shoulder. "No harm was done. I take it that your other berthmates do not get to recharge with you."

"Never," Sideswipe affirmed, and held his arm out for Mirage to come back between them, a hopeful flicker in his field. "We weren't expecting that, we're sorry. We'll set some boot times from now on so I'm online before Sunny is, until he's used to you."

"That sounds good," Mirage agreed and snuggled back between the pair. His first kiss went to Sideswipe, then he turned and nuzzled Sunstreaker hopefully. "No harm was done."

"At least I know you can take care of yourself," Sunstreaker said, his field settling with that assurance.

"Like we'd be interested in someone who couldn't," Sideswipe snorted.

"I am Special Operations and Jazz's heir," Mirage pointed out with a bit of a smile, his field warm that it pleased them.

"When do you need to be back?" Sunstreaker asked, because there was no way Jazz hadn't set a curfew for his spy.

"Within the joor. Enough time for a relaxed shower, but not much more," Mirage answered.

"Mm. How about a quick shower, and then we have something for you," Sideswipe said excitedly.

"Oh yeah," Sunstreaker said, and sighed, arms going around Mirage's waist and holding him tightly.

Sideswipe allowed another klik before he stood up and stretched. "Hey, Sunshine, you're all dull looking."

Sunstreaker twitched, glared at his twin, but was up in less than a quarter klik and heading into the washracks the Prime's Guard shared. It was one of the major perks of the job, along with the junior officer level of privacy.

It was a tight fit for three, and Mirage's presence made their wash routine a little tricky, but they managed to get out with enough time.

"So..." Sunstreaker said, lifting something that Mirage couldn't see. "We found this thing..."

"And we hope it isn't too weird," Sideswipe said.

"You are spoiling me with gifts," Mirage purred, elated at the behavior he'd never expected of them. "Please show me."

"All right, but disclaimer, Wheeljack did the fixing up and programming. Ratchet said he looked it over and cleared it safe for anyone, but ... if it goes boom, we told you," Sideswipe said as Sunstreaker turned around, holding out a turbofox in stasis lock.

Mirage made a decidedly undignified squeal of delight and looked for all the world like a sparkling given his first energon sweet before he controlled himself.

~I think that qualifies as not too weird and he likes it,~ Sideswipe chuckled across the bond.

~Ya think?~ Sunstreaker humphed back, but he was just as pleased as his twin. "It'll imprint on the first voice and field it experiences when it's brought out of stasis," he added out loud as Mirage took the lump of brownish red fur with black, white and red trim. "Dunno what 'imprint' means exactly but it's supposed to do what you tell it."

"I had a pet turbofox as a sparkling. When programmed correctly, they're very affectionate and loyal," Mirage tried to contain his quiver of excitement. "May I activate it now? You don't have to be very far away."

Both twins nodded and stepped back several paces as Mirage went right for the control panel on the back of the creature's neck like he'd done it a million times before and swiftly entered a code for it.

While the little cyberanimal was coming online Sideswipe handed Mirage a cube of energon. "That should last you for fuel for a while, I made high grade with the last double rations."

"Thank you," Mirage rewarded them with his most noble vocals and thick excitement in his field.

The turbofox lit small red optics and focused on the nearest being.

"I am Mirage. You are Memor," Mirage told the creature with a calm, even voice that spoke of being raised to command, using a Towers dialect.

Memor gave a churring yip and stood to walk up to him for a nuzzling pet that was happily given. "He's going to be a delightful companion."

"Companion?" Sunstreaker asked, looking at the turbofox as it turned to take in the occupants sharing the room with its master.

"Whadda they do?" Sideswipe asked, kneeling down and holding his hand out. "Besides be there?"

"Memor, this is Sideswipe and that is Sunstreaker. They are courting me," Mirage introduced the pair, still in Towers dialect, though the twins understood their designations well enough, and the harmonics. He switched to Standard and smiled softly at the twins while Memor sniffed and teeked them. "They are a pet that is always with you, often highly trained or programmed for entertainment, protection and companionship. Once it is cleared with Jazz, it will follow me on missions."

"Wow," Sideswipe said, and reached around to pet the creature as Mirage came over. As Mirage's field greeted Sunstreaker's, Memor immediately gave an affectionate trilling sound and arched its back into Sideswipe's hand. "Hey there," Sideswipe grinned. "Glad we didn't decide to stuff you."

"Does it understand Standard or does Wheeljack have to download that?" Sunstreaker asked.

The turbofox gave a yip and nod.

"That would be yes," Mirage translated and lightly urged Sunstreaker to pet the cyberanimal. "Comprehension of both dialects is somewhat limited. Its processors are not nearly as advanced as ours."

"Right, yeah," Sunstreaker said and knelt next to his twin and hesitantly made a movement that looked like it was poking the little creature more than petting it. It yipped at him before going back over to Sideswipe's scritching pets. Sunstreaker scowled at it.

Sideswipe chuckled. "It won't smear your polish, Sunny."

"It won't bite you either," Mirage chuckled and knelt to stroke Memor's ears. "Just mirror what your brother is doing. Memor's friendly to you."

Sunstreaker huffed and reached over as his twin drew his hand back and mirrored the motions, petting Memor, who purred and rubbed against his hand just as happily as it had to Sideswipe.

"There, see?" Sideswipe said. "Cute little thing."

Mirage smiled and reached over to tip Sideswipe's face towards him for a warm but chaste kiss, then stood to give the same to Sunstreaker. "You've improved my odds of coming home from missions with this gift. Thank you."

"Worth it, then," Sideswipe said.

"Beyond worth it," Sunstreaker rumbled.

"I must go. Jazz is expecting me in two breems," Mirage said with reluctance. "I look forward to our next encounter."

The twins nodded in understanding, each kissed him, and watched the slender frame leave with the cheerful fluffy ball following behind.

A moment of silence after the door shut, and then the twins looked at each other. They had no idea what the protocols were for this stage, and were suddenly realizing it all at once.

~...Prowl?~

~Prowl.~

SxSxSxSxSxSxSxSx S===================S SxSxSxSxSxSxSxS

Mirage wasn't unaware of the bounce to his step as he walked into Jazz's office just a few kliks late, Memor at his side, feeling giddy and tingly in that delightfully unique way that came from a new courtship that was just starting to get into the physical stages. It was understood that second creations checked in after unchaperoned encounters until told otherwise, and Mirage expected nothing else from Jazz. It was a genuine relief on many occasions to have a commander that understood. Even though Jazz wasn't from the Towers, he was still a noble and he knew the rules and ways.

"You are late," Jazz actually managed to sound displeased, just before his optics locked onto the fluffy reddish brown thing rubbing against Mirage's leg. He simply looked at his subordinate adopted creation for an explanation for the turbofox, even though he knew fully well it was a gift from the twins.

"I am sorry," Mirage said, as he knelt to let the turbofox jump into his arms before rising. "I got distracted by making sure Memor was friendly to the twins." He grinned brightly at the mech who had come to be his adopted creator, a blessing after losing his carrier and sire. Never a replacement, never that, but more than he'd ever thought he would have again. "They had it repaired and reprogrammed to be tame for me."

"So a pet?" Jazz hummed, regarding the creature evenly.

"Companion," Mirage corrected, and switched to the Towers dialect. "This is Jazz, he is my..." He thought for a moment, and eventually combined two glyphs. "Commander-creator."

Memor yipped in understanding, straining forward to teek Jazz.

With proper manners Jazz stepped around his desk and offered his hand, palm open, to the creature. Scent, teek and appearance were all logged and categorized.

"Then it is good that you have some time before your next expected mission," Jazz hummed. "It will need to be certified and checked that it has all needed programming for missions."

"Wheeljack and Ratchet did the coding," Mirage said, then thought more carefully about those designations as Memor climbed up onto his shoulders to curl against his neck. "...Maybe one of our programmers."

"Agreed," Jazz reached out to ruffle the turbofox's ears and smiled when it trilled happily at him and focused his field on reading Mirage's. "I'll arrange it. Now ... how was your evening?"

Mirage thought for a moment, and the giddy joy only got clearer. "It was ... different. And excellent," he purred.

Jazz grinned, pleased at what he was teeking and willing to show it. "So they do have some education in pleasing a lover?" he purred playfully, his visor flashing with good humor.

"Ah...? Not ... exactly?" Mirage said. "But they are eager, very eager, and I hadn't overloaded since before the Towers fell, so it didn't take very much. Although ... I'm pretty sure they thought it took forever."

Jazz gave a slightly manic grin. "I'm sure of it. They're very simple that way, as I expect you learned. Spikes are quick to build a charge. Just how much did you play?" He leaned back to rest his aft against his desk. "Details, my mech. Details."

Mirage grinned back, crossing his arms under his bumper and cocking his head and hip. "Details? Like ... jerking Sideswipe off and Sunstreaker rutting against me until he overloaded details?"

Jazz's visor flashed and his field flared with interest that his voice didn't express. "Yes, those kinds of details."

"Uh huh," Mirage said with a teasing, knowing smirk. "You, boss, will just have to suffer in your curiosity."

Jazz scowled at him. "You're cruel."

"Those were the best details anyway," Mirage admitted after getting another few moments of smirking in. "The most amateur tactile I have ever experienced and watching them frag is the rest of it. But ... the coding," he purred. "You know?"

"Yes, I know," Jazz purred back, recalling all too clearly when it was happy and reached out to pet Memor some more. "It will only get better, so long as they continue to treat you so well."

Mirage smiled and nodded. He had some concerns about the behavior Sunstreaker had shown on two separate occasions, but right now, he just wanted to bask.