X
Night was falling in Vos.
Atop the tallest tower of the soaring palace the Sovereign watched the light retreat over the spires of the city state from her opulent balcony.
Behind her, in the shadow of an archway leading out to her balcony, two seekers watched solemnly. Starscream, Captain of her royal guard, narrowed his optics as he observed her quietly. Next to him Thundercracker slumped against a wall, optics dim and exhausted after the cycle's turmoil. The Captain glanced his way twice before sighing and placing a servo on his wing, squeezing the younger seeker reassuringly. "You should rest."
Thundercracker shook his helm and pushed away from the wall, lifting a servo to rub away his fatigue, "I am fine," he mumbled, "I will stay for as long as she needs me,"
The Captain frowned, glancing between the young noble seeker and the Sovereign out on the balcony, both of whom had just lost their trine mate. They should have been comforting each other, yet here was Thundercracker, alone and despite his outward appearance, deeply distressed.
"My deepest condolences," he spoke eventually, not knowing what else to say to the young seeker, "For your trine mate. The Chancellor was a good mech. I do not know what he was doing in Kaon but I can promise you I will find out."
Thundercracker nodded wearily, "She won't speak to me," he murmured, optics flickering up towards the Sovereign they were observing, "He was her trine mate too but-" He broke off, deep voice catching.
Thundercracker didn't need to elaborate, the Captain knew exactly what was happening; but he still didn't know how he could help. The Sovereign had never been the most... reasonable of femmes, and since the confirmation of her sparklings death she had become unbearable, dismissing and ignoring her advisors, refusing to go about her sworn duties and her behaviour was offensive and unbefitting of a monarch. Grief was natural, a healing process, but the Sovereign was on a path to her own ruin, and now that she'd lost her trine mate just stellar cycles later, the Captain wasn't sure how much more she could take.
"She is not well." he tried to defend her, "She needs time to heal."
"We are in a crisis," Thundercracker reminded him, casting aside his own grief for the good of their people, "If she will not- if she cannot speak with Iacon and- and convince them of our trine mates innocence then she must step down and let the council resolve this mess."
The Captain found himself nodding. He wasn't a particularly political mech, but even he knew no good could come of agitating Iacon. Look at what had happened to Kaon. "You want me to convince her to step down?"
Thundercracker nodded, though he looked regretful, "She will listen to you. She loves you."
The Captain would have opened his mouth to correct the younger seeker but decided not to. It had been a long time since the Sovereign had felt anything but contempt and blame for him. "I will try my best," he found himself agreeing.
Thundercracker looked thankful, but his mouth turned down at the sides, "She has grown unstable," his deep voice warned, "and... cruel."
The Captain's optics brightened, "How so?" he murmured, turning to watch the Sovereign through the golden archway.
"I am sure you shall see for yourself."
The Captain turned away from his ruler back to the noble seeker before him. Thundercracker nodded in the direction of the archway, "I will wait here."
Reluctantly the Captain nodded, squaring his shoulders and straightening his back, he strode out of the shadow of the archway and onto the opulent balcony. The Sovereign showed no signs of hearing his approach and continued to stare into the darkening sky. Although she had her back to him the Captain still bowed, "M' lady,"
The Sovereign did not respond.
"Your highness," he spoke again, keeping his voice as calm and respectful as he could, "You are aware of the situation, aren't you?"
He saw her wing's stiffen in annoyance, "Captain," she purred, still facing away from him, "I did not expect them to send you."
The Captain forced a polite smile, even though it was wasted on her, "I didn't expect them to send me either," he murmured, trying to lighten the mood.
The Sovereign was clearly not in the mood, "Say whatever you came to say and then leave me in peace," she announced hauntingly, helm titling up towards the sky where the stars began to glint through the darkness. "I have no desire to endure your presence. Not tonight."
The Captain swallowed thickly and took a brave step closer to the other seeker, "Your highness," he said gently, reaching out a servo towards her, "You must rest. You still have a trine mate that needs you; you cannot ignore the pain the loss of the Chancellor is-"
"I never cared much for the Chancellor," she interrupted him by declaring airily, flicking wings giving away her agitated disposition.
The Captain scowled, lowering the servo he had extended and resisted the urge to look back at where he knew Thundercracker was waiting, "You don't mean that," he said sternly, "And you are in no fit state to deal with this situation. It is time for you to give command to someone more capable until you-"
"You!" The Sovereign suddenly barked, whipping around to face him, "Are in no position to command me. Remember your place, Captain,"
The Captain schooled his features and nodded, jaw clenched as he took a submissive step back, "I apologise your highness," he said stiffly, "I forgot my place."
"Indeed you did," she murmured threateningly, her expression dark and twisted. She graced him with one last look of utter contempt before turning back to the sky. "Inform Thundercracker of his new position as my Chancellor, and see that he doesn't get himself killed..."
"Of course your highness," All he could do was nod, turning his back on the monarch and making his way back to a very grave Thundercracker.
War was on their doorstep, and the Sovereign didn't seem intent on locking the doors.
X
On the other side of the planet, in the lowest levels of Kaon, Megatron disconnected the lengthy comm. he had just had with his new associate. The details would be finalised over the course of the next few cycles, and hopefully, soon he would be coming to Kaon.
With the cogs already in motion Megatron finally decided he should force himself to at least attempt recharge. Some of the more helpful femmes not on shift had spent the better part of the evening putting together berths for the gladiators to rest on, some even sacrificing their own and sharing with others. There were quite a few spare by the time Megatron wandered into one of the rooms being used for recharge, most likely because the majority of Clench's mechs were still drooling over the femmes on stage in the bar, that's if they weren't lucky enough to be upstairs in their berths.
Megatron weaved between the labyrinth of occupied berths to reach an empty one placed as far from the others as possible. He flopped down with a groan and stared at the blank ceiling, listening to the deep cycling of the other mech's air vents. His thoughts immediately went to Starscream, and how on Cybertron he was going tell him about Steelstrut.
He rested his optics and could have sworn only klicks had passed when he felt a presence next to him. His optics onlined instinctively in the dark room to see a tiny figure in the midst of climbing onto the berth next to him freeze.
There was a long pause before, "...Hi."
Megatron groaned wearily and propped himself up with one arm, frowning as the seeker took that as an invitation to clamber the rest of the way onto the berth top.
"What are you doing down here?" Megatron asked the dark silhouette grumpily, "You had a berth upstairs."
Starscream's optics were impossibly wide and bright in the darkness of the room, trying to give off the picture of innocence, and Megatron knew that the seeker was doing it on purpose. He obviously wanted something.
"There are femmes up there," Starscream explained.
Megatron blinked slowly, "And?"
Starscream made a pitiful whining noise and crawled away from the berth edge, closer to the larger mech, "They keep calling me a sparkling," he complained, "And trying to touch me, and they smell weird."
Megatron raised an optical ridge before realising Starscream must have been referring to the fragranced polish femmes preferred. "They'd smell better than me," he pointed out absently, shifting on the berth into a more comfortable position.
He could see Starscream shaking his helm, "I like the way you smell," he muttered sadly, "Can I stay here?"
Megatron lifted a servo to his helm and sighed heavily, Starscream must have thought his lack of manners was what brought such a reaction out of the older mech and shuffled forward on his knees, doubling his efforts, "Pleaaaase," he whined.
Megatron made the mistake of looking at him for too long and his innocent sparkling optics melted something inside him. He groaned at his own weakness and rolled onto his front, away from Starscream, "You can stay down here but you're sleeping on a separate berth," he relented, voice deep and muffled as he pressed his face against the berth top.
There was another long, low whine from the seeker, "But I don't want to, I want to stay with you."
Megatron ignored him, offlining his optics and allowing his frame to relax into the berth, only to suddenly become rigid again as he felt light, tentative touches on his arms. After releasing a deep, rumbling growl of warning, which was ignored, he rolled back over, snatched Starscream around the middle and flung him across the room to land on the next berth over. The seeker landed with a surprised squeak and Megatron flopped back down to recharge.
Moments passed before once again he felt something move on the berth next to him. He snorted aggressively, about to get up and remind the seeker of his place when Starscream flung himself forward and attached himself to his arm. Megatron scowled and pulled at him, but the limpet held fast, fingers gripping, arms and legs tightening more and more as the gladiator tried to prise him loose.
When it soon became clear that the only way of getting the seeker off of him would have been to slice off his own arm, he gave up. He knew when he was beaten.
He dragged his Starscream-covered arm closer to his chest and tickled the seeker's backstrut lightly, smirking when half developed wings fluttered at the sensation. "Don't blame me if I roll over and crush you," he warned him.
Starscream stubbornly pressed his face against Megatron's armour and mumbled something incoherent, his intakes noticeably quieting for recharge as the cycle began to take its toll. Megatron's optics softened and dimmed, he tucked the seeker against his side and relaxed into the berth.
X
The sound of something crunching right next to his audials is what woke him joors later. Megatron's expression shifted into a glare before he'd even opened his optics. As he'd expected, there sat Starscream next to his shoulder plating, completely absorbed with the three rusts sticks he was trying to eat all at once.
"Starscream," he murmured tiredly at catch the seeker's attention.
Starscream blinked and looked up at him with large optics, honestly surprised to see him awake. He didn't remove the rust sticks from his mouth and chomped down harder.
Megatron winced at the harsh sound, "You'll break your denta plates trying to chew them," he pointed out, pushing himself up into a sitting position.
Starscream looked at him for a long time before pulling the treats from his mouth, "I was hungry," he informed the gladiator and gave Megatron a pointed look, blaming him for the fact that he hadn't yet been fuelled because it was up to the older mech to provide him with fuel after all.
Megatron decided to leave him, letting the seeker stuff himself full of treats because he honestly didn't know when he'd be able to get hold of some fuel in here that wasn't high grade. Nothing the bar stocked was really suitable for the sparkling to consume. But speaking of fuelling...
He held out a servo to the seeker expectantly, "Give me one of those."
Starscream obediently whipped a half eaten rust stick from his mouth and placed it in the gladiator's larger servo.
Megatron scowled at it in disgust, "I don't want your half eaten discards." he snapped angrily, flicking it to the floor and moving to take a fresh rust stick from the bundle in Starscream's grip.
Starscream saw him coming and released a muffled squeal of indignation, shuffling to the edge of the berth and lifting the servo clutching the rust sticks as high as he could away from Megatron.
"Starscream!" Megatron snapped, shifting onto his knees and bending over the seeker to catch his wrist.
Starscream pulled the half consumed rust sticks from his mouth to scream, "They're mine!" and smacked the large black servo holding him captive with his free fist before rolling onto his back under Megatron and kicking his tiny thrusters into the gladiator's damaged abdomen. Somehow Megatron's determination won out over the sharp sickening pain brought on by hard, pointy thrusters digging into his delicate circuitry. He grit his denta, yanked Starscream off the berth, trapped him against his side and forcibly prised tiny, greedy digits away from the rust sticks to confiscate the entire lot.
Starscream wailed angrily and the noise was nearly loud enough to stir some of the gladiators sharing the room with them- and that was saying something considering Megatron had seen most of these mechs recharge through late night Autobot raids before. He clapped a servo over the squawking brat's mouth and turned his helm up to face him, giving the seeker a stern glare that easily translated to 'No'.
Starscream huffed behind his servo and visibly stopped struggling.
Slowly Megatron released him from his side, eyeing him warily for any further outbursts that would inevitably wake the other, far less tolerant, gladiators and start a fight too early in the cycle. "Behave," he warned in a deep, low voice.
Starscream simply pouted and angrily crossed his arms, refusing to look at Megatron. "Thief," he muttered resentfully.
The mature response would have been to ignore him; Megatron didn't, "I'll remember that next time you steal my energon cube," he growled, reminding the seeker of the numerous occasions he had lost his fuel to the relentless scavenger.
Starscream's plating flushed with both embarrassment and indignation, "I thought you'd finished!" he defended himself, squeaky voice increasing in pitch along with his growing agitation.
Megatron waved a servo to quiet him down, "Alright, alright," he grunted, regretting mentioning it. He separated the bundle of rust sticks he held and offered half back to Starscream, "Here."
The seeker looked scandalised, "You've taken half!"
"It's called sharing," Megatron growled, leaning close, "like I do with an ungrateful little seeker every cycle."
Starscream snatched his treats back off Megatron and pulled a nasty face, which the older mech mimicked right back at him.
"That's mature," a quiet feminine voice commented from the other side of the room.
Both Megatron and Starscream looked up to see a Shareware, accompanied by another familiar looking indigo femme, Hardline. Megatron grimaced, and Starscream jumped off the berth, running to them. He watched as the seeker bounded towards the pink femme who knelt to greet him, pulling the sparkling into an enthusiastic hug, and couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
Reluctantly he swung his legs over the edge of the berth and languidly strolled towards them. The pink femme was smiling and nodding as she listened to Starscream ramble eagerly when Megatron approached and leant up against the wall next to them, and huffed in annoyance after a moment too long of Starscream ignoring him.
The loud noise caught the seeker's attention, and both he and the femmes glanced towards him.
"Megatron!" Starscream shouted eagerly, voice a pitch higher than usual due to his excitement, "Shareware and Hardline said they'd show me around."
Megatron nodded, "Yes," he grumbled, "I heard. But this place isn't your playground to explore, you're not-"
Starscream ignored him, turning back to the two femmes that were still smiling sweetly at him, as if the little seeker was the most adorable thing they'd ever laid optics on and not the rude, greedy, attention seeking brat he really was. Megatron was tempted to leave Starscream with them, and then they'd see what he was really like to live with.
"-Where Steelstrut is?"
At the mention of his recently deactivated comrade Megatron refocused on the conversation, optics brightening in worry as the seeker looked to him expectantly.
"What?" he murmured, dreading the question Starscream was bound to ask.
As he'd expected the seeker rolled his optics and repeated himself, "Do you know where Steelstrut is?" he snapped, "I want to take him along."
Megatron stared at the seeker silently, out of the corner of his optics he could see the two femmes glance in his direction anxiously, waiting for him to break the news that apparently everyone already knew but Starscream. "...I haven't seen him," he murmured eventually, incapable of just coming out and saying it, fearing the seeker's reaction. Was Starscream even old enough to truly understand death?
The seeker frowned, glancing between Megatron and the femmes, completely oblivious to the tense aura surrounding them as Shareware glared at the gladiator disapprovingly.
"I'll go look for him then," he suddenly announced and before either Megatron or the femmes could stop him, bounced off around the corner.
Megatron took a step forward, knowing he should follow and just tell Starscream the truth, it was cruel to drag it out like this... but he couldn't.
"You need to tell him," a sombre voice brought him back to the present.
Megatron turned slowly towards the two femmes, a dark expression on his faceplates. Unfortunately neither of them seemed particularly intimidated. "That's none of your business," he growled.
The Indigo femme raised her optical ridges at his tone but didn't say anything, as the pink femme -Shareware he believed her name was- took a brave step closer to him, "It's Starscream's business and he deserves to know," she told him sternly, "I know it's hard to talk about these things but he needs to hear it from you, someone he loves, not from someone in passing, like Clench."
Megatron snorted aggressively and this time the femmes took a wary step back. The indigo femme that hadn't yet spoken pulled a face, "That's mature..." she muttered.
Megatron's lips pulled back in a sneer of disgust, "If I wanted advice on how to look after my seeker I would have asked for it," he growled, looking down at them, "and not from a couple of whores like you."
Shareware stared at him for a long time, expression blank, but Megatron refused to feel regret. She shouldn't have been sticking her olfactory senses in his business. Eventually she drew herself up to her full height –which wasn't very high- and glared right back at him, "I may be a whore," she said softly, giving Megatron an intense look, "But at least I'm not a murderer."
Megatron opened his mouth to retort but she had already whipped around and was stalking out the door, helm held high. The indigo femme stayed behind long enough to jab a finger into his chest, the highest place on him she could reach, "That was fragging rude," she reproached bravely, "Just because your friend died doesn't mean you have to take it out on everyone else."
Again Megatron opened his mouth to correct the femme, because Steelstrut hadn't been his friend he'd just been... a nuisance that he couldn't help but miss, but like Shareware, she two turned on the spot and marched away. He glared after the pair of them until they disappeared around a corner.
Primus he hated femmes.
Exhaling heavily he started to head in the direction Starscream had run off searching for Steelstrut, already going over the many different ways he could break the news to the seeker in his processor. Should he be blunt? Should he stuff the seeker full with rust sticks before he told him? He might not be so upset then...
It turned out all these thoughts were in vain as he rounded the corner and came face to face with the seeker in question, hiding not five feet from where he had just had a very loud conversation regarding Steelstrut's death. Starscream stared up at him with huge, bright optics, coolant gathering in the corners. Megatron swallowed thickly, praying to Primus that by some miracle Starscream hadn't heard, or had only just arrived.
"How long have you been there?" he managed eventually.
Starscream didn't say anything and pressed against the wall, servos clinging to the corner as two fat droplets of coolant trickled down his smooth dark faceplates. Megatron knelt down in front of him, and reached out to wipe the tears away, "Starscream..." he murmured.
But the seeker jumped away from him, expression accusing and spark broken as a retreated back a few steps. Megatron remained very still, knowing full well that any attempts at trying to get hold of the sparkling would only lead to Starscream running off and hiding somewhere. And this was a big place, full of a lot of mechs neither of them knew.
"Starscream, come here," he murmured gently, servos extended coaxingly, he forced a calm expression onto his face. But the seeker shook his helm, gasping for breath as rivets of coolant streaked down his face.
Megatron couldn't prevent his scowl at being ignored, "Come here," he repeated with more force. Still Starscream didn't move and after seconds of silence save for the seeker's hitching breaths, Megatron lost patience and climbed to his pedes. He stalked towards the seeker, no longer caring if he spooked the sparkling and caused him to run; he had longer legs than Starscream anyway, he was fairly sure he could catch him.
As he approached, looming over the shaking sparkling, Starscream looked torn between running to him and running away. The decision was taken from him when a large servo wrapped around his smaller one, grip gentle but firm.
"Steelstrut is with Primus now," was all Megatron could think to say, not being a particularly religious mech, but it was the sort of thing one would say to sparklings wasn't it? "He is... in a better place."
He didn't sound as sure of himself as he would have wanted Starscream to hear, and the seeker sniffled, looking unconvinced, "But I-I'm never gonna see him again!" he wailed.
Megatron nodded, "I know," he said gruffly then cleared his throat and repeated himself a far gentler tone, "I know..."
"I don't even like him!" Starscream wailed, lifting a servo to rub at his optics, "And he was always- always so stupid and orange!"
Megatron sighed and pulled him closer, dropping down to his knees and letting the seeker stand between them. Starscream buried his face against his chest, accidently smearing coolant over his armour. Megatron couldn't bring himself to care and placed a servo on the seeker's back, rubbing him comfortingly between his fluttering wings.
"I m-miss him," Starscream hiccupped, still tucked against the gladiator's frame. "And yo-you weren't gonna tell me!"
Megatron offlined his optics and bent to press his forehelm against Starscream's, "I didn't know how to."
"You're horrible," Starscream muttered, voice muffled by the gladiator's armour.
"I know," Megatron agreed resignedly, lifting his helm to glance over Starscream and around the corridor in case anyone stumbled upon them. He could move the seeker and continue this conversation elsewhere, but there wasn't anywhere in the bar he could speak with the seeker privately anyway.
Starscream mumbled something against his chest that he didn't quite catch. "What?"
The seeker pulled back and sniffed loudly, "How did he die?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly, pulling Starscream back towards him, wrapping powerful servos designed for crushing and destroying around the sparkling's delicate frame. He rested his chin atop Starscream's helm, "But I'm going to find out."
X
A stellar cycle passed, and by some miracle Megatron had managed to keep Starscream's innocence at least partly intact. It was incredibly difficult when there were femmes 'practicing' all over the place with gladiators leering at them, when everything that seemed to come out of everyone's mouth was a rude innuendo, when there was inappropriate touching going on behind every corner. But what could he expect from the backrooms of a cheap strip club?
Megatron had taken to accompanying Starscream at all times to shield his optics or cover his audials from whatever debauchery was occurring. It had been a test of patience for them both and he suspected the seeker was only still tolerating his constant presence because he was allowing him to recharge in the same berth as him –little did Starscream know it was a precaution on Megatron's part to stop the seeker wandering off in the middle of the night cycle to investigate what was really going on in the bar.
Eight cycles into their –apparently- temporary stay at the club and Starscream started to notice the absence of some of the gladiators that were staying there with them.
"Where's everyone gone?" he asked Megatron warily, Steelstrut's deactivation still fresh in his processor. If more gladiators were going missing, then what did that mean for his?
Megatron glanced up from the data-pad he had thieved off of Clench earlier in the cycle and flicked it off. Starscream glimpsed at it suspiciously before the larger mech spoke, "The new arena." The older mech explained, subspacing the data-pad and getting off the berth to his pedes, "Clench has found us a new base."
Starscream nodded, 'base', not 'home'. They didn't have a home. "Are we going?" he asked curiously.
Megatron frowned, "Of course we are," he grumbled, "We are scheduled to leave this evening."
Again Starscream nodded submissively, glancing around him at the messy cluttered room they'd been sharing with some of the other gladiators over the past week. He was going to miss it here, even if it was mostly boring and Megatron couldn't seem to leave him alone. He was going to miss Shareware and her friends too.
"Scheduled?" he asked.
Megatron looked exasperated at the amount of questions he was asking, but Starscream held his ground. Maybe if the older mech would explain himself better then he wouldn't have to ask so many questions.
"We cannot leave all at once," Megatron growled, "Someone might notice."
This time he didn't need to elaborate. Starscream knew perfectly well who that 'someone' was referring to. "Is it nice? The new arena?"
Megatron strode past him and across the temporary room they shared, "I do not know. I have never been."
Starscream bounced along after him, "Is it far?"
"Very," Megatron answered curtly, bending to his knees and glancing under the berth he and Starscream had been sharing. He made an angry noise of frustration and reached under it, pulling out a servo full of Starscream's data-pads, "How many times," he grumbled, dumping a couple of them on the berth top and reaching under again for more, "Do I have to tell you to pick up your things?"
Starscream jumped onto the berth and scooped the data-pads into his arms, "I don't have anywhere to put them," he pointed out.
After fishing the last data-pad out Megatron climbed back to his pedes and glared at the seeker, "Your subspace?" Starscream shrugged but thankfully did as he was told; Megatron nodded, satisfied, "You will need to find what you have left lying around everywhere else," he reminded the seeker, "We won't be coming back here, so whatever you forget you lose."
Without another word Starscream jumped into action, weaving between and diving under berths. Megatron sat back and watched, not bothering to help. If the seeker had done as he was told he wouldn't have to run around after misplaced possessions. Besides, they had joors before they were due to catch a transport, they had plenty of time.
Almost five joors later and they had ten breems left before they had to catch a transport, and they were still in the bar.
"Starscream!" Megatron bellowed, standing by the door, pede tapping impatiently, "Just say goodbye and hurry up, we're late!"
A few metres away Starscream ignored him and let Shareware pull him into an armour denting hug, "I'm going to miss you," she whispered against the side of his helm, clutching to him like she never wanted to let him go, "You'll behave won't you? Don't go running into trouble."
When she pulled back her optics were glistening as if she was going to start crying. It made Starscream want to cry as well. He nodded and swallowed, "I'll come back and visit," he told her.
Shareware smiled but shook her helm like she didn't believe he would, "Don't worry if you can't," she said gently, stroking a delicate servo down the side of his face before standing up, "Be good," she reminded him again.
He nodded, glancing between her and Hardline and Freeware –who for once didn't look overcharged-, both of whom he'd already said his goodbyes to. He would probably have said more had Megatron not at that very moment stamped his way over and lifted him under the arms, carrying him off. When the gladiator hitched him up against his chest he was able to see the femmes one last time, and waved at them sadly from over the top of Megatron's thickly armoured shoulder as he was carted off.
"Can't you transform?" he was asking the gladiator as soon as they were outside on the street. He wasn't a sparkling, but he was fairly sure he could have fit into whatever vehicle mode Megatron might have had, and then they wouldn't have had to rush to catch their transport.
Megatron shook his helm and strode quickly through some of the darker alleyways, using them as short cuts, "I do not have a vehicle mode."
Starscream blinked, "Oh..." he mumbled, "I'm a jet," he informed the gladiator.
He couldn't see Megatron's expression from where he was pressed to the gladiator's chest but the noise the older mech made betrayed his irritation, "You're a seeker," Megatron rumbled, "You're not likely to turn into a truck. And regardless, you're not old enough to transform yet."
Starscream gasped as if offended, "How would you know?!" he argued.
Megatron actually stopped walking to give Starscream a look, "Transform then," he challenged.
Starscream glared at him for a long time before sniffing self-importantly and turning away. Megatron rolled his optics and started walking again, but couldn't resist commenting, "I thought so."
A sharp kick to the abdomen courtesy of Starscream made him regret that decision.
X
Starscream was in recharge by the time they arrived in the lower east levels of Kaon. Megatron was lulled into a false sense of security that he could just dump the seeker in a berth and not have to deal with him until morning as the youngling slept through not only the loud disembark from the transport but the long walk to the arena itself.
Which meant that either, Starscream had been faking it or Primus has a poor sense of humour for as soon as he entered through the doors of the new –but older- arena the seeker's optics flew open and started taking in the new environment with a renewed energy no one this time of the night cycle should have possessed.
As expected, the layout seemed no different from the arena they used to reside in, though the pit and stands at the centre of the huge building had a more traditional design from what they had before, with a higher ceiling to accompany the multiple levels of viewing balconies.
But there would be time to look around later, Megatron thought to himself, wrestling to keep Starscream in his arms as the seeker wriggled relentlessly to get free, right now he needed to find some quarters and put the sparkling back to recharge.
Luckily Clench was never too far away.
"Ah Megatron!" he bellowed cheerfully, striding up the corridor, flashing Starscream a toothy grin as he came to a stop in front of them, "Glad to see you made it... and only a little late this time, huh!" he joked; no one found him funny.
Fortunately for Clench he didn't notice, "Anyway, your rooms are a floor down, which means if we get bombed again you're not likely to be the first to blow up." Again he was smiling as if it was a joke. Starscream unconsciously squished himself closer to Megatron, frowning at the other mech cautiously.
"Rooms?" Megatron growled, "Starscream stays with me."
Clench waved his servo dismissively, "Oh don't worry about it, it's my treat!" he grinned at the seeker, completely oblivious to the fact that Megatron didn't want Starscream in completely separate quarters to him. "There are a lot of rooms free after... you know, everyone dying and all..."
His insensitivity caused Megatron to scowl, and Starscream to flinch, images of Steelstrut's reassuring smile and the memory of his voice telling him that everything was going to be alright flickered to the forefront of his processor.
Clench was still nattering away to himself, talking about expenses and recruitment and security until, to Starscream's surprise, Megatron interrupted.
"I have an... associate of sorts from Polyhex," he started gruffly, Clench turned to consider him and Starscream looked up from his chest curiously, "He is interested in fighting."
Clench frowned, "Polyhex? Never had a mech from Polyhex before, they're not the... aggressive sort."
Megatron straightened, "He has come upon hard times," he explained, "I'm sure he would be more than capable in the pit."
Clench smirked, "Coming from you that means a lot," he nodded, taking out a data-pad and tapping something into it, "Tell him to come around."
Megatron nodded, unconsciously tightening his grip on Starscream, "It is late," he stated simply.
Clench blinked before coming to his senses, "Oh yes, your new quarters, one for each of you, come on I'll show you."
Starscream couldn't fight back his excitement as Megatron followed Clench down a dark stairwell to the floor below. The corridor was dark, and dusty, it looked like it hadn't been lived in for quite a while. Though already he missed the old arena, and even the femmes bar, the prospect of getting his own room was too much of an excitement for him to really feel melancholy about the situation.
Clench came to a stop before two doors at the end of the long corridor, both opposite each other. He pointed to them, "Yours and the sparklings," he told Megatron, "or the other way around it doesn't matter, now-"
"I'm not a sparkling!" Starscream shouted from Megatron's arms before the gladiator could clap a servo over his mouth.
Clench looked surprised for a moment until his face split into a grin, "Yeah sure whatever," he said flippantly, winking at the seeker and turning back to the door on the left to press the access panel, "This is your room," he said to Starscream as Megatron bent down to finally place him on the floor.
Starscream bounded forward and rushed over the threshold in front of the other mech; his enthusiasm instantly vanished as he laid optics on the dusty, empty old room. He hadn't known what he was expecting, but it had been a little less... boring. The only piece of furniture inside was a berth, and he swore to Primus it was smaller than the one he'd had to endure when he shared quarters with Megatron.
He turned around and glared at Clench. Clench either didn't notice or just didn't care. "Your own room," he beamed, waving a servo into the room as if it was something spectacular to behold, "All to yourself, no grumpy old gladiators to wake you up in the mornings, or tell you to pick up your slag, or keep you up with their snoring..."
The corners of Starscream's mouth curved upwards, he was starting to see the appeal. Behind Megatron huffed loudly.
"I can do what I want in here?" Starscream asked, optics lighting up in exhilaration as he stared up at Clench. Megatron opened his mouth to bark out a loud and final 'no' followed by a threat of some sort, but was beaten to it as the arena owner nodded happily.
"Sure thing," Clench grinned, "Jump on the berth, colour over the walls, whatever you want."
Megatron decided it was time for Clench to leave before he gave Starscream anymore stupid ideas. "Shouldn't you be attending to the rest of the arena?" he reminded him, "Starscream and I are no longer in need of your assistance."
Clench, as usual, didn't notice the biting edge to Megatron's words and with a few more slightly inappropriate comments bounced off back up the corridor from whence he came. As soon as he was out of sight Megatron sighed in relief. He glanced down at Starscream who was looking at him expectantly.
There was a moments silence until Megatron decided he would need to lay down some ground rules in regards to the seeker's new found freedom.
"Don't colour on the walls," He said sternly, folding his arms across his chest.
Starscream pulled a face and ran away from him to jump on his berth, "I'm not a sparkling!" he shouted, still jumping up and down, a big smile stretching across his face, "And get out of my room!"
Megatron couldn't find it in him to get annoyed with the seeker, it was too late and –dare he say it- the youngling looked adorable bouncing on the berth like that.
"Are you sure you'll be alright in here on your own?" he asked, shifting awkwardly in the doorway, still not entirely comfortable with leaving Starscream to his own devises for the entire night cycle. And he wasn't sure why.
"You're opposite me!" Starscream shouted, dropping down onto his aft on the berth, finally ceasing his bouncing.
Megatron still wasn't sure, memories of watching the seeker writhe and whimper in the dead of night from nightmares at the forefront of his mind. Starscream didn't seem to have them often these days, but he couldn't escape the uneasy knowledge that the seeker could have one and then wake up all alone in here, away from him. "I will make sure you have the code to my quarters if you need me," he said diplomatically.
Starscream still seemed to catch the implication and looked positively affronted. Megatron decided to make his exit before an argument started, "I will be back in the morning to set a code to your door," he announced as he stepped over the threshold.
"I can do it myself," Starscream snapped, slipping off his berth and stamping to the door, "And I don't want you to know the code."
Megatron frowned, "Why not?" he growled.
Starscream pulled a face, "Because this is my room and you're not allowed in unless I say so."
Megatron blinked before replying rather childishly, "Then you can't come in my room."
Starscream's cheeks puffed out and his face turned a funny colour, "Fine!" he shouted and before Megatron could stop him, reached out and pressed the door panel, effectively shutting it in the gladiator's face.
Seconds passed and Starscream remained where he was in front of the door panel, anxiously biting his lip. He shouldn't have done that. After a moment's hesitation he reached for the access panel again, praying that Megatron wouldn't still be there. His prayers were ignored.
The door whooshed back to reveal a very annoyed looking Megatron. Starscream instinctively shrunk back, "It was an accident," he lied pathetically.
Megatron didn't buy it, but decided to let it go; this time. "Having your own quarters is a privilege you have only been allowed because there were rooms going spare," he growled, "If you abuse this new freedom I have given you-"
"Clench gave me the room," Starscream interrupted snottily.
Megatron gave him a pointed look and the seeker shut his mouth and looked down, scowling at the floor.
Megatron cleared his throat, "If I catch you doing something in here you shouldn't be doing you're getting kicked out of it before you can come up with any of your pathetic excuses," Starscream tilted his helm up to scowl defiantly, "And," Megatron continued, "Your new room will be the supply closet down the corridor."
Starscream pouted but didn't say anything and Megatron smirked smugly.
"Well?" Megatron prompted him, "Are you going to behave?"
Starscream looked like he was about to hit him but managed to nod stiffly anyway. Megatron didn't bother to try and get verbal confirmation out of him. It might have been a step too far. He glanced around the empty room behind the seeker again, an idea coming to mind. "If you manage to keep this place in one piece by the end of the week I might see about getting you some things," he murmured.
Starscream looked up with interest, "Things?"
Megatron nodded, "Furniture, possessions, data-pads," he elaborated, already moving back into the corridor, "but only if you behave."
When he looked back at the seeker he wasn't sure if spark lifted or sank. Starscream was staring up at him in such shock that Megatron would have thought that the seeker had never been given rewards for good behaviour before, or perhaps any personal possessions in the first place. The seeker had come to him with nothing after all. All that Starscream owned now were data-pads that were probably never going to be returned to the library and a couple of Steelstrut's rust sticks.
He swallowed and turned away from the beaming seeker, "Just... Just don't draw on the walls." He murmured wearily as he trudged back to his quarters.
Starscream's "You already told me that!" following after almost made him smile. Almost.
X
Although the sun had risen nearly a joor ago it was still dark in the lower east levels of Kaon; some cycles the light never reached down there at all.
The navy mech stepped off the transport and surveyed his surrounding, his olfactory senses already absorbing the familiar scent of the area. The polluting stench of rust and stale high grade was hard to forget, even after all these vorns.
Soundwave lifted his helm high and deftly avoided a puddle of unidentifiable fluid at his pedes, striding towards the location he had been coordinates to moments ago. As much as this decaying city state repulsed him, he had a job to do.
X