Grasping a Chance 5: Plugging in to Plot
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Jazz lay sprawled on the couch, not really paying much attention to the vid playing on the screen or the mech seated nearby. The Knight had been working on something of his own, leaving Jazz to lay there and think. The grounder had been thinking a lot lately. Far more than he ever had before. The more he learned about the strange city had awoken to find himself in, the more he was starting to believe that Wing was telling him the truth.

And the more convinced he was that there may not be a place for him in it.

"Have you thought of anything you want to do for a function?" Wing's voice broke into his thoughts.

Jazz sighed and rolled over to face the Knight. "Honest answer- what I know how to do, you don't need. I know how to destroy things. I don't know how else to do anything, so I don't know if I want to do anything."

"Demolitions, security consultant, safety consultant," Wing rattled off smoothly. "I also don't believe you for a nanoklik. You know how to survive. You know how to be loyal. You know how to evade security like few beings in the city," he gave Jazz a wicked grin. "I did tell you I snuck to the surface. You like to dance. You like to explore. You like to test limits. There are a few functions those things fit into as well."

"I'm listening." Jazz said, more of his attention focused on Wing, and a very odd edge to his field. It was a desire to hope, if not necessarily hope itself.

"Some mecha earn a good living dancing, whether it includes erotic elements or not," Wing pointed out, his frame relaxing back so he was looking at Jazz upside down. It was as vulnerable and relaxed a posture as the Knight knew that didn't have unwanted elements. "We have an entire planet to explore, and very few willing to go anywhere near the work. Granted it's not just driving around where you please, but it's pretty close to it. It pays well too. I wouldn't be surprised if you took to energon crafts and distilling. One thing I do know. You've got the processor and adaptability to become anything. All you have to do is allow it to catch your attention."

Jazz smiled, a real expression that was unusual for him. "I'll think on that." He promised, processor already working on the plans for his next night exploration, and where he was planning to take it.

"Good," Wing smiled back and returned his attention to what he was doing before.

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Sand.

That was the main thing in Jazz's processor, despite the another vid playing, this one on the screen in Thorn's quarters, and the fields of four nearby mecha.

Because that was most of what he had found when he had made it to the surface. Sand and rock stretching on as far as the optic could see, with no sign of civilization anywhere on it. Overhead multiple moons were spread among unfamiliar stars. It was empty. The perfect place to hide from the rest of the galaxy.

And an even more difficult place to escape from.

He glanced over at Prowl, bemused by the shift in how the mech acted. He still despised being touched, apparently even when he shared the berth with Thorn and sometimes another, but he liked being close enough to mesh fields. Like right now. Prowl was sitting on the couch with Thorn on one side, Demeter's alt on the other, his knees tucked to his chest and wings pulled in, no one in physical contact, but his facial structure and his field gave a pleasant softness. It was easy to believe he was snuggled between two lovers he trusted, if you didn't look at the gaps between their frames.

Wing was sitting on the arm of the couch, leaning against Thorn. And Jazz suspected that if the current caresses continued in the pattern he had noticed, they would not remain innocent for very much longer.

That thought led to another, and his optics settled once more on Prowl. They were allowed to spend time together unhindered now, but still never without at least one keeper present. And so far there had been no legitimate way to escape their keepers' supervision. But if he played his cards right, there might be a way for them to talk.

The vid ended, and Demeter abandoned her spot to choose another. Jazz slipped into the suddenly empty space, field reaching out to brush against Prowl's, warm and friendly, with an undercurrent of something more. Prowl's field reached out to mesh with his, something easy and calm and almost-feeling-whole in it. The mech didn't so much as glance over at the change in company, though. No physical hint he was even aware of it.

Jazz field shifted and morphed slowly, accepting the calm and responding with a playful push, gently nudging against Prowl as Jazz focused on Demeter when she turned around, a smile on his face. Two could play this sort of game.

A grin crossed the canine mouth and she jumped into Wing's lap while the new vid began, something mildly pornographic from the opening sequence. More than a bit to Jazz's surprise, Prowl didn't seem to mind. He watched for a bit, field continuing to tease at Prowl's. Finally he reached over, fingers smoothing over storm gray arm plating with an even, firm pressure. Light enough to be gentle and suggestive without tickling, and a motion that the other could move away from if he chose.

Prowl's field rippled with a flutter of displeasure before smoothing out with only a faint hint of uncertainty. Then he leaned into the touch, lightly, but enough to be encouraging.

With the acceptance Jazz shifted closer, his frame lightly touching Prowl's. For a few kliks he remained like that, a soft edge creeping into Jazz's field at the contact without his intention. Prowl responded by gradually unmeshing from the forming threesome on his left to the more appealing situation to his right.

Then the fingers drifted higher, brushing over a data port, moving on to another port, and back down again. Prowl shivered and pressed into the contact with a sound that might just be a moan and definite flare of pleasure across his field. A flare of surprise rippled through Jazz, then smoothed into answering pleasure as he repeated the motion, smiling. A few more strokes and sounds, and he glanced at their keepers.

"Shall we take this somewhere else?" He suggested, leaning closer and speaking softly, tone holding a seductive edge that was clearly missing in his field. Prowl nodded and reached out to slide his fingers over one of Jazz's ports, though he gave Thorn a glance, only standing when the black mech nodded.

"Have fun," Wing trilled and leaned in to kiss Thorn, all pretense of behaving gone with their charges now occupied.

Jazz followed into Prowl's room, remaining close the entire time, both to keep up the pretense and because the contact with someone familiar was soothing. Once the door closed he tilted his helm in the direction of the berth. "There?"

Prowl simply nodded, his primary dataport spiraling open as he sat, then lay down. He was doing a very good impression of a first-time lover, wanting but a little uncertain, as he looked up at Jazz while he pulled his cable from the spool next to his port.

"It's fun." Jazz promised with a smile, settling next to Prowl and continuing to stroke armor plating lightly. Here, where Prowl knew his field wasn't being picked up by anyone else, it smoothed out a bit more, calm, centered and focused. It was a lead that Jazz followed. First time lovers on the outside as his port spiraled open and he tilted his frame, offering to let Prowl plug in first, slow and considerate, but internally all business.

That relaxed Prowl the rest of the way and he plugged in, a gentle shift of his wrist, a move that he had done so many times with mainframes it was smooth and easy, even if he'd very rarely connected to another mecha. His full awareness, the power of his extraordinary processors, was held in check only by weak social protocols as he waited for Jazz to lower the outer firewalls and let him in.

The first few layers fell away, each testing and confirming Prowl's clearance before allowing him deeper as Jazz returned the physical gesture, plugging into Prowl with the same smooth ease, even if his was born of far different experiences.

The sheer power of Prowl's systems had him humming in appreciation, frame settling against Prowl and his helm resting on Prowl's shoulder as he continued to touch the storm gray plating, pinging for admittance. It was granted, and as firewalls and identity checks were cleared, Jazz grasped this mech's lack of fear for hardline connections. His defenses were equal to anything Jazz knew of.

~Of course,~ Prowl sounded rather amused here, the emotion coming across much more easily without the barrier of physical reactions in the way. ~I ran a city, then much of the imperial government's statistical analysis and management. They could not afford to have me hacked. Not even by Soundwave. He failed when he attempted it. Now, what have you learned that they did not teach us?~

~There is nothing on the surface but sand and rock, for the most part. When they chose a place to hide, they chose well.~ Jazz finally answered, momentarily distracted by the clarity of emotion from a mech that rarely shared them before offering Prowl images of the surface. ~I have no idea where we are either. The stars are not on any of my charts.~

Prowl pushed the images towards a secondary processor for phrasing to see if his far greater knowledge base could extrapolate where they were. ~Did you detect any transmissions while up there?~

~Nothing. But my new comms aren't on par with my old ones.~ There was a small amount of regret there, the upgrades that he had received when he joined ops something that he missed. ~You don't pick up anything from down here on the surface either. They have this place buried deep and well shielded.~

~No surprise, if their intent was to hide,~ Prowl said reasonably. ~Have you found a working interstellar ship?~

~No luck on that front either. They were very clear in that they don't want anyone leaving, and mecha showing up is a rare thing.~ Jazz paused, musing as something occurred to him that hadn't before, and he suddenly kicked himself. ~I wonder if we are the first since they landed here.~

~From the records I have been able to access, we are,~ Prowl responded. ~If you can find the engine we need, the rest can be built. If there is not a powerful enough engine, we need to shift our focus to adapting to here. The Autobots are unlikely to survive if I am gone for too long.~

~I'll start looking the next time I go out.~ Jazz promised, a sudden shift in his processor marking the promise as important. Labeling it as a mission, and therefore a priority. The status of the Autobots was met with a sort of mental shrug, and a level of detachment. ~If I can get into one of the exploration jobs that Wing mentioned it might make things easier too, since I would have reason to be out on my own, away from the city.~

~That would be useful,~ Prowl agreed. ~I am doing what I can to access the databases that are currently denied me. There must be some understanding of where here is relative to Cybertron in their records somewhere. Has Wing treated you well?~

~As well as can be expected, I guess.~ Jazz answered. ~He's looking out for me as best as can, by the way he thinks. Think I've broadsided him more than once, since he's never known anything but here.~

~Yes, he is quite young,~ Prowl agreed. ~Though his creators are the oldest mecha in the city, I believe. He is not as innocent as his age would suggest. Much like the two of us. Do you have anything else to report?~

~Not now. But now that I know what I am looking for I may soon.~ He nuzzled gently at Prowl's shoulder. ~And if they are willing to give us at least an illusion of privacy, we can talk easier.~

~As long as they believe us to be interfacing, they are unlikely to question our use of this time too strongly,~ Prowl agreed. ~How do you wish to overload?~

~I have a personal like for spike 'n valve.~ Jazz answered honestly. ~But I have no objection to overloading like this instead.~ He said as he sent a gentle wave of pure energy over the hardline connection between them, paying close attention to the response it earned and was surprised when it garnered nothing. It simply dissipated into the systems that were Prowl.

~I have no preference,~ Prowl said firmly.

~Hardline then.~ Jazz grumbled, slightly irritated. ~Can you even overload?~

~Not in the sense that you understand it. My tac-net is far too valuable to risk damage from entertainment. It does feel good, however,~ Prowl murmured, sending a sequence of pulses perfectly synched to Jazz's spark. ~I do not miss what I have never known.~

~Not fair.~ A small part of Jazz's processor protested, even as he moaned in pleasure from the energy sweeping over him and returned the favor, searching for every trick he knew to bring another pleasure this way. Hands started drifting over Prowl's frame, seeking pleasure points, before he pulled them back with a sense of apology.

~Nothing in my existence has been fair,~ Prowl replied with another series of pulses and a sense of thanks for not touching. ~Very little in yours has been, from your file.~

Jazz's response was a gentle hum of acceptance and another shrug as he focused more of his attention on Prowl and overloading them both, because he had to and not because it was something that he particularly wanted any more. A low, soft moan from Prowl was reward for his efforts, as well as Prowl escalating his pulses. It was entirely too much like being with a pleasurebot in many ways. Prowl's only interest was in overloading him so it would be done with. There was no attraction there, no desire, only skill based on knowledge without any passion.

~You don't have to play like you enjoy it for me.~ Jazz commented, frame beginning to quiver with the energy being pushed at him over the connection and that he was concentrating on sending in return.

~It does feel good,~ Prowl hummed in reply, his field backing up the statement as he sent another salvo into Jazz's systems. ~It is just not what you perceive.~

Jazz didn't bother answering, moaning softly as the energy passed between them continued to escalate. Right now that was enough, and he would worry more about the differences between them later. One thing he knew. Prowl was entirely too good at this.

Another soft sound of pleasure escaped the Praxian and his vents cracked open a bit further, but it was nothing compared to the state Jazz was in.

The slender white mech's frame was vibrating, energy crackling over the surface and brushing against Prowl. Another klik and another push, and Jazz cried out, frame arching and locking as a powerful overload swept through him.

Across the connection there was sense of unconscious disorientation, pure pleasure, and a complete lack of fear at being in that state.

Prowl relaxed, disconnecting Jazz's cable and waited for the mech to settle before disconnecting himself. "Sated?" Prowl asked politely.

"Yes." Jazz answered after he was able to focus again. "You're good at that." He murmured, reaching out to touch without thinking as Prowl retrieved his cable, leaving them to speak once more.

"It is a simple thing to learn. Once you know a mecha's spark frequency, simply modulate your transmissions to that," Prowl said, not objecting to the touch for now. "Then push enough current through the hardline at that rate until they overload."

Jazz hummed and curled against him, field one of resigned comfort and frame simply seeking the warm contact of another.