Understood

-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 5

-o-o-o-o-o-

Tailgate sat in the tavern below the Swinging Gate. He'd spent a lot of time in various rooms above that night. But dawn was breaking and most of Megatron's elite had staggered home, tanks full of high-grade and lusts sated. Swerve joined him, exhausted as expected, and flopped his helm forward onto the table. "How did you do?"

Swerve moaned. "Four thousand."

Tailgate's visor brightened. "Four?! You beat me! I got thirty-five."

The red and white mech's lips curved into a smile. "That's really good, as long as we don't have to spend much of it on repairs." He straightened up and waved in the direction of the bar.

"I think I'm okay. Sore, but okay. You?"

A waitress, looking equally haggard, came over with a tray of energon cubes, and both mechs took one, slipping credit chips into her open hand.

"I might have a lining tear. Not a bad one though. There was this big guy who must have been a heavy artillery gunner because he pounded me like I was an Autobot defense wall," Swerve complained.

Tailgate snorted a laugh at the comparison, but then he apologized. "Sorry. We'll get you looked at tomorrow, after some sleep." It was then that they noticed a familiar frame over at the bar counter. "Hey, there's that scary purple guy," he whispered.

"I wonder what he's doing out tonight? He usually doesn't come around on the paydays," said Swerve, swiveling his head around to look.

"Dunno. I guess he just wanted to be out."

Suddenly Swerve put his hand on Tailgate's shoulder. "Do I look okay? Not too used?"

Tailgate stifled another snort of laughter. "You look like you just survived another payday."

Swerve sighed, looking down at himself. "Oh well. If he wants me again, this is what he gets."

"Ditto, I suppose. Not that we really need to..."

"But if he does... He pays better. Even pays full price at the end of the deca-cycle."

"I guess," said Tailgate, looking over at the tall, horned mech.

It wasn't long before the Decepticon noticed them and walked over, Tailgate and Swerve sliding together to make room for him on their bench as he sat down. "You two are up late," he commented.

"Payday... it's a long few days of work for us," Tailgate said innocently.

"Of course." And then he leaned forward onto the table drawing closer to Tailgate. "Mask off, little one," he ordered.

Tailgate slid away his facemask, smiling shyly. The big Decepticon was still frightening, but at least they knew it was just his looks and mannerisms.

"We're both free now, even though we took our wires off to come in for a drink," offered Swerve, leaning in against his partner and pressing his helm to Tailgate's. Such a display of cuteness had swayed many a mech from 'just looking' to 'how much.' Minibots were often stocky or blocky, but had their diminutive size and naturally adorable nature going for them.

"Hmmm. I'm just here to drink. Speaking of which..." He turned his head toward the waitress and waved and she approached once more with her tray. "Our drinks are empty" he told the two minibots, their nearly drained cubes still clutched in little hands. When the waitress arrived, he selected three lurid purple cubes of high-grade off of the tray and paid the waitress a hundred credits. "Keep the change," he said as she procured it from her cash box.

As the waitress thanked him, her optics alight with genuine gratitude now, he set two of the cubes in front of the minibots, who thanked him profusely. "I want to watch you drink too," he said with an odd smirk.

Swerve and Tailgate exchanged glances, and then unsealed the cubes and sipped at the glowing purple energon within.

"Oh! It's so good!" Tailgate squeaked. "I've never had this before! It's so...so sweet and rich and it feels good in my tubes!"

The Decepticon chuckled. "You like that?"

"Yes! It's wonderful! What's it called? I want to order it again sometime!"

"Amethyst Prism," he answered, taking his own cube and drinking half of it in one go. "One of the delights of Kaon."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Tailgate said, pushing his knee familiarly against the purple mech.

"Tailgate, please, you act like you've never had high-grade before," Swerve chided, looking a little embarrassed by Tailgate's enthusiasm. He turned to the 'Con. "Please forgive him. He's rather inexperienced."

"Tailgate? Cute name. What's yours?"

"Swerve."

"Siblings?"

"Friends. Met at the academy in Pescus Hex. Best friends ever since."

"I see. Swerve and Tailgate." He leaned back against the wall and continued with his drink. And then he turned his head to look down at the two minibots. Their plating was scuffed and scratched. Their demeanor was one of exhaustion. If he focused he could just catch the scent of transfluid upon them. And it was all oddly enticing. "Maybe I would like to do more than drink tonight," he said in a low voice, red optics glowing.

Swerve's chin lifted. He'd hoped the big mech would be interested in their wares. "We are available, like I said."

"I'll give you each a thousand credits for a good frag, and then you can stay in the room if you want and recharge. I know you must be tired, it being payday."

"You want us to sleep with you?" Swerve was a little stunned. Most mechs wanted them gone as soon as the deed was done.

"Maybe for a while. I'm due back at the base in four cycles. But I'll get a nice room."

"Like the one at the Turning Light? The one with that really comfortable bed?" Tailgate blurted. "Oh that was so nice. It was so soft and springy and it had all those pillows on it!"

"If you'd like." The twinkling lights above the bar were reflected in the polish of his massive sensor horns.

"Ooh! Yes please!" squeaked Tailgate again. He took another drink from his cube, but in his enthusiasm accidentally splashed a bit across his faceplate.

Swerve quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped up the droplets, embarrassed by other minibot's clumsiness. "Sir, we'll go anywhere you'd like," he told the mech, not wanting to lose the job because of Tailgate being immature or demanding or sloppy.

"I'd rather have a nicer room if anyone's going to sleep there. Safer that way." He drank the rest of his Amethyst Prism and rose from the booth. "Let's go," he said and strode toward the door.

Tailgate carefully closed the top of his unfinished cube, tucked it into subspace, and scrabbled after him. Swerve quickly downed the rest of his drink and chased after. And soon they were in the lobby of the Turning Light, the big mech selecting the same room as before, and then leading them into the elevator. Swerve put his arm around the Decepticon's waist, the high-grade beginning to affect his gyros, while Tailgate clung to the mech's hand.

Inside the room, Tailgate bounded over to the bed and leapt onto it, bouncing gleefully as he belly-flopped onto the mattress. "I'm going to go wash up first," Swerve excused himself.

"Of course," said the Decepticon, moving for the berth as well.

Swerve sighed. He'd thought that Tailgate had matured a bit since the loss of their home and coming to Kaon, but so often he seemed to revert to the naive little thing he'd met back at the academy. Stepping into the washrack Swerve turned the water up full and hot and did his best to get rid of the paint scuffs left by other clients that night. Detaching the spray nozzle he rinsed out his valve, wincing as the water blasted across what had to be a minor tear. If he could coordinate things right, Tailgate could take all the spiking and prevent any further damage to himself.

And when he came out of the shower, he found that would probably be quite likely. Tailgate was already in the big mech's lap, grinding away against him, arms pinned behind his back in one massive fist. This was going to be an easy thousand credits if he could just keep the big guy out of his valve somehow.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Understood" continues in Chapter 6

-o-o-o-o-o-

Transformers and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.

Authors thrive on the responses of their readers. If you want to see more works like what you've read, let the author know.

If you'd like to see how this plot plays out, give this fic a 'Follow.'

If you thought this story was worth reading again sometime, give it a 'Favorite."

If you thought this story was interesting or well-written or worth recommending to a friend, leave a review.

Thank you!