Understood
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Chapter 17
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Tailgate had never been to Kaon Bridges before, and he was here now in Cyclonus' company, sitting in a large round booth in an upscale bar with his client and several of the purple mech's fellow officers. Tailgate reached for one of the many tiny cubes of energon as the plate was pushed around to him, a pile of high-grade servings his employer had ordered for those present. At the table with Cyclonus sat four seekers, a shuttle-former, and a ground-pounder of some unrecognizable variety. The seeker next to him, painted a medium blue with garish orange detailing, noticed him stretching for one of the pink cubes on the far side, just out of reach, and so plucked up the cube and handed it to him. "You're so cute," he said bemusedly. "Wherever did Cyclonus find you?"
"Oh... around. I'm new to Kaon," Tailgate answered modestly. There was no pretense that Cyclonus had done other than hired the little mech as a companion for the evening even though the bundle of black wires had been put away. The ground-pounder had two femmes with him, prostitutes as well but of a much better class than any Overdock streetwalker. The beautifully painted and polished pair glared repeatedly at the visored minibot whenever the rest of the party was distracted.
"Really? Maybe I should take you around sometime. Show you some of Kaon's sights."
At this point, Cyclonus suddenly noticed the seeker next to him was talking to Tailgate, and he leaned back in the booth and looked at the two.
The blue seeker suddenly lost interest in the minibot.
Tailgate drank the cube of high-grade, his first of the evening, and then sat patiently against his employer's side. The conversation rambled through war stories, politics, gripes about the Autobots, gripes about the Decepticons, and more war stories. When the tray of high-grade cubes was nearly empty, one of the seekers rose. "Let's get out of here," he announced, "and go over to the Silver Canopy."
There were murmurs of approval and Cyclonus paid the waiter.
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The Silver Canopy was a well-known showclub a few blocks away from the bar they'd been drinking at. The party of ten went in, paid the host, and were shown to a table, whereupon oil and high-grade was ordered. As their drinks were served, they watched the long stage that ran the center of the club, where a mech was juggling five sparkling balls in the air—first in front of him and then behind him, and then with the prehensile toes on his feet. Next a pretty femme emerged, a pleasurebot dancer, and began to perform, her frame draped in ethereal veils that seemed to resist gravity.
Tailgate clung to Cyclonus' arm, staring up in amazement at the pale blue femme as she twirled upon the stage. None of the femmes working at the one showclub in Overdock were this lovely or this graceful. After a couple of songs she was replaced by an equally pretty black and white mech, who did not dance, but instead performed feats of acrobatics and balance. And after he was done, another femme appeared to entertain the group with playful dancing and whirling while the black and white acrobat hung about receiving a bit of playful attention from the shuttle-former. Next on stage was a bright red minibot who told some rather funny jokes—funny enough that even Cyclonus began to smile. Finally in this set of entertainments, "Marvel the Hundredchanger" was announced. A spindly mech with several flexible antennae in hand came out and performed what appeared to be a series of transformations, using the antennae and his own limbs with a long sheet of silver fabric to shape himself into multiple forms. The seekers in the audience all cheered and hooted wildly when he did a pretty good impression of a seeker, though Tailgate decided that his cybercat form was the best. His impersonation of Megatron brought the house down.
Cyclonus had obviously had his fill of conversation at the bar, for while the seekers and the ground-pounder continued to chatter, the big purple jet just sat in his chair watching the show. The ground pounder's two hired femmes looked rather bored and after a while ended up chatting with another of the entertainers that worked at the Silver Canopy.
Tailgate continued to sit quietly at Cyclonus' side. It was unusual to be hired for companionship as well as for sexual purposes. Cyclonus had engaged him for the whole night, assuring him that it would end with them sharing a berth. But until then he was just to be quiet and look cute and keep the Decepticon officer company. It was obvious that while Cyclonus was here socializing with fellow officers he would rather have been elsewhere. But he was putting on a good show of enjoying himself in their company. The way he'd occasionally reach down and pat Tailgate's thigh showed he at least was enjoying that part of it, or that he was at least looking forward to getting away and giving the minibot a good fragging once alone.
At one point, Cyclonus was called over to another table by someone he apparently knew, and he told Tailgate to remain where he was.
The blue seeker immediately came over the moment Cyclonus was away and took the seat next to Tailgate. "So where can I find you. You really are a darling little thing. I like your looks. I guess old skull-face and I do have something in common after all."
"I'm... well.. I work in Overdock," said Tailgate quietly and rather humbly. All of these mechs could afford much better company than himself. Overdock was where common soldiers went to get laid.
"Overdock? Really? Someone like you deserves better. You're so cute and innocent looking." The seeker reached out and ran his hand flirtatiously along the underside of Tailgate's arm. "Are you available tonight after this party breaks up?"
"Cyclonus has me for the entire night."
The seeker's face fell. "I see. All right. Well maybe I'll come down to Overdock sometime. It's not really my scene, but if you're there, I'm sure it's better than I'm imagining it to be."
"It's not that bad. It's just not as nice as the other parts of Kaon."
"Which house do you work at? I'll come spend some time with you there."
Tailgate looked embarrassed. "I don't work at a house. But you can usually find me hanging out in front of the Old Kaon Tavern."
The seeker shuttered his optics rapidly in succession. "No house? A sweet little thing like you out on the streets?"
"All of the houses are full, and as soon as a spot opens up in one every streetwalker and black ice addict in Overdock will be there applying for that one spot."
"I'm shocked. You really do deserve better." He looked over at the big purple jet. "I can't believe Cyclonus just hired you off the street."
Tailgate simply shrugged.
"Well maybe I will come around some time. Where did you say? The Old Kaon Tavern?" His hands again stroked at Tailgate's arm, and then he tried to entwine his fingers with Tailgate's, but noticed Cyclonus looking about and withdrew his hand. "I'll come look for you some lonely night," he whispered before drifting back to his side of the table. Cyclonus returned soon after.
When the next round of entertainment was over, the party broke and the various members went their separate ways. Cyclonus turned to Tailgate and gave him a smile. "Would you like another drink?" he asked the blue and white mech beside him.
"No thank you. I've had plenty."
The jet-former smiled. "We'll go then. But if you change your mind, tell me and we'll stop somewhere."
"Where are we going next?"
"I have a room reserved for us at the Harbor House in Kaon Riverside."
Tailgate's visor brightened. "In Kaon Riverside? Somewhere nice like that?"
"We can go elsewhere if you'd prefer. It was just convenient for us spending the evening out here in Kaon Bridges."
"Well no. It's just that I've never been somewhere fancy like that. I've never even been to Kaon Riverside. Well, we did walk along the embankment street once but everything was so fancy and so expensive that I just felt awkward there. Swerve and I bought gelled energon treats from a street vendor, and they cost three times what they would have in Overdock."
Cyclonus chuckled his deep, ominous chuckle. "I have a room with a view of the water, and they assure me that the balcony is very private.
"Oh... I see."
"But if you'd feel more comfortable elsewhere, the Overdock Lodger always has rooms available."
Tailgate looked up at his client with a bemused smile. When it deigned to appear, Cyclonus' sense of humor was delightful. "If you want the Harbor House, I'm okay with it."
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"Understood" continues in Chapter 18
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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.
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