Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait! Also, keep in mind that there is little to no connection to any single universe, and it really is just whatever I want thrown together! I hope you enjoy!

Megatronus seems surprised by that, which Orion supposes is probably fair. It's not exactly a secret, but no one really talks about his sire being his sire. Well, Ratchet does, but that has been his entire life. Orion doesn't usually go out with Ravage to walk through Iacon, but Orion knew that it was strange. Orion hasn't ever seen another cassette aside from Ravage before, but his sire assured him that there were others out there, but they were few and far between. And beastformers were even rarer than that. And beastformers that were also cassettes were even more rare still.

"A beastformer, you say..." Megatronus says softly, red eyes flickering in thought. He wasn't sure how much Megatronus knew about beastformers, seeing as how uncommon they were. Was there perhaps some around here? In Kaon?

Orion tilts his head a bit. "What are you thinking about?"

Megatronus considers, opening his mouth, then closing it, then carefully, he says, "Let me think on it. There is something that I want to ask Soundwave about before I go around speaking on things I have no business talking about."

Orion rests his cheek against Megatronus's chassis. It's nice and warm, and honestly, Orion is ready to go to sleep. Comfortable and safe in Megatronus's arms. He's never connected with someone like this before. Megatronus is special, Orion can feel it. Primus must have meant for their paths to cross. It seems too perfect. They fit so well together, like puzzle pieces.

"So..." Megatronus says softly, taking Orion's silence as understanding of his hesitance in expounding further on his thoughts. "How is your not-sire a beastformer? I mean, where they friends? Beastformers are very rare."

Orion nods. "They are rare," he agrees. "I've only ever known my sire, but he's a cassette that is also a beastformer. My carrier was a Cassette Carrier, so he's had Ravage with him for most of his life. Or..." Orion hesitates. "He was a Cassette Carrier. He was a young mech when he found Ravage and they've been together ever since. My carrier's other cassette, the one before Ravage, passed away when I was very young. She was very, very old. She lived a nice, long life, but my carrier has only ever had Breeze and Ravage, so they were very close."

The arm around Orion tightens, a large servo sliding up his flank. "Was Breeze also a beastformer?"

Orion shakes his head, optics closing a bit at the soothing feeling of the servo along his side. "No, she was a minicon. Small enough that she could combine with him." He yawns, pressing close. "I have no memories of her myself, but my carrier was still really upset stellar cycles after she expired. Sometimes, he would just cry when thinking about her." His optics unshuttered. "She had raised him. Just like Ravage raised me."

Megatronus is quiet for a long time, before softly asking, "Are you a Cassette Carrier?"

Orion huffs, shaking his head. "No. But Ravage is my family and because he loved my carrier, he won't leave me no matter what."

"And you too, right?" Orion hums, optics shuttering and darkening a bit more. Megatronus squeezes the servo resting over his spark. "Ravage loves you too. He won't leave you."

Something warms in his chest. It seems like such a simple thing. Of course, Ravage would love him. Ravage raised him. Yet for some reason, Megatronus acknowledging that makes him so happy. Most people don't treat Ravage with kindness, and it breaks the red and blue mech's spark. Ravage tries to hide it, but Orion has known. All his life, despite how much and how hard Ravage tried to spare him of that. Orion has always known.

Ravage would explain that bots don't know how to interact with things they aren't used to. And for the rarity of the beastformers in Cybertron's society, their ability to interact with those like Ravage are stunted.

Ratchet was far less understanding, but whatever scathing remark he was about to utter out, Ravage had put an end to with flash of teeth and a daring wave of the tail. "I will raise my bit how I see fit," he had said. Ratchet had begrudgingly agreed.

But for whatever unease that lie in the sparks of other Cybertronians, it doesn't appear as though there is any in Megatronus's own. And that loosens some tension in the red and blue bot's chest. Something he hadn't realized was clenching.

Orion nods, smiling lightly. "Yes. He does."

They are quiet for a little bit as Orion drifts closer and closer to recharge when Megatronus finally asks, "Can I stay the night cycle, Orion?"

Orion nods again, snuggling closer. "Will you please?"

Megatronus hugs him tightly, enough that his thinner armor groans in complaint, pressing a chaste kiss to his helm and finally releasing his hard grip. Orion drifts into recharge, feeling safe in Megatronus's arms.

Orion is drawn from his recharge to a very faint light coming in from the window and the feel of long, sharp claws reaching between some plates on his back, smoothing out some knots in his wires. He hums, curling up against the warmth beneath him, audio pressed against a low rumble of a powerful engine. The sound is so soothing, the warmth so welcoming. His claws continue to seek out all of those little knots along his back. He's not even able to pull himself into full awareness, letting out a soft sigh and drifting off in bliss. Content and happy.

"I have to leave today."

Orion's optics light up a bit more, seeing that the room was a bit brighter. He must have dozed off again. "No..." he mumbles, wrapping around the larger frame beneath him. "Please stay."

Megatronus rumbles, hugging him tightly. "Don't tempt me, my hauler."

"I can't persuade you?" Orion murmurs, shifting his helm back a bit to look up at Megatronus's beautiful red optics. Their very short time together has been wonderful. Blissful. He doesn't want it to end.

Megatronus laughs softly, hugging him tighter still. "You don't have to try to convince me, Orion. I don't want to leave, but I do have to go back to the pits. My one day off is over and now it's back to it." The mirth fades from his voice and falls completely even.

Orion's optics flicker. "The pits? Are there mines here in Kaon?" He brings up a hand to rub at his face.

"No," the silver mech murmurs, red eyes half bright. "I'm a gladiator now. I work at the pits. I won my high-stakes match and earned a day off."

Orion is thoughtful, considering the other mech's words. Then, softly, he asks, "Do you enjoy it? Being a gladiator?"

Megatronus runs a servo up Orion's spinal strut and back down soothingly. "The purpose isn't as good as being a miner. The danger is debatable both ways. Hazardous jobs at their best - and worst. There are some more freedoms, but I am not free."

Orion frowns at that. "I don't understand."

Megatronus's chest rumbles a bit louder, red optics brightening. "We all live in cages, my dear Orion. For some of us," he reaches up and gently runs the back of his fingers along the side of Orion's face, "our cage is more gilded than others."

Orion leans into the touch, but his expression is twisted in confusion. "I'm sorry, Megatronus. I don't understand."

Megatronus's expression doesn't shift from its softness. Affection swells in that heavy field that Orion tries desperately to burrow into. The affection increases with a small curve of a smile pulling on his lips. "I know, my clerk. But that's not something that needs to be explained right now. For now, I just want to look at you."

Orion laughs, optics crinkling a bit. "You're very charming, Megatronus."

That smile spreads a little more. "You're very charming yourself, Orion Pax."

Orion rolls his eyes, shifting up so that he's resting a little more on the larger mech who doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. He adjusts so that he's holding Orion more securely to himself. The red and blue mech stares up into the silver mech's optics, a retort on his lips before he pauses, mouth hanging open in surprise.

"What?" Megatronus asks, quirking an eyebrow ridge.

"Your optics!" Orion gasps, his own optics flickering as he leans up onto an elbow. He leans in close to inspect the other's optics, his mouth slightly open in surprise. He takes a moment to just look before realizing that Megatronus was waiting for him to elaborate. "Oh! You have tri-lights! That's very rare!"

Megatronus's optics flicker in intrigue. "I've never heard of that. What is it?"

"You have three different colors in your optics. There are nine rings in most bot's optics. Most of them are the same color. Rarely there is two. And even rarer still, there is three. Most of your rings are red, which is why your optics appear that way but on second from the center is actually white, and one third from the outer ring is orange! Oh, it's so beautiful!"

Megatronus's optics brighten a bit. "Oh? I never noticed." A beat of hesitation, then, almost shyly, "Do you really think that?"

"That it's beautiful?" A nod. "Oh, yes. I very much do."

Megatronus looks away, lips pressing close. "You are a very strange mech to think someone like me is beautiful."

"What?" Orion frowns. "Why?"

"You come from Iacon. You must have seen so many beautiful bots there. I'm a cold construct miner from Tarn."

Orion, still confused, shakes his head. "Certainly. There was plenty of beautiful bots in Iacon, but none of them as beautiful as you. Why? Don't you think so?"

Megatronus gives him a look. "You're beautiful. Do you think so?"

Orion opens his mouth to retort, then stops. He hesitates, considering, then admits, "No, I don't. But... I don't know. You just seem to be so special. I'm surprised that you don't seem to see it like I do." His face falls a little. "You mentioned that you were just a cold construct miner from Tarn, but I think there is so much more to you. I feel it. You're special, I just don't know how exactly, yet."

Megatronus runs a servo up and down the length of Orion's back, his field bleeding affection. Orion lowers his helm back down onto Megatronus's chest, running his fingers lightly over the other's covered spark chamber, feeling up and down his main body for cuts and grooves. His servo finds a dent at the side of Megatronus's side, gently probing at it in case it was still sensitive.

"Does it hurt?" He asks softly. It seems like it's healing. The metal is a little malleable, but hardy enough that Orion can tell it is healing.

"No," Megatronus says. "I have some reenforced plating underneath. That was just surface damage."

"Do miners from Tarn get armor this thick? Get the additional reenforced plating?"

"No, not usually," Megatronus admits. "Larger mechs like I am need more fuel to operate, so while they need larger mechs, they tend not to have as much armor as I do simply because the weight plays a role in operations too." Makes sense. "I had denser armor than most, saved my spark from a cave in or two, but I got upgrades when I came to the pits."

"Is that normal?" Orion asks, running his servo over a barely-there scrape.

Megatronus shifts a little. "It's not uncommon, I suppose. It all depends on the trainer. And how good the gladiator is, I guess. I happen to be really good."

"Really?" Orion asks, looking back up at him.

Megatronus's plates flutter a bit, a touch of pride to his words. "I guess my calling is not in shoveling dirt. However I may feel about fighting my fellows, that is."

"Yes," Orion admits. "I've never fought before. Never had the need. But my sire has come to the habsuite with wounds before. I know he's been in fights, but he won't ever tell me anything about that."

Megatronus hums softly to himself. "I don't know," he admits.

"It's okay," Orion says softly. Thinking about his sire makes him keenly aware of how angry his sire is going to be when he inevitably hunts him down. His sire can be stubborn, but not so completely unreasonable. Still, Orion is not exactly looking forward to his sire's lecture, even if he is excited to see him again.

"I'll come back to see you as soon as I can," Megatronus says after a long silence.

"Promise?" Orion asks.

Megatronus rumbles. "Promise."

They remained like that, curled around one another and just petting softly any metal their servos touched, before Megatronus finally had to go. Orion joined him, stopping by the kitchen to make him another cube of energon with healing metals inside and offering it to him. Megatronus smiles, takes the cube and downs it, before passing it back, kissing Orion's lips and heading off. Today's cube in hand, Orion returns to the kitchen to clean up the other two cubes from the day cycle before, he washes and puts everything away.

He wants to go back to bed, but knows that he shouldn't, so he makes a cube for himself and heads back into the living room to go finish putting together his terminal. While he works, he takes a moment to look up the time in Iacon.

Then, he sends a private comm to Alpha Trion.

Good morning cycle, Alpha Trion. I hope that the last few day cycles since last we saw one another have been good for you.

As he suspected, Alpha Trion was awake, for his response comes back almost instantly.

Good morning cycle to you as well, Orion Pax. How has Kaon been treating you?

Oh, it's been great! It is so different from Iacon. As I told you, I've never left before, so this has been very enlightening to me with only the tiny bit of it that I have been able to experience. Ratchet went back to Iacon yesterday and I spent yesterday's cycle at the habsuite, no need to explain exactly why that was. but I am getting up the terminal so that I can get some work done.

That's fine. I have already forwarded everything I wanted you to look over. I had hoped that Ratchet would remain with you for a while longer. Kaon isn't exactly a safe place to travel. I know you wish to grow your understanding of the complexities of our people and our world, but I must express my displeasure of you being out there all alone.

As if Ratchet would have been adequate protection. Well, actually, he seemed to keep people away at the bar the other night. But even still, Ratchet had a life outside of Orion. The younger bot was certainly no bit, sparkling or youngling anymore. Hasn't been for a long time. Young, he may be, but not so young that he needs someone to babysit him. It seems like a lot of people seem to think he needs it though, strangely enough.

Then, in fairness, he did sleep with the first person that caught his optic - the only bot to ever really catch his optic - not so long after Ratchet left that first night. Although, that wasn't really anyone else's business. He knew that Alpha Trion would understand so long as he explained it, but he didn't want too just yet. He wanted to keep Megatronus to himself for now.

Thank you for worrying about me, but I promise that I'll be okay. I promised to keep contact with Ratchet and let him know if I need anything, so no worries.

Which was true. Ratchet ensured he made that promise many times.

That is good to hear, at the very least. I do hope that this journey is enlightening to you as you hope that it is. Know that whenever you are ready to, I eagerly await your return to the Great Hall.

Orion smiles, placing the last of his supplies onto the terminal, making sure it is all neat and orderly. Thank you, Alpha Trion. I will be back soon enough that you won't be able to miss me.

I certainly hope so.

Orion pauses, still smiling. He shutters his optics to take a moment to be thankful for all the people that care about him. And he has been so fortunate to have such wonderful people care for him.

His sire, who took care of him and his carrier. Ratchet, who was a far greater friend and companion than Orion ever could have asked for. Who has no reason to care for him yet does. And Alpha Trion. A mech who was so far beyond Orion's station that the blue and red mech never thought they would ever meet in a thousand years has become a mentor to him. Who met him on those docks at the end of Orion's shift and saw something more in him than a simple dock worker.

Even now he doesn't know what the great Alpha Trion, Keeper of Ancient Knowledge, would have seen in him, but he is thankful. Not only to be acknowledged, but also to be given the great honor of acting as his apprentice.

Well, Alpha Trion says that he is an apprentice, but Orion doesn't think so. He can't be such a great mech's apprentice until he knows more. Until he is better at the job that he's been offered, he shouldn't be given such a prestigious position. He needed to learn more; he needed to understand more before he was willing to accept such an incredible and prolific position.

"Your spark is noble, Orion Pax," Alpha Trion had said, a rare smile on his face. "I am most pleased to see it."

The rest of the day was spent going through his work portal to get everything that Alpha Trion wanted of him done. He made sure to make any notes that needed addressing was sent before the end of the workday cycle before he severed connection to the Hall and shutting down his terminal. He leans back in his seat, arms stretched over his head as he tenses his body. Creaks and pops work their way up and down his frame. Pistons hiss as everything settles back into place.

He looks up at the ceiling of his hab, finally letting his mental barriers fall down.

"I'm sorry."

Instantaneously, he feels the presence enter his mind, washing over it, pulling at the threads of new memories, plucking them apart, absorbing them and assimilating them into the rest. It's what Orion wanted, even if it always felt a little weird when it happened. But it was what he wanted. He wanted to always remember.

"Do not be sorry, Orion Pax."

Orion smiles. "I'm sorry, my friend. I just wanted to experience a bit without you in my processor."

"Am I annoying you, Orion? I try not to hinder you. There is simply so much to observe. And this is all new."

"I know. I'm sorry." And he is. He hadn't meant it maliciously. His friend had agreed with Ravage and had tried to persuade him not to go to Kaon. Everything that Ravage had said made sense to him. Orion just didn't want to feel like he was being pressured out of his choice. He wanted to do this, he wanted to know more, but all of the people in his life that love him didn't want him to.

Maybe that's saying something, but it doesn't feel bad. Besides, if he didn't come here - had he not been in that bar two night cycles ago - he wouldn't have met Megatronus when he did. And if he never left Iacon, maybe he never would have at all. Orion doesn't know a whole lot about being a gladiator - admittedly nothing at all - but Megatronus made it seem like he had little freedoms, whatever that means.

And Orion doesn't want to think about not having met Megatronus.

"Do you see him?" Orion asks softly. "The mech I interfaced with?"

"I do. You have never exhibited this behavior before." No judgement. Just curiosity. "You seem to be infatuated by this mech."

Orion flushes, leaning forward and moving to his pedes. He raises his arms over his helm again, stretching his protoform as much as he can before relaxing again. He makes his way back into the kitchen, his habsuite is darkened over the course of the day - not that Kaon gets all that much light anyway - but not he has to squint to be able to see. Flipping on the light he moves to make himself some energon before spot cleaning any mess that was made and sitting down at his table, looking out over the dark window above his sink.

"I do really like him," Orion finally admits, sipping his energon. "It hasn't been all that long, but I feel so connected to him." A pause, then, "Have you ever heard of something like what I experienced?"

"No. Not from any of my records, but most of the time before is lost. My records are incomplete. Only a Prime may access the greater archives."

Orion lets out a little sigh. "You should have been connected to Sentinel Prime. At least he would be able to help you remember. He would be able to grant you full access to your systems." His optics shutter closed.

"I do not want Sentinel Prime," his friend says evenly. "I want Orion Pax."

Orion can't help smiling to himself. He sips at his energon for a few moments as his friend sifts through all of his memories from the last few cycles, imprinting all of them into his archives for storage. Ever since Orion was little, he has had his friend save his memories.

Feeling nostalgic, Orion quietly asks, "Can you show him to me?"

His friend's consciousness brushes against his own. "Yes."

Orion closes his optics and feels the pull.

The dock worker turned data clerk is back in his childhood habsuite. He is standing in the living room and it's exactly as he remembers it to be. The same furniture, the same memerobila. Holophotos of many stages of Orion's life as he grew up all around the room. Most with Ravage, the feisty feline never happy to take a picture but would never deny his Carrier a thing.

It's warm here. Comfortable and worn in. The stain on the wall below on of the windows where the acid rain managed to seep in. The sounds of traffic just outside the confines of the four walls, down in the lower district of Iacon. Orion can even look out of the window to see the great pillars just out of view, swallowed up by the multi-level hab complex the next street over.

This was before the fire. That horrible fire that consumed most of the lower district before the enforcers and rescue brigade were able to stop it. So many innocent bots lost their lives. Most of which were some of Orion's neighbors. Now they live on here, in his memory of them. Perfect recall, even as the actual memories in his head warp and age with time.

"There you are, Starlight."

Orion's spark clenches, like it always does. Because that was him. He was starlight. The Orion constellation that can be found in Cybertron's sky. Two beautiful bright blue stars, just like his optics, according to his carrier.

He turns to look at his carrier standing in the doorway to the kitchen, smiling warmly at him. His beautiful carrier, large and strong, a truckformer, like Orion. Shades of blue and purple with a red band around each arm. And violet optics. One of the easiest ways to identify a Cassette Carrier. Not all have the violet eyes, but most do. And some, for some reason, have them but aren't compatible as Cassette Carriers. No one really knows why. But like cassettes themselves, Carriers are rare too. Rarer than even cassettes seeing as they can care for many cassettes, but the cassettes can only be with one Carrier at a time.

His voice is soft compared to the size of his body, even now by approximation, he stands to be taller than Orion. He was able to combine with Ravage, and the feline is definitely large for a cassette.

"Built for an age when transformers were larger," Ravage had said simply, turning away.

Orion's carrier was just large enough. Any smaller and he simply wouldn't be able to combine with him. Not that it would matter much, so long as he was able to form the bond with Ravage, they would be linked.

"Hello, carrier," Orion murmurs, moving over to his carrier and wrapping his arms around him. His carrier's field is sharp and heavy, filled with love and adoration for his creation. Just as Orion is for his carrier.

"Hello, Starlight," his carrier says softly, pressing a kiss to his forehelm, not noticing the difference in height. Orion inherited much from his carrier, including the finials at the sides of his head. Unlike Orion's, which were smaller and smoother, his carrier's are long and elegant, sharp to a point. They twist a bit as his carrier smiles sweetly down at him. "I hope you had a good day today."

"I did," Orion murmurs, breathing him in. He smelled like the ocean - he always did, as a dock worker. And the way that he just wrapped Orion was just perfect. If Orion could, he would stay here forever. He lets out a sigh, just holding his carrier tightly, and his carrier doesn't let him go either. Finally, after what felt like vorn but would never be long enough, he says softly, "I miss you, carrier."

"Oh, Starlight," his carrier says softly, kissing the top of his head again. "What do I always tell you?"

Orion doesn't answer. His intake feels swollen shut. It takes a moment, but finally his carrier pulls back just enough to stare down at him with those beautiful violet optics that Orion missed so much. His finials twitch a bit, and Orion feels his own little ones mimic the action as much as they could, but they weren't as nimble.

His carrier smiles. It's soft and gentle, just like his carrier. "Orion...?"

"I know, carrier," Orion says softly, fluttering his optics a bit to keep lubrication from building up. "I know what you always say. I just want you to say it."

Beholden to his will, the memory of his carrier leans down so that they are nearly optic-to-optic and softly remind him, unnecessarily, "No matter what, I am always with you."

Lubrication threatens to drown his optics, as it aways does when his carrier says that to him. Something so true, yet his carrier had no way of knowing that one cycle - far too soon - he would be gone, and those words would ring truer than he could ever know.

"I love you, carrier," Orion rasps, choked up.

His carrier's expression doesn't shift from gentle fondness. It hardly ever did. "And I love you, my sweet starlight."

Orion takes a moment to just feel the love and affection, his carrier's warm and adoring fields wrapping around him. Even his memory of it is so sharp that it hurts. He just lets himself feel it in its realistic intensity, before whispering softly, "Okay, Teletraan. Let me go."

Teletraan's voice cuts in softly from the world around them, peeling away the layers like a knife, "Okay, Orion." And Orion is released.

Orion onlines his optics to see that it is pitch black outside. His chromometer alerting him he should have gone into recharge a while ago. His processor is aching at the back - the usual place when he's connected too emotionally to one of Teletraan's simulations based on Orion's memories.

He's not sure what it is, but he just puts his helm in his servos and starts to cry. Carrying that love and affection into his real life, where his carrier is offlined, where his sire is off doing who-knows-what. His best friend is impossibly far away, and from his own choice, Orion has isolated himself in a place that is unfamiliar to him. And this habsuite is hardly even a shadow of the habsuites he once knew, both of his childhood and when it was just him and his sire after his carrier perished.

This place suddenly felt cold and empty.

"Orion," Teletraan says, voice emoted just enough to be recognized with concern. "I thought that I gave you what you wanted. Have I done something wrong that has hurt you?"

"No, Teletraan," Orion says softly, wiping roughly at his face, trying to compose himself. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's just..." He wasn't sure he knew how to say it in a way his friend would understand.

"How may I improve my performance?" Teletraan asks.

Orion's smile is wane and falls away a moment later. "There isn't anything to improve on, Teletraan. It was perfect. Better than I remembered. It's just hard because... because he's not here."

"Correct. But my rendition of him is nearly completely identical. Based on all your memories of him, and of my own observations of behavior and characteristics, aside from the limited factor of organic unpredictability, it is as close to your carrier as it can be without being him."

Orion stands up, pushing in his chair, finishing off his luke-warm energon, before heading to his berth to recharge, shutting everything off along the way. He barely remembers to lock the front door to his habsuite before going into his room - a horrible habit he has yet to break. It's been unlocked since Megatronus left that morning.

"I know," Orion finally sighs. Despite the pain in his spark his eyes have stop lubricating, which he's thankful for. "But it's not the same as it being him. Thank you for doing that for me though. I don't know why I'm getting so emotional now. Maybe you did better this time than any of the other times before?"

Teletraan doesn't respond. He does wash across Orion's processor, circling around his feelings of forlorn. He's picking it apart, studying it closely and Orion lets him as he crawls into his berth, exhausted both emotionally and mentally.

"Good night cycle, Teletraan," Orion murmurs, burying his nose into a spot that smells like Megatronus, feeling some of the tension bleed from him.

"Good night cycle, Orion," Teletraan responds, plucking lightly now at the soft feelings that bubbled up from Orion's thoughts of Megatronus. The red and blue mech is almost completely in recharge when Teletraan asks, "Are you sure I can't reposition the Ark over Kaon?"

"Is there any interference between our connection?" Orion asks softly, barely more than a mumble.

"No," Teletraan admits. "But I would like to be stationed overhead in case you need me."

"I won't need the power of the Ark over my head," Orion reminds him. "Keep it over Iacon, just like it has been..."

Teletraan waits a beat, then agrees. "Keeping the Ark tidally locked over Iacon."

"Thank you..." Orion slips off into recharge, not wanting to even think about the uproar that could occur if the massive derelict were to move from the position that it's been sitting over Iacon since the day he emerged.