red_diode_district | Everybody learns from *somebody*

Everybody learns from somebody

Passing the doors into the library, Megatron was pleased he had gotten the schedule correct as he saw who was sitting at the desk. If it had been completely necessary due to his own schedule, he'd have come here when he could. But since he didn't have to...

Ignoring the faint itch interfacing hadn't properly gotten rid off, Megatron approached the librarian at a lazy, casual walk. It was a pity he hadn't seen any signs at all that the surprisingly fine-lined truck-alted mech had the inclination he was looking for. Things would have been a lot easier (and, really, pleasing) if he had.

As it was, since there was no one left in the current arena circuit that he trusted with what he had to hand over, perhaps he would have to avail himself of one of the clubs. It made an irritable twitch slither down the treads on his shoulders, the thought that he'd have to do that.

It was ages since he'd had to go to an open venue like that to simply get his needs properly taken care of.

And he really would have preferred the librarian. Orion Pax - it hadn't taken anything to find out the designation when to found the schedule - was witty, somehow diplomatically argumentative and didn't give in if he knew he was right or wanted to stand for his opinion, actually had some smarts to go with said use of words and Megatron wanted to know more.

More, and more personally (most of the earlier he'd simply learned over the few times he'd been in the library when the mech was, but hadn't actually approached him). So this time, he decided to actually use the librarian's assistance in what he was looking for... and perhaps get something more out of it.

"Excuse me?"

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"You might just feel more... comfortable, if you let me do it." The gladiator's vocaliser wavered on empty static for a moment before he shrugged, clearly not about to stop Orion from going to Megatron's room.

::Orion.:: There was a tense sort of softness in Megatron's voice even over the comm, and privately he swore for having been unable to kick his unwelcome "visitor" out soon enough. ::I apologise for the delay. I should be out briefly.::

Which might or might not be a lie at the moment, despite his burgeoning annoyance; Maul knew how to push his buttons, after all.

::Megatron, are you...alright?:: Orion tensed in the hall, palm against the gladiator's marked door.

He frowned, wondering if he should take up the unknown mech on his offer to stall for time, only to start back a step when the door opened automatically; it obviously hadn't been locked, at least.

Curious but wary, he stuck his head inside.

::... Yes, I'm fine.:: There was a momentary hesitation right before he replied, which was annoying; normally need have been able to state with no hesitation that he was all right, but at this moment... well, Orion was worth a truthful reply, wasn't he?

Which well, Yes, but Megatron wasn't going to give it to him. Not precisely anyway, because he was hardly in danger or injured.

"For the last time, get out." Despite the way it was worded, it wasn't really a demand. Megatron, Orion would find, was down on the floor, kneeling while a large black and red mech with a curiously asymmetrical helm stood over him, one hand around the smaller of the two shoulder cannons.

"I have... prior engagements, and I hardly need your assistance---" Annoyance was thick in Megatron's voice, even as the pitch itself was soft, and he broke off when the mech squeezed the barrel.

"Don't lie to me. You haven't taken care of yourself so clearly you do." The warning rumble was surprisingly deep, even for a mech of his size, and while Megatron's optics narrowed, he stayed where he was, hands neatly folded on top of his knees.

"That is my decision, Maul." He might have said more, Maul's name little more than a grunt, but his chin was yanked up, and that, instead of fanning his building ire seemed to bank it, and the glow from his optics went soft.

Immediately, Orion didn't know what he'd managed to walk in on, and for a long moment he could only stare.

Megatron's posture was calm, and it was clear there was no physical violence being done...but his words and this Maul's demeanor spoke of something completely opposite.

The librarian's first, panicked thought was some sort of blackmail. Perhaps a higher ranked gladiator or arena official, one that Megatron dared not fight back against? That didn't seem to fit with what he knew about Megatron at all, but there it was, right in front of him...

It made him angry. Both his assumptions, and the...the proprietary way Maul gripped Megatron's helm. It made his own, comparatively light armor bristle. Without thought to the fact that the mech could probably rip in him two, Orion stepped inside.

"I believe he was clear enough. He wants you to leave." Arms crossed over his chestplates, Orion somehow managed to glare down his nose at the larger mech, field tense and bristling around him.

The sudden flare of Orion's agitation, words and field both, rattled Megatron out of the softer compliance Maul had dragged up, but only so far as to register three firm demand in those words and he knew he needed to get his wits back.

"... Well, isn't that cute," Maul said, laughingly shaking his helm and a sneer chasing the end of it. "Never thought you'd try the other side, but he's a bit uppity, isn't he? I could fix that for you." Maul's voice dropped deep and deceptively soft, though not at all in the same way Megatron's had been, addressing the last to Orion himself.

As Maul dropped his chin and advanced on Orion, Megatron slowly shook his helm and knew he had to get up and get Maul out before things went too far. This was a complication he didn't need, especially not this soon.

Edited 2013-08-15 22:06 (UTC)

The sudden change in tone only made Orion bristle more, in field and armor both.

::Are you hurt? You seem dazed?:: Orion commed privately, optics flicking away from his sudden adversary only briefly, giving Megatron a concerned glance before blue optics turned frigid.

"I think you are missing the point. Megatron clearly wants you to leave - and I can certainly see why, at this point." He raised a brow ridge at the large mech, suddenly quite sure that it would be a bad idea to show any sort of weakness in front of Maul; not that it would do him any good in a fight, but...

He still straightened his spine, frame and field taking on a far more assertive, dominant stance.

::He wouldn't be able to touch me if that's what he wanted.:: A bit of the familiar sharpness bled back into Megatron's tone at the implication of injury, even if he had to take a few measured vent cycles to attempt to stand up.

::So no, I'm... fine.:: Not answering Orion's full question wasn't possible at the moment, but Megatron paused half-way standing when Orion's field flared again, and if the librarian only knew what he was doing...

Maul, of course, saw Megatron's reaction and Orion's response to his threat, and it hadn't at all been what he'd expected. He was left both incredulous and... frustrated (not jealous) at what he was seeing.

"Oh, you can, can you?" sneering, Maul got closer but he stopped a rather respectable distance away. Of course , he was tall enough to loom either way, and his crackling, expansive field tested the resolution of Orion's with careful, aggressive little jabs.

"I suggest you stop before you learn more than you'd ever imagined... And stop butting in where you don't belong." Maul growled and stomped closer, pausing momentarily by Orion just as megaton got to his feet fully again.

"You wouldn't know what to do with him even if you had some insight, and he requires a pretty firm hand." Maul snarled the last quietly into Orion's audial before he stormed out, the for closing behind him.

Edited 2013-08-15 22:48 (UTC)

Orion was really, really glad he had not backed down, even when Maul approached with the apparently violent intent. But it wasn't a physical violence, and he was shocked to feel that testing, aggressive field battering at his own. He pushed back, field resolute and bristling, and Orion was relieved when the abrasive mech left only moments later with only a parting verbal jab.

What even...?

Orion waited only until Maul was out of the room and out of sight, before stepping to Megatron's side, offering him a hand up.

"...I still have no idea what that was all about, and I would really appreciate a clarification, but are you sure you're alright?"

He didn't need Orion this close, because he wasn't sure he'd be able to hide the heat from the charge cracking over his circuits, or his engine running in a different pitch than normal idling.

"Yes, thank you, I'm fine, Orion." Despite the snappy tone, Megatron took the offered hand automatically to lever himself upright the last bit needed.

Scrubbing his faceplate, Megatron paced for a moment or two, rerouting his excess arousal charge into joints even if that made them ache before he looked up and down a Orion again.

"If you want, I can explain, but do you want it now or later? Because he was right, you know. You may end up knowing more than you want." Megatron finally stopped, clasping his hands behind his back, optics dim and serious.

Frown deepening, Orion watched Megatron pace. Irritation mounting, he still managed to restrain it enough to step back to Megatron's side, resting a hand on his arm.

"Perhaps I will, but I would like to at least know what that mech was doing. Was he...blackmailing your or something equally sinister? I'm afraid I'm at something of a loss and in the middle of something I don't understand, so I am sure you can my vexation."

For a moment, Megatron stared, managing to not laugh merely because he could see how it would look like what Orion had interpreted it as.

"No. No, he wasn't doing anything close to that." A chuckle still slipped through before he straightened up and very deliberately met Orion's optics.

Good.

"Maul thought he could... pressure me into an arrangement we had and which I had broken off earlier because we ended up not compatible." He hadn't been injured, no, but Maul certainly had tried to do something unpleasant.

Which he would normally not tell Orion, but he'd been right there, and we'll... Megatron could still remember the way his field had expanded--- his engine revved and he coughed.

"Arrangement?" Orion asked, before shaking his head as a sudden, unexpectedly unpleasant thought occurred. He could readily remember the way Maul had tilted Megatron's helm. At the time, it had seemed terribly sinister, but perhaps...

A relationship? Orion was privately surprised at how distressing the idea was.

"...Oh. Er. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, of course. But. Well," he sighed, giving Megatron a tired glance.

"Given some of his insinuations, I'm at a loss. But...I can wait until we are done here, if you still want to clarify further?" He managed a hopeful smile, not moving his hand away from Megatron's arm.

Megatron's answering expression to that tired glance was a rather dry, nearly grim, smile as he reached out to squeeze Orion's shoulder.

"The question, Orion, isn't whether I want to or not, because I wouldn't mind telling you. It's whether you'd want want to know." He tilted his helm, an arch look on his faceplates and briefly brushed his hand over the one Orion had on his arm before he stepped away.

"But either way I wouldn't want to have that discussion here. Somewhere you feel comfortable would be better." If it wasn't Orion and Megatron didn't care, he'd have told him then and there, but as he did...

Edited 2013-08-16 01:29 (UTC)

"I would." Orion nodded with a tentative smile, hoping to dispel the previous tension as he squeezed Megatron's arm in turn.

"But as long as neither of us are in any immediate danger, I think it can wait long enough for you to show me around?"

He gestured out toward the room and the hallway beyond expectantly.

Megatron was rather sure that when he'd explained, Orion would end up rather not knowing, but that was then... And then he chucked as he walked up to the door and paused in the doorway to hold it up.

"Danger, Orion? Do you think so little of me, that I wouldn't be able to defend myself if necessary?" Dry and gently ribbing, because he was rather sure he knew why Orion would come to that possible conclusion from his and Maul's... interaction.

He suppressed an annoyed grunt and swept his hand out toward the corridor outside.

"But yes, let us finish this before we discuss more heavier matters."

Edited 2013-08-16 01:57 (UTC)

"And how was I to know if this Maul was not holding some sort of rank or authority over you?" Orion grumbled goodnaturedly, quickly stepping back up to Megatron's side and following him out the door.

"I am, however, quite sure of your rather formidable ability to defend yourself from physical threats."

"Ah, true," Megatron said, amused and quietly impressed he'd even though of that, more because of how sheltered Orion was in general than anything else.

"That would indeed have been gross abuse of authority and very unprofessional behaviour if that was the case." Nodding, he led them outside and gestured down the corridor. "Nothing too interesting here, but all the gladiators in this corridor are highly ranked enough there's private washracks attached. Repair basis are all found clustered around the corridors into the attends, for safety's sake."

"Well it certainly seemed like an inappropriate something, given how he disregarded your opinions," Orion huffed quietly, before letting the subject drop. They were in the public halls now, and Orion could tell that is would likely be a sensitive topic.

...Though that still didn't explain the other gladiator's reactions before he had entered Megatron's quarters. He resolved to get that cleared up with Megatron as well before they were done.

"That sounds reasonable." He glanced down toward the medbays, giving the other gladiators passing by a sidelong stare as they went.

Megatron grunted, but wasn't about to go further into it than that; he didn't mind discussing it in general, but that was a bit too personal.

And well, Orion was correct. That tendency to not respect his decisions and limits was why he'd put his foot down, no matter how good a dom Maul had been.

"There's a mess hall down that way, which is included like the rooms, no matter your rank," said Megatron as they walked, tipping his helm down a corridor they passed by. The gladiators around gave Orion frank, flat stares or more arched one, though some seemed to look the two of them over with more intent than the others, seemingly judging or openly surprised.

"If there's anything you're curious about, feel free to all," Megatron said with a shrug.

Orion was terribly curious about the open stares and odd looks, but quietly delegated it to the later conversation they would surely have.

"I admit, it seems...surprisingly comfortable down here. It's not what I was expecting," Orion confessed wryly. Not that the lurking gladiators made it comfortable, but still. It was surprisingly organized and not what the rumors and stories made it out to be.

"You have a room down here and everything; is this your 'home' arena, so to speak?"

Megatron laughed softly at that, shaking his helm and leading them down another set of corridor.

"Whole some arenas are worse than others, they all have the same amenities; at least one in every city-state is required to for the sake of the state games." He waved a hand nonchalantly in the air as they stepped out on a walkway above a large, open room, set up as a training hall.

"Training area, and large arenas like this usually have more than one," Megatron said as he nodded to some of the mechs who looked up at them.

"And no, it's not. I'm from Kaon, and that is technically my attend still as I'm still a citizen of that city-state. I'm here on a type of sponsorship, however." Megatron's expression turned sharply and cynically amused. "It's a simple was of gaining standing for the arena the city-state you belong to, by 'borrowing' high ranking gladiators from other arenas.

"Oh. Well that is good to know." Orion said, relieved that gladiators like Megatron had some sort of guaranteed amenities.

"Ah yes, you've mentioned Kaon before, of course."

His grin turned a bit sly and he leaned up on his struts teasingly. "Someone I met in the audience mentioned something about you being a multi-time champion of various state games. Among other things."

"That is why quite a few attempt or do become gladiators; guaranteed amenities even if they can sometimes be rather worn and run-down." Not that all made it as gladiators, but a steady supply of energon and a place to recharge plus a small but chance to be larger pay made the injuries seem worth it.

Giving Orion a dry look, Megatron nodded.

"Indeed I am, otherwise I wouldn't be here... 'Other things', however?" He tilted his helm down at Orion, the upper edge of an optic arched. Not that he thought it possible Orion had picked up on his... Personal preferences or something, otherwise his reaction regarding Maul and what he'd been doing would have been different and not quite as... naïve.

That did leave the question of what those 'other things' were however.

"It sounds like it could really be beneficial to some," Orion conceded, despite his dislike for the fighting itself. War-mechs without duties were the largest caste of Cybertron facing hard times and government downsizing, given the lack of ongoing warfare. Despite the brutality inherent to the arena, the librarian certainly wouldn't begrudge the poor mechs a source of room and board.

Orion chuckled at Megatron's look, not bothering to hide his wry smile as the tone abruptly shifted.

"Oh, this and that. Something about an 'honor greeting'?" The smaller mech gave Megatron an amused stare.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if the mech was simply winding me up, but he did seem to know that I was invited here, simply based on where I was sitting."

At least none of the matches were to the death, except in the few cases and city-states where criminals got such a punishment.

Megatron gave Orion a dryly amused stare at his chuckle, waiting for some sort of explanation, and when it came his smile turned more genuine.

"Ah, yes, that. An honour greeting is exactly that, partying respect to a particular individual... It can be fine for your opponent, someone important presiding over the attends, or chosen members of the audience, for... various reasons." Megaton shrugged, giving Orion a side-long glance as he leaned against the railing of the walkway.

Did he want to go too deep into that..? Well, it would give a chance to introduce some possibilities to Orion, perhaps.

"Usually, but not always, it would be given to family members, or love interests... And as for him knowing, you're quite obviously not used to visiting an arena, and yes. The seat you got are one of the ones held reserved for those thus invited." Starting down at the floor beneath them, Megatron changed subject nonchalantly, not lingering on the question of who might get an honour greeting or not.

He would not push, regardless of if anything might lead to what he might need our not. For now he could do with merely being allowed closer.

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