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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After Megatron left, Orion wasted little time. How could he, after a bombshell of that magnitude?

Jumping on the grid from his home terminal, Orion drove helm-first into further research...

And immediately regretted it.

Given his ability to find the most obscure, forgotten references, Orion had not realized that the topic of his search...might not be that obscure at all. It certainly wasn't advertized like the more 'normal' forms of interface indulgence, but even to Orion's untrained optic, he was able to realize that he had come across an entire subculture hidden in plain sight.

One that made him very, very uncomfortable, in a multitude of ways. Not all of them good. He quickly learned to shy away from the more 'extreme' variations of the concept, deeply uncomfortable with what seemed like nothing more than a glorified form of abuse.

In addition, there were too many rules and variants of the rules and different rules entirely for depending on preference- and then there were times when breaking the rules was allowed only not...

That reminded him of Maul, only some individuals seemed infinitely worse.

Vents heaving with warring embarrassment, confusion, aroused charge, and disgust, Orion retreated from his search and resolved to wait for Megatron's promised...er. 'Learning aid'. At least then he would have a better idea of what Megatron wanted out of this, frag the other variations.

He fussed with his apartment for a while, cleaning; disgust tainting his charge too much for him to feel comfortable with spending the time 'dealing with it' instead.

Thankfully, it didn't take long, the file arriving when Orion assumed Megatron finished with his meeting. Apprehensive, Orion resettled down with a cube to watch what seemed to be a simple bit of holoporn.

And it was. But given what he had just seen on the Cybernet, Orion found himself deeply relieved.

...Uncomfortably aroused, but relieved.

The two mechs involved - and Orion couldn't help but notice the more submissive mech's superficial resemblance to Megatron - both seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, even when their amateur actor personae slipped. It wasn't cruel. The smaller, dominate mech didn't degrade the other even as he took command, much to Orion's infinite relief (and private arousal.) It could, in fact, be quite affectionate, as the little racer-mech polished his kneeling, tank-framed partner to a gleaming shine and repeated overloads.

By the time the holofile cut off, Orion had finally given in to his own charge and experienced one of the more satisfying overloads he could ever recall. A fact that ended up disturbing him more after he had the time to sleep off the resulting lethargy.

Orion was still embarrassed by his reaction two days later, walking outside the library to meet up with Megatron again for the first time since the incident. He had no idea what he was supposed to say after that.

It might relieve Orion (or not) to know that Megatron wasn't overly confident in how to tackle this either; he'd never actually been in the position of introducing someone to the... scene. He'd been sat down after accidentally interrupting what ended up being his first dominant and his submissive's "play time", and then basically got a crash-course.

Effective, but a sort of molten-steel bath method that wouldn't fit everybody.

He wasn't even sure he'd chosen the right method for Orion, but he hadn't had much choice after the poor mech walked in on the... situation... with Maul.

So, while waiting for Orion to come out, Megatron stood leaned against the wall, optics off, faceplates tilted up against the sunlight and simply... soaked in the heat.

He'd already decided where they'd go first, which, while it wasn't a private home would still have a private space to retreat to, if it... went that way. Not that he planned anything serious, and it might be better to put any particular hands-on 'demonstration and participation' for later, but the possibility was there if there was need.

It took Orion a few minutes to spot the relaxing tankmech, and he experienced a sudden surge of conflicting emotions at the sight. He was relieved that Megatron actually showed up; for a moment, he had been afraid he had been stood up. Of course, actually seeing Megatron again reignited his embarrassment ten-fold...in addition to causing a rush of completely inappropriate images from his search to rush through his processor.

He balked, and for a instant considered going right back inside the library.

But he was a stubborn mech, and Orion refused to run away like that. Steeling himself, the librarian approached, pinging Megatron politely in the off-chance the mech was actually dozing.

He wasn't dozing, no, but the ping was helpful anyway as he'd put Orion in the slot where he didn't automatically snap to full awareness due to possible threat. Optics turning on with a flicker, Megatron pushed away from the wall and turned towards Orion with a lopsided little grin.

"Orion." He was pretty sure the poor mech was rather embarrassed which... well. He could understand. Once again Megatron felt vaguely guilty over his probably lacking explanation and the way he'd handled the whole thing two days ago.

In fact...

Letting out the exvent he'd been holding, the warm air pushing against the closed valves, Megatron grimaced.

"I... er. Aplogise. I realise... I might not have handled the explanation in the best way."

That hadn't been easy, as Megatron's avoidant gaze and erratically flickering but tight against his chassis EM field testified to, before he snapped it out again.

Better to get it out of the way.

Venting a overheated sigh, Orion nodded through his embarrassment.

"Megatron. It's alright, really. The situation was...unusual. It's reasonable that the explanation would have to be as well." He chuckled a bit, awkward as he looked away briefly.

"The. Ah. File you set was a greater help, honestly."

He shouldn't smirk. He should. not. smirk.

Somehow, he managed to not do it, and instead just nodded, optics flaring a little in his efforts to supress his pleased amusement. Pleased or not, it wouldn't do to let Orion think he was making fun of him - which he wasn't, merely pleased it had been of use.

... And maybe had some additional reaction, if he was reading that little glance away correctly. Of course, it might just be pure embarrassment over even obliquely discussing porn with the one who sent it over, positive reaction or no.

"Excellent. But, ah. Let's have that discussion elsewhere, why don't we? I know a place reasonably close." Megatron pointed across the plaza the library faced for the direction they needed to get where he wanted to go.

It was a nice little place that had some offerings of reasonable privacy... and some really nice oil cakes, various metal flake crunchies, energon goodies and a selection of sweetened energon drinks.

Orion raised an optic ridge, temperature increasing a few more degrees at that optic flare. He was anticipating laughter, honestly. Which would have made this even more difficult.

He appreciated Megatron's restraint.

"...That sounds like a good idea." Orion managed a smile, nodding in agreement.

"Lead the way."

A tiny grin wormed itself free at Orion's raised optic ridge, but that was all, and Megatron turned the way he'd pointed and started to walk, sweeping out an arm to tug Orion with him before he let go

"It's not far. Just tucked away from the main thoroughfares from the plaza." He'd been surprised the first time he'd been led there, because it was surprisingly centralised and yet you almost had to know where it was.

They crossed the bright, busy plaza and went down one of the strees diagonally from the library, then turned in on a smaller side street, which, by its layout was clearly only for walking and not altmodes.

The café was mostly visible from the small collection of tables outside, where a femme couple sat at one table and a mech and a femme at another.

"Here we are. I think you'll like their energon goodies," Megatron said with a smile and opened the door, letting Orion walk in first and then followed him. And...

Stopped.

The interior was familiar, half-hidden booths tucked away along the walls with the circular counter in the middle and another doorway on the opposite end of the room opposite of the entrance. It'd been a while since he'd been here and even as he felt the cables in his shoulders unwind and let go of some tension, he realised he needed to move.

Orion would not be doing anything, and he needed to go up to the counter.

Which... Wasn't usually an issue. It was just that this was one of the few nominally public spaces where he knew he could and was used to letting someone else take charge, and he'd never gone here alone.

Field nearly twitching, Megatron grimaced and felt rather ridiculous.

Orion allowed himself to be tugged along, shaking his head with a laugh at Megatron's apparent excitement.

"This place is so close- I can't believe I've never noticed it before," Orion wondered out loud as he stepped inside. It took him a moment to notice that Megatron had stopped following him, and he turned back, concerned.

"...Are you alright?"

He reached out, placing a hand on Megatron's forearm.

He just needed to---

"... Yes." Visibly twitching and armour rearranging itself, Megatron nodded and managed a smile and a nod at Orion. "Yes, I am. A moment." Because while it wouldn't take more than that to go up to the counter and get a booth, he also needed a moment to collect himself.

Field settling and expanding outwards again, though not nearly at the size it usually was in public - even inside buildings, Megatron didn't really pull his field tighter, polite or no. In here, however, if Orion paid attention, he'd notice there was a difference...

With a shake of his helm, Megatron passed Orion and walked up to the counter, and then shortly after came back and gestured to a booth on the opposite end of the room, near an open archway that led further into the building.

"Over there. They'll be over with the menues after we've sat down." Normally, at least after the first visit or so, the orders were usually taken at the counter, but that wouldn't really work here - Megatron wouldn't presume to order Orion's whole meal for him.

Not in here, certainly, but also not when they were out together, as it was quite a different thing to offer Orion a pick-me-up or refuelling when he knew what the mech liked and brought it to the library.

Odd. Orion frowned, but moved his hand after only another moment.

"...Alright."

His own field twitching under his plating at the irregularities in Megatron's, Orion nonetheless made his way over to the indicated booth. He waited until Megatron sat down as well, not entirely hiding his confused concern with glances around at the decor.

"...So. Have you been here often?"

Edited 2013-09-01 08:18 (UTC)

He tried adjusting his field back when he noticed Orion's twitching one, but he wasn't precisely successful and gave up with a slight frown. He didn't want to admit to it, but apparently he was just... too used to it.

It'd be something to explain if Orion asked.

"Quite often, yes. It's... friendly to lifestyle, so to speak, without being obvious about it." That seemed to be the simplest way to phrase it, smirking a little and getting his equilibrium back, regardless of having to do things here than what he was different to.

"If you push the button on the edge of the table, the menus will be displayed." It was an explanation he made without thinking, but really, he could have done it himself as that button would activate the menu display for however many were sitting at the table.

Maybe they should have gone somewhere else, but at the same time he didn't feel it polite to have sensitive discussions in Orion's apartment, if only because of associations, and this place was a good one.

It was just that... he should probably have made an effort to find a place with similar privacy settings on offer, because he was giving Orion more than he'd asked for. More than he knew how to ask for, and was probably not comfortable with, yet or at all, to want to ask for it, and it was thus not... right to give Orion those little bits of power.

Megatron resisted the urge to growl and rub his faceplates.

"The lifestyle?" Orion repeated, voice dropping despite Megatron's claim. His gaze briefly flicked to the side, more closely examining the other diners despite his best efforts at remaining polite. He still didn't know what to expect...

Biting his lip, Orion turned his attention to the menu instead. At least that was normal fare, and remembering Megatron's recommendation he quickly decided on the energon goodies.

"What sort of, ah, situation would this...involve?"

"There's also privacy barriers that'll make sure we aren't overheard, but I thought we'd wait with those until we have our orders," Megatron said, waving a hand towards the edge of their booth, where a set of small, unobtrusive devices were set into the metal.

It would, after all, be somewhat hard to get their orders if the privacy barrier was up.

Talking of orders, he actually had to decide on something. Annoyed, Megatron rubbed the side of his helm and, in a fit of exasperation at himself, chose one of the metal crunchies of a flavour he hadn't gotten at any point and a small, sweetened energon cube.

"You won't notice much of it in here, Orion." Megatron smiled, letting his amusement soothe his annoyance. The question was, did he actually want to explain... With a sigh, Megatron admitted that just avoiding Orion's question would be too obvious.

"Usually it would simply be the dominant getting a booth or table, if it's outside, and ordering for both."

"Sounds reasonable-" Orion started, quickly jabbing in his final selections in on the menu; adding a small oil cake and flavored cube. Then Orion jerked his optics back toward the table and huffed a vent several degrees hotter than before, embarrassed to have been caught looking.

"R-right." He coughed awkwardly, slowly shunting his embarrassment aside to properly mull over what Megatron actually told him.

"Just...ordering their food for them? That doesn't sound like it really needs a special venue at all. So long as the, er, person involved knows their partner's tastes..." He trailed off, uncertain. That seemed far too easy for all the fuss involved.

"That would usually be expected yes." Waving a hand in the air dismissively, Megatron pretended not to have noticed Orion's embarrassment. "And it's not necessarily needed, no, but the knowledge that no one will cause a scene if they see something they don't like, or if it does happen, that the managers will be on your side is worth quite a lot. The café is open to the public, after all."

Pausing, Megatron glanced up at the ceiling and smirked a little.

"Some do like to have their submissives kneel on the floor beside the table, sometimes, hand-feeding them. There was an incidence once when an unsuspecting... company had wandered in." He looked down again and eyed Orion before shrugging. "That's about as 'extreme' as you'd see in here, however."

"...O-oh." Orion murmured, wide-opticed.

"That's..." Entirely too pleasant a mental image. Unlike the vast majority of the things he had seen on the holonet, that was something that seemed...nice. At least, it didn't make him immedatiely uncomfortable, aside from the whole 'in public' thing.

"...not something I would think to do in public. But it isn't...unpleasant sounding." A cough, and Orion's audial nubs twitched back at the admittance.

"It's good that the managers would be on their side."

Well, that was... more of an admittance than what he'd expected at this stage, though even if Orion hadn't admitted to it, he'd picked up on his reactions. He shifted in his seat, folding his arms over his chestplates when he realised he ought to have locked the strength of the glow from the lughts - they were flickering a little.

Mostly because while Orion's admittance was certainly exciting, Megatron had, perhaps, some strange limits regarding what he felt comfortable with giving up and where he started to feel unfomfortable.

Being fed was one of those things, but that didn't mean it hadn't ever happened.

"Since they usually wouldn't be in other places, it simply allows people to relax in a way we couldn't otherwise," Megatron said with a shrug, waiting until their orders had come before reaching out and activating the privacy barrier and turning to actually address the rest.

"I suppose I should've expected you might find that attractive, if you would be interested at all in this sort of play." His voice was dry, but his expression was hardly unkind.

A bit amused, maybe.

"And considering that I ought to have given you some parameters to search for, I suspect you got quite an opticful if you're surprised there would be things that aren't 'unpleasant'." Megatron tilted his helm, giving Orion a bit of an arch look. Not that he had quite an idea what Orion would consider unpleasant, but he ought to have thought a little further given how Orion had been... introduced.

Orion thanked the waiter when their food arrived, heat-venting when the thin mech gave him a knowing, yet still professional look. He privately supposed that they had seen it all before, including ignorant mechs like himself who simply stumbled in to this 'lifestyle'.

And he wasn't even in it. Yet?

"Oh?" He twitched as Megatron continued. Expected it?

"...Well, yes. Probably. Some of the things I found were nearly enough to make me stop looking entirely." Orion sighed from behind his flavored cube, which did little to hide the grimace on his face.

They had, at that.

"Teaching isn't my strenght," Megatron said with an apologetic half-smile before he shook his helm. "But I ought to have done a better job." Picking up the metal flake cookie, Megatron turned it over in his hands for a moment, following the greenish-silver shifts in the metal as the light fell over it.

"Well." He then looked up, smirked a little and took a bite of the metal flake crunchie and waved his hand at Orion. "Merely your usual behaviour. I could be wrong, of course, but you don't seem the type to vastly change when in private, and you're a very... caring spark otherwise."

Respectful and careful of those around him, even those he'd only meet briefly... No, it didn't surprise Megatron that Orion would be the type to want to care for a partner.

"It's hardly your fault that I chose to indulge my curiosity without worrying about search filters," Orion snorted. He ducked his helm behind his cube at the compliment to his innate character, but he didn't attempt to deny it.

"I certainly wouldn't do the vast majority of what I saw. And you are, thankfully, correct: I am hardly one to change my entire personality matrix the moment I get in the berth."

Even talking about berth behavior was usually enough to completely embarrass the smaller mech, but given their line of questioning, 'normal' berth behavior was suddenly far less troublesome to discuss than usual.

"Perhaps not, but a warning might not have been misplaced." Another dryly amused smile and a shrug; at least Orion wasn't too upset.

He had to admit to being (amused and) impressed, however, that Orion had been able to say that without getting embarrassed again, considering how he'd reacted during this topic so far.

"As long as you think of yourself as well." He gave Orion a once-over, the setting briefly taking a back-seat to Megatron's more usual insistency of trying to push Orion to think of himself as well, and not being quite so accomodating as he was.

Of course, given the hints of steel he'd seen, at least he didn't need to start from nothing; it was more about teasing up what was there, just hidden.

"And the range is quite wide, yes, and no one would expect anyone to actually be involved in all of it, but no matter what it looks like, if it's done correctly, everyone has agreed to it and is enjoying it." The rest of the cookie disappeared and Megatron picked up his small cube but didn't drink from it.

"If you were worried about that."

Orion sighed in relief.

"That is certainly good to have confirmed, though I am aware enough now to realize that there seems to be an entire...range of various rules and habits involved in this. But yes, so long as everyone involved agrees to the...various additions, it's much more reassuring."

Think of himself? Orion snorted softly, assuming a mock-snooty air.

"Myself? While this entire situation is new to me, I normally try to make sure everyone involved is well 'cared for' in the berth, thank you very much. Myself included," he claimed with a chuckle. He even managed to keep the mildly embarrassed heat flush contained that time.

Even if Megatron might have noticed the flush if Orion hadn't kept it conatined, he was a little busy trying to keep his own reaction contained. Normally someone claiming to be respecting of their partners (and themselves) in the berth wasn't something that would cause of much any reaction, but the situation and the location...

Megatron had to shift in his seat and exert some manual control to keep his vent cycle steady and normal as a little rush of charge snapped through him, because Orion's comment brought a few images to mind.

He really should have found a better place.

"Good to know." Finally, he managed a dry chuckle and a tilt of his helm. His optics might be a little paler than usual, though, but Megatron wouldn't be in the position to know. "And yes, there's quite a few variations... Sometimes it might take a while to find out what one likes and don't, and how far one's ready to go."

Megatron paused, considering... yes, he'd need to ask, at least before they left here. Soon, then.

Orion blinked, resetting his optics in amused surprise at Megatron's unexpected and rather telling shift.

Well. The larger mech had been forgiving of his own embarrassment so far. Muffling a chuckle on the side of his cube, he dropped his gaze down to the food as he took a sip.

"I imagine so. I'd hate to think of how much guesswork is involved with figuring that out the first go-around, though." A brief pause as he raised a single energon goodie up to his lips.

"Well, you mentioned they were good," he said with a smile, before taking a bite. Optics lighting up at the pleasant taste, Orion's engine rumbled with pleasure.

"Very nice."

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