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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"...Oh." Startled, Orion reset his optics, trying to recall. The tip of his sword did seem to point directly at him for all of a moment...

Orion gave the mech another questioning glance, even as he caught sight of Megatron's smirk being broadcast on the massive stadium screen over the stranger's shoulder.

"Look like...? We met in a library." He frowned, unsure if he even wanted to know.

"You... Ah." The overly-curious mech's vocaliser shorted out in static as he nodded, optics widening in a guilty flash. "Of course. That, err. Makes sense."

On the arena floor, sword and lance arced slowly through the air and met in a crackling flare between the two combatants, where they locked together.

"I didn't expect a cargo hauler to, err, work in a library." The mech seemed to speak almost against his own processor, slowly and each word dragged out, practically digging a new home with trying to avoid his initial assumption.

Megaton and his opponent leaned closer to each other, the sword angling and forcing it's wielder to lean backwards... And then Megatron's foot curled around the black tank-mech's lower leg, and he fell just as the time for the match was over, Megatron's sword burying itself in the ground beside the mech's helm.

Orion spared the mech another wry glance, before turning his optics back onto the fight, unwilling to miss any more of Megatron's display. Luckily, he didn't miss the ending, and cheered with the rest of the crowd when the other mech went down. He was honestly impressed by how deftly the huge mech was able to end the battle, and all without bloodshed...

He wished more arena fights were like this one.

"You might be surprised by how much heavy lifting a librarian has to do." Orion remarked blandly, optics glued on the triumphant mech as the judge announced his victory.

The poor mech should obviously not have taken that the way his processor did, due to his earlier assumptions, but he said nothing besides sputtering.

Meanwhile, Megatron and his opponent saluted the overseer again and started to leave the arena. Orion would find he got a brief little ping just as Megatron passed through the doors to the back areas of the attend, making space for the new set of combatants.

:: Meet me backstage, Orion. I believe you have the time for that?:: Despite the shortness of the message, Megatron managed to convey pleased warmth in his tone.

Orion's lips twitched, despite his mounting embarrassment; even as sheltered as he was, he could hazard a guess as to where the mech's processor was wandering off to.

::Of course. That is why I came here, after all.::

The slight librarian stood, giving the sputtering mech a parting nod.

"If you'll excuse me." He turned away and climbed down the stands, confidently making his away toward the backstage entrance, flashing his chit at the bouncer holding the fans and groupies at bay. His confidence was not misplaced, and he found himself let inside with nothing more than a smirk from the huge mech.

Said mech had enough of his processor with him to nod at Orion when the librarian left, but he was one again left staring as Orion left for backstage.

The backstage was similar to the front in its decidedly run-down state, but was surprisingly clean otherwise. Probably because this was a reasonable reputable arena, and the medics wouldn't stand for less... Or the higher-standing gladiators for that matter.

There were gladiators milling about the rooms and corridors to the wash racks, but nine of them did more than give Orion a glance... Until he went towards where Megatron had said he would be.

"I'd wait, if I were you. Megatron's probably busy right now." The rangy-looking gladiator had a neon yellow colour scheme and looked like he might break at first touch, but it was obvious he wasn't new at the arena from his scars.

Orion entered backstage slowly, wary of getting into any of the large gladiator's way. It was still...interesting to see this side of the ring; the side most people didn't get to see, and the side that Megatron dealt with every day.

He stopped short in following Megatron's directions, glancing back at the yellow mech.

"Busy?" Orion frowned. Megatron hadn't mentioned there would be any reason he might need to wait.

"I hope it's not a problem that I'm back here?"

The gladiator shook his helm, rubbing a broken-off audial protrusion as he glanced away.

"Imagine he wouldn't, but no, it's not a... problem. You were invited, but given what, ah, might be going on, you could get a tour of the place and then come back?" He sounded distinctly hopeful, but it wasn't just or really, at the prospect of spending time with the well-kept and shorter visitor... The gladiator kept glancing off down the corridor and shifting on his strange, arced lower legs.

"Gladiators can need to burn off energy after a match. An... ah, old acquaintance of Megatron's decided to lend his... assistance." There were other gladiators nearby, and they were giving tall and slender sympathetic looks, then glancing down the corridor and then at Orion.

The atmosphere was charged and sort of tense. Perhaps awkward.

Edited 2013-08-15 17:41 (UTC)

The small-framed librarian glanced between the various gladiators, down the corridor, and back at the yellow mech once more with a bemused frown.

"I think Megatron wanted to give me that tour himself, honestly. If he's, ah, changed his mind..." He glanced down the corridor once more, his own audial nubs twitching with indecisiveness, before he turned to head down the hall despite the odd atmosphere.

"Perhaps you can show me around." It was merely a polite admittance, and Orion nodded at the yellow mech before pressing on with stubborn resolve.

::Megatron?:: He commed privately; despite his determination, he didn't want to interrupt anything important...

"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."

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