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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::I'm not trying to be, Orion.:: Yes, he'd admit that outright, his tone over the comm. teasing and amused, turning to her after Orion had given his permission and she'd dipped her helm, murmuring a thank you reflected in the flickering wave of her EM field.

"I see you finally managed to get rid of that waiting disaster. You should've beaten him up more." The gladiator, compared to her subdued (or maybe restrained) behaviour when aimed at Orion, seemed to swell out beyond her field's reach as she turned to Megatron, using her hands and field both to underscore her words.

"I'm starting to think thrashing Maul was encouraging him, despite that he professed to only be a sadist," Megatron said with a snort and a shake of his helm, before he half turned back to Orion.

"Orion, this is Ragna. Ragna, Orion Pax. We are... proceeding." His little grin was mostly amusedly teasing again, but the glow of his optics and his gaze on Orion was warm.

"Ah." And by the glance she threw Megatron, apparently that single-word description of his and Orion's relationship meant something, something that made her grin before she turned back to Orion and gave him a half bow, optics low.

"Sir. And thank you."

He settled for huffing at Megatron over the commline before letting it drop, focusing instead on the interaction taking place before him. The difference in Ragna's words and tone and even field when addressing Megatron versus himself was as fascinating as it was occasionally confusing. If he didn't know the cause, he'd almost be insulted.

Instead, Orion's stiffness melted away at Ragna's words, his own field control relaxing to more friendly levels.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ragna," Orion said with a nod of his helm, giving her a somewhat sly grin.

"It's no problem at all, really. Anyone who shares my dislike of that mech is welcome."

For a brief moment, Ragna's subdued respect... or rather, submissiveness, disappeared into a burst of static as she snorted, shaking her helm.

"He was bad business from the start, but I didn't know Megatron was involved with him - and didn't know him well enough at that point, until later," Ragna said with a shrug, her and Megatron's optics meeting, even if he looked vaguely annoyed, "so there was no chance to warn beforehand."

"I'm hardly helpless, Ragna. Even if he did prove to be hard to be rid off, without something unpleasant happening," Megatron growled, sitting back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chestplates.

That was the issue trying to get involved with the scene in a place that you weren't familiar with yet - running afoul of unpleasant individuals with no scruples, who could take advantage of someone who didn't know them or their reputation.

But it still did, Orion barely kept himself from saying aloud, though it was probably obvious in his expression. He sighed, forcibly shaking himself free of the bad mood mentioning Maul threatened to bring on.

"Yes well, he's gone now."

Orion allowed himself to smile faintly at Megatron's pouting expression, reaching across the table to pat a crossed arm.

"Yes, you're perfectly capable of defending yourself, as I well know. So. How do you two know each other?" he inquired politely, turning to Ragna.

"Orion, you better not be patronising me," Megatron said, upper optic ridge arched - even if he was also exaggerating for show, because Orion's smile had been quite cute. He did narrow his optics at Ragna as she grinned at him, though.

"Oh, we met in the arena a few times before we got to know each other," she said with a wave of her hand, grinning even as she tilted her helm and kept her optics lowered from Orion's faceplate.

"Ragna is quite notorious, and has participated in circuits and tournaments outside of Iacon. But we met... properly, I suppose after I got here and I was trying to find the... ah, 'spots' of the scene."

"Of course not," Orion teased, flicking his audial nubs in exaggerated innocence. He raised an optic ridge at the stress Ragna put on her words, curiosity piqued.

"Impressive. Are you old partners?"

In whatever capacity that implied...

Snorting at that, Megatron smiled, far too amused to remain even mock-annoyed at Orion - but that better not become a habit either way, humph.

Orion's comment had both of them looking at him, and then Megatron laughed softly, engine rumbling, as Ragna shook her helm.

"We spar together regularly, but that the closest to 'partners' we've ever been," Ragna said with a shake of her helm as Megatron grinned.

"She showed me this place as well, but that was before we got to know each other better. We simply recognised each other and that we shared the same... interests." Shrugging, Megatron leaned back in his seat.

Can't blame a mech for being curious.

"Ah, I wondered," he nodded, pleased and intrigued. He wondered how one figured out someone else was into the same sort of 'interests' like that without outright asking, but it wasn't worth the awkwardness to ask it himself.

"If it wouldn't bother either of you, I'd love to watch sometime?"

He gave them a hopeful grin.

"It seems like it would be a good fight."

"If you want, sir," Ragna said with a little twist of a smile and a dip of her helm, though her flicked gaze at Megatron carries more open amusement, especially in the way her field pushed out against his.

"We're due for another sparring match soon, I think, and if you want to watch, you're certainly welcome to," Megatron nodded, and, completely unintentionally (subconsciously) made a very, very similar dip of his helm as Ragna had. It added a far more obedient tone to his words, despite there being nothing really submissive in the way he'd spoken.

"Ragna can usually put up a fight," Megatron said with a toothy grin in his fellow gladiator's direction, getting a whack to his shoulder in retaliation.

"I could say the same for you!" then she shook her helm and did the same sort of shallow little nod-bow she had when Orion had first acknowledged her, "either way, thank you, sir. Perhaps he'll be more well behaved soon."

Ragna gave Megatron a rather toothy smirk herself before she slipped away, and he snorted at her back, shaking his helm. There... might have been half a shade of a blush to his optics and EM field, if someone was paying attention.

Edited 2014-08-29 20:00 (UTC)

Orion laughed, falling into a more comfortable relaxation as the pair's friendly banter soothed his nerves.

He'd worried, deep down, that everyone in Megatron's 'scene' was more like Maul had been. Cruel or disparaging. He'd feared for others with Megatron's 'preferrences' as well, fretting for the safety of mechanisms he'd never even met.

He was foolish to worry, but it was still a relief to see their happiness first hand.

"It would be my pleasure." He nodded at Ragna as she left, the double meaning obvious in his tone. He gave Megatron a somewhat sly grin, field pulsing happily when he caught that blush.

"Oh, I like her."

Blushing was such an embarrassing thing to have happen, but at least no one else caught it - not even Ragna, as she had her back to him by then and was several steps away - besides Orion. That would have to be... all right.

... Especially with that little flare of his field and the grin, even if it was at his expense.

"Doesn't surprise me, but I'm glad you do," Megatron shook off his embarrassment and grinned faintly, nodding, "feeling more relaxed about this, now?"

"Hard not to like someone so friendly," Orion said, pleased. His grin at Megatron's embarrassment didn't fade at all - catching the gladiator in such a state was so rare, Orion couldn't help but savor it a bit.

"And yes. I admit, I had my misgivings at first, but it's nice to see how 'normal' things are, even in a place that is technically not your average, ah, location."

"Outside of here, you'd get the full force of her personality, but you probably saw enough to give you an idea," Megatron agreed with a snort, and then leaned forward, resting his arms on the table between them.

"Orion, most people involved in this are like anyone else, and decent mechanisms," he smiled, something between 'reassuring' and dry, "you sometimes get unpleasant people, yes, but that happens everywhere, and while there's some structures in place here that can make it easier to get away with abuse, we're also more vigliant against it, in general."

Shrugging, Megatron's smile turned into a sharper grin, amused.

"And I didn't take you here on a night when things are... even less average, as you just termed it. I chose a night when nothing was going on." For this reason exactly - not everything was about hardcore play, after all.

General socialisation among others you knew shared your interests was part of it as well.

"Again, this is something I am logically aware of."

Orion splayed his hands out in a helpless shrug.

"It is something I need to actively remember to avoid assuming. Even some of my 'learning materials' had some of this stigma ingrained in them. It just keep surprising me, that's all."

He nudges his foot against Megatron's leg under the table, flirting shamelessly.

"So. Yes to going to your next spar with her. Yes to dancing as well?" He reaches out a hand across the table, grinning wide.

Staring flatly at Orion for a moment, Megatron then let out a static sigh and grinned.

"Fine, yes. To both." taking Orion's hand, Megatron shook his helm, "if you want to dance, we can do that. I know I'm not half bad at it."

Technically, he knew very well he was more than "half bad" at it, as dancing was in some ways similar to fighting, and he'd incorporated a dance move or two in his combat techniques. He still felt somewhat... all right, embarrassed actually dancing.

It wasn't even the attention it might bring, but rather just what they were doing. Not that he actually had anything to be embarrassed by, as noted.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Orion objected, thoughts falling along the same line as Megatron's. Anyone who fought and moved like Megatron did could be a wonderful dancer.

"You're probably better than I am." Orion didn't sound like he objected to that idea, either; he simply beamed, taking Megatron's hand happily. Sliding out of the booth, he urged the larger mech in the direction of the dance floor. This was an aspect of club going Orion was much more familiar with, even if he didn't make it any sort of habit.

"Perhaps I am, but that doesn't make it any less..." trailing off with a shake of his helm and not finishing the sentence, Megatron let himself be pulled out of the booth and towards the middle of the club.

He could well believe he was better than Orion - he could probably teach him, too, which reminded him of his decision to teach Orion at least basic self defense in some way that suited the librarian, but either way.

He couldn't even pinpoint why moving to a rhythm like dancing was, together with someone or alone, was... faintly embarrassing, but it was.

Not that he'd let that stop him if this was what Orion wanted to do, so he followed with no resistance, changing his grip on Orion's hand as they got onto the middle, and used their walking momentum to slide them both into the music.

"Undignified? Less intimidating?" Orion attempted to guess, before happily
being led out into the dance floor.

He was remarkably smug for a person who danced more poorly than his
semireluctant partner - and quickly encouraged Megatron to take the lead.

"Perhaps you can teach me yet another new thing tonight, hmm?" He laughed,
oblivious to the true source of his partner's discomfort.

He just rolled his optics at those guesses, because while the "undignified" one might be right, at least for some forms of dance, in others it couldn't be more wrong. He'd seen dancing that could look very dignified or even intimidating with its skill and grace... though, admittedly, the sort of dancing that went on on a dancefloor in a club was not that.

"Maybe," arching an upper optic ridge, Megatron shook his helm as he slid around Orion, using the closeness to lean in and mutter in his audial, "like that you need to listen to the rhythm, not just approximate your movements to what it seems it is. Which is useful in a combat situation as well, since if you can read your opponent's movements..." trailing off, Megatron immediately twirled Orion around before he let go, grinning faintly.

"So. Seeing anything in here you might like to replicate later?"

Yes, that was sort of mean to bring up right now, especially as Orion had been darting glances away from everything the second they stepped in here, but if he never asked and made Orion think about it, they wouldn't find out what the mech liked.

Laughing when Megatron took him up on his hint, Orion actually gave the directions an attempt. After a few moments, there was an obvious improvement as he found his stride, and he grinned.

It wasn't anything remarkable, but still better.

"-Hmm?" Orion stumbled in the dance steps when he caught Megatron's meaning. Ever polite, he really hadn't been observing the other couples around the club when he could help it.

Which was still more often than he wanted to admit. He felt like a voyeur. But they were there to actually see these sorts of tings.

"...Right. Well..." He glanced around, audials twitching back in embarrassment as he actually sought out strange, new dynamics.

Better was better, and the change came quicker than Megatron would've thought - Orion was clearly a fast learner, which boded well. Even if he probably would be a bit laggy about learning offensive fighting skills because he didn't like to inflict injuries on others.

No matter.

Chuckling at the stumble, Megatron steadied Orion and then kept his hands there, subtly leading Orion on to let him actually pay attention to their surroundings better.

"No one's going to mind you looking, as long as you don't stare. If there'd been some event going on, even staring would've been acceptable and wanted," Megatron said with a faint grin, optics drawn to those twitching audials.

He should touch them later, if Orion let him...

Sighing and allowing Megatron to lead him easily enough, Orion glanced
around.

Most couples seemed 'normal' enough at first glance. Some were more subtle, given that they were on a dance floor; the mech following only moving when their partner directed, some with thin, delicate leads around necks, barely visible in the flashing lights. Possessive hands tight on hips or the curves or spines.

And some...

Thicker collars or hooks around throat cabling; with heavy, harshly tugging leashes made him look away, discomfited. A few had telltale signs of static jumping near interface panels between trembling, dancing thighs, and Orion huffed warmly when he realized the 'game' that was being played.

Beyond the dance floor- Orion stumbled, leaning over Megatron's shoulder. One table contained a mech forced to sit at his 'master's' feet, cleaning his pedes. Unpleasant. But another, just nearby- the expression on the
kneeling mech's face was one of blissful contentment, cheek pressing
against his dominants's palm as the larger mech fed him energon treats.

The second pair looked caring instead of lording or cruel, and Orion felt a strange longing bloom in his spark. He turned away, huffing a warm vent into Megatron's throat cabling.

Catching the stumbling and the twitching, Megatron used their closeness to stroke hands down red and blue armour, firm and slow. But all wasn't obviously to Orion's displeasure (or surprise, it was hard to tell sometimes), which was both a relief and to Megatron's pleasure.

"You don't have to say anything here and now, but I'm going to want to know later..." trailing off murmuring into Orion's audial, leaning close enough to almost brush his lips against them, Megatron spun them both around. He was somewhat surprised - and, for the situation, pleased, to find out dancing was helping to keep his mind in the proper non-subspace state of mind. Probably due to the similarity to fighting.

"Since we need to find out what you like as well."

At least something to start with, since Megatron was sure there might be things Orion was seeing he was "uncomfortable" with, both because of his own preconceptions of the flavour of what he was seeing and because he wasn't ready to admit, even to himself, that he was liking what he was seeing.

"Hmmn. Ah, yes."

Curling against Megatron's frame, Orion nodded into the larger mech's throat cabling. His audial twitched at the feel of closeness, warm vent air making him jerk.

He was probably ruining the dancing, clinging like this, but oh well.

"I...have a few more ideas right now, I'll admit."

He reached up a hand, stroking the back of Megatron's helm with a grin.

Ah, so close, and while they weren't technically involved in any dynamic at the moment, touching Orion in this place more... intimately still seemed like it would break some sort of rule.

So he didn't, just grinned close to that tempting piece of Orion's chassis and didn't really mind Orion clinging, either. Even if it was ruining the dancing.

"I'm looking forward to finding out what they are," Megatron said with a chuckle, tilting his helm into the caress at the back of his helm. Having all this was already a gift, but getting to see (and help) Orion grow into all this made it even better.

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