Everybody learns from *somebody*

[lordmegatron]

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?"

Comments

[ichooseboth]

::I think I might. I should be well compensated for my work, after all.::

Orion's fingers curled over the sparklight, frame pressing into the light automatically. The display was one that he didn't get to see enough of. He returned those nipping kisses eagerly enough, leaning against the berth and ending up between Megatron's thighs.

::I would love to see what sorts of 'payment options' we can negotiate...::

But that was a bit too much for him; Orion snickered, curling into Megatron's neck as his frame shook with delighted mirth.

[lordmegatron]

::I don't know, given the lack of experience in this that you're offering...:: Trailing off, Megatron grinned when Orion could no longer keep up the facade and kissed the tip of the nearest audial finial with a slow slide of his lips.

"You may demand whatever payment option you think would be fair, but whether I agree or not..." Laughing quietly along with a deep, rumbling purr of his engine, Megatron slid his arms around Orion's back and kept them there for a moment.

"However, no matter how pleasant this is, we are under a bit of a time constraint..." Shamelessly, he gave a swat to Orion's aft, the break from Orion painting the symbols having shaken him out of the beginning descent into a less... dominant... frame of mind.

[ichooseboth]

"We can reopen negotiations later..." Orion purred with only a faint snicker, sighing at the kiss to his audial. It never ceased to please him how the tough gladiator could defy every expectation brought on by his heavy-duty frame.

Nodding, Orion reluctantly pulled away- only to yelp at the swat, more in surprise than anything else.

"Megatron!" He laughed, giving a bit of exposed circuity in the larger mech's side a pinch.

"Don't start something we don't have time to finish!"

[lordmegatron]

There wasn't even the slightest twitch at the pinch, though Megatron reflexively grabbed the offending hand and gently squeezed it as he laughed, a smirk on his lips.

"Unless you have a penchant for spanking you haven't told me about, or would like to punish me for... inappropriate behaviour with your person," he smirked, still shameless, "then I haven't started anything, merely given you an incentive to get back to work." The tone and the glitter in his optics belied the "innocent" words, though he was serious. They really didn't have time to actually get too heavy here and now.

[ichooseboth]

"Ha! That's not what I meant and you know it," Orion laughed, shaking his helm with a only slightly heated exvent.

Hands on Megatron's chest, Orion physically pushed himself back to create a more 'professional' distance, shaking the airbrush at the gladiator.

"And no, as far as I am aware, that is not a particular kink of mine. Other arm, please."

Still smiling, he gestured to the arm still gripping the cube.

[lordmegatron]

"That's established then," Megatron said, amusement colouring his voice and optics warm as he held out his other arm and turned slightly aside to help Orion get a better angle. He didn't really care one way or another if Orion might have had that particular kink, but it was a rather simple (and safely defused) situation to have found that out in.

"Of course. And I don't know, what did you mean? I can't know how you might interpret what I'm doing." Another lopsided, sharp smile as Megatron gave Orion a sideways, sparkling glance.

This was amusing and nice at the same time and he realised he'd somewhat missed having someone there before matches, gladiator or not.

[ichooseboth]

Palming Megatron's shoulder into a more easily-accessed position, Orion started painting the second emblem.

"Trying to goad me, perhaps. Or stir up something that has to wait until after your match?"

Orion paused long enough to give the side of Megatron's helm a teasing, single-fingered flick that clanged dully. Smirking, he resumed painting immediately, cheekily precluding any retaliation as it might mess up his work.

[lordmegatron]

"Ah, caught me." There was a small grin still on Megatron's faceplate as Orion started up the airbrush again, but his optics quickly guttered out as the paint slowly was worked into and over his armour.

It was relaxing in a way that partly had to do with the numbness of the assaulted sensors muddling their input. It wasn't quite the same plateau that came from a match high when the pain fed into itself and simply boosted him along, but similar, and it was also partly the motion of the paint itself, and, when he could do that, letting someone take care of him in that way.

He didn't allow himself the same unguarded relaxation when he went to a professional detailer, so this only happened when he had someone close to him to offer.

"And what would you do about it, if that was the case?" Optics still offline, Megatron's voice had gone soft, not quite a murmur really, just a... quieting of the usual rumbling tone.

[ichooseboth]

"Then I would be stuck, annoyed and frustrated, until after your match."

Orion sighed in mock-exasperation, stealing glances at Megatron's placid face as he painted. He smiled.

"I would have to take care of it when you got back."

The hand braced on Megatron's shoulder gave a gentle squeeze.

[lordmegatron]

"Having to wait can be a very rewarding experience... from both sides, I'm told." Chuckling, Megatron tilted his helm in Orion's direction as he spoke, not bothering to online his optics, merely enjoying the feel of Orion's sure strokes, the squeeze of his shoulder and the heavy, but restrained, humming flicker of Orion's EM field.

"I would be interested in seeing how you would take care of it, so perhaps I shouldn't stop, hmm?" Not that he could or would do much right now - the symbols and glyphs did need to be painted, he did have some sort of image to uphold, after all!

(More than "some" - Megatron was well-aware of his image and had made sure to cultivate it as it fit both him, and his audience(s).)

[ichooseboth]

Hand moving in steady, even strokes, Orion painted on the next few layers of the design. After doing the first, he was able to go far more quickly with the second, confidence building when he didn't ruin the marking with his inexperience.

"Maybe. But I'd rather not be tempted to ruin your paint before I even finish."

Orion's smile flickered into a smirk, even if Megatron could not see it. His field gave a teasing pulse, settling against the larger mech's.

[lordmegatron]

Smirk twitching into view as Orion spoke, Megatron tilted his helm, his field rippling at the push from Orion's. With his optics off, and other sensors turned higher to compensate, Megatron was once again amazed by the strength of that field.

The mech might be of a somewhat shorter-than-tall average, but the strength of his person and his chassis wasn't actually most evidenced in his altmode and rather broad shoulders. No, rather that seemed to lie more in the EM field, the abundance of electromagnetic charge displaying the hidden potential rather than the base facts of his frametype.

"You'd simply have to take responsibility not to ruin it then... or is temptation such a diffifult thing to resist?" Perhaps it was terrible to do so, but Megatron straightened a little, keeping his shoulder where it was while he arched his back and let the sparklight strengthen somewhat.

[ichooseboth]

"Take responsibility for your paint job-?" Orion grumbled

Even if the shoulder didn't end up moving, Orion still reflexively stopped painting and gave Megatron's chest a swat.

"Oh stop that!" Orion snickered, shoving a hand at that glowing sparklight.

"You make temptation quite hard to resist, I'll have you know - keep trying to distract me, and you'll miss your match at this rate!"

His engine and field were at stubborn odds with his words; rumbling engine revving as his field pulsed against Megatron's, only getting stronger and more insistent with the temptations presented.

[lordmegatron]

Laughing, Megatron dimmed the sparklight to a less... distracting level, taking the swat without attempting to defend himself. He did, however, reach out to curl a hand around the nearest of Orion's knee joints, his field failry thrumming with the weight of Orion's against it.

"Oh, I doubt I will miss it, since I can quite easily leave and you'd merely have to live with your frustration until after it... so I'm afraid you will have to take to better threats for my good behaviour."

If there was more time, he would have carefully twisted around and slid his lips against an audial finial - in fact, if they'd had the proper rules set down and if he knew Optimus knew what to do and would like it, he'd have pushed, regardless of the time constraint.

He'd never minded going into a match with a hevay curl of thwarted charge and the stern disapproval promising... punishment... after at his back, after all. Given everything however, he barely gave the knee a squeeze.

[ichooseboth]

Orion made no move to remove Megatron's hand' indeed, he rumbled faintly at the contact, quietly pleased despite the words.

"I'm sure I'll think of something."

The librarian grinned as he painted the final details with a florish, pulling away to let the shoulder dry.

"After all, you could always go to you match and return to find no one here. I'm actually capable of taking care of charge on my own, after all."

As was Megatron, of course, but it wouldn't be the same for either of them. As he pointed out silently, throbbing out his field against Megatron's as he spoke.

"Ready for your chest now, at least."

[lordmegatron]

"But where would the fun be in that?" Megatron said blandly, with a quirk to the upper edge of an optic and his field pulsing against Orion's in response to the heavy throb.

Megatron turned around in his seat then, facing Orion and laid his free hand on Orion's knee. With a quick little grin, he leaned down to drop a kiss on Orion's chin guard and then skate over his lips before he straightened back up, optics glowing rather unrepentantly.

[ichooseboth]

"My fun would be in your frustration, of course." Orion snickered, absolutely no intentions of actually following through on the 'threat'. His field pulsed, gentle but solid as Megatron stole his kiss. He snorted.

"Are you a gladiator or a sneak-thief?" He asked cheerfully, shaking his helm as he pushed at Megatron's frame, trying to better position him for the painting.

"Lean back a bit?"

[lordmegatron]

"I have many skills, Orion," Megatron said as he leaned back on his hands, following the push even as Orion asked and with an easy grin on his lips.

"One doesn't preclude the other... in fact, they can be useful for each other. It's quite useful to at least attempt sneaking around once in a while." Despite the light tone, Megatron was serious. Not only did he literally mean in a combat situation (which he intended to teach Orion about), but also to get around to where you weren't "supposed to".

He might be a tall, broad mech, but he could move surprisingly quietly when it was required of him.

[ichooseboth]

"I've learned so after being around you, true," Orion admitted, unable to hide a smile.

"You'd just think such a huge mech shouldn't be able to move as quietly as you do."

He gave Megatron a pointed poke, before settling in, moving arms and limbs further out of the way so he had full access to the gladiator's chest plating. Rubbing a hand across broad lines in the guise of polishing away an imperfections that might hinder things, Orion got to work with the airbrush.

[lordmegatron]

"I'll show you later. It might come in handy," Megatron said with a grin, said smile deepening at the not-really-necessary hand smoothing down the flat plane of his chestplates. "If nothing else, you could use it to unsettle unpleasant... patrons at the library." His tone implied he actually meant a far less complimentary word instead of 'patrons'.

Either way, the thought of Orion sneaking around the shelves was quite amusing actually, because he could easily imagine their looks of surprise - and then, depending on their size, their shame for having been scared at all.

"And it'll be useful for our excursion down into the lower levels when it happens, since even if there are very few actual guards around, there are some." Huffing, Megatron resisted the urge to twitch his shoulders in a shrug, since if he did that while Orion was working on his chestplates, it'd ruin the work.

"And while I have a reasonable overview of their patrol and times they do so, it's not as exact as I'd wish, and they can and have changed it before."

[ichooseboth]

"Implying that I don't already unsettle the unpleasant ones. One of the few things I have used by field for, in the past. A few of them ran out of there fast enough to leave tread-marks." Orion mock-chastised with a low laugh, shaking his head.

"It would certainly come in handy, though."

He paused in his painting as soon as Megatron mentioned guards, grimacing.

"...That doesn't exactly ease my sudden concerns. I don't recall you mentioning guards before, when you mentioned your trips to the lower levels."

[lordmegatron]

Optics flickering out again as he tilted his helm back, Megatron laughed quietly himself.

"I like that you do know when to apply your strenght." Then his optics turned on at a faint glow when Orion paused. Angling his helm slightly to look at the mech, Megatron then shook his helm and let it tilt backwards again.

"Simple patrols to assure the safety of anyone who might wander unawares into unsafe and unstable areas, as it were." There couldn't be more sarcasm in those words if he'd tried.

[ichooseboth]

"...right. Of course they are," Orion muttered, tone matching Megatron's exactly. He shook his head at the gladiator anyway, disapproving, before returning to his painting, spraying wide swathes of paint to finish the base.

"You still should have mentioned it before. I thought it was more abandoned than that, when you right it up..."

He sounds rather disappointed; now that he's been excited about the idea for a while, Orion is loath to give up the idea of the trip, despite the suddenly increased risk factor. Which irritates him a bit.

[lordmegatron]

"If I'd mentioned it before, it'd been far harder to convince you," Megatron said blandly, shaking his helm. "And they're hardly crawling all over the place, the issue is merely avoiding them when you do end up in the same location as one." There was a careful twitch of Megatron's shoulders, so as to not disturb Orion's painting and still be able to shrug.

"I've never been caught, and while you will undoubtedly be less familiar with sneaking around with illicit intent, I don't doubt you'll show yourself to be most capable." He flashed a wide, quick grin down at Orion, giving a little wink.

If nothing else, Orion's curiosity would probably be enough to lend enough care that if they stumbled upon a guard, they'd be able to avoid them.

[ichooseboth]

Orion paused in his work, going completely still.

Slowly, he pulled away, airbrush falling to his side as he gave Megatron an icy stare. His previously relaxed field went stiff and jagged at the edges, bristling along with the diminutive librarian.

"...For future reference, I would prefer it if you did not purposely leave out important details when trying to 'convince' me of something. I like knowing what I am getting into before agreeing to something - and frankly, if there is to be proper trust between us, honesty is rather required."

He vented hotly, engine grumbling on the sharp knife-edge between irritation and true anger.