red_diode_district | LET'S BREAK THIS THING IN

"---need an opportunity..." The speaker was interrupted as the door was opened, the intruder looking pleased.

"We just got it." Tall and lanky, the speaker didn't seem to have an actual altmode, but this didn't stand out among the group in the room. Only a handful possessed them, and they were all boat alts. "They asked for someone specifically like you." Everybody in the room looked at each other, and then to the one the newcomer had addressed, and a low, excited murmur started up.

Coming around the table to the door, the newcomer laid a mint-green hand against a pink, rounded shoulder.

"Will you be okay?" The question was sincere, but considering the opportunity they had just been given - and the details had already been transmitted - it was, ultimately, more a show of support than a chance for the subject of everyone's excited chatter to back out.

Not that that would happen.

Not now, not with this.

They needed this opportunity.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

ichooseboth

The only time Optimus really allowed the guards free-reign, was when they were conducting what were quickly becoming his regular visits to the higher-crime, more downtrodden areas of Cybertron. He wanted guards on-hand, simply due to the number of threats and assassination attempts that tended to come from said areas, but he wanted them at a distance, to allow the citizens their fair chance to approach him and air grievances. Protection, yes; intimidation, no.

At least their trip to the rather elite Oil Bathhouse in Crystal City had been relatively uninterrupted by guards thundering in where they weren't wanted. The appointment had been made far in advance, so the naturally-occurring oil pits were empty, and Optimus had readily invited the femme to come along. It gave the Prime a rare chance to get pampered, working the kinks out of his frame stiffened by long hours - and it gave him an excuse to touch and dote on the femme as well.

He was getting far too used to her presence.

Having Elita on-hand had been a great distraction and relief. Reading through reports and signing off on minor bills alone in his office was generally the most boring, tedious part of his job. With Elita nearby, singing or entertaining or simply just chatting with him, the time seemed to pass far more quickly, and painlessly.

And despite the knowledge that she was 'simply' a consort, paid in energon and honor to be by his side...his affection was too easily turning into something more.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

She'd never met the earlier Prime more than briefly (the one before that, she'd only recently come online when they attempted to send a delegation), and spending time with this one? He was sweet, and witty, often having some biting and sharply insightful commentary about either his work directly, or simpler gossip.

He was surprisingly willing to attempt things he might fail at, like singing. Not that he failed at it, but it was noticeable he was creating programming and routines on the fly to deal with singing properly, lacking the basic programs to help him along.

She was... undeniably fond of what she was learning, but it all just pointed more glaringly to that to get anything out of this that would help her planet, the Prime needed off this planet at some point.

She may have to sacrifice this fledgling relationship, even hampered as it was by her consort contract and programming, but... it'd be worth it. It'd have to be worth it.

Breaking the surface of the oil, Elita emerged dramatically enough to toss streams and droplets everywhere - yes, she was showing off, but why shouldn't she? - helm angled backwards, back arched and back panels spread, deliberately not looking at Optimus where he was sitting up against the edge of the oil pool.

From:

ichooseboth

"-And as bad as it was, I couldn't stop laughing. Fortunately, the senator left, properly shamed just enough to drop the bill..."

Since they had arrived, Optimus had been sharing some of the few amusing stories he had acquired since being in office, attempting to coax more of the lovely, genuine laughs out of the lovely femme. Of course, since they had arrived, Elita's general appearance had become more and more distracting, the mineral-rich lubricants sliding down her frame and highlighting every tempered curve.

Her latest emergence from the bubbling-hot oil was more than striking enough to cause him to lose his train of thought completely, leaving him staring dumbly.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

She had a smile on her faceplates as she emerged, shaking her helm at what Optimus was saying and rubbing off the oil sliding down her face.

"Sometimes I wonder what they think with and how they think it's a good idea what they come up with," she huffed but still definitely amused; she'd already had this opinion earlier about Cybertron's Senate, but in this situation, it was safe to say that since it was so very disarmed.

At first, she didn't even notice the trailed-off sentence, since it did stand on its own even as it was, so she replied to it, but when she finally turned to Optimus, she realized that...

Laughing, Elita slunk closer and eased herself down onto his lap, straddling his legs and laying her arms on his shoulders.

From:

ichooseboth

"Ahh...H-hello." Optimus blinked, going tense even as a more hesitant, shyer smile quickly replaced the confident look of before. It took a moment, but he eventually moved to wrap arms around her waist and shoulders, hot oil dripping from the recesses of his armor to drizzle across her frame.

He couldn't help but watch the progress of it, the sheen highlighting curves and tempting armor nooks.

"...Hnn. Are you...enjoying yourself here?" He coughed, engine revving in irritation and persistent lust.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

"Hello." Elita smiled, a deeper more straight-forward one to counter the Prime's more shyer one, and she leaned forward enough to just let their nasal ridges brush together, even if she could see where he was actually looking.

So for that, she arched her back a little, the back panels shifting and stretching out; too unwieldy to be true flyer wings, but imitating the grace of them pretty well.

"It's lovely. It's been a long while since I got to enjoy something like this." Which certainly was true enough. Elita gently rubbed their nasal ridges together briefly and then sat up straight, optics glowing in the muted light.

"You can touch, if you want. How do you want me?" She did her best to keep her voice straight, without any inflection her shy little Prime might get... embarrassed... over, holding out her arms to her sides.

From:

ichooseboth

The gesture, the closeness between them...it was enough to make his spark stutter in his chest, engine hitching.

"I'm glad you could enjoy it-"

The words, however, were still enough to make him shudder, oil rippling around them as his systems vented and surged.

"Ah... H-how might you prefer?" He couldn't help but keep his gaze flicking back and forth, torn between watching her face and her panels.

Unbidden, he lifted a hand to lightly catch the nearest trailing edge of one, curious about whether or not they were as sensitive as flier-wings were rumored to be.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

Torn between appreciating the freshness of his honest attraction - which he still somehow managed - and the slightly bittersweet reality of their surroundings, she settled on Optimus.

Still, she remembered similar pools like this on Paradron; dry now, not because the source had been used up, but for the need to redirect the natural, hot oil for use elsewhere, as Cybertron was refusing trade.

"You seem to have an idea already; I don't mind. I can do the same for you, if you want." The panel twitched beneath the lihgt touch, both a concious act to shift it more comfortable into his touch, and an instinctive reaction; they were indeed sensitive, for other reasons than a true flier's wings might be.

The alloys, for one, but that wasn't something a consort should have.

From:

ichooseboth

Alloy composition is hardly something he is an expert on, and in this case he is even less inclined to take notice. Instead, he's focusing on her, on the feel of her frame in his arms, and it takes no thought at all to reach under the oil to grab both trailing edges of her 'wings', stroking up them until he gets to metal up and exposed out of the liquid.

"I...tend to get ideas when you sit like this, yes." He chuckled, audials flicking in lazy embarrassment. It's taken him a bit to have reached this point, yes.

"...you can touch me however you like."

From:

invisiblepinkboat

Her helm tips back at the long stroke up the edges of the 'wings', her engine thrumming in response, the sensor nodes all lighting up, not just registering pressure, resistance, friction and heat, but the pleasure of it as well.

"Oh, you do, do you? Like what?" Elita laughed, eyeing Optimus without straightening her helm back down. Arms resting on his shoulders still, Elita shifted and moved her hands to trail light, lazy circles around the base of the audial fins, not enough to be more than gently destracting while still offering feedback.

"I thought I'd let you get first shot," Elita said teasingly, her panels shifting in OPtimus' hands, spreading slightly wider.

From:

ichooseboth

"A-aha. Ideas not fit for a Prime, for one." He laughed out-loud, audials twitching with embarrassment. Not that it stopped him from working his hips in a low, exceedingly tenative roll from his hips, lifting them both lightly from the oil with the faintest of splashes. His hands, however, were far more bold; tweaking the leading edge of her panels, thumbs seeking out and rubbing against the grooves and crooks and tiny, exposed circuits that latched into the other side of the shell for her hull.

"...You are most gracious though, to give me 'dibs'," he grinned, leaning in, unusually forward, to claim a kiss.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

"Ah..." Elita shivered, charge skittering down the circuits of her back-mounted panels as Optimus was getting quite adept - even with the relatively brief time they'd spent together - at finding her sensitive spots, and then smiled as the oil splashed around them with the roll, however tentative it was.

::Not that I've had much hands on experience with more than one Prime, but they were all cybertronians, no matter what else... And we're all laid towards pursuing what might please us, I'd say.:: Pushing back into the kiss, nibbling at his lower lip and rubbing their tongues together to spark static between them, tingling on the thin metal of their tongues and inside of their mouths.

::It's only fair to let you catch up, isn't it?:: Her laugh was a light buzz of sine-waves over the comm. link, barest trace of the soundwaves being transferred through their kiss as light vibration.

From:

ichooseboth

::'Catch up' you say?:: He chucked silently, still awkward, but returned the kiss eagerly enough. He leaned into the contact, tilting him helm and lapping their tongues together with a pleasing spark.

::With you or...in general? And which Prime did you know before?:: The thought was...mildly unsettling. Both to know that she had been here, in a similar situation before - and that he had such a massive role to fill and standards to hold himself to, even in the berth.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

::... You, Optimus.:: Elita chuckled into the kiss, turning it into a hum that set thin, sensitive plating vibrating and played with the tickling static their tongues were calling up.

::I have, however, met your immediate predecessor before.:: Which was true, but merely a simple meeting, and not while masquerading as an Escort-caste, but rather in the position as one of the thirteen of the Paradronian Planetary Council, which was supposed to be the supplemental and local authority on Paradron along with the Prime.

Primes, and a Cybertron which had either ignored or used their colony planet.

::I have not been quite this close to a Prime before.:: Curling her arms about his neck and helm, she let a finger trail up one of his audials, but kept it light, to be as non-distracting as possible to allow Optimus to do as he wished.

From:

ichooseboth

He pulled back, breaking the kiss messily long enough to laugh, short and awkward, helm ducking down against her chin.

"Oh. Right. That is what I get for assuming things." He tightened his hands around her waist indecisively, before shifting back to press a kiss into her neck instead.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

"Perhaps, but I could also have been unclear." She didn't say much else, though, and didn't move until he leaned forward to press his lips against her throat, at which she tilted her helm back, cables and fuel-lines at her neck going taut.

"Either way... You stand on your own feet. I promise, hmm. That you've definitely made enough of an impression for that." Angling one leg backwards to hook it around his lower leg, Elita leaned forward slightly, helm still tilted back at an angle and watching the Prime from the lower edge of her optics with a small smile.

From:

ichooseboth

Trying to put the faux pas out of his mind, he allowed himself to focus on her words instead, rumbling in simple pleasure at the reassurance.

"...If you think so. I'm...glad to have done so."

He huffed his vent stacks, embarrassed and pleased depite logically knowing that just his position would make him memorable to any consort he might have taken. Still, the slow exposure and flexation of her neck cables under his lips certainly helped his mood. Optimus leaned in, tilting his head to open his mouth wider, pressing eager kisses against her taunt cables, tongue lapping out, able to feel the pulse thrumming through her fuel lines.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

She was acutely aware at the moment of how much she could easily tear him down, simply because he trusted her, and was somehow still very... innocent. Of course, since she knew Optimus was a decent, no, delightful individual and a good Prime (as much as he could, since he didn't know everything and was - whether he knew it or not - being worked against) she didn't want to do that.

Luckily, she didn't have to do it either, since she knew now that he would listen and try to change things, but nothing could be done from here.

"I do, but that's all because you are who you are-- ah, Optimus." Her throat wasn't as sensitive as certain parts of her helm, but with the diligent attention he was paying it, static skittering down the metal and between his tongue and her throat, it caused a snappy, crackling feedback along her sensor net.

From:

ichooseboth

Optimus was, thankfully, blissfully unaware of any such crushing possibilities. Instead, his engine gave sharp jump at her cry, and he moved his mouth higher up, returning to the thick cable that had earned him the sound. He suckled at it, gently scraping teeth along the curve.

::...'Because I'?:: Optimus managed a teasing yet somehow still hopeful tone, laced with the comm-sounds of gentle amusement.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

There was no more verbal noise, but Elita's engine revved as Optimus went back to the cable, and her vocalizer hummed in a frequency not otherwise heard in the simple audial range.

"I didn't take you for the type wanting to hear your own virtues..." Elita laughed, panels rising up and flaring wider for a moment, cutting off some light, before she pulled them down slightly. In the same movement, she shifted over to murmur into Optimus' audial, fingers playing along the kibble at his back.

"Sincerity, and wanting to do what's right... honest strength and a view I don't think the previous Primes have had in a while." Innocence, naïvety and lacking in knowledge to know when he was being led around.

Elita wasn't sure if simply no one in the Prime's circle was willing to give him all the facts or not... But she could definitely believe it, considering how Paradron had been treated.

From:

ichooseboth

He laughed against her neck, audials twitching once more in easily-returned embarrassment. The praise only made it worse.

::I didn't mean it quite like that...::

Of course, the flared panels and thin hands at his back only distracted him right back, and he slid a hand up her back between the paneling, bracing another at the back of her neck to press more eager kisses to Elita's throat.

::You flatter me.:: He smiled against plating, leaning up press a kiss to the base of the nearest antennae spine.

Naive was definitely the word for him.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

"You'll have to be more... specific, then." She managed to hold it together for a moment longer, and then laughed, open and light. The ringing sound trailed off into chuckles as Optimus slid a hand up her back, armour shifting beneath the touch and the gentle friction almost stirring a static charge.

"... I'm not going to lie to you and say I don't flatter where it's not due, because that's what's part of this..." Elita's voice dropped to a hum as she spoke, angling her helm to gently mouth just the upper tip of an audial. "But, any 'flattery' for you? It's most certainly due."

This was simple fact of the enforced Escort programming, but at least she didn't have to lie about it... And would hope (because she did think he was due it, even if she also thought he needed to open his processing parameters a bit) that he did believe her when she said she was only flattering him because she wanted to, and because he was worth it.

From:

ichooseboth

Optimus actually sputtered static, engine warbling at the praise. His grip tightened, and he ended up tugging her further into his arms and up in his lap as he laughed with embarrassment into her chest plating.

"R-really. I promise to be more clear next time. You can stop now."

He hadn't had the position long enough, or enough experience to take the praise from a pretty bot with grace. But if it continued this frequently, he would surely get used to it far more quickly!

"...I'd far rather spend the time talking about you." It wasn't difficult to admit - it was the truth, unburdened by programming or duty.

From:

invisiblepinkboat

She didn't laugh at him and his embarrassment, but she smiled digging her fingers into the seams over the kibble on his back a little, amused at his embarrassment and feeling slightly bad for it.

He was, in a word, adorable.

And then he said that.

"What would you like to know?" There were no pusedo-modest claims about being "just a consort" and "not something special"; if she was going to edit what she was saying, she needed to know what he wanted to know.

Elita murmured the question first against his audial, then continued up the finial. Not actually touching the metal with her lips, but close enough her speaking would still be felt.

From:

ichooseboth

"W-well..."

It was an awkward start, and he shuddered against her chest plating, pleasure along his audials making his vocalizer skip even more than the embarrassment and the lingering shyness.

"I have consistently enjoyed learning more about you... But I was mostly just talking about me pointing out your virtues..."

He peered up from her chest armor, optics bright with the smile slowly regrowing across his faceplates, only to flick his tongue out across the light in the center of her chest, purring.

"Like how witty and amusing you are to talk with. How refreshingly honest you are. How much I adore your company... You don't look half bad either." He chuckled, tone light with his teasing.