Chapter Text
“I apologize for my lateness,” Minimus said as he walked through the door of Megatron’s habsuite. The room’s inhabitant was lounging in his desk chair, reading a datapad that he looked up from upon Minimus’s entrance.
Megatron cocked his head to one side, slightly raising an eyebrow. “No need to apologize, but can I ask what held you up?”
Minimus paused in his walk over to the berth, blinking for a second before finding his stride again. “I was stopped on the way here by a... disturbance, in the hall.” He pursed his lips minutely, a look of annoyance coming over his face.
Megatron seemed curious now. He set down the datapad and crossed his legs, not noticing how Minimus’s eyes followed the movement. “Was it Rodimus playing ‘hide and seek’ again?” He emphasized the quotation marks with a movement of his fingers. The corner of his mouth quirked up. Minimus hummed, not quite a chuckle but not a scoff either.
“No, thankfully. You banned the use of camouflage paint except for use on missions, remember?” Minimus came to the edge of the berth, at which he realized a small issue. The top of the platform was a bit too tall for him- meaning he’d have to grab the edge and pull himself onto it. It would most certainly be embarrassing to struggle in such a way in front of Megatron.
However, Minimus didn’t have long to ponder his dilemma, as a dark grey hand wrapped itself around his waist and effortlessly lifted him up onto the berth. Minimus barely held back a squeak of surprise. As he turned around, his optics flaring, Megatron settled back down into his chair. The mech met his eyes, and smiled apologetically. “You seemed to be having... trouble,” the smile disappeared, “I hope I didn’t offend.”
Minimus coughed into a fist, feeling a small rush of heat to his cheeks and trying to fight it off. “No, no, it was fine- thank you.”
Silence stretched through the room.
“Anyway,” Minimus reset his vocal processor, “the disturbance in the hallway. It was Chromedome and Rewind.”
Megatron’s brow furrowed in a look of confusion. “Really? Aren’t they usually quite well-behaved? Well, except when Rewind is around Tailgate or Swerve- something about those three together seems to cause trouble.”
Minimus shook his head. “They were, ah...” He paused, and his cheeks gained a red tint. “Being... intimate.”
Megatron’s optics went wide. “Oh.”
“Normally I might give them a pass, as they’ve gone through enough together, but they... I had to write them up, anyway. It was a clear violation of the PDA rules for crew members.” Minimus was stubbornly not looking at Megatron, chewing his lip absentmindedly.
Megatron himself was no better. He too had gone a bit stiff, his lips pulled thin. “I see. Well, it’s good you disciplined them. Behavior like that should... it should be confined to private spaces. Their habsuite, perhaps.” Something felt thick in his throat, but he didn’t want to clear it and make noise.
“I agree completely. They should have recognized that such intimate actions need to be kept- kept quiet, not out there for everyone to see,” Minimus stuttered. For some reason the moment Megatron’s hand had been on his waist kept replaying in his mind. His face grew redder. For a few agonizing seconds, the silence stretched on. Minimus wondered if he could claim to have forgotten to file a report and run off. Considering the distance to the floor, probably not without losing the last few shreds of his dignity.
Finally, mercifully, Megatron spoke. “I have a new poem.”
“You do?” Minimus perked up.
Slowly, the tenseness drained from Megatron’s frame, and he picked up a datapad from the desk. “I wrote it last week. Would you like to hear it? If you don’t, that’s perfectly-“
“I would love to.” Minimus interrupted him, before he realized what he had done. His cheeks grew hot once more.
But before he could apologize, Megatron chuckled. “I’m honored by your enthusiasm.” With that, he gave Minimus a soft smile, one of amusement without mocking. Minimus felt his spark flutter. Then, Megatron began to read in that low, sweet voice of his, and Minimus relaxed.