Chapter Text
“Pax, this isn't gonna work! Let go of my fragging hand, so I can punch you properly!” D-16 whisper-yelled. He was being dragged through the crowded sidewalks of Iacon by his servos intertwined in Pax’s. D-16 kept his optics to the ground and not look at the stares that they were probably garnering in their haste.
Now, D-16 was a confident bot and could say holding servos was the least embarrassing thing that he and Pax have done, but holding servos to fake off an energon restaurant’s couple’s discount was a new low.
“Just follow my lead! Their food has been the talk throughout the mines! They rarely ever do this!” Pax looked back with that stupid grin of his. As D-16 chanced up a look, he hoped the heat of the setting sun could explain away the warmth he felt radiating from their servos. Primus damn this bot for making him go through this!
As they neared the restaurant, the signage outside the door read in bright, yellow pixels behind the standard blue of the hologram was, “Come with your spark! Discount of 40%!” There was a line that stretched from the door to almost two restaurants down the street.
“Oh Primus, Pax! This line is gonna take forever! Let’s just head back to the canteen or find a less busier place.” D-16 tried to slip his servos out of Pax’s grasp, but Pax held steadfast.
“No, D it’s gonna be fine! We can just talk and we’ll be at the front in no time!” Pax continued to drag D-16 to the back of the line without letting go of their servos. “Besides, why should we walk all the way back? By the time we get to transport and head anywhere else, it’ll be dusk! And I know you get cranky around that time if you haven’t eaten anything yet!”
D-16 hated how much Pax knew about his eating habits. Screw him for getting hangry, like they and the other miners don’t get varying amounts of food depending on if they are below, met, or above energon quota for the cycle!
“Okay, but do we really need to keep holding servos, like this…” D-16 lowered his voice hoping the other (more likely real ) couples in front didn’t overhear.
“Ehh? Holding hands sells the bit, right? That’s what all the couples here are doing!” Pax smiled and squeezed their servos to emphasize.
They, also, wrap around each other and kiss , thought D-16 as he surveyed the couples ahead of them. Sure enough, there were couples that had their arms around each others’ waists or couples giving pecks to their sparkmate. And here I am with Pax, my best friend who doesn’t have any drop of romance in his frame.
However, D-16 couldn't help as he smiled and laughed while he and Pax talked. They inched through the line. As time went on, it felt like their servos were meant to fit like this, comfortably intertwined in-between them.
The night sky started to illuminate with Iacon’s holographic signs. The buzz of the streets increased as more bots left from work. The two had finally made it to the front and were let in by the host. As they were led to their table, Pax held polite, small talk with the host. D-16 felt like he was the only one to still recognize that they were still holding servos for the longest time.
Am I just making this bigger than it has to be? , thought D-16. His optics twitched. I don’t want anything more than what we have… right? Right.
The host left them at their table after announcing that a waiter will be with them shortly. Pax
finally
pulled his servo away from D-16’s grip as he moved closer to his table. D-16 had to stop himself from reaching out for his servo again before letting his fall to his side.
“D, sit here!” Pax had pulled out the chair.
D-16 huffed and rolled his eyes, “Wow, such a gentlebot.” He sat down and felt Pax’s chassis press softly against his back as Pax even pushed his chair closer to the table. D-16 held his intake until Pax straightened up.
Pax ran over to his seat across from D-16. He scooted his chair and said, “Yeah, well, I dragged you here and it is the least I could do! Also, don’t even think about paying! I got it covered!”
D-16’s spark seemed to have tilted on its axis because he was sure it shouldn’t be making him feel this lightheaded. Leave it to Pax for being so… good to his friends. He riggedly nodded his head.
Pax seemed surprised before smiling and settling more into his chair.
The surprise made sense, though, since D-16 would usually argue at least once to pay for his share. Sue him! He was hungry and that damned line took forever
with their servos glued together for so long
.
They looked at the menu and placed their orders to the waiter. They returned to that easy banter between friends. D-16 felt the tension in his wires start to ease up. They got in under false pretenses, but they get to eat a nice meal together. That’s what he thought before the lights started to dim.
“Now, everyone, thank you for coming to our humble restaurant! Throughout the evening we will be having some lovely musicians play some romantic ballads for your entertainment! Our opening act is…”
“Wow! Food and a show! This place is amazing! Right D?” Pax looked over to D-16, but D-16 was trying to stop his fans from turning on and ruining the fragging mood.
This was supposed to be just a dinner between friends! They were supposed to write this off as Pax’s troublemaking and have a laugh later! How did he get stuck in such a sappy situation? Oh Primus, what the hell?! He sucked it up and muttered something he hoped was an affirmative.
Pax either took it as it is or chose to ignore his awkward reply as he quietly hummed to the tune of the band. The other couples whispered and giggled at each table.
D-16 drummed his digits as he observed Pax. He would never admit it out loud, but Pax made his days in and out of the mines special. When D-16 was first assigned to the mines, hell probably since he has been online, he expected his life to just be about following protocol: mine, eat, recharge, and repeat. Sure, there was looking up to Megatronus Prime,
the strongest Prime that ever was and his idol,
but it wasn’t like he could hold his servos or go on stupid adventures with the dead bot. No, that was a Pax-and-him thing.
He and the other miners got along and did the job together just fine, but when he was with Pax… he felt safe. He got his back and he got his. There was no mistaking the bond they had as best friends. Sure, he’s heard the snide remarks here and there for him to get his “sparkmate” when Pax was messing around during break time (he can be serious during work hours and D-16 was very proud of that). It just meant they had a close bond, and it doesn't seem to bother Pax. It was just a joke to him. No harm, no foul. However, if those remarks made D-16’s spark speed up, he was the only one that needed to know as he told the other miners off.
D-16’s rumination was interrupted as their carefully plated energon, bolts, and screws finally arrived at the table. He expected the waiter to rush off, but, then, the waiter placed a rather large cube of energon with a straw that branched out into two onto their table. The waiter said with a wink, “On the house for the happy couple! Have a nice night!”
Pax thanked the waiter with the most blinding smile on his face plate. This was a splendid addition considering this was on top of the couples deal!
The waiter nodded his helm and made his leave.
D-16 put his helm into servos. He didn’t know if he should sob or laugh at the situation he was in! What on sweet Cybertron did he do in his past life to be in this situation with his best friend?! D-16 lifted his helm as he wondered if he should jump the table and throttle the bot in front of him now or after dinner. He decided after since the food on their plates looked so good and it would be a pity to ruin it now. D-16 would just not drink from the cube! It was plenty simple , he thought to himself as he and Pax dug in.
He was so slagging wrong. His intake felt dry after a couple bites into their food. He glanced up at Pax and saw that he was still focused on his food. D-16 took this as his chance to take a sip from the shared cube. He placed his dermas on the straw closest to him and took a couple sips. D-16 closed his optics in content until he felt more flow pressure past his straw. His optics flew open as he saw Pax drinking from the other side of the straw. D-16 almost spat out the energon left in his intake as he drew back, but he was able to swallow it down into a choked cough that hopefully wouldn’t draw attention from the other couples around them.
“D? Hey, are you ok?” Pax said with his optical ridges scrunched together.
“This is all your slagging fault,” was what D-16 wanted to spit out, but instead he said, “It’s fine. Just went down the wrong pipe.” He coughed a little more before he calmed both of them down and continued eating in the dim and loud restaurant.
Pax pushed the energon cube closer to D-16 in quiet offering. D-16 took it graciously before looking anywhere else. They passed the cube back-and-forth then on and the tension that D-16 thought he was the only one privy to seemed to fade.
Pax seemed to pick up that D-16 was ready to talk and started spouting a one-sided conversation in-between bites of his food.
D-16 relaxed his shoulder pads as the dinner continued.
They finished their meal and paid their bill. They walked together chatting about whatever came to mind as they made their way back to the mines. This time they didn’t hold servos, but that was okay.
“D, thanks for coming through. I’m really glad we were able to do this together.” Pax said into the night air.
D-16 took a glance at Pax and saw that he was looking around at the sparkling holograms and what little bots were left outside. He looked forward again before saying, “Yeah, well a free meal is always good.” He guessed he wouldn’t make good on his earlier decision and let this one adventure end sweetly.
“On our next, longer break, let’s go out to eat again, but this time you’re paying!” Pax laughed.
D-16 chuckled in lull of a reply. He wouldn’t want to go out and eat with anyone else besides his troublemaker. The promise of a next time made him smile. They had so much time together despite the dangers of the mines. He couldn’t help but feel his spark radiate warmth throughout his frame. There will be a next time.
The two bots continued their walk into the night together in a way that didn’t have a true name to yet, but it still existed.
Megatron scanned the camera feed of the burned rubble of a section of Iacon. His red optics never stayed in one place for too long to scour for any surviving Autobot in the area of their most recent battle. However, his optics did stray for a nanoklik longer to one half-collapsed building of what could have been a restaurant. In a past lifetime, two best friends had eaten there together with a promise of a next time that never came. A war that neither had seen coming had swooped them in and, now, they were on separate sides of it.
Megatron pulled his optics away from the image. There was no use to think of that part of the past. He made a new promise to win the war, and only bitterness and anger will serve him well. There was no time left to waste.