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The cave hideout, one of many that the High Guard of Cybertron maintained from their many cycles out on the treacherous surface of the planet was something Megatron had taken to as one of the few familiar aspects of his new life. Not that his new life wasn’t a welcome change! No, he was much better off here than with that…. that betrayer. He wouldn’t go back, not even if going back was an option, not back into the condescending arms of Orion.
Orion’s arms… His processor wandered, and Megatron shook himself with a snarl, causing Starscream to jump up and hastily leave as he dropped off another stack of datapads on his desk for his new leader to review. Megatron looked after him irritably. As far as new subordinates went, Megatron found Starscream annoying, Shockwave… odd (though he supposed he’d act the same if Sentinel had stolen his head and an arm, he reasoned).
And then there was Soundwave.
Soundwave was never like Starscream in lecturing him. He didn’t avoid speaking up out of fear either, he just only spoke when he had something to say. And that, Megatron could respect.
“Lord Megatron.” Came a voice from the doorway before he could get too deep in his brooding. It was Soundwave, speak of the devil. “Yes?”
“Observation- it has been several stellar cycles since you have last entered recharge.” Soundwave said quietly, stepping forward. Megatron waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m just too busy, Starscream left me these datapads to review. There are files on every single one of the High Guard fliers- at least, the ones who survived the battle with Sentinel- I have to rearrange them according to rank with the new leadership structure, then assign which one of the three of you will be second in command- and it definitely won’t be Starscream. He doesn’t even think I can give our faction a good name, thinks my name is stupid, he doesn’t dare say it out loud of course… if i didn’t need him…” Megatron trailed off. He realized he was beginning to sound rather like a sleep-deprived, ranting lunatic, or worse- a sparkling who needed a nap.
“Soundwave thinks Megatron is a suitable name. Megatron reminds Soundwave of Megatronus in mission.” The silver mech looked up to his Communications Officer, startled. “You knew Megatronus Prime?”
“Yes. He was very resilient.” Soundwave paused, looked at Megatron through that unreadable yellow visor. “Like Megatron was. He also liked reading.” He placed a datapad on the the table. It was old, yet clearly well taken care of.
“Property of Megatronus Prime.”
Megatron sat bolt upright in his chair. “Property of… You really did know Megatronus.” His newfound suspicion in all other bots resurfaced. “But why give it to me?”
“Assesment- it is suitable for Megatron to maintain the property of Megatronus Prime,” the blue mech gestured to his own chest. “Megatron already is.”
Megatron’s hand mirrored Soundwave’s gesture, hovering right over his spark chamber, where the cog of Megatronus now resided- and would continue to reside! He would never let anything happen or any bot take the cog he had saved from Sentinel’s desecration! “Thank you, Soundwave.” he conceded. “Will that be all?”
“Negative. Suggestion- go recharge. Soundwave will organize the datapads for quick assessment in the morning. It is inefficient for our leader to not recharge and will harm our cause.” Megatron relaxed at that. He remembered Soundwave wasn’t like Starscream, conniving to get on his good side. The blue mech truly believed in him, he could see it not in grand gestures or words, but the support Soundwave gave him from the day he watched him beat Starscream in hand-to-hand combat.
Plus, curling up with this datapad didn’t sound half bad.
Giving Soundwave a nod and a few terse orders for appearance’s sake, Megatron retreated into his berth.
It was half bad.
Not because of the datapad- the text, ‘Art of War and Battle’, was excellent- Megatronus Prime had perfect choice in reading material- but he couldn’t be reading all night. The issue was simple but infuriatingly un-simple to remedy- he couldn’t sleep.
Back in the mines, recharge came as naturally as venting heavily at the end of another long, exhausting day of toil. Megatron began to reminisce, against his better judgement…
“G’night Dee,” Orion would yawn from his berth across the room. “G’night Pax,” he would reply with a yawn. Some nights, they recharged together.
Well, most nights, if he was being honest.
The first time was the day after they had read the daily announcements in the sector about Tripwire getting crushed in a cave-in. Now D-16 was never close to Tripwire, and was used to this sort of thing, but Orion, in his endless affective empathy, damn him, never could seem to come to terms with how their life was in the mines. It was part of what fueled his mad dashes to the archives to find clues to the artifact that would end their turmoil.
That’s why it wasn’t much of a surprise when, that night, Orion ‘accidentally’ stumbled into his berth instead, and wrapped his arms around Dee, holding him secure as he leaned against him. It became a habit…
Megatron ground his teeth as he tossed and turned. Everything was too big, his frame, this berth, and the weight of his memories pushing against his chest, fighting to get free and warm his cool body. What was it about the mines that let him sleep like a protoform? His lie was so much better now- it was! He didn't need Orion Pax, didn't need snuggling close...
The silver mech stood up to punctuate his thoughts. Fine. If another warm body was what his frame wanted so he could sleep, then it would get one.
He seized Soundwave.
That part wasn’t hard- the communications officer didn't ask too many questions (a favourite trait of his) and his stoic posture barely flinched when Megatron placed a hand on his shoulder pauldron and ordered ‘Come to my berth.’ Soundwave merely turned his head slightly, peering up at his leader with silent curiosity.The hardest part was the gawking and whispers from the bots who overheard that command- it wasn’t a huge cave. Megatron cursed himself internally- why, why did he say that out loud and not through commlink? Oh right, because cogless bots weren't used to commlink. This was all Sentinel's fault! Megatron's eyes flashed at no one in particular, he then stalked back to his quarters, Soundwave tailing dutifully behind.
“What’s the matter Soundwave?” Megatron barked after a while as they walked to his quarters and lay down. The smaller blue mech seemed uncharistically stiff in his movements, almost… reluctant. Soundwave looked up.
“Query- what is Soundwave… expected to do?” The bot’s voice sounded small. Megatron raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Does Megatron request.. Interfacing?”
Heat flew to Megatron’s face, and he sputtered. “I… no! Definitely not! Why would you even say such a thing? I am NOT looking for company in- in THAT way.” Even if he was open to it, interfacing was the last thing he felt up to doing that night. He was tired, awkward, and didn’t know Soundwave too well, and he didn’t plan to. This was all just pragmatic sleep protocol! Soundwave relaxed against him. “Soundwave asked because Soundwave was requested to interface with Sentinel Prime in the past.” Megatron froze, anger rising all over again. “Did he…?”
“Negative. Commander Starscream burst in and told Sentinel off,” Soundwave’s voice was oddly quiet, not reverberating through the room as it often did. “Starscream- annoying, but a very effective ally. And friend.” Megatron relaxed. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that now.” he said gruffly. “I am not Sentinel.”
As Soundwave relaxed, Megatron found himself involuntarily rocking back and forth a bit- the same way he used to rock Orion when the slightly smaller blue mech worked himself into an overstimulated frenzy.
“Query- Megatron is rocking Soundwave-”
“Yes I know.” snapped Megatron. He continued to do it. After a while, the physical implications of their arrangement tugged at his processor, too obvious to ignore.
“This is not cuddling, or canoodling,” he pointed out sternly, feeling inclined to clear things up as he spooned the smaller mech close as possible on the big berth. Soundwave hummed monotonously in affirmation.
Their EM fields flickered against each other nicely, and Megatron sighed. That was part of the issue, his EM field, now overactive thanks to his shiny new T-cog, was lacking in close proximity to other bots. Now, it was satisfied.
In a professional way, of course!
Good. That was cleared up at least. Satisfied, Megatron buried his face in Soundwave’s shoulder pauldron, his lonely- no, thermally needy- body finally feeling comfortable now that another bot was… firmly held against it. It was... nice. Wasn't Orion, but still blue, and smaller, and Soundwave was warm and needed his care as well... In a completely leader-subordinate way, of course!
Then, his body betrayed him.
It started out as a simple rolling hum, that he thought came from Soundwave, but then it got louder and louder. He woke up stirring, irritated as he was just falling asleep. “if that’s you, Soundwave…” he started to growl, but then as he adjusted his position, he caught it.
He was purring.
Or rather, his engine was for some reason. A low, loud ‘rrrrr’ that felt nice, but sent the entirely wrong message. Mortified, Megatron scrambled off the berth. Soundwave stirred and looked to his leader. “I… have something to attend to.” Megatron stammered. No use, Soundwave was not buying it, he thought in increasing despair. There was no lying to a mech who could scan electrical impluses.
“Assement… makes sense. Megatron is a tank alt, and tanks have engines that produce high quantity of sound when idling. The increased temperature likely triggered it.”
Yes, yes… that was it! “Affirmative.” barked Megatron, and he settled back onto the berth, relieved. He curled up around the communications officer again to get to recharge, engine purring- no, idling away.
Yes, Soundwave always knew what the right thing was to say. (unlike certain red and white fliers he could think of). He’d have to look into promoting that mech later…
