Chapter Text
Right after he emerged from Well of Spark, Orion Pax has been told that he will work as a miner in Iacon. He obediently followed everything that he was told to and was shipped to Iacon in an instant.
The commuter train that brought him from Well of Spark finally stopped in front of a large building. The building itself didn't look like it was cared for, Orion can pick several places where he sees rust and a broken glass window. What a rundown building.
Along with the other mechas who emerged with him, he hopped off the commuter train, walking towards a looming figure that's clearly waiting for them at the entrance of the building. The mech used a visor and mask on his faceplate, with his servo crossed in front of his chestplate, he didn't say anything but the way his pedes tapping the ground tells that he's impatient.
Tap, tap, tap!
Eventually he shouted at them, "Faster! Make a line!" Probably tired of waiting for them walking slowly.
Orion half ran himself to join the line, positioning himself right behind a mech with white frame, hint of blue, and red crest on his helm. He grabbed that mech shoulder, jolted him but he did turn his helm to see Orion with an unamused look.
"Sorry, didn't mean to shock you. I just want to ask where we will be going?" He asked with an apologetic tone, blinking several times to the mech.
"I don't know, we come together don't we? I'm as clueless as you mech. Why not ask that one?" The mech pointed his digits to the looming figure from before, and Orion let out a sigh of defeat.
"He's scary, I don't want to pick up trouble," He said as he let go of his grip on the mech shoulder.
"Right, then just wait." Orion nodded his helm, and the mech went back facing the front while gently patting his shoulder where Orion grabbed before.
Does he grips too strong? Is it that hurt so bad? Or does this mech just not want to be touched?
Eventually another looming figure comes out from the door of the building. Still with the same visor and mask, he said nothing and swept a look over them. Then he opened the door again and with the move of his servo, he asked the first one of the line to start getting inside following him.
Orion moves past a room filled with a recharge slab on the wall, it's on his left and right side as he walks through the hallway. There are a lot of other mechs in each room, talking to each other, eating energon cube, and doing their own activities.
Orion can't help but think about it.
Soon he will become just like them too.
The looming figure finally stopped, he turned his helm to the right then pointed his digit and said, "This is your barrack room, pick whichever slab you want on this side. Don't try the other side, it's already owned by those who come before you."
Then the line scrambled off, everyone started running picking off the slab they wanted. Orion managed to pick a slab near the hallway, easy for access and he doesn't need to walk deeper through the room when he's tired later.
After the looming figure leaves, the other mechs start to move around the building, checking places they've never seen and know. Orion saw the mech with the red crest in front of him before joining the others too, he wanted to introduce himself to him but decided to stay and do it later after he came back.
Then he notices a mech coming inside, to the other side slab of the room, someone who came before him, he thought. Gray coloured frame with a black round helm like a solvent bucket and hint of red accent, sticking a sticker to his own slab. And he realised it was Megatronus Prime decal, and his voice reached out to the mech without his own permission, "Hey, Megatronus Prime. Nice."
The mech turned to him, a smile on his faceplate as he walked towards where Orion stood and stopped beside him. "Yeah. Well, he's my hero," he said as he turned his gaze back to his slab where Megatronus Prime decal stood out in the grey recharge slab.
"The greatest Prime to ever live," said both of them together and they burst into laughter because of it.
Orion has heard this title a lot while he's on the commuter line moving across Iacon, he can't help but notice the thirteen Primes hologram around the city.
"I'm D-16." He let his servo out to Orion, and he took it right away into a servoshake. D-16 servo is firm, with a hint of rougher palm plate, clearly hard working mech.
"Orion Pax," he said with a smile, letting go of D-16's servo after a few shakes. "It's nice to meet you D-16, you're the first I know around here."
"Oh you're new? Ever mine energon before?" The optics ridge in D-16's faceplate lifted, shooting a curious look over Orion. He leaned himself to the wall behind him, searching for a comfortable position.
And Orion found his attention slipped into a different direction than he wanted, he means, it's hard not to stare when D-16 looks like that. Leaning against the wall with his servo crossed over his chestplate, and his hexagonal optics fixed on him with open curiosity, waiting for an answer.
D-16, this mech looked far too relaxed for someone Orion had only just met. Primus, Orion swears D-16 has stolen his spark on the first sight.
"Uh—" Orion blinked, realizing several nano-klik had passed in complete silence between them. He tried to focus on the questions, really. But his processor kept getting snapped again by the way D-16 slightly tilted his helm to the right waiting for an answer and how a faint grin now showed up on his mouthplate.
Does he realise Orion is staring too hard?
"Do you like what you see?"
"Yes—I mean no! No. I uh—I just emerged from this very cycle. Hahaha." Orion shrugged his shoulder in awkward motion, forcing his attention back to the conversation while avoiding to look at D-16. He swallowed the salivial fluid stuck on his throat, "Uhm, how about you? Must be here for some time."
"Well I have been mining since Sentinel became the new Prime." He shrugged his shoulder playfully, then continued, "But just so you know, Pax. Mining energon can be quite dangerous. Those energon veins can explode and cause a cave collapse."
"Then how about this?" Orion moved closer to where D-16 leaned, somehow he was able to muster a bravery to do it or he just doesn't realise his action again.
D-16 optics ridge lifted, he got himself an amused look on his faceplate as Orion stopped right in front of him. Orion continued, "You watch my back, and I promise to watch yours."
The distance between their frame suddenly felt far smaller than Orion though it will be. It was close enough for him to notice every little detail on D-16's frame; the faint scratches along his forearm plating, his dusted thighs and chestplate, even the subtle shift of his expression when Orion stared right into it.
Oh Primus, everything was fragging distracting.
He could feel his processor threatened to short-circuit under the weight of the attention of the mech in front of him alone. D-16 looked at him as if he was trying to figure out Orion piece by piece. Then he let out a chuckle, rumbling from his chassis and making his frame slightly shaking from it. He had to bring his own servo to shut down the chuckle and stare over Orion.
"Alright Pax," D-16 finally said, with an intoxicating deep voice, the teasing tone never fully left. He squeezed Orion's shoulder then patted it and moved from where he stood. "Come, I'll take you around the barrack. But never try to slow me down, got it?"
────────
"So I tried looking for more information about the Matrix and the thirteen Primes," Orion murmured, his voice sound quieter beneath the distant hum of Iacon’s endless buzzing. "But every transmission just stops at the same point. I wonder if the Matrix is even real at this point." He shifted slightly as he spoke, moving closer to D-16's chassis, hearing the low sound of his lover vent and the warmth of it. He let out a purr of satisfaction from his chassis.
Sticking close to D-16 is heaven.
They were sprawled across the rooftop of the barracks, hidden away from the crowded floor below them. Warm lights from Iacon stretched endlessly around them and the central tower stood tall in the distance from where they were.
There was no real sky above them, only the enormous ceiling of Cybertron's underground cities, but from up here, with the lights flickering far below and the faint vibrations of Iacon surrounding them.
Orion thought it felt peaceful.
D-16 let out a quiet hum below him, one servo lazily resting against Orion's back while the other came up to gently pat the top of his helm. The movement was slow, full of affection and familiarity, as though he had done it a hundred times before.
With his optics half-lidded, he looked down at Orion, then said, "I told you already. All of this is pointless, Pax. Sentinel Prime can't even find it."
Orion huffed softly at that, lifting his helm just enough to look at his lover's faceplate properly. "Even after mint-condition Megatronus Prime decal, first edition that I got you this cycle?" he asked, with a hint of offense. "And the datapads I downloaded so you could learn how to write poetry? Essay?"
That finally pulled a smile out of D-16. A warm smile, spreading easily across his faceplate in a way that always makes Orion's processor stumble. Every time this happens, he thinks Primus deliberately gives him a malfunction brain module instead of one that's working properly to use.
"Okay, I admit my defeat." D-16 said. "I'll give you those ones. Thank you."
Before Orion could respond, D-16 leaned down slightly, pressing a soft peck against his cheekplate. The small contact was enough to send warmth flooding through Orion's systems, it feels like he's melting into an energon pool on top of D-16's frame.
Then D-16 pulled back.
Orion immediately groaned in protest, slumped his helm dramatically into the crook of D-16's neck while tightening his hold around him. "You're going to be the death of me, Dee," he muttered against his plating.
"But don't you should thank me for always getting your back too, hm? You would be dropped to the level below if I didn't cover you this cycle, or any other cycle before." D-16 chuckles at that, the vibration of it rumbling through Orion where they were pressed together and it still feels the same as the one from their first encounter, so warm, comfy, and everything that Orion could ever ask for from Primus.
"Yeah, thank you love."
For a while, neither of them spoke. They simply remained there together atop the rooftop, watching the endless lights of Iacon pulse in the distance while the recharge cycle slowly ended. Their shift will start.
Eventually, D-16 shifted beneath him. He stopped caressing Orion's helm and started trying to shove him. "Let's go, Pax. The job won't do itself," he said.
Orion let out a dissatisfied groan but finally pushed himself up. Their servos brushed together briefly as they stood, and before Orion could fully pull away, D-16 caught his servo on his own.
Orion blinked in surprise, because it's unlike D-16 to actually hold him down. "Pax, we'll need to have a serious talk after the shift ends. Meet me at the washrack after you finish."
"Washrack?"
"Yes, washrack."
────────
He hasn't recharged at all ever since the last dark-cycle, spending his recharge time with D-16 on the rooftop, the thought of him wanting to meet up in the washrack had him stay awake the entire light-cycle. His frame didn't bother to stop at all mining around the cave, even Darkwing praised him for his doubled mining output than he used to be.
And here he is now, getting dragged around by D-16 in the communal washrack, avoiding any mech that tried to strike a conversation with them, until they found a quiet corner in the room and D-16 let go of his servo.
"Help me scrub my back plating," D-16 said at last, throwing a wire scrubber into Orion direction. "Make it clean and shiny when I get out of here."
"I thought we will have a serious talk?" Orion asked with a spark-broken tone, his faceplate turned sour but still caught the wire scrubber. He poured the bland scented liquid soap to the scrubber and splashed it with a little solvent to make more foam.
Then began to rub it around D-16 back plating, not too hard to leave a scratch but still firm enough to wash all the dirt and dust he gets from mining. He moves to the gap between his lover plating, each seam rubbed clean, and gives a massage to D-16's shoulders.
"Hngh, I didn't say how serious it is though."
"Then tell me how serious it is." Urgency sharpened Orion's voice, it was quieter than how he usually spoke and D-16 flinched from it for a nano-klik.
"Alright, I'll tell you. I want you to stay calm and don't ever try to cut me while I'm speaking," D-16 responded with a gentler tone. He turned around to Orion, facing him with a serious but uncertain look. "Turns around, I'll help scrub your backplating too."
Reluctantly Orion turned his frame, D-16 sprayed the solvent over his frame, making him wet but more relaxed than he knew. His shoulder shagged, optics closed while enjoying the wash of solvent.
"So, you know about the T-Cog right? The one where we can get by paying a specific amount of shanix?" D-16 turned off the solvent faucet and put down the detachable shower head on its handles. He took over the wire scrubber from Orion's servo and pumped out a good amount of liquid soap to it, rubbed it with his own servo to make more foam.
"Yeah, I know about that," Orion murmured his answer, his tense frame from before has slumped.
D-16 didn't respond to him right away, instead he scrubbed Orion's back plating in a vertical move with such an ease like he knows how Orion likes it.
"Before you came to me, I've always wanted to get out of here." The wire scrubber makes its way between his shoulders, reaching a part that Orion won't be able to reach without the help of other mechs. "I want to get out as fast as I can. So I've always taken more shifts than the others, getting more shanix to buy the T-Cog."
Orion knows where this conversation will be going, but he says nothing and lets D-16 finish just like what he asked, his relaxed frame from before now on alert.
But D-16 let it be, his servo reached his audial receptor, gently cleaning each side with his servo instead of the wire scrubber because of Orion's sensitivity. "The amount of those shanix, I've reached it."
"D-do—argh." Orion tried to say something but his voice went into static, and his lover squeezed his shoulder really hard it probably dented now. "Sorry."
"Face me." Orion turned his frame to face his lover, both of them still have bubbles over their back plating. "I don't want to leave you, you know that right?" He lifted the wire scrubber and used it across Orion's chestplate then moved to his forearm.
"I know."
"And staying here would bring us nothing. I want to leave, but I don't want to go without you too," D-16 said as he gently moved to the T-Cog hole Orion's chassis, using the same method as his audial receptor, he caressed it slowly with his servo.
"Get down, we need to clean your legs plating too. It's dirty and irks me." Orion gets down to the stoll placed around the communal washrack, D-16 moves to grab another stoll and dragged it in front of him. He sat down and started rubbing Orion's knee plating with the scrubber, trying hard to clean the dried dirt on it.
"Can I speak?" Orion shot his glance over D-16.
"Yes, you may Pax. I want to hear your thoughts too, we need to resolve this after all."
For a moment Orion didn't say anything right away, he quietly enjoyed the feeling of D-16's digits brushed over his frame and leaning into it. Then he took a deep vent, and said with a croaky voice, "I don't mind it. I don't mind you buying the T-Cog and leaving me, for I know I can try to follow you." He lifted his servo, tried to move but hesitation froze him and he pulled it back.
"Do you believe in me? I'll follow you, I'll try at least."
"I did," D-16 answered, voice strained from trying to keep calm, still trying to rub dirt from Orion's thighs. "I've always believed in you." He froze for a nano-klik before laughing bitterly under his breath.
"But that amount of shanix?!" His voice snapped sharply, whatever Orion said before sounds like a lie to him. "I've worked here for what? Six vorns?" He stands up and spins around abruptly, his grey servo tightening around the wire scrubber, crushing it.
"Six vorns, Pax! Six!" His yellow jaundice optics burned bright with frustration. "And you just started working from the last mega-cycle!" D-16 threw away the scrubber from his servo. The sound clattered loudly across the floor, rang through the now empty communal racks.
D-16 moved to the nearest sink, leaving Orion behind. Both of his servos braced against the edge of the sink. His frame trembled hard enough for the metal to rattle beneath his grip, causing a dent.
"I don't ..." His voice cracked, forcing him to pause and restart his voice box again. "I don't want to leave you here," he continued after a silence, lowering his helm. "I don't want to. Not even for a nano-klik."
"But Primus, I'm so tired of this place," he admitted quietly with a breathy sigh, the anger he just felt turned into exhaustion. He could feel a drop of coolant trying to tear itself from his optic, and blink it away.
"Dee."
D-16 didn't answer.
"Dee, my spark."
That makes him react, slightly. His shoulder goes slumped, helm tilted showing that he's listening now. Orion had already stood up from the stoll, reached down slowly from behind him. His digits are firmly placed against the edge of the sink, right beside where D-16's servos instead of touch it directly.
"Do you remember," Orion began softly.
"when you told me you came from Tarn?" He placed his helm on the crook of D-16's neck, venting slowly the scent of the bland soap there.
D-16's vents slowed from the touch, heated vents brushed through his neck cabling, though tension still coiled tightly on his frame, he's more at ease now. "You said they shipped you to the mines in Kaon before transferring you here."
"The colosseum," Orion continued, watching D-16 carefully through their reflection from the wet metal surface. "You wanted to be a gladiator before, right?"
D-16 finally lifted his helm at that, optics narrowing to see his own reflection stared back looked tired, angry. "I have no T-Cog, I can't be one." he whispered butterly.
Orion's gaze softened, and he spoke slowly, "But now you'll have it. You can be gladiator, you can get more shanix than what you used to get."
"Then what?"
"Uhm, make more shanix to buy me T-Cog? Scrap—I sound like a desperate play bot." He brings his servo to cover up his faceplate in embarrassment.
"I think you'll work fine as my play bot, Pax."
Orion said nothing but grumbling behind him. Then D-16 turned around to face him, a smile slowly crept into his mouthplate. He lifted his servo to cup Orion's faceplate, caressing it like what he always does. "Alright then, wait for me? All my hard work will be nothing in the faint if I come back here only to know you are already crushed in a cave collapse."
"i could say the same thing to you, Dee. Don't die, and come back to me. Because I'll be waiting right here." Orion said as he moved his hanging servo to hold his lover's waist again, his digit brushed something wirh a weird texture from D-16's back. His optic then went wide from realisation when he lifted it to see. Trying to hold his laugh he said, "I forgot we haven't washed ourselves with solvent from the soap."
"Oh! I actually forgot about it too."