ZEX/Dinobot RP log (w/Konora as Dinobot) [3/?]
[continued from here; this log has smuttiness.]
A very low, very quiet sort of rumbling started in Dinobot's chest. He really couldn't help it, all things considered. The tail made for interesting prey, and coming off of the predatory, exhilirating high in the simulator... well, a little bit of pleased growling wasn't altogether unusual...
ZEX pressed down the lever that indicated the level Dinobot's floor was on, then idly let the same arm brush past a decorative medal on his belt (which might very well have been the one that would jam the elevator between levels!) as he stepped back and glanged at Dinobot, smiling. The dear thing was rumbling in a most interesting way~!
Tail still swishing, even as he stood still, ZEX curiously asked, "What does the noise you're making mean?" in the sweetest, most innoffensively charmingly 'I just want to find out more about my dear friend' tone he had.
Dinobot jerked, attention snapped from ZEX's tail and optics wide in surprise as the sound abruptly cut off. Slag, he had been caught! And the best tactic for such a situation...
"I wasn't making any noise. Perhaps it was the lift you heard."
Denial.
The lift hummed merrily, and very quietly, upward, and after a moment of glancing amusedly at the walls ZEX giggled and echoed, "Yes, perhaps it was the lift--"
Said lift ground to a very, very noticable stop, lurched downwards a few inches, and made a faintly compaining noise as the humming died away into silence.
"... oh, drat," ZEX said, with very convincing irritation, "it's locked up again." Exactly as planned~
The jolt had Dinobot snarling loudly, instantly all fangs and claws and bright, bright optics wide with alarm. "It's what?" he screeched, staring at the door and quite obviously calculating if he could wrench the blasted thing open.
ZEX winced slightly at the screech, blinking at Dinobot as he fished about his belt for his communicator. "Locked up. This ship hasn't been refurbished in... hmm, eighteen years, now? We do the best we can with the supplies we're given or can make, but the lifts get a bit fussy at times, despite our best efforts. Aha~" He pulled out a communicator and hit a few buttons. "DAX, lift 4 has frozen up. Please send someone to fix it?"
Snarling lowly at the door like it was all its fault.... Dinobot began pacing, utterly infuriated... or at least appearing that way. Certainly not nervous, no.
"Why would you let a ship go into such disrepair?!" he continued, ranting aimlessly. "What if this were a battle? You'd be trapped in this slagging tiny box while your ship is torn to pieces!" The overdramatic gesturing completed the whole 'slightly-unhinged' look Dinobot was currently sporting.
ZEX froze, perfectly, utterly still for a moment, as DAX's voice said tinnily, "Yes, sir. I'll have someone there immediately."
Without acknowledging DAX, ZEX tucked the communicator away and said, frostily, tendrils beginning to twitch, "Forgive me for being exiled from my homeworld for two decades. Once I call the Council and inform them that I might die due to disrepair, they'll stop hoping it happens sooner rather than later."
... Not exactly how the scene had played out in his mind.
Dinobot hissed, sneering and utterly working himself up into a gigantic paranoid fit. However, he had no response to that, and, ignoring the nervous twitch beginning in his hands, began to pace again. "To the pit with this!" he snarled quietly, to himself. "This whole ship and its tiny slagging boxes...."
A few seconds of cold silence later, ZEX realized what should have been-- was-- obvious.
The predatory creature in front of him felt caged.
What a fool he was! He'd been thinking the solitude would be the perfect place to make his strike, not that Dinobot would be unnnerved by the smallness of the space-- and he'd even seen Dinobot's claustrophibic tendancies before! But Dinobot had hit a sore spot, unknowingly, and ZEX had reacted on instinct, on anger, not on thought.
"I'm sorry about this," he said, and the apology was genuine as he moved into Dinobot's path. "Please, calm down. We'll be out of the lift in no time at all, you'll see."
Dinobot stopped short in order to avoid colliding with ZEX, a strangled whine escaping his vocaliser as he glared and twitched, but otherwise stood still after that. Dimming his optics, he cycled air through his mouth to cool stressed circuits. He... didn't mean to listen to ZEX's plea. It was just simply too soon after that blissful experience in the simulator, where training had taken over and Dinobot had obeyed without hesitation in the heat of it... the stress of his current situation mimicked the stress of combat. That was all.
Growling uneasily, Dinobot attempted to focus himself. Showing such weakness and lack of control was... reprehensible. So Dinobot shuddered, twitched, and tried to reason out to himself that he was in no danger, and that the elevator was not nearly as small as he felt it was.
Calmingly, ZEX reached out to Dinobot, stroking his arm as he murmured, "Here, let's sit down while we wait, we can talk about something interesting." Creator, that supressed panic was beautiful... like everything else about Dinobot, really. "Why don't you tell me about battles you've been in? I can't believe such a wonderful shot as you has never fought before," he crooned, gently tugging Dinobot's arm to get him to sit against a wall.
Dinobot was well aware of the manipulation. You didn't call yourself a Predacon if you couldn't recognize it! (Well, sometimes... but generally not for long.) Still... if ZEX was offering a distraction...
Still growling uneasily, Dinobot complied, sliding down the wall slowly with the sound of metal against metal, settling first into a crouch and then finally forcing himself to kneel, as close to sitting as he was going to get. Eyeing ZEX with open suspicion, Dinobot made a vague sound of acceptance and launched into a... rough, stilted (but still dramatic) rendition of what was otherwise a standard dogfight between vessels. He was unused to telling tales, and it showed, but he made up for it with a not-quite-repressed-enough flair for the dramatic. Even if he hadn't been in more than a handful of clashes, he could certainly tell a story, once he got warmed up.
Settling fluidly to the floor, tail loose behind him like the train of a dress and tendrils raised in interest, ZEX listened with obvious facination (that, after a few moments, wasn't feigned at all), the tip on one tentacle gently caressing Dinobot's knee.
Dinobot may not have been a storyteller, but ZEX could feel a thespian spirit simmering under the roughness of his tale. How fascinating...!
And, best of all, Dinobot's panic seemed to be taking a back seat to the storytelling.
Dinobot choose to ignore the tentacle blatantly fondling his knee joint (it certainly wasn't because he was too wrapped up in the story to notice it), and continued, embellishing where necessary. While, somewhere in the back of his processor, he still knew that he was trapped in an elevator, the fact became less and less important as he continued to distract himself from the present. It wasn't terrible. Though, he was running out of story to tell, and beginning to stumble over words, pausing too long and seeming to reach for ideas.
Noticing Dinobot's increasingly awkward search for words, ZEX hummed quietly and slipped some words into a pause, "I've been in skirmishes much like that, myself. Would you like to hear about some of them?" His voice was smooth and soothing, the stroking of Dinobot's knee slow and gentle.
Pacified enough into... somewhat of a good mood, Dinobot assented, nodding just slightly and hastily adding "For increased tactical knowledge," as if it didn't sound awkward and desperate and like something a fresh recruit would blurt out. Slag it.
"Well, it would have been about... twenty-three years ago, now, when I lead an attack on a New Alliance fleet in the Alpha Draconis Oort cloud," ZEX began, voice settling into a sweet, calm storytelling rhythm as he painted a lush picture of the forces on either side, the captains and commanders serving under him, the dangers of combat in even a diffuse cloud of debris... as his voice settled into a steady tempo, the tips of his tail flicked in time to it, the tendrils around his head twisting-- nearly gesturing-- along with the story.
Dinobot, against his will, was entranced. Leaning towards ZEX just a bit with rapt attention, a barely-audible purring began while Dinobot's optics brightened with interest.
There were two utterly ridiculous weaknesses that Dinobot sometimes allowed himself to indulge in. One was tactical theory and practice, like in the simulators. The other... was stories. Ridiculous weaknesses to have, and Dinobot knew it, but.... as long as it didn't interfere with his other duties...
What a lovely creature~ perhaps this hadn't worked out so badly after all! Lavishly, ZEX began gesturing dramatically and spinning the tale into a grand adventure, not just a recounting of a long-ago battle against superior forces
A few minutes into the tale, the lift began to hum again, and continued on its way upwards, though ZEX didn't show any sign of noticing.
Dinobot twitched once as the lift started up again, but otherwise ignored it in favor of listening to ZEX, his optics giving away how he felt, even if his facial expressions didn't. He was utterly enamored, and more importantly, startlingly open seeming. As long as ZEX continued with the story, Dinobot's defenses were lowered.
And how ZEX would have taken advantage of that... if he hadn't known the doors were likely to open in about ten seconds, likely onto DAX's disapproving face.
So he fluffed up the story for the moments he had left, until he had reached a climactic point in the battle-- and then the doors slid open, and he glanced at them, sighing in artful regret.
"I'll have to finish the story later," he said, rising to his feet in one smooth motion and offering a tentacle for Dinobot, "I'm sure DAX is going to be very irritated over my lateness as it is."
Poorly stifling a disappointed noise, Dinobot rose fluidly, without the help of ZEX. In fact, he made every point to not look at ZEX at all, now that the spell of the story over him was broken. Foolish, to show that much interest. Dangerous.
"I... look forward to it."
Utterly addictive.
Hee! What a darling creature, so... independent, even after he'd been clinging to ZEX's every word~
"As do I," ZEX purred. "You've no idea how long it's been since I had such a lovely, attentive audience~" He loosely wound an arm around Dinobot's, guiding his beautiful robot along to his room.
And what a shame it was that he hadn't! Stories such as that deserved to have audiences... Dinobot was, meanwhile, so busy thinking that he didn't remember to be averse to ZEX's casual touches, and followed along quite placidly.
Dinobot's inattention was gladly recieved by ZEX, who gently rubbed his arm against Dinobot's as they walked, marvelling at how warm and alive the metal "skin" of him felt. Ahhh, a pity they had to part for even just a while~
Reaching Dinobot's room, ZEX opened the door and stroked Dinobot's arm. "I'll try to return and finish the story soon," he said, brightly, before releasing Dinobot. "Do you remember how to access the simplified tactical simulator on the room's console?"
Dinobot grunted an gave him an "of course I do, and I mildly resent your asking" look, but merely waved him off. "I'm sure your second is positively writhing with impatience by now."
"Hee! Hee! Hee! I suspect you might be right," ZEX replied, cheerfully. "Until later, then, my dear Dinobot, and do enjoy yourself." With a smile and a farewell-ish flick of a tentacle, he turned to leave, tail inevitably swaying behind him.
---
Dinobot had wasted no time in going to the simulator and immersing himself in the tactics and builds of alien ships. And, as immersed as he was in it, it took quite a bit longer than it should have for him to notice that his engine was running hot and he was panting quite strenuously. Slag. At this rate, he would burn through energy far too quickly...
And so, forced to surrender the console, he almost grudgingly checked over his energon converter (never knew what that DEX could have done to it, after all) and was in the process of refueling and cooling down.
ZEX felt very, very drained by the meeting. Not that he was getting too old for this; it was more... the strain of knowing they were fending for themselves, against a hostile force called The Rest Of Their Species, and having to think about, prepare, assign a million tasks to a few thousand personel...
Creator condemn the thrice-blasted council.
Wearily, he shook himself out, straightened up, and affixed a friendly look-- must keep morale up for the crew-- as he made his way to the quarters he was keeping his most recent aquisition in.
Ah, his guest, he meant.
He pressed the entry button next to the door, which slid open with only the faintest sound, and said with nearly-genuine brightness, "Dinobot?"
Dinobot nearly choked on the energon he was drinking, sputtering briefly to clear his intakes. When he settled, there was spilled energon on the floor (thankfully, not a lot) and Dinobot glared from his seat on the floor at the intrusion and sulkily continued drinking... while still glaring over the top of the cube at ZEX.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," ZEX apologized, touching his trunk and tendrils drooping in embarassment as he walked over to his guest. "Are you all right?"
Dinobot snorted and took his time finishing the cube... but wasn't quite angry enough to not enjoy the tingling aftereffect of the cube's dispersal again. A brief optic-flicker betrayed the amused pleasure of it. Ah, he would really have to remember this... "I'm well enough," Dinobot offered brusquely.
Well enough that he was being abrasively adorable again! Such a lovely creature~
"Ah, good, I'm glad," ZEX said, mood already beginning to brighten. "I came up to see if you wanted to hear the rest of that story...?"
Dinobot's optics flared with interest. Interest that he hardly attempted to hide by making another cube. "....... If you're offering," came the hesitant, calculated reply. "It's not as if I have much else to do." Best to stay aloof, after all.
With an earnest sort of giggling flattery, ZEX told Dinobot, "Well, then, I'd be more than happy to continue telling it. I do so enjoy spending time with you, you know~ you're such interesting company." ZEX moved to sit at the low, cushion-surrounded table at one side of the room, then looked back at Dinobot, expectantly.
Growling a bit with trepidation and flashing his teeth once, Dinobot fetched his cube from the machine and casually wandered over and took a seat, as if he had intended to do so the entire time, and ZEX's presence had nothing to do with it. "You're the most bizarre creature I've ever come across," he commented, eyeing ZEX critically.
ZEX didn't reply with anything quite so trite as a "thank you," though he did smile ever-so-serenely as he settled himself comfortably and make a vaguely pleased noise.
"Now, where were we when we were so rudely interrupted by the lift working again...?" ZEX mused aloud, continuing to smile.
Dinobot hummed and quickly told him... far too quickly than he should have, but it was, after all, his weakness. And if he leaned in a bit and only distractedly sipped at the dully glowing energon in front of him, it... was inconsequential. And certainly not anything so damning as genuine, unabashed interest.
"Ahhh, yes," ZEX hummed, subtly leaning closer to Dinobot and continuing, "So, the Broodhome was closing in on my fleet..."
It took him a few moments to work himself back into the dramatic tale-telling he'd wrapped Dinobot into before, once he did, he was going strong, vibrant descriptions of the formations used by each side coming as easily to him as breathing, the fluid gestures he made echoed by his tail and his tendrils.
And Dinobot was, perhaps, twice as entranced by it. He responded as if an instrument, subtle variations in his expression, optics, posture, that continuously betrayed him to ZEX reducing Dinobot to a passive actor, reflecting the resonating tones back to ZEX in every small shudder and twitch, and by the fact that he was "breathing" faintly again to cool off in the excitement as his body responded to mere suggestion.
His cube sat on the table, forgotten but for Dinobot's fingers curled loosely around it.
Slowly, ZEX worked his way up to his rather ingenious victory, then through a short run-down of the results of the battle, how it influenced the war, and-- a tentacle lifting to his very decorated chest-- which medal he'd won for it, and why.
Which wasn't nearly enough story-telling, in his opinion, not when Dinobot followed along so intently and looked so gorgeous and was obviously responding in a beautifully visible way to ZEX's voice. And so, as he wound down, he planned out another story to tell Dinobot, hopefully a true account of something that hadn't actually happened yet.
It was the first time he had even considered the decorations on ZEX. It seemed quite a ridiculous concept to Dinobot (though, he thought, it would undoubtedly appeal greatly to Megatron's vanity if they had such a system) partially because the idea of decorating onesself with little adornments for military conquests was foreign to Cybertron, and partially because Dinobot himself was, for all his thespian flair, startlingly practical.
However, actually looking at ZEX and all the adornments upon him... Dinobot could see why they would do this. It made wonderfully clear just how experienced - and successful - his host was at combat. Optics widening slightly as the realization hit him, Dinobot felt the first slowly blooming sensation of admiration unfurling. Something in him quailed at that, and if he hadn't been so fixated on ZEX and the story, he likely would have bolted. As it was, he remained still while his openness betrayed him, playing a shifting expression of surprise, interest, and a smoldering something else across his face while he continued listening.
Smiling faintly, and doing his best to read the flickering expressions on Dinobot's face (much as he loved the general humaoid arrangements of Dinobot's features, they were so subtle, so different from VUX in how they expressed emotion!), ZEX concluded, "Of course, other battles followed, and it was almost another four years before we won the war... though I don't suppose you'd want to hear about any of the other skirmishes. I wouldn't want to bore you with too many old war stories at once." Subtle it was not, but hearing Dinobot ask for more would be ever so pleasant~
Dinobot actually purred before he could stop himself. "Not at all," he assured ZEX, voice faintly tremulous from the soft, pleased vibrations of his engine. "There's much to be learned from old battles, commande-" He cut himself off abruptly, and the purring stopped as well. Slag. Slag. Looking surprised at himself, Dinobot hastily returned his attention to the energon cube, as if that would cover for his slip. He didn't even know why it had occured. He didn't want to know! For now, all he could do is chastise himself and hope that ZEX thought nothing of Dinobot's slip... or his rather suspiciously guilty behavior now.
ZEX giggled, ever-so-gently. Commander, was it? Or was it not, judging by Dinobot's reaction-- a reaction that was readable, even across species-- but the slip was unmistakable, and nearly musical to ZEX's ears.
"Well, if you're truly interested," ZEX purred, shifting closer to Dinobot, "there was one battle I found very interesting, all about tricking the enemy into surrender~"
Relaxing a bit, Dinobot foolishly allowed his guard to remain lowered, looking at ZEX curiously. Ah, so he hadn't thought anything of it! Good. Lowering his cube again, Dinobot allowed himself to look genuinely interested. As a Predacon, trickery was... highly valued. To say the least. "Oh?" he murmured, hoping to prompt ZEX into details.
"Well, not quite as long ago as the last story, a," hmm, "ship with damaged navigational systems was left behind in the wake of a skirmish. I initiated contact with ship, whose captain was... belligerent, perhaps...? and potentially extremely dangerous, even on his own..."
ZEX paused for a moment, trying to figure how to make the next part not so terribly obvious.
"However, it's amazing what a show of goodwill will do, even between those who would normally be hostile, and the captain's courage was admirable; he cautiously accepted the offer I gave him when he saw no obvious trickery, and only benefit for himself and his ship."
Dinobot snorted, dismissive. "Foolish," he growled. "A wiser captain would know better." Glancing at ZEX with open curiousity, he asked "I don't suppose enough of the crew had survived for mutiny?" He tilted his head slightly in thought. "They may have had enough munitions left for an act of counter-deceit. Pretending to accept your goodwill, and then inste-" He paused, optics narrowing as the familiarity of the situation struck him. Suspicious. Then again, if the second in command's attitude was any indication, ZEX was rather prone to these sorts of things. Perhaps it was simply common for him to be in such situations. "... and then instead firing on your ship," he finished slowly.
Clever, clever creature~ though he wasn't leaping to assume, either, which was rather pleasant.
"I assure you, though the offer I made the captain was genuine, I wasn't so naive as to take absolutely no precautions. There were multiple other ships in the vicinity, two of which were close enough to fire upon the stranded ship if there were any signs of agrression on its part." ZEX laughed, lightly, and added, "There was one small incident, but once I showed myself willing to overlook agressions which were caused by simple misunderstandings instead of malice, things seemed to go much smoother."
Making a vague, meaningless hum of acknowledgement, Dinobot stared at the table, optics narrowed in thought. "Interesting," he murmured. A pity such a military genius was paired with such foolisness as extending aid when there was no benefit involved. "And then? I assume the ship's crew were able to repair their navigation and continue?"
ZEX giggled, leaning slightly towards Dinobot and saying, sweetly, "That was the intention, but I found the captain to be both brave and endlessly fascinating-- with a natural talent for battle, obvious skill in surviving in aderse conditions, and willing to listen to an old exiled commander babble on about old battles. Though, of course, DAX thought I was being very silly about the whole things (he didn't say so to my face, of course, but he always thinks I'm being very silly about such things), I found that having a fresh face around to converse with was very... attractive."
That line was not in the least bit subtle, ad was not, in fact, intended to be.
Settling back slightly, ZEX sighed, faintly, and said regretfully, "I suppose the captain and his ship will have to go back soon, though. A pity; I'd been very much enjoying," and a purposeful misstep, "your-- I mean, his company."
Dinobot twitched, staring incredulously at ZEX as if in shock. Which was accurate enough. He had just been not-so-subtly told an allegorical story for his current situation. For what purpose, he didn't quite fathom, but it obviously had some purpose.
Confused, Dinobot glared uneasily at ZEX. Eccentricity was easy enough to understand. But... was the alien commander trying to imply that he was lonely, or just bored? Of course, it didn't matter either way to Dinobot, as he was not going to indulge either, but... slag it, he liked ZEX, or more accurately, liked his military experience. What exactly was he supposed to do with this information anyway? "You're touched," Dinobot finally managed to growl. "A genius, but touched."
"... That's the politest way I've heard it put in years," ZEX said, with obvious amusement. Hmm, the story itself hadn't been very subtle, but some of the details might have been; which was Dinobot basing his assesment on?
Of course, the lovely creature had shown himself very defensive and touchy; if he had picked up on the "I want to pin you down and molest you until you like it" motivation behind ZEX's words, he'd doubtless be snarling about it, not calling ZEX crazy.
"I imagine so," came the sharp reply. "What I can't imagine, however, is why you found it relevant to... adapt into such a format. This is hardly a battle, and there is certainly no trickery I am unaware of, nor su-" Realizations seemed to be coming rather rapidly in a very short amount of time for Dinobot, and he leaned back a bit, optics wide and in shock. The unspoken word echoed in his processor like some infectuous bit of malicious code that wouldn't be deleted. Surrender. ZEX's story had been, self-admittedly, about tricking an enemy into surrender.
Dinobot's optics flared to a bright, furious red and he started a low snarl that slowly gained intensity and volume, practically shivering with rage.
Ah. That was a distressingly familiar reaction.
... but pure anger didn't make sense in the context of how Dinobot had previously acted, when compared to ZEX's own motivations. Hmm. "I think, perhaps, you might have misunderstood some of what I meant," ZEX said, mildly, doing his best to be unaffected by angry growls.
The snarling evened off, staying at a level pace while Dinobot forced semi-coherent words out of it. "Oh, do enlighten me!" he snapped, every inch of him tensed and ready to pounce.
Alana: (ZEX: Well, you see, when a tentacle alien lusts a robot alien very much...)
Well, Dinobot had asked, hadn't he?
"I find you attractive. Very attractive, actually. You're one of the most beautiful creatures I've come across in the past score of years; you're also intelligent, a good shot, and interesting to talk to." He smiled, faintly, and concluded, "I like you very much."
And instantly, the anger drained out of Dinobot as easily as if ZEX had poked a hole in it. "I.... what?" he verbally staggered, unable to get footing in utterly foreign ground. Blindly, he reached for the shreds of suspicion that were known to him, shakily addressing ZEX with an entirely unconvincing suspiciousness. "And just what assurance do I have of that? How do I know this isn't... isn't some trick, to get me to trust you?"
And that was a better reaction than he'd been hoping for!
With a giggle, ZEX relaxed slightly, answering smoothly, "Well, I would personally count the way I've been flrting with you near-continuously since you got here and a fairly reliable indicator. Or you could ask any of my crew; they know me well enough to tell you as much." Blatantly, he leaned towards Dinobot, and purred in a lower, warmer voice, "or I could try and convince you in... other ways."
"All trickery," Dinobot growled, shifting nervously. "Manipulation on your part and I trust your crew less than I trust you." He balked at even thinking about the third option, and left it standing as a consequence. He knew what those "other ways" would entail... more or less. (One could never be sure with aliens, after all.) But, he was... blatantly unused to being flirted with, and frankly didn't know if he liked it or not.
Brightening even more, he edged closer to Dinobot. "Very well, then, what would make you believe I find you extremely attractive?" he asked, sweetly curious, a tentacle snaking across the gap between them to touch Dinobot's leg. Hee! Hee! 'Other ways' of proving himself to Dinobot were looking more and more likely~
Dinobot startled slightly at the touch like a skittish animal, but beyond the nervous flickering of his optics, he made no move. "I'm not telling you," he finally muttered sulkily, unable to come up with anything better. The touch on his leg made him want to shy away, but pride and stubbornness kept him still.
"You aren't? A pity~" ZEX didn't sound the least bit unhappy about it, though. "I suppose I'll just have to improvise, then~" he purred, and with a sudden burst of speed he was nearly straddling one of Dinobot's legs, tentacles sensually stroking over Dinobot's plating.
Said tentacles were also quite ready to fend off an attack~ or hold Dinobot down if he decided struggling was a good idea. Hee!
With a very undignified yelp, struggling was just what Dinobot did. And snarling. And snapping. And a lot of other rather useless things as his processor simultaneously panicked at a perceieved attack, and told him to lay still for a commander (that ZEX was not his commander seemed to make no difference to his apparently addled and treacherous processor, however).
Further evidence to his processor's need for glitch removal programs was that, somewhere, buried tightly beneath the thick layers of indignation and rage, the feeble thought of how strangely different organic limbs felt against his plating (and not necessarily in a bad way either), skittered around once before it was promptly smothered.
"Shhhh," ZEX murmured, quickly moving to capture Dinobot's arms, tentacles sliding around them and caressing the plating even as they held Dinobot firmly. "Calm, calm, my dear beautiful Dinobot~ you wanted to know what I meant, didn't you?" He leaned in closer, close enough to nuzzle his trunk agianst Dinobot's shoulder.
Jumping and making a strained yowling sound of protest, Dinobot kept up his struggling, though it was with significantly less force than before. "S-slagger!" he... well, he had intended a growl, but it came out more as a stressed whine. "You... y-your meaning is..." He struggled for a word, reaching through hazy, conflicting signals from his processor. "... utterly bizarre." And he hesitated before offering up another, nervously hesitant comment, much quieter and quite blatantly unsure of himself. "And you are not my commander..."
ZEX usually didn't appreciate himself or his intentions being called bizzare, but in this case... it was better than most of the other things Dinobot could have said, and it wasn't an outright rejection~
"Ahh, is it customary for commanders to do this with their subordinates in your millitary?" ZEX asked, tone purring and warm and fascinated as he slowly pulled Dinobot's hands together, so he could hold Dinobot's wrists in one tentacle and send the other off to caress every inch of Dinobot it could reach.
: Dinobot attempted another growl, but it wavered. He... wouldn't have thought that organics could be nearly as strong as ZEX apparently was. There were worse things than being... er, rather throroughly touched by an enthusiastic alien, but it was still rather humiliating that he couldn't get free.
"Yesssss," Dinobot hissed lowly, watching ZEX warily, reluctant to devulge information. "... loyalty..." he added in a quiet murmur.
"Fascinating," ZEX hummed, tail slowly swishing over Dinobot's legs and tentacle wriggling and stroking its way up to caress Dinobot's face-- staying carefully away from his sharp-toothed mouth. "And what would you and your commander do to each other, to show your loyalty~?" he asked, purringly, tongue flickering out to brush over Dinobot's plating.
Dinobot faltered yet again, struck by how strange it felt, and how strange this entire situation was. The tongue was almost too much, and he (rather feebly and half-heartedly, at this point) attempted to struggle again. "I-I'm not telling you!" he protested, sounding appropriately scandalized. "What kind of fool would give his opponent that kind of information?"
"Ah, I suppose you're right~" ZEX said, lifting Dinobot's bound hands and focusing his attentions on them for a moment, trunk nuzzling over the... fingers, was it? Such complicated structures!... and tongue flicking across the joints. "I'll just have to figure it out for myself, then~"
Making another strained sound, Dinobot jerked when his sensory net finally caught on and outright tingled with interest. He snarled at it. Traitorous body. At least his spark was, thus far, quiet. It always seemed to be the first part of him that succumbed, dragging the rest of him along with it. Entirely too eager. (A fact that Megatron took absolutely no end in delight to.) He bared his teeth at ZEX in a shakey warning, flexing his fingers as they were being... tasted?... by ZEX. Briefly, the idea that ZEX might eat metal skimmed across his mind (he had heard the stories!), but ZEX hardly seemed eager to chomp down on him.
ZEX giggled, apparently unconcerned by Dinobot's snarling-- he seemed to be doing well enough at keeping Dinobot subdued, after all-- and nuzzled his way down, past Dinobot's wrists (with a caressing flex of his hold on them) to nuzzle and lick Dinobot's arm, the tendrils around his face reaching to tangle and wriggle around Dinobot's hand. Oh, Dinobot was so alive, even made out of metal like he was~
The growling started up again as paranoia started wriggling its way through his processor. For all he knew, ZEX would spit some form of acid onto his plating and then slurp up the resulting corroded goo. The thought made him shudder in revulsion and buck, his already-running-hot system now whining audibly with alarm.
The bucking didn't dislodge ZEX at all, though he spared the breath to murmur soothing little reassurances of not hurting Dinobot, how beautiful Dinobot was, just relax, there was nothing to worry about~ as he caressed his way down to Dinobot's arm with his trunk and tendrils and tongue, lingering at the elbow joint (so different from VUX arms!) and sending his free tentacle off to caress Dinobot's hip and upper leg.
Twitching and panting now as his cooling system switched on, Dinobot tried to not listen to ZEX. It was a terrible idea to listen to him at all, he shouldn't be relaxing or trusting in ZEX at all, it was dangerous and completely against every shred of Predacon code in his being. But... the sensation was interesting, as much as it was different, and almost against his will Dinobot's frantic struggling slowed again, until he was merely panting and growling hitchingly at ZEX while the alien seemed to explore his limbs. Thankfully, ZEX had yet to find anything particularly sensitive.
Humming with pleasure as he worked his way up Dinobot's arm, the reassurances trailed away as the struggling became less pronounced-- though ZEX continued purring little murmurs of admiration for Dinobot's beauty, the smoothness of his plating, what a lovely creature he was... trailing a tentacle up Dinobot's chest, ZEX traced its tip along Dinobot's neck, that wonderful flexible thing, so different from the fixed sturdy solid necks the VUX had.
Oh, Pit, it was getting far too easy for him to soak up praise now... damned weakness for flattery. He could too easily place the situation into a more familiar (and comfortable) role, as a subordinate getting rewarded for excellent service. So dangerous, so very perilous to Dinobot's remaining shreds of dignity and control...
Dinobot continued to squirm - merely for the merit of continuing to do so, rather than trying to genuinely escape - and a slow, reluctant purr started in his engine. Perhaps.... perhaps if he encouraged ZEX, the alien would lose interest? Finish quicker? Anything, so long as it preserved Dinobot's sanity, which he was certain was wavering unsteadily.
Or perhaps ZEX would be encouraged by the purring, wriggling closer with a distinctly pleased noise, stroking side of Dinobot's helm and murmuring more sweet, sweet flattery, soaking up the warmth and the faint vibrations Dinobot was making.
As ZEX's tentacle brushed against the side of his helm, and, subsequently, one of his crests, Dinobot blurted out an abrupt, surprised code of static, optics flaring for a moment before he could manage to reign in his reactions again. Oh. Oh, that was... highly unfortunate.
Well! That was certainly a reaction! Optimistically, ZEX supposed it had to be a positive one, and proceeded to focus his attention on the smooth arc of the metal, petting it gently.
Making a peculiar clicking, crooning sound, Dinobot simultaneously tried to arc away from and toward the touch, which resulted mostly in just some awkward squirming while he frantically tried to gather his scattered wits. "Nngh... nooo..." he groaned, and despite his words, reacted with what was indeed a very positive reaction to the petting.
Well, Dinobot's resistance was rapidly approaching nonexistant~ how marvelous. <3
Slathering attention on the crest, leaning in close enough that his tendrils could tickle along it-- and brush against Dinobot's face, faint feather-touched that made ZEX shiver, the sensitive little tentacles cracking with the warmth of Dinobot-- as he stroked, slowly loosening his hold on Dinobot's wrists.
Dinobot shuddered, optics flickering and dimming as pleasure shot through his sensory net. Primus, no, he had no defense against that, he couldn't even pretend to fight back-! Unfair, completely unfair... Yet, his engine only purred harder, and his spark - treacherous thing, he thought about ripping it out sometimes - stirred faintly with interest, despite that it could feel no other spark's energy nearby. Had he been a scientologist, Dinobot would likely have found that interesting - but he was a warrior, and he was being defeatted, and oh Pit he shouldn't be enjoying this at all, nevermind as much as he already was enjoying it...
Perfect~!
With a silky purr, ZEX released Dinobot's wrists, dedicating his newly-freed tentacle to echoing the petting on the other side of Dinobot's head. "Still don't want to tell me?" he purred, questioningly.
To be honest, Dinobot had forgotten the question. And that he had use of his arms. So he merely shuddered and stretched, optics dimming with pleasure as his system hummed. "... Tell?" he managed after a few moments, disoriented and reeling from the assault on his helm crests.
"What you and your commander would do to each other, of course," ZEX murmured. "Though I seem to be managing fairly well on my own~" and he stroked smoothly over the crests, "don't you agree?"
He shuddered again and made a wordless, staticky sound before he could get his vocaliser in place. He wasn't going to allow ZEX the satisfaction of thinking he knew everything!
"Sss... s-sparks," he ground out, glaring falteringly. "We... we use our sparks..."
Hmm. He probably didn't mean the first thing which popped into ZEX's head, so ZEX stroked at the crests again, purring and asking, sweetly, "And how do you do that, my dear beauty~?"
And Dinobot couldn't help but squirm a bit under the touches, and the sweet praise.
"Aah... hrrn, expose our s-sparks... it depends on the commander..." he trailed off in a whine that clearly said he'd rather not be explaining this, but he suspected that the pleasure would stop if he didn't. "Some, mm, don't show theirs, only touch... their subordinates'."
So, the spark was some sort of hidden thing, sometimes used in the... loyalty ritual that this bore a resemblance to~ (was the loyalty ritual the original purpose of similar attentions in Cybertronian culture? or was it a use that had sprung out of some previous system? Dinobot was obviously feeling some kind of pleasure, in any case) and thus a potential goal for future sessions.
"You'll have to tell me more sometime," ZEX purred, rewarding Dinobot with more petting, leaning forward enough that his tendrils could dance along the inside edges of the crests as he rested his forehead against Dinobot's.
Dinobot keened quietly. Oh! Oh, those... those tentacles were... marvelously efficient at touching his helm crests in obscene ways. It was terrible, really... He was panting already.
He offlined his optics. Having ZEX's face so close to his... it was unnerving, a bit, and it was simply easier for Dinobot to imagine a myriad of other things instead. If only ZEX continued talking... he liked to hear ZEX talk. "L-later," he murmured back without thinking.
Purring and humming and murmuring quiet praise of Dinobot's beauty, ZEX continued stroking and tickling the crests with his tendrils and one tentacle, the other winding down to stroke parts of Dinobot he hadn't touched before, sweeping fluidly across Dinobot's chest. Later~ what a lovely word that was! ZEX had never really appreciated it before~
"You could touch me back, my beauty," he murmured, shifting fluidly against Dinobot.
Dinobot soundlessly arched up into that roaming tentacle, his spark... fluctuating wildly (not fluttering!) as it moved over his chest. Naturally, it took a moment or two for Dinobot to register what was being said. He took his time onlining his optics again, and looked rather blearily at ZEX. He... oh. Oh. It was a suggestion...
And almost as if he had been programmed to (as opposed to rigorously trained), Dinobot obeyed. He had no idea what to touch, or how, and having his processor scrambled certainly wasn't helping him figure it out any quicker. Finally, he brought one hand close to ZEX's head and brushed the tips of his fingers against a tendril there, cautious even despite his decreasing cognitive abilities and increasing temperature.
The tendril shivered against his fingertips, and ZEX moaned, eye going unfocused and falling half-shut as every tendril on his head reached towards Dinobot's hand. "Yes, that's good," he moaned, stroking Dinobot's crest and petting across his chest again, trying to get him to arch up again.
Optics alighting with interest at the sound (that was familiar enough), Dinobot obligingly arched up again while his hand played with the tendrils, fingers nudging at them and twirling, surprisingly playful now, now that he wasn't busy being snarly and surly and resistent.
ZEX nearly dissolved against Dinobot-- there were so many fingers, so much touch, so nimble and wonderful as they toyed with his tendrils, and he nearly whimpered at the reciprocation (which wasn't something he usually got from his collection, but he could get used to it very, very quickly).
Still, he wasn't so distracted that he couldn't remember to keep petting Dinobot back, crests and chest and wiggling against the heated smoothness of him... Dinobot was so, so beautiful, and ZEX found himself nestling as close to him as he could, tail half-curling around Dinobot's leg.
Growling quietly with satisfaction, Dinobot smirked and - faltered as his spark pulsed once, making his entire system twitch. Primus... already? He groaned, taking hazy note of how ZEX felt against him (so very different, compared to a Cybertronian... no hard grinding of metal together, all the pressure without the scraping...) and pet at the tendrils distractedly while purring and pressing into ZEX's touches, his system twitching again at another pulse. Slag it, they were getting faster... Dinobot wasn't sure he wanted to overload under the influence of this alien... pleasant as he was...
Pressed as flush against Dinobot as he was, ZEX could feel the tiny shivers and faint pulses of heat through his clothing, and he moaned encouragingly, soaking up the responses like a sponge as he stroked and pet, tail curling almost bindingly tight around Dinobot's leg.
It was getting increasingly difficult to focus on what he should be doing, but as a last-ditch attempt at it, he growled and pressed against ZEX, trying to gain leverage enough to struggle away from that entirely-too-good touching. If he could just have ZEX overload... or, whatever it was that organics did... first, then Dinobot was sure he would have the advantage! And, well, maybe he would overload afterward... but that wasn't the important part. Panting harder, optics flickering from the strain of concentrating.
ZEX, unfortunately for Dinobot, was a few layers of clothing-- and some interesting bits having interesting things done to them-- away from his, ah, overload, and responded to Dinobot's percieved enthusiasm with a breathless giggle and even more hungry petting, tongue coming back into use as he flicked it against Dinobot's chest.
The minute flickering of ZEX's tongue against his plating was nearly torturous, sending nearby circuitry into a fit as his sensory net fritzed, and.... no no no, his chest plating-!
It split, just a fraction, and Dinobot made a desperate, keening, whining sound of despair at his own inadequate self-control. No! No, no, despite all the tingling, unbearable torture of pleasure, he had to stay in control, as much as he could, or else... or else.... Primus, he was so close-!
ZEX had already noted that area as one of interest, and Dinobot's reply to the flickering of ZEX's tongue just cemented the note in the forefront of ZEX's mind as he giggled and outright assaulted the plating with his trunk and his tongue, nuzzling and flicking and licking, his tentacles stroking their way back up to the crests to pet at them.
No, not this, not...! Static sputtered from Dinobot's vocaliser and he arched, optics flickering offline and mouth hanging open as his joints locked, spark pulsing frantically as he overloaded, entirely against his will - and in a blindingly, achingly, impossibly good way. So achingly good, in fact, that his sputtering attempts to stay online were increasingly futile every time he tried, cooling system whirring loudly while his chest sealed again.
A very low, very quiet sort of rumbling started in Dinobot's chest. He really couldn't help it, all things considered. The tail made for interesting prey, and coming off of the predatory, exhilirating high in the simulator... well, a little bit of pleased growling wasn't altogether unusual...
ZEX pressed down the lever that indicated the level Dinobot's floor was on, then idly let the same arm brush past a decorative medal on his belt (which might very well have been the one that would jam the elevator between levels!) as he stepped back and glanged at Dinobot, smiling. The dear thing was rumbling in a most interesting way~!
Tail still swishing, even as he stood still, ZEX curiously asked, "What does the noise you're making mean?" in the sweetest, most innoffensively charmingly 'I just want to find out more about my dear friend' tone he had.
Dinobot jerked, attention snapped from ZEX's tail and optics wide in surprise as the sound abruptly cut off. Slag, he had been caught! And the best tactic for such a situation...
"I wasn't making any noise. Perhaps it was the lift you heard."
Denial.
The lift hummed merrily, and very quietly, upward, and after a moment of glancing amusedly at the walls ZEX giggled and echoed, "Yes, perhaps it was the lift--"
Said lift ground to a very, very noticable stop, lurched downwards a few inches, and made a faintly compaining noise as the humming died away into silence.
"... oh, drat," ZEX said, with very convincing irritation, "it's locked up again." Exactly as planned~
The jolt had Dinobot snarling loudly, instantly all fangs and claws and bright, bright optics wide with alarm. "It's what?" he screeched, staring at the door and quite obviously calculating if he could wrench the blasted thing open.
ZEX winced slightly at the screech, blinking at Dinobot as he fished about his belt for his communicator. "Locked up. This ship hasn't been refurbished in... hmm, eighteen years, now? We do the best we can with the supplies we're given or can make, but the lifts get a bit fussy at times, despite our best efforts. Aha~" He pulled out a communicator and hit a few buttons. "DAX, lift 4 has frozen up. Please send someone to fix it?"
Snarling lowly at the door like it was all its fault.... Dinobot began pacing, utterly infuriated... or at least appearing that way. Certainly not nervous, no.
"Why would you let a ship go into such disrepair?!" he continued, ranting aimlessly. "What if this were a battle? You'd be trapped in this slagging tiny box while your ship is torn to pieces!" The overdramatic gesturing completed the whole 'slightly-unhinged' look Dinobot was currently sporting.
ZEX froze, perfectly, utterly still for a moment, as DAX's voice said tinnily, "Yes, sir. I'll have someone there immediately."
Without acknowledging DAX, ZEX tucked the communicator away and said, frostily, tendrils beginning to twitch, "Forgive me for being exiled from my homeworld for two decades. Once I call the Council and inform them that I might die due to disrepair, they'll stop hoping it happens sooner rather than later."
... Not exactly how the scene had played out in his mind.
Dinobot hissed, sneering and utterly working himself up into a gigantic paranoid fit. However, he had no response to that, and, ignoring the nervous twitch beginning in his hands, began to pace again. "To the pit with this!" he snarled quietly, to himself. "This whole ship and its tiny slagging boxes...."
A few seconds of cold silence later, ZEX realized what should have been-- was-- obvious.
The predatory creature in front of him felt caged.
What a fool he was! He'd been thinking the solitude would be the perfect place to make his strike, not that Dinobot would be unnnerved by the smallness of the space-- and he'd even seen Dinobot's claustrophibic tendancies before! But Dinobot had hit a sore spot, unknowingly, and ZEX had reacted on instinct, on anger, not on thought.
"I'm sorry about this," he said, and the apology was genuine as he moved into Dinobot's path. "Please, calm down. We'll be out of the lift in no time at all, you'll see."
Dinobot stopped short in order to avoid colliding with ZEX, a strangled whine escaping his vocaliser as he glared and twitched, but otherwise stood still after that. Dimming his optics, he cycled air through his mouth to cool stressed circuits. He... didn't mean to listen to ZEX's plea. It was just simply too soon after that blissful experience in the simulator, where training had taken over and Dinobot had obeyed without hesitation in the heat of it... the stress of his current situation mimicked the stress of combat. That was all.
Growling uneasily, Dinobot attempted to focus himself. Showing such weakness and lack of control was... reprehensible. So Dinobot shuddered, twitched, and tried to reason out to himself that he was in no danger, and that the elevator was not nearly as small as he felt it was.
Calmingly, ZEX reached out to Dinobot, stroking his arm as he murmured, "Here, let's sit down while we wait, we can talk about something interesting." Creator, that supressed panic was beautiful... like everything else about Dinobot, really. "Why don't you tell me about battles you've been in? I can't believe such a wonderful shot as you has never fought before," he crooned, gently tugging Dinobot's arm to get him to sit against a wall.
Dinobot was well aware of the manipulation. You didn't call yourself a Predacon if you couldn't recognize it! (Well, sometimes... but generally not for long.) Still... if ZEX was offering a distraction...
Still growling uneasily, Dinobot complied, sliding down the wall slowly with the sound of metal against metal, settling first into a crouch and then finally forcing himself to kneel, as close to sitting as he was going to get. Eyeing ZEX with open suspicion, Dinobot made a vague sound of acceptance and launched into a... rough, stilted (but still dramatic) rendition of what was otherwise a standard dogfight between vessels. He was unused to telling tales, and it showed, but he made up for it with a not-quite-repressed-enough flair for the dramatic. Even if he hadn't been in more than a handful of clashes, he could certainly tell a story, once he got warmed up.
Settling fluidly to the floor, tail loose behind him like the train of a dress and tendrils raised in interest, ZEX listened with obvious facination (that, after a few moments, wasn't feigned at all), the tip on one tentacle gently caressing Dinobot's knee.
Dinobot may not have been a storyteller, but ZEX could feel a thespian spirit simmering under the roughness of his tale. How fascinating...!
And, best of all, Dinobot's panic seemed to be taking a back seat to the storytelling.
Dinobot choose to ignore the tentacle blatantly fondling his knee joint (it certainly wasn't because he was too wrapped up in the story to notice it), and continued, embellishing where necessary. While, somewhere in the back of his processor, he still knew that he was trapped in an elevator, the fact became less and less important as he continued to distract himself from the present. It wasn't terrible. Though, he was running out of story to tell, and beginning to stumble over words, pausing too long and seeming to reach for ideas.
Noticing Dinobot's increasingly awkward search for words, ZEX hummed quietly and slipped some words into a pause, "I've been in skirmishes much like that, myself. Would you like to hear about some of them?" His voice was smooth and soothing, the stroking of Dinobot's knee slow and gentle.
Pacified enough into... somewhat of a good mood, Dinobot assented, nodding just slightly and hastily adding "For increased tactical knowledge," as if it didn't sound awkward and desperate and like something a fresh recruit would blurt out. Slag it.
"Well, it would have been about... twenty-three years ago, now, when I lead an attack on a New Alliance fleet in the Alpha Draconis Oort cloud," ZEX began, voice settling into a sweet, calm storytelling rhythm as he painted a lush picture of the forces on either side, the captains and commanders serving under him, the dangers of combat in even a diffuse cloud of debris... as his voice settled into a steady tempo, the tips of his tail flicked in time to it, the tendrils around his head twisting-- nearly gesturing-- along with the story.
Dinobot, against his will, was entranced. Leaning towards ZEX just a bit with rapt attention, a barely-audible purring began while Dinobot's optics brightened with interest.
There were two utterly ridiculous weaknesses that Dinobot sometimes allowed himself to indulge in. One was tactical theory and practice, like in the simulators. The other... was stories. Ridiculous weaknesses to have, and Dinobot knew it, but.... as long as it didn't interfere with his other duties...
What a lovely creature~ perhaps this hadn't worked out so badly after all! Lavishly, ZEX began gesturing dramatically and spinning the tale into a grand adventure, not just a recounting of a long-ago battle against superior forces
A few minutes into the tale, the lift began to hum again, and continued on its way upwards, though ZEX didn't show any sign of noticing.
Dinobot twitched once as the lift started up again, but otherwise ignored it in favor of listening to ZEX, his optics giving away how he felt, even if his facial expressions didn't. He was utterly enamored, and more importantly, startlingly open seeming. As long as ZEX continued with the story, Dinobot's defenses were lowered.
And how ZEX would have taken advantage of that... if he hadn't known the doors were likely to open in about ten seconds, likely onto DAX's disapproving face.
So he fluffed up the story for the moments he had left, until he had reached a climactic point in the battle-- and then the doors slid open, and he glanced at them, sighing in artful regret.
"I'll have to finish the story later," he said, rising to his feet in one smooth motion and offering a tentacle for Dinobot, "I'm sure DAX is going to be very irritated over my lateness as it is."
Poorly stifling a disappointed noise, Dinobot rose fluidly, without the help of ZEX. In fact, he made every point to not look at ZEX at all, now that the spell of the story over him was broken. Foolish, to show that much interest. Dangerous.
"I... look forward to it."
Utterly addictive.
Hee! What a darling creature, so... independent, even after he'd been clinging to ZEX's every word~
"As do I," ZEX purred. "You've no idea how long it's been since I had such a lovely, attentive audience~" He loosely wound an arm around Dinobot's, guiding his beautiful robot along to his room.
And what a shame it was that he hadn't! Stories such as that deserved to have audiences... Dinobot was, meanwhile, so busy thinking that he didn't remember to be averse to ZEX's casual touches, and followed along quite placidly.
Dinobot's inattention was gladly recieved by ZEX, who gently rubbed his arm against Dinobot's as they walked, marvelling at how warm and alive the metal "skin" of him felt. Ahhh, a pity they had to part for even just a while~
Reaching Dinobot's room, ZEX opened the door and stroked Dinobot's arm. "I'll try to return and finish the story soon," he said, brightly, before releasing Dinobot. "Do you remember how to access the simplified tactical simulator on the room's console?"
Dinobot grunted an gave him an "of course I do, and I mildly resent your asking" look, but merely waved him off. "I'm sure your second is positively writhing with impatience by now."
"Hee! Hee! Hee! I suspect you might be right," ZEX replied, cheerfully. "Until later, then, my dear Dinobot, and do enjoy yourself." With a smile and a farewell-ish flick of a tentacle, he turned to leave, tail inevitably swaying behind him.
---
Dinobot had wasted no time in going to the simulator and immersing himself in the tactics and builds of alien ships. And, as immersed as he was in it, it took quite a bit longer than it should have for him to notice that his engine was running hot and he was panting quite strenuously. Slag. At this rate, he would burn through energy far too quickly...
And so, forced to surrender the console, he almost grudgingly checked over his energon converter (never knew what that DEX could have done to it, after all) and was in the process of refueling and cooling down.
ZEX felt very, very drained by the meeting. Not that he was getting too old for this; it was more... the strain of knowing they were fending for themselves, against a hostile force called The Rest Of Their Species, and having to think about, prepare, assign a million tasks to a few thousand personel...
Creator condemn the thrice-blasted council.
Wearily, he shook himself out, straightened up, and affixed a friendly look-- must keep morale up for the crew-- as he made his way to the quarters he was keeping his most recent aquisition in.
Ah, his guest, he meant.
He pressed the entry button next to the door, which slid open with only the faintest sound, and said with nearly-genuine brightness, "Dinobot?"
Dinobot nearly choked on the energon he was drinking, sputtering briefly to clear his intakes. When he settled, there was spilled energon on the floor (thankfully, not a lot) and Dinobot glared from his seat on the floor at the intrusion and sulkily continued drinking... while still glaring over the top of the cube at ZEX.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," ZEX apologized, touching his trunk and tendrils drooping in embarassment as he walked over to his guest. "Are you all right?"
Dinobot snorted and took his time finishing the cube... but wasn't quite angry enough to not enjoy the tingling aftereffect of the cube's dispersal again. A brief optic-flicker betrayed the amused pleasure of it. Ah, he would really have to remember this... "I'm well enough," Dinobot offered brusquely.
Well enough that he was being abrasively adorable again! Such a lovely creature~
"Ah, good, I'm glad," ZEX said, mood already beginning to brighten. "I came up to see if you wanted to hear the rest of that story...?"
Dinobot's optics flared with interest. Interest that he hardly attempted to hide by making another cube. "....... If you're offering," came the hesitant, calculated reply. "It's not as if I have much else to do." Best to stay aloof, after all.
With an earnest sort of giggling flattery, ZEX told Dinobot, "Well, then, I'd be more than happy to continue telling it. I do so enjoy spending time with you, you know~ you're such interesting company." ZEX moved to sit at the low, cushion-surrounded table at one side of the room, then looked back at Dinobot, expectantly.
Growling a bit with trepidation and flashing his teeth once, Dinobot fetched his cube from the machine and casually wandered over and took a seat, as if he had intended to do so the entire time, and ZEX's presence had nothing to do with it. "You're the most bizarre creature I've ever come across," he commented, eyeing ZEX critically.
ZEX didn't reply with anything quite so trite as a "thank you," though he did smile ever-so-serenely as he settled himself comfortably and make a vaguely pleased noise.
"Now, where were we when we were so rudely interrupted by the lift working again...?" ZEX mused aloud, continuing to smile.
Dinobot hummed and quickly told him... far too quickly than he should have, but it was, after all, his weakness. And if he leaned in a bit and only distractedly sipped at the dully glowing energon in front of him, it... was inconsequential. And certainly not anything so damning as genuine, unabashed interest.
"Ahhh, yes," ZEX hummed, subtly leaning closer to Dinobot and continuing, "So, the Broodhome was closing in on my fleet..."
It took him a few moments to work himself back into the dramatic tale-telling he'd wrapped Dinobot into before, once he did, he was going strong, vibrant descriptions of the formations used by each side coming as easily to him as breathing, the fluid gestures he made echoed by his tail and his tendrils.
And Dinobot was, perhaps, twice as entranced by it. He responded as if an instrument, subtle variations in his expression, optics, posture, that continuously betrayed him to ZEX reducing Dinobot to a passive actor, reflecting the resonating tones back to ZEX in every small shudder and twitch, and by the fact that he was "breathing" faintly again to cool off in the excitement as his body responded to mere suggestion.
His cube sat on the table, forgotten but for Dinobot's fingers curled loosely around it.
Slowly, ZEX worked his way up to his rather ingenious victory, then through a short run-down of the results of the battle, how it influenced the war, and-- a tentacle lifting to his very decorated chest-- which medal he'd won for it, and why.
Which wasn't nearly enough story-telling, in his opinion, not when Dinobot followed along so intently and looked so gorgeous and was obviously responding in a beautifully visible way to ZEX's voice. And so, as he wound down, he planned out another story to tell Dinobot, hopefully a true account of something that hadn't actually happened yet.
It was the first time he had even considered the decorations on ZEX. It seemed quite a ridiculous concept to Dinobot (though, he thought, it would undoubtedly appeal greatly to Megatron's vanity if they had such a system) partially because the idea of decorating onesself with little adornments for military conquests was foreign to Cybertron, and partially because Dinobot himself was, for all his thespian flair, startlingly practical.
However, actually looking at ZEX and all the adornments upon him... Dinobot could see why they would do this. It made wonderfully clear just how experienced - and successful - his host was at combat. Optics widening slightly as the realization hit him, Dinobot felt the first slowly blooming sensation of admiration unfurling. Something in him quailed at that, and if he hadn't been so fixated on ZEX and the story, he likely would have bolted. As it was, he remained still while his openness betrayed him, playing a shifting expression of surprise, interest, and a smoldering something else across his face while he continued listening.
Smiling faintly, and doing his best to read the flickering expressions on Dinobot's face (much as he loved the general humaoid arrangements of Dinobot's features, they were so subtle, so different from VUX in how they expressed emotion!), ZEX concluded, "Of course, other battles followed, and it was almost another four years before we won the war... though I don't suppose you'd want to hear about any of the other skirmishes. I wouldn't want to bore you with too many old war stories at once." Subtle it was not, but hearing Dinobot ask for more would be ever so pleasant~
Dinobot actually purred before he could stop himself. "Not at all," he assured ZEX, voice faintly tremulous from the soft, pleased vibrations of his engine. "There's much to be learned from old battles, commande-" He cut himself off abruptly, and the purring stopped as well. Slag. Slag. Looking surprised at himself, Dinobot hastily returned his attention to the energon cube, as if that would cover for his slip. He didn't even know why it had occured. He didn't want to know! For now, all he could do is chastise himself and hope that ZEX thought nothing of Dinobot's slip... or his rather suspiciously guilty behavior now.
ZEX giggled, ever-so-gently. Commander, was it? Or was it not, judging by Dinobot's reaction-- a reaction that was readable, even across species-- but the slip was unmistakable, and nearly musical to ZEX's ears.
"Well, if you're truly interested," ZEX purred, shifting closer to Dinobot, "there was one battle I found very interesting, all about tricking the enemy into surrender~"
Relaxing a bit, Dinobot foolishly allowed his guard to remain lowered, looking at ZEX curiously. Ah, so he hadn't thought anything of it! Good. Lowering his cube again, Dinobot allowed himself to look genuinely interested. As a Predacon, trickery was... highly valued. To say the least. "Oh?" he murmured, hoping to prompt ZEX into details.
"Well, not quite as long ago as the last story, a," hmm, "ship with damaged navigational systems was left behind in the wake of a skirmish. I initiated contact with ship, whose captain was... belligerent, perhaps...? and potentially extremely dangerous, even on his own..."
ZEX paused for a moment, trying to figure how to make the next part not so terribly obvious.
"However, it's amazing what a show of goodwill will do, even between those who would normally be hostile, and the captain's courage was admirable; he cautiously accepted the offer I gave him when he saw no obvious trickery, and only benefit for himself and his ship."
Dinobot snorted, dismissive. "Foolish," he growled. "A wiser captain would know better." Glancing at ZEX with open curiousity, he asked "I don't suppose enough of the crew had survived for mutiny?" He tilted his head slightly in thought. "They may have had enough munitions left for an act of counter-deceit. Pretending to accept your goodwill, and then inste-" He paused, optics narrowing as the familiarity of the situation struck him. Suspicious. Then again, if the second in command's attitude was any indication, ZEX was rather prone to these sorts of things. Perhaps it was simply common for him to be in such situations. "... and then instead firing on your ship," he finished slowly.
Clever, clever creature~ though he wasn't leaping to assume, either, which was rather pleasant.
"I assure you, though the offer I made the captain was genuine, I wasn't so naive as to take absolutely no precautions. There were multiple other ships in the vicinity, two of which were close enough to fire upon the stranded ship if there were any signs of agrression on its part." ZEX laughed, lightly, and added, "There was one small incident, but once I showed myself willing to overlook agressions which were caused by simple misunderstandings instead of malice, things seemed to go much smoother."
Making a vague, meaningless hum of acknowledgement, Dinobot stared at the table, optics narrowed in thought. "Interesting," he murmured. A pity such a military genius was paired with such foolisness as extending aid when there was no benefit involved. "And then? I assume the ship's crew were able to repair their navigation and continue?"
ZEX giggled, leaning slightly towards Dinobot and saying, sweetly, "That was the intention, but I found the captain to be both brave and endlessly fascinating-- with a natural talent for battle, obvious skill in surviving in aderse conditions, and willing to listen to an old exiled commander babble on about old battles. Though, of course, DAX thought I was being very silly about the whole things (he didn't say so to my face, of course, but he always thinks I'm being very silly about such things), I found that having a fresh face around to converse with was very... attractive."
That line was not in the least bit subtle, ad was not, in fact, intended to be.
Settling back slightly, ZEX sighed, faintly, and said regretfully, "I suppose the captain and his ship will have to go back soon, though. A pity; I'd been very much enjoying," and a purposeful misstep, "your-- I mean, his company."
Dinobot twitched, staring incredulously at ZEX as if in shock. Which was accurate enough. He had just been not-so-subtly told an allegorical story for his current situation. For what purpose, he didn't quite fathom, but it obviously had some purpose.
Confused, Dinobot glared uneasily at ZEX. Eccentricity was easy enough to understand. But... was the alien commander trying to imply that he was lonely, or just bored? Of course, it didn't matter either way to Dinobot, as he was not going to indulge either, but... slag it, he liked ZEX, or more accurately, liked his military experience. What exactly was he supposed to do with this information anyway? "You're touched," Dinobot finally managed to growl. "A genius, but touched."
"... That's the politest way I've heard it put in years," ZEX said, with obvious amusement. Hmm, the story itself hadn't been very subtle, but some of the details might have been; which was Dinobot basing his assesment on?
Of course, the lovely creature had shown himself very defensive and touchy; if he had picked up on the "I want to pin you down and molest you until you like it" motivation behind ZEX's words, he'd doubtless be snarling about it, not calling ZEX crazy.
"I imagine so," came the sharp reply. "What I can't imagine, however, is why you found it relevant to... adapt into such a format. This is hardly a battle, and there is certainly no trickery I am unaware of, nor su-" Realizations seemed to be coming rather rapidly in a very short amount of time for Dinobot, and he leaned back a bit, optics wide and in shock. The unspoken word echoed in his processor like some infectuous bit of malicious code that wouldn't be deleted. Surrender. ZEX's story had been, self-admittedly, about tricking an enemy into surrender.
Dinobot's optics flared to a bright, furious red and he started a low snarl that slowly gained intensity and volume, practically shivering with rage.
Ah. That was a distressingly familiar reaction.
... but pure anger didn't make sense in the context of how Dinobot had previously acted, when compared to ZEX's own motivations. Hmm. "I think, perhaps, you might have misunderstood some of what I meant," ZEX said, mildly, doing his best to be unaffected by angry growls.
The snarling evened off, staying at a level pace while Dinobot forced semi-coherent words out of it. "Oh, do enlighten me!" he snapped, every inch of him tensed and ready to pounce.
Alana: (ZEX: Well, you see, when a tentacle alien lusts a robot alien very much...)
Well, Dinobot had asked, hadn't he?
"I find you attractive. Very attractive, actually. You're one of the most beautiful creatures I've come across in the past score of years; you're also intelligent, a good shot, and interesting to talk to." He smiled, faintly, and concluded, "I like you very much."
And instantly, the anger drained out of Dinobot as easily as if ZEX had poked a hole in it. "I.... what?" he verbally staggered, unable to get footing in utterly foreign ground. Blindly, he reached for the shreds of suspicion that were known to him, shakily addressing ZEX with an entirely unconvincing suspiciousness. "And just what assurance do I have of that? How do I know this isn't... isn't some trick, to get me to trust you?"
And that was a better reaction than he'd been hoping for!
With a giggle, ZEX relaxed slightly, answering smoothly, "Well, I would personally count the way I've been flrting with you near-continuously since you got here and a fairly reliable indicator. Or you could ask any of my crew; they know me well enough to tell you as much." Blatantly, he leaned towards Dinobot, and purred in a lower, warmer voice, "or I could try and convince you in... other ways."
"All trickery," Dinobot growled, shifting nervously. "Manipulation on your part and I trust your crew less than I trust you." He balked at even thinking about the third option, and left it standing as a consequence. He knew what those "other ways" would entail... more or less. (One could never be sure with aliens, after all.) But, he was... blatantly unused to being flirted with, and frankly didn't know if he liked it or not.
Brightening even more, he edged closer to Dinobot. "Very well, then, what would make you believe I find you extremely attractive?" he asked, sweetly curious, a tentacle snaking across the gap between them to touch Dinobot's leg. Hee! Hee! 'Other ways' of proving himself to Dinobot were looking more and more likely~
Dinobot startled slightly at the touch like a skittish animal, but beyond the nervous flickering of his optics, he made no move. "I'm not telling you," he finally muttered sulkily, unable to come up with anything better. The touch on his leg made him want to shy away, but pride and stubbornness kept him still.
"You aren't? A pity~" ZEX didn't sound the least bit unhappy about it, though. "I suppose I'll just have to improvise, then~" he purred, and with a sudden burst of speed he was nearly straddling one of Dinobot's legs, tentacles sensually stroking over Dinobot's plating.
Said tentacles were also quite ready to fend off an attack~ or hold Dinobot down if he decided struggling was a good idea. Hee!
With a very undignified yelp, struggling was just what Dinobot did. And snarling. And snapping. And a lot of other rather useless things as his processor simultaneously panicked at a perceieved attack, and told him to lay still for a commander (that ZEX was not his commander seemed to make no difference to his apparently addled and treacherous processor, however).
Further evidence to his processor's need for glitch removal programs was that, somewhere, buried tightly beneath the thick layers of indignation and rage, the feeble thought of how strangely different organic limbs felt against his plating (and not necessarily in a bad way either), skittered around once before it was promptly smothered.
"Shhhh," ZEX murmured, quickly moving to capture Dinobot's arms, tentacles sliding around them and caressing the plating even as they held Dinobot firmly. "Calm, calm, my dear beautiful Dinobot~ you wanted to know what I meant, didn't you?" He leaned in closer, close enough to nuzzle his trunk agianst Dinobot's shoulder.
Jumping and making a strained yowling sound of protest, Dinobot kept up his struggling, though it was with significantly less force than before. "S-slagger!" he... well, he had intended a growl, but it came out more as a stressed whine. "You... y-your meaning is..." He struggled for a word, reaching through hazy, conflicting signals from his processor. "... utterly bizarre." And he hesitated before offering up another, nervously hesitant comment, much quieter and quite blatantly unsure of himself. "And you are not my commander..."
ZEX usually didn't appreciate himself or his intentions being called bizzare, but in this case... it was better than most of the other things Dinobot could have said, and it wasn't an outright rejection~
"Ahh, is it customary for commanders to do this with their subordinates in your millitary?" ZEX asked, tone purring and warm and fascinated as he slowly pulled Dinobot's hands together, so he could hold Dinobot's wrists in one tentacle and send the other off to caress every inch of Dinobot it could reach.
: Dinobot attempted another growl, but it wavered. He... wouldn't have thought that organics could be nearly as strong as ZEX apparently was. There were worse things than being... er, rather throroughly touched by an enthusiastic alien, but it was still rather humiliating that he couldn't get free.
"Yesssss," Dinobot hissed lowly, watching ZEX warily, reluctant to devulge information. "... loyalty..." he added in a quiet murmur.
"Fascinating," ZEX hummed, tail slowly swishing over Dinobot's legs and tentacle wriggling and stroking its way up to caress Dinobot's face-- staying carefully away from his sharp-toothed mouth. "And what would you and your commander do to each other, to show your loyalty~?" he asked, purringly, tongue flickering out to brush over Dinobot's plating.
Dinobot faltered yet again, struck by how strange it felt, and how strange this entire situation was. The tongue was almost too much, and he (rather feebly and half-heartedly, at this point) attempted to struggle again. "I-I'm not telling you!" he protested, sounding appropriately scandalized. "What kind of fool would give his opponent that kind of information?"
"Ah, I suppose you're right~" ZEX said, lifting Dinobot's bound hands and focusing his attentions on them for a moment, trunk nuzzling over the... fingers, was it? Such complicated structures!... and tongue flicking across the joints. "I'll just have to figure it out for myself, then~"
Making another strained sound, Dinobot jerked when his sensory net finally caught on and outright tingled with interest. He snarled at it. Traitorous body. At least his spark was, thus far, quiet. It always seemed to be the first part of him that succumbed, dragging the rest of him along with it. Entirely too eager. (A fact that Megatron took absolutely no end in delight to.) He bared his teeth at ZEX in a shakey warning, flexing his fingers as they were being... tasted?... by ZEX. Briefly, the idea that ZEX might eat metal skimmed across his mind (he had heard the stories!), but ZEX hardly seemed eager to chomp down on him.
ZEX giggled, apparently unconcerned by Dinobot's snarling-- he seemed to be doing well enough at keeping Dinobot subdued, after all-- and nuzzled his way down, past Dinobot's wrists (with a caressing flex of his hold on them) to nuzzle and lick Dinobot's arm, the tendrils around his face reaching to tangle and wriggle around Dinobot's hand. Oh, Dinobot was so alive, even made out of metal like he was~
The growling started up again as paranoia started wriggling its way through his processor. For all he knew, ZEX would spit some form of acid onto his plating and then slurp up the resulting corroded goo. The thought made him shudder in revulsion and buck, his already-running-hot system now whining audibly with alarm.
The bucking didn't dislodge ZEX at all, though he spared the breath to murmur soothing little reassurances of not hurting Dinobot, how beautiful Dinobot was, just relax, there was nothing to worry about~ as he caressed his way down to Dinobot's arm with his trunk and tendrils and tongue, lingering at the elbow joint (so different from VUX arms!) and sending his free tentacle off to caress Dinobot's hip and upper leg.
Twitching and panting now as his cooling system switched on, Dinobot tried to not listen to ZEX. It was a terrible idea to listen to him at all, he shouldn't be relaxing or trusting in ZEX at all, it was dangerous and completely against every shred of Predacon code in his being. But... the sensation was interesting, as much as it was different, and almost against his will Dinobot's frantic struggling slowed again, until he was merely panting and growling hitchingly at ZEX while the alien seemed to explore his limbs. Thankfully, ZEX had yet to find anything particularly sensitive.
Humming with pleasure as he worked his way up Dinobot's arm, the reassurances trailed away as the struggling became less pronounced-- though ZEX continued purring little murmurs of admiration for Dinobot's beauty, the smoothness of his plating, what a lovely creature he was... trailing a tentacle up Dinobot's chest, ZEX traced its tip along Dinobot's neck, that wonderful flexible thing, so different from the fixed sturdy solid necks the VUX had.
Oh, Pit, it was getting far too easy for him to soak up praise now... damned weakness for flattery. He could too easily place the situation into a more familiar (and comfortable) role, as a subordinate getting rewarded for excellent service. So dangerous, so very perilous to Dinobot's remaining shreds of dignity and control...
Dinobot continued to squirm - merely for the merit of continuing to do so, rather than trying to genuinely escape - and a slow, reluctant purr started in his engine. Perhaps.... perhaps if he encouraged ZEX, the alien would lose interest? Finish quicker? Anything, so long as it preserved Dinobot's sanity, which he was certain was wavering unsteadily.
Or perhaps ZEX would be encouraged by the purring, wriggling closer with a distinctly pleased noise, stroking side of Dinobot's helm and murmuring more sweet, sweet flattery, soaking up the warmth and the faint vibrations Dinobot was making.
As ZEX's tentacle brushed against the side of his helm, and, subsequently, one of his crests, Dinobot blurted out an abrupt, surprised code of static, optics flaring for a moment before he could manage to reign in his reactions again. Oh. Oh, that was... highly unfortunate.
Well! That was certainly a reaction! Optimistically, ZEX supposed it had to be a positive one, and proceeded to focus his attention on the smooth arc of the metal, petting it gently.
Making a peculiar clicking, crooning sound, Dinobot simultaneously tried to arc away from and toward the touch, which resulted mostly in just some awkward squirming while he frantically tried to gather his scattered wits. "Nngh... nooo..." he groaned, and despite his words, reacted with what was indeed a very positive reaction to the petting.
Well, Dinobot's resistance was rapidly approaching nonexistant~ how marvelous. <3
Slathering attention on the crest, leaning in close enough that his tendrils could tickle along it-- and brush against Dinobot's face, faint feather-touched that made ZEX shiver, the sensitive little tentacles cracking with the warmth of Dinobot-- as he stroked, slowly loosening his hold on Dinobot's wrists.
Dinobot shuddered, optics flickering and dimming as pleasure shot through his sensory net. Primus, no, he had no defense against that, he couldn't even pretend to fight back-! Unfair, completely unfair... Yet, his engine only purred harder, and his spark - treacherous thing, he thought about ripping it out sometimes - stirred faintly with interest, despite that it could feel no other spark's energy nearby. Had he been a scientologist, Dinobot would likely have found that interesting - but he was a warrior, and he was being defeatted, and oh Pit he shouldn't be enjoying this at all, nevermind as much as he already was enjoying it...
Perfect~!
With a silky purr, ZEX released Dinobot's wrists, dedicating his newly-freed tentacle to echoing the petting on the other side of Dinobot's head. "Still don't want to tell me?" he purred, questioningly.
To be honest, Dinobot had forgotten the question. And that he had use of his arms. So he merely shuddered and stretched, optics dimming with pleasure as his system hummed. "... Tell?" he managed after a few moments, disoriented and reeling from the assault on his helm crests.
"What you and your commander would do to each other, of course," ZEX murmured. "Though I seem to be managing fairly well on my own~" and he stroked smoothly over the crests, "don't you agree?"
He shuddered again and made a wordless, staticky sound before he could get his vocaliser in place. He wasn't going to allow ZEX the satisfaction of thinking he knew everything!
"Sss... s-sparks," he ground out, glaring falteringly. "We... we use our sparks..."
Hmm. He probably didn't mean the first thing which popped into ZEX's head, so ZEX stroked at the crests again, purring and asking, sweetly, "And how do you do that, my dear beauty~?"
And Dinobot couldn't help but squirm a bit under the touches, and the sweet praise.
"Aah... hrrn, expose our s-sparks... it depends on the commander..." he trailed off in a whine that clearly said he'd rather not be explaining this, but he suspected that the pleasure would stop if he didn't. "Some, mm, don't show theirs, only touch... their subordinates'."
So, the spark was some sort of hidden thing, sometimes used in the... loyalty ritual that this bore a resemblance to~ (was the loyalty ritual the original purpose of similar attentions in Cybertronian culture? or was it a use that had sprung out of some previous system? Dinobot was obviously feeling some kind of pleasure, in any case) and thus a potential goal for future sessions.
"You'll have to tell me more sometime," ZEX purred, rewarding Dinobot with more petting, leaning forward enough that his tendrils could dance along the inside edges of the crests as he rested his forehead against Dinobot's.
Dinobot keened quietly. Oh! Oh, those... those tentacles were... marvelously efficient at touching his helm crests in obscene ways. It was terrible, really... He was panting already.
He offlined his optics. Having ZEX's face so close to his... it was unnerving, a bit, and it was simply easier for Dinobot to imagine a myriad of other things instead. If only ZEX continued talking... he liked to hear ZEX talk. "L-later," he murmured back without thinking.
Purring and humming and murmuring quiet praise of Dinobot's beauty, ZEX continued stroking and tickling the crests with his tendrils and one tentacle, the other winding down to stroke parts of Dinobot he hadn't touched before, sweeping fluidly across Dinobot's chest. Later~ what a lovely word that was! ZEX had never really appreciated it before~
"You could touch me back, my beauty," he murmured, shifting fluidly against Dinobot.
Dinobot soundlessly arched up into that roaming tentacle, his spark... fluctuating wildly (not fluttering!) as it moved over his chest. Naturally, it took a moment or two for Dinobot to register what was being said. He took his time onlining his optics again, and looked rather blearily at ZEX. He... oh. Oh. It was a suggestion...
And almost as if he had been programmed to (as opposed to rigorously trained), Dinobot obeyed. He had no idea what to touch, or how, and having his processor scrambled certainly wasn't helping him figure it out any quicker. Finally, he brought one hand close to ZEX's head and brushed the tips of his fingers against a tendril there, cautious even despite his decreasing cognitive abilities and increasing temperature.
The tendril shivered against his fingertips, and ZEX moaned, eye going unfocused and falling half-shut as every tendril on his head reached towards Dinobot's hand. "Yes, that's good," he moaned, stroking Dinobot's crest and petting across his chest again, trying to get him to arch up again.
Optics alighting with interest at the sound (that was familiar enough), Dinobot obligingly arched up again while his hand played with the tendrils, fingers nudging at them and twirling, surprisingly playful now, now that he wasn't busy being snarly and surly and resistent.
ZEX nearly dissolved against Dinobot-- there were so many fingers, so much touch, so nimble and wonderful as they toyed with his tendrils, and he nearly whimpered at the reciprocation (which wasn't something he usually got from his collection, but he could get used to it very, very quickly).
Still, he wasn't so distracted that he couldn't remember to keep petting Dinobot back, crests and chest and wiggling against the heated smoothness of him... Dinobot was so, so beautiful, and ZEX found himself nestling as close to him as he could, tail half-curling around Dinobot's leg.
Growling quietly with satisfaction, Dinobot smirked and - faltered as his spark pulsed once, making his entire system twitch. Primus... already? He groaned, taking hazy note of how ZEX felt against him (so very different, compared to a Cybertronian... no hard grinding of metal together, all the pressure without the scraping...) and pet at the tendrils distractedly while purring and pressing into ZEX's touches, his system twitching again at another pulse. Slag it, they were getting faster... Dinobot wasn't sure he wanted to overload under the influence of this alien... pleasant as he was...
Pressed as flush against Dinobot as he was, ZEX could feel the tiny shivers and faint pulses of heat through his clothing, and he moaned encouragingly, soaking up the responses like a sponge as he stroked and pet, tail curling almost bindingly tight around Dinobot's leg.
It was getting increasingly difficult to focus on what he should be doing, but as a last-ditch attempt at it, he growled and pressed against ZEX, trying to gain leverage enough to struggle away from that entirely-too-good touching. If he could just have ZEX overload... or, whatever it was that organics did... first, then Dinobot was sure he would have the advantage! And, well, maybe he would overload afterward... but that wasn't the important part. Panting harder, optics flickering from the strain of concentrating.
ZEX, unfortunately for Dinobot, was a few layers of clothing-- and some interesting bits having interesting things done to them-- away from his, ah, overload, and responded to Dinobot's percieved enthusiasm with a breathless giggle and even more hungry petting, tongue coming back into use as he flicked it against Dinobot's chest.
The minute flickering of ZEX's tongue against his plating was nearly torturous, sending nearby circuitry into a fit as his sensory net fritzed, and.... no no no, his chest plating-!
It split, just a fraction, and Dinobot made a desperate, keening, whining sound of despair at his own inadequate self-control. No! No, no, despite all the tingling, unbearable torture of pleasure, he had to stay in control, as much as he could, or else... or else.... Primus, he was so close-!
ZEX had already noted that area as one of interest, and Dinobot's reply to the flickering of ZEX's tongue just cemented the note in the forefront of ZEX's mind as he giggled and outright assaulted the plating with his trunk and his tongue, nuzzling and flicking and licking, his tentacles stroking their way back up to the crests to pet at them.
No, not this, not...! Static sputtered from Dinobot's vocaliser and he arched, optics flickering offline and mouth hanging open as his joints locked, spark pulsing frantically as he overloaded, entirely against his will - and in a blindingly, achingly, impossibly good way. So achingly good, in fact, that his sputtering attempts to stay online were increasingly futile every time he tried, cooling system whirring loudly while his chest sealed again.