With one bout of studying out of the way...
Title: Let Yourself Go. (03/??)
General Rating: NC-17
Rating for this Part: PG-13
Warnings: Eventual Slash, sticky smut. Lots of sticky smut.
Pairing: Hound x Mirage
Setting: Imperium Cybertronium G1 AU.
Summary: Mirage believed no one would ever love him with the same strong and pure love his father felt for him nor that he'd ever feel true love for another mech until Hound challenged those beliefs.
Notes: About a year ago I promised to naggingfishwife I would write her a story as a thank you for her generosity and help when I needed it, but I did not want to begin to post until this was finished. The story is now finished, but I have not decided how many chapters it'll be split into. By her preference the smut on this fic is sticky. All parts will be labeled properly so it'll be easy to skip if that's not your flavor of smut.
Thank you to nkfloofiepoof for beta reading for me. And finally some Hound/Mirage interaction!
Drift and Mirage shared another thing in common: They enjoyed sitting on window sills. Probably for different reasons altogether, but both found more enjoyment sitting on the window sills than on regular chairs during most of their time of leisure. The noble of Crystal City had been invited over to stay for a few days before he returned to the retreat with his mentor, and he accepted the offer for the simple reason he wanted to see a series of events unfold for as long as he could.
Skyfire had admitted during their lengthy chatter at dinner time that one of the reasons he acquired Hound was because he thought Mirage could use a tracker partner for the hunting games. There were two seasons of hunting activities, one of which was an actual competition while the second season was a more leisurely activity. The competitive season was fast approaching, and the pre-seasonal game would take place in three orns.
In the competitive season, Mirage and Drag Strip were two of the top leaders, both having won the same amount of games so far, although they weren’t the sole leaders of the ladder. It was well known that turbo fox hunting was a game where Drag Strip and Mirage were a delight to be watched. Many competitors joined solely for the sake of being present to watch the two nobles’ skill.
Speed was one of the most important things about the hunting games, but tracking was also a vital part of it. Locating the hiding turbo foxes was of the essence, and then the herding towards the open fields was to follow where the speed of the hunter and a remarkable aim were what won the competitions.
Most of the hunters used rifles designed to work with this kind of fast moving targets with specific stun settings. Some mechs preferred the stun to be only a motor function temporary disability while keeping the turbo fox alive, others preferred to keep the prey completely stunned to minimize the stress on the feral creature. Mirage preferred a crossbow that fired an energy dart specially developed by Skyfire.
Mirage was a noble through and through, but due to his upbringing and Skyfire’s far more peaceful nature, he developed distaste for the harm of the turbo foxes they hunted. Even the fully stunting charge of other rifles produced stress -the shock produced by the charge of the shot was still enough to harm the creature enough to need a couple of orns of rest before it was deemed ready to be set free.
Mirage’s dart acted as a sedative that gradually put the creature into recharge mode. It wasn’t an immediate medium to immobilize the turbo fox as it could take a couple of kliks before the creature would fall down asleep. But Mirage preferred the extended time and extra boost of speed needed to capture his prey; it was more rewarding for him that way.
With that thought in mind, Skyfire acquired Hound with the hopes of speeding up the tracking process and help Mirage to distinguish himself further in the hunting games. Mirage appeared still unconvinced as, most of the time, the trackers of his competitors were a hindrance more than any help. Still, Mirage agreed to take Hound with him for the pre-season game to test out his capabilities.
“Do not measure the mech’s worth based on Drag Strip’s or other mech’s trackers,” Drift cautioned while they headed down the hall to the guest rooms where Drift would spend the night. “If Skyfire handpicked him, it’s unlikely he does a lousy job if tracking is his specialty.”
“Father mentioned he is also capable of creating holographs.” Mirage waved a hand, allowing his stubbornness to show. “But even that doesn’t mean he’ll be good for the games and he doesn’t seem to be very fast.”
Drift smirked as Mirage’s words seemed to mimic the words Drift himself had spoken to his mentor during his first dips into the Knight’s lifestyle. “Must I re-tell the tale of the slow and steady?”
“It’s a game based around speed.” Mirage glanced at Drift sourly. “A slow and steady green tracker will not do if I want to win the competition.”
“Just give him a chance, Mirage. You’re being arrogant and petulant.” Drift stopped by the door of the room he usually stayed in when he visited the young noble.
Mirage sighed heavily, knowing that he was being petty, but he was not quite ready to yield yet. “I agreed to give him a chance. We’ll see how he does during the pre-season game. If he can impress me, I’ll keep him.”
Drift chuckled and opened the door, bowing to Mirage in thanks. “You do know looks can be deceiving, Mirage. I have a feeling this new slave of yours will surprise you. I bid you goodnight and pleasant recharge.”
“Likewise,” Mirage said with a small smile, unable to stay annoyed at Drift for long. He turned around and headed for his rooms as tomorrow he would need to introduce Hound to his armory where his hunting gear was stored. Before he powered down for recharge, Mirage headed to his window sill and sat down to watch the world outside.
He liked to watch the barely lit grounds of his family’s estate and catch a glimpse of a slave here and there running around to finish last-minute tasks or the slaves who ran off to meet with a lover a few barracks away.
He caught sight of Hound stopping another smaller, younger slave that carried some cargo. Mirage tilted his head and followed the exchange that ended with Hound taking some of the smaller slave’s cargo to take it away. It was then he noticed the way Hound’s green paint gleamed under the pure white lights that peppered the service pathways. He had yet to meet a mech with a shade of green that was pleasant for him to look at.
Brawn’s green seemed too dull for Mirage’s taste, and mechs like Hook were an opticsore. Cosmos’ shade was the only one he’d ever found pleasant to look at, but the minibot was always up and down running deliveries, so he was seen very rarely in his root mode.
Hound was definitely not an unpleasant sight, and he seemed to be a helpful mech. Mirage mused that, if Hound was not up to his standard as tracker for the hunting games, at the very least he could employ him as an aid for other kinds of tasks unless his father required him for his expeditions. Mirage then vacated his seat on the window sill and headed for his berth as he would have a busy day tomorrow introducing Hound to the preparation of his hunting gear.
-------------------
The next orn, Mirage had spent some time with Drift before he left to look for Hound -a task that became difficult in itself as he was unable to locate the tracker anywhere. After almost a joor looking for his wayward slave, Mirage stopped one of his servants to inquire about Hound.
“Have you seen Hound?” Mirage asked, looking already a tad annoyed.
“I saw him go inside a few breems ago. I think he was heading for the armory.”
Mirage couldn’t hide a look of surprise at the servant’s words as he never thought about looking for Hound in the armory. After thanking the slave, he left again in search of the tracker, finding him inside the armory already fast as work cleaning something.
“I was looking for you,” Mirage spoke as he approached Hound, noticing now that what Hound was cleaning was his hunting rifle.
“I’m sorry, master Mirage.” Hound bowed his head apologetically but then smiled at him. “I thought I could get a head start cleaning and preparing your hunting gear.”
Mirage quirked an optic brow and looked around the room that was full of all kind of weapons, both fire arms along with close range weaponry. Most of them were just decorative or old trophies awarded to Kup for his vorns of service. It wasn’t easy to identify a hunting rifle unless one was familiar with them. “My grandfather told you which one was my weapon?”
Hound shook his head. “No. Master Skyfire told me you use a crossbow for the hunting games. There is a couple here but they are too big for you to hold comfortably, so I assumed this one had to be yours.” Hound held up the crossbow and then moved his thigh a little to nudge the second crossbow on the bench he was sitting on. “And this would be your spare.”
Mirage crossed his arms, canting his hip a little out of habit. “Are you trying to impress me, Hound?”
The green slave shook his head once more. “No sir. I’m only trying to be as helpful as I can be for you.”
Mirage admitted to himself he was at least pleased Hound had initiative and wanted to be helpful; that meant he could definitely find use for this slave as an aid. With a sound like a hum of approval, Mirage reached for a stool behind Hound and seated himself across from his new slave.
“You’re familiar with the hunting games?” Mirage asked as he picked up the spare rifle and began to disassemble it to clean and check up the components and make sure they’d be in top shape for the games.
“I know the basics.” Hound wasn’t particularly fond of the sport given the treatment of some participants over the turbo foxes. Although he knew it was an ancient sport and unlikely to disappear just because he disagreed with it, Hound was still glad at least his new master was more concerned for the well being of the creature and not just his own glory.
“Let’s go over the basics anyway just to reinforce what you already know,” Mirage spoke and picked up a rag and began to clean up the compartment that stored the compound of his darts. While he cleaned the parts of the spare crossbow, he began to explain the characteristics of the hunting grounds where the games took place, the kind of natural formations and local life forms that subsisted in there along with the turbo foxes.
Every now and then, Mirage stopped to ask Hound if he had any doubts or questions. He was pleased when Hound didn’t have doubts and answered patiently when Hound required further explanation of something. The task of preparing Mirage’s hunting gear and getting Hound updated on his role as Mirage’s tracker took only a couple of joors, but Mirage found he actually enjoyed the time he spent with Hound.
Mirage could tell his newest slave was smart and intuitive, needing only minimal explanation of something to draw the correct conclusion, and this pleased Mirage greatly for the purpose of working together during the hunts.
“My father said you could use some exploration of the city, so I have another task for you to tend to tomorrow,” Mirage said as he cleaned his hands with a soft rag, watching as Hound carefully laid the two crossbows fully assembled and ready into their travel cases.
“Of course, master Mirage.” Hound smiled and bowed once he closed the travel case.
Mirage held out a transparent card. “I need you to pick up a package at the location on the card. It’s been paid for already, so all you have to do is hand this card to the mech at the front desk and explain you were sent by Mirage to get the package.”
“I’ll go to retrieve it as soon as I online tomorrow, master Mirage.” Hound accepted the card and flicked it slightly to see the address and name of the business display under the light in a flurry of green-pink glyphs.
Mirage nodded and turned around to leave. “Unless grandfather or father has any tasks for you, you may have the rest of the orn to yourself.”
“Thank you, master.” Hound bowed his head again and watched Mirage leave before he subspaced the card then set about picking up the cleaning tools and cloths so he could leave and get refueled.
When Mirage headed back to his room, he found a familiar faceplate grinning at him. “Not a word,” Mirage warned, glaring at Drift.
“I’ve not uttered a single chirp.” Drift continued to grin, unrepentant. “So…”
“So?” Mirage crossed his arms over his chest plates.
“Still think Hound will become a hindrance?” Drift opened the door for Mirage, gesturing for the other mech to go inside as he gave a little mock bow.
“Ok, I admit he knows more than I thought and seems to be eager to be helpful,” Mirage said as he stepped into the room, expecting Drift to come inside as well. “But we won’t know if he really can be any help for me as a tracker or not until the game.”
“Fair enough,” Drift spoke softly and closed the door behind him. “But you’re warmed up to him now.”
“I didn’t dislike him to begin with.” Mirage waved a hand, wishing to change the subject for now. “Come; let’s play one of those games you Knights seem to enjoy.”
Drift smirked and reached into his subspace for the game board. “Alright then, I promise I’ll go easy on you this time.”
Mirage snorted and merely sat down across from Drift to pass the time and enjoy his friend’s company.
General Rating: NC-17
Rating for this Part: PG-13
Warnings: Eventual Slash, sticky smut. Lots of sticky smut.
Pairing: Hound x Mirage
Setting: Imperium Cybertronium G1 AU.
Summary: Mirage believed no one would ever love him with the same strong and pure love his father felt for him nor that he'd ever feel true love for another mech until Hound challenged those beliefs.
Notes: About a year ago I promised to naggingfishwife I would write her a story as a thank you for her generosity and help when I needed it, but I did not want to begin to post until this was finished. The story is now finished, but I have not decided how many chapters it'll be split into. By her preference the smut on this fic is sticky. All parts will be labeled properly so it'll be easy to skip if that's not your flavor of smut.
Thank you to nkfloofiepoof for beta reading for me. And finally some Hound/Mirage interaction!
Drift and Mirage shared another thing in common: They enjoyed sitting on window sills. Probably for different reasons altogether, but both found more enjoyment sitting on the window sills than on regular chairs during most of their time of leisure. The noble of Crystal City had been invited over to stay for a few days before he returned to the retreat with his mentor, and he accepted the offer for the simple reason he wanted to see a series of events unfold for as long as he could.
Skyfire had admitted during their lengthy chatter at dinner time that one of the reasons he acquired Hound was because he thought Mirage could use a tracker partner for the hunting games. There were two seasons of hunting activities, one of which was an actual competition while the second season was a more leisurely activity. The competitive season was fast approaching, and the pre-seasonal game would take place in three orns.
In the competitive season, Mirage and Drag Strip were two of the top leaders, both having won the same amount of games so far, although they weren’t the sole leaders of the ladder. It was well known that turbo fox hunting was a game where Drag Strip and Mirage were a delight to be watched. Many competitors joined solely for the sake of being present to watch the two nobles’ skill.
Speed was one of the most important things about the hunting games, but tracking was also a vital part of it. Locating the hiding turbo foxes was of the essence, and then the herding towards the open fields was to follow where the speed of the hunter and a remarkable aim were what won the competitions.
Most of the hunters used rifles designed to work with this kind of fast moving targets with specific stun settings. Some mechs preferred the stun to be only a motor function temporary disability while keeping the turbo fox alive, others preferred to keep the prey completely stunned to minimize the stress on the feral creature. Mirage preferred a crossbow that fired an energy dart specially developed by Skyfire.
Mirage was a noble through and through, but due to his upbringing and Skyfire’s far more peaceful nature, he developed distaste for the harm of the turbo foxes they hunted. Even the fully stunting charge of other rifles produced stress -the shock produced by the charge of the shot was still enough to harm the creature enough to need a couple of orns of rest before it was deemed ready to be set free.
Mirage’s dart acted as a sedative that gradually put the creature into recharge mode. It wasn’t an immediate medium to immobilize the turbo fox as it could take a couple of kliks before the creature would fall down asleep. But Mirage preferred the extended time and extra boost of speed needed to capture his prey; it was more rewarding for him that way.
With that thought in mind, Skyfire acquired Hound with the hopes of speeding up the tracking process and help Mirage to distinguish himself further in the hunting games. Mirage appeared still unconvinced as, most of the time, the trackers of his competitors were a hindrance more than any help. Still, Mirage agreed to take Hound with him for the pre-season game to test out his capabilities.
“Do not measure the mech’s worth based on Drag Strip’s or other mech’s trackers,” Drift cautioned while they headed down the hall to the guest rooms where Drift would spend the night. “If Skyfire handpicked him, it’s unlikely he does a lousy job if tracking is his specialty.”
“Father mentioned he is also capable of creating holographs.” Mirage waved a hand, allowing his stubbornness to show. “But even that doesn’t mean he’ll be good for the games and he doesn’t seem to be very fast.”
Drift smirked as Mirage’s words seemed to mimic the words Drift himself had spoken to his mentor during his first dips into the Knight’s lifestyle. “Must I re-tell the tale of the slow and steady?”
“It’s a game based around speed.” Mirage glanced at Drift sourly. “A slow and steady green tracker will not do if I want to win the competition.”
“Just give him a chance, Mirage. You’re being arrogant and petulant.” Drift stopped by the door of the room he usually stayed in when he visited the young noble.
Mirage sighed heavily, knowing that he was being petty, but he was not quite ready to yield yet. “I agreed to give him a chance. We’ll see how he does during the pre-season game. If he can impress me, I’ll keep him.”
Drift chuckled and opened the door, bowing to Mirage in thanks. “You do know looks can be deceiving, Mirage. I have a feeling this new slave of yours will surprise you. I bid you goodnight and pleasant recharge.”
“Likewise,” Mirage said with a small smile, unable to stay annoyed at Drift for long. He turned around and headed for his rooms as tomorrow he would need to introduce Hound to his armory where his hunting gear was stored. Before he powered down for recharge, Mirage headed to his window sill and sat down to watch the world outside.
He liked to watch the barely lit grounds of his family’s estate and catch a glimpse of a slave here and there running around to finish last-minute tasks or the slaves who ran off to meet with a lover a few barracks away.
He caught sight of Hound stopping another smaller, younger slave that carried some cargo. Mirage tilted his head and followed the exchange that ended with Hound taking some of the smaller slave’s cargo to take it away. It was then he noticed the way Hound’s green paint gleamed under the pure white lights that peppered the service pathways. He had yet to meet a mech with a shade of green that was pleasant for him to look at.
Brawn’s green seemed too dull for Mirage’s taste, and mechs like Hook were an opticsore. Cosmos’ shade was the only one he’d ever found pleasant to look at, but the minibot was always up and down running deliveries, so he was seen very rarely in his root mode.
Hound was definitely not an unpleasant sight, and he seemed to be a helpful mech. Mirage mused that, if Hound was not up to his standard as tracker for the hunting games, at the very least he could employ him as an aid for other kinds of tasks unless his father required him for his expeditions. Mirage then vacated his seat on the window sill and headed for his berth as he would have a busy day tomorrow introducing Hound to the preparation of his hunting gear.
-------------------
The next orn, Mirage had spent some time with Drift before he left to look for Hound -a task that became difficult in itself as he was unable to locate the tracker anywhere. After almost a joor looking for his wayward slave, Mirage stopped one of his servants to inquire about Hound.
“Have you seen Hound?” Mirage asked, looking already a tad annoyed.
“I saw him go inside a few breems ago. I think he was heading for the armory.”
Mirage couldn’t hide a look of surprise at the servant’s words as he never thought about looking for Hound in the armory. After thanking the slave, he left again in search of the tracker, finding him inside the armory already fast as work cleaning something.
“I was looking for you,” Mirage spoke as he approached Hound, noticing now that what Hound was cleaning was his hunting rifle.
“I’m sorry, master Mirage.” Hound bowed his head apologetically but then smiled at him. “I thought I could get a head start cleaning and preparing your hunting gear.”
Mirage quirked an optic brow and looked around the room that was full of all kind of weapons, both fire arms along with close range weaponry. Most of them were just decorative or old trophies awarded to Kup for his vorns of service. It wasn’t easy to identify a hunting rifle unless one was familiar with them. “My grandfather told you which one was my weapon?”
Hound shook his head. “No. Master Skyfire told me you use a crossbow for the hunting games. There is a couple here but they are too big for you to hold comfortably, so I assumed this one had to be yours.” Hound held up the crossbow and then moved his thigh a little to nudge the second crossbow on the bench he was sitting on. “And this would be your spare.”
Mirage crossed his arms, canting his hip a little out of habit. “Are you trying to impress me, Hound?”
The green slave shook his head once more. “No sir. I’m only trying to be as helpful as I can be for you.”
Mirage admitted to himself he was at least pleased Hound had initiative and wanted to be helpful; that meant he could definitely find use for this slave as an aid. With a sound like a hum of approval, Mirage reached for a stool behind Hound and seated himself across from his new slave.
“You’re familiar with the hunting games?” Mirage asked as he picked up the spare rifle and began to disassemble it to clean and check up the components and make sure they’d be in top shape for the games.
“I know the basics.” Hound wasn’t particularly fond of the sport given the treatment of some participants over the turbo foxes. Although he knew it was an ancient sport and unlikely to disappear just because he disagreed with it, Hound was still glad at least his new master was more concerned for the well being of the creature and not just his own glory.
“Let’s go over the basics anyway just to reinforce what you already know,” Mirage spoke and picked up a rag and began to clean up the compartment that stored the compound of his darts. While he cleaned the parts of the spare crossbow, he began to explain the characteristics of the hunting grounds where the games took place, the kind of natural formations and local life forms that subsisted in there along with the turbo foxes.
Every now and then, Mirage stopped to ask Hound if he had any doubts or questions. He was pleased when Hound didn’t have doubts and answered patiently when Hound required further explanation of something. The task of preparing Mirage’s hunting gear and getting Hound updated on his role as Mirage’s tracker took only a couple of joors, but Mirage found he actually enjoyed the time he spent with Hound.
Mirage could tell his newest slave was smart and intuitive, needing only minimal explanation of something to draw the correct conclusion, and this pleased Mirage greatly for the purpose of working together during the hunts.
“My father said you could use some exploration of the city, so I have another task for you to tend to tomorrow,” Mirage said as he cleaned his hands with a soft rag, watching as Hound carefully laid the two crossbows fully assembled and ready into their travel cases.
“Of course, master Mirage.” Hound smiled and bowed once he closed the travel case.
Mirage held out a transparent card. “I need you to pick up a package at the location on the card. It’s been paid for already, so all you have to do is hand this card to the mech at the front desk and explain you were sent by Mirage to get the package.”
“I’ll go to retrieve it as soon as I online tomorrow, master Mirage.” Hound accepted the card and flicked it slightly to see the address and name of the business display under the light in a flurry of green-pink glyphs.
Mirage nodded and turned around to leave. “Unless grandfather or father has any tasks for you, you may have the rest of the orn to yourself.”
“Thank you, master.” Hound bowed his head again and watched Mirage leave before he subspaced the card then set about picking up the cleaning tools and cloths so he could leave and get refueled.
When Mirage headed back to his room, he found a familiar faceplate grinning at him. “Not a word,” Mirage warned, glaring at Drift.
“I’ve not uttered a single chirp.” Drift continued to grin, unrepentant. “So…”
“So?” Mirage crossed his arms over his chest plates.
“Still think Hound will become a hindrance?” Drift opened the door for Mirage, gesturing for the other mech to go inside as he gave a little mock bow.
“Ok, I admit he knows more than I thought and seems to be eager to be helpful,” Mirage said as he stepped into the room, expecting Drift to come inside as well. “But we won’t know if he really can be any help for me as a tracker or not until the game.”
“Fair enough,” Drift spoke softly and closed the door behind him. “But you’re warmed up to him now.”
“I didn’t dislike him to begin with.” Mirage waved a hand, wishing to change the subject for now. “Come; let’s play one of those games you Knights seem to enjoy.”
Drift smirked and reached into his subspace for the game board. “Alright then, I promise I’ll go easy on you this time.”
Mirage snorted and merely sat down across from Drift to pass the time and enjoy his friend’s company.