Chapter Text
“Hey.”
The datapad in his servo nearly slipped out of his grasp, blue optics darting upwards as he attempted to steel his face.
D-16, or Dee as most of the miners called him, tried to keep his emotions in check if he could. As one of the larger cogless mechs, he was usually one of the ones most mechs avoided since they were wary he could beat them in a fight. While Dee was no pushover, he would rather avoid conflict if he could and so, even if he was a sensitive mech at spark, he stuck to his reputation.
With the datapad mostly pressed to his chassis, he narrowed his optics, adjusting to the sudden shadow that had fallen over him.
Dee recognized him immediately.
The mech across the berth from him.
Orion Pax, or Orion as most of the miners called him, was not a mech that Dee held any particularly strong feelings towards. With his purple frame with its dull gold decals that matched the gold of his optics, he did stand out compared to most of the other miners.
He also had a bit of a reputation.
He was not as big as Dee, and yet…
“Hey…” He tried to keep his voice neutral, yet his wariness seeped into the word. Dee didn’t know a lot about Orion Pax, yet he’d heard some bad rumors from Elita. Orion Pax was not the type of mech you wanted around you, because it usually meant a visit to the medical bay or that he needed something from you, and it was never a good idea to be indebted to a mech who treated favors as though they were eternal life debts.
Dee made it a habit not to be indebted to anyone, or to be underneath anyone’s attention.
He got enough of that from cogged mechs who found him… appealing.
“Thought you could use this.” He didn’t have time to process any of Orion Pax’s words before another datapad was shoved near his face. He lurched, expecting the hit that never came. He tried to ignore the small snicker that Orion Pax let out as Dee’s facade dropped, almost as if that had been his intention all along. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve seen some of the stuff you wrote.”
“I— huh?” Dee nearly rose to his pedes if Orion Pax wasn’t crowding him in.
“Piece of advice, most mechs place their valuables underneath the berth. If you don’t want others stealing your stuff, keep it in your subspace.” Orion Pax held out the other datapad, tapping the edge of it against the one Dee currently held. There was an easy grin on his face, as if he was relishing the emotions that were openly dancing in Dee’s optics. He no longer cared to pretend, not when the other mech had admitted to going through his personal datapad. “You’re lucky I keep those cybervultures away, don’t want those poems to be stolen, now do we?”
“What do you want?” The chill in his spark ceased, a sense of calm washing over him as he realized what the other mech was attempting. Dee has had to deal with many propositions in the past. As a cogless miner, it was simply a part of who you were. To survive, you had to give a piece of yourself when it was demanded. This was a routine he could easily follow, as simple as mining for energon. “I don’t think stealing a cogless miner’s small poems pay a lot of shanix. I don’t owe you much if that’s what—”
“You owe me your dignity. Those poems were really personal, and while literature isn’t really my thing, I know you would rather cause a cave-in than let the others know that underneath that tough exterior, there’s a mech inside there with a dream.” To his surprise, Orion Pax knelt down, those gold optics meeting his gaze as the light from above shone down at them. Despite himself, he couldn’t help but memorize that burning glare, as bright as the stars that shone down from above on a surface that Dee would never get to see. “That’s worth a lot, D-16.”
He felt his cheekplates heat up and his spark whirr rapidly that he nearly wanted to purge.
This was why he never wanted to catch anyone’s optics.
He already avoided Elita, he didn’t need to avoid Orion Pax too - who would be more difficult since his recharge station was right across from Dee’s.
“I have nothing to offer you but shanix… and some of my rations.” Dee bit the edge of his glossa, hoping that would entice the other mech into leaving him alone. No one in their right processor would turn down more energon. “I don’t… I don’t want…”
“What are you talking about?” Orion Pax’s gaze narrowed, and his frame shifted as he moved closer to Dee. He should have shoved him away, yet there was a conflicted look in the other’s optics that made Dee hesitate. Orion Pax held out the datapad in his servo again. “I’m not a patient mech, while it was funny seeing your reaction, I’m done playing around. I didn’t come here to get anything from you.”
That… Dee felt his face heat up again, this time out of embarrassment. He shifted, back moving away from the wall as he moved slightly closer.
“Then… Why are you talking to me?” Dee winced, wishing he had asked that question with more grace. Yet from the look on Orion Pax’s face, he didn’t appear offended. If anything, his frame became less tense and he moved away as Dee leaned into him more - a slightly blue tinting his face, though Dee didn’t know why he looked that way.
“Look, I said don’t take it the wrong way, okay? I look through everyone’s stuff, you never know what useful information you can get.” Orion Pax tilted his head, a playful grin on his face. “You’re not special.”
“I know.” He deadpanned, “We’re cogless miners.”
“No, that isn't— Ugh, truly the poet, so difficult to talk to.” Orion Pax rolled his optics, yet the smile on his face only grew wider, as if Dee was amusing him. “The point is, I snooped through your datapad not because I want anything from you, I look through everyone’s. I didn’t mean to read your poems.”
No one else aside from Dee was meant to ever see those poems, and a part of him wanted to push Orion Pax until he fell over.
Yet as the other mech spoke, there was a wistfulness to his tone, and a look of shame that crossed his face as if he was truly sorry. Still, Dee had heard Orion Pax was good at pretend…
“And… they’re great.” Orion Pax’s voice was soft, his digits tapping at the datapad he still held onto. He couldn’t meet Dee’s gaze, and somehow that was enough to convince him that the other mech was being genuine. “I mean, they’re useless, I can’t get any actual good information but… most mechs here, they’re all talk… full of sad unfulfilled dreams.”
“If you’re here to insult me—”
“Not you.” He felt the datapad in his hold shift as the edge of it bumped against Orion Pax’s. “I mean, it’s still pathetic that you settled for promotions until they give you the chance to explore the universe but… it counts more than what everyone else is doing.”
“It’s not pathetic.” Dee’s voice was weak even as he defended himself. “It’s the only way I can achieve my dream. You talk a lot, but do you even have one?”
“Tch, yeah!” Orion Pax gestured to the rest of the miner’s quarters. Even though there were other miners that crowded the cramped space, it almost felt as if they were the only two in the room who mattered. “I want to be more than just this. I don’t like your method, but I like that you’re trying. That counts a lot since everyone else is resigned to die in the dark. But we refuse.”
“I’m not like you.” Dee tried to shake his helm.
He’d heard of the rumors, and he was nothing like Orion Pax.
Impulsive. A dreamer. A risk taker.
Free.
While there was wariness towards the other mech, deep inside…
There was also envy.
“Yeah, you’re not.” Pax let out a snicker, and this time, he shoved the datapad he was holding into Dee’s servos. “But you could be.”
He glanced down at the datapad the other mech had brought, optics widening as he realized it contained information about planets and cultures beyond Cybertron - the planets he’d always dreamed of visiting.
“Maybe I lied and I do want something from you. Nothing too serious, just…” The other mech hesitated, as if he was baring his own spark. “Your friendship.”
There was a tense silence.
Dee… didn’t make friends.
Most cogless miners never did.
Most relationships were thinly veiled transactions, a method of survival.
He glanced down at the datapad.
“A friend… you’d be the first, Orion Pax.”
“Pax.”
“What?”
The other mech let out a small vent, an almost happy sound. “You can call me Pax.”
“Okay… Pax.”
Dee nearly wanted to laugh, unable to contain himself.
A friend…
That didn’t sound too bad.
Even if it was a terrible trick, it couldn’t be any worse than what he’d already dealt with.
“Then… you can call me Dee.”
Pax’s gold optics shone, eclipsing the light of the stars that Dee was so fond of.
“I will. That’s a promise, Dee.”