Sky and Ground 3: Recharge

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Fluffy Sap

A soft chime jerked Barricade out of his recharge. What? Emergency? He blearily slapped his wrist comm, his alarm coder. The chime sounded again. His door. Who? Nobody every came to his recharge station. Why would they? Just so much easier to hit him on comm, if they needed to contact him at all.

 

He staggered to the door, barely navigating the paths in the piles of crud strewn on the floor. One day he’d have to clean this place up. Then again, why? No one ever saw it. Until now. He paused, cycling his eyes to highlight before he opened the door. 

 

“Hey there, little spike,” Skywarp said, blocking so much light from the corridor that for a moment, Barricade’s highlight eyes were blind. “Can I come in?”

 

It was hard to refuse a mech who was twice your size, but Barricade tried. “Uhhh, kind of a mess,” he said, sheepishly.

 

Skywarp scoffed, pushing past him. “Didn’t come here for decorating tips.” He paused, looking around. “Cozy, though. Little cramped.” Well, it would be, for someone his size. He picked his way over to Barricade’s berth, pausing to move a datareader and three trax to a low shelf. He settled himself on the edge of the berth, a little surprised that Barricade stood in the door, backlit, confused. Skywarp gestured. “Well, come on over. And you can close the door, you know. Not going to bite. Unless….” He winked.

 

Numbly, Barricade closed the door and approached the berth. He still wasn’t used to the idea that the Seeker, well, he wasn’t even sure how he could finish that sentence. Did the Seeker want him, for him, for Barricade himself? Unlikely. Did he want just to use him for spiking? It seemed that way, but he had plenty of other choices if he wanted them. Barricade didn’t think anyone would refuse Skywarp. Or even if it would do them any good—if Skywarp wanted you, he took you. Barricade knew that from experience. Did Barricade even care? 

 

“Silly little spike. Begin to think you’re afraid of me.” Well…. Skywarp reached over, and tugged Barricade between his legs.  Even perched on the low berth, he was taller than Barricade, his knee joints encircling the smaller mech easily. He pulled Barricade into an embrace, pressing Barricade’s face against his shoulder.

 

It felt....good. In a way. The big Seeker’s powerful arms around his shoulders, his face inches from Barricade’s. He felt surrounded, enveloped. In a good way. 

“Came to apologize.” Skywarp’s vocalizer rumbled against his audio. “Starscream explained the whole thing to me.”

 

What whole thing? “Uhhh,”

 

“Shhhh, don’t worry. I get it.”

 

“Get what?”

“Starscream said that maybe I went a little too far in the meeting today. You know. Embarrassed you.”

 

Well, it WAS embarrassing, but it was also hot and flattering and possibly the best sex he’d ever had. Mixed feelings much?

 

“I’m okay,” Barricade mumbled, his words getting lost in Skywarp’s neck. He was less okay with the idea that the two of them had been talking about him. 

 

“Don’t want you to have, you know, problems. Because of me.” 

 

“I can handle it,” Barricade said. He wasn’t made of glass. He’d handled worse. He could handle this. This would be worth handling. Already the others looked at him differently. Not with respect, necessarily—he’d been pretty helpless the whole time—but looking at him as if they must have missed something before, something that Skywarp saw. 

 

“Ohhhhh,” Skywarp said, as if it were the cutest thing in the world. “I know you can. I just don’t want you to have to.” Barricade’s heart sank. Did this mean…it was over? Yeah, that would make sense. Hi! Have some fantastic sex. Begin to feel wanted. Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to complicate your life. Bye. Dammit, he wanted his life complicated. This way, at least. 

 

His hands came up, tightening on the Seeker’s shoulder armor. One last…touch. Prolong this moment before he leaves. He shifted his face, nuzzling into the black-armored throat. Skywarp gave a small contented sound. He pushed Barricade away, gently, the smaller mech resisting as hard as he could. Skywarp held him by his shoulders, lowering his head to look him in the eye. “I make you uncomfortable, little spike. Makes me sad.” 

Barricade’s talons closed helplessly on empty air. Oh. “Yeah. Okay.” He twisted his shoulders out from Skywarp’s grasp. “I get it.” 

Skywarp tilted his head, curious. “I don’t think you do.”

 

“Yeah, I do. Look, really. It was…fucking mindblowing. And it’s over. Fine. No complaints here.” Right. No complaints. Just one long aching wish it wasn’t over.

 

Skywarp’s hands dropped into his lap. “Barricade. No.” He reached out, brushing Barricade’s chassis with one talon. “You are ridiculously cute when you’re playing tough, though.” A little smile, that faded when Barricade didn’t respond. 

 

“It’s fine. I appreciate it. Really. Appreciate the whole thing: that it happened at all, and that you’re doing this. Privately.” 

 

Skywarp’s mouth moved in a series of expressions Barricade couldn’t track. “Going to have to do this the hard way, aren’t I?”

 

“Yeah, this isn’t hard enough,” Barricade said, bitterly. 

 

Skywarp laughed. “Barricade, stop talking. Get the fuck over here.” 

 

“No.” 

“Defiant, are you? Fine. I can work with that.” The long arms reached out, jerking Barricade against Skywarp. One long finger tilted his chin upward, and he felt the yielding warmth of Skywarp’s mouth against his. His own mouth opened in surprise, and Skywarp’s glossa probed, gently, the hand tracing an insistent trail down his back. 

 

Barricade’s mind was confused, but his body flared with arousal, his hands coming up to the Seeker’s shoulders again, his smaller talons probing under the armor plating, his mouth warming to Skywarp’s kiss. Skywarp purred. His arms tightened around Barricade again, and the smaller mech found himself hurled onto his berth, the Seeker over him, on him, all that weight pressing against him. It felt…good. Oh don’t leave. Don’t get off me. Don’t leave this emptiness on my body. In my life.

Skywarp broke the kiss. “Going to listen to me, now?”

 

“Don’t have a choice, do I?”

Skywarp brushed his lips with another kiss. “You’re starting to learn, aren’t you?”

 

“Do not know what you’re doing here.”

 

“I? I came to apologize. Starscream and I…we play rough. Others get hurt.”

 

“Not hurt.”

 

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything wrong.” You didn’t. You didn’t do anything wrong. Just don’t leave. Barricade’s hands clutched over the Seeker’s arms. “Besides,” Skywarp murmured. “I have a favor to ask.”

 

Anything. Ask anything. I will. It’s yours. “What?”

 

“Can…can I recharge here tonight? With you?” 

 

“Recha—why?” 

 

The smile left Skywarp’s face. Now he really did look sad. “I have bad memory purges when I recharge. It’s better if I’m not alone.”

 

“Starscream?”

 

“I don’t want him to know, little spike. Like I said, we play kind of rough.” A hint of the smile returning, but a little lopsided, as if hastily or clumsily slapped on. “See, it really is all about me. I’m just using you.” Use me. Fine. Just don’t leave. Barricade was a little scared at how desperate he was feeling; how quickly he’d gotten attached. Part of him wanted to refuse the request, just to reassert a boundary, prove to Skywarp, prove to himself, that he still had some control. But…recharging with another mech. He looked up, and saw naked vulnerability in Skywarp’s face. And he couldn’t refuse. Even if he’d wanted to. 

 

“Yes.” He brushed Skywarp’s face with light fingers. “But…why me?”

 

“I have my reasons, little spike.” He teased the smaller mech’s chassis with one long talon. “I like you, Barricade.”

 

“You don’t even know me.” He winced. Way to fuck it up, Barricade. 

 

“I want to. That doesn’t happen very often, that I even want to.” He traced his hand down Barricade’s thigh. “Don’t want to scare you off, though.” 

 

“Not scared,” Barricade said, defiantly.

 

A smile. “Know that, little spike. Hey, does it bother you that I call you that?”

 

“No.” He liked it. Primus how he liked it. All the warmth and affection he’d ever known. He sighed as Skywarp’s long fingers teased at his knee cabling. “Like it,” he said, flatly. 

 

“Good. Cause I'm not going to stop calling you that.” A grin, this time returned by Barricade. Skywarp settled himself off to one side, one leg thrown protectively over Barricade’s hips. “Sure you’re okay with this?” 

 

“Sure.” Somehow it didn’t feel like enough. But…he’d never started anything with Skywarp. Was afraid of that, yeah. Still…. He reached up with one hand, pulling the Seeker’s face down to his, stroking Skywarp’s audio, the ridges on the back of his helm plating, the small vents near his collar armor, as he pressed his mouth to Skywarp’s. “More than okay.” 

 

Next: Gossip