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Prowl arrived, on time to the fraction of a klik at the door to the quarters Dai Atlas and Axe shared in the Knight's Citadel. In his hand was a datapad. He had two others like it in subspace. He'd never been this nervous in his existence. He had a backup plan. Six, in fact, before he resorted to secondary choices. This was his primary choice, however, for reasons he didn't dare study too closely or he was sure it would crash him. Emotional 'reasons' tended to do that.
The door opened to reveal the dark form of Axe, looking down at the smaller Praxian. The black Knight tilted his helm to the side, then stepped aside, allowing Prowl to enter. Across the main room, Dai Atlas looked up from the datapad he had been reading, red optics fixing on Prowl.
"Thank you for your time," Prowl's formality was a warning to them both. "I wish to discus a kindling contract with you."
That got both of their attention. Dai Atlas lost interest in his reading, all his attention on Prowl. Axe made a surprised sound, both optic rims rising as he indicated for Prowl to take a seat, then settled onto the couch next to his mate.
"A kindling contract?" the blue triple changer echoed, putting his datapad aside as Prowl sat down with his datapad still in hand.
"Yes. As you may be aware, my designation came up this vorn. As I am unattached and inclined to remain that way, my factors weighed heavily in favor of couples who have successfully raised one sparkling already. Having had significant contact with Wing, I believe that you would be good creators for the results of my obligation," Prowl did his best to sound less detached, more normal, than he actually was.
Axe stirred. "You would create a sparkling, then give it up for us to raise?"
The larger of the pair's wings twitched. "Would you sire, or would you carry?"
"Since my understanding of the purpose of this is to perpetuate the gifts and sparklines, I intend to carry. I would have far too little influence on the sparkling otherwise to be worth all the effort of creating it."
Dai Atlas' brow furrowed under the edge of his helmet. "You do have the right to refuse, and no one would think any less of you for doing so," he pointed out cautiously.
"Refusal requires a reason. I have none," Prowl responded simply. "You also have the right to refuse my terms. I will approach another with the contract."
"Not being ready for a sparkling, or simply not wanting to also counts as a reason," Axe pointed out. He looked at his mate. "Which one of us were you thinking of as the sire?"
"Dai Atlas," Prowl inclined his helm slightly to the larger of the pair. "We are more likely to produce a balanced mecha."
"Or one that is completely insane," Dai Atlas rumbled slightly. "Your tactical gift combined with my gift for violence can also produce something that can not survive here."
"If we both do our part, there is less than a 6% probability of that," Prowl countered. "There is a 73.8% probability that should such a combination occur, it will be detectable while aborting it is still a simple procedure."
~He's got a point there, love,~ Axe had to note, his plating trembling slightly. ~If it does work, and produces a balanced sparkling, we're going to have one smart little sparkling on our hands.~
The larger mech rumbled softly, one wing twitching as he thought it over, trying his best to consider all of the various angles.
~But if that 6% happens, we'll have lost another one,~ Dai Atlas countered unhappily.
"Here," Prowl extended the datapad in his hand, letting it go when it was taken. "The second file contains all my calculations. The first is the contract."
Axe reached over to stroke one hand down his mate's arm. ~I'm not too thrilled about that possibility, either. But to have another sparkling underpede...~
Dai Atlas quivered slightly, leaning into Axe's hand. Red optics dropped to the datapad, bringing up the second file and scrutinizing it carefully. He'd known Prowl long enough to know what was there. To know the validity of it and how meticulously it would have been created. Odds for results ranging from exceptionally good to exceptionally bad with half a dozen sires, all of them Knights, were laid out in a neat table. A second table calculated the odds of any given sire raising the sparkling, though it only had two options; acceptable or unacceptable. Below them were Prowl's own brand of breeding quality personnel files; the odds of any given mech passing on traits, desirable or not, when coupled with Prowl's spark and rather unique frame.
The Knight leader had to admit, Prowl did his research when he set his processor on something. He took in the numbers and stats, his gaze drawn to what was listed with his own designation, weighing the odds carefully. Axe leaned over to look, his helm brushing against his larger mate's cheek, humming very softly. Out of curiosity he thumbed to the next screen and cycled his optics.
"You aren't planning to remain exclusive," Axe stared at Prowl.
"Of course not," Prowl frowned, confused by the statement and the clear implication it was not desirable. "The more mecha who contribute their nanites, the greater the probability of the sparkling inheriting additional desirable traits."
~Different base culture,~ Dai Atlas had to point out. ~He does have a point, as unsettling as it may be.~ He frowned thoughtfully, looking from datapad to Praxian.
"This is a contract all parties will agree to prior to interfacing," Prowl said firmly. "As the legal creators and guardians of the sparkling, terms are negotiable."
The Sovereign made a humming sound. "This will require some thought, and careful consideration." He looked over the other names on the list Prowl had included. They were good Knights with a range of natural talents. Axe, Thorn, Wing, Redline, Dart, Atl, Shogun, Marwir, Silk, Talon ... and Jazz, the only non-Knight on the list.
"Then I will leave you to discuss and decide," Prowl stood and inclined his wings in a graceful salute that was more Praxian than New Crystal City. "You know how to contact me when you have."
"We will contact you when we come to a decision," Dai Atlas confirmed, inclining his helm slightly and watching the Praxian leave. "That has to be the strangest conversation I've had since we arrived."
"I agree with you there." Axe sidled closer, leaning against a blue shoulder.
As soon as Prowl walked into the Sovereign of Light's quarters, he could hear the sound of a powerful engine revving. The vibration of Dai Atlas' voice, nearly subsonic in its depth, made the Praxian's sensor wings twitch slightly. Following the sound, the storm-colored mech padded across the room and into the larger Knights' berth chamber.
Dai Atlas knelt on the berth, wings fully spread, armor fluffed, cooling fans working audibly. Axe was behind his mate, face hidden against the join of Dai Atlas' neck and shoulder, nipping and sucking at the cables while nimble black fingers roamed over and under flared armor. The Knight leader's spike was already pressurized, one of Axe's hands teasing along its base, drawing another deep rumble from Dai Atlas' vocalizer.
"Thank you for getting him ready," Prowl spoke, his voice smooth despite the light trickle of current the sight had aroused in him. His full focus was on being ready himself. His valve pre-stretched to take the giant's spike, his spark and systems tested for readiness. If it was possible for a spark such as his to kindle, it would be here and now.
Axe gave the Praxian a cyber-cat-with-turbo-canary grin over Dai Atlas' shoulder. "It was fun," he purred, freeing one hand from under blue armor and beckoning Prowl closer. "I'll make sure he behaves himself."
That got a raised optic ridge but nothing else as Prowl joined them on the berth and focused on Dai Atlas. "Do you have a preferred position for me?"
The black and gold mech tilted his helm, emerging from behind his mate, ignoring a soft whine as he withdrew his hands, ducking under an upraised wing. "Hmm... His spark and my spike, to begin with?"
Prowl nodded his acceptance and shifted so Dai Atlas had room to lie down. Prowl climbed on top of the much larger mech, straddling him to run his hands down the broad, multi-colored chest plates. "When you are ready."
Dai Atlas' plating was hot under Prowl's hands, scalding between his legs on his valve panel, sending a rush of pleasure through him. Deep red optics were bright as Dai Atlas watched the smaller mech. The sound of his chestplates unlocking was audible even over the revving of his powerful engines.
Metal scraped softly against metal as Axe settled into place behind Prowl, bracing himself with one hand while large fingertips trailed lightly down the Praxian's back.
Prowl compliantly unlocked his own chestplates and shifted forward as his valve cover slid open. His pale blue spark was large and bright for his frame, the pulse slow, steady and strong.
Axe could see, even smell, the thick lubricant that had collected inside Prowl's valve, readying it to be stretched and filled without pain. He sidled forward, his spike pressurizing out of its housing, the tip nudging against the rim of Prowl's valve.
Dai Atlas opened his chestplates, revealing his deep red spark, flaring and pulsing inside its casing. It looked like a small sun, threads of red energy licking out to brush against the walls of its crystal prison before withdrawing.
Prowl glanced at Axe with a slight nod and waited for the big mech to press into him. A soft gasp escaped Prowl as he was filled and stretched further than ever before and the sensations that washed through him at the stretch and slide that component was designed to find pleasurable.
A deep grunt escaped the black mech at the slick tightness that grasped his spike. He pressed in as deep as he could, his chestplate leaning against Prowl's back, chin almost on the smaller mech's helm. It gave him a delightful view of the spark that was so dear to him, mingled with the pleasure of a very tight valve.
Once Axe seemed to have settled, Prowl lowered himself to bring his corona in contact with the large red one under him, all three of them with some grip on the others to ensure no one was injured should he or Axe lose awareness and fall forward.
As soon as their coronas touched Prowl could feel the power of that great red spark. It was close to being linked directly into Praxus' mobile core, its city-former, but much more intimate. Prowl's spark pulled away for half a pulse, then dove in with a relish. Under him Dai Atlas let out a deep rumble, one hand flexing on the berth covers while the other lifted to grasp his mate's plating.
It was the last thing in the physical world that Prowl had any awareness of. His entire awareness turned inward, on his spark and on the far more powerful one he was joining. He focused, centering his will despite the pleasure-home-safe-return-stay-home that was assaulting him. He was doing this to create a new spark from the energy released when Dai Atlas overloaded. It was the primary reason the giant had been chosen. There was a possibility he would give up enough energy that the newspark could form without Prowl generating much of the needed charge. Very few in the city had a spark large and strong enough for it.
Axe trembled at what he could feel coming through the bond, then began moving against Prowl, thrusting into that tight, slick valve. Dai Atlas' optics flared red, staring unseeing over Prowl's shoulder as his attention turned inward, on that merge of sparks, feeling the charge building. He was already so wound up from Axe's teasing that overload would not be long coming.
They all felt the relief from Prowl when he grasped how quickly the merge would be over, bits and pieces trickling out to the bonded pair at how difficult this was for Prowl. Not the intimacy that most found distressing at first, but what he knew would come afterwards. The pain of alone so intense he could barely stand it. All thoughts of that were quickly shut away as Prowl refocused on the now, the merge and the goal of it. He wanted to create a new life, something of himself to leave in the physical world.
From behind the Praxian, Axe rumbled softly, bracing himself with one hand while reaching around to slide his fingers between two blue armor plates. His fingertips brushed over a sensor node, tipping the larger mech over the edge and sending him roaring into overload. Charge crackled over Dai Atlas' armor, leaping off onto Prowl and Axe. A couple more hard thrusts into Prowl's valve and Axe followed his mate over the edge, bellowing out his own overload as transfluid flooded into the smaller mech's valve.
Between them Prowl moaned deeply, the pleasure and charge coursing through him as high as it could go with all the protections for his tac-net. It felt so good and he willingly pressed down and back, relishing the pleasure at its peak and the long, gradual slide to his natural state between two pleasure-lax mecha.
His berthmates were only distantly aware of the closing of spark chambers and chestplates, something Prowl was keenly aware of in the end of the merge and the return to being alone. The bright, extended EM fields enveloping him helped for now, and he was grateful for the strength of both Knights and the way they surrounded him.
Axe managed to retain enough processor power to brace his weight with one arm and shift sideways so as not to land his full weight on Prowl. With the difference in size and mass he could have crushed the smaller mech without too much effort. Black armor vibrated against Prowl's frame as Axe's engine purred. Dai Atlas matched his mate's purr, armor rattling slightly. Between them Prowl was content to remain where he was, soaking in the illusion of being closer to whole.
Wing chirred eagerly, flitting around tidying up his quarters. He'd been ecstatic when he'd learned he would be getting a sibling, then stunned and honored that Prowl would ask him to contribute his coding to the newspark. The Praxian would be arriving any klik now, and the white Knight was scrambling to hide the rest of the assorted clutter before he arrived.
His mentor, his Daoshi, was lounging on the couch, laughing at his nerves. "One would think you were courting this mech, Wing. It's just an interface, and you've known Prowl for centuries."
"I know!" The white mech almost hovered across the main room again. "But this time he's with newspark, he asked me to contribute, and in a few metacycles I'll have a little brother or sister!" His wings fluttered excitedly at the thought, making her laugh again.
"And the entire Citadel is going to be on its toeplates again trying to keep it out of trouble," she grinned unrepentantly. "You were bad enough. I can't imagine a you with his processor power."
"Fortunately neither is a likely result, though it is likely to be significantly more intelligent than average," Prowl said as he strode in, long ago given access to these quarters. "Wing, Marwir, if you are both ready?"
"Of course," she inclined his helm and stood.
Wing used the tip of one black toeplate to scoot the last item under the couch out of sight, then literally fluttered his way into the berthroom. He'd brought out the softest berth covers he had for this. Perching on the edge, he watched his two lovers eagerly. Prowl looked as serious as always, but Marwir was trilling softly, looking forward to their evening.
Prowl settled on the berth on his knees and looked between the two similar frames, one white with touches of red, the other dark maroons, blue and black. "Who will use my valve first?"
"Me, I think," Wing answered. "Then you can spike me while Marwir takes your valve." Slender wings flaring out, the white mech crawled forward, looking at over at Marwir to see if she agreed.
A simple nod came as she sat on the berth, willing to hold back while the pair sorted out how they were going to be positioned, something Prowl seemed content to simply look at Wing expectantly for. Wing tilted his head to one side, pondering for a moment, then shifted to lay on his back, his wings spread out against the berth. His spike pressurized out of its housing as he reached out to draw Prowl closer.
The Praxian moved into position smoothly, straddling Wing's hips and relaxing his frame before using one hand to guide Wing's spike into himself. His valve was slick enough, but nothing like what the Knight was used to as it enveloped Wing's spike.
The white Knight chirred, fluttering his wings. He shifted his hips, rubbing his spike against the walls of Prowl's valve. Resting his hands lightly on Prowl's hips, he rolled his hips to thrust slowly into that just-slick-enough valve. Prowl hummed, cycling his valve calipers and lining in a sequence that triggered every sensor on Wing's valve in perfect sequence for maximum pleasure. As soon as Wing had a rhythm down Prowl began to move into it, soft sounds of pleasure escaping him as his valve was stimulated by the slide of the spike.
It wasn't long before Marwir moved up behind Prowl and rested a hand between his wing-joints, asking permission to touch. It wasn't something she'd normally bother with, but she was so rarely with a mecha that wasn't a lover, or at the very least that she didn't know extremely well. The centuries had taught her well that Prowl did not like being touched, but she'd never encountered him in an intimate setting before. When his field flickered acceptance she relaxed a bit and slid her hands along the planes of his elegant sensor wings, a stroke designed to tell her how best to touch him for pleasure.
The white jet made a soft purring moan, settling into a rhythm. Reaching up, he carefully brushed his fingertips over Prowl's armor, his own wings fluttering and wiggling, asking for petting. Dark fingers stroked light circles on the Praxian's thigh armor. Prowl easily responded to the silent request and reached forward, leaning slightly to stroke the small, long panels of Wing's wings, encouraging the jet's pleasure even as he moaned and pressed into Marwir's hands and kept his pace on Wing's spike steady. There was no missing that Prowl was enjoying this, physically.
Soon it was impossible to miss that his charge, light as it seemed to the Knights, was as high as it could get.
A purr escaped as Wing's wings pressed into Prowl's hands, the Knight slowly but steadily increasing his pace. Charge was building, already higher than Prowl's and still rising. Despite the low charge, Prowl's enjoyment, something he freely expressed in his field, made it easier for Wing to accept that his lover wouldn't overload no matter what he did.
Valve calipers cycled, squeezing and rippling along Wing's spike as it slid in and out from their joint movement.
Wing reached overload with a keen, back arching, hips thrusting up into Prowl's, driving in his spike as deep as it could go, hot transfluid flooding into Prowl's valve to be sucked into the storage compartment for release into the protoform construction chamber when needed. Excess charge zipped over red-trimmed armor, arcing between the tips of fluffed armor plates and between the tips of his audial flares. Darts of charge stung lightly at Prowl's thighs as it leaped from the white jet to the grounder. Behind them both Marwir moaned, shivering at the charge and her own state.
Her spike fully extended, she encouraged Prowl to lean forward and shift so he could take Wing's valve as soon as the white jet had settled enough that she was sure he'd given all the transfluid he could with this overload. Prowl gave a nod and shiver as he pulled off, his valve complaining at the absence as he sank his spike into the incredibly slick valve under him. It was when Marwir thrust into him, hard and sharp and dominant, that he moaned deeply. His field flared out, giving answer to an unasked question of how he liked it.
The calipers of Wing's valve rippled against Prowl's spike, moving in a complex pattern up and down along its length. Wing's own spike slowly retracted back into its housing as the white jet reached up to stroke what he could reach of Prowl's sensor wings, fingers lightly tracing the leading edges. He shifted his hips slightly, adjusting the angle and causing Prowl's spike to rub over a different sent of sensor nodes. He could feel it in the mech above him that Prowl's focus was on Marwir, just as it had been on him when his spike was in Prowl's valve. Marwir's thrusts and tempo controlled the interface, but to relax, have a spike inside him and feel the way Prowl gave into the pleasure that was the greatest he knew was a treat. He really could have just relaxed, done nothing, and enjoyed the ride. Prowl's charge wouldn't know the difference.
Jet engines purred and revved, slender wings fluttering against the berth covers. Wing rolled his hips into every thrust of Prowl's spike into his valve, letting Marwir and Prowl set the pace. His hands continued to stroke over Prowl's sensor wings, exploring the smooth expanses. It didn't take long for Marwir to reach her peak, having been revved up by the show and feeling Wing's overload. Her hands slid around to grip Prowl's chest as her thrusts became sharp, harder, less controlled, driving him hard into the frame under him.
Prowl moaned between them, shivering at the charge against his back, the hands on his wings and the protocol-driven intensity of pleasure that was a spike overloading inside him. It wasn't just the physical pleasure, that was no greater than normal, but now that he was carrying, his protocols rewarded him for the advantages he was giving his creation.
Wing echoed the moan, shifting his hips and changing the angle again. His golden optics flickered, staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Charge was once again building fast. Hot air flooded from his vents, making the air shimmer over white plating. As Marwir pulled out, Prowl continued to thrust, his full focus now on bring Wing's overload.
It didn't take long. Wing's valve calipers clamped down on Prowl's spike, holding him tightly, as the jet keened in overload, back arching and joints locked up. It took him a klik to settle back onto the berth, releasing Prowl's spike to slide out and purring.
"That you both," Prowl said softly as his charge was quickly absorbed by his systems now that it was no longer being replenished. He stood from the berth and nodded to them before turning to leave.
"You're welcome," Wing chirped in reply, turning his helm to watch the gray Praxian leave.
"That is one very odd mecha," Marwir shook her helm and settled against Wing on the berth once Prowl was gone.
"Indeed," Wing murmured, curling up against her and letting his optics dim.