A brief one-shot featuring a small interaction with Orion and Airachnid. Enjoy

(Contains slight one-sided Pax/Airachnid)

Orion Pax could say that the environment was a tad unnerving. He'd never been one for ships, especially ships as dark as this one. The Nemesis, as it was called, was a war-ship, a vessel of destruction. Not exactly the best habitat for a simple clerk.

Not to mention his office was.... isolated. On Cybertron.... well, before the war tore it apart at least, he had plenty of company in the form of the other archivists, or maybe a visit from his friend Jazz. Here, he was on his own. Granted, Megatronus- No, Megatron- was prone to visiting, but it was never really to talk to him about more casual matters. No introductions to other prominent Decepticons, no explanation of the planet below. Simply inquiring as to how the work was going.

The work was going decently, but Orion still felt unnerved. A dark ship, isolation and Megatron's change in demeanour. Granted, his old friend had seen the full extent of this war while he was a prisoner of the Doctor of Doom, so maybe that had forcibly altered his previously friendlier, charismatic nature. Didn't help the unnerved factor, though.

Orion sighed softly. He felt a bit strange, really; his physical mainframe kept pinging warning signs into his processor, an instinctual alert to danger. But he didn't understand why. His body, changed from what it used to be, seemed under a delusion that there was a threat here, but his mind had no idea what said threat might be. He decided to tell Megatron and see if he could arrange a trip to Knock-Out, the medic, the next time his friend came in.

He idly turned his attention back to typing. This new encryption had a simpler code than the other two he had just looked at, so he decided to unlock it and see what contents there may be that would help the Decepticon cause-

"Feeling a bit lonely, Pax?"

The sultry voice, feminine, caused him to jolt in surprise, and he turned around. But his optics detected no sign of any visitor, nor had he heard his door open.

Okay, remember how he mused on how unnerving the Nemesis was? He decided that invisible voice-makers were far more so.

The sultry voice chuckled: "Sorry; force of habit."

He looked up at that, and his eyes widened at the sight of a femme on the ceiling, supported by six long legs, the lower half similar to an Insecticon shell and the top half baring arms with glass panels on the shoulders and the head; a curved, oddly beautiful face with mangeta optics and curved horns.

Orion was honestly stunned. Not that had she somehow snuck through the door without him noticing (When you're alone in a room, you would be in tune with the door opening, you know), not that she appeared similar to the beast-mode of an Insecticon (savage creatures, trained as guards or sentries by powerful mechs), but he couldn't help but notice the first thing that sprung to mind; she was quite beautiful.

It stunned him, really, as if he'd been hit by some kind of immobilisation tool. Not the best first impression, admittedly.

She dropped down before him, smiling sweetly, but he noticed the rather cold tone of her eyes. Like a predator observing prey, deciding what to do with it. She spoke again: "I always did like to surprise my guests."

Orion blinked once, struggling to regain his wit in face of the lady, but he managed it: "Um, my apologies for the surprise. I.... did not hear you enter."

Her lower half transformed into a pair of legs, and the six limbs folded onto her back; presumably adopting a more casual pose to put him at ease. It worked; he relaxed ever so slightly at the familiar build of robot-mode. Not to mention, it looked.... better. Pretty, even-

"All is forgiven." She replied, a display of casual friendliness in it, with a slightly cheeky smirk to highlight her amusement. Orion blinked again at it, quite lost at how her playful expression seemed to catch his attention, and catch him off-guard. How long had he been in stasis, exactly?

She turned her head to the console now, and tilted it in contemplation: "Decoding. Not the most exciting task in the Universe."

Despite his attention not quite on her words, he heard enough, and Orion's instinct was simple; defend the way of the humble clerk; "It is fitting enough in its context."

She turned back to him and smirked again, catching him off-guard. Again. Maybe it was the way those eyes still retained the sense of a hunter. He shuddered minutely at that.

"Whatever you say. So, Megatron speaks quite highly of you, Pax. I assume this is due to your helping him out of the gladatorial pits into the political realm."

"Um.... er, yes. I did indeed aid him in his journey to challenge the caste system." He replied, quickly altering his pose to resemble a dignified member of the High Council. It was a rather predictable attempt to impress, but she seemed to have a way of diverting his mind onto her alone. Curious.

"Impressive, how a simple clerk and a mere gladiator came together to bring a glorious new age to our planet." She said, placing a clawed hand to her chin in thought, eyes narrowing as they locked onto his own. They seemed to pierce through to the Spark, and they held a rather beautiful hexagonal pattern, like a layer of purple Energon crystals.

Orion felt as if he had no idea of what to do except look at her eyes. Worse yet, the ventalation system of his vehicle mode clicked on; was his engine heating up? Primus have mercy.

Whether she noticed his reaction or not, she didn't show. Instead, her contemplative pose became relaxed, somewhat charming, and the smirk returned, as his lack of an answer was a grand amusement to her.

"I suppose it's only polite I introduce myself." She mused, her voice adopting a subtle sweetness, as if it begged for some kind of reaction to indulge it.

He answered a bit more quickly then he should have: "Please do!-...Um, please do, fellow Decepticon."

The smirk widened: "My name is Airachnid, Orion Pax. Second-in-command to our Lord Megatron. A pleasure to meet you."

She delved into a small bow, which Orion did not hesitate to return. She had quite truly captivated him far more than simple encryptions. Airachnid; a unique name. It seemed to fit her; a sense of individuality, yet passion....

Did he think passion? His engine heated up again.

"L-Likewise. A pleasure." He stuttered, and he mentally chided himself for losing his composure. Honestly, he really should work on keeping his emotions in check.

Airachnid said: "Well, Pax, as brief as my presence here is to be, I suppose I should take my leave. I have to go see Knock-Out for the routine check-up." She rolled her optics in an exagerrated fashion, and his vocal processor atuomatically put out a small laugh in response, as if he were a simple youngling desperate to earn positive attention through sycophancy.

He probably realised that, as his mouth quickly clamped shut. A laugh? Was he really that interested already?-

"It was nice to meet you, Pax." She replied, no, purred (Primus, the way that tone made his name exquisite), and sauntered past him, though not before he jolted as a sharp claw lightly slid over his waist. "Enjoy decoding."

"I will- I mean, see you later, um, Airachnid. Nice to meet-"

She was gone, and the door slid shut, leaving him alone again. Orion stared at it for a moment, blinked twice, before sighing, almost with shock. That had been unexpected, quite honestly. It wasn't every day you found a beautiful femme on your ceiling, especially one quite as.... forward. He put a hand onto his waist; his sensory network tingled in a disturbingly delightful fashion. Yes, certainly forward.

Thing was, though, in hindsight, there had appeared to be a kind of predatory nature to her presence here. Like a Scraplet examining an unwary Cybertronian enter its lair. He wasn't sure if that should scare him or simply pique his curiosity further.

Megatron always said that Orion was so predictable at getting fixated on something new. He was inclined to agree with that. That Airachnid seemed very, very interesting.

His exhaust pipes vented a puff of smoke, before he turned his attention back to his work. It was only a few moments later, though, that he realised he should have asked if he could go see Knock-Out as well; his mainframe had become even more frantic with danger signs for some reason.

xxxxx

"I know it's probably best not for me to intrude-" The good doctor mused, as he took a reading of Airachnid's mobility systems. "-But may I ask why you're a cycle late? You're normally quite prompt."

Breakdown, skulking in the corner, perked up at this. Airachnid, sprawled idly over the med-table, simply smiled at the red Decepticon and replied: "Oh, not much. Just examining the new addition to our grand army."

"Orion Pax?" Knock-Out asked, raising a brow.

"Yes indeed." Airachnid stated. "It's not every day a girl can chat to the great Optimus Prime. My, what a scenario it is; the body of a Prime, but the mind of a naive clerk. What a pleasant combination."

Breakdown snorted: "Ha. Yeah right. As if you'd like an Autobot."

The helicopter simply smirked cruelly at the brusier: "What can I say, Breakdown? I find myself intriguied by him."

Knock-Out laughed derisivelly as Breakdown huffed and went back to skulking, and Airachnid's smirk widened.