Nemesis Intruder (transformers)

chapter 14: You don't know, what Love is...

 It was October 27th, 6:27 PM. Soundwave walked up to the location, a restaurant. It was a bit on the fancier side of New Orleans, the building was around three stories high which had a certain warm hue to it. There was also a patio, with its matching green railings that strung fairy lights around like streamers. The mech had to watch out for the low-hanging potted plants that hung over as he made his way to the doors, his heels making a rhythmic click as they hit the stone path.

"Cattie's Place..." Soundwave looked up at the bright neon lights that blinked every few seconds with the restaurant's name. "Jazz really knows how to pick them, hm?" Soundwave mused over in his head as he entered.

The building was practically bustling with scenery inside. The warm lighting from before dazzled the area, making the pale silk that covered the square tables look as if it was pure gold. They seated couples and friends alike, each one engaging in chatter and gossip, with spirits high with laughter. Pillars held up the ceiling, which in turn was probably to hold the centerpiece of it all; a sparkling crystal chandelier that demanded one's attention.

The warm place was in contrast with Soundwave, in both spirit and appearance. The mech pulled the Fur shawl closer to his form, as he weaved between waiters and other guests in the area. Soundwave nearly shuddered as one of the more "handsy" guests tried to pull on his long, satin gloved hand, only to be deterred as Soundwave glared at him with the single red optic that poked out of his hair.

"Filth..." Soundwave couldn't help but think as he rolled his optics. He padded his way over to the hostess at the desk. She took a single look at his navy-blue dress, looking up from his off-shoulder sleeves, up to his face. The poor girl seemed to freeze with trepidation as she uttered out the single word:

"Reservation?"
Soundwave didn't have to utter a single word as the girl answered her own question with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh! Sorry... heh. I think the lady over there is waiting for you...erm... miss..." Soundwave took a glance over to, surprise surprise, Jazz; the bot blowing a small kiss at Soundwave as the two exchanged a glance. Jazz's hair was done up in a curly bob which not only framed his face nicely, but also allowed for full eye-contact.

Soundwave rolled his optics, again. He thanked the girl, who looked as if she was about to pass out, before making his way over to Jazz. His seat creaked slightly under his weight as he applied full pressure. Jazz was gazing at Soundwave, head resting on his hands.



"Aw... Soundy, I didn't know you'd be wearing pearls for me~" Jazz crooned as he took a glance at the pearl choker that hung around Soundwave's neck like a dog collar. Soundwave internally groaned a bit at the comment, feeling the slightest amount of blush taking its form on his face.

"You're even showing your face, I must be getting lucky tonight hm?~" The bot mused as the waiter came by, poured the pair a bottle of what looked to be a blood red liquid, the lighting made it look pitch black like oil.

"Shall I come back later to take your orders?" The waiter asked, both mechs nodded in agreement, seeing off the waiter.

Jazz's optics were now on Soundwave, giving him his full undivided attention. The bot rubbed a gloved finger around the wine glass as he made conversation.

"So, I didn't think cha' make it Soundy..." Jazz spoke with a coquettish tone. The Bot was wearing a slip-on evening dress with a off the shoulder sleeveless plunging neckline, showing off his bejeweled neck as it glittered with diamonds.


"Of course I came..." Soundwave felt his voice go soft, before suddenly getting stern. "Why did you invite me out, Jazz..." Soundwave's voice was laced with an accusatory tone as Jazz calmed the situation.

"It's called a "Date Night", Hun..." Jazz gave Soundwave a flirty smile, pursing his lips slightly, Soundwave tried to remain civil and keep his blushing under control.

"I'd think that's very... reckless of you to be going to my Private Comms-link for a simple "Date Night"..." Soundwave's optics began to wander a bit, looking off to the side a bit. Off to the back of the restaurant was a stage, three musicians played atop: a pianist, a saxophone and a bassist.

"You really know how to pick the scene don't you, Jazz?" Soundwave commented. Jazz responded with a light chuckle, revealing a toothy grin.

"You know me well..." Soundwave sighed, as much as he did genuinely like this, he knew better that there was a deeper meaning to all of it. With a bit of a somber look, Soundwave questioned,

"You caused the explosion two nights ago, didn't you?" Jazz, not letting go of his playful banter, smirked.

"Was it obvious?" Jazz crooned. Soundwave held his head with two fingers as he softly groaned at Jazz's admission.

"Jazz... why did you do that? Do you know how dangerous that type of stunt is? What happens if you get hurt? Or captured? Or primus forbid-" Soundwave paused in the middle of his tirade as he looked at Jazz, who had a big grin on his face.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're being a bit too worrisome about an Autobot, Soundy..." Jazz teased, his finger traced around the wine glass once before picking it up. "I think that's pretty treasonous for a Decepticon, don't cha think Soundy?"

The phrase made Soundwave go silent, his digits tapping on his own wine glass as he glanced up at Jazz.

"I... I just don't..." want to see you get hurt. Soundwave of course didn't say the last part out loud, so he instead skipped it and continued with a different question.

"What did you see at the... operation exactly?" Soundwave prodded. The question gave Jazz a twinkle in his optics.

"You don't know what happened?" Jazz put down his glass, a more serious look in his gaze. Soundwave shook his head. It was technically true; Soundwave was never informed of what the operation was about.

"No, I'm afraid not..." Soundwave admitted he wasn't going to lie to Jazz. "I was only informed the day after, when Megatron held a meeting about the aftermath of your exploits..." Soundwave shot Jazz a glance, who in turn responded with a more serious face.

"Well... as far as I know," Jazz began, placing his wine glass down, tracing it along the rim. "It was a trading operation between the 'cons and some mercenaries, Shockwave and Soundblaster were there."

Soundwave audibly scoffed after hearing Shockwave, taking a large sip from his glass. Jazz continued...

"Shockwave got a hold of a Iacon relic" Jazz partially blurts out, the words causing Soundwave to nearly choke on his drink. The mech wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"What?"

"A Iacon relic, Shockwave was trading a bunch of Energon for a relic." The words made Soundwave placed down his drink, his mind began to race slightly as he looked up at Jazz.

"Which one?"

Jazz fumbled for words a bit, making light gestures with his servos. Eh... it was a Decahedron of sorts, kinda... skitter-y? Wouldn't keep still in one place, unstable." Soundwaves tensity only grew.

"Who did you tell?" Soundwave asked, holding the glass in his hand, before taking a light sip.

"Only my old man, Ratchet. As far as I'm aware, nobody else knows." Soundwave lets out a sigh of relief before Jazz continues. "He says it might be a container, for some unstable Cybermatter, which essentially is like a sort of disease..." The words sent a shiver through Soundwaves frame, making his throat cables tighten like a cobra.

Soundwave tried to avert his gaze first, looking away from Jazz. This, however, was proven futile as Jazz touched Soundwave's hand, holding it firmly, yet softly.

"Soundwave?" Soundwave looked back up to meet Jazz's concerned gaze. "What...what are the Decepticons planning on doing with unstable cyber matter?" The question, however innocent, sent a deep lurch into Soundwaves spark-chamber. He felt his spark almost... drop, if he was human, he'd be bent over a trashcan heaving about now.

Soundwave knew he had to tell Jazz. Soundwave needed to tell Jazz, and yet, when presented with the near almost perfect opportunity...

He was quiet, Soundwave didn't understand it himself either. Although he tried to say that it was his "Decepticon Loyalty" that prevented him, that he still had some of that... hope that eventually it would all end...

"Would a loyal Decepticon meet with the enemy?" Soundwave thought. "Would a loyal Decepticon disregard his superior's orders and run off?" Soundwave felt that lurch again, only now it was like for a split second his spark began to cease function, probably because Soundwave knew what he was doing was... wrong, morally. Soundwave was already breaking several protocols by going back to earth, which he could try to excuse away, but what if someone found out he was fraternizing with an Autobot?!

Could Soundwave proudly call himself a Decepticon? The small thought was broken up with a better question instead...

"Is Soundwave proud of the Decepticons?"


Though all this constant thought, Soundwave nearly forgot where he was. It was only when Jazz pulled his hand away when Soundwave finally noticed.

"I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..." Jazz apologized as he leaned back in his seat, hand now tapping on the wine glass. Soundwave quickly took up Jazz's hand again, surprising the bot.

For just a moment, the two didn't speak, only intertwined their hands together in silence as the little music ensemble played, filling the air.




A silence that was quickly broken by the Waitress. "Hey, you two ready to order?" she asked, seeming chipper.

Soundwave was the one to answer, "oh, get me- erm... us the dessert special." the waitress scribbled down on her notepad before walking away. Soundwave looked back to Jazz and saw that sly smirk.

"You need to socialize more." Jazz said with a flirty undertone, Soundwave only blushed and rolled his optics in response, but giving Jazz a soft smile.

"So... how's Max?" Jazz finally queried.

"Max? Oh, I've hidden her in my quarters. She's doing fine if I recall, very quiet, she gets along with the cassettes just fine. She isn't a troublemaker, yet..." Soundwave caught Jazz letting out a light-hearted chuckle at that bit.

"Well, that's nice to know, oh!" Jazz explained in sudden realization, pulling out a letter. "You remember Raf, don't chu?"

Soundwave made a small grimace as he remembered the kid; short, baggy clothes, computer nerd. "Yeah, Bee's human friend?"

"Well... Raf wanted me to give this to you, to give to Max." Jazz handed over the letter, the words to Max inscribed on it, Soundwave pocketed the letter. "Raf is Max's cousin, did you know that much?"

Soundwave blinked in surprise, although, he should have figured when he thought back to it, the two did look... similar.

"Raf... must be... worried about Max..." Soundwave commented, Jazz sighed.

"He is. I feel for the kid, ya know? I keep telling him it's not his fault, for losing Max, but... I can just tell he blames himself sometimes..." Soundwave felt his optics shift into one of... empathy. He rubbed Jazz's servo softly.

"I know." was all he said.

The pair grew silent again, even the band on stage seemed to go silent. Another quiet minute passed by before Jazz finally spoke again.

"I miss when we were sentimental like this, you know?" Soundwave felt his face flush with a deep red color, before smiling at Jazz.

Those days of hazy skies with neon lights amidst the bustling cities, Cybertron. Back before the war, before the violence. Before the planet was split into factions...

Although Soundwave never really particularly looked back on those times very fondly, they had a small... nostalgic energy to them.

"So... does Max get along with anyone in particular?" Jazz asked, trying to revive the conversation.

"Well... there's Squwaktalk, and Wingthing. The twins like to include her with their antics. Thank Primus they hadn't taught her how to say any Cybertronian curse words yet." the pair shared a warm chuckle.

"They didn't try to do any pranks with her?" Jazz chuckled.

"Oh, they tried! Once I caught them trying to paint Dirge's head like a traffic cone and Max freaked out when Dirge caught them that she threw the can of paint at Dirge before screaming, I could hear her in the other room!" Soundwave chuckled a bit at the fuzzy memory, remembering how he had to calm Max down while reprimanding the twins.

"You know, if you weren't talking about a human child, I'd think that you'd have had another cassette!" Jazz's words made Soundwave smile; he'd never really thought about how much he'd gotten attached to Max.

The smile dimmed a bit when he realized that he was going to have to eventually give up Max... soon...

"Back at base, things aren't as exciting, but Cliffjumper managed to break his armor plating over Cube with Bee of all things." Jazz seemed to brighten up slightly upon seeing Soundwave laugh, genuinely laugh! It was like the whole room had brightened up.

Soundwave quickly restrained himself as the waitress came over with a plate of Bananas Foster, a large bowl of ice cream with bananas that had been cooked in deep brown sugar. Although Cybertonians weren't exactly supposed to eat human food, they could indulge in some...

Upon first bite, Soundwave realized the slight sweet tooth he had kept suppressed for a long time.

"Hey, I wanna bite too!" Jazz said as he took the other spoon, eating a bite. Soundwave could practically see the twinkle in his eyes. The pair continued to eat up the entire dessert, after paying for the meal, Soundwave and Jazz walked hand and hand outside.

The Night was slightly cold, so Soundwave gave Jazz the fur shawl he had, wrapping it around him like a warm embrace. They enjoyed the night, walking in each other's company, chuckling between each other.

"Heh, scrap!" Jazz said as he checked the time. "I gotta go before Ratchet has my helm!"

"Aw, if you don't have your helm, we can't go on any more dates!" Soundwave chuckled softly, as he looked at Jazz seemed to look up at Soundwave with a sparkling his optics.

"You... you would want to go on another... date?" Jazz asked, Soundwave finally realized what he said, blushing a bit as he looked up at Jazz.

Soundwave paused a bit before responding "...affirmative" Soundwave said as he saw the false hope in Jazz's optics light up.

Jazz was just about to let go of Soundwave, until he looked back up Soundwave with a particular glint. For a moment the pair shared a glance, their faces getting closer, nearly meeting at the lips...

Then, Jazz pulled away, smirking. "You thought I was going to kiss ya, didnt you?" Jazz teased as Soundwave felt his face get beat red in realization. Jazz then took Soundwave's hand and kissed it softly, the soft feeling of the bot's lips made Soundwave yearn for that feeling, just on the face...

"Well, it was a nice night, Soundy. Bye~" And just like that, Jazz was gone. Soundwave was now all alone...




Soundwave took a ground bridge portal back to Jasper, Nevadah. He didn't want to explain to any 'con what he was doing in New Orleans of all places, although he couldn't help but notice how the town seemed so dreary compared to the dazzle of the city.

Then again... he couldn't really blame this town, considering the missing persons cases going on...

Soundwave changed his holoform to something more... appropriate, a simple sweater and pants as he walked down the streets. Planning to just try to get out of town before continuing to bridge his way back to the Nemesis.

Soundwave however did not expect there to be a large gathering of humans during this hour as well, which made him wonder...

What on primus happened here? It wasn't until one of the humans, a lady holding a stack of papers approached him.

"Hello sir, could I have a moment of your time?" She spoke with a certain, frantic nature in her tone, handing Soundwave a slip of paper.

Soundwave skimmed over it a bit, noting it was yet another missing person report...

His spark only seemed to stop dead as his optics grazed over the person in question...

LAST SEEN: Henry Esqualvel, was last reported by Lena Esqualvel helping the missing person search to find Maxwell Luis Monroe Esqualvel. Mule-deer Forest, night around 9:05 PM on October 25th.



AUTHORS NOTE:

HI readers! I told you guys this was going to be a long chapter! thats kinda the reason it took so long...

anyways, I have a huge announcement to make which you guys might be interested in!

I have decided to start doing a upload schedule again! its going to be on sundays at around 4 (maybe later, maybe earlier), this is mainly because well... I wanna start posting regularly again! (originally this was supposed to be posted last Sunday but I was super busy so instead posted it today (sorry!)

btw, this chapter was probably my favorite chapter to write lol (I need Jazzwave content!!!)


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