Chapter Text
Alright, look, Thundercracker couldn’t say he actually knew what was going on.
But he could assume. Holy slag could he assume. He could make guesses all the live-long day, and here's the thing, he'd probably be correct more often than not. Sure, it was never good to pass judgement without knowing the whole story. But there were only so many times you could catch your sort-of-boss chatting up some pretty-looking mech and very clearly aiming for their panels before you started assuming the worst every time.
So maybe that wasn't what he'd been doing with the shuttle. While he was pretty he’d seen Starscream jumping away from the mech when he’d walked out, it wasn’t like either of them were fumbling to put their panels back on. (Actually, the shuttle had outright said it wasn’t like that. But anyone could say anything to try and save face when caught in a compromising position.)
Could you really blame Thundercracker for assuming it was like that? The guy was exactly Starscream's type.
Starscream's type, which essentially boiled down to "big." Something that, given his diminutive frame size, was not very hard to achieve.
Though, that was in terms of relative height. Hell, Thundercracker was big compared to him. But the shuttle wasn't only big in comparison to how small Starscream was, no, he was just downright big. Even sitting down, he’d been taller than Thundercracker and Starscream both.
...Okay maybe Thundercracker found him kind of attractive too.
But that wasn't the point. The point was, Starscream had a certain image to keep up, and inviting random mechs he met at social gatherings to interface was not befitting of said image whatsoever. And, because Starscream had a god complex the size of the planet itself and thought he was free of consequences, damage control for fixing the aforementioned image fell to Thundercracker.
And Skywarp, technically, but he was no help.
Enabling little--
Anyway.
Thundercracker hadn't stuck around any longer than it took to reprimand Starscream about his disappearance, so he didn't actually know what had transpired in the five or so minutes between him leaving the balcony and Starscream returning and trying to pick a fight with a diplomat.
It must have been something, though. If only because Starscream hadn't stopped pouting since the event. In a way he never did after any previous one.
"Okay," Thundercracker said, a little under a week into Starscream's slump, as he sat down beside the other Seeker where he was laying face down on his berth, wrapped in several blankets, "something is clearly bothering you."
"What do you care?" Starscream mumbled, not even lifting his head to glare in Thundercracker's direction. Which was enough of an indication that there was something actually going on, he never passed up a chance to get pissy with any of his subordinates.
"Normally I wouldn't, except for the fact you've missed literally every single meeting you've been scheduled for in the past five days because you've been too busy lying around doing nothing but sulking. And as your lead advisor, I have to advise; that's bad.” He huffed. “What the frag is wrong with you?"
Starscream huffed, finally lifting his helm to scowl at Thundercracker blearily. "It's nothing," he said, immediately dropping his face back into his pillow. "Just leave it."
"It's clearly not nothing if it's got you this torn up." He sighed, harsh expression softening a bit as he scooted closer and set a comforting servo on Starscream's back. "You know you can talk to me, right? You've been all out of sorts since the party, and frankly, I'm actually worried. This isn't like you." And it really wasn't. Starscream had a tendency to bounce back like rubber, he never let things get to him for very long. At least, he was really good at pretending a particular thing wasn't bothering him. It was kind of impressive, actually.
He just gave a noncommittal grunt in return, the sound muffled by the fabric his face was currently buried in.
"Does it have something to do with that shuttle I caught you with?"
Apparently the answer was yes, because before Thundercracker could even process what was going on, Starscream had lurched up and dug pointed digits into his chassis, using the hold to shove him away. "It's none of your damn business!!” He hissed, “just leave me alone."
If the answer was no, he wouldn't have gotten that strong a reaction. He didn't get this far in his career without learning how to read the various intricacies of Starscream's moods.
"Did he do something?"
"It's more what he didn't do," Starscream muttered, then shook his head. "It's nothing. You said I had meetings, right?"
And he was up like nothing had happened, strutting out of the room and clearly expecting Thundercracker to follow. Which he did, pulling a datapad with a list of missed meetings and who they had been with to read to Starscream as they walked.
It was a weird little incident. But, it was over now, so Thundercracker did his best to put it out of his mind.
-
...Maybe he'd been a bit hasty to forget all about it.
Because while Starscream had shaken off his slump and gone back to his normal posturing, Thundercracker quickly caught on to how much of an act it definitely was. There were these little habits Starscream had whenever he was pretending like he was fine-- a particular fidget of his wings, zoning out more often than usual, quicker to snap at people or go on the defensive. Whatever the problem Starscream had been having with the shuttle, it still hadn't been fixed.
Until another week went by and, in the middle of a meeting, Starscream abruptly stood. "I have to take this," he said, lifting a servo to the side of his helm to indicate a comm call, "I'll be back in a few minutes." And he left the room.
Thundercracker, damage control extraordinaire, assured the other mechs that he really would return, and that it really was an emergency. All complete scrap, of course. He had no idea whether Starscream actually had plans to return, or who even had been on the other line. And, he had a pretty good feeling he wouldn't get an honest response if he asked. So instead he just sat in awkward silence and stared at the table, willing Starscream not to make any more work for him than he'd already done.
Blessedly, saving Thundercracker from getting a reputation as a liar, Starscream did return a few minutes later. Apologizing for the interruption and reaching a compromise with almost startling speed. Thundercracker was halfway left reeling as the other mechs filed out, satisfied with the deal they'd reached.
"Thundercracker?" Starscream snapped in front of his optics a couple times, smile quirked in obvious amusement. "Are you with us?"
"Um," he said, "yeah. Sorry." What in the world had that comm call been about?? "You… did you figure everything out? With, uh," he gestured vaguely, "everything that was bothering you?"
Starscream hummed. "Yes, I believe I did. Now if you'll excuse me…"
Left staring at he turned and left the room, a visible bounce to his steps, Thundercracker had to take a moment to work out just what might have solved Starscream's sour mood so quickly. An acknowledgment of one of his science projects, maybe? News that he'd just been crowned emperor of Cybertron?
He thought back to their earlier conversation.
…
…The shuttle???
Thundercracker didn't even know the guy's name. But if he was able to solve a Starscream Problem with something as simple as a single comm call, he kind of wanted to figure it out.
Wait, slag, there was another meeting later today-- “Starscream! Wait up!!”
-
"I'm going out," Starscream announced abruptly one afternoon, causing both Thundercracker and Skywarp to look up from the work they respectively were and definitely weren't doing. "Don't wait up."
"Where are you going?" There was nothing on his itinerary that Thundercracker could see. And sure, technically Starscream had his own itinerary that he could access and edit at his leisure, but usually he couldn't be bothered and just let Thundercracker handle all of it.
Starscream leveled him with a flat look. "Incredibly, it's none of your business."
"It kind of is." Thundercracker sighed. "Just please tell me you're not doing anything illegal. Or tell me if you are, so I can start prepping to bail you out of it."
"It's nothing illegal," Starscream said with a huff. Now that Thundercracker was looking, he was noticing how… shiny Starscream seemed. He wasn’t trussed up in any fancy garb, but he’d clearly put a little extra effort into his polishing. "For your information, I have a date. And I'll thank you not to ruin it with your fretting."
"You--"
"You have a what?!" Skywarp asked loudly, finishing the sentence before Thundercracker could. "I'm sorry, do you mean, like, a literal date? As in going to a place with a mech for companionable purposes? Or do you mean a date like a meeting with a guy you can't officially meet with because you need a thing and if you act like you're just getting lunch or whatever people will ask fewer questions?"
"...Are you speaking from personal experience?"
Skywarp instantly looked suspicious. "Why do you wanna know??"
In lieu of an answer, Starscream just pinched the bridge of his nose. Which-- yeah, Thundercracker could relate. Sometimes dealing with Skywarp was just like that.
"In all seriousness," he interrupted before the nonsense could go any further, "is seeing this mech gonna cause some kind of international incident?" As much as everyone was entitled to their freedom, and could engage with whom they'd like, Starscream was in a unique position in that the wrong person trying to break up with him could very well be taken as a declaration of war. Which Vos decidedly did not need on their collective plates right now.
"No, it's not going to cause an incident . Really, Thundercracker, you worry too much." He gave a little half salute and a "tata," and headed through the balcony doors. He was gone moments later with the steadily-fading roar of an engine.
Thundercracker definitely tried to get back to work, but the enigma that was this whole mess kind of took precedence in his processor. He turned his datapad off with a heavy sigh.
"I dunno what you're so worried about," Skywarp said, having moved on from just staring at his datapad blankly to trying to balance it on the tip of one pede. "Either it's actually a date, in which case Screamer'll probably just entertain whoever it is for a couple hours then come home and ghost them, or he's meeting some weapons dealer to get supplies for whatever doomsday device he's building in the basement. No big deal."
"I think it speaks for how much trouble he's prone to getting into that I can imagine both of those leading to possibly world-ending scenarios." Thundercracker frowned. "Maybe I should go follow him. Just make sure he's not digging himself into a pit he can't get out of."
Skywarp made a triumphant noise as he got the datapad to stand up straight where it was balanced on his leg. "What, and have him get on your case for spying on him? He's got optics on the back of his head, TC, and he won't thank you for intruding. Made it pret-ty clear he didn't want us messing with his plans."
"Maybe so, but he will be grateful if I'm able to keep Vos from going to war because he couldn't keep it in his panels." Mind made up, he headed for the balcony.
"Whatever, just don't blame me when he decides to test his newest super-laser on you after you get--" The unmistakable clatter of a datapad hitting the floor. "Aw, damnit!"
Starscream wouldn't thank him. Certainly not. He never thanked anyone, unless he was trying to butter them up. And he valued his privacy as much as if not more than he valued his position. He'd offered no details, and it was clear enough that he didn't want them getting into this.
But damn him, Thundercracker had had to clean up too many messes in the past to be willing to let this go.
-
It wasn’t that hard to track Starscream down. On top of the fact that he’d only left a few minutes prior and his contrails were still visible in the sky above the tower, Thundercracker-- as his lead advisor-- was able to remotely ping his location. It wasn’t quite as accurate or useful as a full on tracking device, but that was a bit of an excessive breach of privacy, even for a mech in Starscream’s position. He could send a ping and automatically get one in return with a general summary of where Starscream was at any given time.
His current location happened to be midway between Vos and Iacon. When Starscream would’ve had a chance to plan a date with someone from Iacon was a complete mystery, unless he’d decided to make use of some dating site, or--
Or that party. The shuttle.
They’d had mechs from Iacon there. Thundercracker hadn’t checked the registry to find the shuttle’s designation, but there was every possibility he’d been one of those mechs. (Wait, Starscream had mentioned he was from Iacon, hadn’t he? Thundercracker hadn’t really been listening.)
He kept a high enough cruising altitude that hopefully Starscream would have a hard time spotting him from the ground, even if he was looking. The whole point of this was to figure out what exactly was going on without making Starscream too angry at him. Once Iacon’s spires came into view, he sent another locating ping, and once he got a response (some park a little ways into the city), he tilted down to find a good spot to land.
It was a little unnerving, trying to navigate the unfamiliar streets. It wasn’t like he didn’t have any experience with cities at all, Vos was plenty big, it was just-- well, you spend a lot of time in the same place, going any other place starts feeling weird.
Primus, he needed to get out more.
While it would be impossible to find Starscream among the crowd, even with how shiny he’d made himself, it was not at all impossible to see the broad pair of white and red wings looming over the more decently sized mechs. If he wracked his memory banks, he could remember seeing a similar pair on the shuttle all those weeks ago.
He moved aside, and the crowd parted just long enough for Thundercracker to catch a glimpse of blue servos gesturing enthusiastically
Alright, maybe Thundercracker felt like a bit of a creep, slipping through the crowds to get near enough to be able to tune his audials to whatever conversation they might be having. But he thought of all the ways Starscream could possibly make trouble out of this and continued on with his mission. He also took a moment to actually look around and figure out why exactly there were so many mechs around. Even with how populated the city was, this was a little much.
A glimpse of a sign hung from a lamppost answered his question. An outdoor market, one that cropped up every other month for a handful of days.
How… remarkably boring.
Thundercracker would’ve expected Starscream to pick more of a… refined location for this kind of thing. Especially considering the sort of event he’d first met the shuttle at. Unless maybe he hadn’t picked the locale, and this was some kind of show of commitment? Lowering himself to prove he was genuine about his interest?
...Oh, boy, he was starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist. Maybe this was a bad idea.
His musings were interrupted by a particularly loud laugh that could not have belonged to anyone but Starscream. It wasn’t the contained, polite laughter he gave at a joke he didn’t really find funny but was still obligated to laugh at. It was… well, it was a cackle. Loud and undeniably genuine. The kind of sound he’d never let himself make in any sort of professional situation.
It was such an unfamiliar sound that Thundercracker was briefly caught off guard. By the time he shook himself back to the present, Starscream and the shuttle had moved on, and he was left to make his way through the crowd after them.
“Skyfire!” Starscream called, and the shuttle glanced over, away from the stall he was examining, “Skyfire, come look at this.”
Skyfire. Now he could check the guest list from the event that night and--
...And he wasn’t on there? No Skyfire to be found, not under the mechs from Iacon or anywhere else. There wasn’t a single mention of him, or any shuttle frame, for that matter.
So where the hell had he come from??
Another invitee’s plus one? They’d allowed them for that event. But which one of the guests had brought him along? Had he actually been there in accordance to the rules? Or had he just, like, snuck in? No, no, definitely not, if that was the case, Starscream wouldn’t have given him the time of day. He didn’t tend to have much patience for those who broke the rules in that manner. Other manners, maybe. But not that one, not when it was disrespectful towards him, specifically.
The thing Starscream had called Skyfire over to look at had, in fact, been a blown glass model of Cybertron and its two moons. Thundercracker caught the barest glimpse of it before the mech selling it was tucking it away into a padded box and handing it over to Starscream.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Skyfire said, quiet enough that Thundercracker had to adjust the sensitivity of his audials to be able to pick it up. “I could’ve paid.”
“Nonsense,” Starscream replied, pressing the box into Skyfire’s servos. “I wanted to.”
“But--”
“I have more shanix than I know what to do with.” He smiled, and Thundercracker was once more struck by how honest the whole thing seemed. Why couldn’t Starscream be this good at playing nice when talking to people who were actually important? “And I wanted to get you something nice. Tell you what-- if you really feel the need to pay me back, you can buy me some of the jellies from the vendor up there…”
They once more moved out of Thundercracker’s audial range, and he huffed a sigh. This was all turning out to be a lot more complicated than he’d thought.
He once more ducked through the crowd to catch up to the two, briefly grateful that Skyfire had such a considerable height advantage over the average mech. It made him very easy to pick out of a crowd.
Skyfire didn’t look very notable. Despite his size, he held himself rather demurely, keeping his shoulders hunched and his servos close. The polar opposite of the way Starscream was determined to make himself seem as big as possible, even if he was the shortest mech in the room.
Regretfully, Thundercracker was too busy studying the shuttle to pay much attention to the rest of his surroundings.
Which meant he missed the way Starscream’s optics scanned the crowd, locked on him, and went wide. He did not, however, miss the large shout of “YOU!!” spat from a screeching vocalizer. He jumped at the noise, immediately backpedaling as though that could somehow save him from the fury of the very pissed off looking Seeker stalking towards him.
Starscream’s servos were clenched at his sides, his teeth bared. “What the frag are you doing here?”
“Um--”
“No, no, don’t even. You came to spy on me, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t--”
“Don’t lie to me!!”
Their little spat had cleared the crowd around them significantly, no one wanting to get in between two definitely-hostile Seekers. Several onlookers stopped to see what all the fuss was about. Skyfire made his way over to stand at Starscream’s side, alternating between looking at him with concern and glancing at Thundercracker confusedly.
“Y’know what?” Damnit, Thundercracker was tired of this. He was tired of having to inevitably clean up Starscream’s messes. “Yeah, I was. I was spying on you because I had no way of knowing you weren’t going to do something that’d end with all of us in trouble and me having to fix it. You haven’t exactly inspired confidence in the past, y’know. With all the other dozens of random mechs I’ve had to deal with calling after you hung them out to dry. Or when you’ve gotten involved with politicians and damn near caused a diplomatic incident. I followed along to make sure you weren’t doing something stupid.”
Starscream’s wings flared, and Thundercracker could hear the low buzz of his vocalizer, despite the fact he wasn’t actively speaking. A sure sign that he was royally pissed. For someone involved in politics, he kind of sucked at keeping his emotions hidden sometimes.
Before he could spit some insult, Thundercracker continued. “What are you even doing here, anyway? Stringing some poor mech along?” He gestured vaguely in Skyfire’s direction. “It’s one thing to do your little schemes, it’s a whole other thing to drag some no-name bystander into all of it. What is even the point of all this? You’re never this nice with anyone else when you want something from them.”
At this point, Starscream had graduated from looking like he was about to murder Thundercracker to… well, looking like he was about to start crying. His wings were so tense they were shaking, his optics shining in a way that very much looked like he was trying not to lose it.
“You,” Starscream said, voice even more raspy than usual, “you can’t let me have anything, can you? I can’t have a single thing just for myself without you ruining it somehow.”
“What--”
“No, no, just shut up and listen to me. This always happens. I try to have something nice, then you get paranoid and suspicious and start poking around where you’re not wanted and end up ruining it somehow.” He jabbed a digit in Thundercracker’s direction. “You’re controlling, and demanding, and pushy, and I am sick and tired of you getting involved in my personal business where you’re not wanted.”
Skyfire moved forward and set a careful servo on Starscream’s back. The other Seeker flinched at the touch, looking away sharply.
“I want to go,” he said, so softly Thundercracker barely heard it.
“Alright,” Skyfire replied. He cast a forlorn look back in Thundercracker’s direction before he turned away, guiding Starscream away. The crowd swallowed them up and they were gone within seconds.
And Thundercracker was left standing alone, staring at the spot where they’d been.
He was not feeling guilty. He wasn’t.
Despite how firmly he told himself such, it didn’t get rid of the twisting feeling low in his tanks. Nor did it clear the memory of Starscream shouting at him as he tried so hard to keep from crying.
Thundercracker had never seen him like that before.
-
He went home. What else was he supposed to do? He went home, and putzed around for a few hours, until it became clear that Starscream was not going to be returning anytime soon. At which point he called up Skywarp, with the promise of free fuel if he let Thundercracker rant.
“And he had the audacity to call me controlling-- Me! As though he doesn’t demand perfection from everything he gets his servos on. Like he’s not constantly micromanaging anything he gets involved in. Like-- it’s a nightmare trying to host an event that he’s in charge of, he’s constantly poking at things to make them exactly to his specifications.”
“Uhuh.”
“He accused me of constantly ruining things for him-- I’m the only reason there hasn’t been a fragging revolution to remove him from power at this point! I manage everything, everything. His schedules, his meetings. I’m the one who has to pacify all the mechs he pisses off. And he pisses so many mechs off. It’s like he makes a hobby out of it. Either he makes them mad, or he tries to manipulate them. Like-- like he’s doing right now!”
“Mm.”
"And I looked the guy up, Warp, he's nothing! He's not even faculty at the academy, he's just a student. One student out of Primus-knows how many. He's not related to any politicians, he's got no standing in any government, he's not even that wealthy. I just don't understand why Starscream would be talking to him like that. It'd be one thing if he was just trying to 'face the guy, but this is just-- It's--" Thundercracker huffed, slamming a fist on the table. "It's just baffling, I can't understand why-- are you even listening to me?"
Skywarp glanced over with a decidedly bored look on his face. "I'm listening," he said, going back to examining the ends of his digits. “Keep talking. Your voice is hot.”
“What?” No, seriously, what?? “Hang on, no, that makes me think you’re not actually listening to what I’m saying.”
“I am. You’ve got a very nice timbre going on there.”
“Skywarp, take this seriously.”
“You’re so demanding, though,” he sighed, pulling his legs down so he could actually sit up and lean across the table. Like they were having a proper, polite conversation. "I was listening, and you want to know what I think?"
He could be surprisingly intelligent sometimes. And, honestly, any input might be useful here. "What do you think?"
Completely seriously, Skywarp said; "I think you're a paranoid loser who's making a colony out of a single scraplet. Have you even stopped to consider that maybe he just likes the guy? And enjoys talking to him? And wants to get to know him?"
"That's absurd."
"You're absurd." Skywarp reached across the table to flick Thundercracker's helm. "I know Screamer's not exactly the most, uh, socially adept mech out there, but he's not that basic. And he’s not an emotionless monster. He does have thoughts beyond plotting and science and being bossy, y'know."
That sounded… fake. Like-- okay, reasonably, Thundercracker knew Starscream was as much a complex mech as anyone else. It wasn’t like he spent every hour of the day at the other Seeker’s side, and he knew next to nothing about how his processor worked besides what he saw fit to share. Which, even about things that weren’t maybe-incriminating, Starscream had a tendency to be secretive. It was just how he was. He rarely shared what he was thinking out loud, except in carefully cultivated thoughts meant to shift the conversation in one direction or another.
So yes, logically, Thundercracker knew that Starscream was not as one-dimensional as he might have appeared. But he was still… skeptical. He’d worked under Starscream for many, many years, and he’d never really seemed the sort to form genuine emotional attachments. He’d certainly never seemed all that receptive whenever Thundercracker had tried.
But Thundercracker was, technically, his employee. And, if Thundercracker ever chose to try and gain an advantage over him, a possible threat. It would be easy, with all the important information he was privy to, in his position.
Starscream was nothing if not pragmatic. He wouldn’t want to get close to a mech who would be in the perfect position to tear his position apart if he so chose.
But the shuttle, this Skyfire who seemed so completely insignificant, would be the perfect mech to get close to. No political inclinations, no notable position in any place that might be a danger to Starscream’s security. No financial holdings in anything that could affect Vos’s continued prosperity. Starscream would never have to worry about being stabbed in the back. Never have to worry that being seen with him might somehow spark conflict among any parties.
And Thundercracker had accused him of having malign intentions.
“Oh, Primus,” he whispered, staring at the table in abject horror.
Skywarp sighed, kicking his legs up onto the table again, poking at Thundercracker’s untouched cube with one thruster. “Bet you feel like a real jerk now, huh?”
“I feel like a jerk, Warp.” He set his helm in his servos. “I didn’t-- I got mad at him about it, he was just trying to have one friend-- or something-- that wasn’t ruined by politics. His position. And I got mad-- How the frag am I gonna fix this??”
“You could try, I dunno, apologizing? Primus, the both of you.” He kicked Thundercracker in the helm. None too gently, either. Thundercracker would’ve been more mad if he didn’t feel like absolute scum at the moment. He probably deserved it. “Maybe give him a little more time, ‘cause if he still hasn’t come home yet he’s probably really slagged off about the whole thing, but reach out sooner rather than later? Say you’re sorry for jumping to conclusions and that you’re not gonna intrude on his private life anymore. Maybe get him something shiny while you’re at it.”
Thundercracker glanced up at him from between his intertwined digits. “You’re a lot smarter than you let on, y’know?”
“I know.” Skywarp grinned. Then nodded at Thundercracker’s untouched cube. “Hey, are you gonna drink that? I wanna see if I can make it explode if I point my thrusters at it for long enough.”
...A little smarter than he let on. “Maybe don’t do that,” he said, snatching the cube away before Skywarp’s thrusters could heat up and downing it all in one go. Then he stood, already putting a plan together in his mind. Starscream probably wouldn’t appreciate making a thing about it, but he might appreciate it if Thundercracker put in a little more effort than the bare minimum required for an apology. “Thanks for the advice.”
“Sure thing, TC.” Skywarp tilted his head back to look at Thundercracker upside-down from his chair. “Hey, in the midst of all this, try not to get executed? I’d miss you.”
“I’ll do my level best, Warp.”
-
Eventually, Starscream did actually need to come back to Vos. Upon his return, though, he seemed determined to ignore Thundercracker to the best of his ability. Calling on literally any other mech (up to and including Skywarp! Of all mechs) to do what would normally be Thundercracker’s job. He handled his own schedule. Called his own meetings. Actually, he was doing all of it pretty efficiently.
Thundercracker would’ve been inclined to just let him keep doing everything on his own if he didn’t still feel like the world’s biggest piece of scrap for being so rude about the whole thing. The efficiency was nice, it certainly made Thundercracker’s job easier. But he didn’t want this to be the downfall of the tentative friendship he and Starscream had been building.
It took several days and an IOU for him to finally corner Starscream as the other Seeker was leaving his lab one evening. Upon spotting him waiting in the hall outside, Starscream immediately turned to go back into his lab.
“Starscream,” Thundercracker said, “wait.”
Miraculously, Starscream did. He waited, stopping before the doorway with his wings held taut against his back.
“...I’m sorry.”
Starscream still didn’t look back, or say anything. But his wings did lose the tiniest bit of their tension. Thundercracker counted it as a win and kept going.
“I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, and I shouldn’t have started an argument in public like that. I’m sorry I made assumptions and I’m sorry I interrupted your date.” He glanced away, biting his lip. “It… I didn’t mean to ruin it. I was just-- concerned. For your sake. I didn’t want you getting into some kind of trouble you couldn’t get yourself out of.”
Finally giving a reaction to anything he was saying, Starscream scoffed. “You didn’t ruin anything. Skyfire and I went back to his apartment, and had a lovely conversation about boundaries and intentions and what we were both looking for in the future of our relationship. And despite the little scene you caused, we both had a lovely time.” He turned back, leveling a glare at Thundercracker. “Your presence isn’t that significant.”
Thundercracker winced. At that, Starscream’s expression softened marginally.
“But… I appreciate the concern,” he said quietly. “I get why you might’ve been worried. I haven’t exactly made a habit of making myself seem trustworthy. And, since you didn’t really manage to wreck anything, I’m not actually that mad. I just wish you hadn’t stalked me during what was supposed to be a private outing.”
“Sorry.”
“Oh, quit apologizing.” Starscream stepped over, whacking his shoulder, but there wasn’t any actual force behind it. “It makes you look pathetic. Now come on, I’m on the verge of ripping the Praxian diplomat a new one and I need you to do the advising thing on why I shouldn’t.” And he turned and started walking away, clearly expecting Thundercracker to follow and not actually checking to see if he was.
Thundercracker sighed to himself, hurrying to catch up. Routine behavior. Being insulted had never felt so reassuring.
“So, I have to ask,” he said as he fell into step beside Starscream, “what
do
you see in him?” At the narrow look Starscream sent him, he raised his servos defensively. “I’m just saying-- sure, he’s tall, but I’d have figured you’d be more likely to go for someone a bit… higher class? It’s not bad,” he hurriedly amended, “just unexpected.”
Starscream huffed. “Normally, you’d be right. I wouldn’t have given Skyfire a passing glance if I’d seen him on the street. But there was that party, you know, and we had a very enlightening conversation out on the balcony before you showed up and interrupted us. It was-- part of it was the novelty of a mech not instantly recognizing me and either grovelling or trying to schmooze in the hopes I’d be able to get them something, but once that wore off it was simply because he was an incredibly interesting mech. He’s studying xenobiology, you know. He wants to explore the universe.” He gave this quiet little sigh.
Listening to Starscream speak, Thundercracker felt a little foolish that he hadn’t realized it before. That was the tone of a mech who was absolutely smitten.
“He seemed nice, from what little I saw,” Thundercracker said. “Could you-- um--” He cleared his vocalizer at Starscream’s curious glance. “Do you think you could… either pass on a message or get me in contact with him? I owe him an apology too.”
“...I’ll give you his comm code later,” Starscream said, after a little hesitation. “But don’t worry. He couldn’t hold a grudge to save his life. Not unless you were doing something really bad.”
“That’s… good to know.” Was there a subtle threat in those words??
“He’s really such a softie,” Starscream said, sighing again. “It’s adorable. A mech as big as him, being so gentle. He’s got all that strength but he’d never hurt a fly. He gets sad whenever he accidentally kills one of his plants, the ones he grows for his studies, and it really shouldn’t be so endearing. He gives them names, too, proper designations. Talks to them like they can hear him. Plants. It’s ridiculous.”
Okay, as much as it warmed Thundercracker’s spark to see Starscream being open about his emotions, it was also starting to get a little awkward. You could really only listen to your technically-boss ramble affectionately for so long before it got mildly uncomfortable. “Um, cool. You mentioned a Praxian diplomat…?”
“Oh, I did, didn’t I? Let me tell you…” And he proceeded to go on another tangent, ranting about policy and the audacity of some mechs and so on and so forth. At least he wasn’t rambling like a lovesick newspark anymore.
As much as things had changed, in general and between them specifically, they were also the same as ever.
And that was a significant comfort.