Cause there's something between us anyway

Starscream was expecting another song to come from Soundwave, so he didn’t really paid any attention to it. No songs would pull him out of the spiraling overclocking of his worried processor, nor mend his broken spark. That’s what you get for getting your hopes up. Why were you stupid enough to hope.



Sighing, Starscream moved his shoulder away carefully, not wanting to startle Soundwave too much, fearing the other mech would hurt himself. Like they needed that right now. The Seeker hissed under his breath with all the venom he could muster, shaking with what, he hoped, Soundwave would think was anger.

_{“Move your arm back this instant before it gets ripped off, you glitch!”}

His Spark was hammering in it’s casing, worry flooding him. What in the pit was Soundwave doing?

‘Ping’ [Soundwave: Ok?]

Oh no. No, no, no, Primus, no. Slamming his helm would be counterproductive, so Starscream resisted the urge with all his willpower. Clenching his servos, Starscream stayed unmoving, waiting, with a bit of curiosity, to see what would happen. Soundwave’s voice made his helm snap up, but not turn around. Yet.

The Seeker squinted, calculating his next move to-

‘Ping’ [Soundwave: NOT OK!!]

Starscream’s optics came online as he turned around to face Soundwave, absolutely furious. It was very hypocritical of him, but seeing a loved one hurting themselves always stung more than when he was careless with himself. The difference was, Starscream is much, much, much harder to kill.

Despite the rage making his spark tremble, the Seeker sat back down, crossing his arms and nodding. He wasn’t pouting, he was expressing his unhappiness at the state of the other mech.

“Yes, yes. I’ll be good. You, are going in recharge right now.”

Glaring at Soundwave, Starscream played one of the songs he had played earlier, wanting to drive his point that he’s fine.

Starscream could see the exhaustion all over Soundwave’s frame, biolights flickering worryingly as the Seeker sat there, un-moving, with his arms crossed. The nod from the Spy reassured him, shoulders slouching from their raised positions. He watched carefully as the other bot moved to lean against the window, helm nodding until it finally fell down. The Seeker waited until the song was finished, waiting for his Spark to settle down.

It had been doing somersaults in its casing, worry, hope, mind fog lifted giving him a clear mind again. Starscream was appalled at how the touch had worked wonders into snapping his stupid processor back into something of normalcy.

Fine, he’ll admit it, Soundwave might be showing that he does care. Still, was he really ready to admit to himself that Soundwave would consider a romantic relationship? Between them? Conjux even? No. Not now.

Starscream sighed, putting a servos on the floor, to keep his balance, as he leaned forward, reaching with his other servos to rest it against the force field. It rested where Soundwave was leaning, reassuring even if he couldn’t touch the other bot. That stupid, headstrong, incorrigible, daft, glitch.

When they get out of here, he’s going to punch Soundwave in his stupid hidden face.

The Seeker scooted closer, knees against the field, one servos on his leg, the other against Soundwave’s back plate. In his mind. Starscream didn't have much more music to play, his limited playlist already stretched, so he queued the Discovery album, letting it play in a low volume as he waited for Soundwave to finish his recharge.

It was kind of endearing to watch Soundwave in his recharge, the shifting of the plates, the pulse of the biolights. With his helm tilted to the side, Starscream let his optics roam over the bot’s form. He hadn’t lied when he had called Soundwave all those nice things, the Spy was quite the specimen. The Seeker absentmindedly ran his digits along the lines of Soundwave's wing from his side of the field, mad at himself for how much he was yearning…

One stupid touch. Seething in his rage was hard when his spark craved another touch, anything physical from Soundwave. Starscream nearly lost it at how cute it was to see Soundwave shift and move in his recharge until he was snuggling on his side, the Seeker moving his servos down to cross it with his other resting in his lap. He was so entranced in watching Soundwave and playing music softly, he didn’t hear Ravage walk by his cage, until he sat down in front of Soundwave’s door.

Oh, Primus.

His panic only grew at the glare and the growl thrown his way, Starscream fighting his instinct to flare his wings and say something mean, losing part of it and landing on saying something mean.

“Please, as if I can make Soundwave do anything. He did this to himself, helping you escape might I add.”

The second time the Spy did it was only between them. Starscream hoped. Still, he shouldn’t antagonize Soundwave’s… children? So the Seeker waved a servos dismissively, trying with a softer tone.

“He’s only recharging, he’s fine.”

Well, that was awkward. Starscream debated cutting the music off but decided to let it play. At least it filled the awkward silence.

Starscream stayed silent as Soundwave woke up and the Spy’s visor turned to the casetticon waiting outside the field. The small reunion seemed to matter a lot to the bots so he stayed out of it, letting the music play in the background. What else was he to do? A movement from next door startled the Seeker, optics staring right into Soundwave’s visor turned towards him. Was that surprise he could read on the Spy?

Faceplate blank, Starscream watched as another hole was made, the spy dipping further into his energy reserves. That’s what this cage did, take energy, sanity, freedom. How he hated this cage. The Seeker also refused to acknowledge that part of him wished Soundwave would use his nifty trick to touch him again. No, bad Starscream, don’t think about that.

Worry flooded him as he watched the Spy stumbled backward against the window after a groan. Still, he didn’t move. Starscream couldn’t help himself from sending a very pointed look to Ravage. See, for you.

‘Ping’ [Soundwave: NOT OK!!]

Yes, thank you for the useless input.

Soundwaved had the audacity to ask if he had recharged. Starscream scoffed, waving a servos dismissively.

“I’m fine. Wouldn’t say the same about you. Get a cube out, refuel and recharge. Then I’ll let you smother me.”

It’s not like he was tired, he’d been relatively calm since his last reboot and the extra fuel had allowed him to finish his self repairs. Soundwave was again in dire need of rest, judging by the way he was staying on the floor. Startscream crossed his arms and made the music slightly louder with a stubborn look in his optics.

Starscream was delighted and content to watch Soundwave pet Ravage. Something about the intimate gesture felt like he was intruding on them, but he couldn't take his optics away. So he stayed rooted in his spot, unable to produce a thought or say something sarcastic. The novelties never ceased.

Little did the Seeker know, what a treat was he about to be in for. Not only did Soundwave actually listened and acquiesced to the refuelling, this was a turn on far greater than the Seeker had anticipated, but the bot's battle mask slid away to reveal...

Well, Starscream's systems had never fried so quickly. Nearly avoided a reboot there. Goodbye overthinking processor, goodbye worried pings, goodbye any rational thoughts. His optics were wide open in shock and nothing else was happening in his helm. For a long time. Longer than he would ever admit. Slowly, his processor regained it's faculties, only one thing barrelling through it.


He always had a suspicion the silent Spy had been high ranking or in some sort of position of power before the war, not that he had spent much time dwelling on it. Now, Stascream suddenly found himself wanting to know every single details of the bot's past. He had some pieces here and there, the Zeta Prime speech another very enlightening fact, but this?

This told so much more about the Spy than anything Starscream had learned previously. By process of elimination, the Seeker had a better picture of the bot before him, fascinated by the tableau it had created. He had always assumed Soundwave's vocals or face plate had been damaged, hence the theatricals in which he spoke. With the Zeta Prime speech freshly saved in his databanks, it made it easier to connect the dots between "there is no point in speeches." and the silence for millennia.

Even now, as Soundwave stared at him and 'spoke' his faceplate stayed unmoving. Fascinating.

Starscream nodded, not wanting to antagonize the bot or ruin whatever truce they had come too. He also didn't trust himself to speak, Primus only knows what kind of stupidity would come out of his intake if he spoke.

'You're gorgeous. I want you as my Conjux. Why did I never try to court you before?'

The music suddenly caught Starscream's attention, furious blush spreading on his faceplate as he brought his servos up to hide it, in a desperate gamble to gather whatever was left of his dignity.



With offlined optics, he could to stop staring at that mouth for a a few kliks. It was doing things to him and he needed to think.

He was... speechless. A very rare thing, the Seeker always had something to say. Now? There's a lot of things he wanted to do, but speaking was last one of them on his list. Kissing Soundwave is all that occupied his processor. How could he not after what he just witnessed?

As if to make his life more miserable, his slagging low quality speakers started to play "Something About Us". He was so screwed.