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"Soundwave: does not understand."
"What, are your audials glitched or something?" Starscream rolled his optics dramatically. "I asked if anyone was sitting here?" He tapped his pede impatiently, wings twitching behind him.
"No one: is sitting here." Soundwave replied, tilting his helm to the side. Usually Starscream would take morning energon with the other seekers. Soundwave was perfectly content to take his energon alone just like he normally did when his cassettes were off doing recon.
Starscream dropped into the seat next to him, crossing his pedes and swirling his energon. Soundwave watched, expression hidden behind his mask and visor like always. However, he was curious to see where this would go. He was half-tempted to read the seeker's mind and see his true intentions but that would also ruin the fun.
"What are you staring at?" Starscream huffed, wings twitching behind him once again.
"Soundwave: is wondering why Starscream wants to sit with him." He replied, continuing to stare.
"Well Thundercracker and Skywarp are busy and I'm not taking my energon with Megatron." Starscream waved a servo as he spoke.
"Starscream: is lonely." Soundwave concluded.
"Tch. I'm not lonely." Starscream's wings shot up defensively. So it was true. The seeker was just seeking companionship. Soundwave supposed he could relate. He didn't exactly get along well with most other mechs within the Decepticon's ranks because of his pension for spying and blackmailing. Starscream was in a similar boat. His grating personality made it hard for others to get along with him and he only really spent time with the other seekers, but even then, the three of them fought often over nothing. Starscream was also a backstabbing glitch.
"Soundwave: doesn't mind Starscream's company." He sipped from his straw. Starscream seemed to relax a bit and he took a swig from his own energon cube.
They sat in silence like that for a while, sipping on their respective cubes until Rumble and Frenzy came running over. "Boss! We finished that recon!" Starscream made a face as the two smaller cons approached and he jumped to his pedes.
"Well, I should be on my way. Lots of stuff to do." Starscream waved his servo as he spoke, grabbing his half-finished cube and scurrying off before Soundwave could stop him.
"Did we interrupt something, boss?" Rumble asked, watching Starscream flee.
"Negative." Soundwave shook his helm. He wondered why the seeker had gotten up and ran off so abruptly.
—
The next time Soundwave found himself alone, Starscream showed up again. The tape recorder glanced up from the computer screen at the seeker looming behind him. "Starscream: needs something?" Soundwave inquired. He admittedly hadn't seen much of the jet since their last interaction a few cycles prior.
"I was just seeing how things were coming along." Starscream flicked his wings. "Have you found our next energy target yet? Our energon reserves are running low."
"Human Power Plant: Located. Soundwave: is formulating energy extraction plans." The tape recorder responded, focusing back on the screen. Starscream continued to hover, however, shifting from pede-to-pede as he watched Soundwave work. It was a bit unnerving. Starscream wasn't known for his micromanaging. Usually he just barked orders then wandered off to do his own thing. "Starscream: needs additional information?" Soundwave asked after a few kliks, turning to look back at the seeker once again.
"What? No." Starscream shook his helm, wings twitching again. Ah. He was anxious about something.
"Starscream: is feeling lonely?" Soundwave teased. The seeker tensed up.
"Most certainly not!" He growled. "Just let me know once you're done planning." And with that, the jet stormed off once again. Soundwave found his behavior most curious.
"Rumble: Eject." Soundwave released the cassette.
"Do ya need something, boss?" Rumble asked, cracking his knuckles.
"Rumble: Follow Starscream." Soundwave ordered.
"Starscream? Why do you want me to follow that glitch around?" The purple mech frowned. "Is this some kind of punishment for that prank I pulled on Skywarp last cycle? I already apologized for that!"
"Rumble's Mission: is not a punishment." Soundwave re-focused his attention back onto the schematics of the power plant, leaving the cassette to follow his orders.
Rumble could tell complaining wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he scampered off to find the annoying red seeker.
Starscream unfortunately wasn't doing anything interesting. Rumble let out a heavy ex-vent. Following the seeker around was getting real boring. So far he'd just harassed Lord Megatron and picked a fight with the other seekers over something stupid. If Soundwave wanted blackmail material, Starscream wasn't providing it. The cassette was about to fall into recharge watching Starscream read over a datapad when he received a comm from Soundwave, calling him back. He giddily jumped up and ran back to his master, not caring if Starscream had caught him spying.
—
"Soundwave!" Starscream barked as he entered the Communications Room later that cycle. "Did you send your little minions to spy on me!?"
"Negative." Soundwave didn't bother to look up. It seemed like his plan to lure the seeker back to him had worked.
"Then why in Primus' name was Rumble following me around all cycle?" He hissed, grabbing onto the back of the TIC's chair and spinning him around so they were face-to-face.
"Perhaps Starscream: is seeing things." Soundwave tilted his helm to the side innocently.
"Just keep your little creeps away from me." Starscream growled. He moved to leave but Soundwave grabbed his arm and yanked him back. The seeker stumbled, barely catching himself by grabbing onto the arms of the chair before he face-planted into the other mech's chest. "Hey! What are you fragging doing!?"
"Starscream: is already here. He should stay." Soundwave loosened his grip in case he had miscalculated, but Starscream stayed put, leaning over him with a tight grip on the chair's armrests. He could hear Starscream's engine rumbling and hear the clicking of internal mechanisms in the other mech's chassis. Starscream was staring straight at him.
"What are you playing?" The seeker finally asked.
"Soundwave: has concluded that Starscream is lonely. Soundwave: also craves companionship." He nuzzled against Starscream's face. The seeker didn't pull away from the contact, but he didn't move toward it either. He stayed frozen, hovering over the other mech, wings twitching slightly. "Starscream: should sit." Soundwave gently pulled the seeker down onto his lap. Starscream was staring at him like he'd just manifested a new alt-mode or something and Soundwave was beginning to worry that maybe he had misread the other mech. "Starscream: doesn't like Soundwave?" He asked, tilting his helm to the side.
"You're-you're messing with me." Starscream finally said, voice shaky. "This is a joke, right?"
"Not a joke." Soundwave shook his helm. "Soundwave: has seen the way Starscream stares at him and Soundwave likes the attention."
"Hah." Starscream scoffed, shaking his helm in disbelief. "I don't believe you."
"What would make Starscream believe Soundwave?" He leaned back in the chair, leaving the next move up to the seeker.
Starscream, for once, seemed at a loss for words. His face twisted as he tried to come up with something to say. Soundwave was content to sit and wait. "You really like me?" He finally said, shaking his helm again.
"Affirmative." Soundwave rested his servos on the other mech's waist, pulling him a bit closer. Starscream flinched at the sudden touch, but let himself be slowly dragged down into a more comfortable position on the tape deck's lap. Soon their chassis were pushed together and their faceplates were almost touching.
"If you really like me, then retract this." A talon tapped against Soundwave's facemask. He complied, retracting his mask. He could feel Starscream's hot ex-vents against his lips. "Hm. I wasn't sure if you really had a mouth under there." Starscream chuckled before he brought their lips together. Soundwave grinned, feeling like a winner.