juke // 28 // aquarius

"Whattaya know, it does work." Starscream mumbled as he watched the naviglio extractor process the small chunk of raw energon he had placed within the contraption.

"So my end of the deal is complete," Mira placed her hands on her hips. "You'll honor your end of the deal, right?"

Starscream tore his gaze from the processing energon to look at the small human beside him. She was right, her end of the deal was complete, but relinquishing the human her freedom was harder than Starscream expected.

"Right, your ability to leave..."

"Don't tell me you've grown attached to me already." Mira teased, a sly smile forming on her lips.

Starscream grumbled in discontent. "Hardly."

"Okay well I'd really like to go home so I can eat and sleep. So can I go or not? I won't tell a soul about you and your run down base of operation."

Considering her words, Starscream exvented and carefully grabbed Mira with his servo. He lowered her off the counter and set her on the ground. "Go, get lost."

"It was nice meeting you too." Mira looked up at the giant robot. He was closing himself off, it was easier than saying goodbye. She felt an ache in her chest, the kind you get when you are missing someone.

The tiny human walked out of the lab, looking around at the dilapidated ship as she headed for the exit. Her feet felt heavy, like moving through mud. This must be some degree of Stockholm Syndrome she was experiencing. She couldn't possibly miss her captor already?

Starscream watched the small life form walk from the lab and out of his life. He grumbled to himself for even daring to have some internal emotional conflict watching her leave. Mira was a human. A small insignificant, inferior, creature that would only hinder his survival. But it did feel nice to have a companion. Particularly one that didn't know Starscream's past. He wasn't just a decepticon to her, or just Megatron's failed second in command.

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Using her freedom to do nothing but eat and sleep, Mira found it hard to settle back into her routine even 48 hours after leaving that alien spaceship. It's not every day a human meets a being from another world. It left her with more questions than answers. Are there more of them? Will they invade Earth? Do they lay eggs?

Mira laughed to herself while contemplating that last question. She turned onto her side, sprawled out on her bed where she had been for the last several hours. Sleep would come and go for her. The closer it got to sunrise the harder it was to fall back asleep.

A distinct thud from the exterior of her house caused her to lift her head from her pillow. Seconds later another thump. "What the hell?" Mira sat up and focused her attention on the sound.

Whatever she was hearing was heavy, and it came from just beyond the wall of her bedroom. Worried it was a robber, Mira sprang from her bed and grabbed the baseball bat she kept in her closet. The ceiling above her creaked slightly under the weighted stress of something she couldn't see.

Another thump, another creak in the roof above her. Mira held the baseball bat close to her chest as she walked towards the back door, through her kitchen. The pale light from the rising sun made her backyard just visible enough to see something large standing at the edge of her patio.

"One....two...three!" Mira swiftly pulled open the door and lunged out of the doorway with her bat raised above her head, ready to confront the possible intruder.

"What are you doing?" A raspy voice asked from high above.

Mira stopped in her tracks when she heard the voice. She slowly looked up and met Starscream's vibrant red optics. He was resting an arm against the roof of the house, it was clear that was the source of the creaking noises.

The seeker was large inside that ship but standing next to a house? He towered over it. Mira dropped her bat as she stared up at her visitor.

"Were you really going to use that stick as a weapon?" Starscream scoffed, the idea of using such an object as self defense seemed pathetic to him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" puzzled Mira, still in disbelief that the alien she met a couple days ago was standing at her back door.

Starscream placed his servos on his hips. "No friendly greeting? I came all this way just to be stared at?"

"I didn't expect a moody alien robot I met on accident a few days ago would suddenly show up at my house!"

"I am not moody." Starscream argued. "What would you have had me do otherwise? Call?"

Mira scoffed. "I don't know, maybe? Its not exactly normal for someone of this size," She motioned to him. "To just appear without warning! I am a little caught off guard!"

"Well here I am." Starscream announced, his optics scanning the home that Mira had burst out from. "Human habitats are more underwhelming than I thought."

"Excuse me I worked hard to get this place. My offer was almost rejected." Mira retorted. "Okay, anyway, how did you even find me?"

"You mentioned being somewhat close to my base of operation. Then I tracked your scent." Starscream answered like it was no big deal. "I'm not hear to visit, I need your assistance."

Mira crossed her arms in front of her chest. "With what?"

"I need a way of locating energon. You were surprisingly helpful before with creating a way to process the raw energon, your human technology could be useful again."

"So you came to find me because you wanted help?" Mira summed up what Starscream had just said, a playful smile emerging on her lips. "I knew you liked my company."

Starscream rolled his optics. "Oh please, don't flatter yourself." She was right though.

"Fine, I'll help. But at least let me make some breakfast first."

Before Starscream could interject, Mira had wandered back into the house. He watched the back door close then exvented dramatically. Not a fan of being kept waiting, Starscream decided to investigate the barn that was a few hundred feet from the house.

Kneeling down, he pushed the old wooden doors open and peered inside. Lots of human junk. Boxes filled with different items. Some old technology was discarded near the far right wall. Those items could be helpful in making some sort of energon tracking device.

Starscream reached into the barn and grabbed an old radio. As he retracted his servo, two boxes were knocked onto the ground, spilling their contents.

"What do we have here?" Starscream lowered himself to fit his helm and shoulders into the barn, giving him a better view of the items spilled.

A small framed photo caught his attention. Using a metal claw, Starscream pulled the photo closer. It was clearly a photo of Mira, she had a uniform on. She stood beside a few other humans. In the background were a few military planes, a similar design to the fighter jet Starscream had scanned upon arriving to earth.

"Excuse me, I don't know what your social norms on your planet are but its not exactly acceptible to go through someone's stuff." Mira informed.

Startled, Starscream lifted his helm, forgetting how close to the buildings walls he was, the motion caused one of the barn doors to break and fall off its hinges. Starscream backed out of the barn entrance and glared at the fallen door like it was somehow at fault.

"Now my door is broken." Mira sighed. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for parts that could help find energon." Starscream defended.

Mira took a bite of the toast she had just made. "That's not a horrible idea." She stepped into the barn and noticed the fallen boxes.

Starscream watched as the small human tossed the items back into the boxes. He grew increasingly curious. "You were a pilot?"

There was a moment of silence that followed his question. Mira never missed a beat as she continued to clean the spilled items. "That was a long time ago." She dusted off her hands and turned to the seeker. "Let's get whatever you might need for your food tracker thing, and get going."